Five Essential Albums

John Prine, along with the Lone Bellow and Shannon Shaw, are headed to the Beacon Theatre on December 3 for 2018's

For PJ Harvey's birthday on October 9, FUV asked Wolf Alice's Ellie Rowsell if she might have some favorite Harvey tunes. So from a 2018 Mercury Prize winner to a two-time recipient of the award, this is Rowsell's "Five Essential PJ Harvey Songs" for FUV Essentials.

Asking celebrated guitarist J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. to write about another guitar god, Jimi Hendrix, is a dream pairing come true — here are Mascis's choices for his "Five Essential Jimi Hendrix Songs" for FUV Essentials.

Jealous of the Birds' Naomi Hamilton's husky alto and voluptuous lyricism have raised inevitable comparisons to Cat Power. As it turns out, Hamilton is a big fan of Chan Marshall and explains why in her "Five Essential Cat Power Songs" for FUV Essentials.

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As fate would have it, Villagers' Conor O'Brien's new album, The Art of Pretending to Swim, comes out the very week that Paul Simon plays his final live shows before retiring from touring.  O'Brien, who deeply admires Simon and saw the "Homeward Bound - The Farewell Tour" in Amsterdam, writes about his "Five Essential Paul Simon Songs" for FUV.

As Tori Amos celebrates her birthday on August 22, FUV returns to Torres' list of her "Five Essential Tori Amos Songs."

Since his days in the Hollies and most significantly, with FUV Essentials artists Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Crosby, Stills and Nash,

Musicians listen to their forebears not only with an ear to an artist's technical imprint — the depth of production or the way a guitar is tuned —

One of Jon Batiste's favorite singers and human beings, Mavis Staples, plays New York's AmericanaFest at Lincoln Center on August 11. Batiste is also releasing his first solo album, Hollywood Africans, on September 28.