Interviews

Usually, when we get bits and pieces of news or interesting tidbits, we try and weave them together and present them to you as a thematic whole.  After much mulling, we could find no way to do that, so we thought the very LACK of a theme would be the theme.  Thus, three totally unrelated bits of news for your time-wasting pleasure as we slink towards the three day weekend:

--ASCAP posted a great little "Audio Portrait" of Graham Parker. He talks about the songwriting process, what he looks for in a perfect pop song, how he balances the dark with the cheery, PLUS you get to hear segments of several of his new songs from his lastest album Imaginary Television.  Have a listen HERE

--When Devil in a Woodpile broke up, we were (and remain) very sad.  However, washboardist/harpist Rick Sherry's new band Sanctified Grumblers have picked up the slack some.  In addition to reviving the Tuesday night gigs at the Hideout, HERE's a video of their song "Stump Grinder"---it'll put some lead in your pencil.  We'll see you Tuesdays...

--Finally, we've been running this madhouse known as Bloodshot for 15 years now, working longs hours for low pay faced with the constant vicissitudes that beset small independents like us.  So, you'll have to excuse us if we get a little miffed when interlopers and dilettantes muscle in on our territory.   When we got the news that ELLEN FRICKING DEGENERES has started her own label, well, part of us wanted to rail against the heavens at all the easy publicity she's getting and part of us wanted to go all Virginia Woolfe and put rocks in our pockets and wade into Lake Michigan.  Maybe then we could get the wider world to pay attention.

Enjoy your long weekend and remember: only YOU can prevent such madness...

Here's a grand interview with Exene Cervenka from the The Sunbreak in Seattle.  She talks about working with Ray Manzarek of the Doors, how X would jam to Carl Perkins tunes early on, why record stores are important, what her favorite albums are and so much more.  It's a great, informative read and, as we keep mentioning, that's getting rarer and rarer in the blogosphere.  There's even this little snippet that made us blush (for the record, we did NOT pay her to say this, or threaten her in any way.)

"Tell me a little about your relationship with Bloodshot Records. They're very akin spiritually to the vibe you've always been on."

Exene: "That's the first time I've ever heard of a record label being accused of spirituality--they're usually considered heartless bastards that everyone hates [laughs]. But not in the case of Bloodshot. Spirituality, indeed. They asked me to do a record, and I was thrilled to death, because I love Bloodshot Records, and they've been nothing but good to me. They really have worked hard. Everyone who works there is smart, intuitive, caring. I've done a couple of South-by-Southwests since I've been on Bloodshot. They just work their asses off to get this music out. They really believe in what they're doing, and they're awesome. Best label I've ever been on."

In anticipation of Exene's West Coast Free In Store Tour, Orange Coast Magazine published THIS extensive profile and interview.  Exene talks about her move back to SoCal, the punk days and her creative process.

We like nice in depth stuff like this...

Entertainment Weekly corners GP about his new record, "the year's most creative concept album by far," his hedonism, what he watches on the TV and a lengthy insight into how he writes (the age old Stones or Beatles, Pepsi or Coke, Ginger or Mary Ann, lyrics or music question...)

Check it out HERE

A few weeks ago, Nan and Rob appeared on Chicago's own talk show The Interview Show in front of, as they say in the TV biz, a LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE (or, in this case, The Hideout).

Now it's been edited and posted on the Huffington Post.  Have a gander at Nan's silver space lady boots and purple hair.  Marvel at the oddly placed microphone that hides most of Rob's face, but not his dry wit.  Listen as they talk of the cruel vicissitudes of the music racket and check out the Blacks performance

See it HERE.

Top shelf Chicago music scribe Greg Kot gives the low down on the Blacks' improbable reunion in the Chicago Tribune, as well as a review of their new digital only release In Sickness and Health

A snippet:

"In true Chicago fashion, Danny Black doesn’t sugarcoat things. When asked whether he thought his band the Blacks would ever get back together after breaking up acrimoniously 10 years ago, he says, 'No way. I would say no [frigging] way. When it’s going well with this band, it’s pretty incredible. But when it’s bad, it’s really bad. There was no way I thought it could happen.'”

Read the whole piece HERE.

Local blog the Beachwood Reporter sat down with our local gal Jane Baxter Miller to talk about her recent CD "Harm Among the Willows." She talks about what brought her to Chicago from her native Kentucky, some local cheap food hotspots she likes and why you must never, EVER touch the water in the Chicago River.

Read it HERE.

Whoa!

Something about the antics and musical attack of Herr Biram inspires some good writing and provides some far out interview material.

Check out this interview in the LA Record as Scott talks about how much metal he's got in his body from all his accidents, locking himself in a Port-a-Potty while on mushrooms, and taking acting classes and figgering out how not to freak out around people.  It's a great read.

From the intro: "Scott H. Biram is an American hollerer with a bunch of room to himself between David Allan Coe and Jack Oblivian. He likes Black Flag but sometimes he gets weird and reedy like Dock Boggs, and he decides here that he is probably not going to take shrooms again for a little bit."

Read it all HERE

Given the overwhelming volume of crapola out there on the intertubes, it's nice when writers take some time to craft their pieces rather than just posting snarky, ill-informed diary entries and calling it "journalism."  In our efforts to encourage such behavior, we'll point them out when we can.

We got a couple nice ones in this week about Exene Cervenka, as she is on tour with the Dex Romweber Duo (and boy, as a long time fan of both, this tickles my music-geek sweetspots).  So, sit back and enjoy!

From Creative Loafing in Atlanta: "Unless you're a dictator and you're going to play all of the instruments yourself, it's best to let people come up with some surprising things that you wouldn't normally think of."   Read it all HERE.

From the Houston Press in, well, Houston, comes THIS interview where she talks about TX punk legends the Big Boys, the death of Amy Farris, and the origins of her album Somewhere Gone.

Check out this nice long chat with our boy Justin.  He talks about touring with Old Crow, Lucero and even compares Detroit to Braveheart. Bloodshot Rob will get him for that.