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.
Damon Albarn's diverse, compelling career has spanned Blur, Gorillaz, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, the collaborations of Africa Express, musical theatre, his own solo work and much more. A visionary musician with a workaholic's tenacity, he's one of our FUV Essentials.
Damon Albarn (photo by Bill Ebbesen via Wikimedia)
As FUV celebrates Essential Songwriters during our 2018 Spring Membership Drive, now through April 20, we realize that every songwriter is essential to someone. As you tell us who your Essential Songwriters might be this week — and support the radio station you love — the FUV on-air staff has chosen some of the songwriters whom we personally treasure and revere.
Essential Songwriters
Jack White is a rock and roll renaissance man.
Jack White (photo by Kris Krüg)
The Decemberists is a band that has never shied away from its restless eclecticism, passion for language, bold theatricality, and fascination with the endless cycle of life and death.
The Decemberists (photo by Autumn DeWilde, PR)
Erika Wennerstrom really is a big fan of Led Zeppelin. As the iconic British band marks the 50th anniversary of its formation in 2018, she wrote up her "Five Essential Led Zeppelin Songs" for FUV.
Erika Wennerstrom (photo by Linda Beecroft)
The band marks its 50th anniversary in 2018, but don't count on a reunion. Instead enjoy Robert Plant's solo album, a new 368-page illustrated book, and plenty of celebratory Zep-releated events.
Led Zeppelin (Original photo CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
Deep in heart of Sylvan Esso's "Radio" lurks a clue to one of Amelia Meath's favorite David Bowie songs, "Blue Jean." Since Meath has already confessed to one of her most beloved Bowie tracks, FUV wondered if she had four others she might want to write about for "Five Essential David Bowie Songs" for FUV Essentials. She most certainly did!
Sylvan Esso (photo courtesy of Loma Vista, PR)
''Johnny Cash was the champion of the voiceless, the underdogs and the downtrodden. He was also something of a holy terror, like Abraham Lincoln with a wild side,'' said his friend Kris Kristofferson, at Cash's 2003 funeral. ''He represented the best of America.''
Johnny Cash (1969 Look Magazine photo by Joel Baldwin, public domain)
Lucinda Williams, a past FUV Essentials artist, considers Johnny Cash to be a touchstone in her own songwriting. Here's her "Five Essential Johnny Cash Songs" as FUV celebrates Cash as one of our Essential artists.
Lucinda Williams (photo courtesy of Thirty Tigers, PR)
NPR Slingshot artist Jade Bird dazzled with her confident 2017 debut EP, Something American. Her boisterous cover of Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere" is a joy, and for #FUVEssentials, she rounded up her "Five Essential Johnny Cash Songs."
Jade Bird (photo by Francesca Allen, PR)
