Jon Batiste’s show at the Highmark Mann this Friday has been canceled, the popular singer, songwriter, TV personality, and bandleader wrote in a note posted on the arts center’s website Tuesday.
As he navigates “some personal circumstances,” Batiste said he needed to cancel some upcoming concert dates, including the one at the Highmark Mann.
He is “finding new ways and opportunities to share live music with you,” and “truly can’t wait to come back and perform for you soon,” he wrote in the message.
Batiste — Louisiana-born and -raised, Juilliard-trained — has forged a multifaceted career, often blending classical and jazz. He has been nominated for 25 Grammy Awards, winning eight, and was bandleader and musical director of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 to 2022.
Last summer, he performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra at its summer home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. His new release, Black Mozart, is due out Friday.
Batiste is beloved for the sense of joy he brings to music-making and for being an “incandescent spirit,” as Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca has written. At his show at the Met Philly in October, DeLuca wrote, Batiste ended by “tooting on his melodica, leading a Crescent City-style parade through the lobby onto Poplar Street, making it a mission to weave the multifarious strains of American music into one exuberant tapestry.”
Refunds for the Aug. 14 show are available at point of purchase. For tickets purchased via Ticketmaster, no action is required and refunds will be processed within 14-21 days, according to the cancellation notice. For more information visit highmarkmann.org.
For the first time since 1996, a new leader will be taking the helm of Mural Arts Philadelphia.
Emily Mello, a longtime arts educator and curator, will assume the role of the arts organization’s executive director on Sept. 1.
She succeeds Mural Arts founder Jane Golden, who has been a part of the organization since its inception in 1984, when it was known as the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network. Golden announced her decision to step down as executive director in August 2025.
Mello’s appointment follows a national search led by the board of directors of Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates, the nonprofit organization that raises funds for and supports Mural Arts Philadelphia.
Arts educator and curator Emily Mello, who has led arts institutions in New York, Chicago, and Miami, is Mural Arts’ new executive director.Courtesy of Ray Bailey
Board chair Hope Comisky said Mural Arts is “thrilled” to land Mello, adding that she boasts the blend of arts education, civic participation, and collaboration integral to the organization’s future.
“She’s worked with diverse groups and cultures. She’s had meaningful partnerships and understands the importance of artists and communities in the work that she does, and she has a collaborative work ethic,” Comisky said.
Mello brings more than two decades of arts leadership, with extensive experience in strategic planning, fundraising, community partnerships, and restorative justice. Most recently, she served as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s senior director of education, learning, and public programs.
In Philly, Mello said, she has found a city with a “strong arts community” and a level of civic pride she has not encountered in other places.
“I have worked in a lot of cities, and not every city has that amount of pride, and that’s a great place to be working from,” she said. “It tells me that people are really invested in what public space looks like, how it’s used, who has a stake in it, and who it’s reflecting. Those are all things that you see immediately upon entering Philly, and Mural Arts is such a huge part of that.”
Mural Arts is a nonprofit arts organization that transforms public spaces through community partnerships and artist collaborations. The organization has produced more than 4,300 public artworks across Philadelphia since its founding in 1984.
It was established as the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network by Mayor Wilson Goode’s administration. At the time, Tim Spencer was the group’s executive director, and Golden was brought on to develop the program’s art component — addressing the city’s graffiti problem by working directly with young people drawn to it as a form of self-expression.
In 1996, with the support of then-Mayor Ed Rendell, the Anti-Graffiti Network became the Mural Arts Program, and Golden took on the role of executive director.
“I have loved every part of running Mural Arts, and there is a part of me that feels sad. And a part of me that feels excited for Mural Arts and its future,” Golden said. “I think [Mello] was a really strong candidate, and I have the confidence she will be able to lead Mural Arts in the years to come.”
Arts educator and curator Emily Mello, who has led arts institutions in New York, Chicago, and Miami, is Mural Arts’ new executive director.Courtesy of Anjali Pinto
Before proposing any new programs, Mello said, she plans to continue building on Mural Arts’ existing education and restorative justice programs, and other core initiatives focused on “using art as a tool for healing.”
“Those are things that have really resonated for me in the arts, and I recognize it in Philly,” she said. In this city, she says, there are “people who see art as an essential infrastructure for a city.”
The immediate task at hand, Mello said, is to connect people from different neighborhoods and sectors to ensure that art — and the stories they tell — remains a central part of life in Philadelphia. “I think that has been established in Philly, but it’s something that we can’t take for granted,” she said.
Mello, 47, was born and raised in Providence, R.I., and earned an undergraduate degree in art history from Mount Holyoke College. She has a graduate degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a certificate from the Aspen Institute Seminar for Artist-Endowed Foundation Leaders.
She has also been the senior associate director of education at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and deputy director for education and public programs at Pérez Art Museum Miami. Mello also worked with artist Simone Leigh as her director of foundations planning and special projects.
The mural “In Pride, In Power, In Memory” is located outside of Voyeur Nightclub in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood.Morgan Ritter
On Monday, Mello visited the 1,200-square-foot In Pride, In Power, In Memory mural that was unveiled on the exterior of Voyeur Nightclub at 1221 St. James St. on June 26.
The mural, created by artist Santiago Galeas, was a work in progress through Mello’s interview process and has taken on a special meaning for her.
“I love that it memorializes figures that are important to Philadelphia’s history, but also history more broadly,” she said. “To see it at that scale, and transforming the cityscape, is a powerful tool to teach people about those who came before them and fought for them.”
Golden will serve in an advisory role through the end of the year to assist with the transition.
Jane Golden, Mural Arts Philadelphia founder and executive director, speaks at the Bells Across PA event in celebration of America’s 250th Birthday in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
“We obviously want to honor [Golden’s] legacy because she transformed Philadelphia, and she certainly inspired cities nationally, if not internationally,” said board chair Comisky.
“But we also want to look toward the future, and we think with the background [Mello] has, we’re going to be able to do just that.”
Philadelphia is the latest locale for vigilante Jack Reacher's shadowy dealings in season four of Reacher, streaming now on Amazon Prime. The show, which stars actor Alan Ritchson as the hulking retired Army investigator, was spotted filming around town last year.
Based on Lee Child's 2009 novel Gone Tomorrow, this season has Reacher facing off against the CIA, federal agents, and international mercenaries following a woman's suicide. And while much of the on-screen action appears to have been filmed elsewhere — namely Toronto, which looks a lot like Philly, but with space — the City of Brotherly Love does show up quite a bit.
Here, we'll be rounding up all the Philly spots we can identify this season. Check out the map below for where Reacher and his cohorts took them in the city.
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Philadelphia
City Hall
Michael Bryant / Staff P
Reacher's fourth season immediately sets the scene with a shot of the William Penn statue atop City Hall as a nightscape of Center City shines in the background.
Philadelphia
Uptown Beer Garden
Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer
We catch our first glimpse of our hero, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), as he exits Uptown Beer Garden, who walks out of the establishment silently with a beer in hand.
Philadelphia
LOVE Park
MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer
Reacher speaks for the first time this season, ordering a "wiz wit" from a nondescript food truck in Love Park.
Philadelphia
Avenue of the Arts
JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
Here, Reacher strolls down the sidewalk on the west side of Broad Street, chomping on his cheesesteak. Canonically, it is just after 2 a.m., and the street is deserted as he descends into the Walnut-Locust entrance B line, which runs along Broad Street.
Philadelphia
Walnut-Locust Station
Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
As he enjoys his cheesesteak, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) heads down into the Broad Street Line at this Center City station. Several interior shots of the station are shown, including one in which a rat munches on a hot dog.
Philadelphia
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Thomas Hengge / Staff Photographer
Philly is again shown off in all its nocturnal glory with a low-light shot of Center City from the Ben Franklin Bridge.
Philadelphia
Benjamin Franklin Parkway
For the first time in the season's first episode, the sun rises on Philadelphia. And it does so in this stunning aerial shot showcasing many of the Ben Franklin Parkway's gems — Logan Circle, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the works.
Philadelphia
Parkway Central Library
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
We get a great glimpse of the exterior of the Parkway Central Library before heading inside, where Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) and Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette) do research on Congressman John Sampson (Marc Blucas), a North Carolina representative who is launching a presidential bid.
Philadelphia
Parc
Courtesy of HughE Dillon
Parc briefly plays host to Reacher, Lila Hoth (Agnez Mo), and Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette) as the trio settles in at an outdoor table to evade police.
Philadelphia
Walt Whitman Bridge
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Reacher and his cohorts travel back into Philly via this bridge after escaping Washington, D.C. In the background, the old Southwark Generating Station is clearly visible.
Philadelphia
Schuylkill Expressway
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
As Reacher and his crew traverse Philly at night, the action leads to a shot of the west end of Center City near 30th Street Station from the Schuylkill Expressway.
Philadelphia
Schuylkill Expressway
Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Here, we get another nightscape shot of Philly's skyline, again from I-76 near 30th Street Station looking east. In the foreground, Locust on the Park is lit up green and is featured prominently.
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That was every location we could spot in the opening three episodes. Explore the map of all locations featured. Tap onHover overa pin to learn more.
Staff Contributors
Design and Development: Garland Fordice and Sam Morris
Eagles radio broadcasts will sound a little different this year.
While longtime announcers Merrill Reese and Mike Quick will be back for their 29th season together in the booth, 94.1 WIP won’t have a dedicated sideline reporter during Eagles games for the first time in more than 15 years.
WIP is shifting to a more limited role within the broadcast, with Reese and Quick turning to another WIP personality when needed.
It’s assumed that Eliot Shorr-Parks, the station’s Eagles beat reporter since 2018, will be the broadcast’s go-to voice for updates, but others could jump in as needed. Shorr-Parks will do a pregame hit from the sideline ahead of Saturday’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens.
“The rest of the role is still TBD,” said David Helm, a spokesperson for WIP’s parent company, Audacy.
Devan Kaney was laid off by WIP in March and has since landed in Chicago. David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Devan Kaney, who served as sideline reporter last season and during the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX run, was laid off by WIP in March as part of company-wide cutbacks by Audacy. She had been with the station since 2022 and served as an on-air personality, regularly cohosting WIP’s morning show alongside Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie.
“I had a blast working at WIP and sincerely enjoyed my time there,” Kaney told The Inquirer in March. “But as the old saying goes, when one door closes, another opens.”
Former WIP host Howard Eskin served as a sideline reporter for more than 15 years. dnphoto
Former WIP host Howard Eskin was the station’s first Eagles sideline reporter, with his fur coats and colorful headphones becoming a sideline staple. Eskin covered the team since 1975, but said his first season as Eagles sideline reporter wasn’t until 2011.
WIP has been broadcasting Eagles games since 1969, with Reese entering his 50th season calling games, by far the longest-tenured announcer in the NFL. The station’s current deal to broadcast Eagles games runs through the 2028 season.
The future star of The Matrix and John Wick franchises made three memorable movies — Point Break, My Own Private Idaho, and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. He also met his friend Robert Mailhouse, whom he’s still playing music with 35 years later in a band that has three shows in the Philadelphia region in the next week.
Dogstar, the alternative rock band that Reeves and Mailhouse play in along with singer-guitarist Brett Domrose, will perform in support of their new album All in Nowat Union Transfer on Wednesday, at Sounds Waves at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on Friday, and at the Hershey Theatre on Aug. 18.
Reeves, who was born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, was a standout hockey player in high school. At age 20, he moved to Los Angeles, where he introduced himself to Mailhouse in a grocery store.
“We lived in the same neighborhood, and we went to the same grocery store,” recalled Reeves, who plays bass, talking via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles. “And he was wearing a Detroit Red Wings sweatshirt. I asked him if he knew where there was a pickup game.
“From that came a fast friendship. I had a house that had a drum set and bass amp and a guitar amp, and Robert was playing drums and keyboards. So that’s the genesis of the rhythm section.”
“Keanu was a goaltender, which was really hard to find in Los Angeles,” said Mailhouse, picking up the story. An actor who has had roles in Days of Our Lives and CSI, he also joined the call from his own home in L.A.
“I remember I went back to the Thursday night skate in Burbank and told the guys, ‘I think I might have found a goaltender.’ And then when Keanu showed up, he was really good.”
Before Mailhouse, now 64, and Reeves, 61, played music, they played hockey. Dogstar was first fronted by singer Greg Miller, who led the band on a 1995 tour opening for Bon Jovi in Australia and New Zealand. But by the time the band’s debut album, Our Little Visionary, came out in 1996, Miller had left the band and Domrose — a former member of legendary punk band the Nuns — had taken over frontman duties.
That version of Dogstar released one more album, Happy Ending, in 2000, and then lost momentum, breaking up two years later.
The cover image for Dogstar’s album “All in Now.”Dillon Street Records
The split wasn’t caused by tension among the musicians, said Domrose, 57, a film composer who joined the Zoom call from his house in L.A. “We’d been going through the meat grinder with different record labels. It wears you out.”
There was also a little hiccup.
“Keanu had a movie career that was taking off to a new level” — the actor played Neo in the first Matrix movie in 1999 — “so we just felt like maybe it was time for a break.”
The trio remained friends, with Reeves briefly playing bass in another Mailhouse band called Becky. But they mainly pursued other paths, until the pandemic.
“You rethink your life,” said Mailhouse. “You get together and find you have all this time and less distractions. That put us all in a good mood to get back and try some stuff.”
Reeves says he never had rock-star ambitions, other than “playing air guitar on a tennis racket,” a la his character in the Bill & Ted movies. “But when I was 22, I went down to the Guitar Center on Sunset and bought a bass.”
He’s an anomaly among actors — unlike say, Jared Leto’s in 30 Seconds to Mars or Jamie Foxx and Kiefer Sutherland, who have recorded under their own names — in that he stays out of the spotlight, content to simply play bass and sometimes sing backup vocals.
Reeves’ rumbling bass is the first thing heard as All in Now kicks off with “Math.” But he’s essentially a supporting player in a power trio that refers to itself as “a brotherhood.” There’s a parallel there to the position Reeves favored in hockey, which also put the good of the team ahead of individual glory (and wore a mask).
“It is kind of a similar thing,” Domrose said to Reeves. “You are the last line of defense as a bass player and a goalie. If the bass player drops out, you’ve got nothing.
“He’s the melody of the team,” said Mailhouse.
“Oh my God —,” Reeves said, jokingly expressing discomfort at being analyzed by his bandmates as he sat in a bookshelf-lined room, bass by his side. “Enough about the bass player! We’re coming to Philly! We’re gonna rock! August 12!”
When Domrose, Mailhouse, and Reeves got together to play during the pandemic, Reeves says, they realized “we all missed it.”
“We plugged in, and Robert picked up his sticks and Brett put on his guitar … There it was.”
Alt-rock band Dogstar (from left): Bass player Keanu Reeves, drummer Robert Mailhouse, and singer-guitarist Brett Domrose. They play Union Transfer on Wednesday, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on Friday, and Hershey Theatre on Aug. 18.Zachary Gray
“You slide into your old comfortable slippers,” said Domrose. “I felt it right away.”
Dogstar released its third album, Somewhere Between the Power Lines and the Palm Trees, in 2023. Since then, the band has been a steady concern, headlining shows and doing festival dates in the U.S. and Europe.
All in Now is a rugged yet melodic grunge-adjacent album that would sound right at home in the mid-1990s alongside Bush, Stone Temple Pilots, and early Radiohead.
When asked what favorite bands they have in common, Domrose cites David Bowie and Reeves names the Replacements, referring to the Paul Westerberg-fronted 1980s rock band, not the 2000 football comedy he starred in.
All in Now was recorded with veteran producer Nick Launey, who outfitted Dogstar with a hard-hitting if not terribly original sound. The band is genuinely thrilled that such an esteemed producer signed up with them.
“I mean all this work he’s done with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more recently, Amyl and the Sniffers,” said Mailhouse. “All these great bands, and now little old Dogstar. I think we got lucky.”
Reeves’ movie-star career continues apace: He’s due in director Tim Miller’s Shiver next year. “Sharks, time machine, Groundhog Day … Fun!” is how the actor has summed up the movie, in which he plays a Caribbean smuggler.
But the friends are also committed to keeping Dogstar going as a working band.
All in Now’s title sounds like a statement of commitment, “but it’s not really a narrative of us,” said Domrose. “But unconsciously it does reflect where the band is now.”
“It’s got an energy to it, right?,” said Reeves. “All in Now is f— awesome! I think we came off tour and we were like ‘Let’s rock!’
“Making music can be so much fun,” he said. “The creativity, being together, the three of us in a room. To be able to make a record, and then to tour and do it again. I feel really grateful. This is our second album since we got back together. It’s exciting. So let’s make a third. Keep it going!”
Dogstar at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden at 8 p.m. Wednesday, utphilly.com; Hard Rock Hotel Casino, 1000 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, at 9 p.m. Friday, casino.hardrock.com; and Hershey Theatre, 15 E. Caracas Ave., Hershey, at 8 p.m. Aug. 18, hersheyentertainment.com.
The University Avenue Bridge will soon receive structural repairs, and some of its architectural details will be secured from further vandalism, but a full-scale restoration of the historic span isn’t happening anytime soon.
PennDot is slated to begin work on the drawbridge Aug. 17, the agency announced Monday. Pedestrian and vehicular traffic will be partially impeded for the duration of the job.
A routine inspection in March of the Paul Philippe Cret-designed structure turned up deterioration in some of the steel members, said PennDot assistant district executive for assets Kerri Cutright, “and we were a little concerned, and so that’s why we’ve initiated these repairs.”
The goal is to move the drawbridge from “poor” to “fair” condition, said Cutright.
In addition, plans call for the installation of 8-foot-tall chain-link fencing in front of the two operator’s houses on the east side of the bridge to deter vandals.
Work is expected to continue through Dec. 15.
Broken windows and vandalism are visible inside one of the operator’s houses on the University Avenue Bridge on July 23.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The project, estimated to cost about $2 million, leaves unaddressed the needs of some major features of the bridge, which was built around 1930. It will not bring back the bridge’s ability to raise its leaves, though the work won’t prevent restoration of that function in the future. The 10 elaborately detailed lighting fixtures will not be returned to working order as part of the job.
Graffiti has marred the bridge in several places, most noticeably on the Center City-facing sides of the operator’s houses, but there is no immediate plan to clean up the scrawls.
“At this time, graffiti removal is not in the scope, but it is being explored in the near future,” said PennDot spokesperson Brad Rudolph.
Graffiti on the University Avenue Bridge, seen from the Schuylkill River Trail, on May 21.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Vandalism and deterioration on the bridge linking West Philadelphia and Grays Ferry have attracted sporadic public attention for decades. The Inquirer highlighted the conditions last September, with another article in June, and other news outlets have called for the bridge’s stabilization and restoration. A recent change.org petition advocating that it be protected from further damage collected hundreds of signatures.
“Without intervention, these unique design elements risk permanent loss,” the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia wrote in its magazine, which lists the bridge as one of the city’s places to save.
“We welcome PennDot’s attention to the University Avenue Bridge and the planned work to address some of its most urgent deficiencies. This is a positive first step, especially after years of visible deterioration, but it should not be the end of the effort,” said Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. “The bridge is one of Philadelphia’s most distinctive historic spans, and it deserves a broader rehabilitation plan that addresses its historic features, long-term condition and role as a public gateway between neighborhoods.”
The repairs at hand will address the structural elements beneath the bridge’s deck. The bridge uses a girder floor beam stringer system to carry the load, said Cutright, and the deterioration will be addressed with plating, cleaning, and repainting, and some steel members may be replaced.
Vandalism and the elements have damaged the two operator’s houses on the Center City-facing side of the bridge. They will be cleaned out and sealed, and a chain-link fence will be installed in front of the two structures to deter trespassers.
Lane closures will reduce vehicular access to one lane in each direction during construction. Two of the bridge’s four lanes will be closed all day every day, with two lanes left open (one in each direction) through mid-December. The work will begin with closing the two lanes closest to the operator’s houses, and moving all traffic to the other side. Then, in a couple of months, the closure pattern will flip.
The bridge carries more than 36,000 vehicles per day, according to PennDot, and the agency expects significant backups during construction. Pedestrian access will be permitted on the side of the bridge opposite from where work is being conducted.
A fish and other details adorn the operator’s houses on the University Avenue Bridge.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Cutright said that while PennDot would like to restore the bridge, the cost is estimated around $50 million, and no funding is currently lined up for an effort on that scale.
Even if funding were in place now, a major rehabilitation would be a long way off. Planning and construction would take five years or more, she said.
“It’s a beautiful bridge, and I would imagine that if we were to do a major project that we would want to restore it to its former glory.”
Would you go months without talking to your bestie if they didn’t congratulate you on an Eagles win?
Well, die-hard fan Rob Evors did. And the fallout was captured by camera crews.
The Bala Cynwyd native stars in House of Stassi, a new Freeform and Hulu unscripted show that follows former Bravolebrity and Vanderpump Rules “It girl” Stassi Schroeder as she attempts to come back from cancellation and cement herself as the next Kris Jenner. There’s relationship and friendship drama, explosive fights and humble reconciliations, and elaborate parties — all the trappings of binge-worthy reality TV.
Rob Evors is captured Tuesday, July 28, 2026 , at a cocktail party celebrating Freeform and Hulu’s “House of Stassi” in New York City.Courtesy of Disney/Arthur Gareev
But a through line of the inaugural eight episodes is an ongoing rift between Evors and Schroeder’s husband, Beau Clark, sparked by a perceived slight against the Philadelphia Eagles.
An exasperated Clark explained in episode two: “I haven’t talked to [Evors] in nine months because during football season, I didn’t congratulate him on his team’s wins on a couple group chats.”
Schroeder declared, “This is not about f-ingfootball, and I won’t let either of them convince the world that it is.”
What was left out, however, is that Clark, a Rams fan, actually failed to congratulate Evors — who “bleeds green” and has Boathouse Row and the Eagles logo tattooed on his arm — on the 2025 Super Bowl win.
“It wasn’t like it was Week Six and I was like ‘you’re not texting me about my football team’ — it was winning the Super Bowl,” Evors said in a phone interview.
“I might as well have given birth to a child and you didn’t reach out.”
So, yeah, the snub went deeper than pigskin: Evors and Clark’s decades-long friendship has ebbed and flowed, and Evors ultimately just wanted Clark to take an interest in his life, he said. (Spoiler: The men hashed out their evolving dynamics on camera, and Evors said the duo are cordial — even after a tumultuous season finale.)
Evors, 50, moved to Bala Cynwyd as a toddler and grew up a “stone’s throw” from City Avenue, he said. He graduated from Episcopal Academy and left the Philadelphia region for Syracuse University, eventually landing in Los Angeles to pursue acting full-time. He now lives in Austin, Texas.
His career, however, started on the Main Line doing community theater and training at the Actors Center in Old City. Evors remembers stopping at Roy Rogers on weekly drives to New York City and eventually taking the Peter Pan Bus alone to the Big Apple for auditions; he landed a Dorney Park commercial that “paid for college.”
Rob Evors pictured in his Philly gear.Courtesy of Rob Evors
Reality TV is a new world for Evors, who has since racked up acting credits in scripted shows like Criminal Minds, All American, and FBI: International and the 2012 movie Project X, according to IMDb. He also won a game on Wheel of Fortune.
My son and I sat on the tailgate of his truck on a recent summer afternoon, sipping beers and looking out at the crowd filling up the fields at the site of the original Woodstock.
He was shirtless in jeans and cowboy boots and a camo Eagles hat. Other trucks filled the spaces around us, but Subarus and Toyota Priuses rolled in, too. I saw an Arthur Russell bumper sticker on one truck and smiled, a man in a Primus shirt by another, not to mention hundreds of people, of all ages, I’d guess were major Phish fans.
“I don’t know,” I told my son. “This doesn’t look like a country music crowd.”
“Billy’s not country,” he replied.
About an hour later, Nashville musician Billy Strings was deep into a brain-melting jam, fingerpicking his Martin acoustic guitar for about 15,000 people at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in New York. Mandolin, banjo, upright bass, and fiddle filled in around him, and I flashed back to a similar, much smaller jam I saw atop a Tennessee mountain years ago.
“I don’t know anything about music,” I said to myself as Billy blistered on.
Ronan (left) and Jason Nark tailgating at the Billy Strings show in Bethel, N.Y.Jason Nark
“There’s plenty of songs about booze or guns or bonfires or getting muddy with carefree girls. Often, it’s a combination of all those things in one song, and America eats it up,” I wrote.
Rereading the piece now, in 2026, it’s not as bad as I remembered. I interviewed experts, fans, and radio personalities, and let them have their say.
“It’s mainstream. It’s rock ‘n’ roll now; it’s not that old twangy country people think of. It’s music people can understand and relate to,” one fan told me back then, during WXTU’s 29th anniversary concert in Camden.
Still, a few people came for me online.
Former conservative talk show host Chris Stigall brought me on his Philadelphia-based show, and I knew I was in trouble. I can’t find a recording, but I recall him calling me an “elitist” or “smug,” and he may have laughed when I told him my favorite band was Black Sabbath.
I took that same son, a middle-schooler back then, to see Sabbath in Philly that very year. Friends were hitting up Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney shows at the time, though, asking me to tag along. I was still very much listening to metal and indie rock, bands like Built to Spill, who I’ve seen live about two dozen times. I held fast.
“What’s next?” I wondered. “Jimmy Buffett?”
Ronan and Jason Nark at an Iron Maiden show in Camden in 2012.Jason Nark
I spent a lot of time driving, my radio scanning from country to Christian, and interviewed Pennsylvanians in barns, old coal towns, campgrounds, and general stores. Many of these people had different concerns, backgrounds, musical tastes, and voting records than most Philadelphians. The more time I spent with them, the harder it was to label anyone, anywhere.
I also met my second wife, who was from Chattanooga, Tenn., around that time too, and she introduced me to a South I didn’t know. During one early visit to her hometown, she took me to the Mountain Opry, a little community hall atop Signal Mountain where they served popcorn and soda. The tiny show, with artists as talented as Billy Strings, felt like a treasure she gifted me, and I remain grateful for that.
We went to an Austin honky-tonk together too, where I may have hooted and hollered when the Beaumonts played their raunchy songs. Later, in 2019, we danced to Chris Stapleton in a former church in downtown Chattanooga at our wedding. I still have “Rocky Top” in my running playlist.
The author with his sons, Zenon and Ronan, at the Tyler Childers show in Philadelphia in 2023.Jason Nark
During all this time, I thought about that 2013 story I wrote, with growing regret.
My children finally tipped the scales when they got to high school and became adults, and some of the lyrics coming out of their speakers began to catch me off guard, artists like Lost Dog Street Band and Zach Bryan. I went looking for more and found Sierra Ferrell, Sturgill Simpson, Lydia Loveless, and Margo Cilker.
Was it country? Americana? Folk? Bluegrass? Who cares, I’m a fan of whatever it is, and now, as I hover close to 50, I couldn’t care less about who listens to what.
When I went to see Tyler Childers at the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts, I was surprised to see how young the crowd was and remembered, fondly, getting busted for underage drinking there at a Metallica, Danzig, and Suicidal Tendencies show decades earlier.
Billy Strings Alysse Gafkjen
Fast-forward a few years, and my son and I were camping along the Delaware River, fishing and eating kielbasa, ahead of the Billy Strings show. I hadn’t heard of Strings before I visited the Martin factory in Northeastern Pennsylvania last year, but my son is a devotee, and I’d dragged him to metal shows as a kid, and even a jazz show in Philly last year.
“It sounds like everyone in the band is playing a different song,” he said about the jazz.
From quick listens, I assumed Billy Strings was playing country music, but my son was right. It’s something different, something I don’t need to label. I’ve seen Strings described as psychedelic or “jamgrass,” and they both sound fine to me. The crowd — he sold out two nights at Bethel — was losing its mind, twirling around for hours on the grass like at the original Woodstock on the grounds, back in 1969.
We drove back to the campground with smiles stuck to our faces.
Later, when I got home, I learned Strings grew up in Michigan, in a household full of bluegrass and heavy metal. One of his favorite bands, it turns out, was Black Sabbath, just like me: further proof that we can like what we like, without labels.
This is the sun-baked time for irresistible hooks and big brash beats. This is the season when pop culture experts aim to pronounce that just one ubiquitous recording is this year’s unifying, definitive Song of the Summer.
I’m not going to play that game — or not exactly, anyway. The 30 songs annotated here are all songs of the summer of 2026, many of them by big name artists and rising stars formidable enough to be widely considered on most Song of the Summer short lists.
But the songs gathered here — by pop stars, singer-songwriters, hip-hop heroes, country singers, and indie rock bands — are not ranked. Instead, they’re arranged as a playlist of sometimes ebullient, sometimes bummed out tunes that aim to convey a wide range of what the summer of 2026 sounds like, with plenty of Philly artists worked into the mix.
Put on your headphones.
Charli XCX, “SS26”
“Spring Summer ’26,” Charli XCX sings, sounding cheerful setting the mise-en-scène for her new album Music, Fashion, Film. “When the world is gonna end, no hope for any of it.” Rather than a BRAT summer — that was 2024 — this is a reinvention song for a season of disaffection. She opens her U.S. tour in Philly on Sept. 11.
Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”
For such a pop juggernaut, the charms of “Choosin’ Texas” are surprisingly subtle considering how big the song has become. The traditional country-leaning Lone Star State singer’s single, about a spurned lover drinking Jack Daniels alone, has topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart for 17 weeks, the longest winning streak by a woman artist ever for a nonholiday song.
Country singer Ella Langley’s record-breaking single is “Choosin’ Texas.”Columbia Records
Madonna, “School”
Summer school is in session on Confessions II with Madonna proclaiming she’s hungry to learn as well as teach. Her impressive sequel to her 2005 album Confessions On A Dance Floor returns to her comfort zone with producer Stuart Price.
Beyoncé, “Morning Dew (Donk)”
Beyoncé also wants to go back to school, “and have my locker full of pictures of you,” she sings on a track whose origin dates to 2013. But the song was not officially released until July 4. It’s also old-school and sultry in an R&B sense, with a remix that features a Jay-Z guest verse.
Olivia Dean, “So Easy (To Fall In Love)”
British pop-soul singer Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving came out in 2025, but her ascendance in America is ongoing. This bossa nova is a cool, welcome summer breeze that brings to mind Astrud Gilberto.
Low Cut Connie, “Can’t Be Wrong”
Perhaps the catchiest earworm yet from Adam Weiner’s South Philly rock and soul party and protest band. “Gettin’ naked in the afternoon, or maybe later underneath the moon … Oh, baby, you know it can’t be wrong.” Can it?
Meek Mill, “Nightmares To Dreams”
“Dreams and Nightmares,” the 2012 rager that has become an unofficial Philly anthem, gets a sequel, with a cameo from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in the video. Not equal to the original, but not bad.
Stella Lefty, “Boston”
Stella Lefty’s country hit makes the cut despite its title. And who can be mad at Boston after they traded Jaylen Brown to the Sixers to pave the way for LeBron James? But seriously, this song by Lefty, the daughter of billionaire Eric Lefkofsky, interpolates Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” and is seriously catchy.
Olivia Dean wins the Pop Act award during the Brit Awards 2026 in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)Scott A Garfitt
Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You”
This Toy Story 5 song’s arrangement, by Swift and Jack Antonoff includes banjo and mandolin, and has been characterized as country. Which means that between Swift, Lefty, Langley, and Morgan Wallen, last week’s Top 5 songs on the Billboard charts were all country for the first time.
Phoebe Bridgers, “Lost Boys”
Antonoff is also involved with this single about Peter Pan syndrome from Bridgers’ forthcoming album Lost Weekend, due Aug. 14. Philly indie savant Alex G. coproduces and boygenius’ Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker sing backup.
Flight of Mavis, “Tonight’s the Night”
This nugget from the Philly jangle pop band’s Mavis Sing Mavis is not a Neil Young cover but a song for music lovers. “Tonight’s the night,” Frank Brown sings, “I’m going to see my favorite band.”
Philly band Flight of Mavis’ new album is “Mavis Sings Mavis.”Courtesy of the Artist
Olivia Rodrigo, “The Cure”
The Cure is one of Olivia Rodrigo’s favorite bands. This single from You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love is not about Robert Smith, however. It’s a gem about a guy who will never be “the cure.” Rodrigo plays Xfinity Mobile Arena on Nov. 7 and 8.
Hurry, “Moving After You”
It’s hard to choose among Hurry songs, because Philly songwriter and guitarist Matthew Scottoline’s tunes all tend to captivate with melodic grace and wistful vibes. This one includes a cameo from Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love.
Paul McCartney, “Days We Left Behind”
Speaking of wistful, Macca looks back fondly on his pre-Beatles Liverpool boyhood on this charming centerpiece on The Boys of Dungeon Lane.
Eric Bazilian, “Better Times”
This song from the coleader of Philadelphia rock institution the Hooters is part of the “Philly Anthems” project of WXPN-FM (88.5). The sturdy tune strikes a hopeful note, with a hint of desperation: “Better times better come soon.”
Twisted Teens’ new album and single is “Florida Water Blues.”Courtesy of the Artist
Twisted Teens, “Florida Water Blues”
Gnarly, country-flavored New Orleans garage rock band Twisted Teens look for meaning beyond “a hundred beers of solitude” in this winning title track from their new album.
Sam and Louise Sullivan, “Love & Devotion”
On last year’s Sweet Enough, Philly folk-pop sibling band Sam and Louise Sullivan sang of “Jealousy & Envy.” They’re on the lookout for nicer things on the title track to their new album.
Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, “Horses and Divorces”
Texas country singers Musgraves and Lambert had a beef dating back to 2011, when Lambert beat Musgraves to recording her own “Mama’s Broken Heart.” Now, the two horsewomen have made up, bonding over shared life experiences.
Billy Strings, “Mill Town Flood”
An original song from the country jam band multi-instrumentalist that tells a fictional tale about his real hometown of Muir, Mich. From So Much For Goodbyes, due Aug. 28.
Rapsody, “Apple Juice”
“Got a jones for you, sweet tooth, like sugar in my apple juice.” North Carolina rapper Rapsody goes deliciously neo-soul on this single from God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops, due Aug. 28.
Tyla performs during the Global Citizen Festival in 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)Charles Sykes
Tyla ft. Zara Larsson, “She Did It Again”
A peppy, percolating team up of South African singer Tyla and Swedish pop star Larsson, drawing inspiration from early 2000s Britney Spears.
Theodora, “Miss Kitoko”
French Congolese singer Theodora — also known as Boss Lady — mixes Afro-pop and electronic elements with a verve that transcends language barriers.
Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, with Anderson .Paak, “Ay Ay Ay”
Argentine experimental pop duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso’s collaborators on the Free Spirits album include Jack Black and Sting. On this exuberant track they mix in R&B and funk with beat savvy songwriter .Paak.
Slayyyter, “Crank”
With Charli XCX getting self-reflective this summer, Slayyter is picking up the in-your-face electro-pop slack. TikTok aided this screamy song’s success with clips of graduates yelling “Crank It!” upon receiving their diplomas.
Slayyyter performs during the first weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April.Amy Harris
Tame Impala, with Jennie, “Dracula”
Yes, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala’s vampiric concoction is lightweight stuff. But isn’t that what summer is for? And K-pop sensation Jennie boosts its exuberant groove.
Ariana Grande, “Hate That I Made You Love Me”
With the Wicked star announcing that she’s pulling back from public life, many observers are convinced that this single is about her fans and the prison of fame. Perhaps. In any case, its chilly tone and refusal to serve up a happy ending make for compelling listening.
Steve Lacy, “The Feeling”
The internet guitarist struggled to find an audience for his genre-splicing music before “Bad Habit” from his 2022 album Gemini Rights. He’s back in top form with this woozy song from his return album Oh Yeah?
Weird Nightmare, “Might See You There”
Power pop fun from the side project of Alex Edkins of Canadian punk-pop band Metz that doesn’t waste a note, at just over 2 minutes.
Ronnie Wood, left, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards attend The Rolling Stones “Foreign Tongues” album launch event on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)Evan Agostini
Rolling Stones, “Rough and Twisted”
Is Foreign Tongues, the new Rolling Stones album, their best since … 1986’s Dirty Work? 1981’s Tattoo You? Whatever Stones fans decide, there’s no denying the octogenarians’ sound has energized, particularly on this feisty opener.
Kurt Vile, “Zoom 97”
The grabby single on Vile’s new 215 proud Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me is the hyped up “Chance To Bleed.” This second single, however, is more quintessential KV. It’s a song for a lazy summer afternoon, riding a lovably, languorous groove, as zigzagging his way down Lincoln Drive makes Vile “feel I can fly — for a while.”
Philly alt-rock star Kurt Vile outside the Silk City Diner on Sunday, May 24, 2026 in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Christine Barnabic had already run a 5K at Belmont Plateau on Saturday morning when, still in her running gear, she hopped on her scooter and headed from her home in Fairmount to the Philadelphia Zoo. Her purse held commemorative pencils and a tattered punch card.
“It’s just really neat to recognize these firsts in America,” Barnabic, 42, said.
The Philadelphia Zoo, for its part, was the first public zoo to open in the United States, in 1874. It is just one stop along the Philadelphia Historic District’s “52 Weeks of Firsts” events that celebrate Philly’s history and cultural significance by showcasing things that happened here first.
Amanda Meiluch displays her hat adorned with pins for America’s 250th as part of the city’s 52 Weeks of Firsts celebrations Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026.Brett Sholtis
She started posting selfies taken at each firstival and was stunned to learn she had won a prize pack including a Slinky, a record of old songs, tickets to the Betsy Ross House and Eastern State Penitentiary, and free admission to adult circus classes — each gift celebrating a historic milestone that happened in Philly.
Barnabic said she is no history expert, but she is an enthusiast. She manages a company that does fitness tours for people who are in town for conferences or staying at hotels. To her, checking off the firstivals also boosted her knowledge.
“And people are very friendly here,” she said.
Todd Marcocci at Under the Sun Productions has been coordinating the events for the historic district. He said he knows at least four people who have attended all 32 events so far.
The firstivals are often held at popular public locations, and many, like Barnabic, have been drawn in and kept coming back, Marcocci said. The zoo commemoration, for example, was held near the Ferris wheel, which is open to the public, no ticket required.
“It’s been great, because each week there is variety. It’s beyond education. You think you know a lot about history, but everyone learns something here,” Marcocci said.
He has his own side quest: He is gathering commemorative items from all of the firstivals that he plans to give to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for posterity.
These days, Arnold leads history tours a couple of days a week for Grim Philly. He said he enjoys showing people the U.S. post office, the First Continental Congress, the first use of the phrase “United States of America,” and the invention of the Slinky, which can all be traced back to a four-block area in Old City.
Artist Gwenn Seemel’s No. 1 captures many of the Philadelphia Zoo’s first milestones.Gwenn Seemel and Colibrà Workshop
“It’s just wonderful. As I say to my tourists, everything started here,” Arnold said.
For anyone feeling left out, 20 more firstivals remain on the calendar. They highlight everything from the first people to live in the region (at Penn Museum’s new Native North America Gallery) to the first modern detective story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” written in 1841 by then-Philadelphia resident Edgar Allan Poe.
(And yes, Philly invented cheesesteaks and water ice, according to the historic district, and forthcoming food-themed celebrations are on the list, too.)
For the firstival diehards, the weekly events have also fostered a kind of community, said Amanda Meiluch, who took the train in from Penndel to volunteer at the event.
She did not start out as a volunteer, but after a few weeks, she decided to make it official.
In the process, the retired accountant has befriended other regulars — one of whom gave her a hat after dealing with a particularly sunny day. A week later, they saw each other again, and her friend was delighted to see that Meiluch had adorned the hat with pins celebrating the city’s history.
“She made me happy. And I made her happy. That’s all you can do in this world,” Meiluch said.
