Tag: Basic Folk

Basic Folk – David Wax Track by Track

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

David Wax Museum’s latest album, You Must Change Your Life, is the duo’s magnum-opus. According to Wax it’s “THE record… The one you dream about when you first fall in love with music.” David also recently suffered a near-death experience that has totally rocked him and Suz Slezak, his wife and bandmate. We ask both Suz and David to reflect on the events and its aftermath. It’s surprising to hear the very different perspectives of how the event changed them both.

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We also go through the new record, which is about dealing with love and mortality in a way that they have been building up to over the course of several albums. It’s some of their best writing on life and death and love. There’s also this really thoughtful relationship with Mexican folk music as American artists. It’s something they’ve been doing since they’ve been a band and it’s done so beautifully on this record. It was so cool to go track by track through the album and great to have our friends David Wax and Suz Slezak back on the pod!

Photo Credit: Anthony Mulcahy

Basic Folk – Alice Howe & Freebo

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Tracking with her brand, “an old soul inside a 30-something millennial,” Alice Howe’s latest was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. Although the legendary studio has seen massive icons like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Etta James recording their biggest hits, the building itself is quite unremarkable. Regardless, Alice was able to soak up the incredible vibe that ugly wood-paneled space offers over the course of the recording sessions, which was done in two parts. Freebo, her frequent collaborator and bassist, helmed the production and joined us for this interview. The two gave some insight into the way they communicate and how that works itself out in a studio setting.

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We dig into some of the songs on the new record Circumstance, including “What About You,” which comes along with a music video featuring some very playful sides of Alice, including some very femme scenes of her at the pool and on the beach. We got into an interesting discussion of different ways women portray themselves in music, using Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt prototypes. Not sure if we reached a consensus, but I enjoyed getting into it! We also get into how Freebo is a goofball AND a cool-guy scholar and how those traits translate into his and into Alice’s music. And we leave some space for Alice and Freebo to fawn all over Freebo’s former collaborator, Bonnie Raitt, and her recent Song of the Year award at the 2023 Grammys. It’s always so fun to talk to Alice (who was also on episode 72!) and we have a doubly good time with Freebo. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Jim Shea

Basic Folk – The Tallest Man on Earth

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Kristian Matson grew up in the Swedish countryside and came to be The Tallest Man on Earth in the country’s diverse and low-key music scene. He often speaks of his weird little brain and a wild imagination, which actually stems from a heap of anxiety that he lives with everyday. Growing up, he struggled to tamp down his high-energy, especially in a culture that encouraged everyone to not stand out or draw attention to themselves. When he discovered the guitar, it felt like he found a vessel to harness all his energy, creativity and imagination. As a teenager, he found solace in the music of Bob Dylan, which led him to discover other American folk artists like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. His world opened up when he found guitarists that used open tunings like Skip James and Nick Drake.

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His new album Henry St. was written and created in the aftermath of the pandemic. Kristian struggled with writing in forced solitude and found himself focusing too much on darkness. His inspiration returned when he finally got back on tour, where he began writing non-stop due to being back in motion and around other people. Human connection fueled the new album, which was produced by Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso in North Carolina. The two musicians’ similarities create a beautiful chemistry on the new record, which is the first complete band album recorded by Tallest Man on Earth.

Photo Credit: Stephan Vanfleteren

Basic Folk – William Prince

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

William Prince spent a long time recording his debut album. By the time Earthly Days was released in 2015, Prince had lived a lot of life and was ready for the sort of instant stardom that would throw a lot of emerging singer-songwriters for a loop. A number of extraordinary things happened followed the release of Earthly Days: the song “Breathless” was a hit on the Billboard adult contemporary music charts, Prince won the Juno Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, and he toured the hell out of the record for several years, opening for artists like Neil Young. This extended tour gave him the opportunity to basically perfect his live set in a way many new artists don’t get to.

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William has gone deeper and deeper and deeper with subsequent releases. He describes love and loss and self and community and fear and courage with universal appeal on 2020’s Reliever. He reinterprets the orthodoxy and aesthetics of his Christian upbringing through an indigenous lens on Gospel First Nation. He synthesizes varied traditions and flexes impressive vocal chops almost casually.

William’s new record, Stand In The Joy, comes out April 14th on Six Shooter Records, and it is a catchy, ambitious testimony about the power of love and hope. Talking about the album with William gave me the chance to ask him about his evolving spirituality, the tension between tradition and trendiness in roots music, how the loves of his life change how he shows up as a performer, what it’s like to work with superstar producer Dave Cobb, and what freedom looks like from a Peguis First Nations perspective.

Photo Credit: Joey Senft

Basic Folk – Kimaya Diggs

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, librettist, teacher, and dog lady Kimaya Diggs grew up surrounded by music. In her family, music was a tool for connection. Kimaya’s 2018 debut album, Breastfed, puts together the story of her upbringing through dreamy soul-folk jams. Even though she had been a musician all her life, she experienced a steep learning curve when it came to recording in the studio. She quickly figured out how the complex processes of mixing and mastering can impact how an audience receives your music, AND how frustrating it can be to play guitar to a click track.

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These lessons learned left Kimaya excited to get to work on her second album. In the meantime she had adopted a traumatized racing greyhound, and tragically lost her mom to breast cancer. There was so much love and loss to process, and Kimaya was figuring out how to share these precious pieces of her life while still honoring her mom’s privacy and her own healing journey. You might think that as a result, the album would comprise 45 minutes of whispered meditations on the great beyond. But Quincy is an album bursting with joy and exuberant grooves.

Kimaya’s husband, Jacob, plays in her band and contributed music for this new album. One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was when Kimaya shared how she manages to keep both her marriage and her creative partnership healthy at the same time. Here’s a hint: the secret has to do with co-writing.

Photo Credit: Anja Schutz

Basic Folk – Brett Dennen

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Brett Dennen is a songwriter, painter and summer camp enthusiast. His camp experience was instrumental in developing his musicality. He attended Camp Jack Hazard in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where young Brett was enamored with the music his camp counselors would play on guitar around the campfire. He was introduced to Paul Simon, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and John Denver thanks to his counselors and his parents. He really developed as a songwriter in college at UC Santa Cruz. After school, he wove himself into the LA songwriter scene, which in the early 2000’s was a haven for musicians like himself, Alexi Murdoch, Damien Rice and Josh Ritter. He developed a large fanbase that remains loyal to this day.

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Brett talks about running his own summer camp, Camp Dennen, which allows him to create community through nature and art. He shares his experience of writing and thinking about being a dad and how that relates to the reality of fatherhood. And he talks about decidedly not being in the cool crowd and also not caring about it … well, not caring about it as much as he used to. Brett’s written some of my favorite songs of the 21st century. It was an honor to have him on the pod!

Photo Credit: Elli Lauren

Basic Folk – Sara Watkins

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Nickel Creek, the bluegrass trio whose been in existence for almost 35 years, returns with their first original release in nine years. It’s brainy, it’s theatrical, its twists and turns are not predictable from its authors, who have entered mid-life. To that point, there is lots of middle on this album. The middle’s not the most exciting or thrilling part (see: beginning or ending), but there is plenty happening and plenty to celebrate. The band says that’s the feeling they want to convey through the record. Lucky us, we get to crawl into the band’s history and approach to the new music via folk fashion icon, Sara Watkins.

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Despite the focus on the middle, Sara gets into the beginning of her musical experience, talking of her practicing habits, musical summer camp, and being friends with 70 year old bluegrass players at the local pizza parlor. She also talks about her vocal prowess, particularly on “Where The Long Line Leads,” where she blazes; singing on the very edge of her voice and it’s so exciting. Of course we talk about her history of stage outfits, from mid-length skirts to jumpsuits, she’s done a lot of fashion in the folk world over the course of her career. Sara Watkins is a dream: from Nickel Creek, to I’m With Her and the Watkins Family Hour! Enjoy this wonderful person! Go get that Nickel Creek record – holy cow!

Photo Credit: Josh Goleman

Basic Folk – Adeem the Artist

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Adeem the Artist has gained a slew of new fans in the past year with their new album White Trash Revelry, but they are anything but an overnight success. Their journey to singer-songwriter acclaim began in middle school, when they moved from the Carolinas to New York State. Finding themself a southerner in the North, they found out that being from the American South meant something to people. It came with a certain set of assumptions and expectations that they have reckoned with over the course of their eight albums.

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2022’s White Trash Revelry is packed with poignant, witty, economical lyrics and characters so real you could reach out and shake their hands. Throughout the album you’ll notice a complicated relationship with religion, which of course we had to dig into on the podcast. In a past life Adeem was called strongly to the church, and served as a worship leader. You might be surprised at how highly transferable their pastoral skill set has been in their work as a singer-songwriter.

This episode contains many, many, many laughs, some guitar talk, some crowdfunding talk, some deep family and spiritual talk, and a million great insights from one of alt-country music’s rising stars.

Photo Credit: Shawn Poynter

Basic Folk Debate Club: Lyrics vs. Melody

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Welcome to Folk Debate Club, our occasional crossover series with fellow folk-pod Why We Write! Today, to discuss Lyrics vs. Melody, we welcome our panel of guests: music journalist and former singer/songwriter Kim Ruehl, Isa Burke (Lula Wiles, Aoife O’Donovan), musician and Basic Folk guest host Lizzie No, and yours truly, Cindy Howes, boss of Basic Folk.

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Our conversation begins with a case each for melody and lyrics from members of the panel. Some panelists are more fluid with their thoughts and feelings and at least one of us changes sides mid-discussion. Some interesting opinions emerge! For instance, manipulation in music is no good if the listener can see through your bullshit: “Part of the job [of songwriters] is to emotionally manipulate people. When you are feeling manipulated is when the person has missed,” says Kim. The panel talks about rawness: it can take lyrical editing before it can be presented to the public. “It’s sometimes hard to tell as the songwriter, like, how raw am I actually being?”, shares Isa, who goes on to talk about how being raw in melody can be very effective. She points to her emotional guitar solo (that was done during a difficult moment in her life) in the Lula Wiles song “The Way That It Is” as one of her most favorite musical accomplishments (listen below).

Bob Dylan comes up within 90 seconds of the debate! Don’t worry, Taylor Swift, Maggie Rogers, Stevie Wonder, Adele, and Paul McCartney also make cameo appearances. And Lizzie No ftw: “Lyrics are the hand-holding that we need to bring us into the glory of instrumental music.” Enjoy! We had a good time doing this, so we’ll see you again soon!

Photo Credit: Liz Dutton (Cindy Howes); Louise Bichan (Isa Burke); Bernie McAllister (Lizzie No); Kim Ruehl

Basic Folk – Sam Phillips

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Sam Phillips was born to a family that loved doling out nicknames. She was called “Sam” growing up in a house that was filled with readers. She nurtured her love of philosophy and spirituality by exploring different religions and devouring works by authors like C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton. Early in her career, she found success as a Christian musician under her real name: Leslie Phillips. She made several albums, but became uncomfortable with her label marketing her as “the Christian Cyndi Lauper.” She also had a desire to write songs that didn’t reinforce people’s religious beliefs. For her final Leslie Phillips album, she worked with future spouse/ex-spouse, T-Bone Burnett, “a fellow Christian with a maverick approach to songs about faith and morality,” and found a kindred spirit. She decided to rebrand and start recording as Sam Phillips. Sam and T-Bone worked together from 1988’s The Indescribable Wow to 2004’s A Boot and a Shoe.

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In our conversation, we talk about Sam’s writing process, which she is always changing up. She comes up with her best ideas when she “turns off the trying part of her brain,” but at the same time, she strongly believes in the power of editing. Sam’s probably best known for composing and performing the score for the beloved Amy Sherman-Palladino series Gilmore Girls, for which she also made a brief appearance on the season finale in 2006. You remember those “La la la’s” while Lorelei and Rory carried around their armpit purses, and drank coffee while wearing those horrible boot cut jeans? That was Sam Phillips! Currently, Sam is working on a new album and she’s taking her time, so don’t rush her, OK?

Photo Credit: Eric Gorfain