Fans of X who saw the band at the Bowery Ballroom this past weekend probably couldn’t argue with the material that was performed onstage. After all they helped choose the songs that the group eventually played. For X’s current tour, dubbed “Total Request Live,” fans had the opportunity to pick their five favorite tunes for the band to play that night through the group’s website.

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more

It was not a very good time a few years ago for New York-based British singer and songwriter Leona Naess. Although she already established herself since her first album, 2000’s Comatised, Naess now admits that she was unhappy and lonely back then. She was seeing her friends were in relationships while she felt “all over the place.” Then she experienced tragedy in 2004 when her father, Norwegian businessman Arne Naess, Jr., died in a mountain climbing accident.

“I went back to live with my mother [in London],” Naess, who plays at Southpaw tonight with recovering heartthrob Evan Dando, recalls. “The idea of being away from home and out in that world of music can be really scary and soul-destroying, because you’re really putting yourself out there. I was like, ‘I’m done with music. Maybe I’ll go back to school.’”

This post has additional content, click on the permalink to read more.

Read more