Katie chats to Melbourne-based artist Pamela Claire about her debut album, Lonely Sets Me Free, and about making music videos and surviving as a musician during iso. There are also great new Australian tracks by Michael Butera, Tash Sultana, Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission and Hachiku, and a song in tribute to the late Naya Rivera of TV’s Glee. Here is the playlist:

* The Green Garden – Michael Butera

* Greed – Tash Sultana

* Songbird – Naya Rivera

* End of Days – Pamela Claire

* Directing Traffic – Pamela Claire

* Thin Air – Pamela Claire

* Rainbows and Bears – Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission

* Dreams – Hachiku

Visit Pamela Claire’s official website and follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Above: Photo of Pamela Claire by Albion Harrison-Naish

After a very cruisy start to today’s show, Katie moves into fabulous new songs by past guests Emily Barker and Ryan Downey, a bit of finger-pickin’ guitar, folk-pop from Paris and Montreal, a classic covered by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and more. Here is the playlist:

* Am Meditations – Jameson Clarke

* Thief – Hello Satellites

* Queen Jane Approximately – Emma Swift

* The Woman Who planted Trees – Emily Barker

* This Is What You Did – This Is the Kit

* Last Fair Deal – Ray Beadle

* Ticket to Heaven – Alice Ivy ft. Thelma Plum

* Good Time Girl – Ryan Downey

* Here 4 U – Braids

* Jackson – Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Above: Remote Control’s Bloom and Simmer album artwork by Darren Lesaguis; get the album (which includes the Ryan Downey track) at Bandcamp

Katie has a chat with Australian country music star and all-round great guy Casey Barnes about his excellent album Town of a Million Dreams, his career since appearing on the final season of Australian Idol in 2009, and how he is coping with the pandemic. She also plays awesome songs by artists from the UK, Netherlands, Perth, Tumbarumba, Melbourne and Paris. Here is the playlist:

* No Belongings – Aware

* I Don’t Want to Watch the World End with Someone Else – Clinton Kane

* Lifetime – The Money War

* Sparks Fly – Casey Barnes

* No Other You – Casey Barnes ft. Missy Lancaster

* We’re Good Together – Casey Barnes

* Fierce – Fanny Lumsden

* Leave Me Out to Dry – Riley Catherall

* Honest Man – Oracle Sisters

Visit Casey Barnes’ official website and follow him on Facebook, Instagram  and Twitter.

Above: Photo of Casey Barnes by Luke Marsden

Today’s first hour has songs about being young and out of control, understanding and accepting that you deserve a place in this world, being generous with love, offering wisdom to your children, grieving a loved one, trying to enjoy every moment, and more. Here is the playlist:

* Dominoes – Lisa Richards

* Malleable – Max Leone

* No Face – No Face

* Patterns of Nature – Sweet Whirl

* Worth – Benjamin Trillado

* Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (Titoli) – Ennio Morricone

* If You Call – Angie McMahon ft. Leif Vollebekk

* Found My Place – Pete Murray

* Ordinary Day – Chris While & Julie Matthews

* Don’t Let It Wait – Josh Pyke

Above: Benjamin Trillado’s ‘Worth’ single artwork by Benjamin Trillado

More music to nourish your soul in this hour, plus many beautiful messages of support from listeners. Here is the playlist:

* 26 Letters – David Piltch ft. k.d. lang

* Driving Me Crazy – Lisa Richards

* This Time Lucky – Jamie Scott

* Wolf – Hannah Frances

* On Hold – Trad Ukiyo

* A Year from Now – Dom Italiano

* Boas from the Inside – Katankin

* Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Yola

* Human – Rag’n’Bone Man

* See You When I’m Looking at You (radio edit) – Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission

Tremorverse Records’ Songs from Home album artwork; get the album (which includes the Trad Ukiyo track) at Bandcamp

Katie is a bit shaken up this morning due to the Victorian premier’s announcement that various public housing towers in Melbourne are being locked down due to COVID-19. In an effort to comfort herself and her listeners, she offers a range of beautiful music by artists from around Australia and the world. Here is the playlist:

* Shiver – Ben Evolent

* When We Travel – Joanna Wallfisch

* Can’t Get Enough of You Baby – Greg Gould ft. Rhonda Burchmore

* The Weekend – Runaway Belles

* I Contain Multitudes – Bob Dylan

* Mixed Bag – Innocent Eve

* 4:05 – Alex Lleo

* Aralia – Leah Flanagan

* Janelle – Sean McMahon

Above: Runaway Belles’ ‘The Weekend’ single artwork by Louise Thrush; it features a Caladenia coudata orchid (commonly known as the tailed spider orchid), which is endemic to Tasmania and on the endangered species list

Find out about Joanna Wallfisch’s film The Great Song Cycle Down Under here.

Katie is joined by New York correspondent and huge Indigo Girls fan Mark Blankenship for a deep dive into the music and meaning of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ long-running duo. They talk about the albums Rites of Passage, Swamp Ophelia, Shaming of the Sun, Look Long and more; Amy and Emily’s activism and their collaborations with other artists; and the rise of queer voices in country/Americana music. Katie and Mark also work out whether they are an ‘Amy’ or an ‘Emily’; Mark shares his experience of growing up queer and loving country music in the south of the US; and Katie marvels at Mark’s perfect recall of the lyrics of ‘Ghost’. Here is the playlist:

* Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls

* Least Complicated – Indigo Girls

* Get Out the Map – Indigo Girls

* Ghost – Indigo Girls

* Dear Mr President – Pink ft. Indigo Girls

* Country Radio – Indigo Girls

Photo of Indigo Girls (above) by Jeremy Cowart

Mark Blankenship is a New York–based podcaster and writer who co-hosts the podcast Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs (MASTAS) with Sarah D. Bunting; visit MASTAS’s Patreon page and follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter. He also hosts the iHeartRadio Showtune Countdown podcast and is the founder and editor of the new publication The Flashpaper: Theatre’s Thoughts on Right Now. Follow Mark on Twitter.

Read ‘The Countermelodies that Changed Us: A Lifetime of Loving Indigo Girls’ by Karen Tongson at NPR.

Katie plays a fabulous lot of new and recent music in the first hour today, including songs by past Miss Chat guests Lucille and Përolas, and a coming-out song by US queer artist Becca Mancari. There are also some lovely messages from regular listeners – all of whom are part of the Miss Chat family! Here is the playlist:

* Watercolours – Përolas

* Your Hero Is Not Dead – Westerman

* Wise Man – Lucille ft. Shane Howard

* Wayfaring Stranger – Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi

* Matters of the Heart – Shayne Cook

* Higher Places – Nat Vazer

* Tangled Man – Green Gartside

* Moonglow – Tony Bennett ft. k.d. lang

* First Time – Becca Mancari

* Little Miss America – Josh Orange

Above: Nat Vazer’s Is This Offensive and Loud? album artwork; design and photography by Benjamin Joel

Some seriously great new releases in the second hour of the show, including a re-working of a Paul Kelly classic by Kelly and Paul Grabowsky, a gorgeous track by Miss Chat favourite Emily Barker, and a song by Tim Minchin that Katie is in love with! Here is the playlist:

* Watching the World Go By With You – Michael Franti & Spearhead

* If I Could Start Today Again – Paul Kelly & Paul Grabowsky

* Return Me – Emily Barker

* Worth – Benjamin Trillado

* Baby Blue – Corn Nut Creek

* It’s Easier When You’re Standing There – Garrett Kato

* I’ll Take Lonely Tonight – Tim Minchin

* The Mess – Angus Dawson ft. Grace Armstrong

* Call Me Home – The Dreggs

* Moral of the Story – Ashe ft. Niall Horan

Above: Michael Franti & Spearhead’s Work Hard and Be Nice album artwork – design by Betsy Baird; photography by Anthony Njuguna

A slightly shorter first hour this week, but still full of great music – including a track about being queer in America and listening to country-music radio stations from the Indigo Girls’ fabulous new album, Look Long. Here is the playlist:

* Olalla – Blanco White

* Wildfire – D’Arcy Spiller

* Money and Fools – Benny Walker

* Country Radio – Indigo Girls

* Human Race – Julian Taylor

* Drifting Too Far from Shore – Van Walker

* This Is Not Forever – Kate Miller-Heidke

Above: Julian Taylor’s The Ridge album artwork; photography by Julian Taylor