Posts Tagged ‘Forever Young’
Rainbow Connection: Benjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” LP Track-By-Track
Though “The Muppet Movie” was released in June, 1979, I didn’t see it until hit cable the following winter. My parents had just separated. My father was living alone in “our” old house while my mother, brother and I lived across town. Chris and my model airplane-strewn bedroom was barren, so my father purchased matching…
Read MoreBenjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” Teaser Trailer Premieres
It’s arguable that I have no business covering Bob Dylan not once but twice on my new album (which borrows a title from Mr. Zimmerman as well), “Forever Young.” As Abbi and I counted down to Maggie’s birth, though, all I could wish for her was, well, everything. And no song that I’m aware of…
Read MoreBenjamin Wagner’s “Forever Young” Album Art Revealed
It may seem obvious that a new album by a new father feature his new daughter on the cover, but it took some time to arrive at this apparently obvious conclusion. “Forever Young” is a collection of ten cover songs somehow connected to my childhood or childhood in general that — over the course of…
Read MoreGoodnight Moonlight Baby
Last night, I bumped into Justin Bieber just seconds prior to his VMA performance of “Baby.” Just twenty-four hours later, my own baby was back in my arms. This year’s awards marked my first prolonged absence from Maggie since she was born. I was in Los Angeles just five nights, but the days were jam-packed…
Read MoreWon’t You Be My “Forever Young” Neighbor?
Exactly one-month from today, on Saturday, October 2, I’m releasing a brand-new LP, “Forever Young.” It’s a collection of songs I loved growing up that I hope my three-month-old daughter, Maggie, will love someday too. Of course, I’m counting on you and your family enjoying it as well! The record features many of my dearest…
Read MoreWhere Are You Calling From? (Or, Virtual Rock & Roll)
I probably should have known better than to be working on a new album during MTV Video Music Awards season, but here I am, knee deep in “Forever Young” with less than two weeks to go until the channel’s big night. The timing was, of course, to be expected. As my colleague, Rachel, put it,…
Read MoreAm I Off The Rails?
With “Forever Young,” I may be off the rails. A few weeks ago, rock journos Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis aired a special episode of their weekly “Sound Opinions” program called “Off The Rails.” In the show, the two tallied artists who’d detoured unforgivably from the promise of their early career: Lauryn Hill, Metallica, Liz…
Read MoreRock ‘N Roll Coochie Coo
Thank goodness, my week of rock ‘n roll bachelorhood finally came to an end. Abbi, Maggie and I were in Wilmington, DE, last weekend for The Keller’s 40th anniversary. I had to get back to NYC for MTV’s TJ Search Finale on Sunday. So it seemed like a perfect, logical solution. Abbi could relax with…
Read MoreGolden Slumbers
Last night, just before her eyes turned heavy after her traditional page and a half of reading, I slipped a pair of Sony headphones onto Abbi’s belly, and pushed play. I was running two hours behind my “Forever Young” recording schedule when singer/songwriter Misty Boyce finally took her seat at the piano. She banged out…
Read More… But Now I See
Jamie Leonhart and I arrived to our “Forever Young” recording session a few minutes early, so set out for a cup of coffee. The sun was broken free of the weekend’s snow-choked clouds. The trickle of melting snow hummed beneath the rumble of passing subways, far off-music and a faint inkling that birds were beginning…
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