Jim Sullivan is a veteran Boston-based writer who covered music and pop culture for the Boston Globe, roaming that turf for 26 years. He currently freelances for WBUR and other outlets. The two volumes of Backstage and Beyond: 45 Years of Rock Chats and Rants are his first books, consisting of individual chapters focusing on specific artists or bands, and stories culled from past encounters, remade and remodeled. They’re divvied up into “classic” (artists from the ‘50’s to mid ‘70’s), and “modern” (artists from the mid ‘70’s on...meaning sorta pre-punk/new wave, and punk/post-punk/new wave). The lines, of course, blur. In a good way. 
*Photo by Roza Yarchun

Courtney Swain is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, and sound artist from Japan, who currently lives outside Providence, RI. Courtney's creations reflect a broad range of influences and inspirations, all tied together by her unmistakable voice. Her discography includes six studio albums released with Bent Knee, and a prolific collection of albums, EPs, compositions, and multimedia pieces. Some of her recent creative highlights include an arrangement of Philip Glass’s “Mishima” string quartet for the TV show, Bob’s Burgers, and “notes to myself,” an album of improvised introspections recorded entirely with Habit, an effects pedal created by the company Chase Bliss. Courtney is the 2022 Artist in Residence at Akiyoshidai International Arts Village in Japan, and was the 2021 Fellow for the Rhode Island Foundation’s Robert & Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship. 
*Photo by Rich Ferri

Mark Leibovich is a staff writer at The Atlantic, and a recipient of a National Magazine Award for profile writing. He is the author of five books, including three New York Times best sellers, and two No. 1 Times best sellers, This Town (2013) and Thank You for Your Servitude (2022). Before joining The Atlantic, Mark spent 16 years at The New York Times, based in Washington, serving as the chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine. Prior to that, he worked at The Washington Post, where he covered technology and national politics. Mark also frequently appears as a political analyst for NBC and MSNBC. 

*Photo by Ralph Alswang

Ted Leo: Starting in New York Hardcore with Citizen’s Arrest, through his 90’s college radio favorite power pop band Chisel, Ted Leo sings arresting melodies over jagged guitar riffs. He hit his stride with 6 records with his band Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, including indie classics Hearts of Oak and Shake the Sheets, and on his collaboration with Aimee Mann known as The Both, which he followed up with his recent solo release The Hanged Man. He has acted and been a composer for film, he co-hosts a podcast called The Art of Process, and he wrote the theme to Jon Lupfer’s favorite podcast, “Dead Pilot Society”. He lives in New Jersey and has been touring with Chisel, and then The Pharmacists throughout this year. 

*Photo by Mindy Tucker