Madeline Crone is a staff writer for American Songwriter. As a proud North Carolinian, Madeline’s work focuses on roots music native to the Southeast and expanding Americana, country, and folk traditions. Her career began in Nashville after graduating from Sewanee: The University of the South. On Music Row, she worked in artist management and music publishing, where she grew enamored with the stories behind the songs and the talented folks that tell them.
Nearly two decades into his vocational youth ministry, Casting Crowns frontman Mark Hall remembers the humble roots of his artistry that led his Grammy-winning Christian rock group into their ninth studio album. Due in early 2022, the seven-song collection will serve as the first half of a two-part project that cultivates unlikely growth seeds. As a young More
Like an alluring invitation to weary souls everywhere, Emily Scott Robinson’s new album, American Siren, calls upon the lost and lonely amidst a national breakdown. The 10-track collection is her first release as part of John Prine’s infamous imprint, Oh Boy Records. Seductive in its sparseness, the artist’s third effort leaves necessary space for her More
Sitting in her apartment in an undesirable part of Jamaica Queens, New York, studying for the MCAT, Allie Dunn—a junior biology major at St. John’s University at the time—decided to start a band. “I don’t even know what genre was,” Dunn laughs telling American Songwriter. “There was a banjo but we were playing like weird More
Ever since Bella White discovered music as a viable career path at age 16, the breakthrough singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist talent has never looked back. Raised in Calgary, the native Canadian credits her father, a transplanted Virginian with Bluegrass blood, for instilling a deep respect for Appalachian traditional music. White was indoctrinated from a young age while following More
Just weeks into global lockdown last spring, Lilly Hiatt’s fourth record Walking Proof entered a world that was closing in around her East Nashville apartment. The album, broadly acclaimed for its pioneering soundscape through kinetic production, did not fall upon deaf ears. But an industry-wide halt on touring prevented her from delivering the goodness to More
Country superstar Kane Brown sustained an ankle injury after falling from the stage Saturday (October 23) at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. The artist entered the sold-out arena from above, suspended from the ceiling. Upon reaching the stage, he appeared to twist his ankle after walking over to the left side fo the stage to More
On Friday (October 22) Mexican indie-star Silvana Estrada announced that her long-awaited debut album Marchita will be released on January 21 via Glassnote Records. To usher in the long-awaited news, Estrada unveils a new version of her personal anthem “Te Guardo,” alongside an official video. Celebrated as one of Mexico’s brightest young stars, the breakthrough artist makes a bold More
Frontman Taylor Kingman and his band of fellow working-class musicians, The Holy Know-Nothings, describe their music as “psychedelic doom boogie.” On October 15, the Portland-based band dropped their highly anticipated sophomore effort, The Incredible Heat Machine via Mama Bird Recording Co. The 11-track collection is steeped with now-familiar themes of substance abuse and redemption, isolation, More
With all the noise around the seemingly unapproachable concept of blockchain technology, Alex Wong insists that all you need to know is that it makes new things possible. This point is critical to the East Nashville-based artist and producer who over the course of the pandemic pored over potential means of connection outside, amidst unprecedented More
A new documentary, Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name will premiere on CNN in 2022, while domestic streaming and international distribution rights will go to HBO Max. Directed and produced by Frank Marshall—who released the acclaimed The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart in 2020—Carole King & James More
On Monday (Oct.18), Chart-topping Country duo LOCASH have extended their global publishing agreement with BMG. Comprised of Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, the pair agreed to stay on for another contractual term after a successful three years of the songwriting partnership. Signed to BBR Music Group/BMG’s Wheelhouse Records, represented by Red Light Management, LOCASH has the right people advocating for More
On Monday night (Oct.18), Frankie Avalon— who sang “Beauty School Dropout” in the iconic 1978 movie Grease—surprised contestant Amanda Kloots and professional dancer Alan Bersten on the latest episode of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. As they stepped out to dance their Viennese Waltz, Avalon, now 81 and dressed in white, began to sing in More
