PODCAST · music
Independent's Day
by Joe Armstrong
The music business is changing at the speed of light. The traditional model of the way music is made, distributed and enjoyed is going the way of the dinosaur, allowing independent artists to control their destiny. Want to know how it's done? Independent's Day host Joe Armstrong brings you independent artists, producers and music industry visionaries with in-depth interviews, live performances and inside information - without hype and direct from the artists who practice their craft.
Episodes
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Episode 226: Chris Pierce
Chris Pierce was born and raised in Pasadena, California and he’s been working diligently in music since the mid-1990s, which by this point nearly makes him a journeyman. His new album, 'Songs for the Heavy Hearted' is his 12 - depending on how you count live albums and other releases. It’s a…
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Episode 225: ID FFWD with Steve Dawson
Steve Dawson first joined us on Independent's Day almost exactly ten years ago for episode 112. He has been a busy guy in the interim; continuing to teach at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, releasing albums with his Funeral Bonsai Wedding project, and continuing to produce a string of...
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Episode 224: ID FFWD with Freedy Johnston
Freedy Johnston’s Can You Fly album landed on a number of 1992 best-of lists, with legendary music critic Robert Christgau calling it "a perfect album” and penning the following about the record: “Contained, mature, realistic in philosophy and aesthetic, its every song a model of open-ended…
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Episode 223: ID FFWD with Dan Navarro
Dan Navarro had just launched his post-Lowen and Navarro solo career when he first joined us on Independent's Day for episode #103 back in March of 2014. Now he's back with his second solo album, Horizon Line. Between dates on his never-ending solo tour and a stop by The Grammy Museum for a…
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Episode 222: The Whitmore Sisters
Perhaps there exists nothing more beautiful than when beauty is mixed with sadness. Add in some world-class musical talent, the type of harmony singing only possible between siblings, and the benefit of the 10,000-foot view of life gleaned by formative years in flying machines and you have a...
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Episode 221: Elizabeth Goodfellow
Drummer, percussionist, and multi-instrumentalist Elizabeth Goodfellow has built a career for herself out of playing with an ever-growing number of innovative artists. You may have seen her onstage or heard her on records by Iron and Wine, Madison Cunningham, Calexico, Orkesta Mendoza, the...
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Episode 220: Leeann Skoda
Nashville is a town filled with great singers and great songwriters, and certain rare artists are endowed with exemplary gifts in both endeavors. Leeann Skoda is just that kind of artist, and although she’s from Arizona and currently calls Los Angeles home, she chose Nashville as the setting to...
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Episode 219: David Burchfield
Anyone who has ever attempted to entertain an audience with only their voice and an acoustic guitar faces a daunting task. Both the guitar and the human voice to be sure are versatile and dynamic instruments, but it can be a serious challenge to pique and retain the interest of listeners without...
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Episode 218: Benjamin Jaffe
Benjamin Jaffe spent over ten years as half of the Americana duo HONEYHONEY, making acclaimed records and crisscrossing the country playing catchy and memorable songs for dedicated fans. But every band has a life cycle, and after more than a decade of steady grinding, HONEYHONEY’s indefinite…
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Episode 217: Geoff Pearlman
It was a concert by glam rock juggernauts Kiss that opened a 9-year-old Geoff Pearlman’s eyes to the possibilities of a life in music. Guitar lessons soon followed, as did a series of high school rock and roll bands playing the usual Rush and Van Halen covers. But when most kids were picking...
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Episode 216: Robbie Fulks
Robbie Fulks is a sort of latter-day Renaissance Man. After spending his formative years in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia, Fulks eventually settled in Chicago - where his fresh take on American roots music established his status as one of the progenitors of what would become the...
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Episode 215: Monks of Doom
In the great and colossal tree of music there are many, many branches - and out toward the tall leaves on the side that faces the highway to psychedelic oblivion there exists bands and artists that truly follow their own sun regardless which way the wind blows. Monks of Doom grew out of the...
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Episode 214: ID FFWD with Ted Russell Kamp
The hardest working man in Los Angeles, Ted Russell Kamp, dropped by Joe Armstrong's Studio Tropico with his bull fiddle and some ace musicians in tow for a Fast-Forward episode of Independent's Day. With Brian Whelan, John Schreffler, and Jamie Douglass grooving behind him, Ted tore the roof off...
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Episode 213: Mara Connor
Mara Connor is a delight; she's a young singer/songwriter with the perfect bona fides to match her breezy Southern California vibe. Connor was born in Los Angeles to middle-western parents whose California dreams were big enough for them to chase them west. She studied theater in college in New...
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Episode 212: The Teskey Brothers
The Teskey Brothers have been grinding it out in the bars and festivals in their hometown near Melbourne, Australia for a decade. While it's true that the four-piece is comprised of young devotees of the classic era of American soul and R and B, their reverence for the genre is far deeper than…
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Episode 211: Syd Straw
Syd Straw released her first album, Surprise, in 1989. The record was full of earnest, broken-hearted songs with an impressive range for a new artist. The album's earthy tone landed Straw at the leading edge of the alternative country curve, and it led a seemingly open-ended invitation for Straw…
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Episode 210: Davey Meshell and the TransAtlantics
When Davey Meshell recently started a new band, the name choice was obvious; the handpicked members of the TransAtlantics spent their respective formative years on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean - in places ranging from New York and Maine, to Scotland and the Isle of Man. But the thing that...
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Episode 209: Chris Stills
Chris Stills' brand-new record, Don't Be Afraid, plays like chronicle of a man who has forged his own identity out of a lifetime of unique experiences. Stills' family business is music, but that doesn't guarantee success or even acumen; stripes must be earned, and Stills doesn't take anything for...
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Episode 208: Chihana
Chihana acquired her affinity for traditional blues and rock music from her parents' music collection - which would be pretty orthodox if it weren't for the fact that she grew up in Japan. She's a rare bird to be sure, but her fans don't listen to her solely because of the curiosity factor of…
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Episode 207: Jason Scott
Jason Scott is a songwriter who has built his growing career in music into a cottage industry, with a full schedule and an entire network of musicians based in his native Oklahoma and surrounding states. Some of the gigs are wedding gigs, sure, but don't let that fool you. Scott is no Murph and…
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Episode 206: ID FFWD with Jeff Crosby
Jeff Crosby stopped by the ID World HQ to remind everyone how he knows his way around a song. Crosby dispenses wisdom he heard about advice for musicians ("Just don't get good at anything else.") and his move to Nashville reminded him how where you live affects your songwriting. He also talks…
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Episode 205: Leslie Stevens
Leslie Stevens has one of those voices - it's a perfectly engaging throwback to Patsy Cline and the golden age of Nashville's musical matriarchy. It's the kind of voice that sounds good singing anything, and she's a natural with a melody. But the thing that keeps people coming back to Stevens is...
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Episode 204: ID FFWD with Loch & Key
Sean and Leyla from Los Angeles' quietest duo, Loch and Key, stopped by the ID World HQ to talk about the changes in their world since 2010's Jupiter's Guide for Submariners - big events like a marriage, law school, passing the bar exam pushed music to the future a bit, but they're back with ID...
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Episode 203: Sam Marine
Sam Marine played in bands in his native Gainesville, Florida and New York City before landing Los Angeles a few years back. His brand-new Big Dark City EP is Marine's third release, and on it he has perfected his particular brand of muscular, country-tinged rock and roll. Call it Americana if…
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Episode 202: Davey and The Midnights
Davey and the Midnights are a band. Sure, Davey Allen's name is featured front and center - and for good reason. His tight vibrato tenor and accessible songs are the focal point of the ensemble. But the Midnights are a band like Tom Petty's Heartbreakers or Bruce Springsteen's E. Street Band....
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Episode 201: Mojo Monkeys
David Raven, Billy Watts and Taras Prodaniuk make their living making other people sound good. Their collective credits include albums and tours with Bruce Springsteen, Norah Jones, Dwight Yoakam, Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards, June Carter Cash, Lucinda Williams, Mike Ness, Dixie Chicks, Richard...
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Episode 200: Double Naught Spy Car
Musicians make music for all manner of reasons, and Los Angeles' Double Naught Spy Car is what happens when four ace players get together to make music for themselves. To hear them doing their thing, one might think that the band has an identity crisis. Disparate styles crash against one another...
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Episode 199: Suzanne Santo
Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe have been making music as HoneyHoney since 2006, and they have three albums and incalculable touring miles under their belt. After over ten years of grinding it out side by side and making honest headway in the music business, the duo decided to get a little breathing...
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Episode 198: Ben Bostick
Ben Bostick's gritty baritone is reminiscent of Eddie Vedder fronting a Bakersfield roadhouse house band, and his songs run the gamut from heartfelt, aching ballads to uptempo ruminations on rural bravado and youthful sexual escapades. But Bostick is no bumpkin or bro country pretty boy; he grew…
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Episode 197: Ronan Chris Murphy
Sometimes, when people set off down a path in life, the universe presents an alternate path. And sometimes, that alternate path turns out to be better suited for the person anyway. As a youngster, Ronan Chris Murphy dreamed of being a rock star, but as soon as he started playing in bands, he also...
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Episode 196: Gerry Spehar
Gerry Spehar's story is unlike many others'. The first part is pretty standard for a young, aspiring musician; he started out on a Stella guitar given to him by a kindly uncle, honed his chops and hit the road. There was some success - he bummed around Europe, playing anywhere that would have…
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Episode 195: Michael Ubaldini
Michael Ubaldini is a maverick. Stylistically, he could be called a number of things, rocker, traditionalist, punk sympathizer, rockabilly aficionado, renegade country artist - along with a dozen others. Over the course of his multiple-decade career, he has shared stages with some heavy hitters -...
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Episode 194: Dan Janisch
Dan Janisch is an affable enigma. He has been around the block, and he's still at it - writing solid songs and playing shows - beholden to no one. He has always operated a bit apart from the mainstream, so much so that he has built a career out of being an outsider. He comprises one third of the...
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Episode 193: ID FFWD with Pi Jacobs
Pi Jacobs first joined us on Independent's Day in December of 2012, and she has been busy like a bee in the intervening years. She talks about how she got her record deal and how that has changed things in her music career, how her origins in Northern California inspired her new album A Little...
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Episode 192: Eli Wulfmeier
Most musicians can readily tell you about their influences, but the best musicians can tell you who it was that influenced their influences; they're always going a step farther back in time and they know full well that all of us here in the current age are standing on the shoulders of the…
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Episode 191: Vitamin String Quartet
Soon after modern pop music supplanted jazz and classical styles as the predominant music for the masses, musicians were arranging pop standards with classical instrumentation. The quality and musical merits of these reverse-engineered explorations ranged from dubious - think elevator music - to...
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Episode 190: Sam Morrow
Sam Morrow's take on Americana mines the rich depths of the lineage of Southern Rock and renegade Country with his meaty voice front and center. Morrow's delivery is powerful and gritty - the kind of voice that could sing the phonebook and make it sound like an anthem. Stylistically, there are...
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Episode 189: Eric Kufs
Eric Kufs got his start in a New York indie-folk trio called Common Rotation. He and his bandmates - Adam Busch and Jordan Katz - were childhood friends who had come of age together, started a band, forged an original sound and established themselves with relentless tours and several albums.…
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Episode 188: ID FFWD with Ted Wulfers
Los Angeles-based, Chicago born and bred artist Ted Wulfers dropped by the Independent's Day Worth HQ to talk about how the Cubs 2016 World Series victory after a 108-year drought inspired a song that changed his music career, and got him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wulfers played his…
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Episode 187: Dorian Taj
Chicago's Dorian Taj has indie rock bonafides for which a lot of artists would trade their black Converse hi-tops; he got his start in a hardcore punk band, has worked with Bob Mould, released records on Steve Albini's imprint over the course of his several-album career and he knows his way…
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Episode 186: Matt Jaffe and The Distractions
There really isn't such a thing as precociousness in the music business. One only needs to consider that the Beatles averaged about twenty-two and a half years of age and were already seasoned pros in England when they played their American debut on Ed Sullivan in 1964. Enter California's Matt...
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Episode 185: ID FFWD with Sarah Kramer
Sarah Kramer dropped by the ID studios to get us caught up on her musical journey, her new album, Matter of Time, how she learned how differently musicians are treated while playing in Europe after a recent tour to Spain. She plays a song about her childhood home called "Way Back Home."
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Episode 184: Dan Phelps
As a youngster, Dan Phelps grew up in the shadow of the music business - quite literally. Phelps' father was the founder of the Full Sail Recording Workshop, which has since grown into Full Sail University, a technical school that has taught thousands of people how to make a living in the music,...
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Episode 183: Susan Tunney
A precocious Susan Tunney was stuffed into a corset and practicing her dialect for a period piece in her college's theater program when she had an epiphany. A voice in her head said something akin to, "What am I doing up here pretending to be somebody else?" That moment of artistic clarity found...
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Episode 182: ID FFWD with Rick Shea
Ace guitarist and songwriter Rich Shea talk about his new record, playing local shows, life on the road, sideman work, his yearly gig on a moving train with Dave Alvin, Peter Case, John Doe called Roots on the Rails. He played a song called "Goodbye Alberta," which may wind up as the title track…
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Episode 181: David Luning
David Luning and his band are earning their accolades in the best way possible - simply by being good at what they do and by working hard. After high school, Luning left his hometown in Northern California and set out to study film scoring at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music. Things...
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Episode 180: Emily Zuzik
Emily Zuzik's career in the performing arts is a study in diversification. At varying times, she can call herself a singer, songwriter, guitarist, actress and model - and she has had success at each of these related-but-distinct pursuits. Zuzik has released several records of her own music that...
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Episode 179: Mad Revival
A dictionary definition of the word 'revival' goes something like: 'restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength, etc.' - and this isn't too far from the truth when describing the Los Angeles-based band, Mad Revival. The former half of their name is derived from the ethos of their…
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Episode 178: Tony Gilkyson
If you want to know what a life well lived in the music business sounds like, give a listen to Tony Gilkyson. Graced with both innate talent and a supportive musical family, Gilkyson has served the muse well - from his own compositions to backing up Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, K.D. Lang…
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Episode 177: Jolenes
Supergroups come in all sizes, at least that's the convention behind Los Angeles' Jolenes. The three songwriters that form the heart of the band each have their own outfit; Grant Langston's stalwart band is called the Supermodels, David Serby fronts The Latest Scam, Dan Janisch has a group that...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The music business is changing at the speed of light. The traditional model of the way music is made, distributed and enjoyed is going the way of the dinosaur, allowing independent artists to control their destiny. Want to know how it's done? Independent's Day host Joe Armstrong brings you independent artists, producers and music industry visionaries with in-depth interviews, live performances and inside information - without hype and direct from the artists who practice their craft.
HOSTED BY
Joe Armstrong
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Independent's Day have?
Independent's Day currently has 224 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Independent's Day about?
The music business is changing at the speed of light. The traditional model of the way music is made, distributed and enjoyed is going the way of the dinosaur, allowing independent artists to control their destiny. Want to know how it's done? Independent's Day host Joe Armstrong brings you...
How often does Independent's Day release new episodes?
Independent's Day publishes regularly with 224 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Independent's Day?
You can listen to Independent's Day on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Independent's Day?
Independent's Day is created and hosted by Joe Armstrong.
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