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"...And it was so ridiculous. And this was this thing about this teaching of a class and I've been told that I couldn't teach undergraduates because MIT students didn't believe scientific information spoken by a woman. And so I'd said, well, of course, everyone knows that. I had accepted it as normal because as soon as somebody said it, I realized, of course, it's true. I was able to see that women were so under-respected that students couldn't respect them enough. And so they were afraid to put an important course into the hands of a woman for fear the students would not be able to respect them."

"Understandably, Sonny Moore, AKA Skrillex, is the musician most think of when From First to Last comes to mind. However, FFTL as a unit were all killers in their own right, guitarist/singer Matt Good’s work being one of the highlights of the group. “Ride the Wings of Pestilence” offered a look into his technical abilities, as he scales a huge range of sounds through the track. Heroine cut “Mothersound” ends in a nu-metal shredfest, where he has a back-and-forth riff battle with rhythm guitarist Travis Richter. Good’s skills truly shine on the band’s extremely underrated fourth LP Throne to the Wolves, where he fully takes his place as the album’s creative lead with Moore leaving the band an album earlier. “You, Me and the Significant Others” is a beautiful trek of proto-djent technical playing, exploding in a cathartic end."

"As AFI’s sole guitarist, Jade Puget’s ability to create extremely deep moods and tones is unmatched by bands with multiple guitarists. When he joined the group in 1998 as a full-fledged member, his influence was heard almost immediately, with songs such as “The Prayer Position” elevating their take on hardcore with his extremely intricate playing. AFI eventually shifted from straight hardcore to a broader sound, which allowed Puget to soar as a songwriter. Their iconic “The Leaving Song Pt. II” opens with a riff that manages to sound both delicate and massive as it transitions to something extremely catchy. Though he’s rarely one to show off, he does flex at times on tracks like later era cut “17 Crimes,” showing he can shred with the best of them."

"Claudio Sanchez is the closest thing emo has to a James Hetfield or Dave Mustaine as a straight-up riff god. After cutting their teeth in the same world of emo as their contemporaries such as Thursday and Underoath, Coheed broke out majorly with their third LP Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV. Sanchez nearly immediately cements his abilities on “Welcome Home,” delivering an iconic Zeppelin-esque riff and an equally impressive solo. His love of Rush truly shines in his approach, the album’s “The Wishing Well” series acting like their own take on 2112. As the band progressed, so did Sanchez’s tenacity as a shredder and hook machine."

"We were the few people doing this in 2008. Really bad, wussy emo rock 10 years after it was relevant."

"In the interpretation of emo as purely a subset of hardcore, no band embodies emotion quite like Orchid. A huge element of their impact is guitarist Will Killingsworth’s ability to conjure emotion, claustrophobia, and urgency in his work. Killingsworth’s guitar playing gets so urgent in its sweeping that he accidentally falls into black metal. The few times Orchid slows down the pace, like on “New Jersey Vs. Valhalla,” Killingsworth can deliver a riff that’ll stick to your ribs nicely. It’s controlled chaos throughout their discography; while many powerviolence bands would devolve into aimless noise, everything Killingsworth does feels very pointed and necessary."

"The drum is made from beautiful wood with irregular swirling grain in honey-colored light brown. The most noticeable aspect of this drum set is the quality of the finish. The only downside is it is pricey and not for all budgets."

"Between his many bands — from 2000s outfits Saosin, Circa Survive, and the Sound of Animals Fighting to his latest venture in the supergroup L.S. Dunes, plus his gut-wrenching solo material — Green is a versatile singer who’s able to adopt and blur multiple styles into his own unique vision. He also tackles addiction with fearlessness and empathy, letting others know they’re not alone through his striking lyricism."

"Bands as one-dimensional as Crowbar usually don't deserve much recommendation, but when stylistic imperatives are mastered so thoroughly, even the most single-minded deserve credit and respect. Crowbar will never get any credit for subtlety or diversity, yet they are one of heavy music's most obscure and delightful gems. Purity has its value, and New Orleans' all-time sludgiest exports have plenty of it on display within each of their recordings. [...] [Their early songs are] completely uncompromising and catchy in a slowed-down Black Sabbath-meets-Melvins-meets-Pantera kind of way."

"the idea of nations without a state, or nations 'before' the state, is thus a contradiction in terms, because a state always is implied in the historic framework of a national formation (even if not necessarily within the limits of its territory). But this contradiction is masked by the fact that national states, whose integrity suffers from internal conflicts that threaten its survival (regional conflicts, and especially class conflicts), project beneath their political existence to a preexisting 'ethnic' or 'popular' unity."

"It’s not often a guitarist is credited for being the progenitor of an entire style of music; however, you’d be hard-pressed not to give Mike Kinsella his dues for what he’s given to the worlds of mid-west emo and math rock. American Football still stands as one of the most important bands for the genre and it’s his twinkling, technical guitar work that forms the foundation for the group. His chemistry with guitarist Steve Holmes, and the ways they weave in and out of each other on “Never Meant” and “I’ll See You When We’re Both Not So Emotional” are remarkable. His solo project Owen offers plenty to love too, where emotion bleeds into every note he plays."

"Moog, who died in 2005, did not invent the synthesizer. Instead, “he’s the one who made it mainstream,” says Mark Ballora, professor of music technology at Penn State University. He became a celebrity, and people used “Moog” (which rhymes with “vogue”) as a synonym for electronic music."

"Choosing different mics to capture a variety of instruments is an art form. There are countless options at different price points and there are no right answers. EQ adjustments to treble, bass and midrange frequencies can make an inexpensive mic sound good. Mic placement can change the sound dramatically. Whenever I'm not sure how to record an instrument, I move my head around until it sounds nice, then I replace my head with a mic. (Trade secret!) Also, what does the room sound like where you're recording? Are there a ton of reflections or reverb that could affect clarity? Are the lights buzzing or is there a humming refrigerator in the background that could be unplugged? Are you outside and need a dead cat windscreen?"

"Wayne Shorter, who turns eighty this month, and Sonny Rollins are two of the finest saxophonists living today."

"Louis and Bebe Barron [...] developed the ‘tonalities’ — the accompaniment of interstellar gulps and burbles — that take the place of a musical score."

"Some folks thought Rahsaan Roland Kirk's playing multiple horns at once was a gimmick. Granted, the guy looked like a madman with all sorts of woodwinds strapped around him, with maybe a tenor sax or manzello and stritch (both obscure saxophones) in his mouth at the same time, but Kirk was a hell of an improviser, often harmonizing with himself. There's a live recording of Kirk playing "Sentimental Journey" on one horn and Dvorak's "New World Symphony" on the other, and Kirk said it's splitting the mind into two parts. "It's like making one part of your mind say, 'Ob-la-di' and make the other part of your mind say 'What does it mean'?" Not only was Kirk a damn fine saxophonist but his flute playing, while scatting, heavily influenced Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull."

"With his instantly recognizable biting and clear tone, tenor player Sonny Rollins, who turns 83 in September, is regarded by some as the greatest living saxophonist today. Inspired by Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins, Rollins had an ability to rarely repeat himself when improvising, even during lengthy solos. He was just in his mid-twenties when Saxophone Colossus was released, and the title of the disc was more than fitting. Rollins was already a titan of the tenor evidenced by cuts like "St. Thomas," one of his most well known compositions."

"As hardcore inflicted grievous bodily harm upon land speed records and societal norms, early harDCore heroes Bad Brains stood out. They were not only the earliest of thrash outfits, but they were likely the best musicians to tackle the form."

"Depending on your view, Keith Jarrett’s status is either problematic or exalted. Is he a pianist whose gifts are compromised by grandiose flights of whimsy or, as a critic put it, one who ‘uniquely connects to a type of universal/musical consciousness’? For Jarrett, jazz is not a tradition or a vocabulary, but a spiritual process that involves opening yourself to true creativity; ‘an attempt,’ he said once, ‘over and over again, to reveal the heart of things.’ When I first encountered Keith Jarrett at a Stan Kenton music camp in 1961, he was a bright 16 year-old who could play brilliantly in any style, jazz or classical, not to mention his own. No surprise that he became a star with the Charles Lloyd Quartet, from 1967-70, whose flower-power ethos suited him perfectly. Subsequently, he led his own groups, but it was with his solo concerts from 1972 that he reached cult celebrity. Jarrett’s free-form improvisations would start with no prior theme or direction and cover all manner of idioms, from gospel vamps to Romantic rhapsodies, propelled for up to an hour by an intense lyricism. Just as intense was his manner – flailing, moaning and gasping. The heady atmosphere came through on record: his 1975 Köln Concert sold over a million. Solo improvisation continued to be central to Jarrett’s work. Besides piano, he’s recorded on clavichord, pipe organ and soprano sax, plus – on the home-made multi-tracked project Spirits – ethnic flutes and percussion."

"[Toro is not] your average pop-punk player –– this guy can shred with the best of them. Toro has cited Queen’s Brian May as a major influence, and it’s something you can hear throughout My Chem’s back catalog, as Toro attacks his leads with gusto, guts and a real sense of the dramatic."

"Knuckle Puck are one of the contemporary scene’s most beloved and respected bands. The emotional heft of the band’s music––and the raging catharsis imbued by frontman Joe Taylor––are undeniable, and [guitarist Kevin Maida] is central to their power [as well], with his leads consistently accomplished and up there with the best of the current generation."

"As a matter of right, Jelly Roll Morton would have assumed that any jazz starter collection would begin with him. After all, he once proudly proclaimed, ‘I myself invented jazz in the year of 1902’. Grandiosity was his lifelong style: pianist, composer, leader; pool-shark, pimp and hustler – there was something mythic about Jelly, right down – or up – to the glittering diamond in one of his front teeth. People resented his arrogance, but as one of his musicians put it, ‘Sure he bragged, but he could back up everything he said.’ And while he may not have invented jazz, he was arguably the first great jazz composer, the man who proved it was possible to realise both a compelling structure and spontaneous excitement. The key to his achievement was a many-sided and acute musical imagination, steeped in the cultural melting pot of New Orleans. Morton absorbed all the riches the Crescent City had to offer – blues, ragtime, marches, grand opera, quadrilles and the ‘Spanish tinge’ he maintained was essential to jazz. His piano style displays all these influences, at once refined and raffish, encompassing elegant turns and trills, barrelhouse chords and a strain of melancholy lyricism. The same qualities suffuse his orchestral works. Morton first formed the band he called Red Hot Peppers in Chicago in 1926, and their recordings will come as a revelation to anyone who thinks of early jazz as raucous and one-dimensional. Morton’s men were all masters of the vibrant New Orleans style, and gave his compositions just the right interpretative and improvisatory gusto."

"A few years ago a correspondent to Radio 3’s Jazz Record Requests described Earl Hines as ‘underplayed, largely unavailable and probably underestimated’. It’s a fair summary of a situation that, in the 1930s, would have been unthinkable. [Back then], Hines was riding high, the king of the keyboard, a byword for invention, technique, daring and dazzlement – the man who turned piano playing into a kind of Olympic event, inspiring a whole generation."

"There was something almost mythic about Art Tatum from the beginning. Pianists hearing his first solo recordings in 1933 assumed there had to be more than one person playing: such terrifying virtuosity could not come from a single pair of hands. And yet the amiable prodigy from Ohio – virtually blind from birth – soon became a familiar if still incredible presence on New York’s scene and beyond. Though his style was based on the high-powered facility of such stride masters as Fats Waller, Tatum took their keyboard feats to another level, not just in digital dexterity but in a harmonic and rhythmic command which produced spontaneous transformations of standard tunes. Dazzling sequences of new chords and keys defied the barlines before returning, with nonchalant precision, to the original structure. Tatum’s mastery was universally acknowledged. When he entered a club where Fats Waller was playing Waller announced, ‘I play piano, but God is in the house tonight.’ And his reputation extended beyond jazz: experiencing Tatum in a 52nd Street club, Vladimir Horowitz exclaimed, ‘I don’t believe my eyes and ears.’ Tatum was essentially a jazz musician, relishing musical immediacy. He loved to hang out in after-hours clubs, seeming to take delight in coaxing wonders out of clapped-out pianos, transcending their stuck keys and dodgy tuning till they glittered like concert grands."

"Since Erroll Garner left the scene nearly 50 years ago in 1977, it’s hard to convey what a phenomenon he really was. Without making any conscious attempt at celebrity, the elfin pianist became that rare thing: a jazz musician who was also a household name. He attracted a huge audience solely by exuberant improvisation, love of good tunes and utterly infectious swing."

"While saxophonists of the '30s and '40s opted for more of biting, edgier tone, tenor player Lester Young opted for a warmer, more relaxed tone. But while his tone might have been laid-back, he was clearly a hell of an improviser, as evidenced by a lot of his recordings with Count Basie, as well as the small-group recordings with Teddy Wilson, Harry "Sweets" Edison or Billie Holiday, who gave Young his nickname "President" (or "Pres" for short)."

"On his incredibly strong 1963 debut, Page One, released in his mid-twenties, tenor player Joe Henderson proved that he was a major jazz contender with rich and robust tone."

"Dave Brubeck was incredibly well known for most of his career. His early success with college audiences – the Brubeck Quartet virtually invented the campus circuit – catapulted him on to the cover of Time magazine in 1954. In 1960 his star status increased with the album Time Out. Brubeck’s mixture of asymmetrical rhythms and catchy tunes won international renown, though the disc’s biggest hit, the sinuous ‘Take Five’, was written by the quartet’s alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, with some structural advice from his boss. But, as all too often in jazz, popular celebrity inspired critical condescension. He was slated for his ‘academic’ approach – he had studied with Darius Milhaud, classical composer and member of the French collective Les Six – his use of such classical devices as counterpoint and polytonality, his sometimes thunderous keyboard attack and disinclination to swing in a conventional manner. Critics damned his lyricism with faint praise and dismissed him from the jazz tradition. However, over the years, as the idea of a monolithic tradition has become suspect, Brubeck has come to be seen as a remarkable, original talent. Far from being some kind of uptight academic, he had trouble reading music and was one of the most purely intuitive pianists jazz has produced. His style was founded completely on a commitment to musical expression, fuelled by a belief that, as he once put it, ‘jazz should have the right to take big chances’ – even going beyond what has been considered jazz."

"Tool’s Danny Carey has long been revered as one of the world’s great drummers, but with the prog-metal titans’ 2019 comeback triumph Fear Inoculum and the psychedelic live shows that have followed, he’s made a case for being the group’s true frontman and, certainly, the rightful heir to the mighty Neil Peart’s throne. In his hands, percussion isn’t just a musical undertaking — it’s a vehicle for opening the doors of perception."

"As the singer, guitarist and spokesman for progressive metal powerhouse Gojira, Mario’s big brother Joe gets most of the attention, but the younger Duplantier is earning an increasing share of the spotlight as fans become more aware of his jaw-dropping skills. Simply put, Mario can do it all — from extreme-metal blasts to jazzy fills to huge stomping beats that rule the mosh pit. All that and he’s a talented visual artist whose work has adorned Gojira album covers and merch."

"What can I say about Joey that hasn’t already been said? He reinvented metal drumming for the modern era and brought with him an energy that I have yet to see anyone match, ever. Like someone threw a drum set down a stairwell and it magically sounded good as fuck. His style was so unique, you just know exactly when you are listening to him play. Nothing makes me wanna run through some drywall more than Joey’s drumming. RIP to another goat."

"Dale had a super underrated drum sound, whether that was live or recorded — he was second to none."

"Ron Carter has played on over 2,500 albums and secured a spot in jazz history as one of the world's finest bassists. Doing much more than merely helping anchor the rhythm, Carter is a melodic master. In his five-decade-long career, he's played with countless jazz legends, including a five-year stint in Miles Davis's quintet, an outfit that also included Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams. While his playing on most of the recordings he did with Davis are stellar, some of his albums as a leader, like Uptown Conversation, are excellent, as are his duo albums with guitarist Jim Hall, platters like Live at the Village West and Alone Together."

"Jam bands live or die by the drummer, and Kreutzmann established the archetype. He did a lot more than provide the structure for those long Grateful Dead grooves; he subtly shifted tempo and volume, transforming the listening experience so that an open field could feel as intimate as a block box or as vast as outer space. With apologies to Mickey Hart, who was more of a percussionist, Kreutzmann's drumming brought the Grateful Dead to life and established a blueprint for every jam percussionist that followed."

"Buddy Rich named Karen as his favorite pop drummer, and Buddy famously did not give out compliments. As an egomaniac, he might have bestowed this compliment because her style and technique is very much like his: monster chops, flash, and musicality. Oh, and she sings at the same time! Because she was such an amazing singer (coupled with a healthy dose of sexism), she was muscled off her instrument of choice and into the role of singer and frontwoman for The Carpenters. The hits followed and so did her tragic demise. First and foremost, Karen was a wildly talented drummer, and sadly she was never afforded the accolades she deserved, or revered for the drumming talent that she was."

"One of the special characters in music history. Collins got his first real shot at stardom while a member of James Brown’s famous backing band. He contributed to such Brown classics as "Sex Machine" and "Super Bad." From there, Collins took that soul background and his "space bass" with a funk vibe over to George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic. In addition to playing with those two juggernauts of sound, the Hall of Famer has collaborated with the likes of Talking Heads and Keith Richards. Collins has also taught the bass and has been featured in music videos and on television sitcoms."

"Tina Weymouth can hold her own among the best bass players in the world. That's been the case for quite a long time. Weymouth’s punk-tinged, funk-infused bass lines have influenced countless women to pick up a bass and follow a path that is not foreign in the modern day. Whether we're talking about her work with Talking Heads or her own band Tom Tom Club (with husband and fellow Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz), Weymouth has always delivered the goods. She plays with confidence and continues to innovate."

"Kaye’s stellar professional music career began with the sounds of jazz and big band before becoming one of the most sought-after pop/rock session bassists and guitarists, beginning in the late 1950s. During a career that covered over a half-century, Kaye’s bass work was featured alongside music giants like Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, and Quincy Jones. A long-time teacher of the electric bass, Kaye played on Nancy Sinatra’s classic "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" and contributed to the famed Mission: Impossible theme. How's that for a legacy?"

"While Ray Brown could swing heavy with bebop pioneers like Dizzy Gillespie, he's probably best known for part in pianist Oscar Peterson's trio from 1951-1966. Brown's buoyant playing seemed to match Peterson's relaxed attack on the piano. The bassist, who was briefly married to Ella Fitzgerald, backed up the singer, as well as countless other jazz luminaries until he passed away at the age of 75 in 2002. Brown released dozens of discs under his own name from the mid '40s to the early 2000s."

"Art Farmer’s approach to jazz seemed simplicity itself. ‘What I try to do with a song,’ the trumpeter once said, ‘is to get as much enjoyment out of playing it as I can.’ Yet his style expressed a quiet profundity and originality that defied the obvious. Although, born in 1928, he was a member of the bebop generation, he eschewed obvious pyrotechnics. A Farmer solo didn’t merely ‘run the changes’, ripping through the chords, but created an absorbing, probing shape, at once subtle and lyrical. In terms of facility, he could do anything he wanted, and his technical command and thoughtful musicianship ensured first-call status in the booming jazz scene of the 1950s. After apprenticeship with Lionel Hampton and other big bands, Farmer starred with two of the most prominent small groups of the time – Horace Silver’s hard-driving quintet, and the cool quartet of Gerry Mulligan. At the same time, he was leading his own groups in a series of widely praised albums. One of the best is the eponymous Art, with a quartet including the trumpeter’s kindred spirit, pianist Tommy Flanagan. Effortlessly compelling, it’s a classic example of Farmer’s special gift for reinventing standard tunes. ‘Younger than Springtime’ becomes a kind of idyll, his tone both round and clear. ‘Who Cares’ shows his fiery side, full of unexpected angles, and ‘I’m a Fool to Want You’ is a reflective ballad, but not morose."

"Not long after he arrived in New York in 1930, the teenage Roy Eldridge was dubbed ‘Little Jazz’, acknowledging both his compact build and musical intensity. From the start, the trumpeter was keen to make his mark, seeking out ‘every jam session going’, and taking on all comers in battles of speed, range and daring. Instead of the broad, heraldic character usually associated with the trumpet, the young Eldridge cultivated a super-charged fluency, imitating saxophonists like Coleman Hawkins. Though his elders were impressed, they had reservations regarding his musical substance, which Eldridge himself came to share. In his words, ‘I was very fast, but I wasn’t telling no kind of story.’ With that realisation, his talent began to flower. His facility for high-voltage, bravura excitement was deepened and enhanced by an instinct for musical structure, so that an Eldridge solo became even more thrilling."

"When Freddie Hubbard died at the end of 2008, it was sobering to think that the younger generation of jazz fans might not be sure who he was. Aged 70, the trumpeter had been largely inactive for almost two decades, his career plagued by lip trouble and a lack of direction. It was a far cry from his 1960s status as a new trumpet king, synonymous with cutting-edge excitement, a key player in most classic sessions of those heady days."

"The “Nashville sound” – where traditional instruments like pedal steel guitar and violin were phased out in favor of strings and background vocals -- had more in common with mainstream ‘50s vocal pop than Western swing or rockabilly."

"Is John Gomm the finest acoustic guitarist Blackpool ever produced? We’re going to go ahead and say ‘yes’, for this humble Englishman’s emotive, all-action guitar playing has captured literally millions of ears around the world since he went viral in 2011. Banging, booming, tapping and scratching his way through dramatic performances that burst with emotion and invention, it’s no great surprise that the internet took Gomm to its heart. A modern marvel."

"What makes jazz ‘jazz’ today? Improvisation, blues and swing, passionate individuality – the music may hark back to its classic qualities, but today’s scene has splintered into a plethora of postmodern fragments, from which every player has to construct a distinctive voice. No one has met this challenge with more imagination than trumpeter Dave Douglas. In fact, he has mixed feelings about what he calls ‘this beast called jazz’: though he’s always wanted to play it, he wants to incorporate all the other aspects of music and life that compel him, too. In 2003 he celebrated his 40th birthday with a concert given by ten different groups he has led, including the Tiny Bell trio, with guitar and drums (inspired by Balkan music); Charms of the Night Sky (a chamber group with accordion); a sextet devoted to works by neglected jazz masters; and a quintet with cello and violin whose repertoire includes Douglas originals, Webern and Stravinsky. What unites all these ensembles is Douglas’s virtuoso ability, and his protean skills as a composer."

"In the autumn of 1945, the hottest thing in New York was an ancient black trumpet player who, just three years before, had lacked both an instrument and teeth. What Willie ‘Bunk’ Johnson did possess, however, was historic, even mythic charisma. He’d been present in New Orleans at the very dawn of jazz, and played with Buddy Bolden, the fabled cornettist who’d virtually invented the music. And now here he was, freshly equipped with dentures and horn, a living icon pouring out authentic blues and rags with a company of similarly venerable New Orleanians. Audiences weary of the noisy regimentation of swing and the edgy complexity of bop were entranced by the throbbing warmth of ‘real jazz’, as if they’d been transported to the halcyon days of Basin Street. Unfortunately, Bunk’s moment in the sun was short-lived. Though a wily, urbane character, adept at charming his patrons and the media, he was also wilful and fond of a drink. Rather contemptuous of the band that had been assembled for him, he couldn’t be relied on to perform at his best or even turn up. Within a year, critics lamented that ‘the name Bunk Johnson (had) lost its magic and its meaning’, and he returned to Louisiana, where he died in 1949. All the same, his brief acclaim made Johnson the figurehead for a worldwide boom in the popularity of traditional jazz which continued after his death: Johnson sidemen such as clarinettist George Lewis forged international careers, and made New Orleans a tourist mecca. But Johnson remains controversial, revered by many as a unique musician, dismissed by others as a has-been who was second-rate in his prime. And yet the Johnson records still cast their spell – the singular vitality of New Orleans, pulsating and human, with a communal rhythm that’s more important than individual virtuosity."

"Napster affected rock CD sales disproportionately when it first came out in the late ’90s, because rock was what a lot of college students were listening to, and they were early MP3 adopters (and early pirates.) They figured out quickly how to download MP3s for free, so rock sales were the first to decline. It would take a while before piracy/the Internet/MP3s/downloads would cut into other genres, because it took old people a long time to figure out the Internet. [...] Everyone would suffer, but those artists and labels would feel it first and worst. After all the good times, this one-two punch at the turn of the millennium left indie — and rock music in general — reeling."

"In my book Culture Crash, I date the birth of indie [rock] at 1982, when the Smiths began recording and R.E.M. released its debut EP, Chronic Town. The US side of the story is forcefully told in Michael Azerrad’s book Our Band Could Be Your Life; Britain’s followed similar contours, with indie ideology locking in early and fiercely, as sales charts tracked what was selling at independent record stores."

"In a nasty piece of timing, 1999 saw the arrival of Napster and the explosion of file-sharing and music piracy. Industry revenues, which had been climbing, would stall and then plummet. As Rolling Stone journalist Steve Knopper recounts in the recently reissued chronicle Appetite for Self-Destruction, rock — and indie — fans would be among the first to bail on physical albums."

"Currently, only 11 acts have been inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They are: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams, Brenda Lee, Sam Phillips, Floyd Cramer, Chet Atkins, Bill Monroe, Jimmy Rogers, and Bob Wills. Only a few of them are pure country acts, while Cash is the only country artist to ever be voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and not put in under a specialty award."