Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"I Will Never Let You Down" Marcellus Hall has been doing so much, his resume it'll make you look at your resume and think What have I been doing? Let's back up: The Minnesota-born Marcellus Hall went to the Rhode Island school of design then moved to New York after graduating to form the band Railroad Jerk. Railroad Jerk put out four perfect albums for Matador, thought they recorded a fifth called Masterpiecemeal, that didn't come out but is available now on Bandcamp. After the band broke up, Hall formed White Hassle with Railroad Jerk's Dave Varenka, who were awesome and they put out a handful of brilliant albums like National Chain and Death of Song. After White Hassle called it a day in 2006, Hall put out phenomenal solo albums like The First Line, Afterglow and now his new one I Will Never Let You Down. But what about those ten years? You're probably still wondering. He's been illustrating. As an illustrator, Hall's work has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Fortune and he's done several New

"Angles And Ordinary Men" Back in the late '90s Wendy Lands' debut album Angels and Ordinary Men landed on my desk in the form a package from Canada and I dove right in. Falling somewhere between Beth Orton's Trailer Park and Sade's Stronger Than Pride, the album was a revelation. It was soulful, it was atmospheric, it was melodic, it was rich, and it was filled with musical finesse and jazzy textures that made repeat listens more and more rewarding. So who is Wendy Lands and what in the devil has she been up to since her marvelous debut album? She's going to fill you in far better than I ever could, but let me give you some quick details: In the early '90s the Montreal-born, Toronto-raised Wendy Lands cut her musical teeth doing theatre adn playing in a pop band called Double Dare. Her debut album spawned two top 40 hits and landed her a Juno nomination for Best New Solo artist in 1997. She toured with Jann Arden, grabbed two Canadian Radio Music Award nominations and as a side hustle, she recorded a series

"Boom Boom Boom Bingo" Scruffy The Cat dominated the College Rock scene of the late '80s with a run of fabulous albums like Tiny Days and Moons of Jupiter, plus two stellar EPs High Octane Revival and Boom Boom Boom Bingo. If you don't have these four releases-get them. They're the most perfect blasts of rootsy indie pop you'll ever hear. The six member Boston outfit, which formed in '83 lasted just under a decade, breaking up in 1990. Over the course of their career they went Top 5 on the CMJ College Radio Charts, were played on MTV's 120 minutes, were critically lauded by pretty much everyone, including the Village Voice and The Chicago Tribune, cracked the Billboard Top 200 and toured with Los Lobos, The Replacements and Yo La Tengo. The six member Scruffy personnel consisted of Charlie Chesterman, Stephen Fredette, MacPaul Stanfield, Randall Lee Gibson IV, Stona Fitch and Burns Stanfield. Omnivore put out two great anthologies that celebrate the band's legacy and as far as alums go, Scruffy is down two m

"Chaos And Wonder" Donnette Thayer went west for college and when the Colorado-born Thayer arrived at UC Davis with veterinary aspirations she found a thriving arts community that she fell right into. She'd played classical music growing up, but suddenly found herself fronting alternative bands like X-Men, The Veil and No Matter What. She guested on Game Theory's Blaze of Glory and then joined the band full-time in 1986. She was in the band for the Lolita Nation and Two Steps From The Middle Ages albums before she left in 1988. That same year she formed Hex with Steve Kilbey of The Church and put out two marvelous albums--the self-titled debut and the swooning follow up Vast Halos. Thayer put out a solo album called Chaos and Wonder and then what? Well, I'll have her fill in the gaps and bring you up to date. But let me say this about Donnette--her voice is a breathtaking blend of beauty and finesse and it swirls through the compositions with a beguiling and airy command. She's a marvelous musician and an ab

"A Family Album" The California-born and Washington-raised Holly Palmer has had quite a career. Signed to Reprise in the mid-nineties, Palmer garnered well-deserved critical-acclaim and toured with the likes of Paula Cole, k.d. Lang and Shawn Colvin. David Bowie asked her to sing background vocals on his Hours album and then he asked her to join his 1999 world tour as a singer/percussionist. Some career highlights: she joined Gnarls Barkley on their World Tour, recorded a duet with Michael Buble', sang background and played acoustic guitar on Idina Menzel's I Stand Tour, wrote the theme to the television show Mob City, and formed the musical duo Bubbles and Cheesecake with Ailee Willis who wrote September and Boogie Wonderland with Earth, Wind & Fire. She's worked with Jellyfish's Roger Manning Jr, Dr. Dre, Don Was and Dave Navarro--how's that for range? She can do anything. Holly Palmer has put out five perfect solo albums including her 1996 self-titled debut, 2007's Songs For Tuesday and 2017's A Family Al

"Movement" There’s nothing about Peter Hook that I can tell you you don’t already know, so let’s just do a refresher run through his musical CV. In the late '70s Hook formed Joy Division with childhood pal Bernard Sumner after the two friends saw the Sex Pistols play in Manchester. The band only put out two albums and one of those albums, the legendary Closer was put out two months after the band had ceased to b,e due to the suicide of singer Ian Curtis on the eve of Joy Division’s debut US/Canada tour. Rechristened New Order and consisting of the remaining members of Joy Division plus keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, New Order blended jittery post-punk rhythms with dance music. The result? Well, you know the result. They were one of the biggest bands of the '80s, spawning hits like True Faith, The Perfect Kiss, Subculture and Blue Monday, which was the biggest selling 12-inch of all time. It might still be. New Order dominated the '80s, but the '90s weren’t too shabby—they had a #1 UK hit with World In Motion i

“Forwards” For more than 40 years the Welsh band the Alarm have been one of the most consistent acts on the planet, playing songs with conviction, heart and belief. With almost 20 studio albums under their belts, along with a discography that includes live albums, box sets and EPs, The Alarm are one of those bands where you pretty much want everything they put out. From albums like Declaration to Strength to their brand new one Forwards, The Alarm are a completist’s band. Speaking of Forwards, it’s a remarkable record—singer/songwriter Mike Peters has never sounded better, his voice alive with muscle and belief. The Welsh band have had a remarkable career that’s filled with endless highlights-- they toured with U2 and Bob Dylan, played at Queen’s Live at Wembley concert in 1986, been on IRS’s the Cutting Edge and American Bandstand, had hit singles all over the world even cracking the Billboard Top 50 here in the States, and wrote a song that became the official Welsh anthem for Euro 2020. This is a band tha

"Everything On Memory" The Fresno-born, Modesto-raised Jim Fairchild got his start on guitar as a teenager and in the mid-nineties became the lead guitar player for the indie rock outfit Grandaddy. That would be enough to make a resume’ shimmer, but Fairchild was just getting started. He was the touring guitar player for Giant Sand, he worked with everyone from Hawaii to Dappled Cities and he took over for Johnny Marr in Modest Mouse in 2009 and played lead guitar for them until 2021. Fairchild fronted the band All Smiles, he was selected to lead a project at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2010 and started a new project called Grace Meridian in 2020. But that’s not all—Fairchild currently is the Director of A&R for Dangerbird Records and he’s scoring films like the documentary Common Ground and Bee The Change, which is narrated by Ellie Goulding. And we haven’t even talked about Small Isles yet. Their new EP Everything On Memory has been described by Fairchild as, "written as the imagined score to

"Silent Highway" Formed out of the ashes of the post-punk outfit Finger Printz, the Silencers' core was comprised of two members of that band--guitarist Cha Burns and singer Jimme O'Neill. The Silencers quickly signed to RCA and hit the ground running, putting out three brilliant albums in under five years. They toured with Squeeze, The Pretenders, The Alarm and at one point, when opening for Simple Minds at Wembley, they played in front of 80,000 people. And they crushed it. O'Neill is one of those frontmen you can't take your eyes off--he's a dynamic performer who's loaded with energy and charisma, making every second of a Silencers gig a thrilling experience. The Silencers have put out nearly fifteen albums, including A Letter From St. Paul, A Blues For Buddah, A Night Of Electric Silence and their latest effort Silent Highway, which marks their first album in fifteen years. And they haven't lost a step--O'Neill remains one of the most thoughtful songwriters around and Silent Highway is a thrilling return

"Follow The Leader" So, Rain Phoenix first was on my radar back in 1991 when she and her brother River had a band called Aleka's Attic. They had a marvelous song called Across The Way on this compilation Tame Yourself, which also featured The Pretenders, Michael Stipe, the Indigo Girls and K.D. Lang. The Texas-born Phoenix acted in TV shows like Family Ties and Amazing Stories and in movies like Even Cowgirls Get The Blues and Hitch. She fronted Papercranes, who put out three really great albums and she was in the Galactic Country band Venus and the Moon with Chris Stills. She also put out a really stunning solo album called River, which was named after her late brother, in 2019. A native of Southern California, Kirk Hellie is like a music archeologist because he knows how to dig sounds out of the deepest of grounds. A lover and studier of Avant Garde music, was in bands like Hellie Siblings, Death Loop Detonator and Pink Noise Test. Hellie played with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, and toured with The Cram

"Breathwork" The Hawaii-born, New York raised and London Royal Academy of Music-educated Lara Somogyi is one of the most gifted harpists on the planet. A traditionalist and a modernist, Somogyi is an inventive instrumentalist who isn't afraid of exploring new creative possibilities for her instrument. As a composer, Somogyi has experimented with blending electronica and pedal effects and the results have yielded the boldest and most dynamic sonic leaps in the history of the harp. She has single-handedly recontextualized an instrument whose last great leap forward was probably during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when its popularity led it to evolve into different iterations. Somogyi has emerged in recent years as the most in-demand session harpist around--she's not only recorded for movies like The Lion King and Coming To America 2 and television shows like Bridgerton and Little Fires Everywhere, she's played with John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, Josh Groban and Rufus Wainwright. Awarded as

"Thanksgiving Day Special" There's a lot of things I miss about being a kid--somebody else driving, somebody else making dinner, not having to pay bills, not having to shave or get gas or pay rent--I was just going mention one or two things, but apparently I'm not pleased about being an adult. The reason why I brought this up is because the one thing I really miss about being a kid are the holiday TV specials that mark time. From The Grinch That Stole Christmas to It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, those specials helped keep me grounded as a kid. They made the calendar kind of stop and forced me to realize where I was and who I was with.They felt like something tangible. I wish I could do something like that for you here on the podcast and the closest I can come is my chat with Justin of 98 degrees. To me, it feels Thanksgiving-ish. At first it's sort of a talking points interview, but then something happens and it just kind of takes off and it takes off in a way that has to do with actually caring about

"When We Rise" Over the course of her career, the New York born Jess Klein has put out nearly fifteen perfect albums. From her Rykodisc debut Draw Them Near in 2000 to other winning entries like 2006's City Garden and 2014's Learning Faith, Klein has demonstrated she's a singer/songwriter of tremendous strength and heart. Blessed with a natural penchant to write hook-filled songs with burning emotional center and big scruffy hearts, her new album When We Rise is another winning entry in her brilliant discography. Redolent with hope, resolve and stability in a world that doesn't stop shaking, When We Rise is a rousing call to arms--from the defiant "You're Never Gonna Break Me" to the stirring "Safe Harbor," this album is a blast of sonic comfort that's fiery, affecting and reviving. www.jessklein.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.embersarts.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Continuance" Don't feel bad if Joey Alexander's resume' makes you feel inferior about your childhood achievements. We all feel that way. The Indonesian born pianist taught himself to play at age 6 and was flawlessly covering Thelonious Monk before he was in 1st grade. Because of the paucity of jazz opportunities at home, Alexander sat in with the top jazz players in Bali and Jakarta. At 8 he played for Herbie Hancock, at 9 he won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Master Jam Fest in Odessa and by 10 his family had moved to New York City so Alexander could have more playing opportunities. After catching the attention of Wynton Marsalis, Alexander made his U.S. debut at Marsalis' annual gala playing Monk's Round Midnight and the next day, nothing was the same. Hailed as a genius by the New York Times and Downbeat Magazine, from there Alexander's career took off. He's played for ex Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, snagged a Grammy nomination, put out six perfect albums, including his new one Continuance, play

"Ozark Symphony" Born in Memphis into a musical family, Kelly Hunt grew up listening to classical, folk and Delta Blues. She sang in the choir and played the piano, but it was the five-string banjo that stole her heart. Hunt was both a traditionalist and a modernist, blending old-time picking with her own brand of improvisation. After graduating from college she explored farming, the visual arts and French breadmaking and then she settled in Kansas City and got to work on the songs that would make up her debut album Even The Sparrow. Even The Sparrow is a stunner of a debut, garnering a nomination for the International Folk Music Award. Her sophomore effort Ozark Symphony ups the ante' and makes the case that Hunt might very well be one of the most spellbinding forces in folk music. Summoning philosophy, poetry and the legacies and stories of the American South, Ozark Symphony brings to mind Joni Mitchell, Walt Whitman and Rhiannan Giddens. From the soaring glory of Top Of The World to the gentle percussion

"Get Me To A Nunnery" The Hawaii-born, Wisconsin-raised Heather Lynne Horton has a lot of stories to tell and because she's a born storyteller, she does so with the perfect blend of humor, hi-jinx and self-deprecation. We'll let her tell you those stories, but in the meantime, we'll offer this quick version of who she is. After college she hit Minneapolis in search of the mythical Prince and then landed in Chicago where she met her real life prince, singer/songwriter Michael McDermott. She plays fiddle and sings backup in McDermott's band and the two also had the fabulous side project The Westies. Her first solo album Postcard Saturdays came out in 2012, which was followed by Don't Mess With Mrs. Murphy in 2018. Although it took nearly six years for the follow-up Get Me To A Nunnery to hit shelves, it was well worth the wait. A moving and stirring song cycle that brings to mind Beth Orton, Sinead Lohan and 1,000 Kisses-era Patty Griffin, Get Me To The Nunnery is redolent with strength, vulnerability, humor a

"Heart Like Thunder" The Colorado-born, Brooklyn-based Hallie Spoor is a true artist. And she's a true athlete. And she knows that to be either one of those things, you've got to put in the reps. Trust me when I tell you, Spoor has put in the reps.The trained opera singer and former collegiate soccer player is well aware of the hard work that's needed to hit a note that carries to the clouds or kick a soccer ball that soars right alongside it. Hallie Spoor's voice is wondrous, elegant and filled with limitless beauty. Her new long player and her fourth overall, is Heart Like Thunder and it's nothing short of spellbinding. Bringing to mind everyone from to Nina Simone to Beth Orton, Spoor's vocal command is a cascading blend of power and grace and her compositions are moving blends of indie folk and rolling jazz.  www.halliespoormusic.com www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmag

"Summer of No Light" The Philadelphia-raised Kip Berman had a musical life before he was the Natvral and that life could be found in his band The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. The beloved New York outfit was around for a little over a decade, calling it a day in 2019 after four perfect albums of indie pop that brought to mind everyone from Aztec Camera to Belle and Sebastian. Berman's 2021 debut as The Natural was the scorching beauty of an album called Tethers, which, for those of you keeping score, was my favorite album of the year. His sophomore album Summer Of No Light is a straight-up killer. It's got all the howl of Basement Tapes era-Dylan and the raw pop smarts of early Dream Syndicate, and it's one of those records that grabs you from the beginning, leaving you mesmerized by its raw and tender power. I love this album. It's somehow feral and polished and it's filled with the most achingly lovely hooks you'll hear all year. www.thenatvral.bandcamp.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazin

"Messages To God" The New Zealand-born Sarah Mary Chadwick fronted the deliciously feral post-Grunge outfit Batrider in the early 2000s. She made her first solo foray with the riveting 2012 album Eating For Two and from there she’s moved from strength to strength with records like Please Daddy and Me And Ennui are Friends, Baby. Her new one Messages To God is nothing short of stunning. An aching blend of Jonathan Richman, Mark E. Smith of The Fall and Rid Of Me-era PJ Harvey, Chadwick has never sounded better. The album is spare and savagely beautiful featuring brilliant songs like Shitty Town and I Felt Things In New Zealand. Chadwick’s raw emotional precision is singular and stunning and she’s one of our favorite musicians ever. IG: @sarahmarychadwick https://sarahmarychadwick.bandcamp.com/music www.killrockstars.com IG: @killrockstarsofficial www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com www.stereoembersmagazinee.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Entelechy" The work of the Ohio-born Sandy Bell is pure magic. I guess by now, you're getting the feeling I'm a big admirer of what she does. But the work that we're talking about which is so effortless and beautiful, was hard-fought and the journey to get where we are today with Sandy's songs, was fraught with some pretty heavy stuff. We'll let her tell you all about that, but along the way, she went West as many do, and along the way found herself writing songs with Jeff Buckley, which many....don't. She also fronted a band that was on the cusp of some potential '90s glory before she ghosted them, and as she dug her heels into L.A. life, she was also battling deeply serious addiction issues and for a while slipped way off the grid and was living off Hollywood Blvd and grappling with demons that were in a full-time flex of trying to destroy her. But they didn't. Moving to New York with her partner and producer Jeff Lipstein, Bell was revived, rejuvenated and ready to be the artist she was meant to. Her fir