H.C. McEntire interview, 2018, orig in Bay Bridged
H.C. McEntire interview, 2018, orig in Bay Bridged
Caroline Rose interview, 2018, orig in Bay Bridged
Caroline Rose interview, 2018, orig in Bay Bridged
Cigarettes After Sex interview, 2018, orig in Bay Bridged
Cigarettes After Sex interview, 2018, orig in Bay Bridged
Le Butcherettes Embody the Spirit of the Bay
2019 interview, orig. in Bay Bridged.
Oso Oso returns to Pittsburgh with “toe-tapping, rump-shaking” emo punk
As Long Beach, N.Y. emo punk outfit Oso Oso prepares to tour for their sixth album, an exchange of information, lead singer-songwriter and guitarist Jade Lilitri is looking forward to returning to Pittsburgh.
“It’s one of the few places I’ve gone for reasons other than playing music. I went to visit the Andy Warhol Museum and loved how interactive it was. That was before COVID,” he recalls. “I saw a Mountain Goats show at Mr. Smalls back then, too, and later, I came back for a baseball game.”...
“It’s one of the few places I’ve gone for reasons other than playing music. I went to visit the Andy Warhol Museum and loved how interactive it was. That was before COVID,” he recalls. “I saw a Mountain Goats show at Mr. Smalls back then, too, and later, I came back for a baseball game.”...
Chelsea Wolfe graces Pittsburgh's spooky season with ethereal new record The Dark
Chelsea Wolfe wanted something with many meanings when she named her latest album, so she settled on The Dark. While that’s arguably the word used most to describe her output, her body of work is hardly a monolithic lack of light. Just as on her previous nine albums, Wolfe works in doomy, heavy metal sounds and sparse acoustic guitar sounds with little time spent in between.
While the 42-year-old California native has all sorts of associations with darkness, she mostly finds dark themes to be...
While the 42-year-old California native has all sorts of associations with darkness, she mostly finds dark themes to be...
Pittsburgh singer Brooke Annibale writes in a Bolder Font on new album
“At the heart of everything, I’m a singer-songwriter that started on acoustic guitar, but I love my electric guitar,” says Pittsburgh-born, Rhode Island-based artist Brooke Annibale. “I love electric sounds, but I also love really soft sounds. I’ve encompassed a lot of different directions in my music.”
As she gears up to release her fifth record, Bolder Font, Annibale finds that she’s fallen back in love with music by learning to produce her own. On Sat., Sept. 26, she’ll be playing an album r...
As she gears up to release her fifth record, Bolder Font, Annibale finds that she’s fallen back in love with music by learning to produce her own. On Sat., Sept. 26, she’ll be playing an album r...
The Mountain Goats rock Mr. Smalls by playing the hits (live review)
Without any opening act, the Mountain Goats again took the stage at Mr. Small’s Aug. 16 and delivered a set of 23 songs — probably .001% of lead singer-songwriter John Darnielle’s total output. After opening with “Layne Staley,” a fan yelled, “I love you,” to which Darnielle responded, “Thanks! This song is about a dead pornographer.”
As usual, the prolific, hyper-literate musician seemed to enjoy regaling the crowd with the songs’ particulars as much as he enjoyed performing them.
Which is wh...
As usual, the prolific, hyper-literate musician seemed to enjoy regaling the crowd with the songs’ particulars as much as he enjoyed performing them.
Which is wh...
Tommy James talks music and mobsters ahead of his appearance in Frederick
Tommy James talks music and mobsters ahead of his appearance in Frederick.
Quiet Time: Interview with Lowland Hum
C-VILLE Weekly is Charlottesville’s leading newspaper. Founded in 1989, it’s been the area’s local source for informative (and informed) stories in news, arts, and living for more than 26 years.
Support System: Interview with Ruston Kelly
C-VILLE Weekly is Charlottesville’s leading newspaper. Founded in 1989, it’s been the area’s local source for informative (and informed) stories in news, arts, and living for more than 26 years.
On New EP, Samantha Crain Delivers An Epilogue About Resilience
In 2020, Choctaw singer-songwriter Samantha Crain released A Small Death, a lush, indie folk album about surviving trauma and chronic pain. That album found both critical acclaim and a huge base of fans who fell in love with Crain’s elegant paean to survival. Now, the four-song I Guess We Live Here Now (out April 9, 2021) presents, as she says, an epilogue to that album, a glimpse into how reclaiming her power is shaping her life.
“Coming out of that really hard time that A Small Death catalogu
“Coming out of that really hard time that A Small Death catalogu
Katy Kirby Keeps the Faith on Debut LP Cool Dry Place
Asked to summarize the themes on her debut LP Cool Dry Place (out February 19 via Keeled Scales), singer-songwriter Katy Kirby says, “Failed attempts at connection, unspoken rules, care or preservation, learning how to take care of oneself and other people.” These ideas may seem abstract, as her lyrics sometimes are, but she has a gift for juxtaposing that vagueness with sharp, precise imagery. When this lyricism pairs with a tender, Sarah Harmer-esque lilt, the result is a smartly crafted set o
Lia Ices is Honestly Happy on the Mountain
In 2014, after Lia Ices released her third album Ices—her first time adorning her ethereal piano with electronic loops—she realized she needed to recommit to her intuition’s call. She took a break from recording and touring, but she hardly lay fallow. Instead, she got married and moved from New York to Sonoma, California’s Moon Mountain, where her husband, Andrew Mariani, co-owns Scribe Winery. They now have two young daughters, Una and Alice. On new record Family Album, released on Ices’ own Na
Fearlessly Multi-faceted Nadine Shah Leaves No Story Untold on Kitchen Sink
On her latest single “Trad,” Nadine Shah sings “Shave my legs/Freeze my eggs/Will you want me when I am old?” and it’s clear that Shah’s latest project tackles expectations put upon women.
Lauryn Peacock Muses on Memory with First Single in Five Years, "Coming Over Me Again"
“I loved digging into memory. It wasn’t intentional; memory just happened,” says Nashville-based singer-songwriter Lauryn Peacock of her time in quarantine.
Kate Bollinger Revisits Timeless Songs About Growing Up on A Word Becomes a Sound EP
In the 1966 Czech film Daisies, one character says, “You’re so earthly and yet so heavenly! You don’t belong in this century.” This movie, jam-packed with playful decadence, is a favorite of Charlottesville, VA singer-songwriter Kate Bollinger; having recently completed a degree in filmmaking as well, she plans to draw on the the film as inspiration for her first music video. The quote from Daisies apt, too: Bollinger balances down-to-earth songs with an angelic voice.
Melting Faces: An Interview with Jenny Owen Youngs
Chatting with the singer-songwriter about anger, Nick Drake, and melting faces.
Amy Speace and the Battles Within
“Someone once said to me if you want to write about the war, write about the soldier,” says singer-songwriter Amy Speace from her Nashville home.
Chelsea Wolfe finds songs in Carl Sagan and the Salton Sea - The Bay Bridged - San Francisco Bay Area Indie Music
Interview with Chelsea Wolfe about 2017 album Hiss Spun. Orig in Bay Bridge; resurrected with Wayback Machine.
Even An Ant Can Bite: DiS Meets Pussy Riot
In 2012, members of Russian art collective/punk rock band Pussy Riot entered Moscow’s Church of Christ the Savior. They performed a piece called ‘Mother of the Lord, Drive Putin Out’ (the whole event was known as “Punk Prayer”), which addresses manipulation and oppression by the Russian government. Their song did not condemn the Russian Orthodox Church as a religion so much as the way then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used the church as a tool of the state. (A translation and explication of the
“I’m like a bird building a nest”: DiS Meets The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs have always had a knack for making the gritty sound glorious. Throughout their career, they’ve made their name proffering a hybrid of soul and grunge, often centered around topics like seedy sex. Or, as is the case with 1996’s Black Love, seedy sex and murder, which they still managed to spin into an anthemic, steamy album. Their albums have also been populated with addiction, suicidality, depression, and the nastiness of the record industry.
Come Walk With Her: M.I.A. Interviewed
When M.I.A. released her fourth album, Matangi, in November 2013, no one was more surprised than the 38 year-old musician (and visual artist) herself. Though she had released the Grammy-nominated single and video 'Bad Girls', still unaccompanied by an album, she had no plans to make an album at all. But she found that her musical odyssey had not yet been fully charted and so released Matangi to positive critical reviews but an overall poor showing in sales.
Girl of the World: Dar Williams
“I thrive in relationships,” singer-songwriter Dar Williams told me. That comes as no surprise to anyone who’s had the pleasure of seeing Williams live. She is such a committed storyteller that her stage banter alone is worth the price of admission, and her warm openness is contagious to the audience. After shows, Williams is known for talking with fans, many of whom she recognizes on sight, and she animatedly discusses anything from their college choices to their writing careers.
This same foc
This same foc
Load More
Most of these interviews (including ones for PopMatters, The Rumpus, The Quietus, and Drowned in Sound). Consider showing your appreciation for my work by making a donation.