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Jim James

Fri, Nov 6 Listen

My Morning Jacket's grown from a Kentucky bar band to one of rock's best live acts, and they prove it on record too with the new album "Evil Urges." WFUV's Rita Houston was there to catch the band debuting tunes at SXSW this year, and heard what Jim James had to say about the recent changes in the band's sound.

Piers Faccini

Thu, Nov 5 Listen

Piers Faccini's first band, Charley Marlowe, came out of a performance poetry project with Francesca Beard, and when that came to an end in 2001, he threw himself into his painting, and became a darling of the gallery world. However, music and songwriting is still very much part of his oeuvre, and as he told FUV's Claudia Marshall his new album, Two Grains of Sand, is heavily influenced by his recent spate of traveling, and his recent experiences with the music of South Africa.

Fanfarlo

Wed, Nov 4 Listen

While a lot of bands like to craft intricate sounds on their albums, when they go on the road they'll often forgo band members for synthesizers, laptops, and ipods. Not so, for the UK band Fanfarlo, which features a touring crew of six multi-instrumentalists and vocalists along with the occasional guest musician. They've brought them all across the pond to talk with WFUV's Rita Houston about their debut album 'Resevoir' and while they're not an American-band, they don't necessarily mind...

Ray Lamontagne

Tue, Nov 3 Listen

Soulful songwriter Ray Lamontagne sounded wise and weary beyond his years on his debut album "Trouble," and while that's a constant in his core sound, he's made a few changes on his new album, "Gossip in the Grain." One song started as a ballad and now features a horn section, and Ray explained a few other sonic differences during an interview with WFUV's Rita Houston.

Author Elijah Wald

Mon, Nov 2 Listen

During his prolific career as music writer, Elijah Wald has published books about bluesman Robert Johnson, folk artist Dave Van Ronk, and Mexican drug ballads. He dropped by 'FUV to talk with host Nora Flaherty about his latest and easily most controversially-titled book, 'How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music' and did a little spinning as a guest DJ.

White Rabbits

Fri, Oct 30 Listen

The Alternate Side favorites 'White Rabbits' stopped by to play some live songs and talk about working with Spoon's Britt Daniel on their latest album 'It's Frightening...' But, as they told FUV's Alisa Ali, what's really frightening is the mess in their DUMBO, Brooklyn practice space.

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe

Fri, Oct 30 Listen

Karl Denson got his start as Lenny Kravitz's sax player, but in his two-decade plus career he has gone from being a sideman to the master of his own universe—a tiny universe. While the Karl Denson Trio is in the jazz scene, his Greyboy All-Stars have the funk scene, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe have become major players on the jam band scene. And when Karl sits down with Claudia Marshall in FUV's studio A he talks about his new album, 'Brother's Keeper.'

Todd Snider (new!)

Wed, Oct 28 Listen

While other Seattle musicians like Nirvana and Pearl Jam introduced audiences to grunge rock in the early 1990s Todd Snider was coming out of that same Northwest scene playing Americana music chock full of humorous lyrics delivered by a trove of hardscrabble narrators. He sat down in studio A with FUV's John Platt to discuss his latest album, 'The Excitement Plan,' which features more of his standard down on your luck characters and top-notch production from Don Was. (10/28/09)

Imogen Heap (new!)

Tue, Oct 27 Listen

Fans of Shrek or Zach Braff movies might know Imogen Heap better as one-half of the English electronic group Frou Frou, but she can craft complex cinemactic sounds without the help of Hollywood or a bandmate, as her last solo album 'Speak for Yourself' had two Grammy nominations. She stopped by WFUV's studio A for a live performance and chat with FUV's own Alisa Ali about her latest solo work 'Ellipse' which she crafted in her ancestral English country home.

David Mead (new!)

Mon, Oct 26 Listen

Singer-songwriter David Mead has dabbled in big, pop production in his career, but stripped things back on his new album 'Almost and Always' to put the spotlight on lyrics and vocals. A solo set in 'FUV's Studio A had the same focus, as David joined host Claudia Marshall in a return visit.

Mew

Fri, Oct 23 Listen

When Mew formed outside of Copenhagen in 1994 they basically created the Danish Indie Rock scene. Recently, they were in town as the opener for Nine Inch Nails, and managed to stop by 'FUV's The Alternate Side to talk with Rich McLaughlin about their narrative-driven (and ironically titled) new album 'No more stories...'

Sondre Lerche

Fri, Oct 23 Listen

Sondre Lerche was born in Bergen, Norway, but he grew up steeped in 80's pop music, and a love of The Beach Boys' era California sound. As he tells WFUV's Alisa Ali His new album 'Heartbeat Radio' is a record that shows off these affinities with lots of big sounds and production elements. In Studio A, he tries to recreate those big compositions using only his voice and an acoustic guitar.

Colin Hay (new!)

Wed, Oct 21 Listen

Colin Hay, the Scotland born, Australia-raised singer-songwriter who fronted the band "Men at Work, has been a California man for many years. And he's out to prove it with his new solo album, 'American Sunshine,' which leads off with the song 'Oh California.' Colin gives us a live performance of that song, during a conversation with Claudia Marshall in WFUV's Studio A.

Kings of Convenience

Tue, Oct 20 Listen

WFUV's Kara Manning talks with the Norwegian folk duo Kings of Convenience about their album 'Declaration of Dependence.' It is their first new release in five years, and while that is a large gap between albums, Erlend and Eirik explain that they definitely were kept busy during the time since 'Riot on an Empty Street' was released in 2004.

Kristina Train

Mon, Oct 19 Listen

WFUV's Rita Houston introduces us to Kristina Train, whose voice harkens back to the glory days of Stax Records, and brings to mind the microphone commanding singing of Laura Nyro and Alison Krauss. Kristina's debut album, 'Spilt Milk,' was produced by Jimmy Hogarth the wunderkind producer behind such FUV faves as Sia, KT Tunstall, and Duffy.

Amy LaVere

Fri, Oct 16 Listen

Genres from punk to classic country find a place in Amy LaVere's sound, and they're all linked together by her voice and her instrument of choice — the upright bass. Her latest album is called "Anchors & Anvils," and Amy brought her band to 'FUV to share a few live songs during an interview with host Rita Houston.

David Bazan

Thu, Oct 15 Listen

Seattle songwriter David Bazan takes another step outside his Pedro The Lion past with his first full-length solo record, called "Curse Your Branches." Lyrically, he's also taking a leap by discussing his struggle with religion, but the heavy subject matter doesn't detract from the music at all. Hear for yourself as David and his band perform a few songs during an interview with 'FUV's Russ Borris.

Langhorne Slim (new!)

Wed, Oct 14 Listen

After walking the "rebel side" of folk on his last album with The War Eagles, Langhorne Slim takes a step forward in songwriting on his new record, "Be Set Free." He got to share that mix of raw vocal energy and direct, poignant lyrics on a few impressive stages this past year, and on the stage of 'FUV's Studio A, Langhorne spoke about gigs and the goals for the album with host Claudia Marshall.

Erin McKeown (new!)

Tue, Oct 13 Listen

With a collection of standards and a live record, Erin McKeown kept busy in the four years between albums of original material, but the time was also well-spent honing and shaping a new batch of tunes. New sounds also come into play on the resulting record called "Hundreds of Lions," and Erin talked with host Darren DeVivo about the factors of time, money, and inspiration behind it, when she stopped by 'FUV's Studio A.

Regina Spektor

Mon, Oct 12 Listen

Regina Spektor wanted to get the songs just right for her new album "Far," and so she took 3 years and 4 producers to flesh out all of that music in her mind. But it all works on piano too, and that's how Regina performed a couple of new tunes during an interview with 'FUV's Kara Manning.

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

Fri, Oct 9 Listen

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Mix the unhinged, screaming voice of Austin's Black Joe Lewis, with his backing band The Honeybears bringing the brass and grooves, and you've got blues, funk, rock, and soul in their rawest form. Live or on the new record "Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!" the band proves that the SXSW buzz this year was no fluke, and continued to make the case during a stop at 'FUV for an interview with host Rita Houston.

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Heartless Bastards

Thu, Oct 8 Listen

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Erika Wennerstrom made the move from Ohio to Austin to make the new Heartless Bastards record "The Mountain" and recently spoke with 'FUV's Rich McLaughlin about the producer and influential bands that led her to her bruising rock sound.

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Kathleen Edwards & John Doe

Wed, Oct 7 Listen

Sounds of FUV Live 12: A Gram Parsons tribute concert brought them together on stage, a song called "The Golden State" teamed them up on record, and last fall, Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards and "X" founder John Doe hit the road for "The Hurtin' & Flurtin' Tour." Host Rita Houston welcomed them to 'FUV too, where it was clear there's definitely some common ground in music and humor.

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Peter Bjorn & John

Tue, Oct 6 Listen

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Back after the "Young Folks" explosion, Peter Bjorn & John skip the whistling and tone down the pop on the album "Living Thing." Even though it's a darker affair, the Swedish trio still brings the beats and catchy melodies, and today you can hear acoustic versions of the new tunes as the guys hang out at 'FUV with host Alisa Ali.

Sounds of FUV Live 12: The Pretenders

Mon, Oct 5 Listen

Sounds of FUV Live 12: Making their 2008 album "Break Up The Concrete" was a quick and dirty, 10-day process for The Pretenders, and during an interview at 'FUV host Rita Houston found that the electric energy of the new songs translates just as well on acoustic guitars. But music isn't all Chrissie Hynde is focused on these days.

Indigo Girls

Fri, Oct 2 Listen

Marking the new album "Poseidon and The Bitter Bug" and 20 years of Indigo Girls, listen in as Amy Ray and Emily Saliers talk with host Rita Houston at a special 'FUV Live show at The Living Room in New York City.

K'Naan

Thu, Oct 1 Listen

K'Naan's debut album won "Rap Recording of the Year" honors at the Junos in 2006, and now the Toronto-via-Somalia artist is back with a follow-up, called "Troubadour." Positivity, protest poetry, melody, roots, rap, and more come together in his songs, and he shared a few of them live during a recent interview with host Alisa Ali at 'FUV.

David Gray (new!)

Wed, Sep 30 Listen

With successful albums like "White Ladder," David Gray could easily take the "more of the same" approach to songwriting and keep his fans happy. But a 4-year break between records came with a surge of creativity and an urge to change, and the results are heard all over the new album, "Draw The Line." Hear more of the story and a few of the new songs live as David talks with 'FUV's Alisa Ali.

Assembly of Dust (new!)

Tue, Sep 29 Listen

Varying up the Assembly of Dust jam-folk sound to make the new album "Some Assembly Required" took some creativity in the studio and some serious scheduling, with Richie Havens, Mike Gordon, Bela Fleck among the 15 guest musicians joining in. Why all the special guests? Well that's one question AOD frontman Reid Genauer answered during a solo session with 'FUV's Darren DeVivo.

The Revelations featuring Tre Williams