My Favourite Elliott Smith Song

Today (18 April) is the anniversary of the release of Figure 8. It's Elliott's fifth studio album and the last he put out before he died.  It can feel, at times, feel a little underrated. But listening to it again (as well as to From a Basement on the Hill) you can't help but feel excited by where Elliott would have gone musically had he stayed with us.  In this episode, we celebrate the album. We share some clips of previous guests discussing their favourite songs from Figure 8, as well as their thoughts on the album more broadly. We also give a little preview of what's to come when we launch the second season of this podcast at the end of April 2019.  It features: Greg Cortez, New Monkey Studio Max Bloom, Yuck Jade Bird, solo musician Jim Fairchild, Grandaddy and Modest Mouse Jason Lytle, Grandaddy Ken Stringfellow, The Posies, Big Star Listen to Figure 8 on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/7DC0pE943VR5tAKIvQXHts?si=LXmc9UJHRQyoS7e1_5J90w My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Find us on social media @myfavesmithsong. MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

The musician Jim Fairchild joins us for our final episode of series one.  Jim plays guitar in Grandaddy - alongside our former guest Jason Lytle - and Modest Mouse, and he also works as a solo artist too.  It was when he was with Grandaddy that Jim first got to know Elliott Smith properly. The band joined Elliott on tour following the release of Figure 8 and they built up a friendship after that. Jim would even arrange for Elliott to come onstage to sing at the occasional Grandaddy live show and would visit him at New Monkey studio when he was trying to fix old equipment.  In this episode, Jim shares some great Elliott stories, as well as going in-depth on his favourite song pick.  Hope you enjoy this one. We'll be back with a new series in a few months - in the meantime, please do share the podcast with anyone you think might be interested.  Extra things to look at / listen to: Happiness by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3aU2ui8JQOtmgHYH0g1qFL?si=BG4sNlz6S6yIHcYC9KAfGA Figure 8 by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7DC0pE943VR5tAKIvQXHts?si=k7gT_SU3Q6ioiKzwEqWT0g He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot by Grandaddy on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6v7xLYNIdtJkyCGsenzQxh?si=eNa3DE0wTE2z5yL8y15wiw Recording of Elliott playing He's Simple... with Grandaddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jZ0_YUXO-I My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley.  www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 26 - and the first of the year - is John Paul White.  John Paul is a musician from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He's worked as both a solo artist, as well as in The Civil Wars - a duo he formed with Joy Williams that won an impressive four Grammys.  His Southern charm makes listening to him very easy, but there's substance behind what he says too. Elliott Smith had a huge impact on John Paul's career and the way he works. In this interview, he talks about the moment he heard Elliott for the first time and things started clicking into place, as well as his favourite song pick - a track we've been waiting a little while for.  Extra things to look at / listen to:  Waltz #2 by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5AMrnF761nziCWUfjBgRUI?si=-hnFm880S5-mt_XuIdF4yA XO by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1zOxlHQGGV6EH7n4OIFTyh?si=S-zLodZISCig0iSCYZKVFA Between the Bars by The Civil Wars on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4mm4V9uS6AOuWBG0f65HH9?si=7dwlBTznSPa3evJDaBW8gA John Paul White on the Grammys' Life-Changing Record discussing Either/Or by Elliott Smith: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/life-changing-recordings-john-paul-white My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley.  www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 25 is the actress and musician Emily Kinney. Emily made her name on the TV show The Walking Dead, where she played the character Beth Greene. She's seen been in several other programmes and has released three albums, with her most recent, 'Oh Jonathan', coming out in August 2018. She discovered Elliott Smith's music while she was starting out in her acting career in New York. In this interview she talks about how her favourite song pick helped her during that challenging time in her life, as well as how he influences her now she's making more music. This episode is our last of the year. Thanks for listening to us in 2018, we'll be back in January. Extra things to look at / listen to: Between the Bars by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/52Bg6oaos7twR7IUtEpqcE?si=bSTOrELTTl6rXL8bmcBTmQ Either/Or by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5hryhrT7wEdLnZCbJX9F6L?si=H9332mnTRbaik2LuEUAQ3w Madonna covers Between the Bars: https://www.nme.com/news/music/madonna-elliott-smith-cover-between-the-bars-twitter-2158041 My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 24 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is Lindsey Jordan. 2018 has been a great year for Lindsey and her band Snail Mail. They released their debut album, Lush, in June and they’ve been touring pretty much non-stop ever since. So we were really lucky to catch her during some rare time off at her home near Baltimore, Maryland (USA) to talk through her favourite song pick, as well as how she finds rare Elliott tracks and why she connects so much with musicians who made their names during the 90s. Hope you enjoy it.   Extra things to look at / listen to:  Dancing on the Highway by Elliott Smith (this song has never been officially released so we have to link to YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xawASIzzJRQ In the Lost and Found by Elliott Smith: https://open.spotify.com/track/2xVikBZt3KxyUR7o8NGYDU?si=g37K4qzaSh25ycCc57c6Ug Stereogum’s albums of 2018 – with Snail Mail at #2: https://www.stereogum.com/featured/the-best-albums-of-2018/ My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 23 is Aaron Embry.  Aaron is a musician who played in Elliott Smith's band during the Figure 8 tour in 2000. They played many shows together across Europe and the US, with Aaron on keys and long-time Elliott collaborators Sam Coomes (from Quasi) and Scott McPherson on bass and drums respectively.  In this interview with Elizabeth Withstandley, Aaron talks through his personal connection to his favourite song pick and shares some stories of life on the road with Elliott.  Hope you enjoy it.  Extra things to look at / listen to:  Strung Out Again by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Bd2DmHtJrqfG507TQ1WSM?si=iexcX_zbSpuZMuMpRVql0w From a Basement on the Hill by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/66UbcdMK6oC2XFPLeESamq?si=jVxMcYfJRwGvvP0kKmq5pA Struck Down Again (original version of Strung Out Again) recorded live in Stockholm, Sweden - Aaron is playing keys on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVSH2ztpvcs My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 22 is the musician Mary Lou Lord. Mary Lou was great friends with Elliott. The two of them met at a gig in Seattle arranged by Slim Moon, the founder of the record label Kill Rock Stars. She was already on the label and, of course, Elliott would soon follow.  In this interview we talk through Mary Lou's favourite song choice, hear more about the time she saw Elliott for the first time and how they started touring.  Extra things to look at / listen to: I Figured You Out by Elliott Smith on Either/Or (2017 issue): https://open.spotify.com/track/5NlQ8We8fhLVGDjO2LfB5i?si=XhNQ71E0SJyC9hBw6pEAng I Figured You Out by Mary Lou Lord: https://open.spotify.com/track/7FZGxzuLt649qwmTqUtYYP?si=xkdAXCqcRQCplYvGQkj3jg Mary Lou covering Half Right by Elliott Smith/Heatmiser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25BdmZGG1s0 Mary Lou interviewing Elliott for Spin magazine in 1998: https://www.spin.com/2018/10/elliott-smith-interview-1998-mary-lou-lord/ My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. Huge thanks to Greg Cortez and New Monkey Studio for their help mixing and mastering our podcast. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong.  www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 21 is the film director Steve Hanft. Steve made his name making music videos for artists such as Beck, which led him to eventually directing the 1998 Elliott Smith documentary Strange Parallel (although calling it a documentary is perhaps doing it a disservice). It's part music performance, part interview but mostly a surreal dream involving Elliott - if you haven't seen the film, there's a link lower down. In this episode, we cover how that film came about, how it ended up like it did - with Elliott being implored to buy a robot hand to improve his guitar playing - and what he thought of the documentary after it came out. We do find time to discuss Steve's favourite song too! A special thank you to Ross Harris for making this interview possible. Extra things to look at / listen to: Strange Parallel (full length film on Vimeo): https://vimeo.com/74984466 Condor Ave on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4Tz0TCqxlpMDDMQWMycyEF?si=YgNXrK6CTNylUBMsEgUrJg Roman Candle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0vgbFgcYqm2B0csVXvo8d5?si=o_y9Q5g6T0y7tVlKynq8EA My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong.  www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 20 is the musician Jade Bird. Jade is a hotly tipped artist from the UK - in the last year or so she has been on the BBC's Sound of 2018 list and Rolling Stone have called her a country artist to watch out for. She's also a massive Elliott Smith fan, albeit one who has discovered his music relatively recently. She can, of course, be forgiven for this though, as she just turned 21 the other week. Hope you enjoy this episode - Jade has an interesting take on Elliott and his work, particularly on how his approach can help newer artists like herself. Extra things to look at / listen to: Colorbars on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5HaOloWn9b5PJtxvE6Vtke?si=K0KXbLlVTGSdcRyoJP64Ug Figure 8 on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7DC0pE943VR5tAKIvQXHts?si=B5wrTqs9StKwNvfFvVXptQ Who is Bruno S?: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/22/bruno-schleinstein-obituary My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com

Our guest for episode 19 is the musician Pete Krebs. Pete is somewhat of a legend on the Portland scene. His band Hazel broke through in the early '90s at a similar time to Heatmiser. As well as playing numerous shows with Elliott Smith, Pete was also good friends with him - the pair drank in the same bars and worked the same construction jobs to fund their music careers. They even released a split seven inch record together in 1994, with Pete's Shytown as the A-Side and Elliott's No Confidence man on the other side. We were delighted when Pete agreed to be on the podcast. Not only does he talk through his favourite song pick for us, when we told him that Rhys Buchanan, a British journalist, was visiting Portland, he took him round a few of the old places he and Elliott used to play in and drink at. So, in this episode, we begin by Pete sharing his thoughts on his favourite song before cutting to Pete's car driving through the streets of Portland, where he points out some of the famous venues they used to frequent. Extra things to look at/listen to: Say Yes by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7zVfEu1dEvRw4EkWoqrBkx?si=rNX93AzBTv2opoC3W4dXSA Either/Or by Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5hryhrT7wEdLnZCbJX9F6L?si=GvA4gXkoSo6O607_H7bmVw Shytown/No Confidence Man by Pete Krebs and Elliott Smith on Spotify: https://www.discogs.com/Elliott-Smith-And-Pete-Krebs-Shytown-No-Confidence-Man/release/1014717 Nice profile piece on Pete from PDX Monthly: https://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2015/11/23/one-legendary-musician-unites-decades-of-portland-music My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is produced by Rob Comba and Elizabeth Withstandley. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @MyFavESmithSong. www.MyFavouriteElliottSmithSong.com