Essential Tremors

Kim Deal has amassed a staggering body of beguiling pop songs over the past three decades with her bands the Breeders and the Amps. On this episode, she talks about how songs by Hank Williams, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd shaped her course. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See om...

Reeds player Henry Threadgill has capped a storied 50-plus-year career as a bandleader and composer with a superb new memoir of his life and thoughts about music entitled Easily Slip Into Another World . In this episode, he discusses how music by Howlin' Wolf, Thelonious Monk and James Brown shaped his course. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Publ...

Kuwaiti-Israeli musician Dudu Tassa's latest record, a collaboration with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, is a love letter of sorts to a variety of favorite, but potentially lost-to-the-ages songs of the Middle East.  Titled Jarak Qaribak, which translates to "Your neighbors are your friends," the Nigel Godrich-mixed record features guest vocalists from across the region taking on songs dear to Tassa...

British trio the Clientele make guitar pop as literate as it is melodic. In this episode, frontman Alasdair MacLean discusses how music by Boards of Canada, Love and Michael Jon Fink influenced him. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Australian experimentalist Oren Ambarchi has charted a course that crosses modern composition, post-rock and electronic music without ever lingering long in any genre. In this episode, he talks about how music by Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis and Alvin Lucier shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listene...

Art-pop duo Water From Your Eyes specializes in a hazy blend of beats, bites, luxe melodies and wry lyrics. Nate Amos discusses how music by Scott Walker, Jute Gyte and Ben Johnston shaped the group's sound. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Stephen O'Malley is best known as a guitarist for drone-metal band Sunn0))), but his musical practice spans composing, collaborations with a host of contemporary artists and a span of other groups, such as electronic duo KTL and dirge-metal legend Khanate. In this episode, recorded live at the Big Ears Festival, he discusses how music by Fugazi, Pita and Iancu Dumitrescu influenced his work. Essen...

Harpist Brandee Younger is blazing a trail for her instrument across jazz, soul, and many stops in between. In this episode, she discusses how music by Alice Coltrane, Tank and the Bangas, and Dorothy Ashby shaped her work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/list...

Singer/songwriter and former Essential Tremors guest Will Oldham guest hosts this episode featuring a conversation with June Tabor, whose long career belies the simple label "folk singer." They discuss Danny Kaye, Anne Briggs, learning to sing, Frank Sinatra and Robert Plant. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/list...

Bassist William Parker has spent 50 years at the heart of jazz, as a collaborator with many of the music's greats and as a composer and bandleader in his own right. In this episode, recorded live at the Big Ears Festival in 2023, he discusses how Duke Ellington, Don Cherry and Cecil Taylor shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public S...

Under the name Scritti Politti, Green Gartside has been making smart, cutting-edge pop for decades, on his own terms and his own schedule. On this episode, he discusses how tracks by the Paragons, Robert Wyatt, and the Albion Country Band shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Guitarist Bill Orcutt has gone from noise artist to an iconoclastic solo guitarist who redefined his own relationship with the instrument, deconstructs American standards, and now composes music for larger groups. In this episode, he discusses how music by Jimi Hendrix, Judy Garland, and Joseph Spence shaped his course. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by...

Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has carved out a career as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and collaborator who has played with a spread of artists within and beyond the jazz world, including instrumental power trio Messthetics. In this episode, he discusses how tunes by Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp and Abdullah Ibrahim, and Sonny Rollins influenced his playing. Essential Tremors is pro...

Mary Halvorson is often classified as a jazz guitarist, but her work — fluid, soulful and inventive — pushes boundaries, having been described as "the most future-seeking guitarist working right now" by NPR and "an unflinching original who has revealed new possibilities within the music" by The New York Times . Hear how songs by Jimi Hendrix, Yusef Lateef and Robert Wyatt guided her musical develo...

Outsized British group caroline has grabbed attention with an expansive sound that mixes elements of folk, postpunk, and choral music to create a surging, emotional effect. In this episode, members Jasper Llewellyn and Mike O’Malley discuss the music that shaped the band’s sound. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/...

Even after over four decades-long career, English songwriter and working class provocateur Billy Bragg still stands as one of the most influential artists of the era of U.K. punk. Hear how songs by Smokey Robinson, Little Feat, and The Who have played significant roles in his life. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.co...

Composer Kali Malone transforms the spartan musical language of minimalism through unusual tunings and reframing sacred sounds like pipe organ and choir. In this episode, she discusses how My Bloody Valentine, Hindustani classical music, and Josquin des Prez shaped her art. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listen...

Composer/performer Carl Stone has built a body of work out of reimagining a world of existing sounds and music into sometimes witty, often beautiful electronic music of his own. In this episode, he discusses how music by Thomas Tallis, Captain Beefheart, and Sheik Chinna Moulana influenced his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios....

Ashley Capps helped reinvent the music festival with Bonnaroo, then did it again with Big Ears, the eclectic annual celebration of jazz, folk, electronic music, and other flavors of music he mounts each spring in Knoxville, TN. In this episode, he discusses how encounters with the music of Steve Reich, Julius Hemphill, and the Ramones shaped his course. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars...

As a founding member of New York City's Interpol, guitarist Daniel Kessler has been integral in the shaping of their sound. Hear how songs by Fugazi, Tappa Zukie, and Aphex Twin helped put him on his creative path. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Drummer Brendan Canty powered the seminal D.C. post-punk band Fugazi and continues to blaze a trail in the instrumental trio The Messthetics. In this episode, he discusses how songs by Parliament, Scritti Politti, and King Crimson shaped his music. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Claire Rousay's music combines field recordings, Auto-Tuned vocals, conventional instruments, spoken word, and other elements with a subtlety that both attracts and subverts terms like "ambient" and "sound art." In this episode, she discusses how tracks by Ryu Hankil, Elliott Smith, and K. Mulhern shaped her work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Producer, MC, actor, director—the RZA has expanded his leadership of hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan into a decade-spanning, multi-hyphenate creative career. On this episode, the RZA discusses how Isaac Hayes, the theme from Love Story , and a famous hip-hop break shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio....

Singer/songwriter Will Oldham has created a vast and beguiling body of work under his own name, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, and Palace and its variations, as well as through numerous collaborations. In this episode, he discusses how songs by Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, Al Jarreau, and the Mekons influenced his music.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/...

Geordie Greep's guitar and idiosyncratic vocals have helped make uncategorizable London band Black Midi into an international sensation. In this episode, he discusses how songs by Warren Zevon, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and Frank Zappa influenced his music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.