Eric was a major figure in the 1960s NYC folk scene, and his early tunes have been covered by Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and many others. He’s released 22 solo albums plus several live albums and two albums with The Band’s Rick Danko as Danko/Fjeld/Andersen.

We discuss “Don’t It Make You Wanna Sing the Blues” from Dance of Love and Death (2025), “Rain Falls Down in Amsterdam” from Memory of the Future (1998), and “Six Senses of Darkness” from Ghosts Upon the Road (1989). End song: “Time Run Like a Freight Train” from Stages: The Lost Album (recorded 1973). Intro: “Violets of Dawn” from ‘Bout Changes and Things (1966). More at ericandersen.com.

Hear all of “Violets of Dawn” and his version for the 1967 European re-recording of that album. Here’s what it sounds like in his current voice.

His other really big hit was “Thirsty Boots.” Here’s the same song sung by Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, John Denver, and The Kingston Trio. Here he is singing it in 1985 with a lot of harmonies.

Hear the earlier (2007?), live version of “Don’t It Make You Wanna Sing the Blues.” Watch him sing it live in 2020. Another particularly strong tune from the new album is “Troubled Angel.” Here’s the title track, and here’s the political tune we mention.

Watch a more recent, live take on “Rain Falls Down in Amsterdam” with more dense instrumentation. From that same era, listen to him do a duet with Lou Reed. He’s also recorded some recent albums related to literature, including an EP about Camus; listen to “The Plague.”

His biggest hit from his early ’70s post-folk period was “Blue River.” As he describes at the end of the interview, it was the album right after that which was “lost,” though some tunes were then re-recorded; hear the 1975 version of “Time Run Like a Freight Train.” Another tune from that lost album I particularly like is “Lie With Me.”

One of the better songs from the “Exiles” period in the ’80s we talk about near the end of the interview is “Messiah.” One of the more “80s” tunes from that era (with a big hook and horns, but no obvious synths) was “Tight in the Night.”

The (co-written) song “with a hook” I referred to from the 1989 album is “Too Many Times (I Will Try).” Just after that album he did the collaborations with Rick Danko; the big song from that was “Driftin’ Away.” Here they are singing it on TV, and here he is singing it live with his own band in the early ’90s.

Watch this other interview with Eric that prepared me to talk with him.

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This is an in memoriam reissue of a 2022 episode with a newly recorded introduction by Mark (your host, not the guest).

Mark Stewart led the Pop Group through two albums in the late 70s two later reunion album and has released nine solo albums of trippy, experimental dance music. We discuss “Rage of Angels” (feat. Front 242) from VS (2022), “Age of Miracles” by The Pop Group from Citizen Zombie (2015), and “Liberty City” by Mark Stewart & the Maffia from Learning to Cope with Cowardice (1983). End song: “Cast No Shadow (Leather Strip Mix)” by Mark Stewart, Stephen Mallinder, and Eric Random from VS (2022). Intro: “She Is Beyond Good and Evil” by The Pop Group from Y (1979). More at markstewartmusic.com.

Watch the videos for “Rage of Angels” and “Cast No Shadow.” Another collaboration on that album is with Lee “Scratch” Perry. Watch a live gig with The Maffia from 1985.

“She Is Beyond Good and Evil” had a video too. One of their other big songs is “We Are All Prostitutes.” Here’s The Pop Group live in 1980 and 2016.

Photo by Chiara Meattelli and Dominic Lee.

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Maia has released ten lush, Americana-influenced singer-songwriter albums since 1997 and has collaborated with artists like Art Garfunkel, Bonnie Raitt, and Trisha Yearwood, and been covered by Cher, Paul Carrack, etc.

We discuss “Counterintuition” (and listen to the title track) from Tomboy (2025), “Phoenix” from The Dash Between the Dates (2015), and “A Home” from Fine Upstanding Citizen (2005) (co-written with her father Randy Sharp and popularized in a cover version by The Chicks). Intro: “I Need This to Be Love” from Hardly Glamour (1997). More at maiasharp.com.

Watch the video for “Tomboy”, and a new lyric for another new song, “Only Lucky.” Hear all of “I Need This to Be Love.” Another single of hers that I really like is “Kind.”

Watch her perform a full solo set. Watch her perform with Bonnie Raitt and with Art Garfunkel. Here’s the song Maia wrote that was recorded by Cher. Watch Maia pitching her NYU songwriting classes.

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…OK, maybe not his ending, but it’s a late career boost into overdrive: This 66-year-old has been making music since the ’80s, but you’re only going to find two of his releases on the streaming services right now, and only this new album (released 20 years after the previous one) has the polish to count as a world-conquering, professional release.

We discuss two songs from this new album Diner of Doubt: “My Dead Friend,” and “I Have a Lotta Dreams,” then look back to “Build Another One” from Might Could Have (2004) (The Intro, “Chinese Lights,” is also from that album). End song: “Oh Dee Oh Oh” (recorded 2023, making its debut release here).

Learn more at teetempleton.com. Tee has created videos (apparently not using AI!) for most songs from the new album, watch them at youtube.com/@TeeTempleton.

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New York singer-songwriter Willie has released sixteen albums since 1980. He has opened for The Who and Bruce Springsteen, among others, but rejected the major label life after his first two albums.

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We discuss “An Irish Goodbye” (feat. Paul Brady) from The Great Yellow Light (2025) (and listen at the end to “Wake Up, America” feat. Steve Earle from that album), “Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead)” from Streets of New York (2006), and the title track from Places I Have Never Been (1991) (co-written with Richard Chertoff and Jim Cobb). Intro music: “Vagabond Moon” from Willie Nile (1980).

Hear all of “Vagabond Moon.” Watch “Cell Phones” ringing live, and “Places I Have Never Been” live. Watch the video for “Wake Up, America.” Watch Willie on Letterman in 1991. Watch him solo acoustic, and he sings solo piano ballads too.

We mention Willie’s collaborations with The Hooters: Here’s Willie’s new version of “Washington’s Day,” and The Hooters’ old version. He just co-wrote their new song “Pendulum”; here he is performing it with them.

Here’s that interview about Irish cultural influence with Larry Kirwan that we mentioned.

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Not only is John a multi-instrumentalist (e.g. mandolin and flute) who’s played with Violent Femmes, Allen Ginsberg, Hal Willner, John Prine, The Meat Puppets, et al, but he’s released around 24 albums as a solo artist or with several groups including the NYC world music outfit TriBeCaStan. He’s also a poet and author.

We discuss “(Be Careful What You Say to) An Armed Lady” by Folklorkestra from A Strange Day in June (2023), the title track from Forever Ago (with La Società del Musici) (2018), “Bed Bugs” by TriBeCaStan from New Deli (2012), and listen to “Back Country” by The Electric Chairmen from Toast (1995), which features members of Camper van Beethoven. Intro: “Grim Reaper’s Song” from Midnight Snack (1986) (which features Violent Femmes’ Brian Richie on bass). More at kruthworks.com, johnkruth.bandcamp.com, and (for TriBeCaStan) at evergreene.bandcamp.com.

Hear all of “Grim Reaper’s Song.” Watch TriBeCaStan live with John on sitar, and here’s a whole live set. Watch the video for Waiting by the Window, another key track from Forever Ago. Here he is on banjo. Here he is live with The Illustrious Ancestors. Watch him playing flute with The Blues Project.

Here he is with Noodle Shop (feat. Jonathan Segel from Camper van Beethoven) and Elliot Sharp. We refer to Folklorkestra’s “A Pair of Boleros.” Watch a short documentary about John. Watch him talking about a recent book he wrote. Here are more videos that John has posted.

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This famed finger-style guitarist became famous through Jefferson Airplane’s seven albums from 1966-1972, recorded eight with Hot Tuna 1970-1976 (with subsequent reunions by both bands), recorded his first solo album in 1974 and then 10 more from 1981-2025, and still plays live constantly solo or with his Tuna/Airplane partner, bassist Jack Cassady. He’s also recently recorded three albums backing John Hurlbut and has collaborated with Grateful Dead members and Janice Joplin.

We discuss “In My Dreams” from Ain’t in No Hurry (2015), “Been So Long” from River of Time (2009), “Sleep Song” by Hot Tuna from America’s Choice (1975), and we conclude by listening to “Hesitation Blues” from Reno Road: Unreleased Tracks from the 60s (a 1960 recording just released of a foundational song for Jorma’s songwriting composed by W.C. Handy, which Jorma learned through his obsession with Reverend Gary Davis). Intro: “Embryonic Journey” from Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow (1967), plus (because it wasn’t long enough to cover my intro) a bit of a live version from 2003-01-31 The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC. More at jormakaukonen.com.

Jorma’s autobiography is Been So Long: My Life and Music (2018), which you can listen to him read on Spotify or Audible.

Watch Jorma play “Embryonic Journey” live in 1996 at the Airplane’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Hear a recent live solo version of “Sleep Song,” another recent acoustic version with Jack as Hot Tuna, and here’s video of them playing it electrically recently. Watch a recent live solo version of “Hesitation Blues.”

Hear the original 1971 (live) Hot Tuna version of “Been So Long.” and watch them on video playing it in 1973. Watch Jefferson Airplane live playing a tune that starts with a big Jorma solo. Watch Jorma playing live with John Hurlbut. Here’s an audio recording with him and Jaco Pastorius, and here he is with Janice Joplin.

One of Jorma’s biggest and best solo tunes is from his firs solo album, the song “Genesis” and another is “Song for the North Star.”

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Chris has around 20 releases since 1991, mostly under his own name, while moonlighting as a metal guy and otherwise collaborating.

We discuss “She Looks Good in Black” from Obsolete Path (2025), “Intransitive Proverb” from Limitations of the Source Tape (2017), and “Angel Be Mine” from Your Own Chosen Speed (2001). End song: “Sisiphus” by Däng from Tartarus: The Darkest Realm (2014). Intro: “Every Time” by Flat Earth from Prefacipice (1991). More at chrischurch1.bandcamp.com and bigstirrecords.com/chris-church.

Hear all of “Every Time,” and watch Flat Earth play it live back in the day. Watch the video from “She Looks Good in Black.” That song (and video) features my former guest Lindsay Murray. There are many more videos of his tunes at youtube.com/@ChrisChurchMusic, including this nice one we refer to at the very end of Chris playing beardless with several musicians in an acoustic setting at a church.

Watch Däng live in 2012. Hear both of their albums in full. Hear Chris backing his wife Lori as Lady Darkevyl. Here’s Chris live in the supergroup The Long Players (with my former guest Bill Lloyd). Here he is playing live with Junkflower.

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Bill started in the mid-60s with Sons of Champlin and released 8 albums with them between 1969-1977, moved to LA to become a session singer, wrote some Grammy-winning tunes, and released two solo albums before joining Chicago in 1981 as their growling soul singer through their most famous period, releasing six more solo albums during and after his tenure with them (which ended in 2009) in addition to numerous collaborations.

We discuss “Alone” from Livin’ for Love (2021), the title track from He Started to Sing (1995) (with music by Bruce Gaitsch and Janie Clewer), and “Right On” by Sons of Champlin from Welcome to the Dance (1973). End song: “Plaid” by Chicago from Stone of Sisyphus (recorded 1992, released 2008). Intro: “Please Hold On” from Chicago 17 (1984) (co-written with Lionel Richie and David Foster). Learn more at billchamplin.com.

Bill’s early Grammy co-writes were Earth, Wind & Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone” (1979) (see Bill playing it live in 2023), and George Benson’s “Turn Your Love Around” (1981) (see Bill playing it live in 1993). Watch Sons of Champlin live in 1973. Hear the 2003 live version of the Sons of Champlin playing “Right On.” Bill brings up their earlier tune “Rooftop” as a statement of their ’60s politics. (They got very disco by the end of the ’70s.)

The excluded (now bonus) track for Chicago 16 that Bill wrote solo that I refer to was “Daddy’s Favorite Fool.” Any fan of that album should check out the album Bill recorded immediately prior, Runaway, which likewise features collaborations with David Foster, Toto, and also Kenny Loggins and others. Another Chicago tune that we reference from Chicago 17 is “We Can Stop the Hurtin‘,” which Bill arranged the vocals for. Watch Bill singing the classic early Chicago tune “Make Me Smile” (which he did not write, of course), and probably the Chicago tune you recognize him from, i.e. the Dianne Warren-penned “Look Away” (as sick as Bill became playing this song, he created his own acoustic arrangement of it). Another ’80s moment of singing fame was with “In the Heat of the Night.”

One for Chicago that Bill did write (more or less according to their ballad formula is “I Believe” from Chicago 18. This is by contrast to his much more harmonically adventurous solo tune “Party Time in DC.”

Recently, Bill recorded three albums as Champlin Williams Friestedt; here they are live (featuring Bill’s wife Tamara). Here are Bill and Tamara playing as a live duo.

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Dean has released about 20 albums, starting with three ’88-’90 with his Harvard classmates as Galaxie 500, then started fresh in New York as Luna, releasing 7 albums and some EPs through 2005 (plus a later reunion), then continued with his Luna bassist and now spouse Britta Phillips as Dean and Britta for 5 albums, interspersed with now four albums under his own name (plus an album of country covers with Cheval Sombre).

We discuss “We’re Not Finished Yet” (and listen at the end to “The Cloud Is Coming” from That’s the Price of Loving Me (2025), “Love Is Colder Than Death” from Emancipated Hearts (2013), and “23 Minutes in Brussels” by Luna from Penthouse (1995). Intro: “Strange” by Galaxie 500 from On Fire (1989). More at deanwareham.com. Check out Dean’s autobiography Black Postcards.

Hear all of “Strange.” We also mention Galaxie 500’s first single, the lyrically repetitious “Tugboat.” See them play it live (and slower!), and then Dean & Britta’s live interpretation.

Watch the full 2006 documentary about Luna, which starts out with a live version of “23 Minutes in Brussels.” Here’s Luna live on MTV’s 120 minutes back in the day. Watch a show from the 2017 reunion tour, and here’s one from as recently as last December.

See the video for “Love is Colder than Death.” Here’s one from his collaboration with Cheval Sombre. Here’s a playlist of Dean’s Luna videos and other things.

Here’s Francoise Hardy’s “La fin de l’ete” which Dean mentions as the inspiration for “Love Is Colder Than Death.” (I’m not sure which Serge Gainsbourg track he was referring to as providing the basis for “We’re Not Finished Yet,” but here here’s Serge singing a waltz on TV, so we’re in the same neighborhood.

Dean mentions his producer for the new album (and the Galaxie 500 albums) Kramer; he also collaborated quite a bit with one of my past guests, Jad Fair.

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