Ryan Adams gets a bad rap. It's been years since the well publicized "Summer of '69" on-stage meltdown and the famous voice mail rant. He's been referred to as "difficult" by many.

Fountains of Wayne tells stories with their songs. They can make the Tappan Zee Bridge seem romantic and the Department of Motor Vehicles worth chronicling. They regale us with more tales of ordinary slobs like you and me set to a perfect pop melodies.

Madeleine Peyroux has been recording for over a decade, but most people only got to know her when she released her second album "Careless Love" in 2004.

Albert Hammond Jr. was born in Los Angeles. As a member of the indie-rock band The Strokes, he plays lead and rhythm guitar. He released his solo record, "Yours To Keep" in the U.K.d in 2006 and in North America in 2007.

If you combined the Zombies with Galaxie 500, you'd have The Clientele. In fact, there was some discussion of Galaxie 500's frontman Dean Wareham during their visit.

The seed for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were planted back in 1995 when Robert Turner and Peter Hayes met while at high school in San Francisco. After playing in various bands, the duo finally started playing together and added the talents of drummer Nick Jago in 1998.

Joseph Arthur has released two albums in quick succession. In 2006, he released "Nuclear Daydream," and "Let's Just Be" hit stores in April 2007. After years as a solo artist, he's now recording and touring with his band, the Lonely Astronauts.

Eighteen months ago James Righton was an English teacher. He and a couple of friends began playing and recording together as Klaxon. They put out their first single just over a year ago. While there was a bit of a buzz about the band, they were relatively unknown.

The lead singer of The Frames, Glen Hansard, started his career as a busker in Dublin. In 1990, he gathered together a bunch of musicians he knew from the streets and formed the band. After seventeen years of hard work, The Frames are one of the most popular bands in their native Ireland.

Low is now a teenager. The Duluth band formed in 1994. Drummer Mimi Parker and guitarist Alan Sparhawk go back even farther than that - the spouses met in elementary school. Matt Livingston - the third bassist in their history - rounds out the group.