By Taylor Linzinmeir, Staff Writer [Photo via Spotify] Pop artist and body-positivity advocate Lizzo can do it all. She can twerk, rap, belt out a high note and write a hook that will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life. Oh, and she just so happens to be a classically trained…
Tag: feature
ACRN Celebrates: Jackie Wilson
By Lauren McCain, Contributor [Photo via Spotify] “To a rough stone that I am polishing into a diamond,” reads a signed photograph that Billy Ward gave Jackie Wilson in the summer of 1952. Known for his impressive four-octave range, Wilson was a dynamic powerhouse performer, earning himself the title of “Mr. Excitement” in the 1950s and…
ACRN Celebrates: Miles Davis
By Jackson Stein, Staff Writer [Photo via milesdavis.com] Not enough can be said about the impact that Miles Davis had on music. No matter what kind of musical concept emerged in the jazz scene, he immediately embraced it and asserted himself as a top-notch innovator. Whether it came with guest appearances on bebop quintets or…
ACRN Celebrates: Robert Johnson
By Jonah Krueger, Staff Writer [Photo via NPR] It was a clear night in the delta. The air was crisp, the subtle wind only noticeable because of the stillness of the surroundings. A young black man approaches an empty crossroads accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, which hides in a beat-up, hardcover case. He opens…
ACRN Celebrates: Sylvester, Queen of Disco
By Maria Lubanovic, Copy Editor Sylvester, the Queen of Disco, grew up in the Pentecostal church, where he found his passion for singing through a gospel choir. As an androgynous gay man, he had a difficult time feeling like he belonged and eventually found groups of gay men, trans women and drag queens to perform…
Artist Profile: Austin Hitte
By Maddie Young, Contributor [Photo via Spotify] When hearing the phrase “SoundCloud Rapper,” a specific image comes to mind: a middle-school kid wearing Air Force Ones with rainbow hair rapping about a Louis Vuitton bag that they don’t even own. But a new generation of DIY rappers have taken over this new golden age of…
ACRN’s Top 10 Disappointing Albums of 2019
10. Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water, [BMG; 2019] By Maria Lubanovic, Copy Editor If you told me Avril Lavigne would release an album with cover art of her naked behind a guitar as a way to show a raw and emotional edge, I wouldn’t have flinched. That’s a classic comeback move for a lot of…
ACRN’s Top 25 Albums of 2019
25. Big Thief – U.F.O.F., [4AD; 2019] By Jonah Krueger, Staff Writer Big Thief’s U.F.O.F is just like it’s accompanying album art—dreamlike, deceptively simple, beautiful and packed full of details that are just obscured enough to avoid being fully grasped. It’s an album of compelling folk rock that pulls you in with some of the…
Artist Profile: Jessi Blue
By Anna Birk, Contributor [Photo via Spotify] Raw emotion is true to Jessi Blue’s brand as a musician. Accompanied by record-pops and a calm, jazzy demeanor, lyrics such as “My sanity is bound by a single thread / You left me a letter and I cried when I read,” convey the deep, dark wounds of…
Preview: galen tipton, saladfucker, Camille Karavas / Nov. 16 / Galbreath Chapel
By Taylor Linzinmeir, Contributor Athens may be cooling down for the winter, but ACRN is just heating up. Come take shelter from the frigid cold and warm up to the sweet sounds of college rock bouncing off of the walls of a 1950s chapel this Saturday, November 16. No matter what kind of music you’re…
Feature: Chris Thile and his Eternal Journey of Innovation
By Jonah Krueger, Contributor [Photo courtesy of Devin Peddle] Chris Thile may very well be the most renowned, most popular living mandolin player. His fingerprints can be found on just about anything that gets tagged with the term “bluegrass,” and the tale of 5-year-old Thile first picking up the mandolin is now the stuff of…
Q&A: Hope Davis
By Anna Birk, Contributor [Photo by Noel Davis] Q&A with Hope Davis following a performance at Donkey Coffee in Athens, Ohio. You grew up in Athens, Ohio—what made you leave? Hope: Well, I was suffering from an eating disorder in high school, and I was extremely depressed. I also have rheumatoid arthritis, so during the…
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