“On Banjo”

In sunny a San Diego high school somewhere in the 70s, while kids were listening to Aerosmith and Van Halen and Boston, Alison Brown was listening to bluegrass. She had started on guitar but gravitated to the banjo and by her teens, she was already pretty proficient on the instrument. She won first place at the Canadian National Banjo Championship, played a gig at the Grand Ole Opry and toured one summer with fiddler Stuart Duncan. After high school She headed to Harvard, knocked out an MBA at UCLA and then went to work as an Investment Banker. You know—the typical bluegrass story you hear all the time. Thinking music was a weekend thing, Brown had a nice balance going but then music decided to tip the scales. Alison Krauss flashed the bat signal for a banjo player and Brown answered the call, and gave up her Wall Street environs for a life in music. And what a life it has been. An internationally recognized virtuoso on banjo, Brown has played with Alison Krauss, Michelle Shocked, fronted her own Alison Brown Quartet, toured all over the world, from Japan to South America, along the way playing The Kennedy Center, the Newport Folk Festival, The Cambridge Folk Festival in England and the Galway Arts Festival in Ireland. With a Grammy in her trophy case along with multiple Grammy nominations, features on CBS Sunday Morning, NPRs All Things Considered and close to 15 critically lauded albums under her belt, including her fabulous new one No Banjo, Alison Brown is an artistic force. And what of On Banjo? Well, putting it simply, it’s a stunner. A deftly played album filled with technical prowess, musical finesse and compositional dexterity, On Banjo is a song cycle that’s celebratory, joyful and cathartic. Brown is the co-founder of Compass Records Group, she serves on the Board of the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy and she's the co-chair of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize. She’s kind of a big deal and guess what? She’s as nice as can be. 

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0331: Alison Brown

"My Good Friends"

The Ohio-born David Wilcox is one of our great treasures. Over the course of his career the singer/songwriter has put out nearly 25 perfect albums, including 1989's How Did You Find Me Here, 1991's Home Again, 2003's Into The Mystery and his brand new one, My Good Friends.Bringing to mind Nick Drake, John Gorka, Milo Binder and Joni Mitchell, Wilcox is one of those rare singer/songwriters whose body of work has no dip in quality. My Good Friends is a perfect example of how Wilcox just keeps crushing it. From the retrospective romp of the title track, to the stirring Just A Trace Of Light to the deeply moving album closer This Is How It Ends, Wilcox has never sounded better. Observational, compelling, and wise, Wilcox's work is always punctuated by an artful blend of delicacy and strength. His resume' is a long one, but some highlights include playing Carnegie Hall, opening for the Indigo Girls, and being on the cover of Acoustic Guitar magazine.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0344: David Wilcox

"Paradise Blue"

The Seattle-based singer/songwriter Steven Cristol has had quite a career. Well, to be more specific, he's had several careers, but today we're going to talk about the musical one. We'll let him tell you his story
but a little background is important before we get to the chat. The Georgia-born Cristol's adventure with music and the music industry found him with incredible highs, like getting a phone call from Harry
Belafonte about recording one of his songs to some tough lows that he'll explain, but here's the thing about those lows--what made them so hard was that they came disguised as highs. In other words, it looked like smooth sailing, but then the ship capsized. The emotional whiplash an artist gets was detailed perfectly in our chat with actor Michael Charles Roman a few months back when he talked about booking a sitcom only to have his and everyone else's part recast. Well, this is the music side of that story and it's series of suckerpunches. But this chat is about more than that--it's about self belief, self preservation, and never putting art on the backburner for good. I love the story you're about to hear because it demonstrates the power of creativity and the beauty of art. Steven is a fabulous singer/songwriter whose compositions summon everyone from Jackson Browne to James Taylor. He wrote songs for Starship, Little River Band and Belafonte and for good reason--his precision and lyrical agility are effortless skills that should have made him millions and nearly did. Business strategy consultant, career coach, singer/songwriter and former Fortune 50 executive whose previous business books have been published in 11 languages. His latest book is an unorthodox guide to self-employment, written after more than three decades of successfully sustaining independent work. He also writes about solutions to environmental issues for leading media outlets focused on sustainable business practices.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0345: Steven Cristol

"Leisureland"

Although he was born Eric Goulden in East Sussex, my guest today on the program is perhaps best known in the music industry as Wreckless Eric. Under that moniker he first garnered attention with his song The Whole Wide World, a shambolic blast of joyful punk that landed him
a deal with Stiff Records. At the time, Stiff was just getting going and they had Ian Dury Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe on their roster. Not too shabby. The art school graduate was more than just one killer song--since the '70s he's cranked out almost ten perfect solo albums
of scruffy pop magic that demonstrate Wreckless Eric is a singular and very special talent. His new album Leisureland is the perfect album to play while you're saying goodbye to summer. Wistful, nostalgic and equal parts ferocious and elegant, Leisureland is filled with ragtag pop, garage stomp, and percussive muscle augmented by beats and loops. And it's fabulous. Over the years he's played with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Damned, John Wesley Harding, The Proclaimers, and his wife Amy Rigby. His work has been covered by everyone from Cage the Elephant, to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. He's also been in a lot of bands like The Len Bright Combo, The Hitsville House Band, and The Donovan of Trash and the fact is, everything he does is wonderful and brilliant and infectious. The guy is the real deal.




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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0347: Wreckless Eric

"The King Of Good Intentions III"

John Andrew Fredrick is the author of several books, including one on the early films of Wes Anderson, but he also happens to be the braintrust of the beloved band the black watch, whose extensive body of work is an endless orchard of sonic joy. If you know their work, you know the deal. If you don't, jump in and grab anything they've ever done and work your way forwards and backwards through their nearly 30 album discography--you will not be disappointed. As for John's The King of Good Intentions trilogy, in Part 3, which is the final volume of the series,Fredrick continues to chronicles the misadventures of the '90s indie rock outfit The Weird Sisters and there's a great deal to chronicle: love, love triangles, misunderstandings, madcap episodes and utter rock and roll chaos. The Virginia-born, but Southern California dwelling Fredrick writes with undeniable narrative velocity, comedic charm and a big, big heart. His sentences are fresh and vibrant and it's hard to think of anyone who can craft a better paragraph--the language here is elastic, joyful and commanding and every page sparks with literary momentum.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0348: John Andrew Fredrick (the black watch)

"Face To Face"

Although she got her start behind the drum kit playing for her dad's band, the Detroit-born Suzi Quatro taught herself how to play bass so she could be in her sister's band, The Pleasure Seekers. She moved
to England at 21 and released a string of rather massive albums like her 1973 self-titled debut and the searing Your Mamma Won't Like Me in 1975. A pioneering presence in the pop world, Quatro influenced
everyone from Joan Jett to Chrissie Hynde to the Talking Heads' Tina Weymouth. A global superstar with over 50 million albums sold, Quatro's CV is a wealth of riches. Here are just a few of her
highlights: She toured with Slade and Thin Lizzy, headlined the 'Girls Night Out' at the Isle of Wight Festival, won a handful of Bravo Otto awards, appeared on Happy Days as rocker Leather Tuscadero, was awarded the Icon Award by the Women's International Music Network, was inducted to the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame, received an honorary doctorate in music from Anglia Ruskin University and appeared as Annie Oakley in a London production of Annie Get Your Gun and friends. The singer/songwriter is a stone cold legend and her music is filled with melodic muscle and harmonic smarts. Her new album, a joint effort with Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall is an instant classic. Titled Face To Face, it's a stirring song cycle that's reflective, confessional, tough and tender and catchy as hell. It's a perfect album that's an end to end delight.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0349: Suzi Quatro

"Entelechy"

The work of the Ohio-born Sandy Bell is pure magic. I guess by now, you're getting the feeling I'm a big admirer of what she does. But the work that we're talking about which is so effortless and beautiful, was hard-fought and the journey to get where we are today with Sandy's songs, was fraught with some pretty heavy stuff. We'll let her tell you all about that, but along the way, she went West as many do, and along the way found herself writing songs with Jeff Buckley, which many....don't. She also fronted a band that was on the cusp of some potential '90s glory before she ghosted them, and as she dug her heels into L.A. life, she was also battling deeply serious addiction issues and for a while slipped way off the grid and was living off Hollywood Blvd and grappling with demons that were in a full-time flex of trying to destroy her. But they didn't. Moving to New York with her partner and producer Jeff Lipstein, Bell was revived, rejuvenated and ready to be the artist she was meant to. Her first album When I Leave Ohio is a stone cold stunner--it has the stillness of a Hopper painting and all the raw loneliness of Nick Drake. The follow up, Entelechy, which is a phrase borrowed from Aristotle, which refers to ‘’That which realizes or makes actual what is otherwise merely potential," is, quite simply, one of the best records you'll ever hear. Atmospheric, mesmeric and emotive, Entelechy is a textured song cycle that explores devastation and darkness with the probing eye of a philosopher and the atmospheric lens of a filmmaker. In other words, think David Lynch collaborating with Plato on music that sounds like Karen Dalton fronting the Bad Seeds. It's regenerative, restorative, terrifying, comforting and powered by an enormous heart that beats with hope. Sandy has collaborated with everyone from Rachel Yamagata to Bat For Lashes and now, she's collaborating with us.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0350: Sandy Bell

"Messages To God"

The New Zealand-born Sarah Mary Chadwick fronted the deliciously feral post-Grunge outfit Batrider in the early 2000s. She made
her first solo foray with the riveting 2012 album Eating For Two and from there she’s moved from strength to strength with records like Please Daddy and Me And Ennui are Friends, Baby. Her new one Messages To God is nothing short of stunning. An aching blend of Jonathan Richman, Mark E. Smith of The Fall and Rid Of Me-era PJ Harvey, Chadwick has never sounded better. The album is spare and savagely beautiful featuring brilliant songs like Shitty Town and I Felt Things In New Zealand. Chadwick’s raw emotional precision is singular and stunning and she’s one of our favorite musicians ever.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0351: Sarah Mary Chadwick

“Forwards”

For more than 40 years the Welsh band the Alarm have been one of the most consistent acts on the planet, playing songs with conviction, heart and belief. With almost 20 studio albums under their belts, along with a discography that includes live albums, box sets and EPs, The Alarm are one of those bands where you pretty much want everything they put out. From albums like Declaration to Strength to their brand new one Forwards, The Alarm are a completist’s band. Speaking of Forwards, it’s a remarkable record—singer/songwriter Mike Peters has never sounded better, his voice alive with muscle and belief. The Welsh band have had a remarkable career that’s filled with endless highlights-- they toured with U2 and Bob Dylan, played at Queen’s Live at Wembley concert in 1986, been on IRS’s the Cutting Edge and American Bandstand, had hit singles all over the world even cracking the Billboard Top 50 here in the States, and wrote a song that became the official Welsh anthem
for Euro 2020. This is a band that’s all about community, support and they remain as vital as ever.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0363: Mike Peters (The Alarm)

"Revolución to Roxy"

Yes, the London-born guitarist and producer Phil Manzanera is part of one of the greatest bands of all time, but that really isn't the story. It's just part of it. Like, 10% of it. Which is crazy when you think of the cultural impact of Roxy Music, but the fact is, Manzanera has lived an interesting life that goes far beyond his tenure in an influential rock and roll band. His book Revolucion to Roxy explains everything and after you hit the first chapter you'll see his origin story isn't a simple one. He covers being multi-racial, traveling around the world as a kid and witnessing actual revolutions in Cuba and Venezuala, being sent to a posh boarding school,
and the sudden death of his father. And all that happened before he was fifteen. An old story is a guy picks up a guitar and his life
changes and that's for sure a big part of the story here, but the long-time history buff only started to understand why he was drawn to music in the first place years later. It turns out that Manzanera is a direct descendent of an Italian opera singer. And a Jewish pirate. I'm not joking. But the more he digs, the more answers start to show up that form an historical polaroid that's still coming into focus. Revolucion To Roxy is a brilliant read, filled with narrative velocity and authorial poise, but it's also the story of a guy who's figuring out who he is in real time. And the reverse engineering is as surprising to him as it is to us. For example, his dad worked for the British Overseas Airway Corporation. Or did he? Being drawn to music was free will. Or was it? You get the idea. Revolucion To Roxy is a marvelous blast of biography and self-examination and it really explores the idea that history is shooting through our DNA and even if you ignore it, it's going to tap you on the shoulder and point you wherever it wants.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0379: Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music)

Somewhere In My Heart

Hosted by Alex Green, Stereo Embers: The Podcast is a weekly podcast airing exclusively on Bombshell Radio (www.bombshellradio.com) that features interviews with musicians, authors, artists and actors talking about the current creative moment in their lives. 

A professor at St. Mary's College of California, Alex is the Editor-In-Chief of Stereo Embers Magazine (www.stereoembersmagazine.com), the author of five books and has served as a Speaker/Moderator for LitQuake, Yahoo!, The Bay Area Book Festival, A Great Good Place For Books, Green Apple Books, and The St. Mary's College Of California MFA Reading Series. 

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0331: Alison Brown

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