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best,
Charlie

Charles McEnerney
Host + Producer
Well-Rounded Radio

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and The True Loves: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

I first heard Eli "Paperboy" Reed (nee Eli Husock) when one of his songs was in a Salon song competition with Hallelujah the Hills, who I interviewed last year. About twenty seconds into his song, I started Googling him and was surprised to learn that he was from Brookline, Massachusetts, one town over from me in Jamaica Plain. By the time I finished listening to the song, I wanted to know more: how did a guy so young learn to infuse so many great influences and be able to turn it back into something that is both familiar and exciting?

Exposed to a lot of great soul, rhythm and blues, country, and gospel music from his father, former Boston Phoenix writer Howard Husock, Reed became a fan of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Al Green as well as becoming something of a historian about less-known musicians working in all of these American genres.

Reed, now 24, is living in Boston again, but after graduating high school he lived in both Clarksdale, Mississippi and Chicago—two cultural homes to different styles of the blues. During those years he DJed at a pirate radio station, learned how to play to blues fans for hours on end, played organ in a Chicago church, and hosted a Chicago radio show for blues purists. Good training for the future indeed. The “Paperboy” nickname also was given to Reed during his time in Clarkesdale given his penchant for wearing his grandfather’s newsboy hat.

His first CD, Eli "Paperboy" Reed Sings Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits, was self-released in 2004 and is currently out of print, but hopefully will see a re-release soon as well. The disc was a mix of covers and original songs.

Reed's second CD, Roll with You, is a collection of all-original songs and was produced by Ed Valauskas (producer of recent releases by Graham Parker, Jules Verdone, and many others and bassist in The Gentlemen) at Q Division Studios in Somerville, Massachusetts and will be released by Q Division Records on April 29, 2008. The album was recorded using only analog equipment and sounds amazing.

Walkin' and Talkin' features more of a southern, harmonica-infused blues, while Roll with You takes Reed toward more soul or rhythm and blues style, complete with horns, big bluesy ballads, and lots of dance numbers.

With its release, Reed has already racked up nice notices in Mojo magazine, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Billboard, The Boston Globe, No Depression, and Time Out NY. Mojo, my personal favorite, states, "There are singers who sing and there are singers whose sheer power of expression can knock you off your feet. Eli 'Paperboy' Reed falls firmly into the latter category...[he] threatens to be one of the defining voices of the year."

With some evolution over the years, The True Loves current 7-piece lineup includes Andy Bauer on drums, Ben Jaffe on tenor sax, Paul Jones on tenor sax, Mike Montgomery on bass, Patriq Moody on trumpet, and Ryan Spraker on guitar.

Reed and The True Loves are on tour now and playing all over the USA; check their myspace page for the latest dates and locations and see them live if you can as they are a very fun band in concert that will surely get you dancing.

My apologies in advance for the drop off in Reed’s voice at the very end of the interview. Afraid it happened due to a crashed hard drive and eaten file, so remember kids...back up those files.

I met with Reed in the fall of 2007, as he was working on Roll with You, in Allston, Masschusetts to discuss:

* what led him to move to two of the homes of the blues
* what doing night club DJing has taught him about performing on stage
* why he’s stopped downloading and still enjoys the hunt at record stores

Songs included in the preview include:
1) I'm Gonna Getcha Back (Roll with You) (in preview)
2) The Satisfier (Roll with You)
3) Cool Drink of Water (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
4) I'm Tired of Wandering (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
5) Walkin' and Talkin' (For My Baby) (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
6) Fat Mama Rumble (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
7) Woman Woman Blues (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
8) I Just Got to Know (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
9) Something You Got (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
10) Won't Give Up Without a Fight (Roll with You)
11) Take My Love with You (Roll with You)
12) Am I Just Fooling Myself (Roll with You)
13) I'll Roll with You (Roll with You)
14) Stake Your Claim (Roll with You)
15) (Doin' the) Boom Boom (Roll with You)
16) Don't Let Me Down (Walkin' and Talkin' (for My Baby) & Other Smash Hits)
17) It's Easier (Roll with You)
18) Am I Wasting My Time (Roll with You)
19) She Walks (Roll with You)
20) Slippershell by Kristin Hersh (Pocket Mix) (in close)

Eli recommends Sam Cooke: Live at the Harlem Square Club, Sonny Boy Williamson's Down and Out Blues, O.V. Wright's If It's Only Tonight, Dixie Hummingbird's In the Morning Luther Ingram's Pity for the Lonely, Sharon Jones and the Dap-kings, and Doctor Dog.

Charlie recommends Goodreads.com.

John McGah of Give US Your Poor: The Well-Rounded Radio interview

Several years ago, right after my wife and I moved to Boston, I did some work with John McGah and a group of wonderful volunteers on fundraising events for Give US Your Poor, a project taking on homelessness. To quote their statement, "The Give US Your Poor mission is to create a revolution in public awareness, dispel myths and inspire action towards ending epidemic homelessness in the United States. It works to affect change at the policy level, engage volunteerism and contributions at the individual and corporate levels through media, technology and education; and to funnel support to partner homeless organizations."

Give US Your Poor is an initiative of the University of Massachusetts Boston. McGah is the founder and Executive Director of Give US Your Poor, a former Senior Research Associate at UMass Boston's Center for Social Policy, and is a recipient of a 2002 International Eisenhower Fellowships.

Released by Appleseed Recordings in September 2007, the Give US Your Poor CD is a diverse and powerful collection of songs featuring collaborations between homeless and formerly homeless musicians and celebrity artists, including Jon Bon Jovi, Buffalo Tom, Mario Frangoulis, Danny Glover, Jewel, Sonya Kitchell, Natalie Merchant, Mighty Sam McClain, Keb' Mo', Madeleine Peyroux, Bonnie Raitt, Tim Robbins, John Sebastian, Pete Seeger, Michelle Shocked, Bruce Springsteen, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Dan Zanes (who Well-Rounded Radio interviewed a few years back).

Give US Your Poor held a concert in November 2007 in Boston as part of "Boston Helps the Homeless: Awareness to Action" weekend presented by Ipswitch Co. and hosted by the Fannie Mae Foundation and Mayor Thomas Menino's Office at the City of Boston. The concert was headlined by Buffalo Tom, Mario Frangoulis, Mighty Sam McClain, and Natalie Merchant and featured homeless and formerly homeless artists that appear on the Give US Your Poor CD. Between acts video messages appeared from Jon Bon Jovi, Danny Glover, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. See a recap and photos from the event here.

Buy the CD direct from Appleseed Recordings, at Amazon.com, or iTunes. Proceeds from the CD will go towards the national awareness and action campaign to end homelessness. In addition, local and national homeless organizations will be able to sell the CD to raise funds and awareness to their organization. Homeless artists involved will receive direct payment, all travel costs, and mechanical royalties for any original music.

Wondering what you can do to help solve our nation’s homelessness problem? Here's some suggestions from McGah:

1) write your U.S. Senator in support of the the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund. As of March 2008 it had passed the House, but not the Senate, but is co-sponsored by both a Republican and Democrat Senator. The fund primarily provides matching money towards the creation of housing for people to live in the lowest income bracket.

2) For veterans, The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans is supporting a bill "Homes for Heroes" for preventing homelessness among Iraq War Veterans. Visit The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans to find out more.

3) Visit these sites, sign up for email lists, donate to, and/or join these organizations:
The National Alliance to End Homelessness
The National Coalition for the Homeless
The National Heathcare for the Homeless Council

4) Let your voice be heard!

Give US Your Poor is also currently working on a documentary film about homelessness along with creating educational curriculums and local outreach. Watch select video previews of Southwest stories and East Coast stories. There's also a great video segment about Natalie Merchant's participation and recording session with homeless and formerly homeless artists on YouTube.

In February I met with McGah in my current hometown of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts to discuss:
* what Appleseed Recordings is and what their particular social goals are
* how Give US Your Poor solicited and selected homeless and formerly homeless artists to participate in the project
* how this project can help combat homelessness and spread the word about this critical issue

Photo: Bryan How

Songs featured in the interview include:
1) Keb' Mo' and Eagle Park Slim- Baby Don't Let Me Go (in preview)
2) Natalie Merchant and Friends - There is No Good Reason (in preview)
3) Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen - Hobo's Lullaby
4) Sweet Honey in the Rock - Stranger Blues
5) Michelle Shocked and Michael Sullivan - Becky's Tune
6) Buffalo Tom - Ink Falling (Father Outside)
7) Mario Frangoulis - Feels Like Home
8) Bonnie Raitt and Weepin' Willie Robinson - Walking the Dog
9) Tim Robbins - Impossible Boulevard
10) Madeleine Peyroux - I Think it's Going to Rain Today
11) Mark Erelli - Here and Now
12) Kyla Middleton and Dan Zanes - Boll Weivel
13) Natalie Merchant and Friends - There is No Good Reason
14) audio documentary set to music - Land of 10,000 Homeless-Minneapolis
15) Danny Glover - My Name is Not "Those People"
16) Del Goldfarb and John Sebastian - Portable Man
17) Sonya Kitchell - So Lonely
18) Natalie Merchant and Friends - There is No Good Reason

John recommends the song Last King of May by Natalie Merchant on her Ophelia CD and "I'll Work for Your Love" on Bruce Springsteen's Magic CD, and the band The Wait.

Charlie recommends Tune Your World, The Future of Music Coalition's education events in upstate New York, and following me on Twitter.

Ida: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

I first discovered the music of the band Ida in kind of a backward way. As a dad with crazy snobby tastes in kid’s music, I had discovered Dan Zanes’ music about seven years ago when my daughter was born. As a fan of his from The Del Fuegos, I got the chance to interview him for Well-Rounded Radio in 2004. When I asked him about other artists playing "good" family music, Elizabeth Mitchell’s name rose to the top (as did Ella Jenkins, who has also become a favorite of my clan).

Not long after I saw Mitchell and Littleton perform a terrific concert at FirstNight Boston in a cavernous convention room and picked up her first two CDs, You Are My Flower and You Are My Sunshine. Any band that plays Velvet Underground covers is alright with me. I was hooked. Digging a bit, I discovered that Mitchell and husband, Daniel Littleton, actually got started out playing music in the slow core band Ida, so I picked up a bunch of their earlier CDs and was equally blown away. I’ll attribute the fact that I was living on the west coast for the latter part of the 90s for why this Brooklyn-based band wasn’t on my radar sooner, but Ida has an impressive catalogue.

Mitchell started out making music at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island (at the same time as Lisa Loeb, who she later collaborated with) and then relocated to New York City. Littleton played in a number of Annapolis, Maryland bands in the late 80s, including the punk band The Hated and played in a number of bands in the early '90s, including Three Shades of Dirty, Choke, and Slack (with Jenny Toomey, who Well-Rounded Radio interviewed a few months back).

Ida was formed in 1992 by Mitchell and Littleton as a duo in New York City. The band is named for Ida Machado Schafer, the grandmother of Mitchell's old friend, the artist and playwright Erin Courtney. Schafer was 92 years old at the time Mitchell and Littleton formed the group.

The band's discography includes Tales of Brave Ida (Simple Machines, 1994), I Know About YouSimple Machines, 1996), Ten Small Paces Simple Machines, 1997), Will You Find Me (Tiger Style, 2000), Tour Support (2000), The Braille Night (Tiger Style Records, 2001), Shhh... (Time Stereo, 2002), Heart Like a River ( Polyvinyl, 2005), and The Bottom of the Hill (a live 2-CD set, Last Affair Records, 2005).

Their latest, Lovers Prayers was produced and mixed by Warn Defever (His Name is Alive) and Ida and released by Polyvinyl Records in late January 2008. The current line-up includes Jean Cook on violin, Ruth Keating, on drums, Daniel Littleton on guitar and vocals, Elizabeth Mitchell on guitar, harmonium, and vocals, and Karla Schickele on bass, piano, and vocals. The album was recorded at Levon Helm Studios, a studio owned by Levon Helm of The Band in Woodstock, New York and we talk about the place and the process in our interview.

In addition to collaborating with Levon Helm on the album, other contributors included singer-songwriter Michael Hurley, cellist Jane Scarpantoni (Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright), guitarist and drummer Tara Jane O'Neil ( TJO, Rodan, Papa M), pedal steel player Matt Sutton (The Malarkies).

Ida's music makes me think of what Neil Young would sound like if he fronted Luna and invited over Richard and Linda Thompson to sit in. Fans of Idaho, Low, Mojave 3, or any of the music from Mark Kozelek would also not be disappointed. At times, Mitchell’s voice reminds me of Aimee Mann and Karen Carpenter.


Mitchell’s family CDs include You Are My Flower (1998), You Are My Sunshine (2002), and You Are My Little Bird (2006). Mitchell and Lisa Loeb also recorded a children’s album in 2004 entitled Catch the Moon.

Mitchell’s children’s CDs are simple, homespun affairs that my children love. And I love them for teaching traditional songs and providing my little ones with singalongs. They have a wonderful calming effect and I’ve found them perfect for getting my guys going in the morning and for calming them down at bedtime. Littleton also released a solo album with Nobody's Fault But Mine/Down by the Riverside in 2002 that explored his more experimental side, with tape loops and such.

I recently met with Littleton after a recording session at Excello Recording (who were gracious enough to let me record the interview in their great studio) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to discuss:

* recording Lovers Prayers at Helm’s historic studio
* how the band worked up new material for the album
* how he and Mitchell switch gears between their various musical lives

Daniel recommends Moondog's album for children and Milton Graves.

Well-Rounded Radio recommends a new business model for financing music: Tune Your World.

Well-Rounded Radio Mix 007

Well-Rounded Mix 007 includes music from Billy Atwell, Austin and Elliott, Ave To, Marna Bales, Chris Elliot, The Freys, Dan Gonzalez, Gogol Bordello, Alicia Bay Laurel, Midnight Siren, Leah Siegel, Song Sparrow Research, and ThreeFifty Duo.

For all 13 artists on this show who wanted to share their music with you, consider buying their music, whether it’s on a shiny piece of plastic or as a digital file. Buy a t-shirt or a hat or whatever schwag they’re selling. Go see them live or make friends with them at myspace and last.fm or mog.com or wherever. Tell a friend about them and share your good taste in music. Sign up to their email list or subscribe to an RSS feed. And tell them Well-Rounded Radio sent you if you can. The way the music business works is changing drastically by the day. Support the music you like and love and help change it.

1) Song Sparrow Research is from Seattle, Washington and includes Hamilton Boyce on guitar and vocals, Nash Turley on drums, harmonica, and vocals, and David Balatero on bass and cello. This song, Dry Sun, is from an EP called The New Ragtime Revolution.

2) Leah Siegel song A Day At The River (With You And Your Lover) is from the CD Little Mule. Siegel is based in New York City and recorded the album in Seattle, Washington. Little Mule is one of the stronger, complete albums I've heard of late.

3) Billy Atwell’s music was featured a long time back along with my interview with Dave Kusek, the co-author of The Future of Music book. Atwell released a CD entitled DOS, from which this song is from. Atwell also continues to score films do soundtrack work.

4) Gogol Bordello’s Super Taranta! was released by SideOneDummy Records and was produced by Victor Van Vugt, who also also produced Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and PJ Harvey). This song is called Zina-Marina.

5) Ave To is the trio Nicholas Kolai Laget, Oddisee, and The Unknown from their disc Three Way Intersection with a mix of jazz, hip hop, and soul. The band works in the Washington D.C. area.

6) Dan Gonzalez’s Through the Lies and the Beautiful is from his CD Public Square, his second full length CD. Gonzalez is Boston-based and also works on an education project for social justice called Columbus Day Gift Project.

7) Austin and Elliott’s Truth That Hurts is from an EP of the same title. Elliott is also featured in this show with his solo work, with the song Making Up Lost Love.

8) Chris Elliot’s song is Making Up Lost Love where you’ll find the title of the CD, satellite UFO jet plane or star, worked in. itmakes me wants to dig out the Michael Penn CDs (or tapes, probably…). Elliot is also half of the Austin and Elliot that is also featured in this show.

9) Alicia Bay Laurel’s CD is What Living’s All About: Jazz, Blues, and Other Moist Situations. This song, America the Blues, jumps out as a bit of Patti Smith meets George Carlin.

10) Marna Bales’s CD is Boys Will Be Boys and the song is Wish You Hadn’t Come Around. The disc was produced by her husband, drummer Jody Boyd and incorporates Bales’ daughter Macy in her recordings and performances.

11) ThreeFifty Duo is Geremy Schulick and Brett Parnell and take on a mix of classical, contemporary, and original songs on their self-titled CD.

12) Midnight Siren is Karen Maria Capo and John Kelly. The song, Maybe, comes from their CD Instead of Sleeping.

13) The Freys’s CD is People are Sacred and the song is Mother Moon. The band is two brothers and a cousin, Daniel, Sam, and Adam, aged 25, 22, and 21 and are based in Northern California.

Hope you enjoyed Well-Rounded Radio Mix 007…be back in a few days with our interview with Ida.

Charlie

The Fleshtones: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

The Fleshtones have been making amazing music for more than thirty years, starting off amid the CBGB's scene of the mid 70s in New York City (with the Talking Heads, Blondie, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, Television, etc.), starting as a garage band with a lot of soul and ultimately merging into a sound they call Super Rock, which they describe as “a greasy ball of sonic and cultural influences ranging in feel from R&B, disco, and Lost In Space to garage, frat rock, and Mexican horror flicks.”

The current band members include Ken Fox on bass and vocals, Bill Milhizer on drums and vocals, Keith Streng on guitar and vocals, and Peter Zaremba on lead vocals, harmonica, and organ. The Fleshtones were also recently immortalized in print with the release of Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band (Continuum Books, 2007) by Joe Bonomo. The book is a fascinating read about The Fleshtones, taking you from their origins in Whitestone, New York in the 1970s through a variety of members who have played in the band, countless tours and albums, and up to the present. So, if you want the full story, do yourself a favor and read this book.

I saw The Fleshtones dozens of times while growing up in New York and every show was a blast. Suffice to say, The Fleshtones should have been huge (and still should), but they’ve had their share of bad breaks and ill timing (i.e., not playing whatever’s in vogue at the moment…they play timeless rock and roll instead with great songs to boot!). Fleshtones fans are rabid though, and that should tell you something about their power to connect once you do get turned on to their music and live shows. As their press release says, “They survived punk rock, new wave, no wave, neo garage, post-punk, grunge, and more neo garage, never succumbing to temporary trendiness, scornful laughter, or non-alcoholic beer.”

Vindicated! A Tribute to The Fleshtones was released in the fall of 2007 on vinyl by Larsen Records (France) and on CD by Dirty Water Records (U.K.). The album features 22 international bands (including Hoodoo Gurus, the Nomads & Handsome Dick Manitoba, the Slickee Boys, the Woggles, the Swingin' Neckbreakers, Richard Mazda, and others) covering songs spanning the Fleshtones' career.

The band has more than twenty albums to their name, and every one is a keeper. Some of my favorites include Roman Gods (1982, IRS Records), Hexbreaker (1983, IRS Records), Beautiful Light (1994, Naked Language/Ichiban Records), Laboratory of Sound (1995, Ichiban Records) to the more recent Do You Swing? and Beachhead (2003 and 2006 respectively, both on YepRoc Records). For a full discography, visit their Wikipedia page.

Their new album, Take a Good Look!, was released in late January 2008 and is also on YepRoc Records. Recorded with Jim Diamond (White Stripes, The Mooney Suzuki) at Ghetto Recorder in Detroit and in the New York City’s Lower East Side at Ivan Julian’s (guitarist/bassist in Richard Hell and The Voidoids, Isley Brothers, Matthew Sweet, Shriekback) N.Y. Hed studio.

Zaremba explains the new album’s title: “’Take a good look!’ was one of Gordon Spaeth’s favorite tag lines whenever the Fleshtones were attracting unwanted (but usually warranted) attention, which was often!” Spaeth played sax in the band for years, but passed away in 2005. Per the band, "his mock-serious, cocksure attitude is alive and well in the 21st century, as The Fleshtones offer a dozen all-original tunes testifying to pride, perseverance, and sweaty good times."

The band is out on tour, with stops in March in New Haven, Boston, Providence, Baton Rouge, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and New Orleans and in May in France, Germany, Italy, and Holland. Check out some live songs and videos of the band including Soul City, American Beat, American Beat video (from the movie Bachelor Party), Shadowline, Teenage Zombie, Right Side of a Good Thing, Hexbreaker + The Theme from the Vindicators, Jump, Jive, and Harmonize, Let's Go, Take a Walk with The Fleshtones, Accelerated Emotion, Beautiful Light, Hitsburg USA, Hard Lovin' Man, Push Up Man, The Theme From The Vindicators, Let's Get Serious, Double Dip, and a behind the scenes on the new CD, Take a Good Look.

The band also released a live DVD of a Paris performance Brooklyn à Paris! Live at La Maroquinerie DVD (Big Enough) in 2006.

I recently met with Zaremba in Brooklyn, New York to discuss:
* what it is that keeps the band going strong, 30+ years in
* how their new CD, Take a Good Luck!, was recorded and what sets it apart from many of their past albums
* how the band has responded to the various garage band revivals over the years

Photo by Anne Streng

Peter recommends The 45s, The Cynics, The Sons of Hercules, The Ugly Beats, The Maggots, The Nomads, and The Hoodoo Gurus.

Well-Rounded Radio recommends Karmafan, Tourfilter, and audio and video podcasts and webcasts from The Future of Music Coalition.

Well-Rounded Radio Mix 006

Happy February, everyone...

Well-Rounded Radio sixth Mix show includes Bedouin Soundclash, Ronnda Cadle, The Dave Kain Group, Ecce Hobo, Caitlin Frame, Gillian Grassie, Marco Mahler, Anne Roos, Post Oak Savannah, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, The Silver Lining, Devon Sproule, Stepladder, and The United Steelworkers of Montreal.

For all 15 artists on this show who wanted to share their music with you, consider buying their music, whether it’s on a shiny piece of plastic or as a digital file. Buy a t-shirt or a hat or whatever schwag they’re selling. Go see them live or make friends with them at myspace and last.fm or mog.com or wherever. Tell a friend about them and share your good taste in music. Sign up to their email list or subscribe to an RSS feed. And tell them Well-Rounded Radio sent you if you can. The way the music business works is changing drastically by the day. Support the music you like and love and help change it.

Well-Rounded Radio recommends checking out Karmafan and Tourfilter.com.

1) Stephan Catenacci’s Helga's Song is a beautiful piece of acoustic music in the spirit of John Fahey or Leo Kottke, but some of the other music on his CD Anubis 2 includes some more progressive and psychedelic sounds than you might expect after hearing this track.

2) Eli Paperboy Reed releases his second album, Roll with You on Q Division Records in March 2008 and this track is It's Easier. We'll have an interview with Reed on Well-Rounded Radio when its released and you can hear how this artist in his early 20s has absorbed so much about the blues and soul and is making a splash with his music that echos back to an earlier era.

3) The Silver Lining were produced by Tony Goddess of Papa Fritas fame and is also in The Rudds, who I interviewed here on Well-Rounded Radio. Their album Well Dressed Blues has a wonderful sound that makes me think of The Mamas and the Papas, Fairport Convention, or the soundtrack from Hair. This song is In the Future.

4) Stepladder's debut album is Nice Guys Finish and this song is Balance Beam. Stepladder is a Boston band featuring Aaron Belyea on guitars and vocals, Chris Burns on drums, and Bill Fallon on bass. The CD also is a who's who of Boston musicians who also contributed to the release of well-crafted power pop.

5) Post Oak Savannah is from Powderly, Texas and their track Sixteen Miles is a great5 example of their sound from their debut, meshing the sounds of country, Americana, and rock.

6) Devon Sproule album is Keep Your Silver Shined and co-released by Brooklyn's City Salvage Records and Chicago's Waterbug Records. It's a strong album throughout.

8) Marco Mahler's Design in Quick Rotation is also very strong album, much of which was written while he was also working on revitalizing a log cabin in the Appalachian foothills. This song is called Study Airports.

9) Ronnda Cadle is from Decatur, Georgia and The River Run is a strong album of guitar instrumentals in the spirit of John Fahey.

10) Caitlin Frame's Give In comes from The Basic EP. Frame is a Boston artist who taught herself guitar, drums, and piano as a teen and later attended Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA.

11) Ann Roos's Who Can Sail Without the Wind? is from her Mermaids and Mariners CD, which spotlights her beautiful Celtic harp playing and Dorothy Hawkinson's fiddle playing.

12) The Dave Kain Group's A Moment in Time reflects this jazz quartet's sound from the album Citizen Kane. The group is from the New York area and Dave Kain fronts the group on guitar.

13) Bedouin Soundclash's 12:59 Lullaby is a beautiful track from the band's album Street Gospel, which was released by Side One Dummy Records. The album was recorded in Toronto by bass player Darryl Jenifer of the Bad Brains and mixed by Paul Kolderie.

14) United Steel Workers of Montreals' Kerosene and Coal was released by Weewerk Records in Canada and this track of wonderful old timey music is called Enile Bertrand.

15) Gillian Grassie also plays harp, infusing some other modern trip-hop sounds into her songs, on her EP To An Unwitting Muse, which I think is a most promising release. This track is The Surface.

16) Ecce Hobo is from the Seattle, Washington area and this song is Calling My Own Name. Where the Devil Dances is another impressive album and the band cites its influences as The Kinks, Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, and Roxy Music.

Pylon: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

A brief history of Pylon? Four University of Georgia art students turned musicians inspired by the debut of music from groups such as The B-52's in Athens, Georgia formed their own band and recorded the single Cool/Dub (1979), albums Gyrate (1980), Chomp (1983), and a third album recorded during a reunion, Chain (1990) for DB Records...then disappeared again for too many years. In 2004 Pylon started playing together again and, thankfully, Gyrate can be heard by a new generation given its October 2007 re-mastering and re-release by DFA Records (now titled Gyrate Plus, given it includes the Cool/Dub single).

The band included then, and now, Randy Bewley on guitar, Vanessa Briscoe Hay's vocals, Curtis Crowe on drums, and Michael Lachowski on bass.

Music fans will know that the late '70s/early '80s in Athens, Georgia was a particularly creative period of time, also birthing The B-52s, R.E.M., The Method Actors, Love Tractor, and Oh-Ok. Pylon has, in truth, gone down in musical history as one of those most original bands that may not have had huge commercial success, but who has influenced an untold number of other musicians through their approach and style. Many will also know Pylon by way of R.E.M.'s cover of their song Crazy, which appeared as a B-side and later on Dead Letter Office. When Rolling Stone named R.E.M. "America's Best Band" in 1987, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry said, "We're not the best rock 'n' roll band in America." Pylon, he said, was the best.

Gyrate is an album with angular rhythms and a simplicity that makes the music feel utilitarian, but always had enough funk behind it that the motivation seemed to be to get you up on the dancefloor. In a similar realm to The Bush Tetras, Gang of Four, or The Au Pairs, Pylon really created a language all their own using the very traditional line-up of vocals, guitar, bass, and drums. With simple, danceable, repetitive, funky music paired with Briscoe's raspy, primal, urgent vocals, Pylon’s music was unlike anything I'd heard—or have heard since—and it still stands up.

Sometime in October I happened upon the information that Pylon would be playing at The Mercury Lounge in Manhattan in early November and I knew it would be worth a drive from Boston. Not surprisingly, the show was amazing and Pylon’s music kept the sold-out audience dancing and having a chance to enjoy their music live once again.

Photo credit: Jason Thrasher

Jose Ayerve of Spouse: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

After learning about him from members of Winterpills, Spouse's frontman, José Ayerve, sent me their latest release, Relocation Tactics, and, during a recent drive to Washington D.C. I listened to the album, once, twice, eventually about six or seven times on the drive down I-95 from Boston. Part of me kept wondering why Spouse was such a well-kept secret...and another part of me was wondering how soon I could get them on the show.

Ayerve is the constant thread behind Spouse, an indie-rock band that started in Brunswick, ME in 1995 and has released four full-length CDs and a variety of EPs since 2000. The band's albums include Nozomi (2000), Love Can't Save This Love (2002), Are You Gonna Kiss or Wave Goodbye? (2004), and their latest, Relocation Tactics (2007). The band's line-up has shifted, expanded, and evolved over the years, and we talk about the various incarnations it has had-and still has in different cities-in our conversation.

Spouse has drawn comparisons to a variety of indie rock bands in reviews over the years, including Pavement, The Pixies, Sebadoh, The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr., and Wilco. I also hear a bit of Boy and October-era U2 through their vocal and guitar styles at that point.

While some reviews of Relocation Tactics have used the word schizophrenic to describe the diverse musical sounds and styles that the band tackles, I see it as more of all the diverse influences that the band members have creeping into the work. More bold and anthematic than earlier releases, Relocation Tactics is one of those albums where the great songs just keep on coming at you, with songwriting and performances that feels like the group has taken what they do to a whole new level.

Spouse has a handful of live dates with Spottiswoode & His Enemies coming up in November in Boston, Providence, New York, and Arlington, VA and more dates in December in Northampton, Chicago, Nashville, Charlotte, Knoxville, and New York City. Check here for more details.

Jenny Toomey of The Future of Music Coalition: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

As a fan of her work in the band Tsunami, when I first heard that its singer/songwriter Jenny Toomey was working with a group of policy and legislative folks in Washington D.C. at The Future of Music Coalition, I was sort of surprised.

Toomey fronted the indie rock band Tsunami for much of the 1990s and a subsequent solo career that she continues today. She was also the co-founder of Simple Machines Records which, between 1990-1997 released over 70 records for acts including Tsunami, Scrawl, Ida, Grenadine, and Liquorice. Toomey's band mate and business partner was Kristin Thomson, who is also a Deputy and Education Director at The Future of Music Coalition. When you put it all together, though, it all makes perfect sense: she's an independent musician who is still looking out for other working, independent musicians.

Started in 2000, The Future of Music Coalition's founders were Policy Director Michael Bracy, General Council Walter F. McDonough, Executive Director Toomey, and Technologies Director Brian Zisk.

Today, the Future of Music Coalition’s mission statement is "a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that identifies, examines, interprets and translates the challenging issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. FMC achieves this through continuous interaction with its primary constituency – musicians – and in collaboration with other creator/citizen groups."

Among the issues that the coalition has focused on are music licensing, payola, low-power radio, health insurance for musicians, network neutrality, record label contracts, Internet radio licensing, and many other topics that are key to the current and future era of music-making for both independent and rising musicians.

The organization’s seventh policy summit takes place in Washington D.C. on September 17-18, 2007 (and I’ll be at the summit this year, so drop me a line at charlie@wellroundedradio.net if you are attending). The summit includes a mix of industry professionals, public policy experts, and musicians with a mix of panels and parties to help educate attendees and work toward reaching collaboration. Audio podcasts of many of the panels are available online after the show. For more information, visit their event site.

Eilen Jewell: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

I first heard Eilen (rhymes with feelin') Jewell's music as she was playing at the Green River Music Festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts in the summer of 2006. Jewell was playing an outdoor stage, under a tent, with a myriad of activities going on around the festival property for both kids and adults, but the crowd was listening with rapt attention...not an easy thing to do when playing in such a setting!

Jewell's debut album, Boundary County, was self-released in 2005 and she subsequently signed to Signature Sounds, which released Letters from Sinners and Strangers in late June 2007. Jewell is playing live in the coming months at various points around the US.

Her music bridges a number of different worlds, including folk, country, blues, and jazz. If this isn't Americana at its most intertwined, I don't know what is. Jewell is often compared to singers such as Billie Holiday, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, and she cites them, and Hank Williams, as influences, too. I also hear a bit of Mary Margaret O’Hara in Jewell’s voice.

Jewell's band consists of Jason Beek on drums, Jerry Miller on electric and steel guitar, and Johnny Sciascia on upright bass. The group's secret weapon is guitarist Miller, who can take the band from folk to blues to jazz to soul all within a single song. Other musical guests on the disc include Daniel Kellar on violin (formerly of the Tarbox Ramblers, who I interviewed a few years back) and Alec Spiegelman on clarinet, both of whom help Jewell’s music stretch into new territories.

At a recent live performance at Boston’s Lizard Lounge, I thought, if you closed your eyes for a minute, the music really could transport you back in time about 60 or 70 years...

Brent Bell of PDX Pop Now!: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

Over the past four years in Portland, Oregon a group of volunteers at PDX Pop Now! have put on a 3-day, all-ages, free festival (this year's dates are August 3-5, 2007) and released a 2-CD compilation featuring some of the diverse music being made in Portland these days.

To quote their mission statement: "PDX Pop Now! is dedicated to stimulating and expanding participation in Portland music. As an all-volunteer organization committed to being accessible, current, and local, we provide and support live performances and recorded materials. We aspire to advance a sustainable community which values inclusivity and a high caliber of artistry to enable a creative dialog between artist and audience."

Beyond the great music, what interested me most about PDX Pop Now! is that the organization is volunteer-run, which by its nature changes the reasons for such a festival and compilation and is quite a different setting than a CMJ or SXSW festival. They also confess to wanting to keep it local, so I thought I'd include this show not so much because they want PDX Pop Now! to become a destination festival, but to sample the great musical acts on the compilation CDs and to provide some ideas and background for music fans in other parts of the world who might want to create their own local music event in the spirit of what PDX Pop Now! is doing.

Hallelujah the Hills: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

About two years ago I did an interview with the members of The Stairs on the eve of their final shows. The Stairs released two albums, 2002's Miraculous Happens and 2005's On Sleep Lab, both of which were brilliant and ambitious pieces of rock and roll with instrumentation and a scale that defied its lo-fi production. So, if you want the full story, make sure you also listen to this, too.

Around the same time as The Stairs were ending, Ryan Walsh, one of the band's songwriter, vocalist + guitarists, and Eric Meyer, The Stairs' drummer, formed Hallelujah the Hills and started recruiting new members. The band now includes David Bentley (cello + guitar), Elio DeLuca (organ, Moog, guitar + sampler), Joseph Marrett (bass), and Brian Rutledge (trumpet + melodica). The outfit recorded their debut, Collective Psychosis Begone in 2006, signed to Misra Records early in 2007, and it was just released on June 5th. The band is out on tour now, hitting a number of cities along the east coast and mid-west.

Hallelujah the Hills have been compared to the Elephant 6 (the collective of bands and musicians who emerged from Louisiana in the mid 90s that includes The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, and Beulah among others), The Mountain Goats, Guided by Voices, and Wilco. I suppose there is some truth to these, but what sets Hallelujah the Hills apart is Walsh is a versatile songwriter first, with the layers of instruments and arrangements that are added to them only serving to build upon a strong foundation.

And, as a result of listening to Collective Psychosis Begone as complete album (remember them?) for many months, I thought it would be most interesting to do a behind the scenes look at each song or a “director’s commentary,” as film-school grad Walsh so accurately called it.

Well-Rounded Radio Book Review: The Show I'll Never Forget

Book Review: The Show I'll Never Forget (2007, Da Capo Press)

How to you write a review about a book filled with writings from esteemed novelists, writers, and musicians writing about inspirational or life-shifting concerts? You don't.

I enjoyed reading this book not because I learned that much about music, but that it confirms, beautifully and lyrically, what an important element music is in so many of our lives and our collective and individual growth and maturation.

Some highlights include Rick Moody on The Lounge Lizards, Chuck Klosterman on Prince, David Gates on James Brown, and Bruce Bauman on Television. For a full list of the contributing writers and the artists they write about here.

The show I'll never forget? Well, I wrote about my R.E.M experience at New York's Ritz in 1983 a few months back as part of my interview with The Rudds, but the second one that comes to mind was The Fetchin' Bones at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey sometime in 1984.

Their debut album, Cabin Flounder, had come out a few weeks or months earlier on DB Records and it consumed me. Don Dixon had produced it and it's hard to explain what the music sounds like. Part punk, part country, part soul, part ska, part funk, there wasn't a bad track on it. The band dressed in thrift store threads that were not the work of any stylist or the like...these were truly some of the oddest clothes anyone could find in thrift stores and it suited the band's music perfectly.

Maxwell's is still one of my favorite venues. Small, intimate, not fancy in the least...and connected to a great restaurant where, during that period, you'd often get to see Peter Holsapple or Ira Kaplan or Glenn Morrow of any number of New York and Hoboken music luminaries.

In 1984, Hoboken was not yet quite as gentrified (yuppified? starbuckified? pottery barnified?) as it is today, so trekking out to Maxwell's (from Queens, NY, on the other side of Manhattan) always was a bit of an adventure whether you went by PATH train or by car, but after seeing a show or two there you knew it was well worth the ride down Northern Blvd or on the Long Island Expressway, cutting thru Manhattan, and out the Lincoln Tunnel. Loop around the exit ramps and a few side streets, and the smells of the Maxwell's coffee factory (now defunct...probably turned into lofts or condos or such) greeted you as you parked down the street from the club.

I don't recall who opened the show with Fetchin' Bones, but I remember going with my friends Stacey, Stefani, John, John, and John. I remember we ate at the restaurant (probably French onion soup, which was always among the best offerings) and I remember we drank some beers. That much I remember.

From about the second song in, we, and a group of about 20 to 25 other Fetchin' Bones converts in front of the foot-high stage at Maxwell's, starting dancing to the band's mix of punk, funk, ska, etc. Just as on record, Fetchin' Bones shifted gears so dramatically and convincingly live from one genre to the next that we literally were dancing, frugging, shaking, pogoing, and basically sweating for about the next 90 minutes. The Fetchin' Bones members, Marc Mueller, Hope Nicols, Dana Pentes, Aaron Pitkin, and Gary White, all did just about the same, albeit while they were playing music, but I remember having that kind of communal feeling where the line between the band and audience was pretty much non-existant.

In some ways that show was like a hundred other ones that I saw with this group of friends in New York, New Jersey, Long Island, etc., but the intensity of the joy of it all still strikes me as something amazing that many bands could not muster. At the end of the show I was utterly exhausted (and probably craving a cigarette) and completely in awe that a band could keep up that kind of energy for so long and never "lose" the audience. Impressive indeed.

We saw Fetchin' Bones a dozen times over the new handful of years at lots of other venues: The Cat Club on 13th Street and Broadway was a favorite, CBGB's, and we still all reminisce about the week we saw Fetchin' Bones, The Reivers, and Mojo Nixon + Skid Roper about five times during one of the CMJ Marathons, including a show where Stefani somehow finagled us tickets onto the Staten Island Ferry where we had a blast and ended up out in the harbor.

And, ironically, as I was writing this, I did a search online to find out that not only has Fetchin' Bones made Cabin Flounder available on iTunes and eMusic and other digital download sites, BUT they have also reunited and are playing their first reunion shows on June 30th at Amos' Southend in Charlotte, North Carolina and on July 1st at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, Georgia. I am hoping a Boston visit is in the works...and I'll have to invite a new group of friends to see them when they come!

To find out more about "The Show I'll Never Forget" visit Da Capo Press Music Books.

To find out more about Fetchin' Bones, visit MySpace or buy their mp3s at iTunes, eMusic, or the like.

Back in a few days with our interview with Hallelujah the Hills.

Charlie

Panos Panay of Sonicbids: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

Sonicbids is an online service that offers musicians a way to submit their EPK, or electronic press kit, to a number of outlets for consideration. These including clubs and live venues, compilation CDs, festivals, songwriting contests, film, television, + commercial licensing, magazines, awards, college bookings, podcasts, Internet radio, and plenty of other opportunities, as they call them.

The company was founded in 2001 by Panos Panay and is still run by him today. And as of May 2007, Sonicbids is coming up on 100,000 members and 80,000 promoters from more than 100 countries around the globe.

I won’t say more than that because 1) I think Panay and I covered pretty much everything about how Sonicbids came to be and what some of their larger goals are as the proverbial playing field gets flattened and 2) because it’s a pretty long interview and we should get right to it!

Antibalas: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

Brooklyn, New York-based Antibalas is a collective of up to 17 musicians whose origins were in celebrating Afrobeat music, made famous by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in Nigeria in the 1970s, but since their origins in 1998, the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra has changed names to simply Antibalas and continues to infuse funk, jazz, Latin, soul, and classical elements into their music to keep it growing in new directions.

The list of influences to these musicians would be a hefty list, but during out conversation they do provide some insights into some prime musical influences beyond Fela Kuti, including Fugazi, Bob Marley, Talking Heads, and Eddie Palmieri and the Harlem River Drive Orchestra.

Antibalas have released four albums to date including Liberation Afro Beat Vol. 1 in 2001 and Talkatif in 2002, both on Ninja Tune Records. Who is This America? was released in 2004 on Ropeadope Records and their newest, Security, was released in early March 2007 on ANTI- Records.

Antibalas is currently on tour around the world in support of the new CD. Catch them if and when you can.

Help Save Internet Radio

Wanted to make sure people were aware of a recent activity from the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB).

On Friday March 2nd, the CRB announced its decision on the royalty rates Internet radio webcasters must pay the music industry to license the music they play.

The problem is, the new rates amount to well over 100% of even the most-successful webcasters' online radio revenues. Take a look at an example here. This means, unless the rates are drastically changed, most or all of your favorite Internet radio stations will be bankrupt or simply shut down, and this burgeoning industry will go silent.

What can you do?

Let your representatives in Congress and Senate know you want them to step in and do something to save Internet radio. Let's not let four major record labels and the RIAA determine when and where innovation takes place for all musicians and music fans across the country.

Visit congress.org, ipetitions.com, and/or petitiononline.com to send a message to your representatives today to ask them to prevent this change from going through.

To find out more visit SaveTheStreams.org , Save Our Internet Radio, and RAIN (Radio and Internet Newsletter).

Please share with anyone you know who also enjoys Internet radio (or those who do not enjoy monopolies)...and thanks!

- Charlie

Winterpills: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

When I first heard Winterpillls debut back in 2005 it came across as a breath of fresh air: a delicate and perfect interplay of harmonies between a man and woman’s voices plus chiming, tasteful guitars, but all with an urgency in the lyrics and songwriting which made it an impressive debut.

Winterpills is Dennis Crommett on electric guitar, Dave Hower on drums and percussion, Philip Price on vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards, and Flora Reed on keyboard and vocals. Occasional members include José Ayerve on bass, who also produced the bands debut and co-produced their new CD, and Brian Akey, also on bass.

Winterpills don’t get reviewed without people like Elliot Smith, Simon and Garfunkel, Iron and Wine, or Low getting discussed. When I hear the band, I think of the late 60s, as if Winterpills could have played alongside the Los Angeles music scenes that brought us Love or The Byrds or the San Francisco scene that fostered Jefferson Airplane. Were they playing then, they’d likely be considered folk-rock, a phrase that today seems to mean something very different...

On Winterpills’ myspace page, they also cite influences such as The Innocence Mission, Stars, Elliott Smith, X, Joni Mitchell, Bjork, Stephen Merritt, Neil Young, George Harrison, ABBA, Sun Kil Moon, Harry Nilsson, Leonard Cohen, Elton John, and Sam Beam of Iron and Wine.

Winterpills does what all great bands do, bringing together some disparate and perfectly-matched skills to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Their 2005 release garnered a number of critical rave reviews in The Washington Post, The Big Takeover, and No Depression. Their new CD, The Light Divides was produced by Dave Chalfant, José Ayerve, and Winterpills and was released by Signature Sounds and Soft Alarm Records in late February.

The band is out now on a tour of the east coast, midwest and several shows at SXSW.

Frank Morey: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

The first time I learned about Frank Morey was in an article in the Boston Phoenix by Ted Drozdowski a few years back. I found a few Morey's CDs on cdbaby.com and at Boston's now-defunct Hi-Fi Records store and, as cynical as I am, I was a little surprised that Morey was not already some huge musical commodity...

Sure, at first listen you might think Morey is a Tom Waits knockoff, but truthfully Morey’s roots trace back through a a diverse set of blues, folk, and honky tonk music, including some other musical heroes, such as Louis Armstrong, Howlin’ Wolf, Ray Charles, Leadbelly, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen, all of whom have helped inspire Morey to craft his own unique sound. In combination with true skill at storytelling and singing, each of Morey’s CDs has improved on the formula and brought him to his fifth CD, the wonderful MADE IN USA.

Morey’s earlier CDs include Bourbon Soaked Halo from 1998, Father John’s Medicine in 2000, and Cold in Hand and The Delmark Sessions (released by Delmark Records), both of which came out in 2002.

Based in Lowell, Massachusetts, an industrial city northwest of Boston where Jack Kerouac spent much of his youth before heading out on the road. Morey is still based in Lowell and speaks in the interview about how this city with its industrial roots also has influenced him and his writing. As often quoted, Morey says, "You can sit down in some bar in Lowell and there’s going to be somebody in that place that you couldn’t invent. They’re beautiful and crazy and for some reason they all want to sit next to me."

Flogging Molly: The Well-Rounded Radio Interview

Flogging Molly takes punk rock and marries it to elements of traditional Irish music, fronted by Dave King’s thick brogue and a group of six musicians with wildly diverse influences. A quote from King says it all: "If it didn't have mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and whistle, it would be punk rock and if it didn't have guitar, bass, and drums, it would be traditional Irish music. Flogging Molly has both."

Since 2000, they’ve released four CDs on SideOneDummy Records, including Swagger, Drunken Lullabies, Within a Mile of Home, and their latest, Whiskey on a Sunday, a CD/DVD release with the CD including new songs, acoustic versions of earlier releases, and live performances.

The DVD includes a two-hour documentary about the band, one of the better ones I've seen about living life as a musician, tracing each players path to playing music and joining the band, and life on the road for seven distinct personalities.

The film also gives viewers a new perspective about the band members, their life traveling through time and space, the balancing act they walk between making music they love for an independent record label, and building a loyal audience around the world.

Filmmaker Jim Dziura shot the film over two years time in seven countries and it's an enlightening document of a band making a living and building a following without selling their souls to make a dream come true. I was taken by how open and revealing the band members are and, as a result, it ends up being a far more intimate and sweet film.