Whipping Boy

Bruce Hornsby played Humphrey's on July 21. I caught up with him that afternoon and asked if there is anything he can do to keep his hit ("The Way It Is") from being played on Sean Hannity's Republican talk-radio show. Hornsby laughed and said, "I've heard that from so many people. I really can't win. People on the left complain about some things and people on the right about other things. I complained about something to [Hannity] before, and he made me his whipping boy. I don't want to go through that again, but I wish he didn't use the song."

I asked Hornsby if there is any legal right talk-show hosts have to music when it's used for "bumpers" between ads and show content. (Rush Limbaugh has been using the Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" for years.)

Hornsby responded, "Legally, there's nothing I can do. Once a song is out there, the radio stations can do what they want with it. It can be frustrating. It's a fucking joke how little control we sometimes have over our own songs."