Backstage Pass

It seems like Mat Kearney's music is everywhere these days - everywhere except, well, you know, the radio.

The Nashville-based singer-songwriter saw his song "All I Need" close out the season premiere of "Grey's Anatomy" (so prominently, in fact, that the show's producers took the unusual step of identifying Kearney and his album in the credits) and his song "Crashing Down" made it into the show's second episode. Kearney's John Mayeresque "Undeniable" is in the commercials for NBC's "Friday Night Lights" and the title track from his album "Nothing Left to Lose" (Aware/Columbia) has been in the promos for TNT and MTV's "Laguna Beach."

Sure, Kearney's dramatic, Coldplay-with-a-twang guitar ballads work well behind shots of mourning doctors or rich Cali kids, but they're pretty decent songs on their own. Like David Ford and David Gray (shouldn't he be a shoo-in for "Grey's Anatomy"?), Kearney cuts the melodrama with a touch of humor and unusual touches like the rap-singing through "Undeniable," keeping a nice, laid-back vibe intact throughout the album.

The buzz from "Grey's Anatomy" has generated new interest in "Nothing Left to Lose," which was released in April. Who knows? It may even get him played on the radio.

Listen to "Nothing Left to Lose" here

Natalie Cole will turn a lot of heads with her new album, "Leavin'" (Verve), which features her versions of Fiona Apple's "Criminal," Kate Bush's "The Man With the Child in His Eyes," Neil Young's "Old Man" and the first single, Aretha Franklin's "Day Dreaming." But it's her cover of the Tom Jans hit "Lovin' Arms," usually associated with Elvis Presley and Etta James, that shows how Cole has recaptured an artistic spark and R&B edginess that suggests she isn't ready to trot off into the smooth-jazz sunset just yet. Built over a single acoustic guitar line and sweet backing vocals with a hint of Bob Marley and the Wailers, "Lovin' Arms" gives Cole a chance to show off her raucous, soulful side, sounding more like Macy Gray than Miss "Miss You Like Crazy." Who knew she still had surprises up her sleeves?

Imagine OutKast as a live band or The Roots steeped in indie rock and you get close to the Gym Class Heroes sound. And with its second album, "As Cruel as Schoolchildren" (Decaydance), the Geneva, N.Y., quartet has honed that sound into one that could conquer the mainstream the way it has the Warped Tour crowds.

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Watch "New Friend Request" below or other videos here.

With all the "American Idols" running around this week, it seemed like a good time to catch up with the One That Got Away, aka Mario Vazquez. The Bronx native sent the "Idol" world into a tizzy last year when he left the show voluntarily for "personal reasons," just as it looked like he was a shoo-in to march into the finals

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Listen to Vazquez's "Gallery" here.