Music & Concerts
FALL ARTS PREVIEW 2017: Miley, Demi, Dolly and then some
Taylor Swift, Pink, Shania among eclectic fall album releases


After a long hiatus from music, Shania Twain is back with a new album dubbed ‘Now,’ slated for a Sept. 29 release. It’s her first album since 2002’s RIAA Diamond-selling ‘Up!’ (Photo by Giampaolo Sgura; courtesy the Karpel Group)
The new release schedule for fall is loaded with long-awaited new albums from some of the biggest stars in music. There will be plenty of new tunes to keep music fans occupied.
Today (Friday, Sept. 15) is highlighted by the latest from local favorite Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters, who unleash their ninth studio album, “Concrete and Gold,” featuring the electrifying first single “Run.”
Also out is a live album and DVD documenting Madonna’s record-breaking “Rebel Heart Tour.” Also out is the latest from new wave pioneer Gary Numan, “Savage (Songs From a Broken World),” Yusuf (formerly Cat Stevens) with “The Laughing Apple,” Swedish EDM duo Galantis are back with “The Aviary,” former Vampire Weekend mainstay Rostom will release his solo debut “Half-Light” and Metric vocalist Emily Haines is set to release her new solo album “Choir of the Mind.”
More big new releases arrive the following week, with new wave revivalists the Killers leading the way with “Wonderful Wonderful.” Also dropping Sept. 22 is “Double Dutchess,” the long-awaited second solo album by Black-Eyed Peas diva Fergie. It comes 11 years after her smash “The Duchess,” but judging from the singles so far it will be well worth the wait.
Other new albums due on the 22nd include the latest from trip-hop pioneer Tricky, “ununiform,” folk-rock legend Van Morrison with “Roll With the Punches,” goth goddess Chelsea Wolfe with “Hiss Spun,” Australian electro-pop group Cut Copy with “Haiku From Zero,” versatile R&B vocalist Ledisi with “Let Love Rule,” rapper Macklemore’s first solo album in 12 years, “Gemini,” and a live album by acclaimed lesbian guitar virtuoso Kaki King, “Live at Berklee.”
Sept. 29 is a big week for multiple generations of female artists. The legendary country icon Dolly Parton will release a children’s album, “I Believe in You,” while country-pop superstar Shania Twain is back with her first new album in 15 years, “Now.”
Demi Lovato also returns on the 29th with “Tell Me You Love Me,” featuring her platinum single “Sorry Not Sorry” and Miley Cyrus delivers her latest, “Younger Now.” British synthpop duo Hurts also have a new album on the 29th, “Desire,” including the new single “Ready to Go.”
Former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher has set his new solo album “As You Were Available” for an Oct. 6 release. Alternative rockers Wolf Parade are also back on the sixth with “Cry Cry Cry,” along with the debut album by the much-buzzed about R&B vocalist Kelela, the latest from indie-popsters Ducktails, “Jersey Devil,” the new solo effort by openly gay Bloc Party vocalist Kele Okereke, “Fatherland” and glam-rockers the Darkness with “Pinewood Smile.”
Pop superstar Pink returns Oct. 13 with her first album in five years, “Beautiful Trauma,” featuring the stunning first single “What About Us.” On the same date, critically beloved St. Vincent will deliver one of the year’s most anticipated albums with “MASSEDUCTION.” Also scheduled for the 13th are new albums by Beck, “Colors”; legendary Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, “Carry Fire”; William Patrick (aka Billy) Corgan with his collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, “Ogilala”; and an intriguing collaboration between uber-talented troubadours Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, “Lotta Sea Lice.”
Also out Oct. 13 is “The Con X: Covers,” a 10th anniversary celebration of “The Con” by openly gay sisters Tegan and Sara with all of that classic album’s songs covered by various artists.
Look for a newly remastered and expanded edition of the Smiths’ “The Queen is Dead” on Oct. 20. Originally released in 1986, it’s widely considered one of their finest efforts.
October wraps up with two of the fall’s biggest releases: Kelly Clarkson drops her latest, “Meaning of Life,” on Oct. 27, and on the same date Weezer returns with “Pacific Daydream.” The-Dream also hits on the 27th with “Love Affair,” featuring the hit single “Summer Body,” and emo-rockers the Used return with “The Canyon.”
The much-anticipated new Taylor Swift album, “Reputation,” arrives Nov. 10. Led by smash single “Look What You Made Me Do,” it’s likely to be the season’s biggest-selling release. Also hitting on the 10th is the latest from moody alt-rockers Evanescence, “Synthesis.”
Nov. 17 is highlighted by the latest from that icon of wit and misery, Morrissey, who is back with “Low in High School.” The season is capped by the long-promised “Songs of Experience” by U2, the follow-up to their outstanding 2014 release “Songs of Innocence.” Presumably, though, the new album won’t show up on everyone’s iPhone automatically, or at least we can hope.
Kanye West may (or may not) unload his latest, reportedly titled “Turbo Grafx 16,” this fall — as always, he is hard to predict. Bjork is working with acclaimed gay electronic visionary Arca on an album expected in November, with the first single called “The Gate.”
Other artists expected to release new albums this fall but have yet to announce dates include Tei Shi, Sam Smith (who just released a new single, “Too Good At Goodbyes”), Ne-Yo, Paloma Faith, Thirty Seconds to Mars, En Vogue, ‘80s heroes Tears for Fears, ‘90s rockers the Offspring, Travis Scott, Charli XCX, Barenaked Ladies, Nas, Clean Bandit, Kylie Minogue, MGMT, Sara Bareilles, Zayn, Tove Lo, Kiesza, Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey, up-and-coming rapper Kamaiyah, Marilyn Manson and a Christmas offering from one of pop’s hottest stars, Sia. Inevitably some of these will get bumped to 2018.
Other possibilities include Christina Aguilera, Vampire Weekend, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Bruce Springsteen, Sky Ferreira, Modest Mouse, Juicy J, Iggy Azalea and Violent Femmes.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”