Posted in Uncategorized

Sean McConnell Delves Underneath on Career Highlight “Skin”

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Sean McConnell is deconstructing and rebuilding on “Skin,” his latest thoughtful, spiritually influenced work. He is unlearning to learn, maturing by finding a child within, and becoming a better man by being better to himself. He explained that in addition to some habit changes like no longer drinking, the largest changes he’s made involve self talk. “The greatest lie the devil tells/is that he is someone else/and we die swinging at a ghost/instead of looking in ourselves,” McConnell sings on perhaps his best lines on the album.

“I had to look inside of myself,” said McConnell.  “I’m the narrator of a lot of these paradigms I need to break. The whole game, whatever this is, is about darkness and light and balance. I’m just trying to figure that out for myself. The more you go inward, the more it speaks to everything else as well.”

Heaven is covered in skin, McConnell theorizes. Much like the devil, peace and love can be found within. It’s that beautiful idea that forms the basis of the rest of an album of searching and reconstruction. 

The journey begins on “Demolition Day.” It’s a song about exorcizing demons and rising from the grave and breaking curses. Despite those phrases, the song is uplifting and a celebration of newfound freedom. 

“The West Is Never Won” starts to explain what exactly comes after. “Make God a good and a bad guy/just so they always wonder,” he sings, rebuking the way certain strains of religion asks you to fear the embodiment of love itself. Classical education corrupts natural instincts, McConnell feels, urging the listener to keep their heart wild.

“I started writing that song to my daughter, and I think of her every time I sing it, but almost equally I came to find out I was singing to my inner child,” said McConnell. “Our naked soul born into this world is the untamed west and people and systems and ideas and self talk will try to tame you and suppress you. But we can tap into that. Your soul tells you right and wrong. It’s beautiful and untarnished.”

Not all souls tend toward the good, but the best word of McConnell’s idea is conscience. When kids are young enough, they’re unbothered by such things as peer pressure. As adults grow up, they may be able to follow their moral compass a bit more. The in between, the time when we’re both being molded to and trying to fit into some role in society, that can be a bit more murky.

“Southside of Forever” and “Older Now” are the most interesting mid-album songs. The former addresses a “contradiction” in McConnells material: many people living miserable and self-destructive lives will never change. That even McConnell can’t imagine a happy ending for these people — if not in this life but the next — speaks to a groundedness that many spiritual thinkers and bleeding hearts lack. The latter track is a pleasure because it sees McConnell imagining a full life of maturing and improving. It’s an understanding that love in your 20s is both more intense and less profound than anything you’ll feel in your 40s. 

The album ends on a delirious high note. “New Sons And Daughters” imagines a world without something similar to the concept of original sin. When McConnell sings the word “free,” he’s putting tremendous emotion behind it. There’s a sense of peace and yearning that’s hard to come by in almost any kind of media. McConnell described the recording session as being magical for him. He knew he nailed it. 

“There’s so much energy behind that word that has a lot to do with wanting it so badly and sometimes experiencing it but not enough,” said McConnell. It’s really hoping that’s true or trusting that’s true with the flickers of what you get to experience. [The] That song is sifting through this haze of all of the baggage — religion, things people said, ways I was raised — and asks at the bottom of that, is it love and benevolence and freedom? And I think it is.”

Modern society conditions us to be self-interested and overprotective. Generations before us have passed on some beautiful spiritual traditions, but they’ve also left us with cycles of war, deep inequalities, and 

McConnell describes himself as a spiritual dabbler, always looking for answers. 

“For better or for worse, it’s been an obsession of mine since I was a kid,” said McConnell. “It’s always in my music and it’s normally what I’m reading. It’s part of who I am. That search is insatiable and constant.” 

His explanation for what’s out there is unique and gorgeous. It’s a theme shared by many religions, one that perhaps touches on afterlife. A place we come from and a place we will one day find peace in again.

“When I go inward, I have some sort of trust or hope that as bad as the wave can be, we all return to the ocean,” said McConnell. “It doesn’t make the wave any less scary and fucked up and weird and unknowable, I just have faith that whatever that ocean is, that we get back there.”

For those who think intensely about the world, the notion that humanity could break its destructive patterns and live peacefully is just about the best dream we could ever live. For five minutes and 24 seconds, McConnell allows us to bask in the beauty of that notion with him. I’ve never been so glad a songwriter has freed a few tears from my eyes.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Sean McConnell and the songs we discussed, starting with Skin, which serves as a title track and thesis statement for the album. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.seanmcconnell.com for more.

Posted in On Air, Top Picks

Lily Talmers’ It’s Cyclical, Missing You Is Sharp, Probing Poetry

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Lily Talmers is a revelation on “It’s Cyclical Missing You.” In both her lyrics and performance, Talmers is intense, intelligent, and confrontational. She’s almost breathless at points. At moments, she’s scathing. Missing someone, some time, something, it’s exhausting. But Talmers shows it’s liberating, it’s revealing, it’s complicated.

We start with Talmers mourning a loss, “floating in a black ocean.” Her vocals are still relatively calm. She’s drawing her emotions from many places. 

“It’s both speaking to romantic relationships and the network of people you have one minute and is gone when you shift lifestyles,” said Talmers.“Having gone through the cycle of teaching in this really intense way and then closing it off, I’ve learned how it feels in retrospect feeling I could’ve done a better job being present with them.”

It’s when Talmers confronts her own role in these past relationships that the album is at its most emotional and compelling. Talmers directly confronts herself on some songs, always to powerful effect. On “I Missed You Today,” she’s waging war with her mental states past and present. “How I changed to earn your love./How come I did that for so long?,” Talmers asks herself. “Read my lips./You don’t miss/anyone at all,” Talmers tells herself, perhaps because it’s not quite true. The regret and the sense of loss are both real.

“You can indulge on either end,” said Talmers. “You can choose to repress the pain of memory by assuming that something was all bad, or you can idealize it and allow yourself to forget the bad parts of it. I think good writing takes responsibility in a way.”

Now when she sings “you don’t miss anyone at all,” Talmers feels she’s “extending an invitation to the audience” to join her in that freedom.

It’s in relatively few songs, “Man of Stone,” where Talmers truly explodes, though only in her mind. “I wanna shake you ’til you’re humble/I wanna sprinkle dust into your eyes/I wanna crack you til you crumble,” she sings. She actually shows him love and makes every effort to open him up, knowing it will fail and knowing she’ll have to leave. 

“How do you love someone who you feel you need to put so much work into educating how to love you back because they don’t even have the tools to even try?,” asked Talmers. “I oscillate between martyrdom and full generosity to that cause and then real anger and frustration.”

“You Can Do Whatever You Want To” is a standout moment on this album and an unexpectedly magnificent protest song. The options she offers at the beginning — a job at a factory, a demanding boss, a low grade hotel room — are less than appealing. There’s some illusion of choice, but it’s always going to involve barely staying afloat. The options she offers to the rich — malleable women, brazen destruction with no one to stop you — may sound more appealing to some while bringing out the moral horror in others. Even those living the American dream are causing someone else’s American nightmare. Between the lyrics and the strained vocals, this is the most cutting track of Talmers’.

“Being an American is a crazy thing full of wild paradoxes,” she said. “A lot of people I love really subscribe to the reasoning of the country and don’t have any grief over the way it behaves. It makes sense for me to communicate in a way that’s a little bit passive aggressive.”

In all the discussions of good and bad love and ways the world is messed up, Talmers produced a gem. “I don’t even know if I can claim to love people properly. But I think we’d be in a much better place if people thought that was a metric of importance.”

An old cliché of her father’s that states nothing is really that bad or that good makes for a sarcastic song in “The Big Idea.” Even after mocking the sentiment in song, Talmers can only manage to partially disavow it.

“Telling yourself anything that’s fundamentally true, you only half believe it,” said Talmers. “In these times especially, some things are really that bad. The song is trying to bring attention in a joking way to how things seem and really are often that bad.”

At the heart of all this missing and stressing, Talmers says there’s a question of faith.

“Do you understand that this moment is meant for you?,” Talmers asked. “Do you accept things as they are? Or are you going to try to force your reality onto it?” 

Based on the lyrics, it’s clear Talmers is still trying to decide. Toward the end of the album, she says that humans at their best are “beautiful and kind.” On the final song, she questions whether there’s truly any meaning to existence. A great, thoughtful album like this concluding with a bit of resolution and a bit of uncertainty seems like a fitting ending, if the album was meant to end at all. Including cyclical in the title of her album was no accident. Talmers intended her album to run in a circle, just like waves of grief that are only slightly more processed.

“Things don’t go away, but they’re going to be different on their next turn,”  said Talmers.

Perhaps this time, Talmers won’t try as hard to change others. Perhaps she’ll manage to change herself. Or, perhaps, she’ll do everything right just to wind up back again at track one. There are stages to this grief thing, after all.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Lily Talmers and the songs we discussed, starting with I Missed You Today, which explores the complicated grief that comes with missing someone who wasn’t particularly good for you. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.lilytalmers.com for more.

Posted in On Air

Barry Oreck Mines Nature and History For Lessons On We Were Wood

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Barry Oreck is grateful to be a part of the New York City folk community. The lower East side was once the center of the American folk movement and though Oreck spent most of his career as a dancer, he’s familiar with the tradition he’s carrying on.

“It’s just amazing to me, the breadth of it, the new music and old music,” said Oreck of the folk scene here. “Thankfully it has some young blood. There is a really building of a multigenerational community there, where I think for a while it was a bunch of us gray hairs talking about how great we did in the 60s.”

In many ways, We Were Wood feels like a work out of that time. For those who grew up on similar folk albums, the sounds and left-of-center themes will be comforting. The histories Oreck presents, whether it be the exploits of Robert Moses, the collateral damage of the Norris Dam, or tailors from Scotland, would’ve been fresher from a chronological standpoint in the 60s as well. 

There’s a reason we learn about history, however. In “Build Me A City,” Oreck sings of Moses: “He never was elected/how was he selected/to say what would be destroyed and what would be protected?” 

Sound familiar, anyone? 

Robert Moses might have taken the expression “move fast and break things” more literally with his demolition of neighborhoods, but Elon Musk seems to be doing very much the same thing with government agencies. 

“He definitely was a precursor of the Trump playbook and he did it excellently,” said Oreck. “He had the newspapers in his pocket, the bankers, they were all enjoying the largesse.”

Much of what Moses created is still being dealt with today. The glut of cars, underutilization of public transit, the paved over neighborhoods and farmland, and the very presence of Long Island’s endless suburbs. 

Some of it inarguably contributed to New York City being the largest urban center in America today. Many of the buildings that were knocked down would not be considered up to our standard of living today. And yet, there was a darkness to Moses’ vision. He had a knack for destroying majority minority neighborhoods.

Long Island mansions were spared even if the highways had to take a sharp turn to cover land owned by small farmers. Even public utilities like Jones Beach had a way of being exclusionary. 

“He designed the overpasses too low for city buses so you needed a private car,” said Oreck, noting the reasons behind that decision were well known even in Moses’ time.

The architects of the New Deal also draw Oreck’s ire for their creation of “The Norris Dam,” which was at the center of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Here too, Oreck talks about those left behind by progress and environmental destruction. 

“Snake Bones” is one song that finds anxiety in modern issues. Climates both political and meteorological are mentioned for their worsening. In this world, it pays to adapt. 

“Snakes are survivors,” said Oreck. “They find their way over and under and around. They have such meaning in terms of how to live on this planet. Finding solutions is a circuitous path; there’s no straight lines.” 

Oreck’s insights into the politics of our time are a bit different than mine. While I’ve spent my adult life adjusted to the idea of polarization and bitterness, Oreck remembers a time when things were different. 

“When the crisis comes we seem less likely to work together these days instead of go further into our tribes,” said Oreck. “In the 60’s I really believed that people could come together and solve it. Now the idea seems very distant to me.”

As always with these albums that address societal ills, a few songs that present a more positive vision go a long way. The title track describes natural decay in a way that reminds us of the value of change, recycling, and well balanced systems. “The Crabbit Wee Tailors of Forfar” focuses on the benefits of recycling and reuse and a culture that promotes those values. Oreck has a brother-in-law who comes from the Scottish region who often creates art from items like toilet paper rolls.

“He seemed like a perfect symbol of that,” said Oreck. “The Scots in general are known as frugal or thrifty or you could call it cheap. I felt like they were a perfect group to highlight what we need to do. We can’t keep throwing everything away. We need to reuse and repair.”  

On an island largely designed by Robert Moses, it might be hard to imagine a more organic way of life. Yet it may ultimately prove more painful not to adapt.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Barry Oreck and the songs we discussed, starting with Build Me A City, which tells the story of Robert Moses, the controversial power broker of mid century New York. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://barryoreckmusic.com for more.

Posted in Uncategorized

Jett Holden Draws Beauty From The Darkest Places On “The Phoenix”

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Few songwriters are truly at expressing strong emotions with powerful and specific words. Few singers in roots music can sell those lines with the flare of a rockstar and the sincerity of an actor. Jett Holden seems born to do both.

The fact that we even have The Phoenix is a bit of a miracle. Holden had stepped away from music before deciding to give it one last serious try.

“I didn’t want to, but at the same time I knew I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t take the chance at least,” said Holden. “I’m grateful. I’ve gained a lot of community over the last four years since Black Opry was incepted.”

Holden’s debut album is a display of powerful, emotional songwriting on both the political and the personal. It features the unapologetic perspective of a queer Black man from the American South. It deals with both trauma and inspiration. He rhymes corpses and forceps. It even has lines like “if you think karma is a bitch then the truth is you may be a bitch yourself.”

When we spoke, Holden was pleased that I zeroed in on so many of his lyrics, describing them as his favorite part of the songwriting experience. He spoke as though sharing intense feelings and trauma was an easy thing for him.

“Writing’s the way I got through so much of my life,” said Holden. “Sharing it helps me feel like I’m helping someone else.”

The album can be divided between the fun and the intensely personal. “Karma,” featuring one of Nashville’s most visible allies in Cassadee Pope, is catty pop perfection. “Necromancer” and “Scarecrow,” which has fun with Wizard of Oz characters at an opportune time, get a serious point across but are more clever than impactful.

Then there are the tracks that hit like a truck.

Holden chooses to lead the album with “Taxidermy,” one of the most defiant political anthems in recent history. He calls out racism, police brutality, homophobia, and the empty posts of so-called allies before a pivoting to a third act sung directly to the sorts of people who are impacted by the hurricane that is American culture in the Trump era. 

“There was a lot of talk,” Holden said of our social media feeds in 2020. “There were a lot of faces on Facebook walls, but there wasn’t a lot of action behind those words.” 

He went on to explain that many people who posted a black square for a profile picture went on to vote for someone determined to stamp out Black history. 

“It felt like it could’ve been me at any moment,” Holden said of “Taxidermy.” “I was living in Northeast Tennessee at the time, which isn’t always the best to queer people or people of color. There was like one gay bar I could go to and I would hear the n-word out the window just trying to walk to the grocery store.”

The words of inspiration at the end of the song and the verse about a queer teen committing suicide are painful reminders that it’s not only the bigots who need to be convinced that other groups deserve to exist. 

“It’s kind of heavy handed, but it felt appropriate,” said Holden. “It felt like a cool opportunity to say something, but also leave people with a hopeful message at the end.”                                                                        

There are songs that go to even darker places. And yet, they’re all strangely hopeful.

“Perfect Storm” is Holden’s description of being in an abusive relationship and needing to get out before it ended in violence. He describes being struck with fists and discovering a gun. Incredibly, he admits contemplating an act of violence himself. “I am not a lamb to the slaughter/I have heard the banshees cry his name,” he sings.

“I had been in a controlling relationship and I feared for myself a lot,” Holden said. “It was the first time I saw what it was that kept people in abusive relationships and I was the person who couldn’t escape it. That song was me trying to pull myself out of that mindset.”  

As painful as the experiences in “Perfect Storm” are, it could be vital for someone else in the situation to hear how Holden managed to escape.

The song became a rock-laced piano ballad that saw Holden’s most powerful vocal performance. When it comes to emotional performances, Holden is as sincere as they come. 

“A lot of these songs are lived experiences,” said Holden. “It’s not difficult to pull from that in that sense. It’s more so about getting comfortable on stage. That was the difficult part.”

“When I’m Gone,” featuring Emily Scott Robinson in another stellar backing vocal performance, also came into existence for a tragic reason: Holden lost a friend to suicide and decided to write the note that she hadn’t. Holden experienced depression himself, so this had to be a difficult song to write. The result is almost unimaginably comforting for the reader of the note. “I know you believe in Heaven/but I believe in souls/they all have to go somewhere/and mine’s tethered to yours,” wrote Holden. Graces like a happy hereafter and a continuing love story are extended to the dead and their partner. It’s no happy ending, but anything that can dull the pain at that point is welcome.

The last truly spectacular song on the album is the title track of sorts. “West Virginia Sky” literally tells the story of the sun and a dying phoenix, but it’s truly about a husband losing his wife. The natural imagery is stunning and Holden’s soaring vocals match the moment. My only criticism is that it’s almost too gorgeous to register as the only truly bleak song on the record.

“I used to help my mom take care of my grandma,” said Holden. “She has Alzheimer’s and I watched that process. People deal with that all the time being caregivers for their family.”

It’s the perspective of the husband that makes the song so difficult to stomach. He’s watching his wife fade. He’s watching his relationships with his children fade.

“Soon he’ll reach supernova and his time will come, but what will be left of everything after he’s gone,” Holden asked. “A lot of times people say life is short, but life feels so long sometimes. Especially when they’re dealing with trauma or loss.” 

If one phoenix is the dying wife, and another is the title of the album, Holden admits to feeling like a third. His return to music was more than a career choice. 

“It was not just about giving up on dreams,” said Holden. “It was about not giving up on yourself. Your life is precious. The best thing you could do is fight for yourself and fight for other people following in your shoes.”

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Jett Holden and the songs we discussed, starting with “Taxidermy,” which is both a scathing protest song and a love letter to the marginalized. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.missingpiecegroup.com/jett-holden for more.

Photo credit Kai Lendzion.

Posted in On Air, Top Picks

The Delines Find Hope And Pain Through Characters on the Margins on Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Sean Baker recently won four Oscars and the Palme D’Or for Anora, a tragicomic love story between a stripper and a wealthy Russian heir. He’s gained a cult following over the years for making films about people on the margins and finally broke into the mainstream with his finest work yet.

Willy Vlautin of The Delines was quite touched when I compared his work to Baker’s. Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom is an award-worthy masterpiece that represents the pinnacle of Vlautin’s career. Lead singer Amy Boone takes on the Mikey Madison role as the star giving that makes it all work. She also pushed Vlautin to write a few happier songs, something that made this project particularly special. All tragedy all the time is not as enjoyable to listen to, nor is it the most accurate representation of even most harder lives.

“I want a love story once in a while, I want a song where nothing bad happens,” Vlautin recalls Boone saying. 

In the form of the title track, he delivers. Like most Vlautin characters, Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom have their scars. Unlike many others, they’re treated to copious amounts of sex and happily ever after. 

“I guess it fell apart from there,” Vlautin admits. There are some fantastic love songs on the rest of the album, but always with a tragic edge. And there are songs with happy endings, but the characters have to go through hell to get there. But all the stories feel plausible and lived in. Aside from the villains, all these rough and tumble characters are written with love and respect. They’re meant to be rooted for.

“Her Ponyboy” stands out as the saddest song on the record for just those reasons. The two lovers are given a long, winding back story and a determination to travel together that seems more grand than foolish in Vlautin’s telling. So when one of them passes from an overdose, especially following that happy love song, it’s a gut check.

“A lot of the imagery comes from Portland,” Vlautin said. “Portland has an immense amount of young people living on the streets. You can’t help but to have that soak in to what you’re working on.”

The length and complexity of his characters stories are exceptional even in the world of roots music.

“I write novels for a living,” said Vlautin, who has several books to his name. “Amy will want to throw me out of a window half the time. Heck, my old band Richmond Fontaine practically did throw me out a window for writing such long story songs.”  

Songs like that may not be particularly commercially viable, but neither is country-tinged soul. If The Delines are going to produce a niche sound, they might as well aim for high art in their lyrics. Not many lyricists are more capable.

Vlautin’s devotion to his subject matter comes from personal experience. Many of his friends and the people he worked with in his youth either once were homeless, became homeless, or both. 

“I grew up in Reno,” Vlautin said. “At the time it was a town with a big segment of drifters, a lot of folks living out of motels. It was never lost on me how close it was from where I was living to maybe ending up in a motel. I’ve always written out of both romanticism and fear. I could’ve ended up like any of these characters. I possibly still could.” 

Part of what makes Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom such an enjoyable record is the hard won victories many of its women achieve. In “Left Hook Like Frazier,” a woman who’s survived a lot gives advice to younger women on the types of men to avoid. “JP and Me” shows a relationship that slowly soured, but the woman manages to get away and he begins showing signs of instability.“Nancy and the Pensacola Pimp” puts Nancy through a lot, but she certainly has her revenge. Same with the main character in “Sitting on the Curb.” “Maureen’s Gone Missing,” a song in which Maureen would certainly be in mortal danger, comes across as comparatively lighthearted and fun.

“I did that for Amy,” said Vlautin. “We both grew up with grifter movies. There’s a lot of grifters in this record. She said ‘Can’t a woman just get away with the money? Like really get away. And don’t kill her.’”

Vlautin did a great job not killing the women of Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom, but he was right not to listen to Boone too much about those happy endings. One character gets two songs and a story that’s less exciting than unjust. Somehow, it hits the hardest.

The tone of “Don’t Miss Your Bus Lorraine” doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the album. Oddly, this is a good thing. It’s the one song where the empathy and straight up storytelling Vlautin has shown himself to be capable of vanishes. In its place is the voice of society treating a released felon harshly. It’s telling her she can’t or shouldn’t make it. It’s emphasizing the pressure of every little action for a person on parole. In speaking to Lorraine that way, Vlautin gives his listeners the chance to be spoken to that way. It’s a completely brilliant detour that generates sympathy from a lack of showing it. And somehow the track also shows the life of a marijuana convict coming out to discover the world has had a complete change in attitude toward the drug but not her.

A few tracks later, when it comes time to close the album, The Delines revisit Lorraine’s story. “Don’t go into that house Lorraine” are the only lyrics. The music is slow and forbodding. Boone’s voice is exhausted and hopeless. After a few stories where the woman comes out unscathed, Vlautin throws us back into the harsh realities of life on the margins. 

“You’re not sure if she’s going to go in or not,” said Vlautin. “Amy’s voice kind of hints at what’s going to happen. She’s like an actress in a way. But it leaves that hope.” 

At that point, Vlautin started speaking to his character: “Lorraine I know it’s hard, just don’t miss your bus. Maybe you’ll get a raise, maybe you’ll get a better job, maybe you won’t end up living by a freeway your entire life.”

Despite having written the album, Vlautin insists he’s not sure of the outcome.

“You don’t know if the women in any of these situations make it through,” said Vlautin. “Half the characters will give in and will go into that house, you’re just not sure which ones.”

Ultimately, for Vlautin and his characters, it’s not clear whether it’s life imitating art or vice versa. 

“If she makes it, I’ll make it,” Vlautin said of Lorraine. “And if she doesn’t make it, then that means I’m not doing so good in my personal life.”

Vlautin thinks it’s quite possible Lorraine will walk into that house but immediately realize that it’s not the right place for her. Perhaps Boone isn’t the only one in the band hoping for the Hollywood ending. Together, they’re worthy of the Oscar.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Willy Vlautin and the songs we discussed, starting with Her Ponyboy, which Vlautin picked as his favorite on the album. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.thedelines.com for more.

Posted in On Air

Country/Comedy Hybrid Band The Doohickeys Are A Surprisingly Thoughtful Riot

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

They made their way to Los Angeles to study comedy. They accidentally formed a country band. Haley Spence Brown and Jack Hackett of The Doohickeys have proven to be quite gifted in both realms.

The Doohickeys perform real country music while taking shots at tropes of the genre and pains of rural living. But they do it in a way that’s often loving and always healthy. Unbelievably, a song discussing ‘truck size’ turns into an opportunity to promote male body positivity and healthy sexual goals. It’s bold, unique, and funny. And it allows men to be satisfied with their appearance “as long as my lady gets to where she is going.”

“When we wrote it, we weren’t even really a band. We wrote it for sketch comedy,” said Hackett. “People have this machismo manly persona in country music. Very rarely do we talk about our insecurities.”

Shockingly, they originally planned for “I Wish My Truck Was Bigger” to be a slower song. It could’ve been ugly.

“You can’t do a real sad song about that,” Hackett added. “You have to laugh at it. I’m shocked at the number of deep dives there have been on this song. I thought people would just glaze over it but I’m happy about it.” 

There’s an important line in the song “This Town Sucks” that sums up their gentle touch: “I know I say I hate it here/but it made me who I am/so I can say it’s crap/but don’t think that means you can.” 

A few targets — an aggressive man at the bar, televangelists, and faux populist politicians — take a direct hit. But for the most part, The Doohickeys are laughing at themselves and celebrating things like Jack’s beat up truck and Haley’s hero of a father.

Hackett is from the Atlanta area while Brown comes from the rural Liberty, Missouri. 

“I think every mainstream country artist has a song about their small town and this is ours,” Brown said. 

While they aren’t aiming for mainstream country success, there’s plenty of commentary and discussion with the genre. One of the characters they take a less than kind view on in the title track is a country star from Seattle who fakes a Southern drawl. 

“I would argue that the vast majority of people from where I’m from are tired of musicians who pretend to be country,” said Brown. “They’re tired of politicians who pretend to be populists.”

Brown’s solution to the problem is hilarious and, considering her background in comedy, shockingly brilliant. 

“Have Congress work as a jury pool where we just randomly pull people to serve for two years,” Brown explained. “Cause it can’t be crazier than it is now.”

The pair were shocked how much love their song has gotten on both sides of the aisle, even as it took aim at mostly conservative leaning figures. 

“If you’re a televangelist, maybe just let us know what your net worth is, Hackett said. “Or maybe be taxed.”

What’s shocking is how good and meaningful one of their less comedic songs is. It tells the true story of Brown’s father, a lawyer who defends farmers against any governmental body looking to exercise eminent domain.

“My dad’s awesome,” Brown said. “I wanted to sit down and write a song that was authentically me but inspired by Dolly Parton.”

The song sounds quite a bit like Parton wrote and performed it. And compared to the subjects of “All Hat, No Cattle,” it’s a reminder of what a real populist hero looks like. It’s a man who left a job foreclosing on farms to defend the little guy who just wants to remain in his home.

“He saw what they were doing,” Brown explained. “He really wanted to get an inside view on their operations.”

Brown’s love for Parton runs deep. She received viral acclaim for an online audition to play Parton in a musical production. It just so happened she recorded it as the band fled Los Angeles during the recent wildfires. Brown doesn’t look much like Parton, but she absolutely has the voice and soul to perform her music. 

“It was a really nice positive moment in a really scary week,” she said.

There are some unhinged moments on the album that deliver on the promise of comedy. “Please Tell Me You’re Sleepin’” truly goes in an unexpected and hilarious direction. “Too Ugly To Hitchhike” is a good concept but perhaps a few decades too late. 

But most of the laughs come on songs like “I Don’t Give A Damn About Football.” A little comic exaggeration on a common but under discussed problem among country music fans — in this case a man more focused on football than his wife — and a couple of lines of observational humor, and you have a Doohickeys song. It’s solid blue collar humor that doesn’t resort to cruelty. Somehow, this occasionally raunchy album is one of the more unique and wholesome things you’ll hear in 2025. It’s just a beautiful thing that this project exists.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Haley and Jack and the songs we discussed, starting with This Town Sucks, which both roasts and stands up for small town living. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.thedoohickeysband.com for more.

Posted in Uncategorized

John Depew Asks The Biggest Questions And Finds Simple Answers On The Near Perfect “Bell of Hope”

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Progressive bluegrass is a genre all its own. The arrangements and movements are dazzling, complex, and imaginative. The lyrics, on many songs, feel like an afterthought. 

John Depew has the movements and the picking talent required to swim in the deep waters of the genre. He also has existential questions and hard won convictions about a few simple things that are important in life. His racing mind and the busy instrumentation swirl together on Bell of Hope. The result is strange and beautiful. It’s an album that features dozens on questions and maybe a handful of answers that somehow manages to satisfy. Phones ring. Eons pass. The natural world reveals its secrets. 

Put simply, Depew’s first full album is a magnificent high point in a genre that’s been too long stagnant and in awe of Chris Thile and jam bands. Depew’s voice sounds a lot like Thile’s, and the mandolin work isn’t quite at that level, but he thinks so much more deeply. 

“I’m maybe pathologically philosophical,” Depew explained when we spoke.

His first track, “Whale,” is about diving deep into his art as a way of life and a means of him supporting himself. He described the biblical imagery as familiar in his midwestern surroundings and said that while he tried to get on the phone with God in the song, his spiritual beliefs are more complex than the lyrics would suggest.

“When I use the word God, I’m talking about something quite a bit vaguer. I’m talking about whatever the creative force in the universe that makes everything happen,” said Depew. “There’s a certain idea in Christianity of God being this bearded dude. This person in the sky looking down on us with human-like thoughts going through his head. That’s not really what I mean, but I don’t really know what I mean.”

Regardless of who answered, Depew decided to climb inside the metaphorical whale. 

“It’s kinda freaking terrifying to leave a stable life and try to be a musician instead,” said Depew. “It’s a stupid thing to do. There’s a huge unknown, but I feel like I have to do this thing. There’s a place for me in this world, but I’m going to have to throw myself into it.”

Depew’s theory of life slowly becomes more apparent throughout the album. Nature is a source of inspiration and grounding, while natural history is proof of a greater plan.

“Anywhere you are in nature you can have a spiritual experience just by looking around,” said Depew. “I think it’s really important to recognize that although in a lot of cases it doesn’t always feel like it, humans 1000% are part of nature.” 

Birds in particular symbolize something important. He borrowed a concept from a Mary Oliver poem when he sang “They claim ownership of nothing/that’s the reason they can fly” on “Lesson.” 

“It’s very difficult for me to relinquish the concept of ownership as a white midwestern man from an agricultural society,” said Depew. “I really liked that idea when I read that in her poetry. The idea that freedom comes from letting go of the baggage that is our dominion over the world and letting ourselves exist.”

The swarming questions fade in the title track as some kind of answer emerges. Over the course of 12 minutes, Depew takes us through the history of the universe from the Big Bang to the emergence of human life. In the face of such a massive backstory, Depew feels as though ringing the “Bell of Hope” is all humankind can do. That can take several forms.

“The only thing I think I can really do is treat my wife and my kids with reverence and make meaningful connections with other people,” Depew said. “I think sitting in my bedroom thinking on these questions isn’t really going to do anything.” 

And yet in my case, it was all that questioning that sparked the connection. Depew saw our 40 minute conversation on topics ranging from the fabric of the universe to the strange rationals for genocide as another ring of that bell. 

“I could’ve written a 12 minute song about chasing tail in the bar and we wouldn’t have had this conversation,” said Depew. “In some ways ringing the bell of hope is just getting up every morning and trying to be a nice person.”

The last track, a celebration of good roots music, is a fitting way to close an album like this. “Joyful Sound” remarks on the way music can help us through hard times. Times are hard, but art like this is a powerful medicine. And the way Depew arrives at fairly traditional values through complex questioning of the world around him is decidedly refreshing. Even for radically different minds, time with loved ones is a common salve.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with John Depew and the songs we discussed, starting with Whale, which is one of many songs on which John respectfully uses Christian imagery despite having more complicated beliefs. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://johndepewmusic.wordpress.com for more.

Posted in On Air

Mallory Chipman Sends Out A Mournful, Loving Prayer On “Songs To A Wild God”

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Mallory Chipman would love for you to come see the gorgeous wild plains of her homeland of Alberta. 

“Part of me has always thought that if folks could see it with their own eyes, they would feel the same way I do about this place being sacred and worth protecting,” said Chipman. “We as humans are part of this nature. We as humans are nature protecting itself when we take action.” 

On Songs To A Wild God, Chipman expands on her activism and spiritual connection to nature to create one of the more moving albums focused on environmentalism. The plea she makes is beautiful, multifaceted, and dire. It also regularly mentions waking up to the fact that there’s a problem. Recent summers have done that for Chipman, as wildfire smoke from British Colombia or even a national park in Alberta have made her skies hazy. One of her friends even became a climate refugee after losing her home and instruments to a wildfire.

“Most folks have work life balance and daily patterns they need to uphold just to get by. It can be really easy to let some of these collective responsibilities fall to the side, which I have a lot of empathy for,” said Chipman. “Until we have seen the destruction, we often don’t realize we’re capable of it. Sometimes we’re reminded that things are more dire than we think.”

“Saltwater Tears” underlines that urgency and hints at the album’s title with an encounter with a street preacher. He is predicting the end of the world and Chipman agrees, though not for the religious reasons he’d expect. “We’ve been praying to the wrong God the whole damn time,” she sings.

“Old Man River” hints at this conversion. In describing a decaying ecosystem, Chipman sings “I ask myself why didn’t I care until now,” hinting strongly that it’s too late in this case. 

Chipman benefits from a clear voice with a range that reaches to the skies. Though she’s tended toward indie rock thus far in her career, she’s a natural fit for folk music like this. The high notes she hits on tracks like “Sing Me Home” are impressive and sound a bit like birdsong. That, of course, feels right at home on an album like this.

“Mystic Time” is the one song on the album not rooted in nature and tells an extraordinary story of Chipman first discovering her heritage. Her father, who was adopted, did not discover where he came from until later in his life. Chipman sings of familiarizing herself with a culture and the hole in her history that was suddenly filled. On an album that serves as a warning call, a happy story is welcome. 

“Same Hands” is a standout both for its dreamy sound and the loss of innocence story it tells. It follows a young Chipman exploring her natural surroundings, picking lilies and bringing frogs home from the creek.

“I’ve always found a lot of kinship with these creatures. It was this innocent perspective of looking for friendship. Unfortunately, the next day they were belly up in their aquarium,” said Chipman. “I realized I can do as much damage as I can do good. As adults, that’s still true.” 

Chipman acknowledges that in an age of short attention spans, helping the environment can be a difficult concept to grasp. She points to her work removing invasive species near her home as an example of one of the speedier ways to make progress.

“You’re able to very quickly see when you come back the next summer how much more room there is for native plants. Even that, when I say it’s a shorter term thing, that’s a year away,” said Chipman.“We’re so used to instant gratification. The results are going to look different than that. Hopefully that’s not too discouraging.”

The album ends with an appreciative song about time spend in the wild and that invitation to Alberta. There are dire warnings on this album, but Chipman preferred to end it on notes of joyful reverence. It’s a leap of faith that people could be inspired to truly change, but for Chipman, the natural world and faith are quite intertwined

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Mallory Chipman and the songs we discussed, starting with Saltwater Tears, which deals with themes as heavy as the end times and Earth crying. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.mallorychipmanmusic.com for more.

Posted in On Air

Hannah Juanita Sings About Her Passion For Music Like A Tennessee Songbird

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

“Whether we listen or not, the songbird sings,” goes the refrain on the title track of Hannah Juanita’s Tennessee Songbird. They’re words the singer understands: her sophomore album is a true love letter to music and performance and a recognition that they form the core of her identity. Her earnest words stand out even among the thousands of artists I’ve listened to for the show. When she chose to cover “Mother Country Music,” it was because of a sincere gratitude to the genre.

“It was very consoling and really changed my life and gave me a lot direction and peace that I hadn’t had before,” Juanita said.

Her song original song, “Peace of Mind,” celebrates that living a hard life on the road has given her a sense of wholeness that she wouldn’t trade for all the creature comforts of a stable home life. 

“I don’t know what else I would do anyway,” Juanita said. “It comes with the struggles but so does everything. A lot of this record is me coming to terms with that this is what I’m doing and accepting the challenges.”

Her decision to stick to a traditional country sound and forgo attempts at making waves in Nashville is just part of that inner peace. 

“I don’t feel like I’m trying to make it big,” Juanita said, emphasizing her commitment to the music. “I want to have a long career and I want to be financially viable and keep the show going.”

The financial and logistical struggles didn’t bear much mentioning to Juanita, but she does find social media uncomfortable and balance tough to find.

“You are supposed to be putting yourself out there constantly, daily,” she said. It’s not like it used to be where people did radio interviews and shows. It’s constant. “The type of person that’s an artist, you need to go inward and you need to close off to the world to recharge and get inspired and make your art and hone your craft.”

There might not be a solution there, but she found a truly beautiful one to avoiding the alcoholism and unbalanced lifestyle of the road.

“I bring my dog when I can,” Juanita said. “That forces us to plan ahead and get to the park or get to the lake and run around or go swimming. That’s build in outside time. It keeps me grounded.” 

Not every song talks about passion for music, but every song shows it. “Blue Moon” and “Loose Caboose” feel like tributes to classic country, though very different varieties. But it’s the much more original “Granny’s Cutlass Supreme” that feels like a classic. 

The song tells the story of an older woman with a nice car and a few bad habits. In an inexplicable stroke of genius, Juanita chose to duet with Riley Downing and his distinct, nearly impossibly low voice. Her and the Deslondes performer make a unique pair, but there’s no way this song was meant to be conventional. In a genre of tight jeans and dirt roads and trucks, a grandma in a bikini with a classic car is a fresh spin that gently pokes fun at cliches while somehow receiving the benefit of featuring those cultural touchstones.

“Granny is a wild woman,” Juanita said. “She has country livin’ wisdom that she wants to share with the world. People often get overlooked in their older age, but I think it’s cool that granny is still kicking it.”

Personally, I think this particular woman would be hard to overlook. Still, the standout song on the album is “Fortune.” Juanita portrays the concept of fortune as an ex who rightfully left her. 

It’s about “looking back over your life and decisions and choices and feeling like at one point you had fortune on your side and maybe it doesn’t feel that way anymore,” Juanita explained. 

The execution is gorgeous as are the female harmonies. Out of all the tracks on this album, it sounds the most like it’s performed by songbirds. Anyone who can write and sing like this, much like Granny, should not be overlooked.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Hannah Juanita and the songs we discussed, starting with Fortune, which is a like a breakup song, but with a concept. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://hannahjuanita.com for more. Photo Credit Emily Danielle Jones.

Posted in Uncategorized

Bryant Roses Is Grateful For His Domestic Life, However Fleeting The Moments May Be

Posted on by Trevor from WUSB

Most of the musicians I’ve interviewed on this show spend significant portions of the year on the road. A recent guest noted she played 160 shows in 2024 and immediately acknowledged it was a bit much. Bryant Roses is not one of those musicians. He works a day job and wouldn’t trade the road for the time he gets to spend with his three kids. 

The result is the type of album few touring musicians could produce. He dives fully into the small world of his home. Gardening takes center stage on a few songs. He documents the internal struggles and joys associated with raising kids like only someone fully involved in doing so can. 

“I like my domestic life and if that means sacrificing some of the potential success I’d have, I think that’s fine,” he said. 

He’s always enjoyed writing music and has used social media promotion as a way of sidestepping the touring. On his song “Small Star,” he celebrates the time he gets to spend with his wife as a result of his choice. He acknowledges that few will hear his music, but prefers that to being a bright shooting star. “We won’t burn out that easily,” he says.

“There’s a whole sea of small stars thanks to social media,” Roses said. “Anyone can make a song and have a million people listen to it and that’s more accessible to more people. Aside from all the pitfalls of social media, I do think there’s something beautiful about being able to make more artists.”

Artistry is something important to Roses, who has always been something of a songwriter. He started posting covers on social media and releasing new music in part to promote the idea that anyone can participate in something beautiful. 

“One of the reasons I started to pursue it again is for my kids,” Roses said. “It’s something that’s always been a big part of my life and it had taken a little bit of a back seat. But I really wanted to show my kids that you can pursue a creative life if you have a day job or aren’t living the life of a touring musician.”

The day job doesn’t get much mention, but the time with his kids certainly does. They’re the center of his world and he’s looking to make the most of his time with them. 

“Being a parent, you’re confronted with these moments of meaning that are so deep and so profound, but at the same time so fleeting,” Roses said. “The day to day life that may seem mundane are actually the kind of moments I want to stand in front of more fully and not just let them slip by.” 

“Hallelujah” is the closest he comes to complaining. There’s still plenty of appreciation, but the little difficulties get mentioning here. The title praise comes at the notion that eventually, he’ll get some sleep. This album is so noble and pure when it comes to parenting and love, so a little humor and realism goes a long way in making it relatable.

Gardening is a major part of the album, though the songs aren’t quite about maintaining a garden. In “Baby Redbud,” Roses is marveling at the experience of watching something under his care grow. It’s gorgeous to hear him sing about helping the tree through the winter and heartbreaking when he arrives at the eventuality that comes with being a parent: “I don’t want to leave but I got to.” In his telling, nurture is like watering a plant and pruning is a bit like stepping in when the kids are acting up.

“Exactly when it crosses the line gets pretty blurry when you have a bunch of boys laughing, and then wrestling, and then it gets a little too much,” Roses said. 

Echoing his father’s words, he noted that his role was changing as his kids got older: “As your kids age, the problems require a little bit less immediate attention but they get more complicated.”

The gardening metaphor extends to the internal struggles. Roses compares the early childhood years to a winter inside. 

“You’re focusing on keeping this small baby safe and fed and you just turn inwardly for an amount of time, Roses said. “When they grow up you slowly start to emerge into the world.” 

It’s not a coincidence then that he ends the album on a song called “In The Weeds” that marks going back into the world and the need to work on himself again. But that neat ending comes with a bit of a catch. At the time of our interview, the Roses had just brought their newborn third child home.

Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Bryant Roses and the songs we discussed, starting with Baby Redbud, which turns gardening into a bittersweet reflection on parenting. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Tuesday at 12pm on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://bryantroses.comfor more.