Basic Folk

Jenna Nicholls was the imaginative kid who was friends with trees and believed furniture was alive. Raised in Western Pennsylvania, she was raised on jazz, classical and Irish music. Her music is reflective of the golden age of radio and The Great Depression. Her lyrics put people in a place visually and she encompasses a couple different tones including a delightful lighthearted falsetto. Now a resident of New York City, she considers her music an oasis from the political landscape.

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Cinematic, multi-talented, mystical/magical, human-songwriter Ethan Gruska is a grounded and extremely likable person. Ethan’s 2017 Slowmotionary, for me, was a personal lifesaver during a hell of a year. He may have come across your radar through his indie band The Belle Brigade with his sister Barbara.We touch upon topics ranging from his mother’s stroke (which happened right after he was born), to his grandfather (JOHN GD WILLIAMS) to his weird interest in magic tricks.

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It is wonderful to have songwriter Marissa Nadler on the pod! Ethereal, goth, ambient and gauzy are often used to describe her sound. She has collaborated with musicians like John Cale, Sharon Van Etten and black metal band Xasthur. Marissa gets into the differences between herself and her songs, "I'm a complete nervous wreck with a massive anxiety disorder..." while her songs are very mellow, soothing and almost narcotic. She credits playing music and painting as the only time she is at peace.

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I have always really liked Jonatha Brooke. She's one of those writers who always knows what to do, which is the basis for why we like pop music. Her songs take you to the place you wanna go while still hitting vulnerability and insight. This week, JB gives details about her upbringing in a Christian Science household and where she stands now with her religion. We also get to talking about the sensuality of Woody Guthrie. JB's album The Worksis all songs written and never finished by Guthrie.

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Magic musical human wonder Jocie Adams (Arc Iris) is a very funny, grounded and kind person IRL; on stage she is a mystical badass alien superhero who expressively emerges from a giant vagina at the start of her live shows while wearing a gold bodysuit. Arc Iris' music is rooted in rock, pop, glam, folk and something else that you can't put your finger on (maybe it's stardust?). On Basic Folk, Jocie details some of what's going on inside her interesting brain, her connection to classical music and physics.

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A bonus ep of Basic Folk where Erin McKeown gets particularly basic about her former project Voice on The Verge. She explains their origin and intention behind the group and I started getting v into all the obscure folk references she made. It didn't make the edited ep, but enough people (4 people) said they would like to hear it!

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Erin McKeown has been queering the folk world for over two decades with her unpredictable and relentlessly unwavering superhuman musical gifts. Erin gets real in our conversation. She talks about (my favorite) summer camp, being super into drugs and sports in high school, her relationship with her gender (she thinks she's an alien), spirituality and her friendship with Rachel Maddow.

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Bill Deasy is one of Pittsburgh's big 90s success stories due to his band The Gathering Field scoring a record deal in 1996 with Atlantic Records. While they only released one album on a major label, the band and Bill have remained a mainstay in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. Bill is calm, real and pretty open about his upbringing, including the trauma of losing a sibling at a very young age. He touches on his struggle with addiction, gentle masculinity and the weirdness of songwriting.

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Ready to ugly cry? No? Ok, I will give you a moment to prepare... Because tuning into the most vulnerable, intimate and secret human feelings is what songwriter Edie Carey is all about. Born and raised in Suburban Boston, Edie was raised by a poet, a therapist and and English teacher. Her wistful writing definitely takes influence from all three. Hope you enjoy my interview with the "aggressively friendly" Edie Carey! Please subscribe and review!

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