No big shock here — Christmas music is about as played out as Tickle Me Elmo. It’s the unavoidable scourge of the season — oh come all ye faithful, because we’ve got you by the boot strings and you can’t escape. Holiday music is piped in through nearly every working…

A lot of country singers seemingly adopt the title of American hero because they sing about the working class and national pride. But Craig Morgan truly can call himself that — a hero. During his 11 years of active duty in the U.S. Army, Morgan, who trained elite combat units,…

“Durannies” have been waiting 18 years for the original Duran Duran — drummer Roger Taylor, guitarist Andy Taylor, bassist John Taylor, singer Simon LeBon and keyboardist Nick Rhodes — to reunite, tour and record. The recording has taken some time, so they decided to hit the road instead, and generate…

Sascha Konietzko is one daft businessman. The enigmatic leader of the industrial rock band KMFDM, Konietzko hires a rotating group of musicians to fill out his lineup. When his group became a little too cocky a few years back, he ditched them and founded MDFMK. “KMFDM was always my project…

The Fountains of Wayne can be proud that they’ve increased our cultural awareness of the acronym MILF (Moms I’d Like to . . . well, you can figure out the rest). The widely respected but (until now) seldom-played Jersey power-pop band’s “Stacy’s Mom” is a masturbatory tale of a boy…

Rapper Obie Trice peppers his conversations with “dude,” using it in every possible way (and then some). While most would gush, the Detroit native and 8 Mile actor even uses the surfer slang to describe working with his idols Eminem and Dr. Dre on his debut album, Cheers. “Eminem was…

For the past 15 years, Barenaked Ladies have been considered the court jesters of pop. The members of the Canadian quintet have made a living using their quirky sense of humor, singing and rapping about an odd collection of topics — “alternative girlfriend,” wasabi, Brian Wilson, the joys of having…

When Sevendust released its self-titled debut in 1997, music fans had two words — “Living Colour.” It’s an unfortunate and uneducated comparison based solely on the fact that the lead singer, Lajon Witherspoon, is African-American. But Sevendust and Witherspoon can rock with the best of them. Sevendust’s members are considered…

Kenny Chesney must be stewing. The cowrie shell, black-hat-wearing country star thrives on all things beach and Jimmy Buffett (see the song “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems”). For crying out loud, the guy’s new album is called All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan. So Chesney,…

Country singer Buddy Jewell isn’t on the cover of national music or entertainment magazines, nor is he being presented with the key to any city. Such are the perils of being an American Idol knockoff. Jewell, as five or six of you may recall, was named the next “Nashville Star”…

As the first-born grandson in a family of 20 aunts and uncles, Ethiopian-bred synth-pop singer Kenna was accustomed to royal treatment. His grandfather, by virtue of cultural decree, demanded his respect, and the child was doted upon by nannies and some of the best teachers in Ethiopia. But, initially, there…

Like singing sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer (who witnessed their alcoholic father kill their mother), singer-songwriter Jimmy Wayne is a walking country song — the messed-up Merle Haggard kind, that is. He saw his stepfather shoot his stepsister three times, leaving her paralyzed. His mother was imprisoned (for what,…

As Queens of the Stone Age’s crew preps the Lollapalooza stage for the droning stoner-rock band’s set, a silence falls over the Verizon Wireless Center in Noblesville, Indiana. It is July 5, the opening night of the 1990s powerhouse festival’s return to the national touring stage, and the sky is…

For a few weeks this past spring, the Dixie Chicks were the United States’ public enemy No. 1. (Well, numbers 1 through 3, anyway.) To country music fans — and to diehard patriots — the Chicks had the unmitigated gall to tell a British audience in March that they were…

The success of country singer Kenny Chesney — he of the shiny face and black cowboy hat pulled far below his brow — slyly parallels his hit “Big Star.” The Luttrell, Tennessee, native was playing clubs until songs like the ever-so-romantic “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” fell into his lap…

Damon Albarn, lead singer of the Brit-pop band Blur, hasn’t made it much of a secret that he’s unhappy with his act’s lack of U.S. success. Initially, the only blip it made on the U.S. music radar was a media bitching match against Oasis, who shared a mutual disdain for…