Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"Milestone" It all started over 50 years ago in Florida and decades later with sales of close to 25 million albums under their musical belts, 38 Special remain one of the most enduring rock and roll bands of all time. Formed in the early '70s by the core unit of Don Barnes and Donny Van Zandt, 38 Special from the very beginning evinced a steely work ethic. It also demonstrated their versatility--although they were a hard playing southern rock band, they were able to shape shift perfectly and found themselves opening for everyone from Peter Frampton to Kiss and appearing on bills with everyone from Triumph to AC/DC to Motorhead. The '70s were a dogfight for the band who put out great albums like Special Delivery and Rockin' Into The Night, but they felt they were grinding out the yardage and just trying to survive. MTV hits in the '80s like "Caught Up In You" and "If I'd Been The One" changed everything and albums like Tour De Force and Special Forces changed everything and made them bona fide superstars. Although Barnes remains the only original member, the band has recently put out their first new album in 21 years called Milestone and they're playing 100 shows a year across the country. Barnes is a lovely guy and this is a great conversation about persistence and endurance. And his cat makes a special appearance, too. www.38special.com (http://www.38special.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) Stereo Embers: Threads + IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"Obviously Five Believers" Formed in 1980 by the Kentucky-born former roadie for X, Top Jimmy, his band Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs were local L.A. heroes. Playing a wicked blend of American roots music and scrappy R&B, Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs were a band that sizzled with equal parts howl and groove. Top Jimmy was a wildly charismatic frontman once described as an unholy combination of Howlin' Wolf and Shakespeare's Falstaff and he was such a ubiquitous presence in L.A. his outfit was once dubbed the scene's punk house band. The live show, which was a sweaty, frenetic blast of sweaty, rootsy bliss, found everyone from Tom Waits to Stevie Ray Vaughn joining them onstage. By the way, if you're wondering if the Van Halen track "Top Jimmy" is about the Top Jimmy I'm speaking of, let me just say this: there could only be one Top Jimmy. So: yes. The band's only album Pigus Drunkus Maximus which came out in 1987 on Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate's Down There label, was just reissued for the first time ever on CD and on pig pink colored vinyl and it's an essential addition to your record collection. Top Jimmy sang with Maria McKee and Phil Alvin, was seen getting a tattoo from John Doe in the Decline of Western Civilization and hung out with David Lee Roth. The guy was everywhere and remains, to this day, one of the most charismatic characters in rock and roll history. As for his sax player Steve Berlin, well, Mr. Berlin after leaving the band, went on to become one of the greatest rock and roll sax players ever. The Philadelphia born Berlin is a full time member of Los Lobos, and the list of people he's played with and produced is just ridiculous. Let me give you a partial list: The Tragically Hip, R.E.M., Faith No More, the Go-Go's, Great Big Sea, The Replacements, Rickie Lee Jones and the Beat Farmers. And believe me, I could go on. An unbelievable player of steady finesse and power, Steve Berlin is an absolute legend and I wish this conversation could have gone on for hours. www.topjimmyandtherhythmpigs.bandcamp.com (http://www.topjimmyandtherhythmpigs.bandcamp.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Threads + Bluesky + Instagram: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Songs of Douglass and Littell" It's hard to think of a more beautiful voice than that of Inara George. Filled with elegance and finesse, the Maryland-born, L.A.-raised George is one of my favorite singers on the planet. She's got this subtle power that glides through each composition with subtlety, nuance and harmonic sophistication and grace. George's body of work, from her time in the Bird and the Bee, the Living Sisters, and Merrick to her winning run of solo albums, Inara George is a continuous melodic wonder. Over the years she's collaborated with Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, Jason Mraz, Idlewild, and Flight Of The Concords. Her new album Songs Of Douglas And Littell is a different kind of collaboration and one that hits very close to home for Inara. Comprised of a collection of songs written over thirty years ago by her longtime theatre pals Eliot Douglass and Philip Littlell, this album is a celebration of friendship, profound artistic bonds and creative comradeship. Filled with flourishes of jazz, indie folk and melodic pop, Songs Of Douglass and Littell is a moving and stirring homage to solidarity and artistic kinship. I love Inara George's work and I want to point out that she was an early believer of this program, nearly a decade ago, appearing on episode eight before anyone knew who we were. I've always been grateful for that, but the fact is, I'm just grateful for her. Inara George is a thoughtful, focused and generous artist and this album of songs written by two of her oldest friends is a sonic testament to the power of friendship and art. www.inarageorge.com (http://www.inarageorge.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) Stereo Embers: IG + BLUESKY + Threads: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Song Writers On The Run" Perhaps best known as one of the co-founding members of the late great Australian band The Go-Betweens, singer/songwriter Robert Forster has been putting out critically acclaimed solo albums since his 1990 debut Danger In The Past. His new novel Song Writers On The Run has just been released to rave reviews and he talks about the writing process in this chat. As for his music, over the years he added to his solo discography titles like Calling From A Country Phone and I Had A New York Girlfriend, and now the Brisbane-born Forster is checking in with his ninth solo effort Strawberries. The follow-up to 2023's rousing and affecting The Candle And The Flame, Strawberries is startlingly beautiful and emotionally precise. Produced by Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John, the eight numbers on Strawberries range from the jangling album opener "Tell It Back To Me" to the stirring blues of "Good To Cry." Elsewhere, the seven minute "Breakfast On The Train" is not only a great song, it also doubles as a great short story; the title track is a brilliant and simple study of the gobbling of strawberries as a metaphor for domestic bliss and the album closing "Diamonds" quite literally reaches new vocal heights for Mr. Forster. This is one of the best albums you'll hear--it's satisfyingly precise, unreasonably melodic and filled with observational wisdom, meditative self-analysis and quietly unforgettable character studies. This is a great chat--I love talking to Robert and I hope you dig listening. www.robertforster.net (www.robertforster.net) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (www.alexgreenbooks.com) www.bombshellradio.com (www.bombshellradio.com) Stereo Embers Bluesky + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"I Should Be Happy" Singer/keyboardist Anne Richmond Boston showed up on the musical timeline in the late '70s when she joined the Atlanta indie rock outfit The Swimming Pool Q's. Before the goldrush of bands like R.E.M., Soul Asylum, O Positive, Big Dipper and Poi Dog Pondering signing to major labels, The Swimming Pool Q's kind of led the way, inking deals in the mid-'80s with A&M and Capitol Records. They put out five marvelous albums, including Blue Tomorrow and The Deep End, toured with Devo and The Police and garnered a reputation for being a spot-on live act, their brand of idiosyncratic pop filled with jittery rhythms, sterling sax fills, jangling guitars and sonorous vocals. Richmond Boston left the band in 1989 but roared right back with her 1990 debut solo album Big House Of Time. Filled with soaring originals like Dreaming and covers of numbers by Neil Young, John Hiatt and The Lovin' Spoonful, Big House Of Time made a huge splash at college radio. And then? Well, Richmond Boston designed album covers, worked in graphic arts, sang with The Drive By Truckers and Widespread Panic and rejoined the Q's. And that was that. But what about the rumored follow-up to Big House Of Time? Well, it was recorded and sitting on a shelf in a closet in Richmond Boston's house. Titled I Should Be Happy, her sophomore album was worth the wait. A riveting collection that's filled with meditative and melodic numbers, I Should Be Happy is contemplative and moving and finds Richmond Boston tackling the big questions with peerless harmonic grace.  www.annerichmondboston.bandcamp.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Threads + BLUESKY + IG: @emberspodcast editor@stereoembersthepodcast.com

"Louder Than You Think" Like many Gen Xers, I knew Gary Young as the drummer of Pavement, but for anyone from Stockton, he was way more than that. Let me back up. A key figure in the Stockton underground, Young played in a bunch of bands like The Fall of Christianity and he was responsible for bringing Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys to play shows in Stockton. Though almost twenty years older than the guys in Pavement, Young was their original drummer and played on their first few EPs and the seminal Slanted and Enchanted record. Young was one of the great characters of rock and roll and to get a real idea as to how charismatic, magnetic and mercurial he was, the documentary Louder Than You Think traces his life in art and music with unvarnsihed honesty and shambolic joy. The soundtrack, which features The Authorities, Edward Dahl, Pavement, Hot Spit Dancers, and Gary Young's Hospital, among others, is a wonderful tour of the Stockton Underground. Yes, Young got fired from Pavement, but what's cool about his story is that he stayed connected to the band--and that's the secret with all these Stockton kids--they stuck together even when some of them fell apart. As for Kelly Foley, the former singer of The Torn Lords had a career in Forensic Psychology and when he retired, he devoted himself soley to making art. Kelly knew Gary for decades and even had a project called Blue Boy Cometh which featured Young on drums just before his death. Foley is a lovely guy and he's kind of become the forensic archivist of the Stockton underground, making sure the paths of all the artists he knew--from Grant Lee Phillips to Crill--have their work preserved. www.independentprojectrecords.com (http://www.independentprojectrecords.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) wwww.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers: THREADS + BLUESKY + IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"My World Is The Sun" It's true, Dominique Fils-Aime--by the way, my pronounciation of her gorgeous name verifies one thing: I'm from California--Dominique Fils Aime did indeed have a comfortable office and a job she loved and all was well, until she realized something was wrong. It wasn't her office, or her job, it was that something else was calling her. In other words, she found the thing she loved but she didn't love it enough, so she walked away. That's her story to tell so I'll leave that to her. What I can tell you is that the in less than ten years, the Canadian-born Fils Aime has established herself as one of the most accomplished artists on the planet. She's already won two Juno Awards, won the Felix award in her home province of Quebec and was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize twice. Not only that, but Fils-Aime has played the Blue Note New Yor and Los Angeles, as well as the Monterey Jazz Festival. Her new album My World Is The Sun is chapter two of her sophomore trilogy of albums and it's a stone cold stunner. Rife with crashing waves, nylon guitar, haunting hand drums and Fils-Aime's singular voice rising and falling through each composition with stirring soulful perfection, My World Is The Sun is riveting, arresting and melodic. domiofficial.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com IG + BLUESKY + THREADS: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"Sonic Amadea" Over the course of five perfect albums with Catherine Wheel, including Ferment, Chrome and Adam and Eve, guitarist Brian Futter made his mark as one of the most dynamic players in modern music. Armed with blazing effects and cascading crescendos, Futter's distinguished playing gave the legendary British band their signature sound. After global tours, heavy airplay on MTV, rave reviews and a handful of top ten hits on the U.S. alternative charts, Catherine Wheel hit pause in 2000 and the band's members went their separate ways. Futter was in 50 Foot Monster with Catherine Wheel drummer Neil Sims and he also raised a family and lived his life. Which brings us to Good Day Father. A dream pairing of Futter with Tanya Donnelly of Belly/Throwing Muses and The Breeders, Good Day Father is a legitimate joy. The band's new EP is a sonorous blend of melodic muscle and dreamy rhythms--Donnelly sounds as beguiling as ever while Futter rolls through each number with thrilling intensity. This is just wonderful work. www.gooddayfather.bandcamp.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) IG + BLUESKY + THREADS: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Happy Birthday, Peter Hook" There’s nothing about Peter Hook that I can tell you you don’t already know, so let’s just do a refresher run through his musical CV. In the late '70s Hook formed Joy Division with childhood pal Bernard Sumner after the two friends saw the Sex Pistols play in Manchester. The band only put out two albums and one of those albums, the legendary Closer was put out two months after the band had ceased to b,e due to the suicide of singer Ian Curtis on the eve of Joy Division’s debut US/Canada tour. Rechristened New Order and consisting of the remaining members of Joy Division plus keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, New Order blended jittery post-punk rhythms with dance music. The result? Well, you know the result. They were one of the biggest bands of the '80s, spawning hits like True Faith, The Perfect Kiss, Subculture and Blue Monday, which was the biggest selling 12-inch of all time. It might still be. New Order dominated the '80s, but the '90s weren’t too shabby—they had a #1 UK hit with World In Motion in 1990 and they had their biggest US hit with “Regret” in 1993. They kept crushing it, putting out Get Ready in 2001 and collaborating with Billy Corgan and Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream. They were given the Godlike Genius award at the 2005 NME awards and got nominated for a Grammy in 2006 for Guilt Is a Useless Emotion. Then things got a bit sour, with Hook leaving the band in 2007 and forming his own outfit Peter Hook and the Light, a band that featured his son Jack and much to his fans delight, revisited the Joy Division and New Order songbooks. Over the course of his career Hook has worked with The Stone Roses, and Perry Farrell, he toured with the Durutti Column, put out albums with Revenge and Monaco and wrote one of the best music books ever: Substance; Inside New Order. This is a partial list, btw. Almost a partial partial list because when it comes to Peter Hook, there’s a lot of ground to cover. But these are the basics. Do a deeper dive after you hear the show—the guy is a titan. As for his split with New Order and his boyhood pal Bernard, we don’t have time to go over the legal end of that dissolution, so let’s just say this. If you’re hoping for a reunion you’re wasting your good hope energy. Not going to happen. As a bassist, he plays with an authoritative blend of prowl and sting and not only is he one of the all time greats, he also happens to be a nice guy. This chat covers his fractured friendship with Sumner, why the New Order/Joy Division songbooks appeal to fans across generations and what Hooky has learned from his old material. www.peterhookandthelight.live www.bombshellradio.com www.embersarts.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast Twitter: @emberseditor Instagram: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Straight From The Hat" The New Jersey born Ben Vaughn has put out close to twenty albums, including personal favorites of mine like Beautiful Thing, Mood Swings and Ben Vaughn Blows Your Mind. Aside from his own records, Vaughn has produced records by Ween, Los Straitjackets, Nancy Sinatra, and Charlie Feathers, had his songs covered by everyone from Marshall Crenshaw to Deer Tick and collaborated with the likes of Alex Chilton, Alan Vega, and Rodney Crowell. Vaughn loves punk and surf and rockabilly and folk and country and the blues, which explains the versatility of his collaborations. And if that wasn’t an impressive enough resume, let’s add these two career highlights: he penned the themes for both Third Rock From The Sun and That 70's Show. Oh, and he hosts the fabulous radio show The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn. Vaughn's discography demonstrates his musical dexterity, it also showcases his brilliance as a songwriter—filled with humor, wisdom and grace, Vaughn’s work is always soulful, introspective and impossible to resist. But here's the thing about Ben Vaughn--he loves music. Whether it's noise rock or doo wop, he just loves taking it all in. And that open mindedness has gotten him in a lot of rooms with a lot of people and it's granted him access to a wealth of experiences. And those experiences can now be heard on Vaughn's bi-coastal, cross-generational music history podcast titled Straight From The Hat With Ben Vaughn. Along with co-host Laura Pochodylo (from Sun Records) on the program Ben shares stories about musicians, producers, and all the various characters from his career, with names drawn directly from a hat. www.benvaughn.org Instagram: @benvaughnmusic www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenbooks.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) Stereo Embers The Podcast: Instagram + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Fighting Fit" For a little over a delicious decade the London band Gene put out four glorious albums. And since we're here and we have time, let me name them: Olympian, Drawn To The Deep End, Revelations and Libertine. From 1993 to 2004, the band's resume just kept building: They were on the cover of Melody Maker and the NME the latter of who also gave them the inaugural BRAT award for Best New Band, they headlined the Reading Festival, played Glastonbury, toured Europe, Japan and the U.S., logged top twenty singles, put out a killer live album called Rising For Sunset, sold hundreds of thousands of albums and played a legendary sold-out show with a full orchestra at London's Albert Hall. Behind the Welsh- born Martin Rossiter, Gene's crunchy blast of melodic muscle and poetic pounce made them one of the most unforgettable bands around but all good things come to an end and by 2004, the band called it a day. A one-off reunion in 2008 was the only blip on the Gene radar until now. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Olympian, in October of 2025 all four original members of Gene reconvened at the Apolo in London and blew the place apart and sounding positively ageless. What happened next? Well, fans wanted more so more was given in the form of 2026 March dates in Nottingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Dublin and Manchester. www.geneoffical.com (http://www.geneoffical.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Instagram + Bluesky: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"If You Go There I Hope You Find It" Over the course of seven shimmering albums, the Paper Kites have elegantly moved from strength to strength. The ARIA-award nominated Melbourne five piece, led by singer/songwriter Sam Bentley, have quietly been lodging platinum record sales, registering millions of streams and playing sold-out shows across the globe. I saw them play a sold-out show here in San Francisco in 2016 and it was one of the most moving live experiences I've ever witnessed. It's hard to explain what it was like but the closest I can come is it was like an hypnotic flow of seamless folk that ran like a river from the stage and out into the night. And by that, I mean I thought about that performance--or, more accurately, I felt that performance on a deep and almost cellular livel for the next few weeks. From 2013's States to 2018's On The Corner Where You Live to their brand new one, If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, The Paper Kites have asserted themselves not only as one of the most consistent bands around, but also one that, impossibly because each album is so brilliant, just keep getting better. The new album is a stirring blend of indie folk finesses, poetic elegance and sonorous beauty. It's such a deeply affecting album, played with nimble grace, it may only be January, but we might already have our album of the year. https://www.thepaperkites.com.au www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers: Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com) Bluesky + IG: @emberspodcast

"Scala" It's hard to explain everything Barry Adamson did before he was thirty. By then, his resume' was so packed with highlights it was hard to believe there was room for more. But there was. Like, a lot more. Let me explain. The Manchester-born Barry Adamson got his start in music in the late '70s by playing bass for Magazine, a band led by ex-Buzzcock Howard DeVoto. Adamson, who was briefly in the Buzzcocks himself, went on to play with Visage and Luxuria before joining Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Adamson played on legendary Cave albums like From Her To Eternity and Kicking Against The Pricks and from there, he stepped into the Iggy Pop fold and toured with Mr. Pop in '87. By then, Adamson was close to thirty and in many ways, that's the point where he really started to spread his musical wings, realizing he liked being on his own than being one of the guys in a band. From there, Adamson started to explore electronic and dub-fueled soundscapes and he moved effortlessly from strength to strength, releasing classic solo albums like Moss Side Story, the 1992 Mercury Prize nominated Soul Murder and his new one, La Scala. More on that in a minute. Over the course of his winning career, Adamson has played with The Birthday, Party, collaborated with everyone from Pulp's Jarvis Crocker to Billy McKenzie of the Associates, contributed to movie soundtracks like David Lynch's Lost Highway and done remixes for everyone from Depeche Mode to The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. His new album La Scala is the original score for the 2023 documentary Scala!!! Or, The Incredibly Strange Rise And Fall Of The World's Wildest Cinema. The film is a stirring and rousing homage to the legendary London arthouse movie theatre and Adamson's inventive score uses elements of jazz, funk and post-punk noir to detail the rise and fall of a building that meant a lot of people whose lives were saved by the freedom and spirit of life in the counterculture. www.barryadamson.com www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers IG + Bluesky: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Unentitled" It's hard to think of anyone who writes with as much tender ease as John Gorka. The New Jersey-born singer/songwriter has been doing just that since his first album way back in 1987. Over the course of nearly twenty albums, including Jack's Crows, The Company You Keep, Old Futures Gone and his brand new one Unentitled, Gorka has gracefully asserted himself as one of the most vital folk artists around. He's traveled the world, he's played with Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin and Cliff Eberhardt and he formed the folk supergroup Red Horse with his pals Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson. Unentitled is yet another winning entry into the Gorka discography--a stirring collection of songs like the elegant "First Snow On The Mountain," the ruminative "A Light Exists In Spring" and the deeply assuring "Hope Doesn't Fall," Unentitled is filled with poetic and philosophical grace. And what I was saying at the top of the show is that Gorka is a thoughtful and humble guy who's generous, humble and kind. You're going to love him. www.johngorka.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers: IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"The Bus Routes Of South London" The London-born Jah Wobble is one of the most legendary musicians on the planet. The celebrated bassist burst onto the radar with PiL, playing on the first two albums--Public Image: First Issue and Metal Box--both of which remain undisputed classics. After leaving the band, Wobble stayed busy, playing in The Human Condition and on the Snake Charmer EP with The Edge and with his own band Invaders Of The Heart. Wobble left the industry for a few years working for a while with The London Underground--more on that in a minute--but in the late '80s a newly sober Wobble reformed the Invaders and they put out a string of winning albums like Rising Above Bedlam and Take Me To God. And from there? Well, from there, he just kept working with a list of impressive folks like Sinead O'Connor, The Orb, Ginger Baker, Dolores O'Riordan, Massive Attack, Gavin Friday, Brian Eno, Bjork and Primal Scream. Wobble has also put out a memoir called Memoirs Of A Geezer, which is such a great read, he finished his university degree at the University of London, wrote book reviews for the Independent, wrote a book of poetry, started teaching, played in a band with his sons, and played with the Chinese Dub Orchestra. This list only tells a percentage of the story; Jah Wobble is a man whose lane is not having a lane. He's one of the greatest dub musicians of all time, but he's also someone who's curious about the world and his curiosity has found him exploring ambient music, dance usic, post-punk, world music, dub, Chinese folk, English Folk, and industrial music. His album Old Fashioned Ways with reggae hero Ken Boothe came out in 2025 and it's a glorious and affecting listen. Meanwhile, his other 2025 album The Old North London Line is a proper sequel to The Bus Routes Of South London, where Wobble explores the cinematic and atmospheric sounds of the daily grooves that can be found between stops on the London tracks. www.jahwobble.com (http://www.jahwobble.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers: IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Measure Of A Man" The North Carolina-born Clay Aiken rose to fame on the strength of his record breaking appearance on American Idol, but if you just think of him in terms of that show, you're not getting the full picture. At all. With seven albums under his belt, the golden-voiced Aiken has sold close to ten million albums worldwide, was the first artist whose first single hit #1, hosted two network television specials, toured with Kelly Clarkson, appeared on Broadway in Spamalot and for a Christmas show with Ruben Studdard, wrote a memoir, sang the National Anthem at the World Series, and appeared on Scrubs, SNL, Jimmy Kimmel, All My Children and Days Of Our Lives. Keep in mind this is a partial list. Outside of music, Aiken co-founded the National Inclusion Project which helps advocate for children with disabilities, he's a UNICEF ambassador and in 2014 he ran for congress. Partial list aside, I know as I was reading that all of you and me, by the way, were like, I haven't done enough with my life. Aiken is also a father and he decided to step away from music to raise his son without distraction. And so he did, but with college on the horizon for his son, Aiken has decided to re-enter the ring and this conversation is all about his return. And a bunch of other things, too. Talking to him felt familiar--like catching up with an old friend. You're going to love him. www.clayaiken.com www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“Merry Christmas, Emily” David Lowery does so many things, his CV needs a sequel. He's a professor, a mathematician, a writer, a musician, a producer and an entrepreneur. He's also the singer of two of my all-time favorite bands: Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. Let's start with the former. Lowery formed Camper Van Beethoven when he was a student at UC Santa Cruz in the early '80s. I was so obsessed with Camper Van when I was in high school I cut class to buy their new album--but I had the wrong day, so I cut class the next day to get it. Totally worth it, by the way. Camper Van Beethoven put out a handful of genius albums likeOur Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart and Telephone Free Landslide Victory before temporarily disbanding in 1990. Lowery didn't miss a beat and formed Cracker with guitarist Johnny Hickman and they put out a handful of genius albums like Kerosene Hat and The Golden Age, logged a #1 Modern Rock track with "Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)" and scored three platinum albums. This is only a partial history, by the way; but I would recommend reading up on both bands because they have fascinating histories.Lowery has produced everyone from Counting Crows to Sparklehorse, founded Sound of Music studios, was a seed investor in Reverb.com (), knocked out his PhD and was named a Global IP Champion by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A ferocious advocate for artist's rights, among other things, Lowery launched a pair of class actions alleging major streaming services had failed to properly license and account to independent songwriters. Lowery currently teaches the economics and finance of the music business at the University of Georgia.An authentic career-spanning collection that boasts re-recordings, demos, b-sides and live takes that have never been heard, ‘Alternative History: A Cracker Retrospective’ is out now. It's a deep and privileged dive into the rich and vast Cracker cataloge and to say it's a treat falls short of the mark. It's a musical treasure chest. Cracker are touring now and will be on the road at the beginning of 2025 and Camper Van will be playing dates as well. www.crackersoul.com Www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com IG: @Emberspodcast editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Shine On" Formed in Seattle in the late '80s, Sweet Water got their start under the moniker SGM. Comprised of childhood friends from the private Bush School, which we talk about a lot in this episode, SGM played with Nirvana and The Melvins and their 1988 Aggression album was produced by Jack Endino and was lauded by Sub Pop's Bruce Pavitt. A thrashy blast of American post-punk SGM underwent a few lineup changes, recruited a few new members and re-named themselves Sweet Water. Their 1992 self-titled indie album got them signed to Atlantic where they put out another self-titled album. They moved to EastWest Records, put out the Superfriends record, which was a catchy blast of glam, grunge and hard rock and from there, things get a tad confusing. Legal issues held the band in abeyance, so they played under the name Parc Boys with a C, put out a record, went back to being Sweet Water, recorded an album that was supposed to come out on the Enclave label but didn't and instead was released independently. Sweet Water took a break and didn't put any new music out until their fabulous 2009 effort Clear The Tarmac. Since then, they've put out EPs like Dance Floor Kills and their brand new long player Shine On. An infectious, hook-filled album that's rife with melodic muscle and hooks galore, Shine On is a shimmering effort that proves Sweet Water just keep getting better. Now, I mentioned The Bush School and for good reason--that Seattle school is kind of the secret hero of the Sweet Water story and you'll see why in a second. I'll let the fellas tell you everything, but let me say this: when the foundational education is one that fosters artistic freedom, students feel like they can do anything because they're not self-conscious, they're deeply brave and they're not afraid to make bold strikes out there in the world. And Sweet Water has made a career out of doing that.  www.sweetwaterrocks.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"When It Comes To Love" The Massachusetts-born Michael Bluestein got a quick run out of the musical gates and started studying classical piano by age nine, so it's no surprise that the young prodigy's trajectory found him studying at Berklee College of Music. With his B.A. under his belt, Bluestein headed west and wound up in San Francisco, where he spent a decade putting out his own music and working as a venerated sideman and session player with Jon Evans, Will Bernard, Matt Chamberlain, Kitty Margolis, Kenny Washington and Mary Stallings. He has toured and recorded with Shelby Lynn, Boz Scaggs, Stevie Nicks, Burt Bacharach, Enrique Iglesias and Rodger Hodgson. He joined Foreigner in 2008 and that's where he's been ever since, but he's also putting out music under the Beat Glider moniker. Filled with undeniable groove and musical dexterity, Beat Glider is a careening and moving dose of chillwave. Michael talks to us about his San Francisco days and importance of putting oneself out there in the artistic community. www.foreigneronline.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Black Butterflies" The Vancouver-raised Rebecca Foon grew up with parents who were artists and activists, so it's no surprise that she became an artist and an activist herself. Let's start with the artist part. The Juno-award winning cellist, singer and composer Rebecca Foon has been in so many bands it's hard to keep track, so this is a partial list. No stranger to the post-rock and experimental world, Foon has been in Set Fire To Flames, Fifths Of Seven, A Silver Mt. Zion and the Gorecki Symphony Of Sorrow with Colin Stetson. She's also recorded under the Saltland moniker and she's the co-founder of the modern chamber ensemble Esmerine, whose 2013 Dalmak record won them a Juno. Under her own name Foon put out Waxing Moon in 2020 and the follow-up is the rather stunning new album Black Butterflies. Filled with sonorous vocals, inventive percussion and wondrous, sneaky rhythms, the reflective trip-hop groove of Black Butterflies summons the work of everyone from Massive Attack to Portishead. Redolent with rhythmic precision, musical dexterity and the kind of sonic architecture that builds worlds in the sky, Black Butterflies is a dose of real magic. Foon has collaborated with a list of luminaries like Laurie Anderson, Grant Hart, Nick Cave, British Sea Power, and Patrick Watson. As an activist and environmentalist, she's a member of the sustainability and climate change consulting cooperative Sustainability Solutions Group. A creative force powered by grace, Rebecca Foon is a real treasure. www.rebeccafoon.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers: IG + BLUESKY: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com