Music

It was 1910. Howard Taft was president, the Boy Scouts of America came into being and in Washington, D.C., the Howard Theatre opened its doors, ushering in a new era of black culture and entertainment.

Mick Rock is really his name — though he's Michael to his mother — and he is exactly what you might imagine a rock photographer to be: tall and hip with shaggy hair. Shaded Ray-Bans, jean jacket, scarf. Oh, and an English accent to boot — so he can drop words like "bloody" and "shag" with allure (though he doesn't shy from the American equivalents, either).

"In any other era, dogs wouldn't have pissed on me," he says. "Thank God for Mick and Keith," who helped make lanky, messy Englishmen cool. He's referring to the Rolling Stones, of course.

Simone (pronounced "Simon") Felice is a poet, a novelist and a musician from rural New York state who has lived through two near-death experiences. At 12, he suffered a brain aneurysm, and in June 2010, he underwent emergency open-heart surgery. He jokes, "I guess I came out of the factory a little defective."

With Love is singer Rosie Thomas' first full-length album in four years, and she's experienced many ups and downs in that time. One of the downs was an injury: Her thyroid broke, causing her to take a hiatus from music.