So many variables determine what makes an artist or band “essential” — longevity, impact, influence, history. On-air and online, we celebrate the musicians who have shaped our cultural soundtrack for the past fifty years. Let’s love these FUV Essential artists while they’re here, and honor those who have departed too soon.
Friend and co-member of The Both, Ted Leo, has written an affectionate assessment of his "Five Essential Aimee Mann Songs" for FUV Essentials. (Okay, there might be more than five).
Ted Leo (photo by Matias Corral, PR)
Trombone Shorty, the New Orleans musician and producer Troy Andrews, toured with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Hall & Oates in 2016. Andrews' choices of "Five Essential Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Songs" are his memories of that life-affirming time.
Trombone Shorty (photo by Mathieu Bitton)
We celebrate great artists as our FUV Essentials, and we thank WFUV Members for making it possible with their essential support.
Our FUV Essentials... include you. (illustrations by Andy Friedman)
Producer Tucker Martine leant his ears and insight to "Five Essential My Morning Jacket Songs" for FUV Essentials.
Tucker Martine (second from the left) and My Morning Jacket near Stinson Beach during the recording sessions for 'The Waterfall' (photo by Danny Clinch, from Martine's own collection).
It's not a surprise that an artist with the range of Jim James would be a Neil Young fan.
Jim James (photo by Neil Krug/PR)
Lumineers' drummer and multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah Fraites weighs in with his "Five Essential U2 Songs" after a season of opening for the Irish quartet.
The Lumineers, left to right: Jeremiah Fraites, Wesley Schultz and Neyla Pekarek (photo by Big Hassle, PR)
Singer-songwriter-producer Son Little casts his eye on "Five Essential Albums" from Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers, and writes about the music that changed his life.
Son Little (photo by Marc Lemoine, PR)
Jon Batiste, a lifelong admirer of Mavis and Pops Staples and the Staple Singers, kindly wrote a "love riot" of his "Five Essential Mavis and Pop Staples Songs" for FUV Essentials.
Jon Batiste (photo by Sasha Israel, PR)
The music that Sam Beam has been making for the past 15 years as Iron & Wine is born of a multitude of traditions — Southern blues, jazz, folk, gospel, bluegrass, country and more. The elemental core of his artistry is visceral, tender and wise, like something mined from the earth, and with every year, it has developed character, boldness, sweetness, and a refined complexity. Iron & Wine's Sam Beam is one of our FUV Essentials.
Sam Beam of Iron & Wine (illustration by Andy Friedman)
Nobody tells Neil Young what to do. Famously headstrong and opinionated, the determination that drove him to change gears so many times in his career is the very thing that made him a world-famous musician in the first place. For his triumph over adversity, his steely vision, his sweet heart, and for the sweat and tears he put into becoming a transcendent artist, Neil Young is one of our FUV Essentials.
Neil Young (illustration by Andy Friedman)
