WNXP Podcasts

In 2021, Nashville-based Megan Piphus made headlines, when she became the first Black woman puppeteer on Sesame Street. That led to another big milestone: her first album, “Spaceships & Dreams.” Senior music writer Jewly Hight says that, too, is a head-turning project, a hip-hop kids album with a colorful cast of guests.

• Webpost

Late last year, the Nashville hip-hop collective Six One Tribe released its first album and put on its first real show. Senior music writer Jewly Hight says that was just the prelude to the group’s incredibly productive 2023. She went back to TRIBE headquarters to get the rundown on what the former Nashville Artist of the Month accomplished over the last 12 months.

• Webpost

This past spring, Nashville artist Corook had an emotional day — then put on a green frog shaped bucket hat, spent 10 minutes writing a silly song, uploaded 50 seconds of it to TikTok and changed their life.The comments on the video, now viewed more than 19 million times continually say how wonderful it is to see someone who is so authentic and fun. But Corook says that for them to figure out who they really are, a couple things had to happen first.

• Webpost

On The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess Chappell Roan balances piano ballads about leaving home to achieve her dreams and lusting to meet an ex with outright bangers about the joy of starting a little drama on a Saturday night and ditching basic dudes for super-ultra-modern-girls like herself.

• Webpost

It’s been a big year for Nashville’s non-country music scene from the triumphant return of emo powerhouses Paramore to the rabid response to indie queen Mitski. But there’s only one artist who’s racked up a billion combined streams on a single song.

Stephen Sanchez tapped into a multi-generational audience with the throwback sound of “Until I Found You.” It was a hit on the radio, YouTube, and yes, TikTok. While Sanchez is not alone in achieving virality it’s how he’s handled the spotlight and who he’s shared it with that sets him apart.

• Webpost

Chicago-based quartet Deeper is currently touring in support of their third full length and our Record of the Week Careful! WNXP’s Celia Gregory spoke with the band when they stopped in Nashville earlier this month.

The 13-track album marks Deeper’s debut on the revered indie label Sub Pop and demonstrates a wow-worthy evolution of their already tight sound. While the post-punk outfit calls to mind classic guitar rock from the likes of The Cars, David Bowie, The Cure and Television, these guys have modern tools in their arsenal that obviously weren’t available in the ’70s and ’80s like effects pedals allowing for loops and layers, drum triggers and endless options for tone.

• Webpost

Laetitia Tamko’s speaking voice is as sultry and instantly soothing as her singing voice, and that’s saying something. Connecting with me via Zoom from Paris, where she was touring with Arlo Parks, the artist who makes music as Vagabon greeted WNXP’s Celia Gregory smiling, seated in the borrowed bedroom of a friend’s child. It was just days after the release of her third LP Sorry I Haven’t Called, an album she calls “a miracle” to have even been made. 

It’s not a record about grief – in fact it’s quite whimsical, sassy, sexy – but most of these songs were born out of the chosen solitude she afforded herself to mourn the loss of a dear friend and musical collaborator, Eric Littman, back in 2021.

• Webpost

Some of Tré Burt’s earliest musical memories are from watching “The Temptations” television miniseries, and listening to recording artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, War, and Bobby DeBarge. The Nashville-based singer/songwriter especially cherishes those musical moments because he was able to share them with his grandfather Tommy Burt, who was the inspiration for Tré’s third album Traffic Fiction.

Around the time he was writing these songs, Burt’s grandfather was struggling with early onset dementia and was slipping away each time Tré saw him. He preserved those moments of connection by using a tape recorder during some of those final conversations. In early 2023, his grandfather Tommy Burt would pass away, and Tré would use some of those voice recordings throughout the record.

• Webpost

On this album, The Window, Ratboys recruited one of most sought after producers in indie rock, Chris Walla. He produced breakthrough records like The Decemberists’ The Crane Wife, Tegan and Sara’s The Con, and both Transatlanticism and Plans for his former band, Death Cab For Cutie. Walla’s touch on The Window maximizes the ten years of Ratboys coming together to make the transformative album of their career. It’s earthy and comforting. It accomplishes big moments without sounding like it’s trying too hard. Moments soar, moments wander, moments come back to earth and settle in.

• Webpost

It was big news when the founder of Rolling Stone magazine spelled out his view that the musical geniuses are white men, and artists who happen to be Black or women don’t have much to say that’s worth hearing. Allison Russell is one Black woman whose artistry and activism is taken seriously, and after last week’s Americana Music Awards, she has the trophy to show it. She’s also WNXP’s Nashville Artist of the Month for September. 

Senior music writer Jewly Hight says that Russell’s recent work — from her new album to her community organizing — transcends limitations.

• Webpost