Vinyl Emergency

For more than 20 years, Kentucky quintet My Morning Jacket has continually shifted and grown its sound — embracing folk, soul and psychedelia — leading to three Grammy nominations and a reputation as one of the best live acts working today. Half a decade after releasing their seventh studio album The Waterfall, ten more tracks from those same sessions emerged earlier this month with the surprise a...

Los Angeles native Robert Fisher has designed records for some of the most popular acts since the alternative rock boom, including Beck, Weezer and No Doubt. But starting with 'Nevermind' onward -- including all posthumous releases following Kurt Cobain's death -- Robert is most recognized for being Nirvana's sole art director, creating iconic album covers, sleeves for singles, box set packaging a...

First emerging from Minneapolis in the mid-80's, The Jayhawks have become one of the most noteworthy and influential bands within Americana/folk-rock, releasing a pair of albums between 1992 and 1995 (Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass) that are cited by fans and critics alike as touchstones of their genre. Today, lead singer/guitarist Gary Louris dives into his love of Krautrock, to...

Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels formed Run-DMC in the early 1980's and, over 35 years since being joined by groundbreaking DJ Jam Master Jay and releasing their first single, the trio is still recognized as one of rap and hip-hop's most influential acts. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, Run-DMC was the first rap group to appear on MTV, on the cover of Rolling Sto...

Raised in Virginia, Caroline Spence grew up experiencing vinyl mainly through her dad's taped collection of Beatles records, and later absorbed that collection - along with her aunt's LP's - as she began to make a name for herself as a singer/songwriter both in and outside of Nashville. Rolling Stone heralded her 2019 full-length Mint Condition as "a gorgeous reflection on finding peace amid uphea...

Influenced heavily by The Smithereens, The Replacements and R.E.M., Arizona mainstays Gin Blossoms became one of the biggest bands of the early and mid-90's. Single after single from their major label debut New Miserable Experience -- "Hey Jealousy," "Found Out About You," "Until I Fall Away" and more -- caught fire on MTV as well as on pop, alternative and college radio. Now recognized as a moder...

An accomplished producer and multi-instrumentalist who has worked with everyone from The Shins to The Chieftains, Chris Funk is a founding member of beloved Pacific Northwest quintet The Decemberists, who mark their 20th anniversary this year. Known for a narrative heart that's half-Morrissey, half-Herman Melville, Rolling Stone has called their work "a triumph of theatrical imagination." On today...

Nashville singer/songwriter Lilly Hiatt returns to Vinyl Emergency to discuss the loss of the legendary John Prine, her new album Walking Proof, records she added to her collection since her last time on the show and the positivity she's finding between Nashville's recent destructive tornado and the current pandemic crisis. Dig back to Episode 75 for Lilly's first appearance. Then, Soul Asylum lea...

Formed in Evansville, IN during the late 90's, Mock Orange gained a devoted following amongst indie-rock circles for progressive, whiplash time signatures, buoyed by sentimental yet urgent lyrics. Though the quartet's debut album Nines & Sixes provided an addictive and aggressive spark, 2000's The Record Play delivered a deeper and more nuanced emotional payout: Singer/guitarist Ryan Grisham's wor...

For over 25 years, Texas native Rhett Miller has fronted the Old 97's, recognized as one of the most acclaimed staples within Americana or alt-country music. Still, he's found plenty of time over that span to step out on his own: Hosting the podcast Wheels Off, writing children's books and recording seven solo records containing collaborations with Jon Brion, Aimee Mann, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, longt...

The Presidents of the United States of America garnered acclaim throughout the grunge-heavy 90's for performing humorous, rocket-fueled earworms about chickens, kittens and bugs in a style that showcased both punk ethos and stadium rock showmanship. Hits like "Peaches," "Lump" and "Mach 5" dominated both alt-rock radio and MTV at the time, even scoring the Seattle trio the ultimate seal of legitim...

Since opening its doors in 1999, Grimey's New & Preloved Music has become one of the most beloved record stores in existence -- a beacon to its native Nashville, and the music world at large, for a focus on live performances, fair pricing and meeting the needs of eccentric and avant-garde music aficionados in a town mainly known for its country roots. Founded by Mike Grimes as a way to sell off pr...

Garnering comparisons to other iconic duos like Simon & Garfunkel or The Everly Brothers, Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale have effortlessly sewn together a timeless aura around their fragile, emotionally-resonant songs as Grammy-nominated folk duo The Milk Carton Kids. Since their start nearly a decade ago, their acoustic guitar mastery and impeccable vocal harmonies have led to collaborations or...

At just 12 years old in the early 80's, young guitarist Jason Narducy already knew about the emotional roller coaster of starting and ending a band. In this case, that band was Verböten, who exploded onto Chicago's punk scene but folded before Jason became a teenager. Over 35 years later -- with Jason establishing himself since as a terrific singer/songwriter via his band Split Single and collabor...

Comedian, podcasting pioneer and former MCA Records employee Jimmy Pardo returns to discuss what defines prog rock,  whether there's a current American band that could garner the sendoff that Canadians gave The Tragically Hip,  finally owning a favorite LP after a 20-year search, and his new web series Jimmy's Record & Tapes, where he revisits albums in his collection from 1975 to 1995, along with...

The youngest son of two church choir directors and musicians, Daru Jones has played drums since the age of 4, having grown up behind the kit at his parents' congregation. His love for gospel eventually led him to jazz, country, funk, R&B and hip-hop, where he has flourished as a touring, session and for-hire musician for emcees, vocalists, songwriters and producers like Nas, Talib Kweli, Sturgill...

Bassist and Alabama native Jimbo Hart has been holding down Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit's low end for over a decade -- touring the world and earning a Grammy for the group's 2017 barnburner The Nashville Sound. Recorded in his home studio, Jimbo articulates why geology plays a significant role in the music of Muscle Shoals, the joy he gets from recording others (like recent projects for Ross Adams...

Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2014, Grammy-nominated electro-pop duo Sylvan Esso has hopscotched around the world, gracing countless festivals as well as late-night TV, fueled by vocalist Amelia Meath's enigmatic energy and Nick Sanborn's deliriously inventive production. Previous to his partnership with Meath, Sanborn was a mainstay of the Wisconsin music scene as a member of Decibul...

After years of playing upright bass for cult country act BR5-49, Jay McDowell stumbled into a dream job for any music geek: Multimedia Archivist for Nashville's Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, established in 2006. From the actual drumkit Santana's Michael Shrieve played at Woodstock to the original lathe used to cut Elvis Presley's first recording to hand-written lyrics from some of the greates...

Today, we focus on R.E.M.'s polarizing yet passionate ninth album from 1994, Monster. Craft Recordings just released a 25th anniversary package available on 1LP, 2LP, 2CD or 5CD/1Blu-Ray formats, available at remhq.com or wherever you buy music.   Growing up, renowned visual artist Chris Bilheimer's first introduction to what record covers looked like was -- serendipitously -- by staring at R.E.M....

It almost sounds like a song in itself: An acclaimed musician on his big album release day, three years in the making, finds himself on jury duty for a murder trial. As crazy or poetic as it may sound, that was the story for Maryland-based Joe Pug back in July, as his latest LP The Flood In Color hit shelves. Though born in the mid-'80s, his tales of destruction and redemption ring with a wisdom t...

As a member of Foo Fighters for the last twenty years, guitarist Chris Shiflett is regarded as one of the most consistently versatile personalities in rock: From his punk roots in Rat Pack and core Fat Wreck Chords alumni No Use For A Name to goofing off with sped up covers in Me First & The Gimme Gimmes to one-off back-up duties for Norah Jones to recording his own albums drenched in country musi...

Racking up an astonishing 13 proper albums within the last two decades -- not including singles or EP releases -- Matt Pond has solidified himself as one of the most prolific singer-songwriters working today. Though the name Matt Pond PA was retired in 2017 (a moniker for his recording and touring band of which he was the sole consistent member), his work over the last 12 years with musician and e...

Enjoy this encore presentation of Episode 73, featuring our conversation with Dan Didier of The Promise Ring and Maritime. "Don't Break Down," a documentary on the influential punk trio Jawbreaker which Dan co-produced, was released earlier this month on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube and other digital outlets. His current musical project Dramatic Lovers can be found online at  dramaticlovers.com .

In a relatively short amount of time, Matt Ross-Spang has grown from Sun Studio tour guide to one of the most sought-after producers and engineers in music. Having moonlighted behind the boards at Sun after business hours while juggling high-school, Matt helped bring the historic studio back to its analog roots and eventually stepped out on his own at the behest of Grammy-winner and Nashville stud...