NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Graham Nash, “This Path Tonight” (Blue Castle Label/ADA) In the cover photo for “This Path Tonight,” his first new solo album in 14 years, Graham Nash stands at the beginning of a wooded trail receding into the distance. It would have been more fitting if he had been further down the … Continue reading
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Punk rock mainstays NOFX have been defying music industry trends for three decades. Now its members can add a new achievement to their unlikely success story: Best-selling authors. The collaborative autobiography “Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories” reached No. 9 on the New York Times best seller list for paperback nonfiction this … Continue reading
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Music created by inmates at one of South Carolina’s most dangerous prisons was making its way to the White House on Wednesday, thanks to a group of musicians affiliated with Carnegie Hall. Three musicians from Decoda, a nonprofit organization that promotes music as rehabilitation for inmates were scheduled to perform a … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — When actress and playwright Claudia Shear was first approached to turn a novel for young adults into a Broadway musical, she was slightly stunned. “You want me for a children’s thing?” she asked the producers. Shear, after all, often writes about fearless women making their way in an unforgiving world and … Continue reading
Musicians, actors and other celebrities react to the death Thursday of music great Prince via interviews, statements and social media: ___ “Prince, the doves really are crying now.” — Oprah Winfrey. ___ “The news of Prince’s sudden and unexpected passing is very difficult to process. He was my creative partner and friend. We shared tremendous … Continue reading
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Imre Kertesz, the Hungarian writer who won the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature, was laid to rest Friday in the National Burial Garden in Budapest’s Kerepesi Cemetery. “Fatelessness,” his most famous book, was based largely on his teenage experiences in Nazi death camps. Kertesz’s work frequently reflected on the fate of … Continue reading
“Play your early stuff,” is the advice given to the punk band The Ain’t Rights when their dirt-broke, gas-siphoning tour lands a last-minute gig at an Oregon backwoods roadhouse in Jeremy Saulnier’s brisk and brutal genre exercise “Green Room.” The tip from the spikey-haired ‘zine reporter who’s set up the show (an excellent David W. … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — A proverbial Russian bear has long alarmed Westerners as the symbol of Moscow’s might and purported ferocity. But the Russian who has taken the world by storm is a sweet goof who hasn’t fired a single shot. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s a sweet day to be The Weeknd. The R&B artist is leading the nominees at this year’s Billboard Music Awards with 16 nods in categories such as top artist, top hot 100 song and top Billboard 200 album. Justin Bieber is following behind the “Can’t Feel My Face” singer with … Continue reading
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A former U.S. poet laureate, winners of the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, and best-selling authors including John Grisham are among 95 Mississippi authors urging state officials to repeal a law that will let workers cite religious beliefs to deny services to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people. The writers … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — N.W.A. entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Friday, with the groundbreaking quintet that reflected the rough streets of Los Angeles in a style known as gangster rap defiantly refuting those who suggested rappers didn’t belong in the institution. They joined the rock hall in a ceremony at Brooklyn’s Barclays … Continue reading
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Amid a maze of car repair shops in Haiti’s gritty capital, Andre Eugene pitches a shredded tire he found atop a towering sculpture he built out of rusty engine parts, bed springs and other cast-off junk. “This is what I do: I work with the garbage of the world,” says Eugene, … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After four years of hype, high-end virtual reality is coming to consumers’ living rooms next week with the release of the consumer edition of the Oculus Rift. The debut will be followed by the introduction of similar high-fidelity head-mounted displays, the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. Despite comparably offering immersive windows … Continue reading
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — “Sonic the Hedgehog,” ”Space Invaders” and “John Madden Football” are among 15 games named Tuesday as finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame. The winners will be inducted May 5 at The Strong museum in Rochester, where the hall opened last year. The contenders also include: “Elite,” ”Final Fantasy,” … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “American Idol,” which gave the world Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson, has one more chance to mint a star before it fades into TV and music history. Whether viewers choose a future chart-topper or trivia question remains to be seen. But executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, who helped translate Britain’s … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 