RiYL

In 2019, Paul Cauthen gave the world a breakup record. That’s not to say that Room 41 didn’t offer hints of what would come next. “Cocaine Country Dancing” offered the hint a brashness its title suggests. But two years into a global pandemic, the Texas-based singer-songwriter comes out of the gate swinging on Country Coming Down. “Country as Fuck” leads of an LP littered with titles like “Champagne & a Limo.” Sure, there are love songs on here, but Cauthen’s made it clear he’s here to have some fun. Just ahead of the record’s release, we sat down to talk about his religious upbringing, mindfulness and Johnny Cash. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As I type this, Bob Mould has jumped back in with both legs. He’s quick to point out that he managed to get a handful of dates in at the end of last year, but the his solo electric distortion tour spans three months and finds him hopping between the U.S. and U.K. It took the world grinding to a screeching halt to get the musician off the road for a while, though he’s kicked 2022 off with a bang. The year opened with the release of The Ocean, an EP that finds him dipping into his back catalog with a pair of tracks from 2020’s Blue Hearts and a reimagining of a Hüsker Dü classic. Our chat is a quick one, with an artist who once again finds himself getting back into the swing of things. We talk San Francisco, listening and not listening to music and his time as a wrestling writer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

His voice echoes as he speaks. The walls are entirely empty ahead of a big move, but Jonathan Meiburg has carved out enough time to sit and speak. We get into the subject of caracaras fairly quickly. They’re strange little birds in the same family as falcons – though they sport personalities more in line with a crow or a raven. Meiburg was so taken by the creatures he devoted several years to penning a book on the topic. But he’s forever returning to music, be it projects like Loma, Okkervil River or his primary act, Shearwater – the latter of which is set to release its first LP in six years. Due out in June, The Great Awakening might be the band’s most ambitious original work to date. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He quotes his therapist when describing his latest album. It’s a conflict of external vs. internal wanderlust. Ramesh Srivastava spent the last several years exploring the former, but Eternal Spring charts his time with the latter. His second solo record since the dissolution of indie darlings Voxtrot finds the singer getting deeply personal in a way that didn’t come naturally in his earlier career. He’s spent the years working on music, waiting tables and getting to know himself. It makes for a good conversion, and Srivastava is eager to discuss it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dustin Payseur, front man of Beach Fossils, discusses their album-making process and the intriguing experiment of re-envisioning older tracks as piano ballads. They explore the challenges of genre, the trade-off between quantity and quality in creative output, and the importance of talented and honest bandmates. They also delve into the concept of reassessing controversial art and selecting songs for a jazz album based on personal judgment.

At the height of social distancing, David Christian (nee Feck) went solo. After 29 years as the chief wrangler of the ever-morphing indie pop act, the musician went to work on For Those We Met On The Way. It’s been strange couple of years for the singer – as it has for most of us. Christian and family left London for the pastoral French countryside. A mostly quiet life, as he describes it, with the occasional bicycling through the rain. The pandemic has also seen him experimenting with new methods of releasing music, including a prolific Bandcamp output, populated with ideas and songs that didn’t make it onto vinyl.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we’re about to start, Scott runs to the kitchen to check on dinner. He’s making chicken, breaded with Shake ‘N Bake. He’s up a few more times during the conversation, once to proudly present the final product to Zoom call. Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini see each other a lot, these days. They’re prepping for a rare live performance in Philadelphia and spending the rest of their time writing. In fact, it’s a lot like the early days of Mouth Congress, before the band’s carefree approach to queer punk was derailed by the rocket ship that is Kids in the Hall. It’s history repeating itself, really, as the band’s recent resurgence through a self-titled documentary and the compilation album Waiting For Henry arrived before an Amazon KITH revival. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There was no guarantee we’d ever see another Midlake album. The eight year gap since their last album was more than a simple break before records. Tim Smith’s departure in 2012 left the band with a major gap to fill, suddenly staring down life without a princjple songwriter. Eric Pulido stepped into the role, and the band scrapped two years of recordings, in favor of starting from scratch with Antiphon. The band’s fourth full length was well-received, but its future remained uncertain. The intervening years have found its members focusing on side projects and other life pursuits. Plans to reunite were temporarily thwarted – along with everything else – by the pandemic, but this month, the group returns with For the Sake of Bethel Woods. It’s a deeply personal record and the sound of a rediscovering why they started in the first place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year saw the release of The Horses and the Hounds. James McMurtry’s 10th album was easily one of the year’s best, showcasing a seasoned songwriter at the top of his game, 35 years after entering the industry. The musician is quick to point out that his songs are essentially all fiction, something that has, perhaps, become something of a sticking point after so often inhabiting his characters in the first-person. The son of an English professor and The Last Picture Show novelist-turned-screenwriter, McMurtry has a keen knack for storytelling that’s made him one of alternative country’s most enduring voice. The musician joins us to discuss performing during a pandemic, penning protest songs and the magic of Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Faced with an indefinite touring hiatus, Josh Caterer improvised. The musician recorded a pair of “live” albums – The Space Sessions and The Hideout Sessions. No audience, no overdubs – just a trio of well-rehearsed musicians putting new spins on old classics. Caterer’s vocal range tends toward crooner as many of the song veer into jazz territory. That’s nothing new, of course. His unique vocal delivery is a major piece of what set Smoking Popes apart from their pop-punk brethren in the 90s, finding fans in everyone from Green Day to Morrissey. Caterer joins us to discuss his journey through the height of the 90s music industry crunch, to connecting with religion and reforming the Smoking Popes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.