ALL Interviews Episodes

I’ve been a fan of keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth of The String Cheese Incident for well over two decades, and he’s always been on my list as someone I wanted to talk with about not only his music but also that of String Cheese. With a new EP out for about a month now, I decided it was a good time to catch up and learn more about his solo working while pruning some insights on String Cheese as well. I can tell you, our conversation was very enlightening and he was very engaging for longer than I had anticipated. 

For the uninitiated, The Garcia Project is the brainchild of Mik Bondy. The band, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary is a tribute to the Jerry Garcia Band and perform live versions of the JGB show from 1976 through 1995. They recently put out Spirit a collection of inspirational and spiritual songs the Jerry Garcia Band performed. We caught up with Mik to talk about the project and our conversation started when I asked what inspired the record and it’s packaging. For more visit thegarciaproject.com

The forthcoming, Central City is John Papa Gros' third solo record after fronting Papa Grows Funk in the early part of the century. With some heavy hitters from the New Orleans scene joining him on the record, it's a conversation I have been looking forward to for quite a long time. John Papa Gros is amongst probably the next line of musicians coming out of New Orleans that really pay close attention to the heritage of New Orleans music scene. Like other musicians from that town, few hesitate to be ambassadors for the city. Our conversation started when I asked John what it is about New Orleans that makes everyone want to be an ambassador for the city. Sadly, with the Covid19 action hitting everyone, The New Orleans Jazz Festival has been rescheduled for the fall. The good news though, is that Central City is still scheduled for release April 17th, so you can listen to the record and soak up New Orleans then. For more info visit johnpapagros.com. 

Carolina has always been home for Jim Lauderdale. While he makes his residency in Nashville, this prolific singer-songwriter who’s resume speaks for itself still has a vast network of friends and family back all over the Carolinas and more specifically in North Carolina. His latest release, When Carolina Comes Home Again, his 33rd, draws on songs, stories, and indeed musicians who are now part of the scene in Carolina, most notably Ashville, North Carolina. It’s a record chalk full of amazing songs and performances. Our conversation took many twists and turns, as we spoke about the new record, John Oates, Robert Hunter and much more. When Carolina Comes Home Again is due out March 27th on Yep Roc records, and you’ll want to listen to it, over and over again.  Heck, you may even want to move to North Carolina. For more on Jim a Lauderdale visit jimlauderdalemusic.com. 

We were sent some new music from a publicist who is very supportive of our show and often connects with great bands so we can bring them to you. A few weeks ago, she sent along a link to check out Crowd Company's latest release "Lowdon". Initially heard this band was based in the UK. Having said that they are immensely talented and have some true funk chops but also a few friends who helped make this record. In fact, the record was produced by Alan Evans, a member of Soulive in his studio in the Boston area. Also, you may not instantly recognize the horns, but they are in fact, Lettuce's Ryan Zoidis and Eric "Benny" Bloom. They are absolutely outstanding. So obviously we wanted to learn more about this band and got in touch with Rob Fleming, the lead vocalist and guitar in the band and for all intents and purposes, the band's leader. You can learn more about Crowd Company by visiting crowdcompanyfunk.com. 

It’s an interesting time for Circles Around the Sun having tragically lost one of the founding members Neal Casal this past summer. I was curious how the band and long time friend Adam MacDougall was coping with what must be a series of emotions ahead of the release of this third record, which naturally has guitar player Casal’s work all over it. We caught up with Adam just before the Circles Around the Sun gig at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While our heart felt conversation covered several different topics including the release of this very peppy record, it started sadly with Casal’s passing. You can pre-order the record and check out more tour dates at circlesaroundthesun.com

We've been big fans of Mapache since their debut record a few years back and have been excited to get our hands on "From Liberty Street", a new record due out March 20th. The duo, Sam Blassuci and Clay Finch as you'll soon hear, share a creative brain, and they deliver a beautifully crafted pan California sound, that will have you intrigued and wanting more.  Their sound is unique, as it blends inspiration from growing up in Southern California and spending time in Mexico. They say that it takes a lifetime to put out your first record and Mapache did that not too long ago, so I wondered what sparked From Liberty Street's birth so quickly...

The Green Leaf Rustlers are an all-star group of musicians fronted by Chris Robinson that includes Barry Sless on pedal steel, Greg Loiacono on guitar, Pete Sears on bass and John Molo on drums. These should all be household names and together in the Rustlers they make this hippified country music, that needs to be heard. Typically the band plays covers of outlaw and classic country plus music thats been influenced by that scene. With a double live record coming out March 6th, From within Marin, we wanted to catch up with someone involved in the project, and were giddy with anticipation when we heard we'd get to chat with Barry Sless. 

Antibalas has been making music now for some 20 years. Their Afrobeat sound, which has continuously expanded beyond its origin is influenced in large part by Fela Kuti, but that’s certainly not where their sound ends. On Fu Chronicles, the Antibalas ensemble explores even more sounds, with the aid of Amayo’s lyrical borage this album becomes an interesting melange or even more sounds and ideas. Martin Perna is the baritone sax player amongst on other instruments in Antibalas and is one of the band’s ring leaders with Amayo. We caught up with Martin who has been on tour with Antibalas. Our conversation started when I asked Martin about the unusual blending of Kung Fu and Afrobeat together to make this record. For more on Antibalas including tour dates visit Antibalas.com.

We've been following the career of Trout Steak Revival for quite some time, and while they've gone through some personnel changes and the like, as all bands do, the band has matured a great deal through their five records. What has remained constant though for this string band is their insistence to keep true to the bluegrass tradition, while branching out into other similar genres like Americana and folk. The Light We Bring sparks a new set of circumstances for the band, and their sound is one I dig a lot. So we caught up with Casey Houlihan the bass player in the band to get his take on the new record and much more. For more on Trout Steak Revival including tour dates, visit troutsteakrevival.com.

I can't lie, I love the Wood Brothers. There is just something very comfortable and fun about this band. That isn't to say they aren't dangerous, cause they are and perform with high octane and excellent musicianship. For those who don't know, the three piece is made up of brothers Wood; Chris on bass and Oliver on guitar and Jano Rix on drums and percussion. We've been fortunate enough to catch these guys live on one of their early tours and more recently at Borderlands Music Festival and here in Toronto at a packed and sweaty Mod Club. This is a Folk/Americana trio that makes the kind of music you want to hear more of. We caught up with drummer Jano Rix, the non brother in the band, to get his take on being in a band with two brothers, the making of Kingdom in My Mind and as you'll hear, much more. For more, visit thewoodbros.com.  

Silver Moon marks the 10th solo record for Jono Manson, and while you may not know exactly who he is, you should. In fact Jono should be credited with helping re-start the neo-jam band scene in New York. That is to say, his band The Worms, an eclectic dive bar rock band playing out of Nightingale’s in New York paved the way for bands like Blues Traveler, The Spin Doctors and Joan Osborne.  They were all big fans of his work, and continue to lend a hand today. So when we got the absolute privilege to talk with Jono, that’s where our conversation started when I asked if he thought his eclectic sonic pot pourri of sound was indeed responsible for the neo jam band movement of the early 90s and since.

Ripe is a fairly young pop funk rock seven piece outfit, but their sound is big and their chops are quite mature. So to is Ripe frontman Robbie Wulfsohn who was in town earlier this week with Ripe. We’ve chatted before, but what made this conversation so interesting is that we did it in a room Robbie had been in many times before as a fan. Make sure you follow Ripe on social media or check out their site at ripe.band.

Truth is, we've become really good friends with Reid over the years and are in awe of how he's able to bring musicians together, to share in the love of the jam, the songs and good times. First I was a fan of Strangefolk, Assembly of Dust and his solo work and continue to be, but he is a really solid dude, who has on several occasions taken time out in his life to offer some solid advice. So it's with great pleasure that we welcomed him in to chat about Reid Genauer and Folks - Extended Release and his upcoming tour if for no other reason than to get the pronunciation of his name correct. For more visit reidgenauer.com and please see him on the road, in fact when you do, tell him "Ira says hi". 

It feels like I just spoke to Mimi Naja from Fruition about the release of Wild as the Night. Turns out, my memory is spot on, because we spoke to her November 8th. At the time, I thought the record, was one of the best of 2019 and kind of left things at that. Well, we were all surprised I think, except obviously Mimi and the rest of Fruition, that the band intended on releasing a companion album, Broken at the Break of Day on January 17th. Should have known, because Mimi was quite coy, and even their manager mentioned to me, that more great tunes were in store. Well, I've listened to Broken at the Break of Day and I can honestly tell you, it picks up where Wild as the Night left off, and maybe even better than that first side, depending on your taste, I suppose. It also feels like, between these two records, and more specifically on Broken at the Break of Day, Fruition has cracked the code, as to what is their sound, and what we can expect moving forward.  You should, if you can, lis…

I'm sure all over the United States there are pockets of great jam band communities that embrace new artists, new incarnations of bands and the spread of awesome live music. I've been hearing for about a year now about a band called Neighbor from the Boston area, led by "friend of the show" Richard James, who you may know as the keyboard player and one of the vocalists in Pink Talking Fish. At his side, on lead guitar, is another New England native and a childhood neighbour of Rich's as luck would have it, guitar dynamo Lyle Brewer. So we tracked down Rich and I insisted he give me all the juicy goods on Neighbor, their fans "Neighbors" and how this small band has a very exciting 2020 ahead, one year after their incarnation. 

While we've had Moon Hooch on the show before, their new album "Life on Other Planets" created an opportunity to once again explore this trio of musicians, who are making incredibly impressive music that is certainly undefinable. There are odes to Jazz, R&B, rock and EDM, but when you put that all in a blender, the sound is more robust than those genres. Then when you think about the instrumentation of the band, which includes two horn players and a drummer, not to mention a whole bunch of synths and midi sequences being fired, well, there is a lot to discuss. So we got in touch with Mike Wilbur, a third of the trio and half of the writing team, to discuss Moon Hooch, where they are at and where they are headed.

G.Love's latest record, The Juice is out January 17th. This album marks a reunion of sorts for G. Love having reconnected with debut label mate and blues guitarist Keb Mo, who produced The Juice. The album is also filled with guests including Marcus King, Robert Randolph and Roosevelt Collier. So of course, with so many friends of the show contributing to G's record, we had to reach out. Truth be told, we're also big fans of his work, dating back to that debut record. We even chatted with him recently when he was in town as part of the tour that matched him with Blues Traveler and moe. So this time around our conversation started when I suggested that there are so many moving parts to this coming of age record, and that tackling the socio-political nature of The Juice must have been an important one. For more on G.Love and a reminder of all the tour dates and details on how you can pre-order the Juice, visit philadelphonic.com

Since we're all psyched about the news that the Lil Smokies will be releasing a new studio album Tornillo in the new year, thought we would get in touch with with Jake Simpson the band's fiddle player and one of the voices of the band. While we couldn't play any tunes from the record for you just yet, I can tell you that the Lil Smokies third studio album might be their finest yet. Our interview is filled with lots of terrific insight into the band, their new record Tornillo and all the touring that they do. Mark down January 24th on your calendars, and make sure you check out the new record. For more info on that record, and the band's tour schedule visit thelilsmokies.com. 

The Kudrachrone EP marks a rebirth of sorts for Turkuaz, taking the band back to a more soulful R&B sound more similar to the Stereochrome EP.  In fact, they’ve also shelved the colorful outfits of the last several album cycles in favor of just four colors for their on stage presence; white, black, tan and grey.  Dave Brandwein has always been really great about joining us on the podcast to explain what is going on with Turkuaz, but this time we also invited Dani, his wife, and the band’s creative director on to help explain this new chapter. 

Over the last few months, there have been a rash of deaths in the music industry and even closer in our community related to mental illness. So it makes sense that in early October a hub and resource launched at backline.care. It is an important organization and hub for music industry professionals and their families to quickly access mental health and wellness resources. They also offer a wealth of services for music industry types if they actually need help. Important work, if you ask me. We spoke with Hilary Gleason who heads up the cause. For more visit backline.care. 

The latest release from Keller Williams and the Keels is "Speed". It's a whimsical record full of great covers and a couple of originals from Keller Williams and one half of The Keels, flat picker Larry Keel. Of course Jenny Keel, the other half of The Keels, also plays upright bass on the entire record. So why would someone as prolific as Keller Williams need an additional outlet for fun? While that isn't entirely clear, it was good to talk with Keller about this project and what inspired its impetus. Speed is a ton of fun and a record you should check out. In fact you should check out Keller on the road, where he may indeed be appearing with the Keels. You can check out his busy tour schedule and more at kellerwilliams.net. 

For the uninitiated Chadwick or Chad Stokes is a member of neo-reggae folk band Dispatch but last week he released his third solo album with the Pintos, his backing band. Chad has always been a prolific writer, who is socially and political conscious. This album though is not only politically motivated, but many of the songs show a more tender side too. So it’s with that we got in touch with Chad for a really great conversation. You can learn about Chadwick and the Pistols upcoming tour dates and more at chadwickstokes.com.

We’ve been Aqueous fans since we started this podcast, and we’re so impressed with how they are maturing as a band, from their process, to their sound and even their identity. It’s great to see and hear. So we caught up with Mike Gantzer, lead guitar and vocalist with the band to talk about the new Burn it Down EP and much more.