A Deeper Listen

Sound & Vision’s mini-series, Apparently, explores the stories of musicians, performers and arts workers who are juggling parenthood with their art.

On this episode, our guest is Shana Cleveland of the Seattle-born and California-based band, La Luz. KEXP’s Evie Stokes talks with Cleveland about her journey of becoming a mother shortly before the pandemic, receiving a cancer diagnosis, and despite the obstacles, continuing her career in music. 

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Washington’s Allen Stone talks about what it was like being a finalist in NBC’s "American Song Contest" and how he was able to make it happen in the final days of his mother’s life. He also discusses the realities of trying to make a living off music even after you have a national following.

Listen back to a previous Sound & Vision episode featuring Allen Stone here. 

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Chris Bathgate talks about his new record, ‘The Significance of Peaches,’ which was released after living in a national forest in Michigan, farming in California, working at a tech startup in San Francisco, having a child and moving back home to Michigan. He talks about his journey and the album’s themes of nature, ‘baby fever,’ and the social inequities he saw in San Francisco between the working elite and the homeless.  

“I was shocked that a person could be in obvious need of immediate help and everyone can just walk past on their phone talking about where they are going to get oysters later [while] people [are] sleeping in the doorstep of Dolce & Gabbana,” Bathgate says.  

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In 1973, the Seattle-area band Lavender Country released what’s considered to be the first openly gay country album. The self-titled album went relatively unnoticed outside of Stonewall activists at the time. Shortly after the album’s release, the band broke up and frontman Patrick Haggerty went on to run for office in the city of Seattle and Washington State, advocating for racial justice and gay rights. Lavender Country’s debut album was rediscovered and reissued in 2014. The band’s story has since been turned into a few documentaries and there’s talks of it becoming a feature-length film. Nearly 50 years later, the band is now releasing their follow up album, 'Blackberry Rose,' and performing again.

Frontman Patrick Haggerty shares the story of the band and explains why he shouldn’t be seen as an icon. He also breaks down themes from the album, including fighting white supremacy, biracial gay relationships, and feminism.

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Tennyson talks about his new album, 'Rot,' written after he developed a hearing condition brought on by mold exposure that caused intense sensitivity to sound.  

“It started suddenly. I was upstairs and someone was doing dishes and I noticed that it was extremely loud. I went outside to try and relax and the sound of the birds were piercing and the sound of the wind in the leaves of the trees felt like sandpaper,” Tennyson says.  

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Hollis Wong-Wear sits down with Larry Mizell Jr. to talk about her new album, moving to LA from Seattle, and going from producing music videos for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to having Ryan Lewis produce her own song, “Let Me Not.” She calls the music video for that track her “love letter to Seattle.” 

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The Belgium-based electronic duo, Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul talk about the themes of wokeness, racism, and the #Metoo movement that end up on their latest album, 'Topical Dancer.'

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The Head and The Heart talk about their new record and starting therapy together as a band, 12 years since they formed in Seattle. 

“If we are going to make this work long term and it’s the hardest to stay together when you’re in relationships and in a polygamous band relationship, it’s like, let’s f___ing do it. . . we gotta make it healthy, otherwise it’s not sustainable,” Charity Rose Thielen says.

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Hatchie talks about the themes of shame and self-acceptance on her latest record, 'Giving The World Away,' and how she worked a day job during COVID to save up to tour so she could pay her band and crew.

“I really wanted this record to be as big as possible on tour so I wanted to add extra members to the lineup and I wanted to have our own soundperson and have a lighting show so that meant that I had to make some personal sacrifices and had to go back to work part-time so I could balance that and budget for it so that I can save up and not have to pay myself on tour, whereas I have to pay a band,” Hatchie says.

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Maren Morris talks about themes of motherhood and the death of her longtime friend and producer, Michael Busbee on her new record, 'Humble Quest.' She also discusses her crossover sound and the need for more diversity in country music.

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