Nine Volt Heart

Liz Longley has found her own path. After going the traditional path of hard work leading to a major label signing while headlining her own tour; something went awry. Her label personnel changed and she was dropped. While the decision must’ve sidetracked her momentarily, the result has been creative control and independence. All those years…Read more Liz Longley, Nashville singer-songwriter, sings about “New Life”and She Appears TONIGHT 6/12 at The Iron Horse.

Peter Mulvey is a local treasure. He writes honest songs over decades; now approaching twenty albums. He’s written an illustrated childrens book, given TedX talks and performed thousands of times. What began with a busking approach in Boston subways has blossomed to a career full of amazing collaborations and artistic success. Peter stopped in-studio to…Read more Peter Mulvey hosts Child Advocacy Center Benefit at The Iron Horse on 6/2. A Nine Volt Heart preview.

Todd Albright plays TONIGHT at The Parlor Room in Northampton. Todd plays pre-war acoustic blues on his 12 string guitar. This Detroit guitarist is old-school in every way. Recording with one mic in mono with folks like Charlie Parr, Todd brings the music of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie McTell and Mississippi John Hurt to…Read more Todd Albright brings his 12 String Blues to the Parlor Room. 5/22 TONIGHT

Ari & Mia Friedman are both Moms. The new release celebrates that status with eight songs about love and parenting. We begin the segment with a song from their previous album, “Sew The City”, called “Come On Home”. The sisters chat about their upbringing and the music they were exposed to as children. In fact,…Read more Ari & Mia celebrate “Learning Your Name”; Parent-themed release on Mother’s Day. Parlor Room show on 5/9.

Charles and George Clements joined me on Nine Volt Heart to talk about their musical careers and their upcoming shows including a stop at The Parlor Room on 4/19. We begin with one of four songs from their debut release “Dandelion Breeze” called “Out of the Blues”. Our chat with these identical twins begins with…Read more The Clements Brothers bring “Dandelion Breeze” to the Parlor Room 4/19.

Sean Trischka and Stash Wyslouch will appear locally at the Parlor Room on Saturday 4/11 as their alter-egos “Mattie & Debbie”. I had the pleasure of chatting with these two creative guys about their collaboration and all the other projects they are part of. The segment begins with a old bluegrass standard “I’m Just Here…Read more Mattie & Debbie bring “Satan’s Junction” to the Parlor Room 4/11.

Natalya Zoe Weinstein and John Cloyd Miller use their middle names for the band who will be arriving at The Parlor Room on 3/13. Together, this couple have looked back into their grandfather’s musical heritage to craft their latest album, Songs of our Grandfathers”. It is an intriguing mix of Natalya’s fathers Jazz and her…Read more Acoustic duo, Zoe & Cloyd, celebrate Ancestors roots while performing new original songs. Parlor Room show on 3/13.

Tim Eriksen is a musician, musicologist, professor known for his solo work, his band Cordelia’s Dad and currently Chair of the Annual Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Singing Convention held on 3/7-8 in Florence’s Bombyx Arts Center. Our segment begins with Tim’s solo performance of “I Wish the Wars Were All Over” a song he recorded…Read more Tim Eriksen previews The Sacred Harp Convention at Bombyx; A Nine Volt Heart conversation.

Scott Metzger is a guitarist in the trio LaMP. They are playing at The Drake in Amherst Ma on 2/26 and we discuss the upcoming tour, the most recent album, “One of Us”, and much more in this radio segment. We begin with a cut from that release called “Nice Girl (Walks Loud)” a soul…Read more Scott Metzger of LaMP joins Nine Volt Heart. Local show at The Drake 2/26.

Jim Henry and Chris Brashear are Deep River Ramblers who are joined by Annie Patterson for a fun project coming to the Iron Horse for three dates. It’s called The Happy Valley Bluegrass Church with the audience becoming the choir with the band (including Paul Kochanski on bass) accompanying. The lyrics for all the selections…Read more Ramblers Take us to Church; Happy Valley Bluegrass Church at the Iron Horse 2/15.

Jack O’Neil and Cary Pierce have been making music together for over 35 years. Their original songs are harmony-laden folk perfection. They began their creative work as theater students at SMU in Dallas TX in 1988. Our segment begins with their autobiographical song, “This Is Our Time” which chonicles some of the band’s early success…Read more Jackopierce visit the Iron Horse Feb 5; A NineVolt preview with Jack O’Neil.

Michael Daves is the long-time ringleader of NYC bluegrass scene with residencies at Rockwood and now Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn. His uber-talented band consists of Alex Hargreaves on fiddle, Jacob Jolliff on mandolin and Erik Alvar on bass. Michael plays guitar and sings. His latest project is an acoustic stringband reworking of R.E.M.’s 1985 album,…Read more Michael Daves Re-Imagines R.E.M.’s Fables; A Conversation With Song.

The duo of LeFever is Jeff Starns and Dawn Lepere. Their music has a way of raising the collective temperature of the room. Our in-studio segment featured five songs from the band ; four live and one was the title cut from their recent CD “My Kind of Life”. The segment starts with a live…Read more LeFever raise the temperature on NineVolt Heart! Parlor Room show on 2/7.