Music News

Ed Sheeran was inspired by Eric Clapton to become a better performer.
The 23-year-old musician remembers watching the rock legend perform at the concert for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and thinking he wanted to play guitar like him.
The singer/songwriter - who started touring extensively in 2009 and released his debut album 'X' in 2011 - said: "I saw Eric Clapton at the Queen's Jubilee. I watched him and I thought, 'I want to do that, I want to play guitar like that.'
"My dad brought me up on lots of different music and Stevie Wonder was one of the main people that I listened to when I was young ... and The Beatles and Van Morrison always."
Ed is impressed by plenty of new artists, and he is predicting a long career for Sam Smith, who has just released his first LP 'In the Lonely Hour'.
In an interview with BBC Radio 2, the 'Sing' hitmaker' said: "There are a couple of artists from this generation that will be around for the next generation and I think that Sam Smith is going to be a name that we aren't going to stop hearing soon"
"His voice is like no other, there isn't anyone who has a voice like Sam Smith or who is writing songs like Sam Smith. His album is pure quality."

KISS have promised a "double dose [of] steroids" with their Las Vegas residency.
The legendary group will perform nine shows at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino from November 5, and guitarist Paul Stanley has promised the gigs will be bigger and better than anything they have done before.
He said: "Whatever you're used to with KISS, this will pump it up that much more. If KISS is on steroids, this is a double dose."
Though the 3,200-capacity venue is smaller than the group usually play, the 'Crazy Crazy Nights' hitmakers insist it won't be restricting, but instead allows them the opportunity to try new things.
Paul added to USA Today newspaper: "Usually, going into a smaller venue means eliminating things.
"The great thing about going into The Joint, it gives us the opportunity to add. Much in the same way as a Broadway show, when you have a permanent installation, you're not breaking down every night to travel. So we can do things we wouldn't normally do."
The group - which currently comprises Paul, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer - are currently on a co-headline tour with Def Leppard and while the Las Vegas shows will incorporate the "spider stage" they are currently using, it won't be the same spectacle.
Paul said: "That being said, it's not going to be that show. Here, we're in the enviable position of being able to do a KISS show that we haven't been able to do. We will pack 10 pounds of gunpowder into a 5-pound bag.
"Anybody who sees the band sees four guys reveling in the smoke and fire. Every time we hit the stage, it's a victory lap. It's a race that's never over, but it's a race that we continue to win."

Paolo Nutini wants to collaborate with Pharrell Williams.
The 'Let Me Down Easy' singer was hoping to "bump into" the 'Happy' hitmaker at the T in the Park festival over the weekend as he thinks the producer has the "Midas touch" and can do no wrong.
Talking to In:Demand radio backstage at the Scottish festival, Paolo explained: "He's the man with the Midas touch. I don't think it is as easy as just saying, 'Hey Pharrell, let's do this!'
"But I think he seems to be making more and more music. He seems a busy man just now but who knows maybe I'll bump into him. You never know."
But Pharrell isn't the only one with a hectic schedule as Paolo revealed his calendar is full at the moment.
He added: "The next few months are more shows, more festivals, gigging throughout the summer up until September... we just keep gigging.
"We're pretty much at a gig every second day ... if we even get that amount of time!"
However, Paolo insists he is going to find the time for some fun when out on the road.
He added: "When we go to LA; we've already made plans to go out and have a night in the limo. It's going to be good, it will be very Fifty Cent."
The Scotsman also opened up about how special it was to be performing in his hope nation for the festival.
He told presenter Stu Tolan: "It's a special country and everybody really raised their spirits for this festival, in every sense of the word, they go for it. There is just something about it. It can get a bit cosmic."

T in the Park will be a "voyage of discovery" for festival-goers when it moves site.
The Scottish festival's 18 years in Balado, Kinross, came to an end last night (13.07.14), and event organiser Geoff Ellis wants its new home at Strathallan Castle in Perthshire to be more like Glastonbury, with different atmospheres in different areas of the site.
He told BBC Newsbeat: "It'll have more of a boutique feel I suppose.
"It'll be a little bit like Glastonbury where you can go to Shangri-La and not spend any time anywhere else.
"There are lots of mature trees, a castle, tree lined avenues. It'll be a voyage of discovery for those going.
"We might split the fields so, for example, have one field for leftfield music and the healthy eating area."
Although he is sad to say goodbye to Kinross, Geoff is looking forward to making the move.
He said: "It's with a heavy heart that we have to leave Kinross, we've got a great relationship with the local community.
"The main thing we'll miss is the local community, residents and businesses..
"It's the end of an era but the start of a new chapter and we're looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, Scottish singer Paolo Nutini - who performed on the main stage at the weekend - thinks there will be a "whole new buzz in a whole new setting" when the festival moves.
He added: "As long as the music's good, people will take to it just the same."

Singer Jetta was "nervous but excited" before working with Pharrell Williams.
The Liverpudlian star was stunned when she received a call from the 'Happy' hitmaker last summer and he asked her to fly to Miami to work on new material.
She told BANG Showbiz: "It was amazing! I've always loved Pharrell, since back in the day when he came out with his first record and obviously he has worked with so many different amazing artists, producing their records, writing for them.
"He heard a bunch of my early demos last summer and asked me to fly out to Miami, so obviously I was straight on the plane.
"I think I was a healthy amount of nervous and excited, I often feel those two things together, but I think it's really important for me to feel that way, it kind of drives me to go and do stuff!"
The pair worked on the track 'Crescendo' which features on the Pepsi Max Beats of the Beautiful Game album, to celebrate the 2014 World Cup.
Jetta explained: "I spent two days with him in Miami, jamming, just talking about our musical journeys, what we've been up to, what inspires us, and the word 'Crescendo' came up and we were just like, 'Wait, that's a really cool word, let's go with that', and then I went back to work with him to finish the record in LA the following month."
Jetta explained the song is about something building up and the adrenaline rush which can be experienced in both music and sport.
Having just released her first EP, also titled 'Crescendo', Jetta is happy to be seeing progress in the industry and has big plans for the future.
She said: "Everyone that I meet is really inspiring, though my main idol when I was growing up was Annie Lennox ... I'd love to meet her.
"I've bumped into her a few times in west London as we live close to each other, but I'd really love to sit down with her and talk to her about music, and see where she gets her inspiration from."
Pepsi Max Beats of the Beautiful Game is out now.

Mumford and Sons have started recording their third album.
The folk rock group have begun work on a handful of new songs at Eastcote Studios in Kensal Town, west London, the same studio where they recorded their debut album 'Sigh No More', which was released in 2009 and sold over a million copies in the UK.
The four-piece group - who achieved worldwide success with their second LP 'Babel' - intend to release the record in early 2015.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, a source said: "It's still very early days because they have been enjoying their down time.
"But very early work and sessions have begun quietly on album number three. They haven't announced anything officially because they don't want to be under lots of pressure.
"At this point, it's still more likely the album will be released at some point next year - unless things move very quickly."
News of the recording sessions comes less than a year after the group announced their intention to take a break from their intense touring schedule.
However, following the band's surprise appearance at Glastonbury - where they joined Haim on stage - they decided to get back in the studio.

Cher Lloyd says she was shocked by her success in the US.
The 'Want U Back' hitmaker has become a big star both in the States and in her homeland of the UK, and she never expected to have spent more than a fortnight there when she first visited to promote her music.
She told The Sun on Sunday newspaper's Fabulous magazine: "I don't quite know how it all kicked off in America. That was never my plan.
"My thing was always to make it over here [in the UK] because I love my country. Being successful here is what counts for me.
"I went to America with one suitcase, planning to stay for two weeks, and then two years later I was still there!"
Now focusing on her homeland again, Cher was quick to point out she wants to show people in the UK exactly what she can do.
She explained: "My big ambition now is just to come home and let people see who I am, how I've changed and how I've grown up.
"I really want to be a success here. This is where I come from and who I am. I really want to make it work."

Jake Bugg is considering making a country music album.
The 'Lightening Bolt' hitmaker has revealed that after seeing Dolly Parton perform at Glastonbury festival in Somerset, South West England last month - where he also played his own set - he's thinking about moving to the United States to work on some new material.
He explained: "I'm a fan of Dolly's beautiful voice and great songs. She's a woman with great stories, so Dolly is pretty cool.
"I've recently been coming up with new ideas for songs and have come up with country ideas.
"Next year I'd like to have some time off to travel around the southern states, Nashville and Memphis, and hang out, get inspired, see what happens.
"Maybe I'll make a country album, which would be pretty sweet."
The 20-year-old star - who grew up in Nottingham in the East Midlands of England - has confessed to having a great reaction from audiences in the United States already.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: "They've all been cool. They just want to hear tunes and are appreciative of music even though they're spoilt for it."
Meanwhile, Jake - who played at T in the Park festival in Scotland this weekend - is looking forward to performing more gigs this summer.
He added: "I'm high up on the bill at festivals this year so I've added one or two things, stepped it up a level.
"At least I've got more songs to sing along with."

Ellie Goulding takes advice from Taylor Swift.
The 'Burn' hitmaker loves being surrounded by "powerful" women, including the 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' singer and Katy Perry, and though her level of fame isn't as high as theirs, they are able to help her through certain situations.
She said:" We're friends because they understand the predicaments. They see what is and isn't real.
"I'm not anywhere near their level of fame, but if I say, 'Oh God Taylor, this happened', she'll be like, 'Girl, that's nothing.' Suck it up, kind of thing.
"I have strong female characters all around me, really cool women. My tour manager is a woman, my manager is a woman. I want to be surrounded by powerful women, not men."
Though Ellie - who is dating McBusted's Dougie Poynter - believes she is a "strong" person, she relies on her "vulnerable" side in her songwriting.
She told Britain's Glamour magazine: "There's an innate part of me that's very strong. But there'll always be that part of me that I go to to write songs, that weakness, that vulnerability.
"That's what I access to write my music. In this industry, oh God do you need a thick skin.
"But it's that thinner skin that's got me here. So you have to be sensible enough to know when to be strong and when to be weak. And when you accept that, you can succumb to it."