Mar 072010

Toronto based singer-songwriter Kim Jarrett has a voice that fuses decades of pop music in a familiar and welcoming sound. Listening to Kim’s music takes me back to the soft FM stations of the 1970’s while still evoking the modern era and her own style. Kim Jarrett is an award winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and session player. We sat down to talk about the music scene in Canada, her upcoming CD and being an indie musician. Take a listen to this episode and please leave a comment – let us know what you think.

*note that there is an episode discrepancy on the audio – this is episode 30. I must have been so absorbed by Kim’s music that I forgot where I was!

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Feb 182010

When you listen to Morgen La Civita’s music the first thing you ask yourself is ‘Where is this girl coming from?’. The music is hard to pigeon-hole and presents a challenge to the listener when trying to divine the source of her inspiration. Americana? Yes. Blues? Yes. Popular song? Yes. Middle Eastern? Yes. Morgen definitely presents us with a melting pot of styles and influences nicely tied together with a sultry voice and excellent production value. In this episode of Unsigned Underground we talk about changing directions, writing contemporary songs while reaching into the past and Morgen’s upcoming CD “From the Basement”.

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Feb 062010

In this episode of Unsigned Underground we’ll be talking to Adam Stokes, songwriter, musician and world traveler. Adam has been all over this country spreading the word about his music and he’s been living down south – way down south as in Guatemala where he took up residence and toured Central South America while his wife worked as an archeologist. We’ll be talking about how living in another country can influence your songwriting, writing his second album and when he’s going to get back out there on the road. Listen and leave a comment!

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Jan 132010

I think that what I really dig about Miriam Jones is that I hear in her music a lot of artists I like: Glen Hansard, Dar Williams, Emmy Lou Harris, Shawn Colvin and even Leonard Cohen. But as with all excellent artists, Miriam takes those glancing comparisons and creates her own mosaic portrait of herself. Miriam’s lyrics are poetry and Miriam’s melodic sense is exquisite. Listen in on our conversation about 70’s pop music, gigging in the UK and songwriting and let us know what you think.

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Dec 302009

So the calendar turns it’s way to the end of another year and as we usually do we look back and see where we’ve been and then look forward to where we’re going. Resolutions be damned!!! Musically it’s always a good thing to look back so we can pat ourselves on the back and say – We done some pretty good work there, man!

So let me throw some titles out there that caught my ear and the ears of a few of my musical friends. These are some selections from 2009 that are great examples of independent songwriting and producing. I look forward to hearing what 2010 has to offer.

These CDs are listed in no particular order, they’re ALL damned good! Please click on the album art and visit the artists’ websites and buy the music. Support Independent Music!

Happy New Year,
~Darryl

Thanks to Cameron Mizell, Steve Lawson, Cindy Smith D’Adamo for their suggestions.

“Old Man Dreamin’” by, John Batdorf
Track – ‘What D’ya Got?’

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“Happinesss + Victory” by Donna Fullman
Track – ‘Stone’

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“Solitary Songs” by, Miriam Jones
Track – ‘Helicopter’

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“On Your Back Porch” by, Lauren Zettler
Track – ‘Shapes’

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“Moonlight and Theremin” by, Karen Ramos
Track – ‘Raincoat’

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“Bony Jars” by, The Bootz Orchestra
Track – ‘Our Daughters’

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“Vinyl” by, D’Haene Band
Track – ‘Wouldn’t You Like To Know’

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“Chase You” by, Mike Stocksdale
Track – ‘The Old Band’

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“Uncovered” by, Coco & Lafe
Track – ‘Introduce Myself To You’

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Dec 132009

Lauren Zettler quit her day job. She now makes music her profession, her life and her passion. We can definitely hear that passion in the songs that she writes  – the beautiful melodies, tricky harmonies and draw-you-closer arrangements that is her signature. Lauren was on a previous episode of Unsigned Underground but only as an example and not as a focus so I’m glad to have her on so we can get to talk about her music and her dream. I’m intrigued by her recent story and I can’t get enough of her music and she’s got a new Christmas Collection out on iTunes. Listen to our conversation about following your dream, picking the right people to work with and getting into the Christmas spirit.

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Nov 282009

Tim Gleeson’s approach to music is simple: a good story, a little love, a memorable melody and some spare change. I put Tim’s new CD “No Sad Songs” on and I felt myself relax into the comfort of the back porch in mid-July. Nothing is over done and yet the songs all feel full and ripe. Tim is no slouch when it comes to performing having toured with Sister Sledge, a career as an LA session man and opening for Jazz singer Anita Bakers’ Rapture tour. Listen to Tim andI talk about the new CD and how he’s handling being an indie musician these days. Let us know what you think.

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Nov 062009

I’ve known about John Batdorf for a long long time but because of my personal musical biases I never really took the time to listen closely. I recently was reminded of his name and his music from listening to Mike Marrone’s show on The Loft on XM Satellite Radio as I drove to work early in the morning. Still it was not enough to get me to move in the direction of purchasing some music by John Batdorf or go back and listen to the early Batdorf and Rodney or even John’s band Silver. I grew up in the 1970’s listening to Zeppelin, Springsteen, Pink Floyd, AC/DC – bands like Seals & Crofts, Bread, America, and the like were not my style and as I grew older and even started (ironically) to play my own music in a style akin to those bands I still harbored a bias. But thank you lord that I have come across John Batdorf’s latest CD “Old Man Dreamin’” because it is amazing. The album is one of the few recent albums that I have enjoyed from track 1 to track 11. The playing is superb, the production is excellent and the songwriting displays a craftsmanship that is worthy of study. We had a great conversation about the present and the past – check it out and please leave a comment and visit John’s site to get the CD!

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Oct 252009

I’ve been itching to get a producer on the show for a while and I’ve finally tricked one into coming on, well not really, I just asked nicely. Cameron Mizell is actually a friend of Carla Lynne Hall’s (see episode 20) who I recently interviewed. Carla told me what great work Cameron does with his own music and then she also told me that he works with other indie artists as a producer. I checked out his website (www.cameronmizell.com) and also his blog (www.musicianwages.com) and was blown away by his guitar chops and the variety of music that he had his fingers in. Take a listen to this interesting conversation about what a producer does and how they help an artist approach their own music. You’ll be hearing music not only from Cameron, but Lauren Zettler and Erika Lloyd as well. Please leave a comment and visit the artists websites and buy their music!

~ Darryl

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Oct 192009

I found Matthew Moran on Twitter. I’m not quite sure I remember exactly where and how, but I followed his links out of Twitter and on to his website where I was taken with his approach to songwriting and to his music as a business. The more I look at musicians and songwriters in these ever evolving days of the internet download the more I see a business store front. I also see a person that can diversify and Matt is that: diversification. We had a wonderful conversation about songwriting, the music business and how technology can help the business model of the modern musician. Please leave a comment, visit Matthew’s site and support his music.

~ Darryl

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