Here I Am: An Interview with Kate Pierson

As the B-52s head toward their 40th anniversary next year, Kate Pierson is keeping herself busy this year with her first-ever solo album, Guitars and Microphones. The timbre of Pierson’s voice is so charmingly iconic that, even when applied to new material, it sounds thoroughly familiar. And her smart, catchy pop songs — crafted largely in tandem with Sia — are not so far from the Bs to be unfamiliar, either. Guitars and Microphones is a refreshing pop pastiche, a solid “debut” for the… get this… 66-year-old who plans to hit the road soon to support the set.