My Favourite Elliott Smith Song

Scott is a seasoned drummer. He played on the Figure 8 tour with Elliott and also featured on the album version of the track Pretty (Ugly Before), which is on From a Basement on the Hill. In addition to Elliott, he's also worked with musicians including M Ward, Sense Field, Beck and Bright Eyes. Sean Croghan is a musician and artist from Portland. He became good friends with Elliott during the '90...

Our second episode of season two is a bit of a literary special. We have two authors joining us, Becky Albertalli and David Arnold, both writers of young adult fiction.  Becky is perhaps best known for her book Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda, in which the main character (Simon) is a big Elliott Smith fan. The book was recently made into a film called Love Simon.  David is the New York Times best...

We're back with a new series and a (very slightly) different episode format.  Our main guest here is the musician Ken Stringfellow. Ken knew Elliott during the '90s and '00s, and was part of a project called the Color Bars Experience which toured France playing Figure 8 backed by a chamber orchestra.  After Ken talks us through his favourite song pick, we take a closer look at Elliott's first stud...

Today (18 April) is the anniversary of the release of Figure 8. It's Elliott's fifth studio album and the last he put out before he died.  It can feel, at times, feel a little underrated. But listening to it again (as well as to From a Basement on the Hill) you can't help but feel excited by where Elliott would have gone musically had he stayed with us.  In this episode, we celebrate the album. We...

The musician Jim Fairchild joins us for our final episode of series one.  Jim plays guitar in Grandaddy - alongside our former guest Jason Lytle - and Modest Mouse, and he also works as a solo artist too.  It was when he was with Grandaddy that Jim first got to know Elliott Smith properly. The band joined Elliott on tour following the release of Figure 8 and they built up a friendship after that....

Our guest for episode 26 - and the first of the year - is John Paul White.  John Paul is a musician from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He's worked as both a solo artist, as well as in The Civil Wars - a duo he formed with Joy Williams that won an impressive four Grammys.  His Southern charm makes listening to him very easy, but there's substance behind what he says too. Elliott Smith had a huge impact o...

Our guest for episode 25 is the actress and musician Emily Kinney. Emily made her name on the TV show The Walking Dead, where she played the character Beth Greene. She's seen been in several other programmes and has released three albums, with her most recent, 'Oh Jonathan', coming out in August 2018. She discovered Elliott Smith's music while she was starting out in her acting career in New York....

Our guest for episode 24 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is Lindsey Jordan. 2018 has been a great year for Lindsey and her band Snail Mail. They released their debut album, Lush, in June and they’ve been touring pretty much non-stop ever since. So we were really lucky to catch her during some rare time off at her home near Baltimore, Maryland (USA) to talk through her favourite song pick, as we...

Our guest for episode 23 is Aaron Embry.  Aaron is a musician who played in Elliott Smith's band during the Figure 8 tour in 2000. They played many shows together across Europe and the US, with Aaron on keys and long-time Elliott collaborators Sam Coomes (from Quasi) and Scott McPherson on bass and drums respectively.  In this interview with Elizabeth Withstandley, Aaron talks through his personal...

Our guest for episode 22 is the musician Mary Lou Lord. Mary Lou was great friends with Elliott. The two of them met at a gig in Seattle arranged by Slim Moon, the founder of the record label Kill Rock Stars. She was already on the label and, of course, Elliott would soon follow.  In this interview we talk through Mary Lou's favourite song choice, hear more about the time she saw Elliott for the f...

Our guest for episode 21 is the film director Steve Hanft. Steve made his name making music videos for artists such as Beck, which led him to eventually directing the 1998 Elliott Smith documentary Strange Parallel (although calling it a documentary is perhaps doing it a disservice). It's part music performance, part interview but mostly a surreal dream involving Elliott - if you haven't seen the...

Our guest for episode 20 is the musician Jade Bird. Jade is a hotly tipped artist from the UK - in the last year or so she has been on the BBC's Sound of 2018 list and Rolling Stone have called her a country artist to watch out for. She's also a massive Elliott Smith fan, albeit one who has discovered his music relatively recently. She can, of course, be forgiven for this though, as she just turne...

Our guest for episode 19 is the musician Pete Krebs. Pete is somewhat of a legend on the Portland scene. His band Hazel broke through in the early '90s at a similar time to Heatmiser. As well as playing numerous shows with Elliott Smith, Pete was also good friends with him - the pair drank in the same bars and worked the same construction jobs to fund their music careers. They even released a spli...

Episode 18 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song is with Andy Hull.  Andy is a musician probably best known for his work with the band Manchester Orchestra. He also has a couple of other side projects too and one of those is called Bad Books, which is a collaboration with Kevin Devine - a former guest on this show.  And Andy was recording with Kevin when we called him up for this chat. It was a lovel...

Our guest for episode 17 is Marissa Nadler. Marissa is a singer-songwriter based in Boston, Massachusetts. She regularly cites Elliott Smith as a big influence on her and also took part in the same Elliott tribute show as our guest for episode 16, Yoni Wolf. In this interview, Marissa talks about covering Elliott for that show, how his music has helped her as a shy person and her selection for her...

Yoni Wolf joins us from his holiday in North Carolina for episode 16 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song. Yoni is a musician and producer from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is probably best known for his work with his band, Why? Although his work is musically quite different, Yoni became interested in Elliott Smith because the sentiment of his music resonated with him. He talks about this during the episod...

A few years before he passed, Elliott Smith bought a recording studio in Van Nuys, California. He poured his heart and soul into the place - buying vintage analogue equipment and staying in there for weeks at a time to try and fix it. He called the studio New Monkey because, it is said, this big new commitment was like a monkey on his back.  In this special episode, we speak to the three guys who...

Our guest for episode 14 is the musician Jason Lytle. Jason made his name as the frontman of Grandaddy, and it was with that band that he met Elliott Smith for the first time. Grandaddy had just released their second album, The Sophtware Slump, while Elliott had recently put out Figure 8, and they had been lined up to tour together. In this interview, Jason discusses the moment he met Elliott for...

The musician Max Bloom is our guest on episode 13 of My Favourite Elliott Smith Song. The frontman of the band Yuck talks us through his pick for his favourite song, his experiences covering Elliott as part of the Say Yes tribute album and why (in a weird kind of way) his music reminds Max of a certain British comedy character (see more on this in the links below). This interview was recorded in L...

In this episode, we speak to musician, songwriter and author Amanda Palmer. Amanda came to prominence during the early 2000s as one half of the duo the Dresden Dolls. She's since gone on to release several successful solo albums and books, including 2014's The Art of Asking. You probably won't be surprised to find out that Amanda is also a huge Elliott Smith fan - she even appeared on an Elliott S...

This episode is with the animator Craig Bartlett. Craig is perhaps best known as the creator of children's TV shows such as Hey Arnold and Dinosaur Train. As well as being a great animator, Craig is also a huge Elliott Smith fan. In this edition, he talks us through his favourite Elliott Smith song, as well as an Elliott comic he drew - you can find that comic on our website myfavouriteelliottsmit...

In this episode, we speak to the singer/songwriter Beatie Wolfe. Beatie has built a reputation as an innovator - she combines music with technology and, last year, she was named in Wired magazine's people changing the world.  Importantly for us though, she's a huge Elliott Smith fan. Such a big fan, in fact, that she's written a song - called Little Moth - in tribute to him and had it beamed into...

In this episode, a first for My Favourite Elliott Smith Song, we hear from two guests: the musicians Jessica Lea Mayfield and Seth Avett. Both artists made their names separately, Jessica as a singer-songwriter and Seth as part of the band the Avett Brothers, but they joined forces in 2015 to release the album Jessica Lea Mayfield and Seth Avett Sing Elliott Smith. It was so enjoyable speaking to...

In this episode we speak to New York-based songwriter and musician, Kevin Devine. Kevin is a huge Elliott Smith fan and has covered his songs many times, so it was great to get the chance to speak to him. He's also worked closely with Rob Schnapf - the producer behind Either/Or, XO, Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill - and here we discuss how their relationship came about, as well as what it...

In this episode we speak to Sadie Dupuis. Sadie is a New York based musician, who is the founder and lead singer of the band Speedy Ortiz, and she's also got a solo project called Sad13.  Sadie is a huge Elliott Smith fan and is incredibly knowledgeable about his work. She speaks about his music, and the culture surrounding it, with a passion and good humour that will be very familiar if you follo...