podcast
Basic Folk 118 – Allison Russell
Powered by RedCircle Allison Russell‘s story is unreal and it’s hard to know where to begin. Unfathomable childhood abuse: sexual, physical and emotional abuse (at the hands of her white supremacist step-father) is chronicled in searing detail for the very first time on her debut solo album Outside Child. Up until now she was not…
Read MoreBasic Folk 117 – Tom Rush
Powered by RedCircle Tom Rush‘s career is a wonder. After stepping away from record labels and major tours in the 70’s, he’s managed to cultivate a dedicated audience that has loyally shown up for decades. His relationship to music had a rocky start with a dozen years of unenjoyable piano lessons as a kid. Tom…
Read MoreBasic Folk 116 – Chris Pierce
Powered by RedCircle Chris Pierce was raised by a white mother and a Black father, who impressed the importance of music in terms of finding peace and love within. While Chris was growing up, interracial marriage had only just become legal countrywide in 1967 and his family was not always accepted. At 5 years old,…
Read MoreBasic Folk 115 – Adam Moss of The Brother Brothers
Powered by RedCircle The Brother Brothers are rooted in sibling harmony provided by twin brothers Adam and David Moss. Adam Moss would prefer if you didn’t get really weird about twin stuff: “We sometimes find being twins a barrier to conversing and getting to know people quickly. It’s an easy thing for people to fixate…
Read MoreBasic Folk 114 – Mark Kilianski of Golden Shoals
Powered by RedCircle Mark Kilianski (of Golden Shoals) had the unfortunate experience of coming of age in a time where mainstream rock was just terrible (late 90’s – specifically 1999 was pretty bad). He was really getting into bands like Korn and Limp Bizket, and his first guitar was a BC Rich Warlock (a heavy…
Read MoreBasic Folk 113 – David Wax Museum
Powered by RedCircle David Wax started visiting Mexico in 2001 and there he became enamored with the music of Central Mexico, particularly with styles of son music. He would spend summers going back to Mexico while studying at Harvard: Latin American History and literature. He was able to get a Harvard Fellowship which allowed him…
Read MoreBasic Folk 112 – Yasmin Williams
Powered by RedCircle Yasmin Williams is your new favorite guitarist! She plays the type of music she’d want as a soundtrack for hiking, which is funny to think when you consider her initial inspiration for picking up the guitar. When she was in junior high, she beat the video game Guitar Hero 2 (on expert…
Read MoreBasic Folk 111 – Kaiti Jones
Powered by RedCircle Kaiti Jones‘ vibe is truly chill with that special something that you experience in a real artist. She’s got that thing that should propel her to great heights: her music is spot-on and as a human being, it feels like you’re in the presence of some kind of greatness. Am I exaggerating?…
Read MoreBasic Folk 110 – Taylor Rice of Local Natives
Powered by RedCircle Local Natives are not a folk band, but this is my podcast and I do what I want. They are one of my favorite bands of all time, so I was geeked to talk to founding member, guitarist and co-frontman, Taylor Rice. Torchbearers of the Southern California band sound, Local Natives are…
Read MoreBasic Folk 109 – Steve Tilston
Powered by RedCircle If you do a web search for Steve Tilston, most of the results will be about John Lennon. Lennon wrote a letter to a young Steve offering him advice, but Steve did not know about the letter until decades later. His story would eventually become the 2015 film Danny Collins starring Al…
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