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Born on this day in 1911: American blues singer-songwriter Robert Johnson. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 influenced later generations including Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Eric Clapton (Cream covered 'Crossroads), The Rolling Stones ('Love In Vain'). Johnson is now recognised as a master of the blues. He died on 16th August 1938 at the age of 27.

Born on this day in 1976: Martha Wainwright, Canadian / American, singer-songwriter, daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and sister of Rufus Wainwright. Appeared on recordings by her family members and has released several independent EPs. Her full length self-titled debut was released in 2005.

Born on this day in 1951: American musician Chris Frantz, drummer, with Talking Heads, who had the 1983 US No.9 single 'Burning Down The House', 1985 UK No.6 single 'Road To Nowhere'.

Born on this day in 1953: Alex Van Halen, Dutch-American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen who had the 1984 US No.1 & UK No.7 single 'Jump'. Alex has become an ordained minister and presided at the wedding of his brother Eddie Van Halen in 2009.

Born on this day in 1944: Bill Legend, English musician and former drummer for glam rock band T. Rex. Legend played drums on four albums: Electric Warrior, The Slider, Tanx and Zinc Alloy.

Habibi is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York. They are a blend of psychedelic rock and sixties girl group harmonies. The name Habibi means "my love," an Arabic word vocalist Rahill Jamalifard grew up using despite her Iranian origin.

Playing the Rialto next Friday, May 17th

Weezer is the debut studio album by the American rock band Weezer, released on May 10, 1994, by DGC Records. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars.

New album June 7th.

A true American music icon has died at the age of 61. Steve Albini was an American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist. He was the founder, owner and principal engineer at Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. It has been estimated that he worked on several thousand albums over his career.Nirvana and Albini set a two-week deadline for recording. At the suggestion of Albini, who was wary of interference from DGC, Nirvana paid for the sessions with their own money. Studio fees totaled US$24,000, while Albini took a flat fee of $100,000. Though he stood to earn about $500,000 from royalties, Albini refused to accept them, as he considered taking royalties immoral and "an insult to the artist".

Starting out as teenagers in Missoula, Mont., who entered the ranks of a local post-punk collective called Ein Heit, founding members Tim Midyett (bass, vocals), Andy Cohen (guitar, vocals) and Joel R.L. Phelps (guitar, vocals) relocated to Seattle as the three principle songwriters in the newly christened Silkworm and, in 1990, took on Stuart Dahlquist as their drummer. Beginning in 1993, Steve Albini would record most of Silkworm’s body of work and evolve into a close friend and confidant.

Said Albini of Songs:Ohia's Jason Molina, who died in 2013: "I loved hearing Jason Molina sing. He was a genius at turning a phrase and making it into something more than the words in it. Jason was almost supernaturally prolific, and several times I watched him write an album's worth of songs in a weekend, recording them on the spot. Much of his recorded output with Magnolia Electric Co is the evidence of him and the band playing his songs for the very first time. It's amazing, really, that it was any good at all, much less so touching and fully realized. Jason was a unique talent and I will miss him. My heart goes out to all his friends and family, all of you I've met have been good people who did well by Jason."

Pod is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released by 4AD records on May 29, 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, the album features band leader Kim Deal on vocals and guitar, Josephine Wiggs on bass, Britt Walford on drums, and Tanya Donelly on guitar. Albini's production prioritized sound over technical accomplishment; the final takes favor the band's spontaneous live "in studio" performances.

Ocean Songs is the fourth major album by Australian rock band Dirty Three, released in March 1998 by Touch and Go Records. It was recorded at Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago during August and September 1997.

Albini's own band Shellac formed in 1992. On March 20, 2024, the band announced a new record called To All Trains, to be released on May 17 via Touch and Go Records

The Sadies recorded their sophomore album, Pure Diamond Gold half in Chicago with Albini and the other at Greg Keelor's farmhouse studio. Keelor, a member of the successful Canadian band Blue Rodeo, did his half in a mere three days, as did Albini. Pure Diamond Gold was decidedly more rock 'n' roll, and also featured a number of songs with vocals, both with the Good Brothers and guests Kelly Hogan and Freakwater's Catherine Irwin. In 2001, Bloodshot then released the Albini-produced Tremendous Efforts.

Fugazi's Brendan Canty wrote this about Albini on social media: "My love goes out to Heather and all of Shellac. Steve Albini will be sorely missed by so many people. He will be missed for his talent, for his brilliance, and perhaps mostly because he was funny and kind. Fugazi and Shellac shared so much of our lives together, and for every year I knew Steve my respect grew. He built a world of great sound, generous giving, and incendiary performances that are seared into my brain as high water marks for expression. He did it, until the end, on his own terms. What more can we ask for? Hold close the ones you love."