This week on Dive Bar Music Club, we roll straight into our ever-evolving music discovery, joined by: Caitlin Cary, Amanda Miles, Kim Ware, Sloane Spencer, and Rachel Cholst.

We kick things off with a surprise protest song from Caitlin, collaborating with Chris Stamey, on a track sharing the words on the Statue of Liberty. From there, the conversation opens up into a mixtape of current obsessions, weaving from the dreamy introspection of Leith Ross to the throwback swagger of T.I.

Along the way, there’s laughter, a little friendly debate about "super double deluxe" reissues (we're rolling our eyes at you, Taylor), and plenty of real talk about why music hits so deeply. So pour yourself something good, pull up a chair, and join us for a lively exchange of songs, stories, and the shared thrill of finding your next favorite song.

Catch Our Tastemaker Playlists

• Apple Music
• Tidal

Bands Featured in Episode 6

• Courtney Barnett
• Duke Ellington
• Ida
• Will Johnson
• Johnny Blue Skies/Sturgill Simpson (vinyl/CD only)
• Jon Lindsay
• Kendra Morris
• Ratboys
• Leith Ross
• T.I.

The Regulars

• Caitlin Cary
• Rachel Cholst
• Amanda Miles
• Sloane Spencer
• Kim Ware

Musicians, Photographers, and Other Cool People and Places Mentioned

• Benji Hughes
• Boy Golden
• Brian Wright
• Chris Stamey
• Jason Isbell
• Jason Molina
• Kurt Vile
• Ludacris
• Magnolia Electric Company
• New Order
• North Carolina Music Love Army
• OutKast
• Pete Seeger
• Wren Carpenter
• Taylor Swift
• The Replacements
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• Widespread Panic
• Yum Yum Tree

Recommended If You Like

dive bar music club, 90s alt rock, music podcast, emerging songwriters, cult band favorites, music playlists, protest music, singer-songwriter interviews, indie music recommendations, new music discovery, vinyl records, comfort music, live music discussions, music industry insights, alternative music culture, music nerds, music collaborations, music photography, zine culture, music trends

Welcome to the Dive Bar Music Club podcast, where the guest hosts drop in and out, but the opinions are always passionate and the playlists loud.

It's like cheers if everyone at the bar had a strong take on 90s alt rock or a suspicious number of burned CDs.

Around our table, you'll find an emerging touring songwriter, a former cult band favorite whose work since then is even more interesting, a portrait photographer with a not so secret metal penchant, a record store owner who learned about Swifties the hard way, a retired folk singer who regrets nothing, and a zine maker with more cool music projects than we can count.

We're all just here to share what we're currently obsessed with and maybe convince someone that, yes, that weird Icelandic synth folk band is worth a listen.

Okay, that last one's probably me, Sloan Spencer.

It's Dive Bar Music Club.

Low Key, High Taste Happy hour for music nerds.

Welcome back to Dive Bar Music Club.

I am your host, Sloane Spencer, and we are the low key, High Taste Happy hour for music nerds.

Got a fun hangout going on this evening and one of our regulars has popped on by who I want to be sure to get to spend a little bit of extra time with today.

But we've got Kim Ware, Caitlin Carey, Amanda Miles, Rachel Colst, and me, Sloan Spencer.

So, hey, everybody.

Thanks so much for being with us this evening.

Hello.

Hi.

So, Caitlin Carey, I'm so glad you're going to be able to join us this evening.

And you and I have connected a few times lately and you've had a ton going on with your visual art.

Everyone who hasn't caught up can go back and hear that bio episode where we talked about your needle prints.

But you completely surprised me this week with a new song.

What have you been up to?

Yeah, I surprised myself by saying yes to doing that.

I've been sort of.

As I have told you, the stage has not been calling to me, nor has the microphone.

But when Chris Stamy asks, you say yes, because that's just how it is around here.

And I think in response to the.

There's not even a strong enough word to describe the horrors of our current time.

And Chris really wanted to put a song out quickly and he had.

I don't know.

When he did this, he reset the poem that is inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

He made it into a beautiful set to a beautiful melody, sort of a folk song that he.

He.

Hark.

He says he was thinking about Pete Seeger.

Who would, you know, do these songs that were meant for people to sing along with and for anyone who wanted to to take up and sing.

And he asked me to sing harmonies on it.

And we did that really quickly and got it right out into the world.

So that's what we're talking about.

And the.

And the song is called New Colossus.

And yeah, you should be able to find it on YouTube pretty easily with Chris Stamy's name or my name or the name of the song.

Yeah, it popped right up.

I wasn't sure.

I was just, I have a love hate relationship with social media.

And I happened to be on and I scrolled and it popped up and I was like, did I see that right?

Wait a minute.

And I clicked and I was like, whoa.

And I love the hearkening back to Pete Seeger and just the concept of that with the sing alongs.

I've spoken on a couple of the other episodes.

I grew up in a church that used a lot of sing along songs from the Black Hymnal and with Lift Every Voice and Sing.

And so that tradition, and it went up through music from late 60s, I guess, was something that I grew up with a lot of.

And so when I listened to what you all created, I was like, oh, this is familiar and fresh and so, so needed right now.

So I'm so glad we've had a.

Lot of conversation about that.

Thank you.

Protest music is actually how I kind of connected with you way back with the North Carolina Music Love Army.

Yes, indeed.

Yeah, it's, you know, it's some of the hardest music to write.

It's so fraught with danger of being too everything, so it's hard to do it well.

And.

I'm glad that I feel like some of that Love army stuff did balance properly on the scale of whatever that is.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, so what else have you been listening to lately?

Well, the record that I've been returning to like comfort food is this Leith Ross.

And it's a testament to, again, evil social media that is occasionally awesome.

Which I just stumbled on someone mentioning that they had gone to see them.

Leith uses they and said, oh, I had no idea that this was happening.

But the line was, you know, a mile around the building.

And so I just got curious and it's, you know, it's so cool how that can happen now.

And it didn't used to could happen that you, you know, that just a little trickle from the universe can give you a record that, I don't know, changes your whole world.

It's really cool.

And I've Been going through some sad times in my life, and this record turns out to really be, like, balm for me.

And it also has had the effect of making me feel a little bit more like I would want to make a record that sounds something like this.

So it's been really meaningful to me.

Yeah.

I was not familiar with Leaf at all, and what really hooked me was I really like the change.

Sonically, when you get just into it, at first, you think you're getting one thing, and then it's like, boom.

And you're like, oh, okay, this is where we're going.

Yeah, me too.

I love a song with parts, distinct parts, if they work together.

I mean, you can't.

Not everyone can get away with it, but this one.

Yeah.

And plus pedal steel and, like, beats.

Wow.

It's a.

It's a really, really cool use of pedal steel, in my opinion, for sure.

Yeah.

Not a musician that I was previously familiar with.

Have any of y' all been familiar with Lee Throff's music music at all?

I've heard that song, and I cannot figure out from what.

Maybe just, like, the algorithm, you know?

But.

Yeah, your algorithm serves you right, though, Kim.

I know, it really does.

But I was like, yeah, I was like, this sounds so familiar.

And then I love that change too.

And when that change happened, I was like, oh, yeah, I've totally heard this and, like, probably liked it and added it to my collection.

Just didn't really, you know, didn't know the.

The name Leaf.

So.

Yeah, it's great.

And I think they're really young.

I. I'm not sure.

I thought I heard someone on this podcast mention them.

It was me.

Okay.

There you go.

So we have mentioned it before.

Yeah.

But we didn't have a conversation.

Oh, interesting.

Okay.

But I was just saying, interestingly, Kim and Amanda and I just recently had a conversation talking about comfort music and that sort of thing, and we had both kind of found, or all three of us found ourselves intentionally or unintentionally leaning into that music that is solace and comfort and that sort of thing.

So it's interesting how we have more access to it in some ways, but also kind of the constant access to new and.

Or old music sometimes makes it hard to know where to turn.

Oh, right.

Remember which one it was.

What.

What was that record?

Yeah, right, right.

How about the rest of y'?

All?

What have you been listening to lately?

Rachel?

We haven't talked for a while.

Hey.

Yeah.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm sick.

Have been Sick.

That's why I've been taking a break.

I don't know.

I'm listening to a lot of stuff lately.

The songs I brought for this episode were actually the things I was listening to in January.

But I do want to shout out an EP we just reviewed on Rainbow Rodeo by an artist named Ren.

Like the Bird Carpenter.

It's a trans artist, and I think Boise.

And it's just like, you know, one of those EPs where you're like, oh, my God, like, everyone in the world needs to know who this person is.

Yeah.

I think this is why all of us to, like, some degree, are into, like, music writing or podcasting in this case, so we could share, like, those sort of diamonds in the rough that you come across.

And somebody on Instagram recommended the EP to me, and I was just floored.

So I think it's already one of the best.

It's not new from this year, but one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

Me, too.

I'm on it.

Wow.

Ren Carpenter.

Okay.

Awesome.

I just wrote that down.

I will definitely feature that.

Yeah, that first song, Oxbow, is, like, amazing about being, like, trans in a rural area especially.

Yeah.

Boise has a very large Mormon presence as well.

Oh, boy.

Yeah, I hadn't thought about that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Interesting, interesting.

How about you, Amanda?

What have you been listening to lately?

You always bring.

You and Kim both have very, very different taste in music than I do, which is part of what makes me so happy when you're able to join a call.

Awesome.

Well, this week, I've deeply, deeply been into the new Sergio Simpson album.

He's recorded under the moniker Johnny Blue Skies, and the album does not officially drop until March 13th.

But he, you know, he likes to do his own thing, and that's why us fans love him.

And so he actually posted.

Posted some songs on his YouTube.

And for me, what I've loved, I loved several of the songs, but I really was into Don't Let Go it very much.

The album really, sonically, is.

Is very much like.

It's not just country, it's rock.

It's even some disco.

This song very much made me feel like I was watching, like, Urban Cowboy.

It just had that.

Yeah, it had that feeling of like, being in a bar and listening to your favorite song and everybody, like, line dancing around you.

So it just brought me a lot of joy.

And then I also just really, like.

I'm very much into.

When we talk about protest music.

Like, I think about Sergio and that he is very.

He's Very comfortable, like speaking his mind.

But I also just love too how he's like very anti music establishment and following kind of like these preconceived notions or pre laid out guidelines.

Like with him streaming the album himself and then even like that he is recording this under a different name.

Like I. I saw an interview with him recently and he shared that he did this to take back ownership of his name.

He felt like he had lost who he was.

And so he said he came up with the name Johnny Blue Skies because he, when he had returned to Kentucky after being in the Navy, he had like visited his local bar and there was always this like really cool bartender outside, like flicking his lighter open and close, open and close.

And he said every time I came in he would say, oh, Johnny Blue Skies.

And he said, stuck with me all those years.

And so that is how he came up with Johnny Blue Skies.

He said, I never knew what it meant, but I liked it.

And so he's like reclaiming some of himself with this album too, which I. I really like all of it.

And you know, though I'm very much like a country Americana girl.

I just love sonically where he is not afraid to like travel.

I admit to.

I love this record and I'm here for some country disco.

No shame in my game at all.

That record's awesome.

We just.

I just listened to it with my husband.

Like, thank you for turning me on to this, Amanda.

I didn't know that Sturgill had something new coming out.

Had heard nothing about this.

And we listened to the whole thing just a little while ago.

It was amazing.

That tickles me.

That makes me so excited.

This is my favorite thing to like share my favorite music.

So that makes me so tickled.

I'm going to.

So the one thing I haven't done yet is buy.

Buy the vinyl.

Like, I definitely want.

I know the vinyl drops officially this Tuesday, so I'm going to buy here.

We have a local record store where I live in Cartersville, Georgia, and I'll definitely be buying it there in person.

Little side note, if for some reason y' all are ever looking for physical vinyl that you can't find at your local record stores.

And because some things they can't order, like there's only certain allotments to the store you can order online from Charles's store, Driver Rite Records in Fort Collins.

I have ordered a couple of.

I wanted like a particular colorway of a record from somebody and he was like, we have one here.

I can ship it to you.

And I was like, sold.

Awesome.

Good to know.

Just little side note there.

I was not aware of the.

How distribution works, particularly for limited runs of color prints and stuff like that these days.

But I now know that much.

My gosh.

That is a.

Is a fascinating piece of a piece of like.

I also learned about all of the different color prints, like with Taylor Swift.

And then I got right.

I got very excited that S.L.

Sturgill was doing different color prints with this one.

Would this be.

I'm obsessed with making vinyl.

I got to go visit Kinder Core Music in Athens, Georgia one time, which is a vinyl pressing place.

And the like, the actual.

They let me like do the handfuls of the little pellets of the plastic into it to make a splatter print of one.

And I. I could watch like making of videos all day long.

So that's kind of my comfort thing.

When y' all were talking about TV shows last time, I was like, what do I like is comfort video?

I like making splatter vinyl.

That's what I like doing.

But how about you, Kim?

What have you been listening to lately?

So every.

Every one of these so far, you know, I've mostly.

I think I've brought nothing but new music for everyone.

And so this time I.

Which is awesome.

Well, and I listen to a lot of new music, but I mean, I don't exclusively listen to the music.

So this time I challenged myself.

I was like, well, what else have I been listening to that's not brand new?

And so maybe we'll start with that.

The band Ida.

I've been listening to them since like the 90s and I love them so much.

I think they make some of the most beautiful music that I've literally ever heard.

And they had an album that they re released last year called Will youl Find Me, and they re released it for their 25th anniversary.

And it's got.

The re release has like on.

You know, the streaming version has 103 tracks.

So I've been listening to a lot of Ida recently because I'm trying to get through it.

Not in one sitting, my God.

But yeah, they're just.

It's amazing.

Like, I love their harmonies.

I love like the guy girl vocals.

And their music is very.

It tends to be pretty, like slow and minimalist and quiet and it's just beautiful.

And here lately, I mean, there's.

There's a track on Will youl Find Me called Man In Mind.

That's probably my favorite song by them or one of them.

But the one that I brought for tonight is the.

The first track on the album.

It's called down on youn Back.

And for some reason it's just popped into my head about every morning here recently.

I get up and I'm kind of singing it to myself down on your back.

And I don't.

Maybe it's because I've just got up off of my.

I don't know.

But.

But I love them and so I. I didn't know if any of you were familiar.

Familiar with them.

If not, if you're into kind of like the, I guess, slow core, very sad, mellow stuff, then you might like them.

Oh, I want to say that I really appreciate the.

Again, the reminder because I feel like that many years ago and I liked and now and, and.

But it was one of the ones that just floated back off into the ether or somewhere, you know.

So thank you.

I will.

I'm looking forward to digging right back in.

Good.

Yeah, they're so great and I hate that.

I guess they, they toured I think last year, like did.

I don't think it was a whole mess of shows, but they did do some shows.

I think it was last year probably in conjunction with this release and I didn't get to see them.

I've never seen them live before and I've been listening to them, like I said, since the 90s.

Love them.

I have a question about the 25th anniversary re release because I was not familiar with this band at all.

And you mentioned the 103 songs or whatever on it.

Do you feel like they pulled things that super fans are going to be excited about or was it like demo version 1, demo version 2, demo version 3 or what approach did they take with that?

Yeah, just a bunch of different stuff.

I mean I was, I was excited because like they had not.

They hadn't really been super on my radar here lately either.

And then when I saw that they were re releasing it, you know, I just kind of thought, oh, it'll be the same album with maybe like, I don't know, a handful of additional tracks.

But I mean it's a lot.

It's a whole bunch of demos.

It's some live stuff, it's some songs I wasn't familiar with.

It's a bunch of like live from different radio station stuff or at least, yeah, wfmu.

I think that might be it.

So.

Yeah, a bunch of different stuff.

I mean there's so much stuff that, you know, it's hard.

It's hard to get through all of it, so.

And I haven't even, I don't think I've listened to the whole thing yet, every song on it.

But I mean, I'm sure that there's some stuff to be excited about, I would think.

And there's probably some stuff that you don't give a crap about also, because there's so much.

My feeling is that it's a way to probably help pay the bills.

Yep.

As a band who, as a member of a band who had a lot of outtakes that were all pretty.

So let them.

I, I, I'm the, I may be the cynical voice on this conversation.

On this topic,.

I'm curious for all of y' all if you have feelings about anniversary releases or repackaging or however people want to do it.

I'm thinking of the various versions of the Replacements records that came out over the last few years with remixes and then extended releases and things like that.

Do you all have feelings about that?

For bands that you have loved in the past that are coming out with a new release that may or may not contain, quote unquote, new content?

I have a theory that a band like Ida and, I don't know, Caitlin, tell me what you think about this.

But I mean they're, we're all getting older, right?

And I wonder if it's kind of like they have a certain nostalgia for their catalog and so it's like it, I would think it probably excites them just like the idea of, oh wow, we've got all this stuff laying around, let's just put it all out there.

I don't know, I think that's really cool.

And I look like you had some thoughts on this.

Yeah.

So I was thinking I'm all for like I always love when my favorite bands like drop some sort of record, like a greatest hits record.

I was even thinking, you know, when it was the 10 year anniversary of Jason Isbell Southeastern, you know, he re recorded each of the songs and what I liked about them is I loved just listening as a mega fan.

Listening for the slight changes.

Like listening for the slight note changes.

Listening for where, you know, where there's like a little bit more focus on a guitar solo or a piano.

Like I just liked finding the nuances that changed over time.

And then sometimes I even think that there's improvement.

Like I know with him he had done, you know, vocal work and I just felt like his voice had grown and changed so much.

So it was also really cool for me hearing those changes.

Changes.

But I'm very much the same way.

Like I, if I'm a.

If I'm a fan, I want to support you, and I want to support you whether it's, you know, re recording or a greatest hits record.

You know, like for Tom Penny and the Heartbreakers, it doesn't matter how many times they put out a greatest hits record.

I'm gonna buy it every time.

I'm gonna buy every single one.

I just.

I want to show my support as a fan every single time.

And then, like, you, like, you all mentioned a vault track.

Like, if it's a track that had not been added and you.

And you added onto that greatest hits for the re recording.

I love it.

Like, I.

Something that was not.

That was never released.

To me, it just feels like, like a secret being shared with me.

Rachel, I'm curious.

Do you see any of this in the newer music that you work with?

Because you work.

You professionally cover a lot of very, very new music.

You know, I'm noticing a trend where people are re releasing, like, deluxe quote unquote versions of their albums, like, a year or two after the initial album was released.

And I don't really get it.

Maybe some of you guys can help me out with that.

It just feels like the album hasn't had enough time, like, to marinate to, like, get that excited.

But on Rainbow Rodeo, I just ran a piece by an artist and a journalist who were, like, discussing how the tracks on their album that they reissued as a deluxe, even though it's only a year old, like, a track by track of how each song, like, aligns with a different monster from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

But I noticed that again, you know, the.

The deluxe additions to the track were, like, live recordings or sessions recorded for, like, a radio station or something.

So I don't know.

I mean, songs take different shapes, I guess the more you perform them, so.

Or, you know, if you have a different group of people playing on each song, it might be interesting to hear how different, you know, groups of people, like, change a song.

But I don't know, I feel a little skeptical of it, honestly.

And I'm not really sure as an editor how to cover it.

You know what I mean?

Like, okay, this album came out a year ago, and now you want me to cover it again?

Because there's five new songs that are just the same versions of songs that were already on the album.

Like, I don't know what to say about it.

What do you all think about that?

It's a really good point.

Like, when it feels that new, it does feel like, and I hate to say It.

Because, like, I know also, don't be mad at me, Swifties, but, like, Taylor is a really good artist that does that.

As an example of, like, okay, here's.

Here's one version, and then here's like a deluxe version.

Well, here's like a mega deluxe version.

And then, like, just drops like, 10 different versions over that over a year.

And it just feels like I.

You know, just like a way to.

A way to sell a lot.

But it also just feels like it's taking advantage of your fans in some way.

Yeah, you can say it.

It's okay.

Like, I. I love her.

Like, I really like Taylor Swift a lot, unapologetically.

But I. I have to agree here.

Lately, it's just like, oh, my God, like, how.

How much more money can you make, really?

And she's just putting out so much stuff that it has gotten to be a bit much.

As far as, like, what you were talking about, Rachel, That's a good point about how the heck you would cover a deluxe version.

I know for me, when I've put out, and I haven't actually done a deluxe deluxe version of anything that I've released, but I have talked to some friends about.

I've got some friends called the Yum Yum Tree.

They're in Atlanta, band about to release a new album, and they have so many songs.

I think they had probably 20 some songs to choose from, and they wanted to put it on vinyl.

So they're limited, right, to like, 10 songs.

And so I think.

I can't speak for them definitively, but I think they were gonna possibly do something like a quote, deluxe version with, like.

Well, if we would have had.

If we would have had enough money to put out, you know, maybe two vinyl records or whatever, you know, and just add a few more songs to flesh it out a little bit more, perhaps, or I could have it all wrong and they just might be putting out an ep.

But I know I have thought of that in the past, doing.

Doing something like that.

Just if it's like, okay, well, I. I wish I would have had space to include these additional, like, three or four songs, and I didn't.

So I'm gonna put it out like, a year later.

I don't know.

I think now people are just trying to do anything they can possibly do to get it because it's.

It's so hard to sell music now.

And we're also inundated and that.

I don't know that that helps because it's like, here.

Here's more stuff but yeah, they're probably just trying, you know, just trying something.

Yeah.

Well, when you think about.

I mean, as.

As with the news cycle or any other cycle, it's so short, this moment that you get when you make a release.

And I can understand the str to struggle to just keep all.

It's always got to be something new.

There's always.

I can see both sides of it as, you know, either being.

I mean, Taylor Swift, come on.

But I don't know, as you're saying, the idea of when you make a record and you have to sort of murder your children because they won't fit on the record, then for sure, I think your fans would want to hear the ones that didn't quite make the cut, you know, and they might be arguably, with time, those, you know, they might be the better songs.

You never know.

The decisions that get made in one moment can change.

But then isn't that like.

But then you release like a B Sides album or something.

Right?

That's.

I feel like that's what people used to do.

I mean, I don't want to sound like too down on it.

I know what I've heard from other.

From artists who do it, that sometimes they feel like they didn't get as much publicity as they'd hoped for.

So the hope with reissuing it is that maybe more people will write about it who had it in the past, or cover it, I should say.

Yeah, but it's still.

It's still unusual.

Yeah, but I'm not the expert.

I just get the emails in my inbox.

I'm like, what am I supposed to do?

It's interesting from my point of view as a now retired radio person, because for radio, typically when we were getting a re release, it was something that was either an independent release or a very small label imprint that then gets picked up by a larger label.

And so it would always have a couple more tracks added or a different version of the single re recorded and put on the new version.

And sometimes those were within short succession.

So the first band that I was in radio that I remember this happening with was Widespread Panic's release of Space Wrangler that initially came out on Landslide Records, which was an Atlanta imprint or more or less, and then later was picked up and they added a couple more songs when they released that version of it.

But even all the way to some folks on the more indie end of the world, when Brian Wright's indie record House on Fire was picked up, you know, they changed the album art.

They added a Couple more songs.

They did a different version of the lead single.

So from radio we were usually seeing that as it wasn't the artist making the decision for the new version of it, it was a label decision.

And you know, part of that whole big.

The 10,000 foot view of the contract involved some changes so that the new entity could have some ownership over the art that was coming out.

And what I'm now seeing is kind of on the other end of that time cycle of some artists from back in the day who are just now getting ownership back of their content through a variety of different ways.

Sometimes having to buy out what is the legacy of where the labels went over the years.

But sometimes whatever the timeline of that contract was has come up and they're able to buy back their stuff.

And so now they're able to re release their music or get it on streaming finally, or there's some heritage for me.

Heritage.

So we're talking, you know, late 70s, early 80s, up through early 90s artists who are just now getting ownership of that.

And so they're doing re releases in a variety of different ways.

And in many ways this is the first time they're actually seeing any money off of the records they made all those decades ago.

And it's been kind of shocking to me.

I always knew people who got screwed by labels, you know, when they would record a label or record rather, and it would get shelved and they would still owe the label, you know, $300,000.

I know a ton of people that happened to, but I was surprised how many people that I thought were quite financially successful saw very little sustainable through that quote, heyday of big record labels pre streaming.

So I think there's a lot of different things going on that probably break down to whatever the individual decision is.

And sometimes, frankly, new artists need to tell them no.

And just because you recorded 30 songs doesn't mean you should put those 30 songs out there at this time.

And it's sometimes hard to be in the position, particularly when I was in radio, of saying, no, this isn't ready for radio.

It doesn't mean it's bad.

Frankly, I'll probably buy the ticket and go to the show, but you're serving two different audiences sometimes.

And we all know that radio is no longer the powerful outlet that it was.

So that kind of doesn't matter.

And maybe that's why we're seeing more content, because people are like, well, I'm not getting it out any other way and I'm just gonna flood it as much as I can.

And keep moving forward.

I can't speak for the artist part of it, but from.

I can speak from what I see as I phased myself out of the radio end of it.

I don't know.

I appreciate all of y' all thinking it out loud because that wasn't really the tangent I thought we would go down, but I appreciate the different perspectives that we all have.

I mean, I'll admit I've bought all the anniversary releases of the bands I love and I will continue to do so.

And if they want to give me demos they shelved 40 years ago, I'm going to buy those, too.

So no shame.

No shame.

I'm curious if any of y' all had a chance to look at or listen to any of the other songs that were contributed by other folks this time around, that maybe someone else's song spoke to you.

Yeah, I listened to the playlist several times and, I mean, I already mentioned the Leith Ross.

I love that song.

Thought it was beautiful.

The Boy golden was not familiar with Boy golden, but that songs.

That's a great song.

I was not familiar with that either.

That is from Chad Cochran, who wasn't able to join us this evening, but who was hoping to do so.

So I'm hoping we can bring that one back around another time.

Yeah, that.

That one was really cool.

I enjoyed the TI song.

So.

Yeah, and I love it.

And John Lindsay, I had heard of him.

I don't know who submitted that one, but he's got a great voice.

I was not intimately familiar with his stuff, so, yeah, I always enjoy the playlist.

That's awesome.

Caitlin, chime in a little about John Lindsay.

Oh, I'd love to.

Yeah.

So you met John at the same time that you met me?

I reckon, because he was the other half of the North Carolina Music Love army.

And I met him when I was bartending at the Poor House in Raleigh, and he came through as the keyboard player for Benji Hughes.

And it was kind of.

It was kind of funny because Benji Hughes is a little bit of a notorious bad boy.

He gets a little or a lot drunk and takes all his clothes off while he's playing.

And sometimes the show sort of peters out while he rolls around on the floor.

And it was giving me all this PTSD feelings from being in a band with somebody who sometimes would throw a show.

And so I relate.

I had a wonderful conversation with John Lindsay, sort of commiserating about that.

But he is a wonderful songwriter in his own right, and he's like a pop master and also and he does all of his own production.

But he kind of ran away from music for a while and started a PR firm that has be really good at both the right brain and the left brain, I guess, or whatever.

He made this most recent record in the midst of being a successful businessman.

And it's like a.

It's a really well crafted pop record with.

He's.

He's a very literary fellow and he's.

He's got Randy Newman rhyme rhyming skills.

I think you know, some.

I encourage you to listen to the rest of the record because there are some really great, just solid song craft songs on it.

And.

And like you said, his voice is real great.

And yeah, the record sounds good because he can afford to make a record that sounds really good.

I did.

I. I met y' all at the same time.

And he is a fascinating person.

And his recordings are a very distinct.

The earlier ones were maybe almost kind of chamber pop.

It's a distinct style.

His vocals are very notable and very literary.

I would.

I would affirm that as well.

I was kind of excited to see that he had this new record.

Cause I thought he had gone off in the other end of his skill set and hadn't really kept track.

And then I was like, oh, wait, this is fun.

Yeah, it's a real good record.

Kind of switching gears a little bit.

Rachel, you had said that the songs that you've got here are ones from back in January when we were not able to record.

Would you like to share more about the ones you submitted or do you have other things in your ears right now?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you've heard of this one artist by the name of Duke Ellington.

I did.

I did say in my bio episode I would bring in some jazz from time to time.

And I think he, like, was looking for this as an opportunity to sort of reinvent himself and remind people why he was still relevant in, you know, the age of, like, hard bop.

That was starting to come to the fore.

So I'm like reading the lore for this concert that was like, caught on set.

And anyone else who is knowledgeable about this and feel free to jump in because you probably know more than I do, but they start the set they can't find, like, a bunch of the band because they're off doing God knows what.

So then they come back a couple hours later, finish the set with everybody.

And I imagine some of those people might have found some inspiration somewhere.

But the band goes off on all of these, like, freewheeling solos that get, like, the crowd so worked up, they're like dancing on chairs.

The.

The festival organizers, and I think even the cops and Duke Ellington, because you can hear it's all live, are trying to tell people to calm down.

Then when the set's over, they leave and the audience just.

All these college kids start breaking shit up.

So they come back out.

And then another portion of the record, if you buy it, is they went back into the studio to record new versions of this.

But even before you get to that famous solo, I was so taken by Black and Tan.

This version of it, which is from, you know, the part where they couldn't find, like, half the band.

So it was still pretty early in the morning.

But the solos are just so beautiful and clear and like I'm listening to it at work and there's, you know, 50 years later, 70 years later, geez, I just felt so emotional and started crying.

One like the.

I think it's the.

Trying to find what instrument this might be.

The tenor sax, maybe, or alto.

There's like a high sounding porn.

I just started tearing up listening to it, so that's why I wanted to bring it here.

I really appreciate that you chose this particular recording because I. I absolutely recommend people go listen to the whole thing.

It's available on streaming as well, if you don't have access to the vinyl.

Because really hearing the whole through line of the.

The very live.

Live with where so and so, you know, I had not heard that this particular recording before, and it kind of gave me reference points for if.

I don't know if y' all listen to any relatively modern hip hop.

But you know how on hip hop records, a lot of times they have the talking between the songs, but sometimes it's just banter, but sometimes it's this kind of conversation that they put in there.

And it never occurred to me that perhaps it was referencing back to this specific recording.

I don't know if it is, but sonically, it sounds like a continuation of that sometimes.

Yeah.

I don't really know anything about hip hop, but I've always been curious about, like, the sort of skits and stuff that happen and like, what the.

The through line is or if it's supposed to capture, like, the energy of, like, none of this is supposed to be, like, thought out ahead of time.

So you're listening to all these guys, like, shooting the shit between takes.

Yeah, I don't know either, but.

But then some of those skits are obviously, like, comedic and right written.

I happen to really like this whole, like, feature that is often found, like, I. I don't know why I find that so appealing, but I do.

And I.

Even if it's very clearly scripted, I still like it.

Amanda, you know, like, you're our resident hip hop expert, but you did throw something in this week.

Yes, I did.

So my hip hop song I chose this week was TI Let Them Know.

So this takes me back.

Like, this song.

I'm an elder millennial.

So this song actually reminds me.

And so.

And of course, like, T.I.

Came out.

Like, it was his second album that really exploded on the charts.

Like, he was known for being the, like, not creator of trap music, but he was widely, like, given credit for making travel music in Atlanta famous, so.

Yes, yes, exactly.

So this.

This song just immediately took me back to that time.

We're just very, like, carefree.

And I honestly think, too, that the song reminds me of.

Of being, like, young and enjoying, like, dancing in a club.

Like, I feel like millennials are probably the last generation actually enjoy going out and dancing.

This feels like that is not something that happens much anymore.

So it also just gives.

This gives me that feeling of just, like, wanting to immediately, like, my knees, my back don't feel like it, but I.

But I do want to.

When I hear the song, like, start playing, it also reminds me of, like, being.

I think that trl, like, mtv was such a big influence on my life at that age, too.

When I was, like, graduating high school or, like, and being in college.

Like, I think that that's a big part of, like, why when I talk to a lot of folks my same age, we all listen to a lot of different things because we were listening to, like, rap next to rock next to pop.

Like, all of these genres were introduced to us in this way when they were actually, you know, playing music videos on mtv.

So it's just like, a very carefree time in my life.

And the song made.

The song immediately made me Feel like that I was like a young teenager again, listening to my favorite CD in my car.

It's such the Atlanta sound, and it's long after I had moved away from Atlanta.

But even so, there's something about the melding of the beats they choose and then the other instrumentation that comes in.

I can't always instantly say, oh, that's out of Atlanta.

But certain things, like ti, definitely.

And for me, I was more into Outkast because.

Even more going back to bringing in different elements of music.

And, you know, eight years prior to that, more or less, yes.

But, yeah, that whole Atlanta scene really incorporated a lot of different genres of music and styles of music and has continued to morph and take over the world in many ways, which.

More power to everybody.

But I'm fascinated by the differences in how that sounds versus when I went off to college, folks were listening to west coast rap that I had never heard before.

And, like, I couldn't.

Sonically, I didn't have any reference points for it.

Not that I was ever the audience for the music, but even now, not knowing TI's work, I can hear it in, like, their reference points musically, without.

Throughout the production.

Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely.

I know that I hear a lot of folks say that you can.

You can always tell an Atlanta song, an Atlanta rap song, because we take it, we're a little bit slower.

Like, the beat is just a little bit slower.

Like they say they put the sauce on it.

So I think.

And you could hear it a lot from.

From the artists that are, you know, were like, part of the trap music scene, but, like, ludicrous, like Sierra, like a lot of the artists that had huge hits during that time.

I get this.

I just love hearing that.

That slowed.

Like, that slowed down beat.

It's just something, like, different and special.

It's interesting.

Thank you.

What else are you listening to, Kim?

Gosh.

Well, let's see.

Something new.

Something new.

I got the new Rat Boys on vinyl a few weeks ago, and I really love them.

I became familiar with them, gosh, I guess several years ago, they had a tune Go Outside that I thought was just really fun.

That was the first thing I heard from them.

And when I heard they had, you know, new album coming out, checked it out on streaming and just pretty instantly loved it.

The.

The song that submitted, Gosh, I'm trying to remember which one it was.

I know it was one of the more rocking songs.

The album is pretty rocking.

What's Right.

That's the one that I submitted for this episode.

And it's great.

I don't know if you guys listen to it, but it.

It's also got, like, an unexpected turn at the end.

Like, they rock out for a bit and then they bring it down.

And it's just.

It's really.

It was interesting and unexpected, but I love that track.

But there's another track on the album.

I think the name of it is Just want you to know the truth.

And I started to submit that one because it's probably my favorite, but it's.

It's slower, it's very pretty, and it's just not really indicative of the album as a whole.

But I've really, really been enjoying their vinyl.

And it's interesting.

I enjoy seeing things like this.

Like, speaking of kind of like deluxe releases and such, their.

Their vinyl is.

It's two records, but the music only covers, like the one one and a half records.

Basically three side.

It's three sides of music.

And then they have, like, some etching that I think it said was done by the band on, like, side.

Side B of record number two, which is, you know, kind of unexpected stuff, you know.

But, yeah, I've been digging that a lot.

It sounds great on vinyl.

I'd never heard of this band.

How about y'?

All?

Nope.

I'm just looking forward to learning more because I dug what I heard and I'm.

That's what this podcast is going to be good for me for finding new stuff.

Same I wrote about them for Adobe and Teardrops years ago, and then I kind of lost track of them.

And I can't load the website right now to find out which album or EP I wrote about, but.

Which is weird because usually I recognize the album art, but, yeah, they've been coming.

This album has been showing up in a lot of different places for me, so I put it on my queue to, like, actually listen to because I enjoyed them.

When I listened to them, I just lost track.

Yeah, I think you'll like it.

I think they.

I enjoyed, you know, the stuff from several years back as well, but I think that this is better.

I think this is more cohesive and just like, more rocking.

It's really good.

I really liked this record and I.

Because I never would have found them if it weren't for you bringing it to us.

So this is exactly why this whole entire podcast promise came around.

So we do have all the different songs, so we've got a lot with four folks joining in tonight, so we'll try to get through everything.

But I also don't want people to Feel rushed.

It's better for us to leave stuff off and wish we'd gotten there.

But, Caitlin, you brought someone else this time around that, coincidentally, we talked about in a podcast that is getting ready to come out that no one else here has gotten to hear.

So you've got a third person.

Oh, Will Johnson.

Is that what you mean?

Yeah.

Yes, I know.

Well, I was thinking of how to talk about it, and really, it's like me and my husband are, like, really old now and really set in our routines.

And one of the parts of that is, you know, we have our dinner together, and then the roles are that he.

We, you know, slowly creak ourselves out of our chairs, and I go walk the dogs in the dark because I. I'm always trying to avoid the heat.

Well, not now, but you know what I mean.

That's when I walk the dogs because I'm afraid of the sun.

And he washes the dishes and plays this record every single night.

For now, I'm gonna say it's like three months or something, and I come back in with the dogs and one.

And it's always, always on.

So when he does the dishes and it is this.

And so I hope Will would appreciate that.

I think he might.

I love this story.

Well, and it has caused us to listen to a bunch more, too.

And also.

And to go back to old Centromatic, which was, you know, more of our, like, heyday time.

We liked that band, but, you know, for sure.

Yeah.

And this.

But.

But also to give the record it's due.

Like, this is really, I think, an artfully produced record where, you know, it's got every.

I feel like they used all the instrument.

Careful consideration.

And his voice is.

It's like the songs are just sort of orchestral in this way of, you know, it doesn't really matter what he's saying, but if you.

But if you care to lean in, you're going to hear us.

A really beautiful piece of poetry, a beautiful line and.

But mostly it's just, like, sounds to get lost in for me, at least that's how.

And I guess that's what Skillet's doing when he's washing the dishes.

I don't know.

I'm not there.

I love this.

I love this.

So, Rachel, I want to chime in with you.

What else have you been listening to?

Yeah, well, first I want to say about Will is he's on tour this spring with Magnolia Electric Company, and they're singing, I think, maybe just, you know, all the songs that they put out with Jason Molina.

And I can't think of a better person to sort of take on that role as the lead singer.

So I bought the ticket for the New York City show as soon as it came out.

I don't usually plan ahead like that, but I was like, I don't know if this is selling out, but I'm buying two.

My wife doesn't want to come.

I'll find somebody to drag with me.

So, yeah, definitely go do a little research on that.

Will's been amazing, consistent for decades.

So I guess one other song I'd love to shout out would be the Kendra Morris song.

But the songs are just like, so funny and like mean spirit.

Not mean spirited, but like that kind of like snide sort of sense of humor.

But in My House is sort of like kind of a nicer one about just like what it means to really be at home and.

Yeah, and her voice is crazy, so definitely go check that out, especially if you're into anything with an older sound.

She can spit some lines, man.

Wow, that is so fast.

I can't.

I mean, I. I'm astonished by anybody who can sing that many words and sound so great doing it.

I really enjoyed that.

I was not familiar with Kendra Morris at all.

And we.

We ended up listening to the whole record and just like, whoa.

Wow, this is.

This is great.

You know, I'm one of those people that I hear the sounds first and I don't hear the lyrics till after I listen a few times.

And so I totally missed the pointedness of the lyrics the first, like, three times through.

And then I was like, ooh, ooh.

I don't totally remember how I found out about the album.

I think the no Fences newsletter would be my best guess.

Ah, I'm way behind on reading that newsletter.

Shout them out.

They're on Blue sky as well.

Yeah, I don't read it every time.

Yes.

No Offenses with my other favorite musical, Charles.

Love that newsletter.

Mm.

No Fences.

Is that what you said?

Yeah, they are prolific, so I really only dip my toe in and then dip back out.

But they're really good at writing about new music and old music that you probably haven't heard of but will still enjoy.

Yeah, Definitely recommend that as well.

So, Kim, what else have you brought?

Oh, I brought Courtney Barnett.

I've been a fan I love Courtney Barnett.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've been a big fan of her since I.

Since the Avant Gardener.

She's amazing.

And she's released, I guess, several.

At least three or four tunes off her upcoming album.

And to be honest, like, I thought they were fine.

I mean, I tend to like everything she does, you know, at least like a little bit.

But when I heard the song that I brought called Mantis, I was so blown away that I got probably very like, Neurodiver Divergent with it.

And, like, I listened to it over and over and over because I would.

I would listen to it and I'm like, oh, this sounds so perfect.

And then I would play something else after it and it was like, ah.

I think I just want to hear Courtney Barnett again.

So.

I am crazy about this song.

It might be my favorite thing that she's ever done.

It's cool how it starts.

Like, to me it sounds a little bit like.

Almost like.

Like New Order ish or something that I was not expecting from her, you know?

Yeah, it's.

It's a change.

It is, it is.

And then as it gets rolling, though, to me it just sounds like a female Kurt Vile, which totally makes sense for her.

And, you know, but.

And I love him too, so.

And I love their stuff together.

But.

Yeah, that's.

It's a really cool song.

It's got some great, great lines in it, like she always does.

I love the coda thing at the end where she's.

What is it?

She says something like something about my.

My head sorted, sorta, and I'm like, that's a really good.

It's a good playing words there.

So.

Yeah.

Love her.

I'm excited about the album.

Yeah.

I was surprised to hear kind of the growth.

Go ahead, Kaylin.

Oh, yeah, I bet you are.

You know, the.

It was much more lush sounding, I think, and, you know, just sort of more it produced sounding in a way than.

Than the more raw sound that I'm used to from her.

So, yeah, I was.

I was very intrigued by it.

I'm excited to hear the rest of the record.

Yeah, I agree.

The production on that track was.

Was really cool and it was fleshed out like, there's bongos here and there a little bit.

You know, you could like, barely hear some cool percussion stuff.

Yeah, I also got a laugh out.

I got a laugh out of the line.

I think she said something.

There is no such thing as a perfect melody.

And I was laughing because, you know, she doesn't.

She clearly writes melodies, but she doesn't sing them.

She they're they're buried in other places.

She was being funny or not, but I laughed.

Agreed.

Well, Rachel Colst, Amanda Miles, Caitlin Carey, Kim Ware, thank you all so much for sliding on in with Dive Bar Music Club this time around.

For listeners, we do have full playlists available for you all on both Apple Music and Tidal each month, so we'll have those links for you down in the show notes.

Make sure you hit that like and subscribe button.

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