Erin Rae joins us in the basement to talk about her stellar sophomore release Putting On Airs PLUS our review of Lori McKenna’s stellar new album, The Tree.

The soulful North Carolina by-way-of Wisconsin jack of all musical trades returns to the basement for a candid and hilarious chat with Kevin and Eduardo about his new LP, People Are My Drug.

Synth-rock provocateurs Stronger Sex have gone through several lineup changes over the past few years, but on their debut LP There Is No Stronger Sex the (now) duo of Johnny Fantastic and Leah Gage (both veterans of the DC DIY scene) have found their "final form," and the result is an electric and aggressively danceable album that is one of the most exciting releases of 2018. On our latest episode, Johnny Fantastic is joining Kevin in the basement for a frank discussion about the band's history, the importance of queer representation in the arts, dog-walker life, the value of personal identity, and the ultimate inevitability of Seán Barna.

PLUS! Luna Honey's debut LP Peace Will Grind You Down is landing in July, but we've got a taste of what the latest addition to the Blight Records has in store for you right here and right now!

Creation doesn't happen in a vacuum, and in Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968, author (and Hallelujah The Hills frontman) Ryan Walsh explores every weird, fantastical nook and cranny of Boston that surrounded and seeped into Van Morrison's soul-bending masterpiece. We're sitting down with Walsh to discuss how he brought this story to life, the eternal value of having your mind blown, and a history of his hometown that has remained largely untold…until now.

On our latest podcast, we're turning over our mics to Marcus K. Dowling as he explores the intersection of hip-hop and country with R-Son and Rench of Gangstagrass. It's a (mostly) Kevin-free conversation that you're not gonna want to miss.

Washington, DC's The North Country has changed a lot in its seven years of making music. One thing that has remained consistent is front-man Andrew Grossman's commitment to creating electric and innovative pop and folk music pushes artistic boundaries as much as it honors them.

On our latest episode, we're sitting down with Grossman to talk about the past and future of the band, what it takes to stay dedicated to making art in the nation's capital, Sean Barna, their new Ardor EP, and much, much more.

Aaron "Ab' Abernathy is a music man. He 's a soul man. He is a man of faith. The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement runs through his blood. And he poured all of this and more into the and album that is as much a soundtrack to 2017 as it is a timeless statement on flawed nature of the human condition, Dialogue. [Part 2/2]

Aaron "Ab' Abernathy is a music man. He 's a soul man. He is a man of faith. The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement runs through his blood. And he poured all of this and more into the and album that is as much a soundtrack to 2017 as it is a timeless statement on flawed nature of the human condition, Dialogue.

Together or apart, long time musical collaborators Louis Weeks and Noah Berman have been creating some of the most forward thinking pop music of the past few years. When they started working on their latest project, it was familiar, yet different, and called out for something new. Out of this new collaboration, Faunaphor was born along with an exciting new phase of these old friends careers.

At the beginning of the Summer Louis and Noah joined Kevin in the basement to talk about And There I Was, the debut album from Faunaphor, what comes next and the inescapable pull of John Wick.

Together, Melissa Wright and Daniel Zezinski are known as Mink's Miracle Medicine, and from their trailer in Harpers Ferry, WVA they're making music that might just heal what ails ya. On their first full-length House of Candles, the duo explores country, folk, and even punk traditions to deliver a stripped down set of poignant (and often hilarious) songs centered around relationships, small-town life, and existing in the modern age. Recently the duo paid a visit to the basement to talk about minimalism, Patsy Cline, the joy of a good riding mower and much, much more.

PLUS! DC synth-pop "revivalists" Loi Loi are dropping a five song EP on Blight Records later this year, but you can check out the first track "1985" right here, and right now!

On his first full length Pictures Of An Exhibitionist, singer/songwriter (and, full disclosure, one of our brodawg's) Seán Barna is getting in touch with his feelings and delivering a savagely raw set of songs that chronicle his adventures in LA and Washington, DC over the past few years. Kevin and Marcus (Dowling) are sitting down with the "dark lord" of folk to talk the ins and outs of Exhibitionist, life after DC, and more.

PLUS! Instead of giving up on being a musician after suffering a crippling health crisis, Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm poured her experiences into her new EP, Hi From Pillows (out NOW on Local Woman Records). Part art, part activism, Pillows tackles important issues that affect us all, exploring them through a slightly-honeyed indie-folk lens. Check out the single "Thorns" from this gem of an EP.

Besides being one of the founding members of the mighty West Coast Get Down, bassist Miles Mosley's resume (Kamasi Washington, Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill...) reads like a who's who of the biggest names in music. Earlier this year we reviewed his stellar debut solo LP, Uprising, and recently we had the chance to sit down with the master innovator before his ground shaking show at Songbyrd Music House right here in Washington, DC. Join us and get delivered some TRUTH about music, life, and existential excellence from one of modern music's most electric voices.

PLUS!  Cameron Graves (also a founding member of the West Coast Get Down) is one of the most innovative keyboard players on the modern jazz (or any) scene. On his new album Planetary Prince, he's pulling out all the stops and taking the listener on an intensely cosmic jazz odyssey...that also happens to be one of the best albums of 2017. Tune in, and drop out with the lead off track from this funk and soul infused triumph, "Satania In Our Solar System."

Jason A. Mullinax is a father, multi-instrumentalist, music nerd, educator, creative lifer, and, most importantly, the author of his remarkable new album, Time Being.

Come hang with us in the basement for a while as we talk to Jason about a lifetime in music, the intersections between outer-space and modern pop, and pretty much everything in-between.

Let's get cosmic, kidz...

Musical shaman Jamal Gray (Nag Champa, CMPVTR CLVB) is a creator, an educator, a motivator, a instigator, a father, a son, a being of the universe, and, most importantly, one of the the most vibrant and important voices in #newDC's burgeoning creative scene.

For the next hour and change he's here in the basement preaching the new gospel for the most powerful city in the world. Hang out for a while. Get illuminated. 

PLUS! Jules Hale's tape project Den Mate found a home last year on DC's Babe City Records, and her atmospheric self-titled debut LP was the result. Get a taste of one of DC's best with the track "Insomniac", then get obsessed. 

After years of laying down the blues as a solo act and sideman extraordinaire, Washington, DC based guitarist Bobby Thompson and some of his closest brothers in arms have joined forces in their new band, Revelator Hill.

It's a conversation you don't want to miss when Bobby drops by the basement to chat about the new album, growing up on a steady diet of rock n' roll, over-the-top guitar nerdery, and more!

Kingsley Flood frontman Naseem Khuri has built his career writing songs about social injustice and the importance of sticking up for the "little guy"

On their latest album, Another Other, he's turning his observational acumen inwards to explore not just how we relate to others, but, more importantly, why.

Khuri joined us in the basement a week before America's historic election to talk about the new album, writing introspectively versus observationally, the band's upcoming LP release show in Washington, DC on 11/19, and much, much more. 

Jenn Wasner has spent the better part of the past decade slaying as one half of indie powerhouse Wye Oak. Earlier this year, she released her long-in-the-works solo project, If You See Me, Say Yes, under the name Flock Of Dimes.

Predictably, it TOO, slayed.

Before a recent tour stop in the nation's capital, Wasner joined us to talk about how Flock Of Dimes came about, creating versus destroying, relocation, and the power of small actions on the world around you. 

Did we mention how much Jenn Wasner slays?

Singer/songwriter Skylar Gudasz's debut LP, Oleander, is a sublime exploration of modern romance that wears its influences on its sleeve and is bursting at the seams with humor, heart, and class. It's also one of the best albums of 2016.

When she's not busy making great albums, Gudasz can be found palling around on stage with members of Big Star, Wilco, R.E.M., and more.

She's KINDA a big deal.

Lucky for you, Skylar had time to hang out with us in the basement to talk about her unique approach to songwriting, the making of Oleander, performing with music legends and much more.

Guys...we're gonna need you to get hip to this, OK?

In 1971, history was made when brothers Bobby, Dannis, and David Hackney got together to jam, and inadvertently "created" punk music in the process. That history wouldn't be discovered until almost 40 years later, and having their story told in the documentary A Band Called Death in 2013, the group is touring again, making new music, and finding new fans everywhere they turn.

More importantly, their story has now been recognized by the recently opened National Museum of African American History in Washington, DC, where a piece of their legend is now a permanent exhibit in the latest addition to the Smithsonian.

We caught up with the band the weekend of the museum's opening to talk about their history, their legacy, and so much more. 

Over the course of her career, Sara Watkins (I'm With Her, Nickel Creek) has stretched the boundaries of bluegrass, toured the world, and collaborated with legends of the music industry, all the while continuing to shape her own formidable legacy.

Right now, she's sitting down to chat with us about her new album Young In All The Wrong Ways, how she got hooked on music and more. 

For realz.