This Song

This Song: Andrew W.K. // The Star Spangled Banner

Professional Partier Andrew W.K. explores one of the most deeply embedded songs in American culture — The Star Spangled Banner.  As he breaks down how this lyrically archaic a technically difficult song works as a stirring National Anthem, you may realize that you have your own connection to the song.

We want to hear YOUR stories about the national anthem! Did you see it, did you sing it, is funny or inspiring? Comment, tweet, message, email, or even leave a voicemail with our excellent intern Kelly Seale for a chance to hear your story on the podcast!

Twitter: @ThisSongKUTX
Email: thissong@kutx.org
Voicemail: (512) 766-906

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Listen to Andrew WK’s MyKUTX Guest DJ Set

Watch Andrew WK sing the National Anthem live and in Concert

Watch Andrew WK sing the National Anthem live and at another concert.

 

 

 

Listen to Songs from Episode 73 of This Song

 

This Song: Rhett Miller of Old 97s

Rhett Miller, lead singer and songwriter of Old 97’s, explains how seeing a Jewish Lesbian Folk Singer named Phranc  sing Bob Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”  helped him realize  how music connects and saves us all.

Check out Old 97’s new record Graveyard Whistling on iTunes

Watch Old 97’s Studio 1A Performance

Check out Old 97’s Tour Dates

Watch Old 97’s on VuHaus

Check out Phranc’s music on Bandcamp

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Listen to Songs from Episode 72 of This Song

 

This Song: Local Natives

Local Natives Kelcey Ayer and Nik Ewing have been thinking a lot about how to balance darkness and light, art and activism.  Listen as Kelcey describes how Fleetwood Mac’s “Sara” is a “sad song that makes you feel good,” and why he needs those kind of songs in his life. Then Nik Ewing explores why he’s come to appreciate  Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” in the past year, and how that song inspires him and others in the band to think expansively about their roles as artists.

Check out Local Natives Tour Dates

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Listen to Songs from Episode 70 of This Song

 

This Song: Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird knew  “For The Sake Of The Song” by Townes Van Zandt already, but when he re- listened to it recently he realized how much he related to the lyrics on a personal level.  His conversation with Elizabeth touches on how much the song affected him, how it inspired him to write in a less encrypted manner and some of the downfalls of exposing his most intimate experiences in his work.

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Watch Andrew Bird perform “Left Handed Kisses” live backstage at ACLfest.

Check out Andrew Bird and Margaret Glaspy performing live from the Green Room

 

Listen to Songs from Episode 68 of This Song

This Song: Tomar and the FCs

Singer Tomar Williams  from the Austin soul band Tomar and the FC’s talk about how singing Michael Jackson’s “Ben”as a kid started him on a lifelong musical path. The the FC’s drummer Paul Kresowik explains how Al Jackson Jr’s drumming on Sam and Dave’s “Soul Man,” helped him understand what soul drumming was all about.

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Check out Tomar and the FCs Artist of the Month page

Listen to Songs from Episode 66 of This Song

This Song: The Shelters

David Sanger:

The Shelters love to rock and their self titled record is a testament to that. But why do they rock?  Would you believe Link Wray’s “Rumble”, the music of the Yardbirds and a Tom Petty concert sing-along all played a part in their sound? Well, believe it. Chase Simpson and Josh Jove from the LA-based band walk us through how playing worse is better and what the goal of a songwriter should be.

Watch the Shelters’ video for “Rebel Heart.”

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Listen to Songs from Episode 64 of This Song

This Song: Flock of Dimes // Lucy Dacus

Jenn Wasner of Flock of Dimes and Wye Oak takes you through why Joni Mitchell’s “Amelia” both comforts and terrifies her. And Lucy Dacus explains how The Cure’s Just Like Heaven” is a friendly ghost in her life, and how Prince’s I Would Die 4 You,” helped expand her idea of how cool a  song about God could be.

 Listen to Flock of Dimes Studio 1A performance

Listen to Wye Oak’s Studio 1A performance 

Check out Lucy Dacus’ performance on Blogoteque

Check out Lucy Dacus on the cover of Magnet

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

 

Listen to Songs from Episode 62 of This Song

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This Song: Tegan and Sara

We are going a little crazy this week — in a good way.  Only one artist interview for the whole episode but it is a doozy. Best yet? Perhaps.

Elizabeth sat down with Tegan and Sara and got a fantastic insight into twin sister dynamic,  The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Siamese Dream, Phil Collins melodies, teenage bedrooms, finding self-identity, how to be the change and (for all of you songwriters) the secret to writing a hit pop song. These women have a particularly vibrant and articulate way of voicing their perspective and fighting the good fight. Listen in and catch their buzz on this week’s episode and get a lesson in 80’s-90’s music history while you’re at it.

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Watch Tegan and Sara’s new Video for “Dying to Know”

Watch Tegan and Sara’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Listen to Tegan and Sara’s Studio 1 A performance

 

Listen to songs from episode 61 of This Song

 

This Song: Banks and Steelz // Lizzo

Welcome to the first episode of This Song’s 2016 Fall Season

As we of Team This Song are recovering from the presidential election and the death’s of both Leon Russell and Leonard Cohen, we have decided to celebrate the life of Mr. Cohen with this season’s first interview.  Recorded at the 2016 Austin City Limits Festival in October this conversation features Paul Banks and RZA of the collaboration known as Banks And Steelz.  Both these music biz vets are huge fans of not only Cohen’s lyrics (Banks says there are none better) but also his guitar playing (RZA has sampled the late Canadian’s finger-picking) and they have both obviously bonded over the late artist’s works. We then move to rapper/singer/flutist Lizzo (also interviewed at the 2016 ACL Festival) who takes us through a myriad of influences, talks about her love of outer space and ends up describing how her adopted city has acted as a catalyst for her creation.

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Watch Lizzo perform Good as Hell backstage at ACLfest

Listen to the songs featured in Episode 57 of This Song

 

This Song Season 2 Preview featuring Lizzo

The new season of This Song starts Wednesday, November 16th and it’s going to be a good one!   Tegan and Sara, Andrew Bird, Paul Banks and RZA, Nathaniel Ratliff Andrew WK and lots of other artists will talk about the songs that changed their lives and give you insight into their artistic process.  Subscribe to This Song on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to a preview featuring Lizzo right now!  You can catch up on old episodes on the KUTX website.

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

This Song: Eric Earley & Brian Koch of Blitzen Trapper

Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Early (pictured holding the chicken) was raised in a small, Oregon community watching no MTV and learning to play and listen to music from his father.  His musical trajectory was permanently altered by R.E.M. and their breakout album “Out Of Time.” In this episode he tell Elizabeth about how Michael Stipe’s poetic lyrical approach spoke to his own circumstances and inspired his craft.  Then bandmate/drummer/actor Brian Koch (pictured holding the dog) tells a tale of his family who did very little to encourage his music and how he was inspired by hidden radios, friends with guitars and a young singer-songwriter with whom he now shares a stage.  It’s the most direct line of influence and inspiration of any This Song yet.

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Watch Blitzen Trapper perform “Love Grow Cold” live in Studio 1A on VuHaus

Listen to Blitzen Trapper’s Studio 1A performance

Listen to the songs featured in Episode 57 of This Song

 

 

This Song: Thor // Misimplicity

We think that Thor Harris is an Austin treasure.  As a musician, visual artist, wood craftsman, plummer and bon vivant, he often embodies what is great about our city.  In this segment he takes Elizabeth on a brief tour of progressive rock and gives a shout out to Yes and other stalwarts of the genre.  He also explains why he dislikes most classical music and what music inspired his new, hypnotic project, Thor And Friends.  Then Grace London and Zoe Czarnecki from the Austin band Misimplicity describe how Elliot Smith and a bass concerto by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf have helped them find their musical ways and climb musical mountains.

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Listen to “Thor and Friends” Studio 1A Performance

Check out “Thor and Friends” tour dates

Buy tickets to Misimplicty’s EP Release at the Cactus Cafe September 23rd

 

This Song: Mike Olson of Lake Street Dive // Jane Ellen Bryant

It’s hard enough for a musician to live a life on the road but when there is a new love at home, things get really complicated.  Lake Street Dive’s Mike Olson found that Willie Nelson and Leon Russell helped him deal with these complexities and helped his art along the way.  Also, Austin newcomer Jane Ellen Bryant heard Shawn Colvin as a kid, but years later the veteran’s “I Want It Back” was, to the rookie,  a perfect example of how to write, arrange and produce a song.

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Listen to Lake Street Dive’s Studio 1A Performance

Listen to Jane Ellen Bryant’s Studio 1A Performance

Watch Jane Ellen Bryant’s video for “Twenties”

 

This Song: Kevin Morby // Margaret Glaspy

In this episode we explore the life changing power of indie folks songs.  First, singer songwriter Kevin Morby expounds on how the raw beauty of The Mountain Goats made making folk music seem both accessible and punk. Then Margaret Glaspy explains how Vic Chestnutt’s unflinching take on life and and Elliot Smith’s use of metaphor influence her as a writer.

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Watch Kevin Morby perform “Destroyer” on Vuhaus

Listen to Kevin Morby’s Studio 1A Session

Watch Margaret Glaspy perform “Emotions and Math” on Vuhaus

Listen to Margaret Glassy’s Studio1A Session

This Song: Dion // Amanda Cevallos

American rock and roll icon Dion describes how he, one night, heard the soul and rhythm of Hank Williams drifting out of his family radio and was forever changed.  Add to that a dose of Jimmy Reed live at the Apollo and you’ve got the birth of a rock pioneer.  Later, Austinite Amanda Cevallos talks country with Elizabeth (who can talk some country) and they bond over their love of Waylon Jennings and Texas dancehalls.

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Listen to Amanda Cevallo’s Studio 1A session

Listen to songs from episode 53 of This Song

This Song: Sunflower Bean

Inspiration can come from anywhere.  For Brooklyn-based Sunflower Bean the source of that inspiration spans four decades:  Brian Wilson (“He’s as good as Mozart”), Devo (“The perfect band”), Beach Fossils (“The punk home-recording CD), and Tonstartssbanht (“It’s impossible to describe”) all help to form this band’s direction and sound.  Hear the band tell Elizabeth tales of musical discovery, club scenes with a social conscience, what makes a perfect combination of art and commerce, and the attraction of listening to a musical genius’ decent into darkness.

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Check out Sunflower Bean’s Studio 1A performance on VuHaus

Listen to Sunflower Bean’s Studio 1A performance

Download the live version of Sunflower Bean’s “Come On” as part of our Song of the Day Feature

 

Listen to songs from Episode 49 of This Song

This Song: SOAK // Burgess Meredith

Bridie Monds-Watson, aka SOAK, first heard Pink Floyd when she was in the womb (her parents soothed her with the whale songs of their epic “Echoes”) but only after rummaging through her family’s records did she rediscover the bands LP “Meddle.”  Hear her tell how the track “Fearless” helped influence her songwriting and allowed her to envision how expansive recording and production could be.

Then songwriting duo Josh King and Jesse Hester from the Austin band Burgess Meredith explore the depth and breadth of their Beatlemania.  Josh describes the magic of the very first pre-Beatles recording that John, Paul, and George made as the Quarrymen. Then Jesse talks about how  “Yesterday’s” timeless, sweet sadness has helped him understand the purpose of songwriting.

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Listen to Burgess Meredith’s Studio 1A performance

Listen to Songs from Episode 48 of This Song

This Song: Josh Ritter // John Carter Cash

This Song has gone country! In this episode we have two examples of artists who drew inspiration from the deep well of American Country music.

First Josh Ritter explains how delving into the catalogue of Roger Miller helped him let go of the rules and find his voice for his new record “Sermon on the Rocks.” Then producer John Carter Cash explains why the music of his grandmother, Mother Maybelle Carter,  influenced his musical path even more than the work of his father,  Johnny Cash. He also explains how that music found it’s way onto “Full Circle,” the new record he produced for Loretta Lynn.

Listen to Josh Ritter’s studio 1A performance

Watch Josh Ritter perform “Getting Ready to Get Down” on VuHaus

Watch the Trailer for Loretta Lynn’s new record “Full Circle”

Get the info for Loretta Lynn’s official SXSW show

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

 

Listen to the songs featured in Episode 30 of This Song.

This Song: Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater // Cross Record

Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg grew up listening to his parent’s classical music and white bread pop. Then he heard Vic Chesnutt. In this episode of “This Song” you can hear how  Chesnutt’s “Big Huge Valley”  helped him realize there was a whole world of music bubbling beneath the mainstream. Plus, he makes the case that  Nina Simone is the “best popular musician of the 20th century, and maybe the 21st century too.”

Then Emily Cross of the KUTX Artist of the Month Cross Record  describes the effect Imogen Heap’s“Hide and Seek” had on her while her partner, Dan Duszynski, explains how King Tubby expanded his ideas of what music could be.

Listen to Shearwater’s Studio 1A performance

Listen to Cross Record’s Studio 1A performance

Listen to Cross Record’s MyKUTX guest DJ set

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

Listen to the songs featured in Episode 28 of “This Song”.