Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"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

"Remembering Mark Stewart of The Pop Group" Throwing curveballs at the moon is how The Pop Group's Mark Stewart describes the creative process and it might also very well be the perfect description of the Pop Group's career. Unconventional, ferociously innovative, and delightfully idiosyncratic, The Pop Group have never cared about what's happening in the mainstream and instead adhered to the rhythms and sounds that they wanted to make. In this whirlwind of an interview, the Bristol-born Stewart talks to Alex about UFO's, having tea with Sun Ra, The Sex Pistols, and how music bridged the racial divide in his town in the late 70s. He also talks about why he likes to hang out with oddballs, the avant-garde New York scene and a fight he once had with Allen Ginsberg. www.bombshellradio..com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast IG + Bluesky: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“New Girl Syndrome” The New Zealand-born Lisa Crawley has fearlessly created art and then just as fearlessly followed that art all over the world. From a small town in Japan to a cruise ship to Los Angeles, Crawley is not afraid of the hard miles and she’s bravely traversed the globe performing wherever she can. Armed with a luminescent voice and melodic muscle, Crawley’s work suggests a dreamy mix of Amy Winehouse and Bic Runga. Over the years she appeared in the Tony-Award winning musical Once, opened for Paul Weller, Simply Red and Suzanne Vega, she’s performed with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra and she’s had her work appear in everything from The Last Days Of Capitalism to Nancy Drew to Good Trouble. Her new EP New Girl Syndrome is an infectious and stirring song cycle that’s contemplative, probing and unreasonably catchy. Lisa’s a really funny person and her humor is deadpan and sly and it’s a fascinating counterpoint to her emotive and affecting songbook. www.lisacrawley.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenbooks.com IG + Bluesky: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Face Of 68" The Connecticut-born Peter Holsapple isn't hiding his age--his new album Face Of 68 proudly blares it in its title and though the 68 is representative of his current chronology, like our old friend Billy Bragg, he knows that number is a temporary thing and another waits in front of it. So, to honor this moment in his life, Holsapple's third solo album is a celebration of a year in a man's life and it couldn't sound more life-affirming. The d.B.'s frontman, whose output with that beloved outfit include classics like Stand For Decibels and Like This remain timeless classics, is one of music's busiest characters. Here's a quick and partial glance at his rock and roll resume': In the late-'80s, he was a full-time fifth member of R.E.M., He was an auxillary member of Hootie and the Blowfish for nearly 30 years, he was in the indie pop supergroup the Continental Drifters with members of The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate and The Cowsills, and he's currently playing with The Paranoid Style, the reformed d.B.'s and solo shows on his own. Holsapple's Face Of 68 is one of 2025's very best; a smoldering batch of songs that are filled with jangle, shimmer and stomp, Holsapple and his power trio of Robert Sledge of the Ben Folds Five and Rob Ladd of The Connells, play with confidence and nerve. This is a dynamic album with heavy grooves, pop hooks and melodic muscle and the fact of the matter is The Face Of 68 has never sounded better. www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) Stereo Embers: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com) IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast

"GPYR" I'm admittedly a bit fixated on a 16 year old Josh Joplin getting in the van and driving away from his family, his friends and high school in order to blaze his own musical trail out there in the American wild, but I think I'm mostly fixated on that for both its ambition and its bravery. For starters, it's cool that Josh had the belief the world would find him--and it did. But to know that or believe that at 16 is remarkable--when I was 16 I was staying up late watching Letterman and making mix tapes for girls and had no ambition that would get me in a van by myself and head down the highway peddling my wares. But Josh Joplin did. And we talk about that a great deal because I'm in awe of him doing something most 16 year olds couldn't have done. All these years later, the DC born Joplin has almost fifteen albums under his belt, and each one further proves his uncanny genius. From his first album A Present For Hitler--which is maybe one of the best debut album titles ever--to his new one GPYR, Joplin has demonstrated he's a songwriter of tremendous poeticism and unreasonable melodic smarts. I'll get to GPYR in a second--but before I do, let me give you a few biographical bits; he's toured all over the U.S. as well as Europe and Australia, been on Conan and Letterman, had his albums produced by Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads and the Modern Lovers, had his music appear in shows like Scrubs, Dawsons Creek, Party of Five and Roswell, was neighbors with Dan Zanes of the Del Fuegos, he's put out several fabulous albums with Garrison Starr under the name Among The Oak And Ash and In 2015, Joplin founded the award-winning film production company NarrowMoat. Reuniting with his trusty pals in the Josh Joplin Group, GPYR finds Joplin sounding better than ever. Bringing to mind Reckoning-era R.E.M. and the later work of Tommy Keene, GPYR is a thoughtful blend of jangling indie rock and stirring folk both of which are augmented by sweeping musical architecture that heightens the emotional quality of this powerful, dramatic and altogether thrilling album. www.joshjoplingroup.com (http://www.joshjoplingroup.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooksonline.com Instagram + Bluesky: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"The Rain Never Came" As The Delevantes,the New Jersey-born Mike Delevante and his brother Bob put their stamp on the '90s by releasing two perfect albums of shimmering Americana: 1995's Long About That Time and 1997's Postcards From Along The Way. They were pretty much crushing it; they appeared on Conan, had a #1 album on the Gavin Americana charts and got rave reviews from all over the world. With Gary Tallent and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in the fold, The Delevantes' sound fell somewhere between the Jayhawks, the Louvin Brothers and early R.E.M. Firmly transplanted into Nashville, The Delevantes went dormant for about 25 years as the brothers pursued careers in graphic design. Their 2021 album A Thousand Turns was a brilliant return to form and now, four years later, Mike is checking in with his first solo album.

"Developer" Formed in the mid-80s in Missoula, Montana by high school pals Tim Midyett, Joel R. Phelps and Andy Cohen and rounded out by Seattle-born drummer Michael Dahlquist, Silkworm remain one of the most singular indie rock bands of all time. They relocated from Montana to Seattle in 1990 and then the real fun began. Their 1994 album In The West was produced by Steve Albini, who actually went to the same high school in Montana, and this is the album where Silkworm really hit their stride. From Garden City Blues to Raised By Tigers, In The West was filled with dark, churning rhythms, brooding percussion and inventive lyrics. Phelps left the band after In The West, but Silkworm kept moving from strength to strength, putting out classic albums like Developer, Italian Platinum and It'll Be Cool. Their close to 15 album discography is near-perfect and repeated listens always yield new sonic surprises. The band ended in 2005 after the death of Dahlquist in a car accident, which also claimed the lives of several of his friends. However, after the death of Albini back in 2024, the high school unit of Phelps, Midyett and Cohen along with drummer Jeff Panall played a tribute show in his honor. One thing led to another and now we have the first Silkworm live dates in over 20 years which will start in September. Look, Silkworm are a fascinating band--check out the documentary Couldn't You Wait? The Story Of Silkworm to get the holes filled in and pick up the re-mastered and expanded version of Developer that Comedy Minus One just put out, but let me just say this: it's hard to think of a more idiosyncratic, and downright appealing band than Silkworm. The innovative word-play, the guitars that rise and fall in big crunchy bursts, the prowling bass-lines and the bursts of stirring percussion make them one of the most enigmatic, unique and altogether appealing bands in recent memory. www.skwm.bandcamp.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) IG & BLUESKY: @emberspodcast