TOMORROW ON OUTQ: THE LADIES OF LILITH FAIR

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning I am a guest on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ's show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick at 9 am ET. Each week I talk about new records, or new releases or archival material, or sometimes just a specific theme.

Tomorrow I'm talking about some of the artists who are on the Lilith Fair tour.  The tour has gotten some bad publicity lately, as some of the shows have been cancelled due to (of course) poor ticket sales.  Lots of tours are having problems this summer though. Back in the '90s, critics always seemed to have it in for the tour, I remember hearing that it was "too white."  I went to the tour all three years, and I'd seen Missy Elliott, Mya, Tracy Chapman and Morcheeba on the tour - that's just off the top of my mind. I think that critics just don't like Sarah McLachlan, who headlines the tour.  She's a bit too earnest for a lot of people, I can understand that. Also, she has a huge following, which she did on her own without being too commercial - but without help from the music press, which I think may rankle some writers. Anyway, Sarah has a new album, Laws Of Illusion. I wrote about the new single, "Loving You Is Easy" a while back, I dig the song. I like the album, I don't love it.  I guess with Sarah, I compare everything to Fumbling Towards Ecstacy, and I haven't liked anything she's done as much as that album.

Next week Sheryl Crow releases her next album, 100 Miles From Memphis. I've always liked Sheryl Crow, but I haven't been super-into her last two albums.  I've heard one song from the new album, "Summer Day," which I think is incredible. She's really showing off her soul influences, as opposed to a modern country-adult contemporary sound.  At least on this song.  I actually just heard her cover of Citizen Cope's "Sideways" (featuring Cope on backing vocals) which was really great. I'm definitely looking forward to this album.

Heart has a new album, Red Velvet Car, coming out next month, but for now they have a new EP, WTF, and I'll be playing the title track. Heart are badass ladies and don't really get their due. I don't totally love this new song, but their catalog speaks for itself. Ann Wilson is an incredible rock and roll singer, and Nancy Wilson is a very underrated guitarist. I'm curious to hear the album.


We're also going to talk about a bunch of other artists on this summer's Lilith Fair festival: Corinne Bailey Rae, The Bangles, Court Yard Hounds, Janelle Monae, The Indigo Girls and Mary J Blige, among others.