From a podcast series I used to produce about music creators, recorded a few years back. The interview in this episode by John Gramaglia.

A Pop Diary - Bill Chadwick

Baxie talks to former member of The Fresh Young Fellows, Scott McCaughey.  Scott is currently involved with The Baseball Project--an excellent Super Group that includes Steve Wynn from The Dream Syndicate, his wife drummer Linda Pitmon, plus Peter Buck and Mike Mills from REM.  They've just released their fourth album "Grand Salami Time"...and yes, it's about baseball. Scott talks about the album, baseball, and the upcoming tour (which includes stop in Cambridge on August 19th and at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Connecticut on August 20th).  But we also talk about collaborating with REM for the last 29 years and about the stroke that he recovered from in 2017! This one was a lot of fun!  Listen on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and on the Rock102 website.

And thanks again to Z&M Home Buyers for their support!

Baxie's Musical Podcast: Scott McCaughey from The Baseball Project

From her forthcoming album, On Your Own Love Again. Pre-order now: http://www.dragcity.com/products/on-your-own-love-again
https://itunes.apple.com/album/id936872257

Jessica Pratt - "Back, Baby"

New Skin For Old Children out 10/28/2016 Glacial Pace Records.

New Skin For Old Children

Nocturnal Habits - Good Grief

Some excellent friends of mine and I, temporarily christened Sean Nelson & The Coastal Elite, made this recording to say Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence to the late, great Mr. Bowie, and to the now-staggering array of great artists and friends who died this year.

"Dead Man Walking" has been one of my favorite post-golden years Bowie numbers since I first heard the drum and bass arrangement on Earthling in 1997 and I've never understood how is has escaped being discovered as one of several lost classics in his repertoire.

The band is Eric Howk (Portugal the Man/Shelby Earl) and Lance Umble (Sloucher / bod/ Cumulus)on guitars, Jacob James (Ships, MANY others)on bass & harmonies, and Michael Lerner (Telekinesis) on drums. Can't ask for better. Michael also recorded and mixed it. (When we performed this arrangement earlier this year, Nouela O. Johnston of Bardot played keyboards and sang, so she's in the band, too, if she'll have us.)

Dead Man Walking

All parts played and written by Jessie Branch. Recorded and mixed at Orbit Audio by Joe Reineke. Mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering. Photo by Brian Wall.

Forget Today

Singer, writer and KEXP DJ Sean Nelson (Harvey Danger / The Long Winters) shared this cathartic version of Husker Du's Grant Hart's "Sorry Somehow." Thank you, Sean.

Sean Nelson - Sorry Somehow (Husker Du Cover) KEXP Death And Music 2017

Deviant Love

With one exception, these were all recorded in the apartment I inherited from Aaron and Mindy Huffman at 15th & Denny on Capitol Hill in Seattle between 2007 and 2011, when I moved out, which also constituted a period of intense misery and relentless writer's block. 

As many charlatans before me have done, I took up the time-honored rationalization that "learning" some of my favorite (morbid downer) songs would somehow impart the secret code that would allow me to start writing again. The culprits, unsurprisingly, included Pavement, John Prine, Blur, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello (x3), Big Star (Andy Hummel), Sebadoh, Randy Newman, Husker Du (Grant Hart), the Connells, and Stephin Merritt.

 I recorded them with the Voice Memo tool on my stupid iPhone, the lo-fi for people too lazy to find the power source to the cassette 4-track machine they never properly learned to use in the old days.

The gambit almost sort of worked once or twice. But what it mainly revealed were the limits of the autodidactic minimalism of my piano technique and, but, also, the sonority of my cheap 3/4-scale upright piano (the kind you find in a secondhand store) and the sweet acoustic of the little bedroom adjacent media closet. Also, thin walls demanded that I keep my voice down. Also, I did change that one chord in the John Prine song, just to see what would happen, and nothing did, so I reckon it's ok.

I'm not sure these merit "release" (or, indeed, that this qualifies as one), but believe it or not, these are the best of this little series. I find myself coming back to them quite a bit, the same way I always, always want to hear the demos on re-released versions of my favorite albums.

Sorry Somehow

Actual Sean Nelson

Recent comments

CERTI 0151

Related tracks