Hot Sheet: Brad Scientist

6. MUSIC: Erin McKeown: Manifestra
Out singer-songwriter Erin McKeown just released her seventh album, Manifestra, on her own TVP records. She enlists the vocal talents of actor Sean Hayes, vocalist Anais Mitchell, and Mexican-Americana indie band David Wax Museum. The latest single from Manifestra, titled "Baghdad To The Bayou," was cowritten by out MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow. Since McKeown and Maddow are close friends, the two ladies wrote the song together over a series of text messages. The song is described as "a simmering New Orleans cut that addresses injustice from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico" and name-checks the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Hurricane Katrina, bought elections, all while proclaiming "you can't stop the people / when the people start to see."