Behind the Setlist

Neil Finn of Crowded House joined Billboard's Behind the Setlist podcast to chat about the band's upcoming album, Gravity Stairs, out May 31 through BMG, and the first single, "Oh Hi" (watch the amazing video at YouTube here). Neil shares some insights into the songwriting craft, the band's live performances and Crowded House's long history. Crowded House was formed in 1985 after the break-up of N...

Success — and longevity — isn't lost on Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson. "It just seems unreal to me that I've been in a band called Barenaked Ladies for three and a half decades," Robertson tells Behind the Setlist. Best known for their 1998 hit "One Week" and the theme song to the comedy TV show "Big Bang Theory," Barenaked Ladies is still going strong. They released their 14th studio album, In F...

No other band sounds like Gogol Bordello. Frontman Eugene Hütz has crafted a caustic blend of styles that meld his affection for punk with the Romani music from his native Ukraine. Gogol Bordello released its ninth studio album, Solidartine, in 2022. This year, Hütz launched a new label, Casa Gogol Records, with a collaboration with New Order's Bernard Sumner, "Solidarity," and put out a track to...

Andy Summers is best known as the guitarist in The Police. But in certain circles, he's also known as an accomplished photographer with numerous books and his own camera, the Leica M Monochrome "Signature" by Andy Summers. Andy is currently mixing his two passions with A Cracked Lens + Missing String, a solo tour in the U.S. and Canada where he performs in front of a backdrop of his photographs. H...

Veteran singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield joins Behind the Setlist to talk about her upcoming album, her concert setlists and her long career in music. Juliana will release her 20th solo studio album on Nov. 17 — Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO, a collection of 10 covers of songs by Electric Light Orchestra. It's Juliana's third album of covers songs after Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John in...

Grace Potter's '70s influences come through on her new album, Mother Road (out August 18 through Fantasy Records). The Vermont native built her name as the leader of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, sang on a hit song ("You and Tequilla" in 2010) with country star Kenny Chesney and had a song ("Something That I Want") on the 2010 Disney movie Tangled. Now with countless tour dates and five solo al...

Rock-folk-blues musician Peter Case began busking in San Francisco in the '70s, co-founded the Nerves ("Hanging on the Telephone") in 1974 and the Plimsouls ("A Million Miles Away") in 1978 and has been a solo artist since 1986. Since three albums for Geffen Records, Case has recorded for indie labels such as Vanguard, Yep Roc and, most recently, Sunset Blvd. Records. On his 16th studio album, Doc...

Les Claypool is the co-founder of the rock band Primus and is currently touring with the return of Colonel Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, one of his many bands and collaborations that showcase his unique skills on the bass and a penchant for psychedelic, absurdist and oddball music.  The Fearless Flying Frog Brigade tours through July 15 and breaks until a gig at the Fox Theater in Oakla...

Arguably the best band named after a Monty Python sketch, Toad the Wet Sprocket sprung from Santa Barbara, CA, to popularity in the early '90s on the strength of the platinum albums Fear ("All I Want," "Walk on the Ocean") and Dulcinea ("Fall Down," "Something's Always Wrong") that captured the spirit of the alternative rock of the era. Their latest album, Starting Now, was released in 2021 and sh...

Known for the metal anthems "Last Resort" and "Scars," Papa Roach is an enduring figure in the turn-of-the-century nu-metal scene. The band's 2000 album Infest went triple-platinum in the U.S. on the strength of "Last Resort." That was followed by Lovehatetragedy in 2002 (certified gold) and Getting Away with Murder in 2004 (certified platinum). Their concerts are a non-stop barrage that covers th...

Bear Rinehart is the singer and co-founder of NEEDTOBREATHE, a commercially successful rock band founded in South Caroline in 2001. Known for their uplifting, spiritual music, NEEDTOBREATHE has had a string of top 10 albums (The Outsiders, The Reckoning, Rivers in the Wasteland and Hard Love) and performs in arenas and amphitheaters around the U.S. As a solo under performing under the name Wilder...

Blues musician Joe Bonamassa just had his 26th No. 1 album on the Billboard Blues Albums chart with Tales of Time, a live recording of his 2021 album Time Clocks recorded in 2022 at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Joe talks to Behind the Setlist about his latest tour, the concert that became Tales of Time, covering songs by Tom Waits and ZZ Top, which younger blues musicians he t...

The "Queen of Country Pop," Shania Twain talked with Behind the Setlist about preparing for her upcoming tour, her latest album (Queen of Me, released Feb. 3 by Republic Records), how performing other artists' songs early in her career helped make her the entertainer she is today and how she overcame adversity to become one of the biggest country stars. Twain's trio of albums from 1995 to 2002 rew...

Alex Gaskarth is the singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band All Time Low. Formed in 2003 in Maryland, All Time Low released its ninth studio album, Tell Me I'm Alive, on March 17 on Fueled By Ramen. Gaskarth talks to Behind the Setlist about the new songs' heavy use of piano, playing crowd favorites like "Dear Maria, Count Me In," and touring through some of Europe's great cities. The band...

Michael Fitzpatrick is the singer and founder of the Los Angeles band Fitz & the Tantrums. Known best for the singles "Out of My League," "Handclap" and "The Walker," Fitz & the Tantrums' career spans retro soul to '80s-inspired pop. The common thread is the band's knack for memorable hooks and tight, punchy songwriting. Its latest album, Let Yourself Free, is its fifth studio album and fourth for...

John Rzeznik is a co-founder of the rock band Goo Goo Dolls. He produced much of the band's 2022 album, Chaos in Bloom (Warner Bros). Rzeznik is best known as the voice behind a few big hits from the '90s: "Name" from 1995's A Boy Named Goo and "Iris" from 1998's Dizzy Up The Girl. The band is hitting the road in the summer of 2023 with dates in Ireland and Great Britain and will cover the U.S. in...

Kim Thayil was a co-founder and guitarist of rock band Soundgarden. Kim joined Behind the Setlist to talk about the songs and setlists of the band's final tour in 2017. Formed 33 years earlier in Seattle, Soundgarden played its final show on May 17, 2017 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI. Singer Chris Cornell died the next morning. In addition to helping spawn Seattle's grunge scene in the late '8...

Behind the Setlist is rebroadcasting its first episode from May 2022, an incredible conversation with the one and only Andy Grammer. You may have recently seen Grammer perform at the 100th annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington D.C. And you probably know Grammer for such songs as "Keep Your Head Up" and "Don't Give Up On Me." Billboard talked to Grammer earlier in 2022 about putting...

Chris Isaak loves holiday music. This year he released his second studio album of holiday tunes, Everybody Knows It's Christmas, and hit the road for his standard holiday tour to share his holiday and non-holiday music with fans. Chris joined Billboard's Behind the Setlist to talk about writing holiday songs such as "Almost Christmas" and "Help Me Baby Jesus," working with famed producer Dave Cobb...

Jim Kerr is a co-founder, singer and songwriter for the Scottish rock band Simple Minds. Known best for the track "Don't You Forget About Me," which propelled from the film The Breakfast Club to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1985. The band followed that with more Hot 100 success from the 1985 album, Once Upon a Time: "Alive and Kicking" (No. 3), "Sanctify Yourself" (No. 14) and "All The Things She Said"...

Sunny Sweeney is country singer-songwriter who released her fifth studio album, Married Alone, on Sept. 23, 2022, through her own Aunt Daddy Records label. Her music has the sounds and storytelling typical of classic country and Americana roots music. She cites Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks as her biggest inspirations. Her 2006 debut, Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame, was se...

Myles Kennedy & Mark Tremonti are one half of the rock group Alter Bridge. The band is currently on tour in Europe in support of its seventh studio album, Pawns & Kings, released on Oct. 14 via Napalm Records. The well-reviewed album reached No. 35 on the Billboard 200 U.S. album chart, No. 2 in Switzerland, No. 5 in Austria, No. 6 in the U.K., No. 7 in Germany and No. 15 in the Netherlands. The b...

As Soccer Mommy, Sophie Allison released her third studio album, Sometimes, Forever, in June of 2022 on the Loma Vista Recordings label. The album has received widespread acclaim. Paste magazine gave it 8.5 out of 10. Pitchfork’s review, an 8 out of 10, noting Allison’s "characteristic humor and wit amidst bitterness and melancholy." The Guardian’s four-out-of-five star review called it "warm, too...

Nick Hexum and Chad Sexton are from the rock band 311. Hexum, lead singer and guitarist, and Sexton, drummer, helped form the band in Omaha, Nebraska in 1988. The group's third album, 311 (the blue album) from 1995, made them famous on radio and MTV success of the songs "Down" and "All Mixed Up." The follow-up, Transistor from 1997, reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced three...

Gavin Rossdale is the co-founder and frontman for the rock band Bush. The Art of Survival, Bush's ninth studio album, is out Oct. 7. Its first single, the politically minded "More Than Machines," has been a mainstay on the band's set on tour with Alice in Chains and Breaking Benjamin. About half the set is sourced from the 2020 album The Kingdom. The group's smash 1994 debut album, Sixteen Stone,...