Stereo Embers: The Podcast

“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

"Everyone’s Got A Camera” David Poe is a singer songwriter of dazzling economy; his wit and his sly genius for turning a phrase makes each line of his songs a piece of art. Poe is a cross between Hemingway and John Prine—he tells stories without telling stories about the stories he's telling. He’s straightforward and elegant and lets you fill in the blanks with where the humanity might reside and where the heart might end up. Over the course of albums like God and the Girl, Love Is Red, The Late Album and his new one, Everyone’s Got A Camera, Poe is one of the greatest and most consistent songwriters out there. The new album is a staggering collection that’s masterfully melodic, harmonically brilliant and filled with world weary observations that unflinchingly stare down the modern landscape. A composer fellow of the Sundance Institute, Poe has asserted himself as one of the great songwriters of his generation. Or any generation, for that matter. Poe stays busy—not only has he toured, collaborated, performed and recorded with folks like Bob Dylan, Tori Amos, T-Bone Burnett, The Jayhawks, Beth Orton, Ron Sexsmith,Regina Spektor, They might Be Giants and Marc Ribot, Poe has been heavily involved writing scores for contemporary ballet and modern theatre projects across the world. His new album hits shelves this week but that didn’t stop Poe from singing with the Charlotte Symphony this past weekend in the world premiere of the Blackstar Symphony, the first orchestral presentation of David Bowie’s final album. www.davidpoe.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers The Podcast Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“A Complete History Of Dreams” Alright, so Philip Stevenson has made some of my favorite albums of all time. I first heard his band Carnival Of Souls when I was 19 and that album, which is called Flop, is in my top ten of all time. Stevenson is one of the most consistent, thrilling and rousing singer songwriters out there and yeah, a lot of critics compared him to Westerberg or Elliott Smith and to be fair, those comparisons are not off the mark. But let’s not stop there. Stevenson is a songwriter of breathtaking talent—his compositions range from snarling rockers to ragged waltzes and like a great painter, each of his numbers have texture and nuance that unfold layer after layer with each repeated listen. Stevenson played in Quinine after Carnival of Souls broke up and after that band called it a day, he started putting out staggeringly great solo albums one after the other. From Starless to Azalea, Stevenson’s work aches with longing, rings with precision and shines with night-kissed melodies and soaring choruses. His new three disc set A Complete History Of Dreams is a powerful triptych of windswept numbers like High For The Weekend, fuzzy rockers like Rachel I’m Sorry About Your eyes and the endlessly lovely Everybody’s An Ocean which will make you feel like being lost at sea is about the most beautiful thing the world can offer. Of the set, Stevenson says, “The last few years for everyone were like a bad dream—we all had to turn them into art in order to adore them…” www.nighworldrecords.bandcamp.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers: Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Half Drunk Under A Full Moon” The Fratellis have put out six perfect records. In a row. Not a lot of folks have done that, but the Scottish outfit have managed to keep cranking out some of the most infectious, thoughtful and rousing pop music in recent memory. With almost twenty years under their belts, the Fratellis have proven they’re one of the most potent acts around. Their newest album Half Drunk Under A Full Moon is perhaps their best yet—it’s loaded with melodic musical, harmonic brilliance and some of the catchiest songs you’re likely to hear. This interview with singer John Fratelli was recorded before a gig in San Francisco…. www.thefratellis.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers The Podcast Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.

“Stupid Like That” Before A Boy In Cords was a Boy In Cords, he was a boy in…Trousers. That’s right. When I first met the Irish-born singer songwriter, he was crushing it in the indie clubs in the Bay Area with his band Trousers. What did they sound like? they were punchy, jangly land pretty much perfect—with kind of an Aztec Camera vibe. After Trousers folded, many years went by. A Boy In Cords headed back to Ireland eventually, got married and started a family. But something happened and that something is something i’ll let him tell you, but before we get to the chat, I’ll tell you this. The Aztec Camera vibe has matured into more of Prefab Sprout groove and the songs of A Boy in Cords are startlingly lovely pop wonders that are lush, rich and deeply textured. The songs he’s got in his satchel are brilliant and they’ll only yield more and more and more. And we’ll all be luckier for it. IG: @aboyincords www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers The Podcast www.stereoembersmagazine.com IG: @emberspodcast Twitter: @emberseditor

“Everywhere I Used To Be” Mariel Buckley is a singer songwriter of tremendous depth and sensitivity. The Canadian-born musician’s songs are confessional and observational and they are rife with honesty, wisdom and vulnerability. Her new album Everywhere I Used To Be is a stirring collection that’s filled with nuance and moody undertones. Thanks to the production of Marcus Paquin, who has worked with Arcade Fire and The National this is an album that’s loaded with texture—it’s country music played through layers of haunting and undulating fathoms and the result is one of the biggest surprises of 2022. This album is an instant classic that brings to mind Daniel Lanois' work on Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball. It’s resonate and deeply affecting work. www.marielbuckley.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com Stereo Embers The Podcast Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com