Rock 'n' Roll Grad School

Seth Neblett's book Mothership Connected is a fascinating, first-hand look inside the mothership that was Parliament Funkadelic. (As well as the side projects The Parlets, The Brides of Funkenstein and many more.) Seth tells the stories of the women who were part of this one-of-a-kind group and allows them to explain their role. It's a fascinating read and easily one of the best music books of the year.

Mothership Connected is available right now from University of Texas press.

1990's rock was an exciting time. Nevermind (no pun intended) Nirvana, what about Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, The Meat Puppets, Primus and Smashing Pumpkins?

In his new book, Greg Prato gets the full story of the era from the folks who lived it. Alternative for the Masses by Greg Prato is available right now wherever you get your books.

Nikita Lev is a singer/songrwriter who has a unique voice and style that's developing with each song and EP. Her newest EP, Suspend is available now. For more information, check out her website.

Maia Sharp is a talented singer-songwriter who just released Tomboy, her 10th album. The record is a lovely study of identity and understanding oneself. Tomboy is available now.

For more information, you can check out her website or follow her on Facebook.

The power thrash/metal band Them has a new record out that continues the story they started 5 albums ago. Where do things go from here?

For more information, you can follow the band on Facebook.

We always enjoy talking with John McCutcheon about his music and his work in helping preserve the music from the past. His new album, A Long Journey Home looks back at the 1927 Mountain City Fiddlers Convention and, looks at how music (and society) has changed 100 years ago. It's a fascinating album and a fascinating conversation.

For more information, check out John's website.

With Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl out, we thought it a good time to explore what has come before with two experts- Kase Wickman and Moira McAvoy, co-authors (with Joanna Weiss), authors of Taylor Swift: Album by Album, available from Motorbooks wherever you get your books on October 10th.

Two great voices have teamed up for a fun new cover. Steelheart's Mili & Jeff from Tesla have combined their forces to tackle the classic "I Just Want to Make Love to You." We try our best to pin these two down and talk about positivity and the joy of music. 

"I Just Want to Make Love to You" is available to stream everywhere, Friday, October 3rd. For more information, check out Steelheart's website.

Wayne Gerard has spent a lifetime following his musical sensibilities and that has led him to playing as a member of Don Was' Pan Detroit Ensemble, a fascinating mixture of jazz and rock. Their debut album, Groove in the Face of Adversity is available October 10th.

For more information and for tour dates, check out Don's website. (You can also follow Wayne on Instagram.)

Frank Hannon is best known as the guitarist and co-founder of the band Tesla. But he's also a solo artist and his newest record, Reflections is available right now. We talk to Frank about writing, guitar and we get a little concert too! 

For more information or to order your copy of the record, check out Frank's website.