Stereo Embers: The Podcast

“The Story Of My Life” Based out of Brooklyn, Holy Hive are a truly singular band. Formed in 2015’s Holy Hive’s innovative brand of neo-folk is both spare and rich, incorporating elements of Turkish Funk, Chicano soul, low-fi pop and traditional American roots music. Singer Paul Spring’s falsetto floats with the kind of effortless finesse that falls somewhere between Brian Wilson and Shuggie Otis. Meanwhile, drummer Homer Steinweiss, who has sat behind the kit for Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones, Adele and Bruno Mars, plays so deep in the pocket the groove it yields is sheer percussive bliss. He’s an extraordinarily player whose instincts and inventions make him one of the best drummers around. Their debut album Float Back To You cashed in on the promise of their Harping EP—and their self titled second album was a quiet and stirring revelation. They also released an instrumental version of the album, which is an equally stirring companion. www.holyhivemusic.bandcamp.com www.bigcrownrecords.com www.bombshellradio.com Stereo Embers www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenonline.com Instagram: @emberspodcast editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Things Will Be Different” The Little Murders formed out of the ashes of the punk outfit The Fiction. The Melbourne band first fired things up in 1979 and they’ve been crushing it ever since. Led by the British born Rob Griffiths, The Little Murders are one of those rare bands where every song is a winner. Seriously. Every single one. Their songs are hook-filled blasts of melodic pop that rips the cover off the ball every single time. Griffiths is a commanding frontman who just radiates charisma. Over the course of their brilliant career, the Murders have put out classic albums like First Light, We Should Be Home By Now, Dromona Rama and Dig For Plenty and to say they’re still going strong would be an absurd understatement. They’ve never been better. They have a new EP out called Wait 'Til The Summer Comes, a new album on the way and a tribute album just landed called Things Will Be Different: A Tribute To The little Murders. www.littlemurders.bandcamp.com www.bombshellradio.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenonline.com

“Memories To Burn” The Williams Brothers come from a rich musical lineage that goes all the way back to the late ‘30s, when Williams Brothers Andy, Dick, Bob and Don started their singing quartet that took them all the way from their home state of Iowa to sunny Los Angeles, where they appeared in movies and were under contract with MGM Films. The second iteration of The Williams Brothers featured Don’s sons Andrew and David, who put out two albums in 1973. As teen idols they had a hit with “What's Your Name" and even made an appearance on The Partridge Family. They resurfaced again in the late ‘80s, putting out a trio of fabulous albums for Warner Brothers, their last being 1993’s Harmony Hotel. Along the way they backed up Brian Setzer, Joe Ely and The Cruzados, sang back up on the Plimsouls' "A Million Miles Away" and were part of T-Bone Burnett’s band for a tour of Europe. They had a hit with "Can’t Cry Enough" in '92, appeared as an Everly Brothers duo in Alison Anders' Grace Of My Heart and after that…..well, after that, they stepped away and lived their lives. 28 years later we have Memories To Burn. This album gets done in 30 minutes what most bands try to do their entire careers. The harmonies are lustrous and elegant and the phrasing is delivered with finesse and grace. The two brothers’ vocal interplay is effortless, organic and soul-affirming. Featuring covers by Robbie Fulks and Iris DeMent and with a band that features the marvelous Marvin Etzioni and Greg Liesz, Memories To Burn is one of 2022’s very best. Good to have these guys back. Keep up with The Williams Brothers: www.sixdegreesrecords.com/regional-records-label www.regionalrecords.com www.facebook.com/regionalrecords Bombshell Radio: www.bombshellradio.com Stereo Embers: IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenonline.com

"Dan McCafferty Remembered" Okay, to be fair Dan McCafferty left the legendary Scottish band back in 2013 but worthy replacements aside, he will always be the voice of Nazareth. After 45 years fronting the internationally acclaimed outfit, McCafferty stepped aside due to health reasons. Recharged, revitalized and sounding better than ever, McCafferty roared back with The Last Testament, his third solo album--and first since 1987. In this conversation he chats with Alex about his collaboration with the Czech instrumentalist Karel Marik, why he's never planned anything in his life and why the easiest people to talk to are fishermen.

“It’s Alright Now” Nora O’Connor is nothing short of a musical force. The Illinois-born singer/songwriter’s new album My Heart completes the hat trick that was started by her 1996 debut Cerulean Blue and continued by 2004’s 'Til The Dawn. So you’re probably wondering about the gaps in between—8 years, 18 years—it’s a fair questions, so we're going to give you a fair answer. Nora O’Connor is busy. Like, really busy. An in-demand singer who has toured and recorded with Neko Case, the Decembrists, Iron and Wine, Mavis Staples and the New Pornographers, O’Connor’s voice is one that everyone wants. So she’ll head out on the road with the Decembrists or Mavis Staples and when fully immersed in that work, it’s not so easy to concentrate on her own work. COVID hit the pause button on touring so at home with her family and an acoustic guitar, the demos started to come. And how’d they work out? Well, put it this way--My Heart is a stone cold killer—a truly riveting collection of affecting folk, rolling Americana and devastating piano pop. Our personal favorite is the aching album closer Fare Thee Well—gentle and woebegone country stomp at its very best. A marvelous chat with a lovely person! https://www.noraoconnormusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/nora.oconnorkean https://twitter.com/NoraOConnorKean https://www.instagram.com/noraoconnorkean/?hl=en www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Celebrating Our 300th Episode With Rebecca Pidgeon!" Born in the U.S. to British parents when her dad was a visiting professor at MIT, Rebecca Pidgeon’s family soon moved to Scotland where she immersed herself in the Arts. While at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London she fronted the folk pop outfit Ruby Blue who put out a couple of great records before PIdgeon left the band and Europe to pursue a career in acting. In the US she hit the stage and the screen, appearing onstage in numerous plays and on the screen in films like The Dawning, The Spanish Prisoner, Heist and State and Main. In spite of her busy acting schedule, Pidgeon put out ten perfect albums starting with her marvelous 1994 debut The Raven. That was followed by albums like Tough On Crime, Behind The Velvet Curtain, Bad Poetry and her brand new one Parts Of Speech, Pieces Of Sound. Filled with sweeping melodies, lush vocals and poetic finesse, Pidgeon’s new one is one of 2022’s best albums,Informed by her yoga practice, the songs on Parts of Speech, Pieces Of Sound are focused, still and rich, Pidgeon’s voice a sweeping and dreamy instrument of true hypnotic beauty. Instagram: @rebeccapidgeon www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Honeymoon Suite” Hailing from Leeds, Katie Harkin was the co-founder of the band Sky Larkin—an outfit she put together with her childhood pal Nestor Matthews while they were attending university. They signed to the London indie Wichita Recordings, which was home to The Cribs, Bloc Party, Best Coast and My Morning Jacket and put out three great albums, including the 2009 classic The Golden Spike. That band lasted almost ten years and while they were at it, Harkin started to get recruited for other projects, like touring with Wild Beasts in 2011 for their Smother record. Post Sky Larkin she became a touring member of Sleater-Kinney—you can hear her on the Live in Paris album— and she went on to also be a touring member of Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile’s band when they toured the Lotta Sea Lice record. She toured again with Barnett a year later and soon after she put out her first solo album under the name Harkin. She put out her second Harkin effort this summer—titled Honeymoon Suite, it’s dreamy, ethereal and decidedly catchy. The compositions are textured and nuanced, the instrumentation is layered and rich and Harkin’s vocals float with precision and finesse. Harkin is never not busy—she’s worked with everyone from Waxahatchee to comic Josie Long to Turner Prize-winning filmmaker Helen Martin We got her in between all the business and she was just lovely. www.handmirror.bandcamp.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Blackout For The Bloodsuckers” There’s something that’s always churning behind the sound of The Battles Of Winter. The London band’s music is powered by a steady and dark engine which hums along like a wicked propellor, conjuring a geometric dream city filled with square avenues, rectangular boulevards and angular streets that tilt and bend and twist, but never break. The sidewalks may lift and fall, but the inhabitants of this box-like world continue on, marching mysteriously along through the darkness in black suits and black hats with matching black hearts and blank expressions that suggest a menace that’s a decimal away from detonation. And at the edge of this city, pirate ships ease in and out of the hexagon shaped harbor with uncertain purpose and the suggestion of treachery. The Battles Of Winter’s songs have the post-punk sting of Wire, the groove of Gang of Four and the melodic delivery of everyone from Editors to Interpol. They’re a little bit of an elusive outfit—part of the tis due to the impracticality of being in a band and having a family and a job—but whenever their sail surfaces on the harbor, it surfaces with lashing exactitude and palpable mystery. They’ve surfaced for this conversation, so let’s get to it…. www.instagram.com/thebattlesofwinter www.thebattlesofwinter.bandcamp.com www.bombshellradio.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenonline.com

"East Of Eden" Well, most great stories start in the East and end up in the west and the story of Marvin Etizoni does exactly that. The Brooklyn born musician and his family moved to L.A. in the '70s and it didn’t take long for Etzioni to fit right in. His first band Model played with everyone from the Plimsolls to the Motels, and his next band Lone Justice signed to Geffen and opened for U2. Not too shabby. Etzioni left Lone Justice after their first record and from there he got really busy. So busy in fact, it would take a full podcast to cover everything so bear with this partial list. Etzioni put out a series of awesome solo albums, produced artists like Peter Case, Toad The Wet Sprocket and Counting Crows, wrote songs for Jimmy Barnes, Victoria Williams, Voice of the Beehive, the Williams Brothers and Judy Collins, appeared on records by Dogs Eye View, the Dixie Chicks and Lily Haydn and he has a band called Thee Holy Brothers with Willie Aron of the Balancing Act. If you want to get an idea as to how respected Etzioni is in the music industry, consider this: one of his solo albums called Marvin Country, features duets with Richard Thompson, John Doe, Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams. And this probably won’t surprise you, but Etzioni is really busy. The President of Regional Records, he’s in the studio working on Lone Justice tracks and finishing up the new Thee Holy Brothers record; additionally, he’s prepping the release of the first new Williams Brothers album in almost 30 years, and Lone Justice are going to be included in an upcoming Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit alongside the Byrds, the Eagles and more. The mandolin-playing Etzioni has had quite a career, and this is quite a conversation. www.regionalrecords.com www.marvincountry.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Talking Walls” Lilly Winwood grew up in the English Coutnryside, a locale that was lush, expansive and quiet. The hum and groove of a big city was calling, so at 18 she left home for a little more social and artistic volume. After a few stops in a few years she ended up in Nashville, which was not only a comfortable place—her mom was from Tennessee and she visited regularly as a kid—it was a place filled with like-minded artists. Lilly Winwood has been on a creative tear—her debut Time Well Spent was assured and filled with promise and her follow up Talking Walls is a massive leap forward. Shimmering with wisdom and maturity, Talking Walls is filed with equal parts strength and maturity. Bringing to mind Kasey Chambers or Patty Griffin, Talking Walls isn’t afraid to confront the big questions and the results are massively satisfying. A rollicking, melodic and decidedly memorable set, Talking Walls is a refreshing blast of roots rock thats as fresh as it is timeless. Lilly Winwood has done a lot already in her career—she sang back up for her dad Steve Winwood and even opened for him on occasion. She’s also toured with Jackie Greene and Todd Snider and was on the bill for the All Star Neil Young Tribute show. With a voice thats imbued with power and life, Winwoods' delivery is breezy and ageless and her songs remind us that life can put you through it but the good stuff is waiting on the other side. www.lillywinwood.org www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com