Above The Basement - Boston Music And Conversation

Indie electronic trio CONTACT with Matt Rhoades, Austin Bryant and John Mellino sat with us to talk about their dark, melodic orchestral pop with an '80s post-punk influence. CONTACT's sound blends infections hooks, hauntingly beautiful compositions, and stadium sized energy. They just released the first single Gravekeeper off their upcoming album and they are nominated for two 2017 Boston Music Awards, including Electronic Artist of the Year' and Pop Artist of the Year.   Song List: Song 1: DYK Song 2: Blood Drive Song 3: Killing Mine Song 4: Gravekeeper

We sat around a very tiny table in the art room of a local school with the Grammy nominated and chart topping band The Fray. The Fray’s debut album, How to Save a Life in 2005 was certified double platinum and they have had numerous other hits including Over My Head (Cable Car), You Found Me and enough other great songs to have them come out with a compilation album last year called Through the Years: The Best of the Fray. We talked with Isaac Slade, Joe King, Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki just before they went on stage for The Umbrella Community Arts Center concert series. They are all really wonderful guys and we had a great talk. Song List: Song 1: How To Save A Life - from How To Save A Life Song 2: Over My Head (Cable Car) - from How To Save A Life Song 3: You Found Me - from The Fray

Julie Rhodes began singing in front of audiences only a few years ago and has taken Boston by storm. Her debut album Bound To Meet The Devil has garnered rave reviews for her beautiful, soulful voice and she has wowed enough people with her live performances to get 5 Boston Music award nominations, including Live Artist of the Year, Unsigned Artist of the Year, Americana Artist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and a shared nomination for Music Video of the Year with STL GLD, Dutch ReBelle and Tigerman WOAH. She also just received Musician of The Year for 2017 from Improper Bostonian Magazine, so she may need a bigger mantle to hold all her awards by the end of the year. Song List: All songs from Bound To Meet The Devil Song 1: Collector Man Song 2: Hey Stranger Song 3: Skyscraper Blues Song 4: Holes

Singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Kris Delmhorst sat with us at Club Passim and talked about recording her new album The Wild, her upcoming tour, her dreams of having a porch to play guitar on with her musician husband Jeffrey Foucault (who co-produced the new album with her) and whether or not to sing with your eyes open or closed. Yup - we talked about that. The wonderful Rose Polenzani co-hosted. Rose is a singer-songwriter as well and the host of the roving band of musicians Sub Rosa. She has also sung on some of Kris’s past recordings including a Cars cover album that Kris did back in 2011. Song List: Song 1: All The Way Around (The Wild) Song 2: Hollow (The Wild) Song 3: The Light In The Hall (The Wild) Song 4: You Might Think (Cars) Live songs: I Don't need To Know It All and Lonely West (The Wild)

Singer-songwriter and teacher at Berklee College of Music, Susan Cattaneo switched gears towards a life in music after finding a sign in the cracks of a sidewalk (there's a song in there somewhere). She then took the big leap to join the amazing music community of songwriters in Boston. A well respected songwriter with numerous awards for her music, her songs have been described as "New England Americana with a twang." She has just released her latest album The Hammer and the Heart. Jonathan Beakley guest hosts. Song List: All songs from The Hammer & The Heart Song 1: The River Always Wins (featuring Mark Erelli) Song 2: In The Grooves (featuring Bill Kirchen) Song 3: Fade To Blue (featuring Nancy Beaudette) Song 4: Work Hard Love Harder (live) Song 5: Field Of Stone (live)

Alyssa is the founder of Lysten Boston and has been booking, promoting and developing Boston bands and artists since 2014.  This is the second year in a row she has been nominated for the Boston Music Awards Promoter of the Year. She also works for PledgeMusic - an online direct-to-fan music platform that helps connect musicians to their fanbase. She is the primary booker for The Plough and Stars in Cambridge and recently produced the Tremont Takeover event at The Wang Center and she currently has a fantastic roster of musicians, including Radclyffe Hall, Le Roxy Pro, Cruel Miracle and Ed Balloon. Song List: Song 1:   Cruel Miracle - Do You Owe Me from Manifesto Song 2:   Ed Ballon - Bounce Back from Yellow 20-Somethings Song 3:   Radclyff Hall - Rather Be from Ghosts Song 4:   Le Roxy Pro - Bushkill from the self titled Album  

We made a trip up to Burlington, VT and ventured to the home of Ryan Miller, the Accidental Ambassador of the great state of VT. Maybe you ran into Ryan in an apple orchard in Vermont, or possibly downtown Burlington. Perhaps you’ve heard him on the radio as lead singer and guitarist in the acclaimed group Guster. Ryan has built a career in scoring for film and also hosts a PBS TV show aptly called Makin' Friends with Ryan Miller, where he travels the state of Vermont speaking with “high functioning weirdos.” We discovered that Ryan is a creative force in many ways when he kindly invited us to his home for a great conversation. In this episode we include new songs from his upcoming film scores that are pretty amazing. See song list below: Song one:     Moving In - Tig soundtrack Song two:     One Man Wrecking Machine - Guster Song three:   Road Trip - The Fundamentals of Caring soundtrack Song four:    Goodbyes - Tig soundtrack Song five:     This Is The Only Time We Have - The Fundamentals of Caring soundtra

While touring as a rock drummer for Vermont's own Waylon Speed, Justin had a crazy idea: to manufacture vinyl records. In three years he has produced thousands of unique records riding the vinyl wave in Burlington, VT. The Burlington Record Plant is a labor of love and without any initial experience in production, Justin has become an innovator in the vinyl world, building on a foundation of hard work and determination. Song One: What goes Up (Blowtorch) Song Two: Unwound (Blowtorch) Song Three: Running Colours (Sliding Spring)

In 2001, twenty-two year old Roberto Plano won first prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition​. Sixteen years later he emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts with his family to continue his pursuit of music academia at Boston University College of Fine Arts. Mr. Plano has traveled the world and has won countless awards for his poetic musicianship and performances. We sat with Roberto at Boston University to discuss food, family and his musical roots. Music: Musica Ricercata: No 7, Cantabile, molto legato - Inspiration - Paolo Paliaga and Roberto Plano Hymne de L'enfant a' Son Reveil - Franz Liszt Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses - Roberto Plano Arvo's World - Inspiration - Paolo Paliaga and Roberto Plano

Grammy nominated Folk and Americana singer-songwriter Alastair Moock became inspired by music at a young age when he first saw Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie in concert and has passed on that inspiration in his music and his educational programs in local schools. He is a solo artist that speaks a language we can all relate to, whether age 5 or 95, and he is a quintessential collaborator with fellow singer-songwriters in the studio and on the stage. We sat with Alastair to talk about his career transformation from adult folk to family music, what parenting did for his music and what it's like to write songs with your 5 year old daughter at her hospital bedside.

Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys - Live at The Sinclair recorded August 26, 2017 in Cambridge, MA 01 - How are all you *** doin? 02 - ViktaGRAPH 03 - Devils In The Details 04 - Whole Way Down 05 - Old Skin 06 - Animals Like Me 07 - Dull Boy 08 - Cataclysm 09 - Hollow Points 10 - Witchcraft 11 - Come Black magic 12 - I Put A Spell On You Walter Sickert - Vocals, Guitar, Piano Mary Widow – Vocals, Mandolin, Percussion Rachel Jayson – Viola, Vocals Matt Zappa – Drums, Percussion, Vocals Mike Leggio – Upright Bass, Electric Bass, Vocals jojo Lazar – Ukulele, Flute, Vocals Tee Jay – Percussion, Bunny Head Blake Girndt (aka Brother Bones) – Guitar, Skeleton Dance Edrie – Accordion, Broken Toys, Vocals Photo by Jen Vesp Produced and Engineered by Joel Simches Recorded Live @ The Sinclair Cambridge on 8/26/17. Used with permission - Bowery Boston. Additional Sonic Chocobliss™ by Joel Simches of Sonic Enchantment Specialists Ltd.

Indie hip-hop artist, rapper, songwriter and contemporary painter, Boston, MA native Moe Pope is a talent. His lyrics reflect his story - touching on community, fatherhood, love and the human condition. Formerly with Bay Area-based hip-hop band Mission he returned to Boston to form Electric (aka Electric Company) and later formed Project Move. In 2010 with Boston producer Rain he released the critically acclaimed Life After God and is currently collaborating with 2016 BMA Producer of the Year The Arcitype with his project STL GLD.

This is part two of our conversation with Blue Man Group. We sat with resident General Manager Jonathan Screnci, Blue Man Mike Brown, and drummers Kyle Harris and Kevin Asmus before a performance at The Charles Playhouse. We come in just as Jonathan walked into the room to join us about an hour into our talk.

Blue Man Group is a dynamic mix of art, music, comedy and technology. Founded in 1991, this pop culture phenomenon has been seen by over 35 million people all over the world.  Inspiring, brilliant and groundbreaking, the Blue Men - while not saying a word - celebrate life through connection, unique absurdity, visual art and of course, music.  We spoke with Resident General Manager Jonathan Screnci, Blue Man Mike Brown, and drummers Kyle Harris and Kevin Asmus before a performance at The Charles Playhouse. We talk about rehearsing, auditioning and the evergreen magic that is Blue Man Group.

This award winning singer-songwriter, actor and artist is a force to be reckoned with. Ruby's deep, unique voice is surprising at first, but she soon pulls you into her resonant sound with powerful lyrics and amazing vocal range. Ruby pays homage to Leonard Cohen, Andy Warhol and Roy Orbison in our conversation about singing, acting, writing, learning and growing.

So this is our 50th episode and Ronnie and I decided to have a State of the Conversation. What an amazing year! We've been downloaded in all 50 states (again, a nice round number) and in over 50 countries (we sense a trend here...). We can't say enough how much we appreciate our listeners and the positive feedback we've received. We've been fortunate to have some unbelievable talent on the show with unique stories and wonderful performances from all walks of music - classical, jazz, hip-hop, rock, singer-songwriter...it's becoming a long list. We strive to introduce our listeners to local artists who have made their mark on the Boston music scene and at the same time bring nationally recognized artists to the conversation who have a connection to Boston in unique ways. The rest of 2017 is filling up with more brilliant artists, performers and Boston movers and shakers - we hope you get a chance to discover what they have to offer.

Charles Haynes is a drummer, producer, musical director and strong believer in the power of listening. He learned this through constant gigging at one of Boston oldest family owned jazz clubs in Boston, Wally’s Café.  Charles has toured with Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, MIA and Queen Latifah among many others and is the owner of Herd Studios – a boutique mixing, mastering and recording studio in Boston. You can read more about it at herdstudio.com  In this episode we talk about importance of listening and trust and how allowing space between musicians on stage can create magic.

This year marks the bicentennial of the birth of Henry David Thoreau, local environmentalist, scientist and artist. After talking with the founder of the Walden Woods project, Don Henley, it becomes clear that Thoreau influences us all now more than ever 200 years later. During college in the late 60s, it was Emerson's work that initially ignited Don Henley's songwriting interest. And it was Thoreau's political, environmental and social justice work that resonated with Don, influencing his life and music. Whether he is known to you as the cofounder of The Eagles, singer, drummer or prolific songwriter, Don Henley is actively helping to carry Thoreau's messages forward to new generations through his work with the Thoreau Institute at Walden. We spoke with him about this mission at The Walden Woods Project's Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods Library. Songs or portions thereof included: Train in the Distance, Take a Picture of This and Praying for Rain off of his 2015 solo album Cass County.

As we were sitting at The Thoreau Institute Library in Lincoln, Massachusetts waiting for Don Henley to arrive we were having a nice chat with Thoreau Scholar Jeffrey Cramer and decided to turn on the mics and have a quick discussion about Thoreau.  Jeff is the Curator of Collections at the Walden Woods Project's Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods Library and is the editor of annotated editions of both Walden and The Maine Woods as well as the author of several other award winning books. His essays and other writings have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, The Literary Review, and The Christian Science Monitor among others.  There is a quote on his website at jeffreyscramer.com from Jim Flemming, of Wisconsin Public Radio that says "Jeffrey Cramer lives and breathes Thoreau.  He may know more about the bard at Walden Pond than anyone else alive." After seeing that what could we do but take advantage of this opportunity and pester him with questions.

Seeing Walter and his band of merry musicians play live is a visceral experience not to be missed. With a mix of Dr. Teeth, Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, they bring legit musical chops, original songwriting and a magical artistry to the stage. We thought this might be an interesting one and we were not disappointed. We had a really fun time with these wonderful people – and we mean that – these are great people.  With lots of cursing, laughing and crazy stories – we think you are going to enjoy this one.