13th Floor MusicTalk

Jontavious Willis is just about to release his latest album titled West Georgia Blues. His mission is to reinvigorate today's blues. Let's find out how. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found Jontavious in the West Georgia town of Luthersville where he's revving up for released day on August 16th. In the meantime, listen and watch as he tells how Taj Mahal and Keb Mo put him on the path to the blues.

Bob Mould , he of  Hüsker Dü  and  Sugar  fame, is returning to New Zealand after a long absence to  play a solo show at Auckland’s Powerstation.  Bob’s last show in Auckland was at The Gluepot, so  the 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  thought it might be time to give Bob a call and find out what he has in store for us this time around.

Blues-rocker  Amanda Fish  has just released her third studio album titled  Kingdom . Written over a six-year gap, its her first since 2019’s  Free.  The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  found Amanda at home in St. Louis where she hunkered down to talk about making  Kingdom  with  Paul Niehaus IV , addressing the current state of the mainstream media and realiz...

American Aquarium have just released their new album, The Fear Of Standing Still. Front man BJ Barham shows no fear when expressing his opinions, be they about toxic masculinity or mayonnaise. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found BJ at home in North Carolina enjoying a bit of domestic bliss before he and the band hit the road later this year. Despite being  a father and a husband, BJ's rock &amp...

The Nathan Bowles Trio are three musicians based in the fertile music scene in and around Durham, North Carolina and they've just released their debut album, titled Are Possible on Drag City. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Nathan Bowles (banjo), Casey Toll (double bass) and Rex McMurry (drums) about the making of Are Possible and how an obscure band from New Zealand may have informed what th...

Crack Cloud  is a (mostly) Canadian music collective formed in 2015 by  Zach Choy . They have just released their 3rd album,  Red Mile , recorded (mostly) at Joshua Tree in the Mojave Desert. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  spoke to Zach along with  Bryce Cloghesy  and  Aleem Khan  about free flying over the desert, why  Marshall McLuhan  is still rel...

Kiely Connell is a Nashville-based, rustbelt-born Country singer who has widened her musical horizons by recording her new album, My Own Company in Portland, Oregon with producer Tucker Martine. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Kiely about what drew her to work with Tucker, about how her theatre background informs her music and how she separates the artist from the art. 

Kyle Daniel is a journeyman country rocker who, at age 38, has finally released his debut album titled Kentucky Gold. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found Kyle in his home town of Bowling Green, Kentucky where he was ready to talk about the town's rich musical history, the long gestation period needed for his first album and his love of Gregg Allman.

The Menzingers were originally meant to play their first NZ shows back in 2020, but we all know what happened then. Now, four years later the Pennsylvania rockers on on their way. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Menzingers' front man Greg Barnett about how the band has evolved over the intervening years and we also discuss The Replacements, Black Sabbath , baseball and being a left-handed gui...

Bette Smith has just released her third album, appropriately titled Goodthing. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda found the soulful singer in Brooklyn and managed to spend a few minutes with Bette to talk about working with British producer Jimmy Hogarth , her reaction to being compared to the likes of Betty Davis, Mavis Staples and Macy Gray and thoughts on Einstein's Theory Of Relativity.

Nashville rocker  Bones Owens  has just released his second album titled  Love Out Of Lemons.  The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  spoke to the soft-spoken, hard rocking Bones who, indeed, was in Nashville and ready to talk about working with producer  Paul Moak , writing for film and touring on his Harley.

Odie Leigh has just released her debut album, titled Carrier Pigeon ...10 new songs done up in a style that can be called as unique as her name. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Odie just after she released her Carrier Pigeon to the world. Odie is a Louisiana native who has recently moved to Detroit, Michigan  where she's busy "not experiencing sadness anymore". The 10 songs on Carrier Pi...

Color Green is a Los Angeles psych-rock quartet who have just released their second album, Fool's Parade. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to founding members Noah Kohll and Corey Madden about the journey from their debut to their sophomore effort, one that found them picking up two new bandmembers along the way.

Hugh Cornwell,  founding vocalist and guitarist for  The Stranglers  is bringing his show back to New Zealand later this month. With a live album in the can, he and his band are on a hot streak. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda  spoke to Hugh who was taking a break from preparing the live album, recorded from shows earlier this year. We found him in the West Country ready to talk ab...

Cody Dickinson has just released his debut solo album titled Homemade. We found the North Mississippi All Star on the road in Canada ready to talk about making Homemade.  The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Cody about making the move from drummer to front man, about recording at home with two kids running around the house and about The Beatles, Spin Doctors and taking the show on the road.

Fan Club is a rock and roll band based in Auckland, New Zealand...two guys, two gals all teenagers with ages ranging from 16-19. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to the band just as their debut EP, Towards The Sun, was about to be released. With a gig just around the corner, there was plenty to talk about.

Cassandra Jenkins is back with her third long player, a collection of meditations on life's rich pageant titled My Light, My Destroyer. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Cassandra ahead of the album's release, finding her in upstate New York, wrapping a video shoot. Here is Cassandra to explain how Lucinda Williams , Wayne's World and William Shatner all figure in to this stunning new record.&n...

James Bishop has spent the past five years making his debut album, Bodybound , a record that was made completely by found sounds recorded on his phone. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to James who was in his home studio in San Diego, California where he spent years turning the sounds he recorded in the wild on the Pacific Crest Trail into the songs that make up his soon-to-be-released album. Wat...

Buffalo Tom have just released their 10th studio album, titled Jump Rope . Here is bass player Chris Colburn to tell us why, even tough "nobody cares about our new record" they do! And so do we... The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Chris about how these same three musicians have managed to stay together (on and off) for almost 40 years. And we dive deep into the music, touching on R.E.M., Neil Y...

Redd Kross has been rocking audiences for over 40 years now. Brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald are keeping the flame alight with their new. self-titled double album...and there's a film and a memoir on the way as well. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Steve McDonald just ahead of the release of Redd Kross, the album.  Steve had plenty to say about working with his brother, opening for Blac...

Rory Block is an American blues guitarist and singer who has been making records since the late 1970s. Her latest is a tribute to another up-and-coming songwriter who used to hang out in her dad's shop in NYC...a guy who called himself Bob Dylan. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Rory who now lives in upstate New York with husband and co-producer Rob Davis . Over the years Rory has paid tribute...

Aaron Frazer has just released his second solo album, titled Into The Blue and here he is to tell us how he mixes classic Philly soul with hip hop beats to come up with his own sound. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke with Aaron who is now living in California after a breakup in New York that inspired the songs that make up Into The Blue. Aaron also fills us in on his future plans with Durand Jone...

Sean Cunningham has just released his debut solo album, Whatever That Is . Based in Nashville, Kiwi music fans may remember Sean as the charismatic frontman for the record-setting band Atlas. But as they say, that was then and this is now. The 13th Floor's Marty Duda spoke to Sean about the journey, both literal and figurative, that he made to get to the point where he finally was able to make thi...

The Decemberists  have just released  As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again , their 9th studio album overall and first since 2018. Here is front man  Colin Meloy  to tell us why he thinks every Decemberists album could be their last.

The Dirty Three  have just released  Love Changes Everything . Here is  Jim White  to tell us how and why he,  Warren Ellis  and  Mick Turner  reunited to make this, their first new album in 12 years. Marty Duda  spoke to drummer  Jim White  who is on the road with  Dirty Three  in Adelaide. Not only is there a new Dirty Three album,...