Renaissance Soul

Renaissance Soul: Obscurities is weekly show every Thursday at 7pm ET on Twitch (twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit) where your host Kelly “K-Fresh” Frazier will dive into the lesser known releases from Detroit and Michigan’s rich hip-hop history, and even showcase tangential genres like house music, old school small label funk/soul, and whatever else ties into the fabric of our music legacy. Taken mostly from their original physical format (mostly vinyl), K-Fresh will tell you any information they know about the records, any stories they know about, and any personal thoughts and feelings. 

Go to twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit now, and hit that Follow and Notification button so you never miss a show. After each show, the audio will be posted as a podcast episode on the Renaissance Soul feed, streaming on all platforms.

The theme of this episode are the productions and remixes circa 2002-2007 from Detroit's own Waajeed, who you may know by his connection to the early days of Slum Village, his Bling47 website and label, Platinum Pied Pipers, Dirt Tech Reck, and as the Director of Underground Music Academy. These are the tracks Waajeed produced outside of his own solo work or Platinum Pied Pipers during this period that people may have never got a chance to hear.

Lacks – Worth (That)

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Renaissance Soul: Obscurities is weekly show every Thursday at 7pm ET on Twitch (twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit) where your host Kelly “K-Fresh” Frazier be showcasing the obscure and not-so talked about music releases from the past from Detroit and all over Michigan. Each show will highlight releases from genres of all kinds taken mostly from their original physical format (mostly vinyl). From hip-hop, small label soul, metal, indie rock, DIY hardcore, electronic music, techno, and everything in between, along with production and remixes from Detroit and Michigan producers you may have never heard from artists outside of Michigan, K-Fresh will tell you any information they know about the records, any stories they know about, and any personal thoughts and feelings. Go to twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit now, and hit that Follow and Notification button so you never miss a show. After each show, the audio will be posted as a podcast episode on the Renaissance Soul feed, streaming on all platforms.

Theme: Jay Dee Productions/Remixes 1994-1996

Tracklist for Episode #3 – 7/29/2021:

Renaissance Soul: Obscurities is weekly show every Thursday at 7pm ET on Twitch (twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit) where your host Kelly “K-Fresh” Frazier be showcasing the obscure and not-so talked about music releases from the past from Detroit and all over Michigan. Each show will highlight releases from genres of all kinds taken mostly from their original physical format (mostly vinyl). From hip-hop, small label soul, metal, indie rock, DIY hardcore, electronic music, techno, and everything in between, along with production and remixes from Detroit and Michigan producers you may have never heard from artists outside of Michigan, K-Fresh will tell you any information they know about the records, any stories they know about, and any personal thoughts and feelings. Go to twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit now, and hit that Follow and Notification button so you never miss a show. After each show, the audio will be posted as a podcast episode on the Renaissance Soul feed, streaming on all platforms.

Tracklist for Episode #2 – 7/22/2021:

Support via Patreon

Renaissance Soul: Obscurities is weekly show every Thursday at 7pm ET on Twitch (twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit) where your host Kelly “K-Fresh” Frazier be showcasing the obscure and not-so talked about music releases from the past from Detroit and all over Michigan. Each show will highlight releases from genres of all kinds taken mostly from their original physical format (mostly vinyl). 

From hip-hop, small label soul, metal, indie rock, DIY hardcore, electronic music, techno, and everything in between, along with production and remixes from Detroit and Michigan producers you may have never heard from artists outside of Michigan, K-Fresh will tell you any information they know about the records, any stories they know about, and any personal thoughts and feelings. 

Go to twitch.tv/kfreshdetroit now, and hit that Follow and Notification button so you never miss a show. After each show, the audio will be posted as a podcast episode on the Renaissance Soul feed, streaming on all platforms.

Tracklist for Episode #1 – 7/15/2021:

This episode’s guest is DJ, music historian, and curator, DJ Amir Abdullah. Known for his On Track mixtapes with DJ Kon, Amir currently run his own record label, 180-Proof (founded in 2011), which owns the exclusive rights to release Strata Records’ influential back catalog and unreleased sessions. This is a re-issue of an interview I did with DJ Amir back in December 2018 for the Fresh is the Word Podcast that would fit well as a Renaissance Soul episode.

During our conversation, we talked about Amir’s roots in music, his collaborations with DJ Kon and the On Track mixtapes, becoming a music historian and curator, researching music to reissue/unearth, obtaining the Strata Records catalogue, the history and political activism of Strata in Detroit, and Charles Mingus Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden and the stories behind the recordings.

PURCHASE/STREAM: CHARLES MINGUS – Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden

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THEME MUSIC

For this episode of Renaissance Soul, I’m joined by Dave Stephens, founding member and vocalist of the Troy, Michigan metalcore band We Came As Romans, as we talk about their debut album To Plant A Seed. Originally released on November 3, 2009 via Equal Vision Records, a deluxe edition of the album was released on January 18, 2011 which includes one bonus track and a DVD titled To Plant a DVD. In covering this monumental debut album, we talk about the beginnings of the band through their early touring and their two EPs, Dreams and Demonstrations, both self released in 2008 before getting signed to Equal Vision. We also go track-by-track throughout the album and Stephens shares any stories he has about the song or making of it. We also touch on the vocal contributions of the late Kyle Pavone, who passed away in 2018, from this album.

We Came As Romans originally were going to tour this album to both celebrate it and retire the songs from it for live shows when the pandemic hit and were only able to perform a handful or so shows before all live music got cancelled. We discuss the reasoning for that tour as they are set to do a live stream on April 23rd playing To Plant A Seed in its entirety online. To purchase tickets and merch bundles, head over to thebarricade.live.

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For this episode of Renaissance Soul, I’m joined by singer-songwriter, musician, actress, and Detroit rock pioneer and legend Suzi Quatro to talk about her new album The Devil In Me, released on March 26, 2021 via Steamhammer / SPV. Now at the age of 70 with 54 years in the music game, Suzi Quatro helped kicked down the doors for the women who wanted to rock! The Devil In Me is the second time she collaborated with her son Richard Tuckey after 2019’s No Control, a decision made after both their touring schedules were cancelled due to the pandemic.

As you will hear, Suzi Quatro has a poetic mind as we talk about her longevity in music and how her career has always been a family affair since her early years with the bands The Pleasure Seekers and ‎Cradle‎ with her sisters. We talk about how the pandemic gave life to The Devil In Me, how working with her son was different on this album, as well as going track-by-track through the album, its videos, and the album artwork. It was an honor to have such a legend on the show who is still going strong after decades making music. Listen closely because she drops a lot of gems of knowledge throughout this episode!

Stream/Purchase The Devil In Me: SuziQuatro.lnk.to/TheDevilInMe

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For this episode of Renaissance Soul, I’m joined by Chloë Drallos to talk about her debut full-length album DOOMPOP under the moniker of Zilched. Based on the grunge influences of her teens like Nirvana and Jesus and Mary Chain, this new face of Detroit’s rock scene hits it out of the park with DOOMPOP, a collection of dark and melancholy songs that’s dips into the psyche of the young singer/songwriter during those formative years approaching inevitable adulthood. Together, we go through each track talking about the stories behind them, along with life before writing DOOMPOP, and the making of this album.

Stream/Purchase DOOMPOP: linktr.ee/zilchedmusic

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For this episode of Renaissance Soul, I’m joined by indie singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and all around jack of all music trades, Fred Thomas, band leader of Saturday Looks Good To Me as we talk about their 2003 album All Your Summer Songs. Coming from the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor area, Fred Thomas’ contributions to the Michigan music scene are just as prevalent in Detroit. With a couple local releases for Saturday Looks Good To Me in 2000, All Your Summer Songs was the first real album for this project of Thomas’ – released via Polyvinyl Record Company in 2003.

While many of us have a place in our hearts for this album, Thomas’ did face mixed feelings and confusion about what exactly this project is, which we talk about during this episode. The songs for this album were recorded between February 2000 and December 2002 mostly on four-track in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Livonia, and Detroit, Michigan; Louisville, Kentucky & The Grange Hall of Rhode Island. Along with diving into the origins of this project, we go track-by-track through the album with Thomas sharing stories about the writing/recording and the collaboration between all the players on this album. Around 20 years later, All Your Summer Songs is an important part of Michigan’s music history.

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For this episode of Renaissance Soul, we go back in time with legendary jazz clarinet player and saxophonist and co-founder of Detroit’s Tribe collective, Wendell Harrison. Back in the end of 2019, the London-based Strut Records released Hometown: Detroit Sessions 1990

Tribe began as a musical ensemble in 1971 co-founded by saxophonist Wendell Harrison and trombonist Phil Ranelin that soon expanded into a broad amalgam including a live collective and independent record label. Ignored by the mainstream, many African American jazz artists in Detroit and across the US began creating their own small imprints and Tribe emerged alongside other cultural entities to express self determination goals in the city.

Recorded at Harrison’s home in Detroit since 1970, he was not short of stories when it came to the Tribe legacy. After talking about the roots of Tribe, we dived into the modern era represented in the compilation learning how the music of Tribe continued stay relevant throughout the changing of generations and technological advances, along with the timeless social and cultural representation of this legendary collective.

BUY: strut.bandcamp.com

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