I was very fortunate to run into one of my favorite current rappers, Mariah Parker (aka Linqua Franqa), at Treefort Music Festival earlier this year. And somehow I managed to keep my fanboying to a minimum for long enough to talk to her about her worst show ever. We were using the festival's press room, which was in fact reserved for someone more official, so the convo was kept short. But Mariah manages to pack in a lot in 22 minutes. Because we were rushed, I failed to give her the introduction I would have liked, so I'll just say here that I first became aware of her right after the 2018 election. I was passing through Athens, Georgia, having a burger with a friend and talking about the amazing slate of women of color who had recently been elected to congress. I think I had said something about the delight I'd felt seeing the old white Christian dudes cringe as some of the women who would later be known as "The Squad" were sworn into office on a Koran rather than a Bible, and my buddy Adam brought up the recent Athen election in which a county commissioner was sworn in on a copy of Malcom X's autobiography. He then added that this woman was also a local rapper. I had to hear the music of this person, and it wasn't long before I was a huge fan of her music and her politics. Big thanks to Mariah and her partner Deidre for the great hangs and conversations.

I was very fortunate to run into one of my favorite current rappers, Mariah Parker (aka Linqua Franqa), at Treefort Music Festival earlier this year. And somehow I managed to keep my fanboying to a minimum for long enough to talk to her about her worst show ever. We were using the festival's press room, which was in fact reserved for someone more official, so the convo was kept short. But Mariah manages to pack in a lot in 22 minutes. Because we were rushed, I failed to give her the introduction I would have liked, so I'll just say here that I first became aware of her right after the 2018 election. I was passing through Athens, Georgia, having a burger with a friend and talking about the amazing slate of women of color who had recently been elected to congress. I think I had said something about the delight I'd felt seeing the old white Christian dudes cringe as some of the women who would later be known as "The Squad" were sworn into office on a Koran rather than a Bible, and my buddy Adam brought up the recent Athen election in which a county commissioner was sworn in on a copy of Malcom X's autobiography. He then added that this woman was also a local rapper. I had to hear the music of this person, and it wasn't long before I was a huge fan of her music and her politics. Big thanks to Mariah and her partner Deidre for the great hangs and conversations.

Emmett Kelly has toured in a variety of roles from front man of Cairo Gang to sideman in Bonnie "Prince" Billy, from band leader for someone else's band to hired gun holding it down. Here he tells a story about one of the shows that made him question whether all of those roles are actually for him. Alex Dupree has also toured in many different ways, and here he recalls maybe the worst trip between shows.

Emmett Kelly has toured in a variety of roles from front man of Cairo Gang to sideman in Bonnie "Prince" Billy, from band leader for someone else's band to hired gun holding it down. Here he tells a story about one of the shows that made him question whether all of those roles are actually for him. Alex Dupree has also toured in many different ways, and here he recalls maybe the worst trip between shows.

Casey Chisholm is an old friend with whom I've shared many a stage. One of the first times we played together, he asked to interview me, standing on the street outside Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland. It seemed fitting that I would eventually get to interview him, also standing on a street, though a much calmer one in the tiny mountain town of Sonora, California. It also seemed fitting that we'd meet up to talk about Casey's roughest show experiences on a night that I happened to have one of my own.

Casey Chisholm is an old friend with whom I've shared many a stage. One of the first times we played together, he asked to interview me, standing on the street outside Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland. It seemed fitting that I would eventually get to interview him, also standing on a street, though a much calmer one in the tiny mountain town of Sonora, California. It also seemed fitting that we'd meet up to talk about Casey's roughest show experiences on a night that I happened to have one of my own.

Victoria Shen plays experimental music, pushing the edges of performance and noise. She might be the first on this podcast to share a story of a show that went really well, as far as she knew, but resulted in some truly brutal and vitriolic hate mail.

Victoria Shen plays experimental music, pushing the edges of performance and noise. She might be the first on this podcast to share a story of a show that went really well, as far as she knew, but resulted in some truly brutal and vitriolic hate mail.

Sam Humans and I meet up after a show in Portland to discuss some crazy and awful occurrences while on tour. Highlights include van breakdowns and the shenanigans that ensue.

Sam Humans and I meet up after a show in Portland to discuss some crazy and awful occurrences while on tour. Highlights include van breakdowns and the shenanigans that ensue.