Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"High In My Balloon" When it comes to the Grammy-nominated musician and composer Willie Aron, he's worked with so many people, it might be faster just to list the people he hasn't worked with. Born in Southern California, Aron studied classical piano before falling in love with the Beatles and new wave and teaching himself guitar. He co-founded The Balancing Act who signed to I.R.S., put out three excellent albums, toured with 10,000 Maniacs and They Might Be Giants before calling it a day in 1989. After the band broke up, Aron became an in-demand session musician and over the years he's collaborated with Leonard Cohen, The Dream Syndicate, Rickie Lee Jones, Milo Binder, Susanna Hoffs, Brian Wilson, Michael Penn and Peter Himmelman. Speaking of Brian Wilson, yes, that's Wilie in Love & Mercy and he was also a consultant for the Beatles doc Eight Days A Week. Willie also has worked as a film and television composer, a producer of children's music and a composer for commercials and music libraries. Additionally, he helped develop the curriculum and write original songs for a Los Angeles-based children’s music space and company called Play Music (play-losangeles.com) and he also earned a a Master’s Degree in clinical psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles. As for the bands he plays in currently, the list is long, but let's just start with Moremen/Bonebrake with Matthew Sweet guitarist John Moremen and X drummer DJ Bonebrake, an improvisation outfit called Mushroom, The Vince Melouney Sect featuring original Bee Gees guitarist Vince Melouney, and the all-star musical collective known as The Wild Honey Orchestra that raises money for autism. All of which brings us to Thee Holy Brothers, which finds Willie teaming up with his pal Marvin Etzioni who you might remember from Lone Justice and his appearance on this podcast. The duo's new album "High In My Balloon" is a sterling platter of rootsy stomp and jangling pop that's pure melodic joy. And this conversation is equally joyful and it's also a reminder that being a nice person like Willie Aron leads to lasting friendships and as we all know, without lasting friendships, none of us would last. www.theeholybrothers.com (http://www.theeholybrothers.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers The Podcast IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"A Sober Conversation" Although BC Camplight is the brainchild of the New Jersey born Brian Christinzio, don't be mistaken in thinking his onstage persona is a protective way of distancing himself emotionally from who he is offstage because it's the exact opposit. BC Camplight is actually a way of amplifying those emotions and as a result, it's hard to think of a more emotionally open and accesible artist working in music today. If you're getting the impression that BC Camplight is an open book, that's exactly what he is. With almost ten critically-acclaimed albums to his name like How To Die In The North, Deportation Blues, The Last Rotation Of Earth and his new one A Sober Conversation, Camplight's compositions are sprawling and discursive blasts of unflinching honesty, confessional narratives and unvarnished self-examination. Falling somewhere between The Waterboys' This Is The Sea and Leif Vollebekk's North Americana, over the years, Camplight's music has moved from strength to strength and his new album is perhaps his best yet, which with a body of work like he has, is saying a lot. A captivating blend of sweeping ballads, poignant rockers and ruminating piano-fueled stomp, A Sober Conversation is a stirring song cycle that's filled with anthems for survival. Although the songs are informed by trauma, loss and self-doubt, Camplight's poetic muscle in a peerless flex that makes every number rip through the darkness with the intention of finding a new brand of light. And that's exactly what this album does--more than illuminating the bleakness, it blasts it apart. It's stunning work. BC has toured all over the world, played on Later With Jools Holland, collaborated with members of the War On Drugs, The Last Dinner Party and Sharon Von Etten. And today, he's here with us.... https://bc-camplight.bandcamp.com/album/a-sober-conversation www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast BLUESKY + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Sonic Ranch" Licking his wounds from the breakup of his band Big Car, the Texas-born singer/songwriter Miles Zuniga found himself out west--and when I say out west I mean about ten minutes from where we record this podcast. Miles got a job working at Chez Panisse and hanging out on Telegraph Avenue at Cody's Books and Amoeba Music. The Big Car experience hadn't been great, so Miles was plotting out his next moves while he worked in Alice Waters' restaurant and I'll let him tell you how that all played out, so let's just fast forward to when he moved back to Texas and joined forces with bassist/singer Tony Scalzo and drummer Joe Shuffield to form Fastball. The trio's debut Make Your Mama Proud evinced their penchant for punchy pop genius but it was their sophomore record All The Pain That Money Can Buy that put them on the map. The album's first single "The Way" was pretty much a pop sensation, hitting the number one slot of charts for seven weeks. The next two singles "Out Of My Head" and "Fire Escape" helped fuel the album's Platinum status and Zuniga, a long way now from his Chez Panisse days, found his band with two Grammy nominations. Over the course of their career, Fastball have collaborated with Billy Preston, Steve Berlin, Adam Schlesinger and Charlie Sexton. From Keep Your Wig On to The Help Machine to their latest album Sonic Ranch, their discography is an endless supply of pop riches. Miles is a great guy and this is a very cool chat so let's meet himm www.fastballtheband.com (http://www.fastballtheband.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers The Podcast BLUESKY + IG: @emberspodcast EMAIL: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Midnight At The Valencia" Before all this rock and roll stuff, Tom Hollister was a highly touted Rugby player from Wales. I'll let him tell you how his career as an athlete was derailed as a young man in Canada, but let me just say this: when he got back to Wales, he channeled all that athletic energy into another sport entirely: the making of music. In 2010, of all the emerging buzzbands, Cardinal Black was one of the buzziest. Guns N' Roses' longtime manager Alan Niven was overseeing the band's activity and let's just say this: it was active. They were invited by Steve Winwood to record at his studio, they played a killer set at Sonisphere and they flew to the U.S. to record an album. But things didn't go as planned and the band hit pause on a career that was about to kick into overdrive. I'll let Tom tell you about that dark time as well, but, and I don't think this is a spoiler, the dark times are over and Cardinal Black 2.0 are in fighting shape and adding brilliant achievements to their resume' with each passing day. They've hit #1 on the iTunes Rock Singles Chart, they've played sold-out headline shows in all over the world, supported Myles Kennedy, The Struts and Peter Frampton thanks to a personal invitation from the man himself, and played Joe Bonamassa's Keeping The Blues Alive rock cruise. The band's new long player Midnight At The Valencia is a smooth blend of simmering soul, bluesy ballads and shimmering, rootsy genius. Hollister's stirring vocals are drenched with heart and with the brilliant guitar playing of Chris Buck weaving throughout the band's compositions, Midnight At The Valencia is one of those records that evades the timeline. When you put it on it could be 1971 or 1993 or now. Or all of it. I love this record and I love this band and Tom is a humble, thoughtful and kind soul. www.thecardinalblack.com (http://www.thecardinalblack.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers The Podcast BLUESKY + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"Feel Good Now" Alright, let's get the spicy stuff out of the way; yes, the Loft split up onstage in front of 3,000 people while opening for the Colorfield at the Hammersmith Palais. That happened. But a lot happened before and a lot has happened after, so let me catch you up. Formed in 1980, The Loft were one of the first bands signed to Alan McGee's Creation Records. Their wistful pop had jangle and nerve and they tore out of the gates cramming their resume with notable achievements for McGee's lable like being the first Creation band to appear on television, the first top the indie singles chart, the first to be invited on to a major UK tour and the first to record a Janice Long BBC radio session. The Loft were poised to be a huge band, but the public split came before their first album was ever released and so fans could only be left to wonder what might have been had they been able to just get a record on the shelves. Compilations like Magpie Eyes and Once Around The Fair were released over the years, but as we know, great as they may be, it's not the same thing. Singer Pete Astor and drummer Dave Morgan went on the form the Weather Prophets, while guitarist Andy Strickland formed The Caretaker Race and bassist Bill Prince formed The Wishing Stones. Happily, the ice that forms after an argument started to thaw and the Loft slowly drifted back to each other. I'll let Andy and Pete tell you that story, but let me just say this. We're so lucky that it did because the band's debut album is one we finally get to hear and it was well worth the wait. The ten songs on Everything Changes, Everything Stays The Same are perfectly crafted pop gems with spry rhythms, jangling beauty and melodic mastery. I love this record. Pete's been on the show before, and he's a lovely guy to chat with, but having him back with Andy was a real treat. www.tapeterecords.de (https://www.tapeterecords.de) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers The Podcast IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"Choking On Fuel" The Australian-born singer/songwriter Imogen Clark is one of our favorite guests here at the podcast. Aside from being one of the most genial people you'll ever meet, Clark is also honest and analytical about herself and her approach to music. In fact, Clark's authenticity as a person is mirrored perfectly in her art. Clark's songwriting is observational and wise and her compositions are assured, rich and melodic. Clark was trained as an opera singer as a young girl, and even though she left Western Classical music for the guitar and piano, her sheer power as a singer is undeniable and fills every composition with grit and nerve. Over the years she's toured with Shania Twain, Robyn Hitchcock and Steve Poltz, collaborated with members of Bright Eyes, Gang of Youths, Dawes, Colin Hay of Men at Work and Jim Lauderdale and she's established herself in the process as an artist who's not afraid to put in the hard work to get her music out into the world. Her new acoustic album Choking On Fuel features Ella Hooper, Tommy Emmanuel, Kezia Gill and My Morning Jacket's Bo Koster. Raw, unvarnished and brimming with urgency, Choking On Fuel is compelling and intimate work. www.imogenclarkmusic.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers The Podcast BLUESKY + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Strawberries" Perhaps best known as one of the co-founding members of the late great Australian band The Go-Betweens, singer/songwriter Robert Forster has been putting out critically acclaimed solo albums since his 1990 debut Danger In The Past. Over the years he added to his solo discography titles like Calling From A Country Phone and I Had A New York Girlfriend, and now the Brisbane-born Forster is checking in with his ninth solo effort Strawberries. The follow-up to 2023's rousing and affecting The Candle And The Flame, Strawberries is startlingly beautiful and emotionally precise. Produced by Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John, the eight numbers on Strawberries range from the jangling album opener "Tell It Back To Me" to the stirring blues of "Good To Cry." Elsewhere, the seven minute "Breakfast On The Train" is not only a great song, it also doubles as a great short story; the title track is a brilliant and simple study of the gobbling of strawberries as a metaphor for domestic bliss and the album closing "Diamonds" quite literally reaches new vocal heights for Mr. Forster. This is one of the best albums you'll hear--it's satisfyingly precise, unreasonably melodic and filled with observational wisdom, meditative self-analysis and quietly unforgettable character studies. This is a great chat--I love talking to Robert and I hope you dig listening. www.robertforster.net (http://www.robertforster.net) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) Stereo Embers Bluesky + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"Sprinter" The Florida-born Cat Ridgeway is speeding into national prominence. Or, to be more specific, she's sprinting there. Ridgeway's new album Sprinter is an adrenalized blast of hook-filled rock and roll, howling blues and scruffy pop that's one of the most refreshing listens of the year. A commanding presence with charisma to burn, Ridgeway, along with her band the Tourists, are full of a howling punk-rock electricity that summons everyone from the White Stripes to the Foo Fighters. Now Ridgeway is a self-taught musician who plays harmonica, trumpet, trombone, mandolin, bass, piano and guitar and that's incredibly impressive, but having spoken to her, she has an autodidact streak that runs through her life. Hence the reference I made to coffee earlier, but I'll let Cat tell you all about that. Named Orlando's Best Singer-Songwriter for the last three years, Ridgeway has played with Houndmouth, Arcade Fire and Lucy Dacus and she's no stranger to playing music festivals around the country. She's a typhoon of positive energy and you're going to love her. www.catridgewaymusic.com (http://www.catridgewaymusic.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers Bluesky + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Hue Mirror" In Illness as Metaphor, Susan Sontag once wrote: “Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.” Well, my guest today on the program has recently been grappling with the use of the other passport Sontag is referring to and that grappling has yielded a song cycle that no matter what kingdom you find yourself dwelling in, will be moving, inspiring and transcendent." The Chicago born singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jess Robbins was diagnosed with AS, which is more specifically known as anklosing spondylitis, an aggressive autoimmune disease that can cause debilitating chronic pain as well as spinal inflammation and the fusing of the vertebrae. It's scary stuff, but part of Robbins' emotional healing was finally getting a name to go with the symptoms she'd been having for years. The other part of that healing? Making art. Robbins fronts the band Course and their new album Hue Mirror is an effecting song-cycle about navigating the complex and uncertain terrain of chronic pain, physical vulnerability and the uncertainty of the changes AS could bring. Hue Mirror is an unflinching and meditative look at how human frailty translates into art and that translation is where the beauty of this album really lives. Dark, probing, and unflinching, Hue Mirror is a stirring song-cycle that's punctuated by shadowy rhythms, vaporous percussion and and heavenly vocals. It's moving and powerful work but you don't have to be diagnosed with an illness to relate to it--you just have to be a human being with a big beating heart. After all, we're all facing an uncertain future and Hue Mirror is a way of facing it together. IG: @coursesounds www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Dance With Me" The married Michigan duo of Annagail are hard to categorize because of their startling musical range. With The Smiths, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and The Foo Fighters, Annagail's running through their musical DNA, Jared and Jennifer aren't afraid of a folk song or a pop song or a blues song or a roots song. It's fair to say that they're not afraid of anything. More on that in a minute. Filled with aching harmonies, wistful ballads, tender country and infectious hooks, Annagail, who used to operate under the moniker Route Three, may be tough to pin down in terms of genre, so it's easier to simply say they're brilliant at what they do and they do all of it. Jared and Jennifer have a musical symbiosis that's undeniable and profound and a tenth of their personal challenges would be enough to keep someone on the sidelines forever, but not these two. They've not only survived a list of hardships--and I'll let the interview cover that material, but just so you get an idea of how long and serious that list is, we didn't even cover the fire that destroyed their home and and studio--they've emerged from the darkness bursting with light. I'm not joking. But that word joking might be the key here; they have a sense of humor that has allowed them to navigate the trials they've encountered with perspective and wisdom and grace. I love this band. And not only is this a cool chat because they're open and lovely people, it's cool because we've caught them emerging from yet another scary moment with a renewed commitment to their craft. In many ways, this might be the most prolific period in the band's history. In fact, they have so many new albums, I'm not even sure what their latest one is. All I know is their music smolders with soulful resolve, sweeping momentum and harmonic and narrative poise. This is a wonderful chat with truly wonderful people. www.annagail.net (http://www.a) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com