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After three studio albums and one charity album featuring covers of songs by Georgia artists following President Joe Biden’s 2020 election, Jason Isbell is back to playing on his own. Out today via his own independent label Southeastern, Foxes in the Snow is Isbell’s first solo album without his supremely talented band the 400 Unit in a decade.
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The 11-track set is return to a more acoustic sound that places an acoustic guitar and Isbell’s soulful voice at the foreground as he grapples with death, love and everything Tennessee. The album is his first since filing for divorce from his longtime wife, 400 Unit member and solo musician Amanda Shires at the end of 2023. And, in true Jason Isbell fashion, Foxes in the Snow does not stray away from addressing difficult issues.
With more than 20 years as a professional musician – first as a member of the Drive-By Truckers and then as a solo artist and with the 400 Unit – Isbell has used his music to publicly grapple with everything from his poor behavior to getting sober and being a dad. For this latest album, he tackles the end of a relationship, his continued belief in commitment and how it all impacts those his old love songs.
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How did you decide it was time for a solo album instead of one with the 400 Unit?
It had more to do with challenging myself to do something different than anything else. I’m 46 [year-old] and I’ve been making records since I was 22 and I didn’t want to keep doing the same thing over and over again.
Making another full band, fully produced sort of rock album didn’t feel like the right thing to me right now either. We did such a good job on [our last album] Weathervanes and I didn’t want to keep trying to do a different version of the same thing.
Foxes In the Snow is very much not a full band album. It’s bare bones in comparison.
Especially with [2013 album] Southeastern, Dave Cobb and I were trying really hard to demonstrate song first and make the song the center of everything. I still try to do that when I am in the studio, but I feel like it’s not as impactful sometimes as it is when you just strip everything away. I like reminding people of the old work.
Lyrically, I was trying to push myself on this record. When I am pushing, I am attempting to grow. More often than not that will come out as something else that I need to ignore. Originally, it was “ignore the size of the audience,” because I was playing to rooms that were really small and sometimes they weren’t full. Then it was “ignore the critics,” because they weren’t always getting what I was doing. Rolling Stone, Pitchfork – they didn’t like Southeastern. Then it was “ignore the record sales,” because the number of records that people sell is so significantly big.
What were you trying to ignore with this album?
Now, in a lot of ways, what I was trying to ignore were the expectations of songwriting craft. I’m not here to impress anybody. I don’t have anything to prove. If you want a witty songwriter and a bunch of metaphors and stuff like that, fine. We can do that, but that’s not serving the point. The point for me is that I needed to express the way I felt in these songs. And sometimes I don’t feel metaphors. Sometimes, I feel straight up emotions just like everybody else.
Did you feel the need to put boundaries on anything you wrote for this album?
I normally do the opposite of that. If something’s uncomfortable, I force myself to keep it in the song. The trick to that is going in without bitterness and going in without any kind of maudlin demonstrations of emotion. There’s a big difference between feeling a certain way and demonstrating a certain feeling. The former is always allowed. Everybody in the world is allowed to feel however they need to feel at all times. But when that turns into action, then it becomes manipulative. When you’re using those emotions to fuel the way you act in order to make other people feel a certain way, then you’re weakening your position as a narrator.
This wouldn’t be a Jason Isbell album without some emotional intensity, and it certainly gets heavy in the middle with tracks like “Gravelweed” and “Eileen.” But it ends on a lighter note with the lovely “Wind Behind the Rain.”
I wrote [that song] for my little brother and his wife when they got married. She came to me and asked if I would write them a first dance song. Nobody’s ever asked me that before and I thought, that’s so bold. But since you asked, I’m going to do it.
I was really nervous. It’s crazy. I was more that day than I would be at Red Rocks [Amphitheatre] or something, because of how much it meant to them. Then it wound up making the record. I felt like it ended on a very hopeful note. I want people to understand that I believe there’s still always a reason to commit to something. Whether it’s a person or a belief or a way of life. The process of committing yourself I so much more valuable than how it turns out.
That was incredibly brave of your brother and now sister-in-law. You’ve very good at writing sad songs.
I know. She could have gotten herself in a bind with that if I’d written a traditional song of my own. It would have been bad.
Did they hear the song before you sang it on their wedding day?
No. Nobody did. I just got up and sang it while they were dancing their first dance. I wasn’t gonna get halfway through the song and be like, “and then she died of cancer.” [Laughs.] But if anybody ever asks me to do that again though, it’s fair game. I played along the first time. This time, I’m pulling some s–t.
You’ve created a lot of beautiful love songs throughout your career that fans have glommed onto. Then on track “Gravelweed” you sing, “And now that I live to see my melodies betray me/ I’m sorry the love songs all mean different things today.” Are you apologizing to yourself? Fans?
That’s a good question. Why not both? It doesn’t say that the songs don’t mean anything. It’s just they mean different things. Once you finish a song, you turn it loose out in the world. It’s not really yours anymore. It belongs to the people that connect with it. It’s still yours in that you carry it with you and you get to revisit it and perform it every night if you want. You get to see it grow and change over the course of performing it. But if you’re too precious about the meaning, you’re going to limit yourself and your audience in the long run.
My life changes. And out of the changes that I’ve made in the last year and a half – ending a long-term relationship – the only thing to me that was confusing about that is what’s going to happen with these songs. After I went out and performed them again, I saw exactly what was going to happen. They were going to continue to mean the same thing for some people and they were going to take on different meanings for other people. Some of them were going to collect a little bit of irony, a little bit of bittersweetness. But the songs were still going to have an impact on me and on the people who heard them.
Looking back to your older work – Southeastern was certified gold by the RIAA earlier this week, which is a first gold certification for you.
How exciting is that! On our own little independent record label. It’s pretty crazy. I never thought that would happen. I remember when that Civil Wars record went gold and it was on their own independent label. I remember thinking, that was amazing. I’ve never heard of such a thing. To me, it reflects, if you’re lucky and you work pretty hard, the idea that there are different avenues, different ways to be successful in the music business now. Also, I’m so grateful to the audience for listening to the record and consuming the record like that.
Right now, you’re playing a string of solo shows, singing mostly new tracks about your divorce and other intimate things. How do these shows compare to your full-band gigs?
I’ve been really grateful for the type of audience that I have. At first, it was a little bit scary emotionally but also mechanically. But the audience has been great. When it works and everybody’s paying attention and nobody’s got their phone out, they’re all listening to what you’re doing – you feel like you can control every single corner, every space in the room.
If you’re playing solo like that, you’re steering a motorcycle rather than a cruise ship. When you’ve got a full band up there, you don’t get to interact with time. You can interact with the volume. There are times in the solo set when I can speed songs up and slow them down intentionally, just to control an extra level of the dynamics. I can do that in a split second, whereas with the band, it takes a few beats. If I am up there by myself, I can move with a lot of precision. You just have to turn off the part of your brain that’s yelling, “Don’t screw this up.”
You recently rescheduled a few of those shows because you didn’t want to miss your daughter’s performances.
Yeah, it’s Frozen Junior. She’s Anna in Frozen Junior. She’s killing it. She’s doing really well. It’s great because she was shy to sing in front of people until this and now she’s walking around singing in front of everybody.
[The school] doesn’t tell you the dates of the performances. We book our shows a year in advance and I didn’t know the dates. As soon as they gave me the dates, I thought, I’m going to have to reschedule the shows. I hated to do it after people had already made plans, but some things are more important.
Diplo, Poolside, DRAMA, Noizu, SIDEPIECE, Aluna and more are coming together to perform at Live From Los Angeles: A Fire Relief Benefit on March 16.
All proceeds from the benefit concert, which will be held from 12 p.m.-10 p.m. at Aviator Nation Dreamland in Malibu, will be donated to MusiCares’ Fire Relief Efforts, which provides financial aid, emergency care, and mental health resources to those impacted by the L.A. wildfires. The day-long concert will also host and honor firefighters and frontline workers during the show.
Live From Los Angeles — produced by Warner Bailey, creator of Assistants vs. Agents, and James Raj, founder of Afters Club — is the latest of many fire relief efforts that highlight LA’s vibrant arts community. On January 30, just weeks after fires broke out in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, stars like Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, Stevie Nicks took the stage at FireAid at The Forum and Intuit Dome.
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Then, the Recording Academy pivoted their week of programming around the Grammys to center on relief efforts for affected families, raising millions in the process. Other projects like California Picture Project, which is selling prints from top photographers now through March 9, were also launched to continue to raise money and awareness for fire victims online.
The full lineup for Live From Los Angeles includes DJ sets from Diplo, Poolside, Noizu, SIDEPIECE, DRAMA, Noizu, Night Tales, Phantoms, STARRZA, Leisan, Londen Summers, STRAWBRY and Felipe Silva. Even more artists are set to be announced.
To expand its reach to those who can’t be there in person, Live From Los Angeles will also be available via livestream for free. It will be rebroadcast for 24 hours globally through an exclusive partnership with YouTube.
For tickets and more information, visit livefromlosangeles.com.
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Lady Gaga creates glorious chaos, JENNIE steps into the spotlight and Doechii revisits an old hit for a new single. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Lady Gaga, Mayhem
“I’ve seen Little Monsters be so amazing for almost 20 years. I haven’t seen us like this in a long time,” Lady Gaga told Billboard regarding recent fan enthusiasm online. Their excitement is understandable: Mayhem, Gaga’s long-awaited new album, centers big, brash hooks with the same propulsion of her Fame Monster days, while also mixing in industrial music, disco-funk and synth-rock to her pop approach. If you’ve been a longtime fan or simply want a handful of new bangers to add to your playlists, you’re going to put your paws up to Mayhem.
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JENNIE, RUBY
The extended rollout of BLACKPINK solo projects ends with a bang: RUBY, the debut album from JENNIE, is a pop tour de force, with the K-pop star pulling in an eclectic mix of guest artists and producers — Dua Lipa and Doechii for front-half anthems “Handlebars” and “ExtraL,” for instance, while Mike WiLL Made-It helms four crackling songs on the second half — and convincingly playing the role of the magnetic, effortlessly cool global star.
Doechii, “Anxiety”
The societal anxieties of 2012 might feel quaint compared to those of today, but Doechii has reworked one of that year’s biggest hits, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” into “Anxiety,” which translates the nervous energy of its foundation into a perusal of the rap star’s claustrophobic thoughts (“Can’t shake it off of me / Somebody’s watching me, and my anxiety”).
J-Hope feat. Miguel, “Sweet Dreams”
Speaking of 2012, anyone who fondly remembers Miguel’s Kaleidoscope Dream era will latch onto “Sweet Dreams,” in which BTS star J-Hope brings in the R&B veteran to concoct something rhythmic, romantic and instantly likable, the gentle synths and dueling vocal tones creating a pillowy bedrock for the potential hit.
GELO feat. GloRilla, “Can You Please”
GELO’s “Tweaker” was the sort of viral sensation that results in multiple remixes and a lucrative label deal; “Can You Please,” then, is the high-stakes follow-up, which relies on an always-great guest star, GloRilla, to help stick the landing and prolong momentum. Fortunately, “Can You Please” is as audacious as its predecessor, with GELO’s rumbling flow halting to elongate melodies and emphasize the best one-liners.
TobyMac, Heaven on My Mind
The snappy title track to Heaven on My Mind, which kicks off TobyMac’s ninth studio album, immediately establishes that the project will be a sunnier affair than the singer-songwriter’s last release, 2022’s Life After Death, which followed the tragic passing of his son; indeed, Heaven on My Mind finds the Christian Airplay mainstay uplifting over quicker tempos, while still taking space to process complex emotions.
Tiago PZK, Gotti B
The fact that Teddy Swims is featured on “Sometimes,” the waltzing focus track of Tiago PZK’s new EP, may help the Argentine superstar bring in some new fans from North America, but as a whole, Gotti B extends Tiago’s appeal, with his elastic delivery guiding the 7-song project through dance tempos and slower movements.
Editor’s Pick: SASAMI, Blood on the Silver Screen
After 2022’s Squeeze established SASAMI as an exciting indie-pop singer and producer, Blood on the Silver Screen turns up the volume on every aspect of her persona, and features the strongest songwriting of her career. “I’ll Be Gone,” “Slugger” and the Clairo team-up “In Love With a Memory” are early highlights, but SASAMI’s latest is a widescreen thrill, and deserves to be experienced in full.
Lady Gaga may now be causing mayhem in pop music, but what she’s really looking forward to is the peace of starting a family with fiancé Michael Polansky.
In an interview with Good Morning America that aired Friday (March 7) — the same day the superstar’s album Mayhem finally dropped — Gaga opened up about how she wanted “marriage and kids more than anything” before meeting the tech businessman in 2019. “We’d been talking for, like, three weeks on the phone every single day just getting to know each other, and Michael flew to Vegas when I was doing my show to take me on our first date,” she recalled.
“And before we even sat down, I said, ‘Do you want marriage and kids?’” she continued. “And he goes, ‘Yeah I do.’ And I said, ‘Yeah OK, great. Do you want some champagne?’”
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The 14-time Grammy winner added, “I wanted him to know that I was a family girl.”
Gaga and Polansky had been dating for about four years when they got engaged in April 2024. The “Die With a Smile” singer has been open in the past about how she’s ready to welcome children into the mix, telling Elle in January that she envisions her near future being centered around “me and Michael and our kids.”
“That’s something Michael and I have talked about a lot — allowing our kids to be their own people,” she added at the time. “It’s such an intense thing for kids coming into the world. And they’re told how to think and what to believe in and how to eat … I just kind of want to let my kids find out who they are.”
For now, the A Star Is Born actress is focused on planning their wedding — “You know what? It’s … it’s going,” she told GMA of the process — and sticking the landing with Mayhem, which Polansky was also heavily involved in. The entrepreneur is credited as a songwriter on several of the songs, and Gaga previously said that he was the one who encouraged her to return to her dance-pop roots on the LP.
“He just loves the whole me,” she told GMA. “We do a lot together. He includes me in his business as well. He’s really creative, he plays guitar — he’s like a beautiful musician. We have a really creative relationship.”
Gaga added, “My album’s called Mayhem, but it’s also nice to be in the mayhem with someone else.”
Watch her Good Morning America interview above.
John Morgan’s “Friends Like That,” featuring Jason Aldean, hits the top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated March 15), rising two spots to No. 10. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news During the Feb. 28-March 6 tracking week, the single advanced by 6% to 16.8 million audience […]
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NYPD Detective Melissa Mercado just set the internet on fire after popping up in a music video, showing off some impressive pole-dancing moves.
Mercado, who’s been on the force for seven years and works in the Bronx’s Special Victims Unit, made a surprise appearance in rapper S-Quire’s video for “Doin’ That”
NYPD detective Melissa Mercado is under fire & facing backlash after pole dancing in a rap video, and people are now calling for the 7 year detective to lose her job 👀😳 pic.twitter.com/FsMTDWpGqH
— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) March 6, 2025
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Dressed in only a thong and revealing bra, she’s seen working the pole like a pro, leaving people both shocked and impressed. Now, the streets and social media are buzzing, wondering if Mercado’s side hustle is gonna cost her that NYPD badge. “I’m at a loss for words,” one fellow detective reportedly said, echoing the sentiment of many. Some folks feel like what she does off the clock ain’t nobody’s business, while others think it’s a bad look for a cop—especially one handling sensitive cases in the SVU.
With the video making the rounds, the big question is: Will the NYPD take action, or will they let Detective Mercado keep doing her thing? So far, the department hasn’t made a statement, but the controversy is only getting bigger. Whether she’s keeping her job or not, one thing’s for sure—Melissa Mercado just went from NYPD to viral sensation overnight.
Benmont Tench says that “life” is the reason for the 11-year gap between his two solo albums.
With The Melancholy Season out Friday (March 7), the keyboardist says that a heavy work load with both Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch kept him busy during the interim (both groups toured and released what turned out to be their final albums in the period). A nearly decade-long battle with oral cancer (which included jaw reconstruction during 2023), Petty’s death in 2017, and the birth of Tench’s first daughter, Catherine, shortly after that — not to mention the pandemic — also contributed to the gap between works.
“Life got in the way of making another record,” Tench, 71, tells Billboard via Zoom from his home in Los Feliz, Calif. Already an A-list session player, he also filled some of the time after Petty’s passing playing for Ringo Starr, Jenny Lewis, Chris Stapleton, the Who and the Rolling Stones and was recently part of the Life Is a Carnival all-star tribute tour to The Band. “I would love to have made it sooner,” he says of The Melancholy Season. But, with the benefit of some perspective, he’s glad he didn’t.
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“I made a better record because I didn’t make it right away,” explains Tench, who had much of album’s songs written by, he estimates, the end of 2018 and recorded it with producer Jonathan Wilson (Dawes, Father John Misty, Margo Price) during 2020 and 2021. Unlike 2014’s Glyn Johns-produced You Should Be So Lucky, which was recorded in just 13 days, Tench lived with The Melancholy Season — to its benefit, he feels.
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“I kept fine-tuning and thinking, ‘oh no, no, no, that’s all wrong. It should be this,’” he explains. “It was great to have that opportunity. I could sit with the imagery in some songs and I could check to make sure that I said things the way I wanted do.”
The Melancholy Season’s 13 songs — whether the elegiac title track or the stripped-down “Under the Starlight,” the striding, boogie-styled “Rattle” or the more dramatically arranged “Pledge” and “The Drivin’ Man” — all share a spare and spacious sensibility. The songs are played mostly by Tench, Wilson on guitars and drums and Sebastian Steinberg on bass, with appearances by Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith and Jenny O and, on the closing track “Dallas,” Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins, who was part of the musical community at Los Angeles’ Largo that Tench has frequented.
“I like records with a lot of space,” says Tench, citing a lesson he learned from original Heartbreakers producer Denny Cordell while making the band’s first two albums during the ‘70s. “Denny said early on that a record is louder if it has fewer instruments. A song like ‘Breakdown’ has more layers than you would think, but the essence of the song is the guitar riff and the Wurlitzer (piano) riff. There are other layers, but there’s a lot of room in ‘Breakdown.’” Additionally, Tench says he was “profoundly affected” by Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding and John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band albums. “Each of those is, for the most part, three musicians and three instruments,” Tench explains. “They’re just a songwriter with the instruments he wrote the songs on, plus bass and drums, and they are complete.
“I think it’s great if you have a wall of sound and you do it well. There are fantastic records that use a lot of instruments; the Beatles did a lot of those. There’s Motown, of course. There’s what Brian (Wilson) did, what Phil Spector did… All of these things, and they’re wonderful. But there’s also a way to use fewer instruments and be just as effective. That’s what we did on this record; there were some songs we cut with more (instrumentation) and pulled them back to make (the songs) better.”
Tench dipped into his deeper past for a couple tracks, too. “Wobbles” was an instrumental on You Should Be So Lucky, which Tench sub-titled “Trio with Vocal Arrangement” for the new album. “Under the Starlight,” meanwhile, dates back a good 20 years to a Nashville songwriting session with Don Henry and was never released.
“I dug it and we set it aside and I went home, and years went by and I didn’t think about it,” Tench says. “And then maybe eight years ago I went, ‘What about “Under the Starlight”?’ And I didn’t want to bother Don, so I thought, ‘Lemme see if some words come up.’ I had a whisper of an inkling of what I wanted to talk about that I understood better ’cause I’ve lived a lot longer and been through a lot more and began to see how to do it.
“I got in touch with Don Henry and said, ‘Hey, I finished that song we started.’ He said, ‘That’s nice, but what do you mean finished? We finished it that day.’ (laughs) We wrote the complete song and I spaced out somehow. He sent me the lyrics that we’d originally finished and they were really good, but they made a different point. I hope somebody records it that, way, too.”
The Melancholy Season is being released by Dark Horse Records, the label the late George Harrison started in 1974 and that’s being continued by his widow, Olivia, and son Dhani. “It means a hell of a lot,” notes Tench, a teenage Beatles fan who met Harrison (who worked with Petty in the Traveling Wilburys) several times. “It’s got his vibe and it’s got their vibe, which is like amplifying George’s vibe. For them to believe in this record and want to put it out means quite a lot to me. I’ve had a blessed life in a million ways — and I intend to keep it going.”
That includes on the road as well. Tench previewed The Melancholy Season during a solo residency at the Cafe Carlyle in New York last month, and he has West Coast dates starting March 12. He hopes to hit more of the country as well.
“It’ll be smaller venues because it’s just me with a piano, and I think that the songs come across best that way,” Tench says. “For me, I don’t really ‘get’ it until I see somebody do it live, so I want to drag it around, and if anybody shows up out of curiosity or because they like what I do, or because they like the Heartbreakers, it’ll give them a chance to see what they think up close.”
Tench has “a few sketches” of other songs he’s been working on but isn’t yet focusing on a next album. It’s quite likely his playing will show up on another Petty and Heartbreakers archival set, however, and Tench — who was part of Mudcrutch first, which then morphed into the Heartbreakers during 1976 — says he’s been pleased with how that musical legacy has been handled, primarily by Petty’s daughter Adria along with Ryan Ulyate and guitarist Mike Campbell.
“I’m very happy because I don’t think (Petty) would release so much of this,” says Tench, who’s read parts of Campbell’s book Heartbreaker: A Memoir, that’s coming out March 18 and is waiting for the audio version. “They still keep me in the loop but it’s mainly Adria and Ryan who are going through everything, and I love what they’re finding. Songs that I don’t remember but, ‘Oh, yeah, I loved that song. How come we left that off?’ It isn’t inferior stuff; it’s stuff that I think, if you like the band and wish you could’ve heard more, there’s more, and it’s good. And if you haven’t heard much of the band, it’s a good way to check it out. I think they’re doing a great job.”
Tench’s upcoming concert itinerary includes:
March 12—Los Angeles, CA—Largo
March 19—Los Angeles, CA—Largo
April 2—Ojai, CA—Ojai Playhouse
April 4—Santa Cruz, CA—Kuumbwa
April 5—San Francisco, CA—The Independent
April 8—Seattle, WA—Triple Door
April 9—Portland, OR—Old Church
April 11—Grass Valley, CA—Center for the Arts
April 12—Sonoma, CA—Sebastiani Theatre
For my own music, I really like to have endless possibilities,” Spiritbox leader Courtney LaPlante says. The singer believes the metal world is too preoccupied with subgenres — helpful for listeners looking for distinct flavors of heavy music but constricting for acts that want to scribble outside their assigned hard rock lines.
LaPlante says other genres aren’t quite as strict: “Look at the first few records that Doechii made and then look at the next three — there are a lot of polar opposites,” she says. “I feel like there’s a drive for artists for each album or body of work to be its own thing.”
Although Spiritbox trades in modern metalcore, the Canadian quartet has become one of the biggest new hard rock acts of the decade by reaching beyond its sonic boundaries: On its 2021 debut, Eternal Blue, which has earned 230,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate, the band supplemented bone-crunching riffs with hints of synth-pop, prog rock and R&B. The 36-year-old LaPlante, who’s adept at guttural screaming as well as soulful crooning, drives that diverse palette.
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“She’s an encyclopedia of music in general,” says Mike Stringer, Spiritbox’s guitarist and LaPlante’s husband, a few minutes before LaPlante gushes about the latest FKA twigs album and Kate Bush’s back catalog. “We’ve always had this open-door policy of, ‘If we enjoy it and it’s catchy, we’ll probably release it.’ ”
Tsunami Sea, the band’s long-awaited second album, does indeed feature some of its biggest hooks to date as well as some of the group’s most thrash-ready moments, often in the same song. Released March 7 on Pale Chord/Rise Records, the album arrives on a wave of hype, with two consecutive Grammy Award nods for best metal performance and all three of the album’s prerelease tracks — the blistering “Soft Spine,” melodic “Perfect Soul” and electro-tinged “No Loss, No Love” — cracking the top 20 of Hot Hard Rock Songs.
The act opened for bands like Korn, Shinedown and Papa Roach over the past two years but was also tapped by Megan Thee Stallion to remix her song “Cobra” in 2023. Most importantly, manager Jason Mageau says, “They’ve spent the past few years figuring out who they are.”
Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox performs at Alexandra Palace on Feb. 13, 2025 in London.
Alex Bemis
Rising from the ashes of metal group Iwrestledabearonce in 2017, Spiritbox — whose lineup also includes bassist Josh Gilbert and drummer Zev Rosenberg — spent its first four years weathering personnel changes and gathering early singles for EP releases. While the 2020 singles “Blessed Be” and “Holy Roller” went viral online, the pandemic upended the rollout for Eternal Blue, including touring. “At that moment in time, they had played under 10 shows together,” Mageau says. “So we really took our time building that live show, taking some support opportunities and learning from them.”
Spiritbox released two more EPs, 2022’s Rotoscope and 2023’s The Fear of Fear, to tide over fans who were eager for new material as the band played hard rock tours and festivals. Tsunami Sea took roughly two years to write and complete during gaps in that touring schedule, with 30 song ideas whittled down to the most cohesive 11-track project the group could make.
“It was a very intense process near the end, but I think I had a lot more fun writing for this record than I did Eternal Blue,” Stringer says, “and I feel like it has more of an identity to it.” Because the album follows a more extensive touring history, Spiritbox finished the new songs with a better understanding of how they might translate onstage and more consideration of LaPlante’s live vocals. “We know ourselves musically, as we’re getting older and discovering more about what we can actually achieve,” she says. “For the first time now, when we write stuff, I feel confident. It [only] took 20 years.”
LaPlante
Alex Bemis
After performing some prerelease shows in Europe, Spiritbox will begin a spring global headlining tour on April 3 in Dallas and then join Linkin Park for select stadium shows in the summer. When asked about commercial goals for Tsunami Sea — considering that Eternal Blue peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, its follow-up could become the band’s first 10 entry — Mageau shrugs off anything empirical.
“I really want them to just be themselves. They’ve been a support band for two years — let’s show them what we’re made of,” he says. “It’s been all about finding new areas to insert our band into mainstream conversations and try to bring more women into the space, too. When this band first started, the female listenership on Spotify would be, like, 10%. Now we’re in the 30% range of women listening to the band, and [LaPlante] wants that to increase even more.”
For her part, LaPlante says that being among the fast-rising women in metal is a galvanizing force for a band trying to turn its expanding audiences into safe spaces. “I love the fact that I see all different ages and genders at our shows and kids presenting in any way they want,” she says. “They’re not there because I’m a woman and they’re not there despite me being a woman. They all just heard our siren call and we found each other.”
This story appears in the March 8, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Welcome to the latest Executive Turntable, Billboard’s weekly compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across the music business. There’s a full slate of personnel news this week, so let’s get started.
John Trimble, the longtime chief advertising revenue officer of SiriusXM — and Pandora before that — announced his departure after 16 years at the satellite/digital radio giant. Reflecting on his journey, he highlighted the twists and turns of his tenure, from Pandora’s start-up phase in the late aughts to its public offering and integration into SiriusXM in 2019. “Each step was defined by the risk-takers, colleagues who were truly teammates, and teammates who became friends,” he said on LinkedIn. “We built a high quality and sustainable revenue organization that can withstand the ups, downs and twists of crazy ad markets while being an integral part of the digital audio market.” Trimble, who lasted through seven CEOs and Pandora’s acquisition by SiriusXM, said he felt the company is in good hands and that it’s “time to go chase my growing bucket list.” Trimble joined Pandora in 2009 following stints at Glam Media and Fox Interactive. His successor as CARO is Scott Walker, previously the senior vp of the SiriusXM-owned ad platform AdsWizz. In a chat with Adweek this week, Walker said he aims to expand the company’s reach and improve its measurement and attribution capabilities.
Adrian Pope is the new executive vice president of digital business and global partner relations at Virgin Music Group. Based in London, he will connect VMG with its independent clients and digital partners globally. Pope previously served as chief digital officer at [PIAS] and managing director of its distribution and services business [Integral], collaborating with top indie labels and artists. He was instrumental in integrating [Integral] into Virgin following Universal Music Group’s acquisition of [PIAS] in 2024. With over 20 years in the digital music industry, Pope’s experience includes roles at Music Week and consultancy Understanding & Solutions. JT Myers, co-CEO of Virgin Music Group, praised Pope’s contributions to both [PIAS] and [Integral]. “We know his relationships and expertise will be important in our continued growth and success around the world and are grateful to have him play a key role on Virgin’s global leadership team,” said Myers.
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Jordan Fasbender, executive vp, chief legal officer and secretary of iHeartMedia, announced this week that she’ll resign by the end of the month to take a position outside the company. According to a new SEC filing, her resignation is not due to any disagreement with the company. The NYC-based legal executive joined iHeartMedia in mid-2019 as deputy general counsel and rose to her current role in November 2024 after signing new agreement extending her role through at least 2026. She previously served as senior vp and associate general counsel at 21st Century Fox and began her career as an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Fabender’s replacement has not been announced, nor has she said where she’s headed next.
BMG is merging its Sync and Production Music teams into a unified global Sync Services structure to streamline operations and enhance services for clients in TV, film, advertising, gaming and tech. As part of this restructuring, Amberly Crouse-Knox and Scott Doran have been appointed senior vice presidents of Sync Services & Partnerships. Crouse-Knox will oversee North America and Latin America from Los Angeles, while Doran will lead UK and Asia-Pacific from London. Both will report to Johannes von Schwarzkopf, BMG’s chief strategy officer, and join Allegra Willis Knerr and Caspar Kedros in the global sync leadership team. Crouse-Knox has been with BMG since 2014, playing a key role in integrating X-Ray Dog Music. Doran, who joined in 2016, previously co-owned Altitude Music. This restructuring aims to strengthen the bridge between creators and clients, matching catalog cuts with impactful opportunities.
SharpTone Records appointed Jackie Andersen as its new head of label, succeeding Shawn Keith. With over 20 years in the industry and five years at SharpTone, Andersen has played a key role in the label’s growth. Her background in artist management has helped create supportive environments for musicians. She says “our commitment to empowering artists and connecting fans with cutting-edge music remains stronger than ever.” As part of the transition, Sal Torres has been promoted to head of A&R, bringing experience from Hopeless and Fearless Records. Founded in 2016, SharpTone, under the Nuclear Blast and Believe umbrella, continues to evolve. Nuclear Blast CEO Marcus Hammer and Believe Germany’s Managing Director Thorsten Freese praised Andersen’s vision, with Freese highlighting her “vision and expertise will foster even greater synergies across our network, allowing SharpTone to capitalize on Believe’s unique distribution, and audience development capabilities and global presence.”
Jody Williams Songs (JWS) promoted Nina Jenkins Fisher to vp/general manager and Tenasie Courtright to creative director. Fisher, with JWS since its inception in 2020, has signed and managed a diverse group of writers, including developing and major label artists, writer-producers and songwriters. She also oversees the company’s partnership with Warner Chappell Music. Courtright joined JWS in 2022 as creative coordinator and was later elevated to creative manager. Under Fisher’s supervision, Courtright now plays a key role within the company. JWS represents songwriters such as Andy Austin, Ashley McBryde and Vince Gill, and is a joint venture with Warner Chappell Music. Founder Jody Williams praised Fisher’s leadership in helping her launch the company from scratch and called Courtright an “innate communicator” who “offers creative ideas and solutions like a seasoned pro.”
Lauren Kilgore joined Sony Music Nashville and Provident Entertainment as senior vp of legal and business affairs. In this role, effective immediately, she oversees legal activities for both labels and collabs with business leaders to develop and implement legal, business and operational strategies. Kilgore reports to Taylor Lindsey, chair & CEO of Sony Music Nashville, and Ken Robold, president and COO. Recognized as one of Billboard‘s top music lawyers, Kilgore has spent her entire legal career in Nashville. She most recently served as a shareholder at Buchalter, where she handled various transactional entertainment matters.
Shore Fire Media promoted Chris Brudzinski to senior vp of business affairs and Dan Mansen to business operations specialist, reflecting the company’s growth since joining the Dolphin collective of marketing companies. Brudzinski, with 26 years at Shore Fire, will continue reporting to founder/CEO Marilyn Laverty. His role has expanded since joining as office manager in 1998 to include business development, accounting and human resources. He played a key role in adapting accounting practices after Shore Fire became a Dolphin subsidiary, collaborating with Dolphin CFO Mirta Negrini and overseeing a 50% increase in staff. Mansen, who started as mailroom coordinator in 2016, advanced to assist Brudzinski and became office manager in 2022. He led return-to-office procedures post-pandemic and managed Brooklyn HQ operations. In his new role, he’ll oversee accounts payable, sales order entry, and monthly accounting closings.
Global concert promoter Peachtree Entertainment added Marty Elliott as vp of university relations, and Andrew Goldberg as vp of strategic partnerships. Elliott has over 27 years of experience in venue management, business development and booking. Goldberg has previously held roles at Danny Wimmer Presents, Live Nation and Vinik Sports Group. –Jessica Nicholson
Musicians On Call, which brings music to the bedsides of patients in health care facilities, announced 11 internal promotions. Katy Epley is now chief operating officer, Elizabeth Black is senior vp of operations, and Nicole Rivera is vp of innovation. Other promotions include PJ Cowan (director of programs), Tarah Duarte (director of corporate partnerships), Melinda LaFollette (director of PR and events), Alli Prestby (creative director), Torianne Valdez (director of artist relations), Audrey Jadwisiak (senior program manager), Lia Okenkova (senior development manager) and Sasha Arnkoff (program manager).
NASHVILLE NOTES: Rachel Whitney is taking a sabbatical from her role as Spotify‘s head of editorial in Nashville, the company confirmed … Capitol Christian Music Group senior vp of A&R Josh Bailey left the company with plans to create his own firm involving both Christian and country music … Hsquared Management expanded its team with Kimberly Hopkins, who will serve as the day-to-day manager for Provident Label Group artist Lizzie Morgan and other clients.
New music streaming platform HIO is launching with an artist-first model designed to ensure a transparent path to compensation. Unlike traditional platforms, HIO’s per-user engagement model pays artists directly based on individual listener activity. HIO is led by CEO and founder Ryder Havdale, an indie label executive and musician, who envisioned the platform as an alternative to legacy streaming services. Arthur Falls, chief marketing officer, brings expertise from DFINITY Foundation and ConsenSys, while Galen Hogg, product lead, is a music industry veteran and NFT entrepreneur. The artist outreach team includes musician Eamon McGrath and Sheila Roberts, former director of marketing for PUMA Canada. “This isn’t about unpacking what traditional streaming services do or don’t do—it’s about proving there’s a better way,” said Havdale. “We built HIO because we believe artists deserve transparency, real engagement with their fans, and a revenue model that actually works for them.”
Chrysalis Records, part of the Reservoir group, appointed Colin Rice as director of catalogue marketing. Based in London, the former Sony executive will report to James Meadows, senior vp of marketing. He’ll focus on developing marketing strategies for the label’s catalog artists in the UK and internationally, collaborating with the US marketing team. Rice previously worked at Sony Music’s commercial music group division, overseeing international marketing for artists like Jimi Hendrix, Pink, Celine Dion. His achievements include international No. 1s for Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” and campaigns for iconic albums by Pearl Jam, the Clash and others. Rice’s career began at Sanctuary Records, followed by roles at we7/Blinkbox music and Union Square Music. Meadows and Alison Wenham of Chrysalis Records praised Rice’s extensive experience and reputation.
Sound Talent Group promoted Sarah Pederson to director of finance, overseeing all accounting and finance operations for the agency. She began her entertainment career as founder and president of Family Tree Presents in Anchorage, promoting shows for bands like 36 Crazyfists. Through this work, she connected with STG co-founder Dave Shapiro, who invited her to join STG in San Diego as controller in 2020. Pederson, a metal fan, is excited about shaping STG’s future. Shapiro added: “She has been an integral part of our growth over the last 5 years and we look forward to many more years to come.”
Key Production Group, Europe’s leading bespoke physical music and packaging manufacturing broke, launched Key Intel, a new product development division led by strategy director John Service. This expansion includes entering the Irish market with newly hired consultant Ann Marie Shields. Key Intel will manage the ideation, creation and release of new products across the company’s subsidiaries. Upcoming innovations with sustainability in mind include a multi-disc boxset series, 3D packaging and a “100 % recycled alternative to shrink wrap.”
Iron Mountain Media and Archival Services appointed Andrea Kalas as vp to lead its expanded division. With over 20 years of experience, Kalas previously worked at Paramount, where she built a valuable film archive and preserved over 2,000 films, including The Godfather. She has also held roles at DreamWorks, Discovery and the British Film Institute. A former president of the Association of Moving Image Archivists, she is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and founded the Academy Digital Preservation Forum Initiative.
ICYMI:
Julie Greenwald
Mercury Records promoted Tyler Arnold to chairman/CEO and Ben Adelson to president/COO of the label, home to Post Malone and Noah Kahn … Street Mob Records hired veteran music executive Gustavo López as its new president … Richard Vega and Stephen Schulcz were promoted to partners in WME’s music division … and former Atlantic Music Group boss Julie Greenwald is now an executive-in-residence at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU’s Tisch School. [Keep Reading]
Last Week’s Turntable: EMPIRE Hires MD of Europe
Doja Cat, KATSEYE, Gwen Stefani, David Guetta, Meghan Trainor and more are set to perform at iHeartRadio’s 102.7 KIIS FM Wango Tango in May.
And for the first time ever, the summer-kickoff concert will be held in Huntington Beach, California. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, Wango Tango will take place Sunday, May 10, and feature more performances by NMIXX, xikers, Hearts2Hearts and A2O MAY.
“We’re thrilled to bring Wango Tango back, knowing fans have been eagerly awaiting its return,” said Beata Murphy, program director of iHeartMedia Los Angeles’ 102.7 KIIS FM. “This year, we’re elevating the experience with an unforgettable day of music, energy, and beachside vibes — everything that defines SoCal. We’re also shaking things up by featuring some of the biggest artists with extended set times, unlike ever before.”
This will be the first Wango Tango event in three years, since it hit Dignity Health Center in Carson, California, in June 2022.
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iHeartMedia Los Angeles partnered with powerhouse global experience agency Code Four to execute this year’s outdoor, beachside concert experience.
“We are privileged to work with the world-class team at iHeartMedia on such an iconic brand, Wango Tango,” said Kevin Elliott, CEO of Code Four. “I grew up attending this festival as a KIIS FM listener, and it’s surreal for our team to now be working on delivering the next iteration of the Wango Tango experience – here in my hometown of Huntington Beach – one of the most incredible venues in the world!”
Added Paul Corvino, regional president of iHeartMedia: “Wango Tango has become a legendary event for Southern California music fans, something they’ve looked forward to year after year. Our partnership with Code Four is taking it to the next level, bringing it back bigger and better than ever for an unforgettable fan experience at the beach.”
Tickets go on sale first to KIIS CLUB VIP members (fans can sign up to be one for free here) on Thursday, March 13 at 10 a.m. PT. General on-sale begins Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m. PST.