Music

The guitarist who always belonged in The Traveling Wilburys: “I was intimidated”

• Mike Campbell, guitarist for Tom Petty's band, participated in early Traveling Wilburys sessions but felt too intimidated by the legendary lineup to pursue formal membership
• He contributed blues guitar work to 'Handle With Care' but deferred to George Harrison's more prominent slide playing
• Despite not joining officially, Campbell maintained professional relationships with band members and contributed to their related projects

Kacey Musgraves abruptly cancels concert dates from ‘Middle of Nowhere’ tour

• Kacey Musgraves cancels 'Middle of Nowhere' tour dates beginning August 20
• Opening performance at Chicago's United Center among those affected
• No explanation provided for the cancellation

Kacey Musgraves has abruptly cancelled a string of concert dates from her forthcoming "Middle of Nowhere" tour, leaving fans disappointed after being notified through a ticketing agency rather than a direct announcement. The 37-year-old country star had been due to kick off the tour on 20 August in…

Gracie Abrams tops Billboard 200 for first time with new album

• Gracie Abrams' "Daughter From Hell" debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200
• Her best sales week yet, with 124,000 equivalent units
• Sixth act to score a first US No. 1 album in 2026

Gracie Abrams notched her first career No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, with her third studio effort, "Daughter From Hell," debuting atop the Aug. 1-dated chart. This is a milestone for the singer-songwriter, whose previous record, "The Secret of Us," peaked at No. 2 in July 2024;…

The English folk song from the 1600s that American rock kept alive

• 'Matty Groves,' a 1600s English ballad about adultery and murder, nearly vanished from cultural memory
• American rock musicians in the 20th century rediscovered and reinterpreted the song, with artists like Jerry Garcia and Tom Petty making notable versions
• Fairport Convention's adaptation became the most famous, eventually overwhelming the band with audience requests

Watch Courtney LaPlante get “violent fucker” thrown out of Spiritbox show

• LaPlante stopped a Spiritbox show to eject a violent fan
• Incident occurred 15 July at a Phoenix gig with Evanescence
• Band continues touring, including a September UK run

Spiritbox singer Courtney LaPlante halted the Canadian metal band's set at Phoenix's Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre after drummer Zev Rose spotted a fan apparently assaulting other audience members. LaPlante refused to continue the show until the individual was identified and removed, publicly calling out the "violent fucker" from…

‘Hadestown: The Musical’ Sings With $9.7M Debut, No. 4 Spot, ‘Motor City’ Powers Up As Indies Fuel Top Ten – Specialty Box Office

• "Hadestown: The Musical" debuts at $9.7M, best live-capture opening since "Hamilton"
• Five independent films land in the domestic box office top ten
• "Motor City" and several smaller indie titles also post solid specialty numbers

Bleecker Street's "Hadestown: The Musical" opened to a strong $9.7 million at the specialty box office, marking the second-biggest opening for a live-performance capture since "Hamilton" and landing at No. 4 overall. The debut helped push five independent films into the domestic top ten, underlining continued audience appetite…

The 1986 role Michael Caine should have never played: “It was the wrong decision”

• Caine regretted taking Sweet Liberty.
• He objected to its sexualised screenplay.
• Timing intensified concerns about audience perception.

Michael Caine later said accepting a role in the 1986 comedy Sweet Liberty was a mistake, describing it as the wrong decision. His criticism centred on the film’s sexualised material, which he felt was at odds with the kind of comedy he wanted to make and risked distracting…

The 1971 song that completely revolutionised Harry Nilsson: “Exactly what I hoped”

• ‘Jump Into the Fire’ revealed Nilsson’s harder musical edge.
• It broadened the sound of Nilsson Schmilsson.
• The track contrasted sharply with his major pop hits.

The article argues that Harry Nilsson’s 1971 hard-rock track ‘Jump Into the Fire’ marked a decisive change from the softer, melody-led style for which he had become known. Its forceful sound showed that Nilsson could make more abrasive, ambitious music, helping to broaden the character of his work…

How to get YouTube Music’s best audio quality

• YouTube Music defaults to a lower-quality 128 kbps bitrate
• Premium subscribers can manually raise streaming/download quality to 256 kbps
• Old downloads must be deleted and re-downloaded to get the upgrade

YouTube Music's default settings prioritise saving data over sound quality, so listeners wanting richer audio need to manually adjust the app's bitrate options. This matters because, unlike rivals such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music, YouTube Music doesn't offer lossless audio even to paying subscribers, but…

Get them on the LINE!!!!!

• Fast-paced fishing Short capturing the excitement of hooking a catch
• Title's energy suggests an action-packed reel-in moment

This is a short-form YouTube video ("Shorts") posted under the title "Get them on the LINE!!!!!", suggesting a fishing clip focused on the moment of hooking and reeling in a catch, capturing that split-second thrill of a bite being set. The exclamation-heavy title points to a high-energy, reaction-driven…