Zig At The Gig podcast

Don Rauf of Life In A Blender Part 2

Interview with Don Rauf of Life In A Blender

Don returns to talk about Life In A Blender's new album Bent By The Weather.

 

DON RAUF loves W.C. Fields, Preston Sturges, and Nikola Tesla. He lives with his lovely beekeeping wife, Monique, and his cartooning, surrealistic son, Leo. He is a writer whose books include Killer Lipstick and Other Spy Gadgets. He is the proud founder of The Blowhole Theater, an annual Brooklyn variety show featuring the Blowhole Theater Players and their characters Puckerballs the Garbage Can Elf, Scottish Jesus, and Abraham Lincoln. Life In a Blender A SHORT HISTORY For over 25 years, Life in a Blender has been the canvas for singer and songwriter Don Rauf's blackly comic landscapes. The group has released albums ranging from screaming punk to orchestrated chamber pop, and has brought the high theatrics of its live act to stages from Berlin to Austin to Toronto to Brooklyn and Seattle. Don Rauf formed the band with high school friend Dave Moody (then bassist, now cellist), and within a couple of years had acquired the drumming services of Ken Meyer. Guitarist Al Houghton and bassist Mark Lerner joined in 1992, and violinist Rebecca Weiner Tompkins signed on in 1993. While the band's core lineup has remained remarkably constant for the past 18 years, the list of former members, guest artists, and collaborators includes Chris Butler (The Waitresses, Tin Huey), Chris Rael (Church of Betty), Jonathan Gregg, John Linnell (They Might Be Giants), Gavin Smith (Les Sans Culottes), Susan Hwang (Debutante Hour), Brian Dewan, and Olivier Conan (Chicha Libre, Las Rubias Del Norte). Life in a Blender's "Friend from Quebec" was featured in Michael Moore's Canadian Bacon, and "Mobile Wash Unit" appeared in Sara Lamm's documentary, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox. The band's most recent album, SATSUMA, is being released on November 20, 2020.

Don's Info http://www.lifeinablender.net/index.html 

 

lifeinablender

 

Steve Dawson

Interview with Steve Dawson 2024.

Ghosts is the sixth solo album from Chicago-based musician and songwriter Steve Dawson. It’s
being released June 7 on venerable Chicago label Pravda Records on CD, 12” LP vinyl, digital
download and on streaming platforms.

Steve's info 

http://www.stevedawsonmusic.com

http://www.instagram.com/stevdawso

https://www.youtube.com/c/SteveDawsonMusic

https://www.facebook.com/steve.dawson1

https://twitter.com/stevejdawson

 

Chelsea Nenni of Late Slip

Interview with Chelsea Nenni of Late Slip.

Late Slip’s ringleader, Chelsea Nenni, was born on the East Coast but grew up in California. Elvis Presley was her first love and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” her first favorite song. She studied opera in college, but Gwen Stefani gave her the guts to be in a band. Nenni moved to New York City in her mid-20’s to pursue a life onstage.

There she weaved through singing Sondheim, 1920’s jazz, and then, during an especially fierce winter, taught herself how to play guitar. What started as a means to stave off seasonal depression turned into a vessel for big feelings. Now armed with a handful of chords, pangs of unrequited love and homesickness turned into the first Late Slip songs.

I Love You is the first full-length album from Brooklyn-based retro-pop outfit, Late Slip. Thealbum was produced at the hands of Lewis Pesacov (Best Coast, FIDLAR, Nikki Lane, Poolside)and is being released on 12” LP vinyl, CD, as a digital download, and via streaming platforms, June 7 th on Party Mermaid Records. Pesacov’s transportive production delivers a nostalgic soundscape with a little bit of twang, alittle bit of surf, and a whole lotta heart. Nenni’s sun-soaked, tear-stained gems tap into the tenderness we tend to lock away.

I Love You offers the invitation to cozy up close, let your feelings flow, and dance it all away.

 

Late Slip's Info

Website: https://lateslipmusic.com/ 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7e5N34OVNyOB26btN8p9Ly 

Bandcamp: https://lateslip.bandcamp.com

 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lateslip

/  Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lateslip

 

Angelo Moore

Interview with Angelo Moore, aka Dr. Madd Vibe!

 

Angelo Moore is an American musician best known for his work as lead singer and saxophonist for the Los Angeles ska and funk metal band Fishbone. Moore also performs and records under the stage name Dr. Madd Vibe.

 

Angelo's info

https://www.drmadvibe.com/shows

drmaddvibe

 

May 19th Cleveland OH, Angelo Moore and C-Level Show Info 

https://thewinchestermusictavern.com/tm-event/angelo-moore-of-fishbone/

David Nagler of As For the Future

Interview with David Nagler of As For the Future.

As For the Future is a new Brazilian music-inspired group based in NYC. Drawing on avariety of styles – bossa nova, samba, MPB (Música popular brasileira) – andcombining them with rock, jazz, folk, and soul influences, the group mates their distinctive sound with vibrant, original lyrics.

As For the Future’s self-titled / self-produced debut album will be released on Friday,June 14 on their own As For the Future Music imprint. The record will be available ondigital/streaming, LP, and Deluxe Edition CD featuring nine bonus tracks (alternatemixes, dub versions, and edits). Over 90% of the record was recorded entirely remotely at an assortment of home &professional studios. The record was mixed by D. James Goodwin

As For the Future's Info

instagram.com/asforthefuture

soundcloud.com/asforthefuture

facebook.com/asforthefuture

tiktok.com/@asforthefuture

youtube.com/@AsForTheFuture

asforthefuture.bandcamp.com

WORLDSUCKS

Interview with Mark Scully of WORLDSUCKS  

The world sucks—but it doesn't have to. WORLDSUCKS is a band born from friendship and fueled by frustration. Our songs and shows deal with the injustices of the world, channeling our own fury and seeking out others who feel a similar sense of rage and exasperation. This is activism rock, just one action of many we're trying to take to stand up for the liberation of all people. We are not hopeless—justice is inevitable. 

WORLDSUCKS is the ongoing evolution of 30 years of friendship and music making between Mark (guitar/vocals) and Nick (drums/vocals). Our music expands and deepens along with our consciousness. As part of that sonic exploration comes Tony Doucet, whose bass playing and creativity is adding new dimensions to the WORLDSUCKS sound.

Now it's 2024 and we are armed with a new single, "NO!/GO!", that showcases our progression and our way forward, ferocious and frustrated as ever at the world around us. Eight new sonic onslaughts will be recorded this year, with a new album due out in 2025. 

WORLDSUCKS is heavy music for heavy times. Power to the people.

 

5/29 Cincinnati OH 5/30 Youngstown OH SHOW INFO IN LINKS

WORLDSUCKS'S info 

worldsucks

worldsucks

https://www.instagram.com/worldsucks66/?img_index=1

https://worldsucks.bandcamp.com/

 

 

The Baker’s Basement

Interview with Kate Dedinsky & Adam Grindler of The Baker’s Basement

Cleveland alternative folk duo the Baker’s Basement (tBB) features the eclectic musical stylings of vocalist/drummer Kate Dedinsky and vocalist/guitarist Adam Grindler.  At their rhythmic core pulses an orange striped, homemade, bucket-drum concoction, the funky back beat on which Dedinsky performs standing up with both swagger and sway.  The duo’s intimate sound, rooted in a whimsical flavor of Americana music and topped with playful vocal layers often volleyed to-and-fro across the stage, offers a humorous yet heart-wrenching sonic signature that’s altogether their own.

A hidden gem of the midwest, tBB’s affectionate and direct spoken word vocal delivery bounces atop their unusual percussive foundation of odds & ends, a drum apparatus that the group calls the “Tempeh Kit”—when matched with Grindler’s acoustic & electric guitar methods, both finger picked and strummed, their playful and oscillating sound is solidified. Between songs, the duo endears themselves to their audience through storytelling and fond recollections of past creative experiments.  All and all, a performance by this dynamic pair is an invitation into an intimate world of creative fancy and captivating chemistry nurtured over years of playing both stages and street corners.

Always active live and in studio, tBB released back to back singles in February & March of 2024: “Love I Can Love” & “Sure Enough Another Swell,” a glimpse into their forthcoming record “Down Down Domino" which is set to release in late 2024.  

TBB performs the midwest and beyond, and has shared bills with artists such as Melvin Seals (of the Jerry Garcia Band) and Keller Williams through multiple festival appearances at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park.  TBB has also appeared at Cleveland’s Brite Winter Festival & Ingenuity Fest in addition to residencies at Cedar Point.  Recently the music video for their song “Wild Wild Sheep”, which the band scripted, filmed, and directed, was nominated at the 2023 Cordillera Film Festival in Reno, Nevada

 

 

Show Info:

Johnny Habu & The Baker's Basement, Aqua Cherry, and Ziggy D of C-Level at The Five o'Clock Loung in Lakewood, OH April 7th, 9PM Free show 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1918286711941376

 Baker's Basement Info:

https://thebakersbasement.com/home

 

Straight Gone, Silvia Mori, OrangeG,The RedLines, The Plutophonics, Mindful Dynasty

Zig At The Gig with Straight Gone, Silvia Mori, OrangeG, The RedLines, The Plutophonics, Mindful Dynasty.

Ziggy D of C-Level embarks on a mini solo tour and wants to share the new friends he made! 

Show info

4/1/24 Straight Gone, Ziggy D from C-Level, & Silvia Mori at Dirty Dungarees Laundromat And Bar. Straight Gone, Ziggy D from C-Level, & Silvia Mori at Dirty Dungarees Laundromat And Bar.

4/2/24The Plutophonics, Ziggy D from C-Level, & Mindful Dynasty at Gate Keeper Games 

The Plutophonics, Ziggy D from C-Level, & Mindful Dynasty at Gate Keeper Games

4/3/24The Redlines, Ziggy D of C-Level, Clever Medicine, OrangeG at Poetry Lounge

 

The Bands info: 

The Plutophonics

ThePlutophonics

The RedLines

https://www.facebook.com/theredlines 

Mindful Dynasty 

mindfuldynasty  

OrangeG

orangegmusic

Straight Gone

straightgoneband

Silvia Mori

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087376164409

 

 

Stephen Bluhm

Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here is the sublime second album by singer, songwriter, and
performer Stephen Bluhm. It’ll be available as both a vocal version and a companion all-
instrumental set. Recorded, mixed, and produced by Bluhm and featuring a host of gifted guest
musicians, the orchestral opus is an elaborate aural feast of strings, horns, flutes, piano, reed
instruments, and other timelessly evocative musical sounds — ambitious, but intimate and
confiding as well. Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here is being released on 12” LP vinyl, CD,
digital download, streaming platforms and 2xCD set including both vocal and instrumental
versions on April 19. The instrumental version is being released separately on the same date on
digital download and streaming platforms.

While Bluhm has been “making songs ever since I can remember,” in his teenage years it was his older siblings’ Lou Reed and David Bowie records that ignited his adolescent musical obsession. While attending Temple University, he took the plunge into live music via campus open-mic nights and from there burst upon the bustling Philadelphia scene, prompting the Philadelphia City Paper to dub him “an old soul, writing Tin Pan Alley-ish fare and singing croon-y folk jazz  in a voice that’d make Morrisey swoon.” Relocating to New York’s Hudson Valley, he further
honed his expressive performing style: Belying the serious slants of some of his songs, Bluhm’s
shows often find him dancing madly among delighted audience members.
“The music (and Stephen) is utterly charming,” raves famed musical theater actor and composer
Tom Judson, one of Bluhm’s avowed fans, about Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here. “The
halting, clipped vocals, with a sudden appearance of sumptuous string writing, are unexpected

and elegant. The music, at first blush, appears naïve. But on a close listen, it’s very assured, and
complex writing. And the arrangements are really just wonderful. Sufjan Stevens meets Kurt
Weill meets Stephen Foster.”
“As I put these songs and arrangements together for the album, I became more and more
confident in them,” says Bluhm. “I just hope people sense the beauty in them, the genuineness
that I put into them.”
With one listen to Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here, no doubt people will sense exactly that.

Stephen's Info

https://linktr.ee/stephenbluhm

Bandcamp: https://stephenbluhm.bandcamp.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephenbluhm/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066550085802

stephenbluhm.fun

 

Bex Marshall

 

UK British Blues Award winner and 4 time European Blues Awards nominee Bex Marshall’s unique style of guitar playing is a combined technique of slide, blues rock, ragtime and roots pickin’.

Her voice is a powerful melting pot of old black woman’s heartache and rock diva soul. Bex is a writer of distinction and notability, she pushes the boundaries of blues, her songs have been called timeless, touches of genius, and now she tours internationally solo or with a three piece band which augments her unique style of of virtuoso playing, Born In Plymouth Devon she was the product of two very different family’s, one blue blooded landed gentry (her great grandfather was the Squire of Cornwall) and her mothers side Irish Romany (her great Grandmother was the original fairground fortune teller Madam Olga)

As a child at family gatherings her uncles would always play and stand her on the table to sing, at 11 years old she was given a 1963 Gibson Hummingbird by her Uncle David and started playing, she got hooked on instrumentals and classical guitar standards which stretched her fingers and gave her a great basis for her own music to develop, flamenco, ragtime, country chicken pickin’, rock and on to blues and roots where she is now in her element.

She always had a passion for travelling, its in her blood and trained as a croupier at 18 began her travels around the world working gaming tables on cruise liners to Park Lane even dealing illegal poker games in Amsterdam. She hitch hiked the coast of Australia on cattle trains and always with a guitar on her back living and storing tales.

Bex was asked to be the guest JANIS by ‘Big Brother and the Holding Company’s original guitarist Sam Andrews on their their 2014 European Tour.

 

 

Bex's Info

http://www.bexmarshall.com\

http://www.facebook.com/bexmarshallblues

https://www.instagram.com/bexmarshallblues/