I personally was saddened by the iconic producer/engineer/mastermind's recent passing not only because I kind of bonded with him during our two interviews together, but also because his sonic fingerprints are all over so much of the music I grew up on.

This week our playlist includes music by Gregory & The Hawk, The O'Jays, Cory Williams, Elvis Costello, Thelonious Monk and more.

On November 20th, Vanguard Records is releasing the DVD and Blu-ray Chris Isaak Live! Beyond The Sun, featuring the artist's greatest hits plus his personal tribute to Sun Studio in Memphis and the legendary artists who recorded there.

If you were to ask me, "How does that work?" I would say "It's all musical affinity," and it's very hard to explain why you're on somebody else's wavelength.

This week our playlist includes music by Elliott Smith, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Portugal. The Man, Voxtrot, Joy Division and more.

Over the next two weeks, I'm going to share a series of interviews with some of the music industry's heroes and working stiffs who literally brought you this year's awesome Grammy Awards with nary a hiccup. First up at bat is Phil Ramone.

Man, it was 25 years ago. The Grammy-winning album Graceland -- following what was arguably Paul's best album to that point, Hearts And Bones -- helped change the rules of pop music and politics.

Come January 31, 2012, Jeff Lorber Fusion's Galaxy album will hit the streets. Here's a taste of the album, a track titled "Horace," that's an exclusive download for readers of The Huffington Post.

With Yellowcard's release of the acoustic version of their critically-acclaimed album When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes last week, it only proved that Yellowcard is indeed back.

Scotty McCreery's new album Clear As Day just hit #1 in Billboard, and it features some very personal songs that seem to fit him perfectly. He tells me how he picked this batch.

According to Joe Jackson, performing is the best part of the "madness" that he's involved in. It's better than being in the studio or anything else.

Brandi: My greatest piece of advice -- and it's not taking a shot at individualism -- is to band together with other artists, and to completely abandon the idea of the competitive nature of music.

Billy Currington just released a new single, "Let Me Down Easy," which has a music video to go along with it.

Steve Earle spoke to me from Liuzza's in New Orleans, where he had just ordered a Po Boy, and where he is currently filming the second season of HBO's Treme.

In this week's post, we listen to tracks by Ennio Morricone Cass McCombs, The Black Keys, Etta James, Smart Brothers With Baby Neal, and The Anthony Anderson Project.

Paul Simon recorded his new album, So Beautiful or So What with Phil Ramone, which makes it a reunion of sorts. Here's what motivated them to get back together again.

This 35-track, triple disc DVD collection is such an important and significant pop-culture package that it might scare your unsuspecting holiday recipient into thinking you're saying something more than merely Happy Whatever.