Caropop

Here's a quick holiday message that you can squeeze in amid all of your seasonal running around. And please check out our Caropop YouTube Channel in the meantime and hit "Subscribe." Thanks for listening, and happy everything!

Many of us first heard Wesley Stace on the 1990 album Here Comes the Groom that he recorded as John Wesley Harding, the name taken from Bob Dylan’s stripped-down late-1967 album that itself misspelled a Texas outlaw’s name. The English singer-songwriter has enjoyed a robust folk-rock career as Harding but also has written four acclaimed novels under his own name and began recording albums without the pseudonym in 2013. Still, he recently performed as John Wesley Harding at a Wild Honey Foundation tribute concert to Warren Zevon and on his own tour. Here he discusses where Harding ends and Stace begins (or vice versa), how he evolved as an artist, why he mined Frank Capra projects for early album titles, what Zevon once told him, how he reacted to not-so-nice comments from Elvis Costello and why he decided to become a U.S. citizen in 2025. Stace, no surprise, is as thoughtful and witty in conversation as in song. (Photo by Ebet Roberts)

Dave Specter didn’t pick up a guitar till his late teens, yet in his 20s he was Son Seals’ rhythm guitarist for two years, and soon he was a bandleader himself. Specter grew up amid Chicago’s blues scene and became one of its great players and ambassadors. Here he recalls the glory days of Chicago’s blues clubs and the varying vibes. He recounts the evolution of his sound and his progression of guitars. He explains how he creates a solo and why, after years of playing mostly instrumentals with the occasional guest vocalist, he began singing. He tells how his recently released “The Times They Are Deranging (The Buck Stops Where?)” fits in with the songs of conscience he always has admired. And he offers the origin story of Space, the excellent, musician-friendly Evanston, Ill. club where he’s a partner. (Photo by Mike Hoffman)

Running a boutique audiophile label is not easy, as Shane Buettner has learned in the 10 years since he founded Intervention Records. There are licensing agreements to be negotiated, artists to please, mastering engineers and pressing plants to be engaged, vinyl formulation and cover design to be arranged, plus marketplace changes and ever-increasing competition to be navigated. The label’s first release was Stealer’s Wheel’s debut, with standout pressings featuring Joe Jackson, Judee Sill, Matthew Sweet, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Peter Frampton, Everclear and others to follow. With so many labels jumping into the audiophile pool, has licensing recordings become harder? What dictates pricing? Do Buettner’s customers care more about 180-gram vinyl or tip-on jackets? And how did he land Intervention’s new Sun Records deal, with Kevin Gray-mastered 45 RPM releases from Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash on the way?

It's our Thanksgiving message for 2025!

Louie Pérez has written many great songs for Los Lobos, but “Saint Behind the Glass” is especially close to his heart. It was inspired by a saint statue from his family’s home and now is part of the exhibit American Prophets: Writers, Religion and Culture at the American Writers Museum in Chicago. Perez offers that song’s origin story, digs into his songwriting dynamic with singer-guitarist David Hidalgo, discusses their trippy side project the Latin Playboys, reflects on the impact of Los Lobos’ smash cover of Richie Valens’ “La Bamba” and says whether, 10 years after their last album of original material, Los Lobos is preparing new music. He also reveals a recent health issue and whether it affected his return to the stage, he addresses how artists can respond to the current administration’s toxicity toward immigrants, and he offers inspiring words for anyone involved in the act of creation.

Bob Merlis ran the Warner Bros. publicity department for much of his 29 years at the label, and he has tales to tell. He recalls his adventures as a Columbia University student presenting concerts by the Byrds and others, as well as his rock journalist stint, his encounter with “supernova” Little Richard and a classic misunderstanding with the Carpenters. Soon he was working with Dion DiMucci, ZZ Top, Debbie Gibson, Talking Heads, Devo, the B-52’s, the BoDeans, Madonna, R.E.M. and many others. Which act was the beneficiary of “the cheapest promo in the history of Warner Bros”? Who reacted hostilely to his publicity ideas? Who was especially cool? How did the label vibe change? After Merlis left Warner Brothers, what was Chris Isaak’s valuable advice? And what role did late Rolling Stones/Beatles manager Allen Klein play in Merlis’s next act?

Paul Kelly has been one of Australia’s—and the world’s—premier singer-songwriters for decades, having been introduced to American audiences with the mid-‘80s albums Gossip and Under the Sun and songs such as “Before Too Long,” “Darling It Hurts,” “Dumb Things” and “To Her Door.” His new album, Seventy, finds his voice and songwriting powers undiminished as he continues delivering deep reflections, vivid storytelling and ear worms, including “Rita Wrote a Letter,” a sequel to his 1996 song “How To Make Gravy.” Here he reflects on his life as a musician in Australia, his travels to the U.S., his evolution as a songwriter, his enjoyment of setting poetry to music, his years of being “a recreational heroin user” and what he has learned. Is songwriting his way to make sense out of being human? (Photo by Dean Podmore)

Paul Myers is one of those do-it-all guys: author of the new John Candy: A Life in Comedy, host of the Record Store Day Podcast (which he also writes, produces, engineers and composes the music for), radio and TV host, musician, and author of books about Kids in the Hall, Long John Baldry, Barenaked Ladies and the one that hooked me on his work, A Wizard, a True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio. We dig into Candy’s life, an inspirational story and cautionary tale that makes you laugh and breaks your heart. We also flash back on Paul Myers’ years growing up in Toronto with his Beatles/Monty Python-loving parents from Liverpool and his brothers, including writer/performer Mike Myers. How did he wind up becoming a musician, writer and radio/TV/podcast host? What have been his biggest podcasting thrills? And what are his picks for the upcoming Record Store Day Black Friday? (Photo by Liza Algar)

After Camper Van Beethoven performed the final show of its recent tour in Washington, D.C.—and perhaps its last show ever—violinist/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segel returned to Stockholm, Sweden, where he has lived for the past 13 years. Segel is well traveled as a musician and otherwise, having been born in Marseille, France, grown up in Davis, Calif., and played with Sparklehorse as well as the Øresund Space Collective and on solo projects. He was a key element, if not the sparkplug, in the classic Camper Van Beethoven lineup until, he says, frontman David Lowery dismissed him before the band recorded Key Lime Pie and then broke up altogether. Segel recalls how he found his place in a band that would shift from ska to klezmer music to crunching rock within a few measures. He describes the band's rise, his departure, how he and Lowery patched things up and whether the far-flung bandmates might record or perform together again. (Photo by Bengt Alm)