American musician
POPULARITY
Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz discusses the band's 30-year career, which includes seven studio albums, 32 singles, and 20 million record sales. The band is touring Australia and New Zealand, performing songs from across their entire catalogue with a setlist that changes nightly. Duritz reflects on the success of their cover of 'Big Yellow Taxi' and their Academy Award-nominated song from Shrek 2, 'Accidentally in Love'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz discusses the band's 30-year career, which includes seven studio albums, 32 singles, and 20 million record sales. The band is touring Australia and New Zealand, performing songs from across their entire catalogue with a setlist that changes nightly. Duritz reflects on the success of their cover of 'Big Yellow Taxi' and their Academy Award-nominated song from Shrek 2, 'Accidentally in Love'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz discusses the band's 30-year career, which includes seven studio albums, 32 singles, and 20 million record sales. The band is touring Australia and New Zealand, performing songs from across their entire catalogue with a setlist that changes nightly. Duritz reflects on the success of their cover of 'Big Yellow Taxi' and their Academy Award-nominated song from Shrek 2, 'Accidentally in Love'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this week's Talkhouse Podcast we've got the singer and songwriter from a legendary ‘90s (and beyond) band alongside a relative newcomer whose songs he deeply influenced: Adam Duritz and Sean Barna. If you don't know his name, you certainly know Duritz's band, Counting Crows. Active since 1991, the group has sold 20 million albums, enjoyed a bunch of big hits, and been a powerhouse touring act for that entire run. To his great credit, Duritz—as you'll hear in this chat—has never stopped engaging with new music, both as a songwriter and a sort of talent scout. He started two different festivals that you'll hear about, the Outlaw Roadshow and Underwater Sunshine, which are built like jam sessions for both established and up-and-coming songwriters. Counting Crows continues to release new music, too, including a lengthy EP called Butter Miracle, Suite One, which was recorded during pandemic times and showcases a slightly glammier side of the band. Check out “Elevator Boots” right here, and check out Counting Crows on tour this summer with Dashboard Confessional. Today's other guest, Sean Barna, was a drummer who was directly inspired to start writing songs after hearing Counting Crows. In some sort of amazing bit of serendipity, Barna found himself in Duritz's orbit, and the two became fast friends and, eventually, guests on each other's music. Barna recently signed to the venerated indie label Kill Rock Stars, which just released his second album, An Evening at Macri Park, which is a sort of concept album about modern-day queer life in Brooklyn. It's emotional and catchy in all the right ways. Check out the song “Be a Man,” which features Duritz on guest vocals. In this fun and wide-ranging conversation, Duritz and Barna talk about playing shows together, the perfection that is a BLT, a bit of hazing that happened when Barna opened for Counting Crows, and lots more. There's even a lengthy story from Duritz that starts with badly injuring his leg and ends with him looking for his underwear. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Adam Duritz and Sean Barna for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the goodness at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!
Welcome to the legendary Viper Room of Sunset Strip, West Hollywood! Many a rocker/starlet/model/performer passed this way back in the 90s and we are here to tell the tale. There's a line out front and Iggy's on stage - Duritz is slinging shots, and The Man in Black is quoting movies... Lines, lines - lines everywhere... It doesn't get more Rock n' Roll than this gaff - cheesy Aussie soap actors notwithstanding. There's always one. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/societyowesmeagenxpodcast/message
Adam Duritz has waited decades to play in Israel, a place that he loves, said the Counting Crows frontman in this Times Will Tell podcast ahead of his band's Wednesday night show in Ra'anana, outside Tel Aviv. Duritz visited Israel several times in his teens, hiking through Sinai, working on a kibbutz and later learning Torah in Jerusalem, a "powerful place" for him, he says. Yet Duritz hadn't returned to Israel since then, as he built his career and band, waiting for the right opportunity to make it back to Israel and perform here. The lead singer of the California-founded band, known for hits such as "Mr. Jones," "Round Here," and "Accidentally In Love," credited the physical work he learned on the kibbutz as the foundation for the landscaping and construction jobs that he later did to support himself while building his musical career. He also spoke about his own struggles with religion and faith, and how those issues showed up in his music. The following transcript has been very lightly edited. The Times of Israel: Welcome Adam Duritz to the Times Will Tell, we are very honored to have you with us, and we appreciate you squeezing us into what I know is a busy schedule ahead of your Wednesday night performance in Ra'anana. Adam Duritz: I know I am. I'm very excited to play some place we've never played before. The Times of Israel: It's hard to believe. There's been a lot of preview interviews with you mentioning that you came here and you worked on the kibbutz when you were 18 and you came back to Jerusalem and did a little studying in the holy city. But it has been quite a few decades since you've been in Israel, correct? Adam Duritz: Four, I would think about. Four, yeah. It's been a really long time. The Times of Israel: Are you planning on traveling around for the next couple of days? Are you going to lay low and hang out at the beach? Adam Duritz: Well, I'd like to get a chance to travel around. I really want to go back to Jerusalem because that was someplace I really loved when I was a kid. But I don't really know. It depends on what kind of press and stuff they have us doing. That's the only thing that's going to take up the time. Except for our A gear, has all been in a locker in Liverpool for a year now. So we kind of have to go through that and make sure we have to do some pre-rehearsal with the band and the crew to make sure all the equipment gears. The Times of Israel: It got sent over for a concert that got canceled. And now you're basically doing the tour that you meant to do a while back. Adam Duritz: Because of Covid, I decided to leave it over there rather than bring it back on the risk that we would be able to reschedule the tour. I left it over there because especially nowadays, all the expenses for bands' prices haven't gone up at all, but the expenses are all doubled or tripled freight, airlines, flights, hotels, freight for your gear. All that is double or triple what it was. So I didn't want to waste the money by bringing it all back. There's a lot of things I'd like to do and hopefully I'll get to do some of them. But part of touring is realizing that the gig is everything. The Times of Israel: How is this tour going? I know that you were touring the US and now you're in Europe and you hopped over to Israel, and you have a lot of tour dates all over Europe. What does it feel like to be touring again? Adam Duritz: It's cool. I mean, this is the first gig of the European tour, so we haven't done that part yet. But the shows in America, we did a whole tour last summer and we've been playing gigs off and on this year. It's all been really cool. It's nice to be back playing. The Times of Israel: You've mentioned in a few interviews that it's been 30 years since your first album and that you feel, I guess, a sense of privilege that you guys are still together and that you perform these huge shows, [with] fans that are really excited to see you. Adam Duritz: Not so much that we're still together, but that people are still coming out to see us. You always worry about that because the shelf life of a band is very short, but especially after two years lay off, you really wonder whether things are going to pass you by. But we're still here. The Times of Israel: What was it like getting back onto those stages, getting back together, working together, performing together? Adam Duritz: Well, the same as it's always been. I mean, it's just performing. It's nice to play, you know, I think when you're in a band that was the longest I've ever gone without playing that period during Covid. In my entire adult life, I've never gone that long between gigs, so it was very strange. The Times of Israel: That must be incredibly strange. There are certain songs that are so familiar, so popular, that make people happy. "Mr Jones," "Big Yellow Taxi," "Roundhere." What is it like when you play these songs that you know are beloved by your fans, but that you have to keep on churning out all the time? What is it like to play those songs over again, knowing that your crowd wants to hear them, but knowing that maybe there's other things that you want to focus on more, or maybe not. Maybe those are the songs you always want to bring to your audience. Adam Duritz: If I want to play something else, I would just play it. There's nothing that has to get played every night. The only song that we play every night is "A Long December." And that's because for some reason, that's the only song I never ever get sick of. I don't think there's ever been a night where I didn't want to play that song. I don't know why that is, but I'm never tired of it. Everything else, if there's a night where I don't want to play it, I'm not going to play it. Because I think it would suck to play songs that you don't want to play. The Times of Israel: Really? You would do that to the audience? You would do that to the fans? Not play "Mr. Jones," for instance. Adam Duritz: Yeah, there's been lots of nights where we didn't play "Mr. Jones." I love that song. I love "Mr. Jones," but I want to keep loving "Mr. Jones." I don't want to hate the song. And I would think the quickest way to hating your own music is to play it on nights when you don't want to play it. The Times of Israel: Interesting, given that you've had this long-standing connection to Israel that it took so long to get back here. Adam Duritz: Bands want to go everywhere, but you can't go anywhere unless you have a promoter making you an offer that makes sense. The fact is, there's probably nowhere in the world we don't really want to go. But you just can't go until promoter gives you the right kind of offer. And I don't know that we've had those in the past. This offer was really good. The moment I heard it, I said, absolutely, let's do it. It's taking care of a lot of our European tour because some of the other gigs in Europe are smaller, not as well paying some of them. This is a great gig. I'd like to be able to come back here every few years because to go to a new country and find out that you have an audience where you can go right and play a 6,000-seat arena right off the bat, that's fantastic. I mean, not an arena, an amphitheater. So I don't know about the past, but I don't really remember offers from Israel. The only thing I say is, as soon as I heard this offer, I said, absolutely, let's do it. Okay. I love it here. The Times of Israel: I know it's always a little bit of a pain to come to Israel because of the fact that you have to ship everything over here and then ship it back to Europe. You're not playing in the countries that surround Israel, you're not going to Egypt, you're not going to Jordan, not going to Syria or Lebanon. You didn't get hit with any boycotts or sanctions, you didn't get hit with any criticism of coming to play in Israel. Adam Duritz: No. The only place I really heard about it were in the interviews. But, I mean, I will say that I've been pretty isolated this year because I haven't been out and about very much. Also, we're not exactly the center of the culture right now, so maybe it would be different in that situation, I don't know. But also, like, I'm a Jew. I understand the long tradition of, like, everything is the Jew's fault. I don't really buy it. The Times of Israel: So, talk about that a little bit. Now that you brought it up, what is it like to come back here and to bring the Counting Crows, to bring your people, to bring your band, to bring your bandmates to this place that you connected with a long time ago? What does that feel like? Adam Duritz: It feels pretty cool. It's a really long time ago for me, but there's some pretty powerful memories. I just think for the band, in a lot of ways, you expect your career to be shrinking. You expect to play less and less places every year, so a year where you can come and play, more places to go, someplace new for the first time. I don't think any of the guys in our band, except for me, have been here before, which is pretty rare. This tour, we actually have three cities we've never played, Helsinki and Warsaw and Tel Aviv. And that's kind of great. It's the opposite direction you expect things to go in the later years of your career. So that always makes me really happy, especially if, considering how big the crowd could be here for us, it's someplace we could come back to. The Times of Israel: Can you share a memory? Adam Duritz: I mean, I was a kid, I went through the Sinai. It was still part of Israel back then. I spent a lot of time in Jerusalem. It was very powerful for me, that city, especially the Old City. I worked on a kibbutz for a little while, working in the apple orchard. I dug crap out of a grain silo. I really enjoyed the work. And it's funny because it kind of prepared me in some ways, because that kind of physical work is what I ended up doing to support myself all the years when I was in the band, at first and in different bands, I was a landscaper and I did construction work. And I think one of the reasons I knew that I was okay doing that kind of work is that I had done it. I had done it over here. I'd gotten up really early in the morning and done hard work all day, and that's kind of how I ended up supporting myself in the early days before the band was successful. But the first place I really did a lot of that was on the kibbutz here. Adam Duritz: I went back again a couple of years later when I was 18 and pretty much just spent time in Jerusalem in that time. A lot of it was also that I was a kid and I liked getting wasted and there was no drinking age over here, and I thoroughly appreciated that at the time. The Times of Israel: I don't know if this is too much of a stretch, but are there any of those early moments and early memories that made their way into your music at any point? Or is there any connection there between what you experienced and what you later started creating? Adam Duritz: Well, I think there's a lot of places where my struggle with religion and faith shows up in my music, and that certainly was a part of my time here. The Times of Israel: It's a pretty common theme coming to Israel, coming to Jerusalem, struggling with where you are in terms of faith. And of course, now you're here for work and you're here to perform and to give interviews and to maybe see a little bit of this country that you haven't seen in a while. But do you find that it tugs at you in a certain way or is that sort of in your past? Adam Duritz: Well, there are things about the country that tug at me a lot, like just the history and what part it plays in my own history. Being a Jew, that's a pretty powerful thing for any Jew. Being here is a very, what's the word? Intoxicating in that way. Israel is a heavy liquor for Jews, I would say. But no, the religion doesn't tug at me. I'm past believing things like that. The Times of Israel: Yeah, but the place, the scenery, what you're seeing outside your window, what you see when you drive from the airport, those kinds of things, the people on the street. Adam Duritz: The street, well, not as much from the airport to Tel Aviv, but just the knowledge of what it is and my memories, especially of Jerusalem, maybe if I went over to Jaffa, to the older parts of town. It's incredibly beautiful out the window, looking at the beach, but between me and the beach is a construction zone. I guess they're putting in a rapid transit system. I remember when they did that in LA. That always tears up for a bit. Yeah, I guess it's just like also, it's a country full of Jews, as opposed to being one in a crowd as you are in the rest of the world. In the rest of the world, you're one in a crowd and here you are, the crowd. That's a unique thing. The Times of Israel: Are you brushing up on any Hebrew for the show? Are we going to hear any? Adam Duritz: Yeah, if people are talking, I'll say, sheket. I remember sheket. I remember ken and lo. I remember shalom, which means aloha. I don't remember most of my Hebrew. I could sort of speak it back then, but yeah, I don't remember very much of it now. The Times of Israel: The crowd loves it when some beloved singer comes their way and throws a little shalom and a little sheket b'vakasha (please be quiet). I think they'll be happy on Wednesday night to hear that as well. Where are you in terms of new songs? In terms of new work? I know Covid, as we keep on saying, has been such a struggle for bands. Sometimes it's great for being inspired, and sometimes it has made it really difficult. Where is Counting Crows in terms of new music? Are we going to hear any? Adam Duritz: Well, I had written a second suite, but I threw it out. I sang on my friend's record and he sent me their record before it came out. They're this band called Gang of Youth. They have a new record called "Angel in Real Time." And when I listened to it, it was so good that for the first time, literally the first time in my entire career, I thought, oh, these songs aren't good enough, and I threw them out. So I have to rework.I mean, I'm reworking some of it, but his record was so much better, and that's not good enough. The Times of Israel: Okay, but the point is that you're working, we're going to hear more new music. You guys are going to keep on going for hopefully a very long time. Adam Duritz: The chances of us finding other jobs are pretty slim, so yeah. The Times of Israel: Well, you said landscape and construction. There's always something to fall back on. Right. Adam Duritz: I'm not falling back to that on that. I'll stick with my job. I loved it at the time, but I'm glad I like my new job better. The Times of Israel: The new job that you've been carrying out for a while, happily, for quite a few decades. Excellent. Well, we really thank you for being with us, Adam Duritz, it's great to have you here in Israel and looking forward to hearing you on stage on Wednesday night and hoping you have a great trip and that you get to do a few things and see a few places that you want to see while you're here. Adam Duritz: Absolutely. I hope so. But the main thing I really wanted to do was play here, so one way or another, I'll get it all. I really wanted to play here. Times Will Tell podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz at the band's September 14 show in Ra'anana, Israel (Courtesy Shlomi Pinto)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 2021: Duritz and Bill talk about the origins of Counting Crows as well as the stories behind the creation of some of the band's most well-known songs. Other topics include adjusting to fame in the early 1990s, maintaining artistic integrity for more than 30 years, and their 2021 album, ‘Butter Miracle, Suite One.' Host: Bill Simmons Guest: Adam Duritz Production Support: Steve Ceruti, Ben Cruz, Tim Angan and Garrett Gonzales Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We were down at the New Amsterdam, and we decided to pick our favourite 5 tracks from 'August and Everything After' and our fave five from 'This Desert Life' while mostly ignoring Recovering the Satellites with the utmost respect. Facts, info, links and all the goss about Mr Duritz follow as we rekindle our love for these ol' birds. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/societyowesmeagenxpodcast/message
What does Aaron think of Dashboard Confessional? Will Cole finally win a game? Who does number Phil work for? All that and more on this episode of The Gear Slum.
"We all wanna be Bob Dylan." In the midst of grunge and new punk, Adam Duritz and Co. were a throwback, not just to folk/pop music, but to the singer-songwriter era. Duritz's poetic narratives offered a deep look into his soul and psyche, to his desire for belonging and fame. He would get at least the latter thanks to beautiful, pop hits like "Round Here," "Rain King" and, of course, "Mr. Jones, which remains a radio staple. But the album, "August and Everything After" is a complete piece, often overlooked as a whole due to the momentous success of radio hits. "We all wanna be big stars, yeah, but we got different reasons for that."
Counting Crows' Adam Duritz catches up with Kyle Meredith to dive into the band’s return to new music with Butter Miracle Suite Volume One. The frontman discusses the idea to write what is essentially a small rock opera and his being burnt out on the music business prior to this newfound inspiration, as well as channeling The Who, the importance of music in his life, and how dissociative disorder directs his writing. Duritz also tells us what it was like hearing so many artists from the 2000’s emo scene naming him as a prime influence, and the struggle to release a deluxe edition of Recovering the Satellites due to the label losing and misplacing files along with the Universal Records fire that potentially destroyed much of what was left. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
It’s easy to look at Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz and not take him seriously. It seems like 1990-era MTV created him in a lab. But there's more to him, and "August and Everything After," than it seems. In this episode, we're highlighting the Counting Crows biggest hits, the time the mayor of Omaha offered Duritz the key to the city, and the progressive metal band that named themselves after a song on this album.
I’m busy in the recording studio this week so we continue featuring October’s Garden Sessions. This week it’s two more great bands Wild Pink and The Harmaleighs. Dig this!
We celebrate being slightly late celebrating the 20th Anniversary of 1999, a record which actually came out 38 years ago. This was an incredibly fertile period in the Purple One’s career and we bellyflop into it, splashing music over two separate podcasts.
After the critical acclaim of Dirty Mind(1980), Prince’s first real encounter with mainstream mass culture ends disastrously on the Rolling Stones Tour. In the wake of those experiences, he goes back to the studio and crafts the kind of response only he could make...Controversy (1981). We take a look. Dig it!
Is there any doubt in your mind what these next few podcasts are all about? We start at the beginning and take a deep dive into maybe the best there ever was. This motherfucker was simply VIOLACEOUS! Prince Rogers Nelson.
We get into our first Garden Sessions of the year, checking out October’s performances with Maria Taylor, The Accidentals, and Sarah Jaffe. It’s all kinda awesome. Oh yeah...and soup. We talk about soup.
In the wake of some hard times, we examine the wonderful, tragic, and triumphant life of Daniel Johnston.
James & I convene onstage Saturday night at the Underwater Sunshine Festival to host a live podcast, answer your questions, pat ourselves on the back with microphones, and generally self-congratulate in front of an audience. Zaniness ensues. We love you all.
Berkeley, California's Counting Crows seemed to become overnight sensations with their debut album August and Everything After. Lead man and pianist Adam Duritz and guitarist David Bryson came out of a group called The Himalayans, originally starting as a duet. Over time they formed the group, adding keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, guitarists Dan Vickrey and David Immergluck, bassist Millard Powers, and percussionist Jim Bogios. In a time when grunge was on the ascendancy, the Counting Crows drew inspiration more from Van Morrison and the coffee house than from Kurt Cobain and Seattle. Duritz' lyrics are a powerful draw for the band. Ironically, despite the fame-chasing lyrics of their breakthrough single, "Mr. Jones," Adam Duritz was never very comfortable with the fame that came with the success of the Counting Crows.We hope you enjoy this lyric-rich album. Round HereThe first track on the album describes a man walking away from a home and a woman, only to discover that he is walking away from himself. The lyrics talk about all the things he can now do, but while these freedoms are important to children, they are not very significant to adults.OmahaThis is a deeper cut off the album, and was tried by Duritz in many previous bands before finally feeling like he got it right with this iteration. In April 1994, the city of Omaha, Nebraska designated this song the “official song of the city.”Anna BeginsAnother deep cut, this song was inspired by a relationship Duritz had with an Australian named Anna. The relationship could not survive the geographic distance. “She's talking in her sleep, it's keeping me awake, and Anna begins to toss and turn. And every word is nonsense but I understand, and Oh Lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing.”Rain KingA big hit off the album, "“I've been here before, and I deserve a little more.” The song was written in 40 minutes after watching the film “Dr. Zhivago.” ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:“The X-Files” by Mark SnowThe long-running science fiction television series featuring Mulder and Skully began in 1993. The truth is out there!STAFF PICKS:“Creep” by RadioheadBrian features the ultra-depressing lyrics of Thom Yorke. The song was inspired by an obsession York had with a stranger. When he confessed his obsession, the result was decidedly not a good one.“I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)” by Meat LoafBruce features the longest single in history to make it to #1 on the charts, clocking in at 7:58. Meat Loaf won a Grammy for this song from the sequel album to 1977's “Bat out of Hell.”“My Sister” by The Juliana Hatfield ThreeWayne brings an alternative track that was big on the radio, but didn't make it to the charts. It is told from the perspective of a little sister or brother looking up to a big sister, with the love-hate relationship that comes with it.“Crazy Mary” by Pearl JamRob's staff pick was originally a folk song written by guitar player Victoria Williams. Pearl Jam put this cover on a benefit album for Williams after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Williams sings in the background. INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:“Food Innuendo Guy” by Adam SandlerThis song really mashes our potatoes.
The boys finish prepping for the festival this weekend and we’re thrilled to announce the last minute surprise additions of Petal and Stephen Kellogg to the Underwater Sunshine lineup. Don’t forget the Saturday session opens with James and I onstage for a live podcast recording at 6pm! Check it out!
The boys take another trip through the bands playing the Underwater Sunshine Festival, including a brand new Jordan Klassen tune and the very special reveal of a new Maria Taylor song called “Waiting In Line” featuring me, Adam, singing with her! Check ‘em all out!
The Underwater Sunshine Festival is coming Nov 8-9 and we’re so excited to spend the next few weeks previewing the incredible artists who’ll be playing. C’mon! Check em’ out with us!
Back for more checkered flags and a few bumps in the road. We talk about the later years as The Cars make a massive comeback, call it quits, and then get back together to make some really good music one last time. It’s a really sad but appreciative farewell to Ben Orr and Ric Ocasek. Seriously. Let The Good Times Roll.
With apologies/acknowledgement to Paula Vogel’s brilliant play (which returns to NYC this coming Spring w/its original cast of Mary-Louise Parker & David Morse), we examine an entirely different life in Cars and say goodbye to one of our heroes.
Omigod. So much great music and none of it from 1969. Welcome back time travelers! Phones are smart and people are stupid and we’re finally home. (smile) Thankfully, the Music is always good no matter when we are.
In which the boys finally wrap up Woodstock, somehow managing to cover a 3-day festival in only 6 weeks. What can we say? We’re talkers. Day 3 stretches into Day 4 with Edgar Winter, Blood Sweat & Tears, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sha-Na-Na, and Jimi Hendrix.
Day 3 at the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair gets off to explosive start with Joe Cocker and never really lets up. We can’t help ourselves so we only deal with half of it in our penultimate Woodstock podcast. But you still get Country Joe & The Fish, Ten Years After and THE motherfucking BAND!!! It’s an experience. Get some!
The seemingly endless 2nd day of Woodstock finally comes to close with a soul-baring Janis Joplin Set and a powerful close by the Jefferson Airplane book-ended around furious historic and impossible-to-top sets by Sly & The Family Stone and The Who. Along with Santana some 14 hours earlier, Sly & The Family Stone and The Who play the greatest sets at Woodstock in my opinion.
Day 2 at Woodstock finally starts to cook until the Dead arrive in all their acid-drenched glory and somehow manage to both break the stage and fry all the electronics at the same time, causing the world’s biggest rock concert to grind to a screeching halt. Zaniness ensues.
In which Day 2 at Woodstock begins more in fits and starts than anything else. The acoustic folk music of Day 1 was supposed to give way to the electric rock and roll of Day 2 but instead, the biggest rock concert ever got stuck in, of all things, traffic. Dig.
If you ever do something really cool and all your friends come over along with all their friends and a few hundred thousand friends of friends of friends so it’s basically the most people ever in one place and some bands play and everybody gets really fucking high and has a good time (except for a guy who gets run over by a tractor and someone who doesn’t take their insulin) and then fifty years pass without anything like that really ever happening again...we’ll probably decide to do some podcasts about that shit too. Day 1. Woodstock. Dig it.
If Scott Fitzgerald had heard Emotions And Math, his book might’ve had an entirely different heroine. We have...so we do. Margaret Glaspy is simply fucking amazing and we spend a podcast talking about just that.
In which the boys reflect upon the brilliant visionary music of both New Delhi/London-based Prateek Kuhad and Brooklyn’s own Wilder Maker as seen through their performances on the last and first days of April’s Garden Sessions. We listen and discuss.
In which the boys can’t seem to stop having fun with Garden Sessions so this week we delve into Eric Hutchinson and Bear Cub. You’re gonna dog this. Or dig this.
In which the boys talk to the completely awesome Kiley Lotz, the brilliant singer/songwriter behind Petal, check out her Garden Sesh, and then have an epic chat with the legendary Cyndi Lauper and her bandmates-for-the-night Hollis Brown all about growing up in Queens and playing rock and roll.
We continue the epic tale of the Bellshill Glasgow kids we began in the "Teenage Superstars" episode by taking a deep dive into the music of one of my all-time faves: Joe McAlinden and his amazing band SUPERSTAR. This is music that’s completely out-of-print and unavailable. You can’t hear it on Spotify and it’s nearly impossible to find a copy of this album anywhere. There’s really only one place you can easily hear this music and that is RIGHT HERE. Underwater Sunshine presents….SUPERSTAR!
We stick with the Garden Sessions for one more week, this time featuring the incredible Twinspeak music of Ganessa & Tiffany James’ band Onliest, our interview with Roan Yellowthorn, and the wild visionary folk music of Teddy Thompson. You’re gonna flip. Dig it.
We stick with the Garden Sessions but this time we begin by announcing one of the bands we discovered playing their Garden Session who are going to be playing the next Underwater Sunshine Fest in November...SKOUT! Plus we play the Garden Session and our interview with Fort Frances and finish up with some Amy Vachal and a little Matt Sucich. Dig the good word!
Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll is man of many hats: comedian, actor, singer, and a self-professed 'Filterhead'. He currently stars in Kim's Convenience and Northern Rescue, and is releasing his first comedy music album this spring. We sat down with Rodrigo to talk about his obsession with Venom, how he's convinced several people he is Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, and that time in high school when he stayed up all night burning mix-CDs for a crush.
The dynamic duo had to dine and dash! Despite their desire to debate the demise of Duritz, Joe Stoner and Sheila F become distracted by card counting and “Counting” Crows. Refusing to be penny rich pound poor, they ditch the penny slots and manage to dodge the “ruffness” of the pit boss. Thank goodness that Sheila F’s band bus allows them to set sail for success!
We go back to the Garden Sessions and visit with the bands Fairhazel (from London by way of Boston), Wild Pink (straight outta Brooklyn!), and finish with our pal Taylor Carson (all the way from Portland, Oregon, which - oddly enough because it’s landlocked - does actually have a port).
It begins with a breathtaking version of “Bleed” and goes from there. In order to get in the mood for the release of more Garden Sessions, the Sunshine Boys finally release the long awaited Sesh and interview with Stew & The Negro Problem, pretty much Adam’s favorite band in existence. We talk some shit, they play some magic, and on top of that you get a little of the end of their Bowery Electric set and THEN...we rock a little Kasey Anderson for good measure. It don’t get any better than this. Get sum.
It’s time. One last look at a few artists playing the Fest and then...here comes the Sun! This week we check out Fairhazel , Amy Vachal, Eric Hutchinson, Wild Pink, and...Cyndi Lauper.
In the next-to-Final week leading up to the Underwater Sunshine Festival April 5-6 at The Bowery Electric, the Sunshine Boyz take a look at the musical stylings of Ryan Hamilton, Hollis Brown, and Fort Gorgeous and then prepare to dive into the miasma of joy and electricity and alcohol that is UNDERWATER SUNSHINE!! Come join us in the sun!!!
In which the Underwater Sunshine Festival draws another week nearer and we dig into four more incredible bands traveling here to play from places like Pennsylvania and Ohio, from as close as Brooklyn here in NYC and as far away as Pullman in western Washington state, AKA the town that gave us Klay.
We go deep on a few more artists playing the Underwater Sunshine Festival in April, this time shining the spotlight West Coast, then East Coast, and finally North to our friendly neighbors across the border. They’re coming from all over to play this one! Why? Because flights are cheap, because we’re all kinds of cool, and because - apparently - nobody thought to build a wall above Michigan. (shrug)
In which the boyz begin the march to the Underwater Sunshine Festival by playing some of their favorite new music, including a Brooklyn band, a Brooklyn boy, and a few once and future Outlaws.
In which James has a song he wants to play and I reveal some of the effects of Christian religious fervor on Jewish kids from Berkeley.