music podcast

Why Taméca Jones, Austin’s Queen of Soul, is leaving for LA

Austin singer and songwriter Taméca Jones is leaving Austin for LA at the end of the year.  In the latest episode, you’ll hear the reasons why the Austin Music scene isn’t working for her.  Plus you’ll learn more about our music ecosystem.

You’ll also hear from and Peter Schwarz  about the reality of music businesses in Austin’s music ecosystem. And Nikki Rowling explains how so many businesses operating independently can lead to burnout.

Take our Season 3 Survey

The Pivot

In the latest episode of Pause/Play we talk to the lunch ladies of Free Lunch, musician J Soulja, the founders of Mosaic Live Wire and entrepreneur and artist Cam the TSTMKR about how they’ve pivoted during the pandemic.

You’ll hear from
Jazz Mills — event producer and co-founder of Free Lunch
Carrie Fussell Bickley — singer and songwriter with Calliope Musicals and co-founder of Free Lunch
Caroline Rose –singer, songwriter and producer and lunch lady at Free Lunch
J Soulja — hip-hop artist and promoter
Dan Redman — founder of Mosaic Sound Collective and co-founder of Mosaic Live Wire
Mike Henry — co-founder of Mosaic Live Wire
Stuart Sullivan — owner of Wire Recording and co-founder of Mosaic Live Wire
Cam the TSTMKR — hip-hop artist and entrepreneur

Let us know your thoughts! Take the Pause/Play Survey!

AUSTIN, TX. April 20, 2021. Jazz Mills, of Free Lunch, serves fresh fruit at an event. Michael Minasi/KUTX

 

AUSTIN, TX. April 24, 2021. From the left: Dan Redman, Mike Henry, and Stuart Sullivan, of the Mosaic Sound Collective and Mosaic Live. Michael Minasi/KUTX

Find out how to contribute to Free Lunch
Find out more about Caroline Rose
Find out more about Calliope Musicals
Find out more about Jazz Mills project Popecoke
Check out Behind the Song on The Smokeout’s InstagramTV
Find out more about Behind the Song Live, Which airs May 4th at 8pm
Find out more about Mosaic Sound Collective
Find out more about Mosaic Live Wire
Find out more about Wire Recording
Find out more about Rent a Record Label

The Reopening

On March 10th the Texas governor re-opened the state. Now businesses can operate at 100% capacity. He also lifted the statewide mask mandate. We talked to musicians, venue owners & staff about how they plan to navigate the reopening.

In this episode you’ll hear from:

Cody Cowan: Executive Director of the Red River Cultural District
Stephen Sternschein: the managing partner of Heard Presents which operates Empire Control Room,
James Moody: founder of the Austin music venue Mohawk ,
Kate Holley:  illustrator and also manager and bartender at Cheer-Up Charlies,
Clayton England: musician and also bartender at the Far out Lounge
Mama Duke  : singer songwriter and voice over actor
Lili Hickman: musician and visual artist

We have a survey and we’d love to hear what you think! Go ahead! Take the survey here! 

Find out more about Mama Duke
Check out Mama Duke as the voice of Hip-Hop Hippo
Find out more about Lili Hickman’s art and her band Flora and Fawna.
Check out Clayton England’s music

Listen to the music by Austin Artists featured in this episode:

The Musicians

In this episode you’ll hear the pandemic stories of two Austin Musicians — Mobley and Teddythelegacy. You’ll find out how their ability to access financial help has impacted their lives, what creative projects they’ve been working on and hear their perspectives on the uprisings for racial justice.

Listen to this Episode of Pause/Play

 

Listen on The Apple Podcasts AppSpotify

Unemployment Resources:

Velissa Chapa: Texas Workforce Commission Employer
Gwen Seale
Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts
Austin Texas Musicians

Other Austin Grants
The DAWA Fund 
Banding Together

Health Resources
The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians aka  HAAM

Mental Health Resources
The SIMS Foundation: Mental Health and Substance Use Recovery for Musicians, Music Industry and their Families

Check out Mobley’s curated reading list for the Austin Public Library — James Crow, a Songwriters Reader

Listen to the music featured in Episode Two of Pause/Play

 


Pause Play Episode 2

The Pause

What happened to Austin’s live music scene after the shutdown of SXSW?

On March 6th, 2020 the Austin City government canceled SXSW.  That decision had an economic ripple effect throughout the city. It also marked the true beginning of the COVID-19 crisis for Austin. In this episode, hosts Miles Bloxson and Elizabeth McQueen explore why Austin calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World.  They’ll look at the effect that the cancellation of SXSW and the subsequent shut down of the bars had on Austin through the experiences of some of the musicians, venue owners, venue staff, and music non-profits who make up this live music ecosystem.

Listen on The Apple Podcasts App, Spotify

Pause-Play Episode 1

Not Today Kanye

This week on The Breaks

Listen to this episode of The Breaks

Love In Quarantine – Kam Franklin “I Can’t Wait”

Love In Quarantine Episode 2 features Kam Franklin, lead singer of Gulf Coast Soul band The Suffers who you might recognize from performances on Late Night with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah or basically every major music festival in North America.  Throughout her career, Kam has been a vocal opponent of sexism and racism in the music industry. Walker and Kam discuss this at length as well the French-themed confession that inspired “I Can’t Wait” in the interview. Now available wherever you stream and download music.

 

 

WebsiteFacebook | Instagram | Twitter | Subscribe

This Song: Kathy Valentine

Kathy Valentine, bass player in the seminal 80s all-girl rock group the Go-Go’s, recently wrote a memoir titled All I Ever Wanted. In the book, Valentine explores her unconventional childhood, her time with the Go-Go’s, and her journey to sobriety. In this episode of, Kathy explains what “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream taught her about herself when she was 9 years old,  describes how she found her creative process as an author and details how music and storytelling intersected in her new book.

Kathy Valentine’s April Book Tour dates are currently being rescheduled, but you can buy a signed copy from one of the bookstores where she was scheduled to appear. Find out where to buy your copy of All I Ever Wanted

Kathy also wrote a soundtrack to accompany her book. Check out the soundtrack to All I Ever Wanted on Bandcamp.

Listen to this episode of This Song

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

This Song: St. Vincent (Rerun)

In this episode, St. Vincent explores how music from early Disney films helped her lay the foundation for beauty and wonder in her own life and work.

“All that stuff, it’s your first introduction to magic…You know I think like, every kid wishes they could be in a cartoon. Like you wish so deeply that your reality could transmutate into that world, and music is the closest you get to come to it.”

She also explains why she approached the songs on Masseduction with a Disney-esque lack of irony.

“That was just sort of a tenet from the beginning…I just felt like OK, what’s the thing that I haven’t done, and I was like I don’t feel like I’ve gone straight for the heart and the jugular.”

St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein have a new film coming out called The Nowhere Inn, which will be showing at the SXSW 2020 Film Festival

Find out more about the live podcast taping for This Song at SXSW

Listen to Carrie Brownstein explain why she loves “Stay” by Rihanna

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

This Song: Metric

Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw from  Metric talk about  hearing “Teardrop” by Massive Attack early in their musical partnership and how it inspired them, terrified them and helped them find a collaborative way of making music that still works for them today.

“I remember listening to that song…and just feeling like..it was sort of a mix between feeling like anything was now sonically possible, and that I would never achieve anything. Because I felt like it had gone to the heights and depths of what I hadn’t known existed, which is an enlightening and somehow taking wind out of sails moment at the same time.” — Jimmy Shaw, Metric

📸 Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon

Listen to this episode of This Song

Listen to Art of Doubt

Watch Metric’s stripped down version of “Now or Never Now” backstage at the Austin City Limits Music Festival

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

This Song: Devendra Banhart

Devendra Bahnart talks about how hearing “Just Another Diamond Day” by Vashti Bunyan while busking on the streets of Paris comforted him with a feeling of motherly love that he still turns to today. He also explains how themes of motherhood, love, fear and compassion show up on his latest record “Ma.”

“It’s like once you’re heartbroken, it’s not like ‘That’s it, never gonna be heartbroken again.’ Once you’re not lonely it’s not like ‘That’s it, okay I did it.’ Once you go through a day without making mistakes it’s not like ‘That’s it, end of mistakes.’ It’s this constant thing. I am constantly heartbroken and constantly anxious and lonely and so I have this thing, called art. It’s very beautiful. You have this immediately accessible comfort. This immediately accessible love.”

Listen to this episode of This Song

Listen to Devendra Banhart’s new record Ma

Check out Devendra Banhart’s Tour Dates

Check out the full session of Devendra Banhart Live in Studio 1A

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

This Song: Rhett Miller (rerun)

Musician, writer, and frontman for Old 97’s Rhett Miller launched his own podcast “Wheel’s Off With Rhett Miller” earlier this year.  In it, he talks to artists about what it’s really like to live a creative life.

In this 2017 episode, he describes how hearing the Jewish Lesbian Folk singer Phranc perform ‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” changed his life and showed him the power of musical connection.

Listen to this episode of This Song

Check out “Wheel’s Off with Rhett Miller”

Listen to John Prine describe why “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” changed his life.

 

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

This Song: Thea Wood on “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett

Writer and entrepreneur Thea Wood describes how hearing Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” while watching the documentary of the same name  reignited her passion for music and inspired her to make a huge change in her life.  Listen as she explains how that experience led her to create the “Backstage Chats With Women in Music” podcast as well as the the Backstage Chats Foundation  which seeks to “eliminate gender disparity in modern music by amplifying the voices of women in music and accelerating their careers through grants and scholarships.”

Listen to this episode of This Song

Check out the “Backstage Chats With Women in Music” podcast

Check out the Backstage Chats Foundation

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

 

This Song: Ian Graham from The Well on “Ocean Size” by Jane’s Addiction

Ian Graham, guitarist, songwriter and singer for the Austin psych metal band The Well, describes how hearing “Ocean Size” by Jane’s Addiction when he was a kid showed him how powerfully music could convey a feeling by  transporting him “to somebody else’s movie.” He describes how poetry, songwriting and playing music as a teenager helped him feel less alone in the world and saved his life and explores what he loves about the metal he makes in The Well.

The Well is KUTX’s Artis of the month!

The Well’s new album Death and Consolation out next week!

See The Well live at their release show next week at Barracuda

Check out more of The Well’s Tour Dates

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

This Song: Sharon Van Etten

On Sharon Van Etten’s upcoming release Remind Me Tomorrow, due out January 18th, she explores themes of love, partnership, parenthood, and visions of the past through a collection of  gorgeous synth-laden songs. When she sat down with This Song, she told us how listening to Neil Young’s “Harvest” as a kid helped her connect with her father. She also shared how her own experiences with parenthood pushed her to pursue her own music again after a long break working on other projects.

Listen to this episode of This Song

 

Subscribe via the Podcasts App, iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of This Song delivered to you as soon as they come out.

Check out Sharon Van Etten’s new record “Remind Me Tomorrow”

Check out Sharon Van Etten’s Tour Dates

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

 

This Song: Zettajoule

On this episode of This Song,  Meggan Carney and Matt Sheffer of Austin’s Zettajoule tell us how Kate Bush’s “Running Up that Hill (A Deal With God)” and Rufus Wainwright’s “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” helped them expand their ideas about the possibilities of  pop music and explain what  inspired them to record their new low-fi electronic EP,  Always Looking Up, on an iPhone.

Listen to This Episode of This Song

 

 

Subscribe via the Podcasts App, iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of This Song delivered to you as soon as they come out.

 

Zettajoule is our KUTX Artist of the Month

Watch Zettajoule’s video for “No Thank You”

Check out Zettajoules MyKUTX Guest DJ Set

 

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

 

This Song Extra: Elvis Costello

In this This Song Extra, Elvis Costello explains why he wanted to get outside of himself and tell other people’s stories in an expansive musical style on his new record Look Now.

Photo by James OMara

Listen to This Episode of This Song

 

 

Check out Elvis Costello and the Imposters’ Tour Dates

Subscribe via the Podcasts App, iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of This Song delivered to you as soon as they come out.

 

 

 

This Song: Night Glitter

On this edition of This Song, we talk to LouLou Ghelichkhani and John Michael Schoepf of Austin’s dreamy synth-pop band Night Glitter about a couple of classic songs that taught them a little bit about themselves. For LouLou, listening to Neil Young’s “Old Man” as a teenager helped her come to terms with some of the difficult feelings surrounding her parent’s divorce. And John Michael says Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” not only set him on the musician’s path it taught him what it really means to have fun.

Listen to this episode on Stitcher

 

Night Glitter is KUTX’s Artist of the Month for July

Check out Night Glitter’s new EP “Hangin’ on a Dream.”

Listen to Night Glitter’s MyKUTX Guest DJ set

Check out Night Glitter’s Studio 1A set

Subscribe via the Podcasts App, iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of This Song delivered to you as soon as they come out.

 

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

 

This Song: Tame Impala (Rerun)

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala describes how hearing Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times” made him realize that he could meld his love of rock music with his love of dance music.

Tame Impala will be headling Float Fest in San Marcos Texas on July 22nd.  Buy tickets to Float Fest.

Listen to this episode on Stitcher
 

 

Subscribe via the Podcasts App, iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of This Song delivered to you as soon as they come out.

 

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song