AJR, Myles Smith & Monsta X - 2025 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Red Carpet Interviews It's the most wonderful time of the year — Jingle Ball season! We were lucky enough to chat with some of this year's artists on the annual holiday tour's stop in Philly: Monsta X, Myles Smith, and AJR!

Alexa Ray Joel Alexa Ray Joel Finds Her “Wall of Sound” Moment – and Her Own Voice, Fearlessly by Ron Sklar Alexa Ray Joel is back in rehearsal – back in the room, back in the band setup, back in the thick of sound. After years of performing in the intimate, candlelit world of Café Carlyle with a small musical configuration, she’s returned to a full-band experience, preparing for shows in the year ahead. “I just started rehearsing with a band again after quite some time,” she

Mark McGrath, Kevin Griffin and Emerson Hart of Ezra Ray Hart Emerson Hart of Ezra Ray Hart Rocking the 90s and the Holidays by Jay S. Jacobs If you were going to a lab to cobble together a 90s alt-rock supergroup, it would be hard to come out with a stronger lineup than Ezra Ray Hart. The band is made up of the lead singers of three different hitmaking bands from that decade. As you might guess from the new band’s name, it features Sugar Ray leader Mark McGrath, Better Than

Candace Bushnell Candace Bushnell Tells True Tales of Sex, Success, and Sex and the City  at Her Upcoming One-Person Show This Friday by Brad Balfour When scribe Candace Bushnell created Carrie Bradshaw as her alter-ego while writing her “Sex and the City” column, she didn’t want her parents to know that she’d just been to a sex club. She had often appeared on TV, starting back in 1996, when she had her own reality show,  Sex, Lies and Video Clips  on VH1, where – sure enough

John Davidson From Prime-Time to Club Sandwich – The Reinvention of a Variety Icon By Ronald Sklar For decades, John Davidson was all that and a jar of Miracle Whip – a Broadway lead, a smiling television host, and one of Johnny Carson’s most trusted guest substitutes. Today, at 84, he has reinvented his career far from Hollywood, performing in a charming converted barn in rural New Hampshire. His self-created venue, the aptly named Club Sandwich, is everything Davidson has

Jay McCarrol and Matt Johnson at the Philadelphia Film Festival showing of "Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie." Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie the Interview By Jay S. Jacobs It’s a tale as old as time. Two guys start a band. They are enthusiastic about the project and sure that stardom lurks ahead. They even set a goal of their ideal venue – the storied Toronto rock club The Rivoli.   Unfortunately, they are a little naïve in the ways of

Fabien Frankel, Emilia Jones and Tom Pelphrey at the Philadelphia Film Festival screening of the season finale of "Task." Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Fabien Frankel and Brad Inglesby Taken to Task By Jay S. Jacobs So how does a TV show come together? “It always starts with characters,” Brad Inglesby explained to me on the red carpet at the Philadelphia Film Festival, where the season finale of his acclaimed TV series Task was going to be screened a few hours before its HBO d

Ian Kimble and Ruby Modine at the Philadelphia Film Festival Premiere of "Dead Giveaway." Ruby Modine & Ian Kimble It’s Just a Dead Giveaway by Jay S. Jacobs Don’t you hate it when this happens? You’re out on a Friday night. You hit a few bars, and maybe a party. You have a bit too much to drink. Or maybe a lot too much to drink. Or maybe you literally recreate Marion Ravenwood’s shots-drinking contest scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.  You wake up the next morning, still ful

Delilah Napier and Lucy Powers Lucy Powers & Delilah Napier   Riding the Floating Carousel By Jay S. Jacobs It all started with some bad dates. Lucy Powers and Delilah Napier, long-time friends and collaborators who have made the indie films Voyeur, “The Compound” and “ Victor vs. the Metaverse” together, found the inspiration for their latest feature film when they both went on the same bad date with the same guy, just a week apart. They weren’t alone. All of their friends w