Caropop

In this change-of-pace Caropop episode, we're hanging out in the green room with singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks before his recent concert at the club Space in Evanston. He and his ace quartet will be highlighting songs from his acclaimed new album, Bluegrass Vacation, but first...does he have any pre-show rituals? Does he still change his guitar strings before each show? What's his philosophy in writing out a setlist? Does he eat before going on stage? Drink? Does he place more emphasis on his picking skills than he used to? At age 60 how have songwriting topics opened up for him? And will he ever pick up an electric guitar or play in front of a drum kit again, or might this Bluegrass Vacation become an extended stay?

Inventive Devo guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh belongs to one of the band’s two sets of brothers and one set of Bobs. His older brother is Mark Mothersbaugh, and he was Bob 1 to the late Bob Casale’s Bob 2, Gerald Casale’s younger brother. Although Devo became known for synths, its debut was a piledriving guitar album with Bob 1’s playing up front. Bob 1 also sang the “Secret Agent Man” cover, co-wrote key early songs and contributed memorable guitar parts even as sequencers took over. How did that feel? What was David Bowie’s involvement with Devo? What dark impact did the success of “Whip It” have on Bob 1? Have Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, who complained about his band co-founder on his earlier Caropop appearance, made peace? Does Devo still have a future?

After his on-the-rise cult band Camper Van Beethoven imploded, singer-songwriter David Lowery formed Cracker, which delivered smart, tuneful, sharp-witted Americana through songs such as “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now),” “Low” and “Get Off This.” Lowery has continued performing with Cracker and the re-formed Camper, but his most recent works have been autobiographical solo albums, including this year’s Vending Machine, which reflects on his music-biz triumphs and misadventures and why he keeps coming back for more. Lowery also is a leading artists’ rights advocate and a University of Georgia business professor, and he has much to say about the creation of his music, the workings of the industry and why he’d rather release CDs than place his songs on streaming services. (Photo by Jason Thrasher.)

Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Ivan Neville has carved out an impressive career of his own, and he has memories: of being a 7-year-old when his father, Aaron Neville, hit No. 2 with “Tell It Like It Is”; of his Uncles Art and then Cyril playing in the quintessential New Orleans funk band the Meters; and of Art, Cyril, Aaron and Charles Neville forming the Neville Brothers. Ivan played in the Neville Brothers too, as well as in Bonnie Raitt’s band and on Rolling Stones and Keith Richards albums. His band Dumpstaphunk carries the New Orleans funk torch, and he just released his first solo album in 19 years, Touch My Soul. What’s it like being a Neville in New Orleans? Is he an optimist after all he’s been through? Ivan Neville tells—and sings—his story like no other. (Photo by Steve Rapport.)

Lenny Kaye has secured his place in rock history as the Patti Smith Group’s longtime guitarist, but he also helped define rock history with one of the most influential compilation albums of all time: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965–1968. To create that 1972 double album, Kaye pulled together a largely obscure collection psychedelic and garage-rock songs that made a new kind of sense together, from the Electric Prunes’ throbbing “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)” to the guitar freakery of the Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction” to Sagittarius’s gently trippy “My World Fell Down.” Now Kaye has expanded upon his work with a 5-LP Nuggets box released by Rhino on Record Store Day. What were his must-haves this time around? How do these songs hit differently 50-plus years later? How has Nuggets affected Kaye’s own music-making, and how do his writing sessions with Patti Smith go?

In the second half of this free-flowing conversation with producer Brad Wood, he digs into the recording of Whip-Smart, Liz Phair’s follow-up to her groundbreaking debut album Exile in Guyville, and the subsequent tour that never happened—and he tells of his more limited involvement on her third album, whitechocolatespaceegg. He reflects on what went right with Veruca’s Salt’s debut album, American Thighs, and its hit single “Seether,” and what went wrong when Billy Corgan hired him to produce Smashing Pumpkins’ Adore. He also discusses his efforts to let the Bangles be the Bangles on Doll Revolution, his poignant reunion with Veruca Salt, the reason he moved from Chicago to Los Angeles and what a producer should and should not do.

Brad Wood was a trained jazz saxophonist who didn’t like how rock music was sounding in the late ’80s, so he became a producer in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. At Idful Music, which has a cool origin story, Wood tried to capture the true sound of such bands as Freakwater, Trenchmouth and his own Shrimp Boat. Then he was knocked out by Liz Phair’s songs, and he and she co-produced Exile in Guyville, a landmark album soon to mark its 30th anniversary. Phair’s and Wood’s careers took off, and he went on to work with many other groups, including Veruca Salt, Smashing Pumpkins and the Bangles. Wood is as skilled as talker as he is a producer, and in this, Pt. 1 of a two-parter, he takes us deep into his Rockford roots, the Wicker Park scene and the creation of Phair’s stunning debut.

Singer-songwriter Michael McDermott is in a good place now, but what he went through to get there could fill a book and did. His early ‘90s emergence was met with hype, acclaim and public praise from author Stephen King, but his sales figures disappointed, and he spiraled into addiction and self-destruction, even as he kept creating new music. Both lead characters of the poker movie Rounders were named after him, with one resembling him more than the other. If you’ve heard McDermott’s lyrical songs, you won’t be surprised that he is a tremendous storyteller, and he offers great energy, hard-earned wisdom and jaw-dropping tales here. He also relates his fears of forgetting the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Wrigley Field, and, wait, HOW many verses did he write for that new song? (Photo by Darin Back.)

Marshall Crenshaw is a master of smart, instantly indelible guitar-pop-rock songs, starting with his outstanding 1982 self-titled debut album (“Someday, Someway,” “Cynical Girl,” “Mary Anne”…) and continuing with Field Day (“Whenever You’re on My Mind”) and beyond. He grew up in the Detroit area, played John Lennon in productions of Beatlemania but always saw himself as a solo artist, not a band member. What about the first album's sound did he want to fix on the new remaster? Does he think Steve Lillywhite’s booming production of Field Day gets a bad rap? Does he regret how the business side came to affect his creative work? How has he enjoyed guesting in the Smithereens? Will he ever record another album? This conversation will be more than your favorite waste of time.

The second half of this lively conversation with the great Graham Parker covers his classic run of ‘70s and ’80s albums, including the first five with the Rumour. What impact did producers Nick Lowe, Mutt Lange, Jack Nitzsche, Jimmy Iovine and Jack Douglas have on his music? Did Parker have any inkling that Squeezing Out Sparks would become so revered? Which of his albums does he consider a “stone old classic”? What’s his issue with The Up Escalator? Why did he need to move on from the Rumour to maximize his growth as a singer-songwriter? Whom was he evoking in his singing on “Wake Up (Next To You),” his one U.S. Top 40 hit? Which of his songs should’ve been a dance hit? This episode hits the spot. (Photo by Dion Ogust.)