The songs on Quilt's third album, Plaza, were stitched together from old voice memos and lyrics written at various times throughout the Boston band's seven-year lifespan. The result, however, feels ...

Instrumentals have been a staple of pop music as long as its existed, and songs without vocals have been hits throughout the years, including surf rock classics like “Pipeline” and “Wipeout,” party ...

Today’s pop music is so dependent on the human voice—whether singing or rapping—that it’s hard to imagine a time when instrumentals could be mainstream hits. In fact, no instrumental has topped the ...

It’s been a long time since the “golden age” of instrumental hits, those unforgettable, hummable melodies that still endure. What you may not remember — or ever have known —is that some of those most ...

A good fiddle part elevates a song: It can take a ballad from mediocre to weepy and a bluegrass jig from ho-hum to barn-burning. It's one of the most prominent instruments in country music, and it's a ...

A journey through cracked one-lane highways and warm autumn foliage is never complete without the perfect album or playlist. Though COVID-19 continues to keep us indoors, long drives can calm our ...

Dear Jerry: My recollection is that there were many more instrumental hits in the 1960s before the British Invasion than after, when singing groups became hot. How did the success of those bands ...

He was a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio when it reached the Top 10 with “The ‘In’ Crowd,” and he later had a hit as a co-leader with the funky “Soulful Strut.” By Alex Traub Redd Holt, a drummer who ...