SHEROES

Now that we are officially halfway through 2024, the first wave of "Best Albums of 2024 (so far)" lists are here. So this week, host Carmel Holt brings back one of her favorite episodes of the year so far, in conversation with one of her favorite artists discussing her then-new album that is now newly anointed as one of the best of the year by critics (and was immediately put on our own). The album is Brittany Howard's sophomore solo album, What Now, and Carmel sat down with Brittany back in February when it first was released to talk about what is her most free and fully realized work thus far.

Singer and guitarist Teresa Williams joins Carmel Holt to talk about her new album with husband and musical partner, guitarist/songwriter/producer Larry Campbell, All This Time. Teresa shares her journey from growing up in the deep South where "things don't change much", to chasing her dreams of being an actress and singer in New York City, meeting her future husband, Larry Campbell, and after years of being apart while Larry was touring with Bob Dylan, finally getting to join forces in Levon Helm's band. Now with four albums together as Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Teresa reflects how music was what brought them together, and has remained the glue that has kept their love alive for nearly four decades.

Bridget Kearney and Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive return to SHEROES to discuss their brand new album, Good Together. Now twenty years in, their eighth album simultaneously highlights the unity and togetherness of this extraordinary band with their most collaborative collection to date, with songs that are intended to bring audiences together in "joyful rebellion".

In this episode of SHEROES, host Carmel Holt welcomes fellow public radio SHERO and music critic Ann Powers to discuss her latest book, Traveling: On The Path of Joni Mitchell, her nearly decade-long journey writing it, her own story building a 30-year career, and the evolution of her relationship to Joni as an artist, and to her music.

Host Carmel Holt takes SHEROES on the road to Brandi Carlile's Mothership Weekend in Miramar Beach, Florida. Through conversations with Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, S.G. Goodman, and Brandi's co-curators and festival organizers, Topeka, we continue the ongoing conversation and inquiry into lack of inclusion on festival lineups (see last week's episode with Book More Women), discussion about touring artists who are mothers and how to make working conditions better for them, and what queer identity and visibility means in both music spaces and to the artists themselves.

The popular Instagram account Book More Women began tracking the statistical data for gender inclusivity on U.S. music festival lineups in 2018, and has grown to a following of over 16k over the last six years. The account has become hailed by the likes of Brandi Carlile, who says that founding her own festival (Girls Just Wanna Weekend) was directly inspired by seeing the data that Book More Women posts. The identity of the woman who runs this account and handles the hefty task of tracking this data has mostly been a mystery, and it took us five years to finally convince Abbey Carbonneau to join us for a SHEROES interview. In this not to miss conversation we learn about the methodology and inspiration behind Book More Women, and find out a bit about the passionate music fan that has single-handedly built it from the ground up, completely on a volunteer basis.

Colorado-born and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Jobi Riccio released her critically-hailed debut album Whiplash last September and has just been nominated for her first Americana Music Award as Emerging Artist of the Year. She sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss the path she has been on since her early teens as a guitarist, the crucial mentorship and influence she has received from artists like Sarah Jarosz, her experience as a student at Berklee College of Music, and how she has finally learned to take up the space she deserves.

Australian singer-songwriter Grace Cummings joins Carmel Holt this week to talk about her stunner of a third album, Ramona, and her journey thus far. A self-taught guitarist who is also an actor, Grace was encouraged by a fellow musician friend to share her mighty voice on stage, and though at first reluctant, she discovered a love for performing and music that quickly landed her a U.S. record deal, and a newfound musical soulmate in producer Jonathan Wilson, who produced her new album.

Guitarist Gabriela Quintero joins Carmel Holt to discuss the latest Rodrigo y Gabriela album, In Between Thoughts... A New World, their sixth studio release and first since their 2019 Grammy-winning album Mettavolution. Gabriela takes us back to her earliest days of teaching herself to play guitar, discovering her love of rock and metal bands, and the chance meeting at fifteen with Rodrigo Sanchez that would eventually lead to forming their metal-influenced acoustic duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and traveling around the world to playing some of the biggest stages.

Guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, activist, and founder of She Shreds Media, Fabi Reyna joins Carmel Holt to discuss Malegría, her full length debut as Reyna Tropical - now a solo project she initially started as a duo in 2016 with producer and dj Sumo Diaz in 2016, who passed away in 2022. Fabi shares her journey from picking up the guitar at age nine, to learning about activism through music at Girls Rock Camp as a teen, touring in femme and queer bands, founding She Shreds Magazine (the world's first and only magazine focused on women and gender nonconforming guitarists and bassists), and the journey she has been on since meeting Sumo of writing and singing with new purpose and connectedness to ancestral roots, land, queer love, and self-love.