Dear Friends, 

David Bowie once said that Jeff Buckley’s Grace was the best album ever made.

Buckley could easily come across like an old-school entertainer. He was funny and had an octave range that rivaled Sinatra’s. He worked hard, so hard. He wrote, toured, loved, and second-guessed himself. A young songwriter whose looks mirrored the musician father (Tim Buckley) he never really knew, Jeff had a familiar and unfair phantom sitting on his shoulder. Both Buckleys died tragically in the prime of their youth.

I learned all of this from a beautiful documentary (out today) called It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley, directed by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg. Pro-tip: Listen to Berg's interview with Madeleine Brand this past Monday. Buckley’s story is ultimately devastating. It sends me back to my time in that big ‘90s music business machine that often chewed up and spit out young talent. There is much more I could say about the toxicity and misogyny of that period (and also the positive energy and grace of it), but we’ll save that for another time.

Jeff Buckley was a showman, a storyteller who absolutely loved his job. He emulated Nina Simone, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Robert Plant. Then, like many artists (and all of us), he put too much pressure on himself. It was unsustainable. Hearing about him from idols and contemporaries of mine such as Ben Harper and Aimee Mann was illuminating; hearing about him from his mother was heartbreaking.

He came to KCRW twice (well before I joined up): Once on Liza Richardson’s now legendary spoken word and music show, Man In The Moon, and the other time on MBE with Chris Douridas just ahead of the release of his debut album. Listen to that session and read what Chris wrote about it upon revisiting it many years later. I missed the initial boat on Jeff when Grace came out, but this masterpiece is one I return to often.

Chris remarked on Jeff’s warmth and authenticity. That is the very backbone of It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley. At the end of this meaningful and caring film, his mother plays a message he left her right before that fateful wade into the Mississippi. He tells her that “it takes a real spirit to raise a kid.”

I hope you go see it.

Be well, always.

Grammy-Winning Pianist Cory Henry Covers "Yesterday" by the Beatles

During his July 23rd, 2025 visit to KCRW, Cory showed us how to "gospel-ify" a song. And who could ask for more than a soulful piano take on the Beatles' "Yesterday?" The recent Grammy-winner is here to oblige. Though you likely know Henry for his collabs with big jazz bands like Snarky Puppy and big names like Rosalía, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen, his freshly awarded album Church takes us to… well, you know. We promise that this searing cover played on KCRW’s legendary “Nina” piano will take you there too.

Is Beyonce Changing Country Music Forever?

Writer and cultural critic Tressie McMillan Cottom joins Sam to unpack whether or not country music still has a race problem (spoiler alert: it does), the reaction to Beyoncé’s success in the genre, and if Cowboy Carter truly opened doors for Black artists. Plus, Tressie argues there actually is a song of the summer… if you’re paying attention.

Gelli Haha: KCRW Guest Selector Set

On her debut LP Switcheroo, LA-based artist Gelli Haha makes “a space for pure creative chaos … somewhere between Studio 54 and Area 51.” Ahead of a sold-out show at Resident DTLA on Friday, Aug. 8th (Presented by KCRW), she hits the Guest Selector decks with choice selects. The cuts span from early Björk — the very proto-Gelli Haha-esque “Big Time Sensuality” — to dance arts center, her support act at the Resident show, to longtime FREAKS ONLY favorites Mermaid Chunky.