Storytellers

Exene is a singer, artist and poet whose work traverses virtually every aspect of those disciplines. Best known as the singer for X, one of the leaders of the late-'70s/early-'80s California punk explosion, Exene Cervenka has also issued solo albums, launched several side bands (The Knitters), and penned books. X just announced plans to join their east coast comrades, BLONDIE, as a Special Guest on their fall U.S. “No Principals Tour.” Set to kick off September 5th, the bands will hit U.S cities including Atlantic City, Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta and Philadelphia before wrapping October 4th in New York City at Roseland Ballroom.  Three decades after the inception of X, songs written during the group’s inception are as relevant and inventive now as they were in 1977. The original line-up of X remains John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, and D.J. Bonebrake. John Doe found her in Venice Beach at a poetry reading. He liked her poems so much he offered to perform them in his band. The poet, Exene Cervenka, had just moved to town from Florida and she told him, no offense, but if anyone was gonna perform her poems, it would be her, and she soon ended up in the band. The band’s early albums, LOS ANGELES (1980), produced by Ray Manzarek of the Doors, WILD GIFT (1981), and UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN (1982) explored dark love and an even darker L.A. with the unflinching eye of a Raymond Chandler novel. Doe and Cervenka would marry and later divorce, but they’d always remain soulmates. As they released each ensuing album, MORE FUN IN THE NEW WORLD (1983) and AIN'T LOVE GRAND (1985), the band continued to grow sonically and politically, fearlessly mixing genres without ever losing its center.

Over an astounding career in which she has sung all styles of popular music as leader and as support singer, Merry Clayton is vocal royalty. Among the legends Clayton has supported are Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Quincy Jones, Etta James, Barbara Streisand, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Bobby Womack, Art Garfunkel, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, Diana Ross, Leon Russell, The Jazz Crusaders and Elvis Presley. From Hollywood to Broadway and around the world, Merry brings audiences and peers to their feet. In 2013, her amazing life story is covered in the award-winning background singers’ documentary, 20 FEET FROM STARDOM. This encore in the spotlight coincides with the long-overdue release of Sony Legacy’s THE BEST OF MERRY CLAYTON, celebrating her golden years on Ode Records. After growing up in the church in New Orleans and Los Angeles, her first pop recording was a duet with Bobby Darin in the early '60s. Merry became featured singer with Ray Charles’ girl group The Raelets in the mid-'60s, appeared on several of Joe Cocker’s releases including album WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS  and single “Feelin’ Alright,” on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s anthem “Sweet Home Alabama,” and originated the role of “Acid Queen” on the inaugural recording of the rock opera TOMMY with The Who & the London Symphony Orchestra. But Clayton will forever be recognized for her impassioned "rape/murder" solo on The Rolling Stones' 1969 classic “Gimme Shelter.” That led to Lou Adler signing Merry in 1970 to his Ode Records and her debut solo album, GIMME SHELTER - her first of three for the company.

ROLLING STONES 50 YEARS OF SATISFACTION is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's first ever major exhibition capturing the band’s legendary career. It includes personal items and extraordinary collections that have never been seen before by the public, and will be open until March 2014. The exhibit, which takes up two-and-a-half floors of the Museum, celebrates the Rolling Stones’ incredible contribution to popular music from their earliest days playing small clubs, to their era-defining recordings and sold-out global tours. Through the use of artifacts, film, text and interactive technology, generations of music fans will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with rare items from nearly every aspect of the Stones’ astonishing five decades at the top. Craig Inciardi is Associate Curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and has worked at the museum since 1991. In addition to help building the museum’s permanent collections, Inciardi has had a lead role in many of the museum’s major exhibitions including Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction.Greg Harris was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in December 2012, where he had previously overseen development, special events, membership, board relations and government affairs since 2008. “The Rolling Stones are the epitome of rock and roll,” said Harris. “This first-ever exhibit gives us an opportunity to tell the story of one of the definitive rock and roll bands. The experience should be on every music fan’s destination list this summer.”

Holly Knight has had a wild ride in the music business that finds her being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on Thursday, June 13th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The madness began when Knight met songwriter/producer Mike Chapman with her band Spider in the early '80s. Together they penned Spider’s single, “Better Be Good To Me,” which Tina Turner iconically recorded six months later for her 1984 album Private Dancer. Knight’s success continued when she wrote the chart-topping, “Love Is A Battlefield” and “Invincible” for Pat Benatar, “The Warrior” for Patty Smyth, “Change” for John Waite, “Baby Me” for Chaka Khan, “Never” for Heart and “Pleasure And Pain” for Divinyls. In total, Knight has written nine songs for Turner, including “The Best” and “Wildest Dreams,” both signature songs for the legend.  She also wrote “Love Touch” for Rod Stewart, “Obsession” for Animotion, “Hide Your Heart” for KISS, “Rag Doll” with Aerosmith, “Space” for Cheap Trick and the list continues. Her songs have appeared in movies as varied as Thelma and Louise, Mad Max Beyond The Thunderdome, Stewart Little, and Hot Tub Fantasy; and on TV shows American Idol, The Voice, 30 Rock, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Angel, and South Park. Knight’s songwriting has earned her numerous awards including three Grammys and thirteen ASCAP songwriter awards.

“Twisted Twins” Jen and Sylvia Soska are back with their stunning follow-up to the indie hit DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK. Eli Roth and Clive Barker are huge fans of the Canadian twins, who are the "Next Big Thing in Horror."AMERICAN MARY is the story of a medical student named Mary who grows broke and disenchanted with medical school and the established doctors she once idolized. The allure of easy money sends a desperate Mary through the messy world of underground surgeries, which leaves more marks on her than the so-called freakish clientele. Appearances are everything. AMERICAN MARY is available on VOD and will be in theaters on May 31st. The Soska sisters have always loved film. Since childhood, they have been heavily involved in acting, with a special place in their twisted little hearts for horror. They trained in martial arts, and attended a film school that included an intensive stunt program. For one of their final film projects, they prepared to do a short film only to have their funding for the project pulled. Undeterred, they went ahead with the project on their own assembling cast and crew, doing production on their own time, and paying for it out of their own pockets. They decided to make their short film a fake trailer, in the trend of Rodriguez and Tarantino's GRINDHOUSE, which, at the time, was in theaters. The school had a list of things too inappropriate to be included and they made sure to include everything on that list and then some. The title of that trailer was DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK, which went on to become their debut film - they wrote, directed, produced, starred in, and performed the stunts.