This week on the Department of Tangents Podcast, a conversation with Allison Russell and JT Nero of Birds of Chicago, plus a preview of comedian Jenny Zigrino's upcoming album, JZ's New Album. I was able to sit down with Birds of Chicago before their February 2 show at Cinema Salem, and I got to see how their touring team operates. They were back on tour nine days after finishing recording sessions for their upcoming album, Love In Wartime.

For twenty years, Andy Kindler has been making hamburger of sacred cows with his State of the Industry Address at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. It's the king of comedy festivals, and a bit of a party for stand-up comedians and anyone in the comedy business, and sometimes, Kindler winds up making fun of things people in the room have worked on. Plus new music from Birds of Chicago!

Nick Vatterott doesn't like being strange for the sake of being strange. He won the Andy Kaufman Award in 2011, but he's uncomfortable with the idea that his own best work, or Kaufman's for that matter, was about doing something off the wall with no inherent payoff or punchline. That's what makes the strangeness work -- it's leading up to something. Plus new music from the Chandler Travis Philharmonic

The Feelies are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year with the release of In Between, their sixth album. Somewhere in Haledon, New Jersey in 1977, Glenn Mercer, Bill Million, Dave Weckerman, Keith Clayton, and Vinnie DeNuzio emerged from a band called The Outkids to become The Feelies. I got the chance to speak with songwriter/singer/guitarist Mercer on the phone about how the album came together and a bit of his musical history.

In this conversation, held in Don White's living room in Lynn, we covered a lot of practical stuff about staying creative and Don's own curiosity - how he spent a few months studying silent comedy to help his stage presence and what he learned about passion from watching Judy Garland.Don's latest album is called More Alive. Plus new music from John Craigie

Tim Harrington and Paul Wright, better known as Boston-based folk duo Tall Heights, are taking a little time to breathe to start off 2017. Last year, they released Neptune, their second full-length album and their first for major label Sony Masterworks. Neptune added some electronic wrinkles to the sound they had established on their first EP and album - two-part harmonies, cello, and acoustic guitar. It also took them around the US and Europe on tour, and landed them on NPR's World Cafe and Mountain Stage.

In honor of the second season of Baskets kicking off tonight on FX, I thought I'd share a bit of my conversation with comedian, author, and actor Louie Anderson. I spoke with Anderson last July about Baskets and his long career in stand-up. In this 20-minute minicast, we talk about how the 80s might have been more fun, but how Anderson feels a bit more like himself now onstage. Anderson won an EMMY last year for his portrayal of Christine Baskets, mother of the title character Chip Baskets.

Nick Kroll and John Mulaney are about to finish off their run on Broadway with Oh, Hello, on January 22. Since there are just a few weeks left, I wanted to give you a glimpse into what went into creating Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland, the Upper West Side bachelor theatre-lovers who are, along with a tuna fish sandwich puppet, at the center of the production. I spoke with them in January 2016 when they brought a touring version of the show here, before they had definite plans for Broadway.

One hundred years ago today, horror and humor writer Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco, California. To celebrate this centennial, I spoke with her grandson, Miles Hyman, about her work and her legacy. Hyman is an accomplished artist in his own right, and just released a graphic novel adaptation of what is perhaps Jackson’s most famous work, her short story “The Lottery.” Plus new music from Wild Feathers.

Sam Phillips fans have reason to celebrate this fall. She has a new mini-album out, called Human Contact Is Never Easy, which includes four songs that may wind up on a new album, called World On Sticks, she expects to release in 2017. You can read my review of the mini-album in the New Release Roundup from November 25, but it’s an impressive collection of songs. It includes a live rendition of “Reflecting Light,” which deserves to be called a classic song, and that’s included at the end of the podca