Editor’s Letter: Editor Lisa Konicki Introduces the March/April

While this space is usually reserved for our fantastically talented guest editors, I wanted to take a moment and jump in here to personally thank our readers for their support. We appreciate your loyalty to our brand and we hope you are enjoying what you see. 

Now that we’re two months into the new year, I hope your year has started with a bang. Coming out of both 2020 and 2021, we have nowhere to go but up. Music has single-handedly kept us going through all the ups and downs of the past two years. And this year is no exception. In a short period of time music has already given us a lot to talk about. First, we lost the legendary Meat Loaf, who passed away on January 20. I don’t know about you but “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” have been on repeat since we heard the news. He will be greatly missed. And now, we’re seeing legends like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills and Nash stand up against Spotify by pulling their music. We know that story isn’t over and we can’t wait to see the outcome. (Check out Americansongwriter.com for the updates) Never a dull moment.  

As we look ahead, there is plenty more on the musical horizon. We offer you a taste of what’s to come on the subsequent pages of this issue. We at American Songwriter couldn’t think of two better cover subjects—Slash and Myles Kennedy—to indicate that the future of music is bright. With a massive tour underway, a new single, “The River is Rising,” and a new album, 4—their fourth album together and their first new music in four years—2022 will be filled with plenty of music from these longtime friends.

“Having worked with Myles for so long, we fell into a sort of a pretty easy comfort groove, at the very beginning, and that was the template for where we’ve gone from there,” Slash tells us. “Even though it’s been 10 years, it’s still sort of an adventure. I know how Myles sings but I don’t predict what he’s going to do.” And there’s no predicting what’s still to come from these two talented musicians.  

I can tell you that this issue has a little something for everyone. We are fortunate enough to be able to tell the stories of a wide range of artists on the following pages. We caught up with legendary Bluegrass artist Del McCoury, Bastille, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Carabba of the Dashboard Confessional, Big Thief, Aly & AJ, and more. As I said, something for everyone.  

And to keep with the theme of what’s ahead, American Songwriter has announced the judges for our 2022 lyric contests. Not only will you find these talented folks among the pages of future issues, but they will be reading through your lyrics to discover new talent. This year we are lucky to have Linda Perry, David Duchovny, Scotty McCreery, Rhett Akins, Judy Stakee, Marcus Hummon, Bonnie Baker, John DeNicola (who wrote The Writer’s Room piece in our January 2022 Legends Issue), Lance Carpenter, Nina June, Martin Sexton, William Fitzsimmons and Heather Freeland. (You can learn more about our lyric contest on Americansongwriter.com) Head on over to page 62 to see our March/April lyric contest winners and an interview with 1st place winner, Dan Edwards. 

I hope you enjoy this issue and we’ll be sure to get back to you with a special guest editor for our next issue.  

Happy reading!

Lisa Konicki
Editor in Chief

Photo courtesy of Chris Hollo