Stereo Embers: The Podcast

“The Story Of My Life” Based out of Brooklyn, Holy Hive are a truly singular band. Formed in 2015’s Holy Hive’s innovative brand of neo-folk is both spare and rich, incorporating elements of Turkish Funk, Chicano soul, low-fi pop and traditional American roots music. Singer Paul Spring’s falsetto floats with the kind of effortless finesse that falls somewhere between Brian Wilson and Shuggie Otis....

“Things Will Be Different” The Little Murders formed out of the ashes of the punk outfit The Fiction. The Melbourne band first fired things up in 1979 and they’ve been crushing it ever since. Led by the British born Rob Griffiths, The Little Murders are one of those rare bands where every song is a winner. Seriously. Every single one. Their songs are hook-filled blasts of melodic pop that rips the...

“Memories To Burn” The Williams Brothers come from a rich musical lineage that goes all the way back to the late ‘30s, when Williams Brothers Andy, Dick, Bob and Don started their singing quartet that took them all the way from their home state of Iowa to sunny Los Angeles, where they appeared in movies and were under contract with MGM Films. The second iteration of The Williams Brothers featured...

"Dan McCafferty Remembered" Okay, to be fair Dan McCafferty left the legendary Scottish band back in 2013 but worthy replacements aside, he will always be the voice of Nazareth. After 45 years fronting the internationally acclaimed outfit, McCafferty stepped aside due to health reasons. Recharged, revitalized and sounding better than ever, McCafferty roared back with The Last Testament, his third...

“It’s Alright Now” Nora O’Connor is nothing short of a musical force. The Illinois-born singer/songwriter’s new album My Heart completes the hat trick that was started by her 1996 debut Cerulean Blue and continued by 2004’s 'Til The Dawn. So you’re probably wondering about the gaps in between—8 years, 18 years—it’s a fair questions, so we're going to give you a fair answer. Nora O’Connor is busy....

“Celebrating Our 300th Episode With Rebecca Pidgeon!" Born in the U.S. to British parents when her dad was a visiting professor at MIT, Rebecca Pidgeon’s family soon moved to Scotland where she immersed herself in the Arts. While at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London she fronted the folk pop outfit Ruby Blue who put out a couple of great records before PIdgeon left the band and Europe to...

“Honeymoon Suite” Hailing from Leeds, Katie Harkin was the co-founder of the band Sky Larkin—an outfit she put together with her childhood pal Nestor Matthews while they were attending university. They signed to the London indie Wichita Recordings, which was home to The Cribs, Bloc Party, Best Coast and My Morning Jacket and put out three great albums, including the 2009 classic The Golden Spike....

“Blackout For The Bloodsuckers” There’s something that’s always churning behind the sound of The Battles Of Winter. The London band’s music is powered by a steady and dark engine which hums along like a wicked propellor, conjuring a geometric dream city filled with square avenues, rectangular boulevards and angular streets that tilt and bend and twist, but never break. The sidewalks may lift and f...

"East Of Eden" Well, most great stories start in the East and end up in the west and the story of Marvin Etizoni does exactly that. The Brooklyn born musician and his family moved to L.A. in the '70s and it didn’t take long for Etzioni to fit right in. His first band Model played with everyone from the Plimsolls to the Motels, and his next band Lone Justice signed to Geffen and opened for U2. Not...

“Talking Walls” Lilly Winwood grew up in the English Coutnryside, a locale that was lush, expansive and quiet. The hum and groove of a big city was calling, so at 18 she left home for a little more social and artistic volume. After a few stops in a few years she ended up in Nashville, which was not only a comfortable place—her mom was from Tennessee and she visited regularly as a kid—it was a plac...

"Everyone’s Got A Camera” David Poe is a singer songwriter of dazzling economy; his wit and his sly genius for turning a phrase makes each line of his songs a piece of art. Poe is a cross between Hemingway and John Prine—he tells stories without telling stories about the stories he's telling. He’s straightforward and elegant and lets you fill in the blanks with where the humanity might reside and...

“A Complete History Of Dreams” Alright, so Philip Stevenson has made some of my favorite albums of all time. I first heard his band Carnival Of Souls when I was 19 and that album, which is called Flop, is in my top ten of all time. Stevenson is one of the most consistent, thrilling and rousing singer songwriters out there and yeah, a lot of critics compared him to Westerberg or Elliott Smith and t...

“Half Drunk Under A Full Moon” The Fratellis have put out six perfect records. In a row. Not a lot of folks have done that, but the Scottish outfit have managed to keep cranking out some of the most infectious, thoughtful and rousing pop music in recent memory. With almost twenty years under their belts, the Fratellis have proven they’re one of the most potent acts around. Their newest album Half...

“Stupid Like That” Before A Boy In Cords was a Boy In Cords, he was a boy in…Trousers. That’s right. When I first met the Irish-born singer songwriter, he was crushing it in the indie clubs in the Bay Area with his band Trousers. What did they sound like? they were punchy, jangly land pretty much perfect—with kind of an Aztec Camera vibe. After Trousers folded, many years went by. A Boy In Cords h...

“Everywhere I Used To Be” Mariel Buckley is a singer songwriter of tremendous depth and sensitivity. The Canadian-born musician’s songs are confessional and observational and they are rife with honesty, wisdom and vulnerability. Her new album Everywhere I Used To Be is a stirring collection that’s filled with nuance and moody undertones. Thanks to the production of Marcus Paquin, who has worked wi...

“The Rabbit And The Butcher” An actor of tremendous range and versatility, the Michigan-born and L.A.-raised James Duval has had quite a career. He tore through the '90s, appearing in movies like The Doom Generation, SLC Punk Independence Day, Nowhere and Go, and by 2000, his resume was packed. He appeared as the rabbit Frank in Donnie Darko in 2001 and since then, he’s added over forty films to h...

“Not Quite The American Dream” They may have gotten their start as the Filberts around 1980, but before too long they rechristened themselves Diesel Park West. They put out a string of singles like When The Hoodoo Comes and Jackie’s Still Sad before their debut album Shakespeare Alabama hit shelves in 1989. To date the band has put out ten records including Decency, Thought For Food and their bran...

“A Good Sign” Whenever Matt Keating puts out a new record, we get excited. Since the early '90s the New York-based singer-songwriter has been releasing some of the most captivating, moving and powerful albums we've ever heard. With close to 15 solo albums under his belt, it’s hard to pick favorites because they’re all so good. From Tell It To Yourself to Tilt A Whirl to Wrong Way Home to Summer To...

“Going Places” Over the course of his brilliant career, which has spanned roughly 15 albums or so, the Nebraska-born Josh Rouse has established himself as one of the finest singer-songwriters on the planet. Armed with the poetic flourishes of everyone from Paul Simon and John Prine, Rouse’s work is many things at once: subtle but catchy, elegant, graceful and undeniably infectious. Work your way t...

“Age Of Finding Stars” David Long and Shane O’Neill grew up together in Ireland and have been pals since they were six. They were in a band together as teenagers then they went their separate ways, Long to Into Paradise and O'Neill to Blue In Heaven. Both fabulous bands who put out a series of flawless albums. Into Paradise had all the delicious dark drama of Echo and the Bunnymen or The Sound whi...

“Philadelphia, Mississippi” Over the course of his nearly thirty year career, the Grammy-nominated G. Love has put out close to fifteen albums both solo and with his band Special Sauce. From Coast To Coast Motel, to Yeah, It’s That Easy to The Juice, his catalog is a consistently effortless blend of blues, hip-hop, R&B and alternative rock. Throughout the years G. Love has collaborated with Dr. Jo...

“Volcano, Volcano” Steven Lambke rose to prominence as the guitarist of the mighty Canadian outfit The Constantines. The Juno-Award nominated band are a muscular blend of Fugazi, the Replacements and Creedence Clearwater Revival, and they’re one of those bands that are redolent with integrity and heart. It’s important to note that by the time the Cambridge-Ontario born Lambke joined the Constantin...

“4th of July Special: What's The Point Of A Strawberry?” Well, not counting the fact that they lower your blood pressure, are high in fiber, rich in antioxidants and guard you from cancer, strawberries are pretty much useless. In this wildly discursive 4th of July chat with singer-songwriter Shannon McArdle, the Brooklyn musician talks to Alex about why she’s not into strawberries (or fruit for th...

“Violent Desires" The Manhattan-born Blake Morgan is a musician, singer, executive, music producer, writer, record label owner, and activist. Raised by activist parents who were also writers—his mother is the poet Robin Morgan and his father is the poet Kenneth Pitchford--Morgan was immersed early on in the arts. By five he was at the piano playing Mozart and writing his own songs and the classica...

“All Going Out Together” It makes sense that the Massachusetts-born Steve Michener was in three seminal Boston bands: The Volcano Suns, Dumptruck and Big Dipper. The Volcano Suns were an outfit that Michener formed along with former Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott, he stepped in on bass with Dumptruck after their first album and he co-founded Big Dipper who were on the Homestead label befo...