Stereo Embers: The Podcast

“Still The Night” Since the early '80s the Wisconsin-bred Bodeans have been playing some of the catchiest and most compelling rock and roll you’re likely to hear. With nearly 20 albums to their name including Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams, Outside Looking In, Mr Sad Clown and Still, The Bodeans discography is a riveting blend of American music played with heart and soul and truth. They’ve had q...

“Analog Christmas” Arielle is one of those rare talents that comes along where you look at what she’s capable of and it kind of knocks you out. A guitar virtuoso who also is blessed with a four-octave voice, Arielle has played on stage with everyone from Queen in the "We Will Rock You” musical to Cee Lo Green at Coachella. She’s opened for Guns 'n Roses, Larkin Poe and Heart, collaborated with Eri...

“Finding Your Voice” Before we get to Kelly Monrow, let’s have a quick chat about Kelly Dowdle. The Oklahoma-born and Texas-raised Kelly Dowdle is an actress who has appeared on Billions, Lucifer and American Crime Story. Growing up, she always knew she loved music, but it wasn’t until recently that she discovered she also loved making it. Kelly found her voice. And her voice kept finding her—so m...

“Observatory” Now the name Aeon Station might not sound familiar but their music probably does. And there’s a simple reason for that. Aeon Station is basically 3/4ths of the personnel of the legendary New Jersey band The Wrens. So why is the band Aeon Station and not the Wrens? Well, there’s also a simple reason for that but it’s one of those simple reasons that’s actually kind of complicated and...

"A Creative Classical Cauldron" Formed in Miami in 2015, Nu Deco Ensemble have have completely reimagined what a modern orchestra can do. Sam Hyken and Jacomo Bairos are two of the most respected and in-demand artists in classical music and they’ve come together to create an innovative artistic collective that incorporates dance, mixed media, classical, hip-hop blues and well, pretty much everythi...

“I Thought Of You” Julie Doiron got her start at 18 with the band Eric’s Trip. The first Canadian band to be signed to Sub Pop, Eric’s Trip put out modern classics like Forever Again and Purple Blue and though they called it a day in ’96, they reformed for shows as recently as 2007. As for the New Brunswick-born Doiron, she embarked on a solo career that to date has found her releasing close to fi...

“I’ve Always Wanted To Be Me” You might know Dave Monks from his work with his band Tokyo Police Club. Since 2005 The Canadian-bred TPC have been one of the most exciting indie rock outfits around, putting out winning albums like Champ and Elephant Shell. They played on Letterman and Craig Ferguson played festivals like Outside Lands, Lollapalooza and Coachella and though the beloved Juno-nominate...

“Coup De Main” The category of “Things That Jude Cole Does" is pretty crowded because Jude Cole does a lot of things. A singer/songwriter, a guitarist, a band manager, a producer, a music critic, a record label founder, and a businessman—Jude Cole is a busy dude. The Illinois-born musician got his start playing in Moon Martin and the Ravens in the late 70s. In 1980 he joined the English band The R...

“You Are Magic” Alison Faith Levy is super busy. She was in the post Game Theory outfit the Loud Family, she’s one half of the McCabe and Mrs Miller duo, the other half being Camper Van Beethoven’s Victor Krummenacher, and you might also know her from the alt rock for kids outfit the Sippy Cups. So yes, Alison is always busy, but somehow between the music and raising a family with her husband Dann...

“Kiss Off, Kiss Off” Erin McKeown is best categorized as un-categorizable. Whether the Virginia-born musician is playing guitar with the Mountain Goats, tearing through big band music in a tailored suit or writing an off-Broadway musical, McKeown pretty much does it all. A graduate of Brown, McKeown, over the course of her over 20 year career, has put out almost 15 solo albums, toured with Andrew...

“The Police: Deranged For Orchestra” Born in Virginia and raised in Cairo and Beirut by a Scottish archoeolist mother and an American father who founded the CIA, Stewart Copeland has had quite a life. So much so, that his biography deserves its own podcast but for the sake of time, let’s go with the expurgated version. Copeland started playing drums at 12 and after finishing boarding school in Eng...

“Psyche" Reb Fountain is one of the most beguiling, affecting and captivating musicians out there. And people are catching on. The California-born, but New Zealand raised Fountain has won the esteemed Taite Music Prize, she was shortlisted for the Silver Scroll award for her track "Don’t You Know Who I Am" and she was nominated for five New Zealand Music Awards, including Album of the Year and Bes...

“The Ghosts” Kira Roessler, who was just known back in the '80s as KIRA, was the bassist for the legendary Black Flag from '84 to '86. A ferocious outfit that played a physical and fiery brand of blistering and punishing punk rock, Kira was no stranger to getting in the van and tearing from town to town with her bandmates. After leaving Black Flag, the UCLA educated Roessler who had also played wi...

“Her Favourite Hitchcock Films” A native of Northern California, Jerry Vessel was the bassist for the beloved San Francisco outfit Red House Painters. The band, who formed in 1989, put out four albums on 4AD and toured all over North America and Europe before calling it a day in 2001. Post-Painters, Vessel played drums for the Muons and bass for Six Eye Columbia and he also put out two solo albums...

“Starting Now” The Santa Barbara bred Toad The Wet Sprocket got their start in the late ‘80s when high school pals Glenn Phillips, Dean Dinning Randy Guss and Todd Nichols decided it was time to form a band. Cut to 1989 and the band’s demo Bread and Circus which came out on their own Abe’s Records label, was re-released by Columbia Records. From there, Toad pretty much owned the '90s, putting out...

“The Last Of The Gentleman Adventurers” Over the course of a 40-year career that started in 1982, the London born and Northampton raised and Oxford educated Pat Fish fronted the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy. The JBC was shortened to the Jazz Butcher and Fish, along with co-conspirator and guitarist Max Eider, had a rotating cast of characters in his band, varying from guys like David J of Bauhaus or Ro...

“I’ll Meet You Here” The New York-born Dar Williams has been crafting some of the most engaging music of the last 30 years. A graduate of Wesleyan, Williams got her start in the early '90s in Boston. She had moved there to pursue a career in theater, but inspired by contemporaries like Throwing Muses and Melissa Ferrick, Williams starting writing songs of her own and she hit the ground running, kn...

“Really Great” Since 1984 The Connells have been crafting some of the most compelling, infectious and riveting pop music around. The North Carolina outfit have just put out their first new album in 20 years. Called Steadman’s Wake, the album is another winning entry into an already winning discography. The band sounds reinvigorated and the songs are brimming with intelligence, grace and some of th...

“Precious Time" The Sheffield born Paul Carrack’s voice is one of the worlds great superpowers. Carrack got his start at 19 playing keyboards in Warm Dust for a handful of albums. From there, he formed ACE who had the massive international hit "How Long." After they broke up in 1977 he played with Frankie Miller and joined Roxy Music as their keyboardist. He put out a solo album in 1980, then join...

“Full Grown” The California-born singer/songwriter Gregory Ackerman’s marvelous new album Still Waiting Still is shimmering with delicacy and strength. Buoyed by shadowy backbeats, sneaky melodies and Ackerman’s inimitable and unforgettable delivery, sonically Still Waiting Still falls somewhere between the work of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith. The album is as breezy as it is riveting–it’s a brill...

“Tales From The Terramar” The San Diego born C. Gibbs sounds like the surf. But not the sunny part--the deep, dark part. The part that twists through fathoms and moves with a silent, but potent current under the waves. The singer-songwriter’s music is a dreamy blend of California darkness and coastal soul. With a delivery that falls somewhere between Nick Cave and Simon Aldred of Cherry Ghost, Gib...

“We’re Trying Our Best” It’s hard for us to think of a more charming pop band than Sweet Nobody. The Long Beach quartet's new album We’re Trying our Best is the follow up to their debut Loud Songs For Quiet people and it’s a confident step forward that proves this is band to keep your eye on, Filled with infectious hooks, rushing, spry melodies, prowling bass lines, a touch of surf guitar and hear...

“When I Hear The Music” Indira May has the kind of voice that will bring you to your knees. Self-possessed, sonorous and imbued with the kind of phrasing that’s so emotionally precise it almost feels supernatural, May is a revelation. Her new EP Simpler Things is a ravishing blend of trip-hop, jazz and indie soul—trust us: it's a straight up stunner and one listen makes it clear that for this arti...

“Fretted And Moaning” The British-born Andy Summers started loading up his musical CV at the age of 16 when, inspired by seeing Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie live in London, the young guitarist set out on the road and the road welcomed him warmly. After a few years playing live in local clubs, he moved to London and helped form Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band. From there, Summers joined Soft Mach...

"Heart Shaped Scars" The Scottish born Dot Allison made her initial splash in music fronting the indie dance band One Dove. They only put out one record—-1993’s Morning Dove White—but if you were a band that was only going to put one record out, Morning Dove White would be the perfect choice. A dizzying blend of hypnotic electronica and pulsing melodic pop, Morning Dove White is an undeniable clas...