OUT NOW: JPW & Dad Weed 'Two Against Nurture' [Digital EP]

The dark is arriving earlier each passing evening. The veil between the spirit world and the land of the living grows thin. Into the glooming emerge Phoenix songwriters Zachary “Dad Weed” Toporek and Jason P. Woodbury, aka JPW, noted podcaster, liner notes author, and songwriter, bearing a bag of autumnal psych pop. Recorded in Toporek’s backyard studio between 2021-2024, these three tracks showcase the birth of a songwriting partnership between these longtime friends and collaborators. Operating like an ersatz Becker and Fagan, handling singing, writing, arranging, and production in a 50/50 split, these songs indulge their taste for ragged power pop, chiming folk rock, and even semi-improvised jams. Opener “Everybody’s Talkin’ (Again)” pairs suburban Arizona ennui with “summer of ‘99” alt-pop. Driven by Woodbury’s muted bass rumble and Zach Toporek’s exalted breakbeats, the song finds the duo abstracting and stretching out childhood memories, reflecting on the often occulted logic that drives the process of belief and self propulsion. Drawing from early Halloween memories and the spirit of magical possibility that marks the shift from summer to fall, the song’s earnest message urges living in the here and now: “Everybody’s talking about moving away/you think you’ll be sticking around.” ”When I Get Lonesome” continues the thread of ‘90s pop influence, pairing Byrds-inspired jangle pop with scuzzed-out guitars. Closing number “Big Wave” is built on a loose, mostly improvised session, which finds Toporek reflecting on climate dread while Woodbury twists a Telecaster into an open tuning and channels his inner Neil Young. Two Against Nurture opens up the vortex and beckons you to enter. Don’t delay.

—

JPW & Dad Weed Two Against Nurture is now available everywhere.

LISTEN TO DIGITAL EP HERE

OUT NOW: Red Dwarf Star "Ex-Patriot" [Digital Single]

Red Dwarf Star is Coley Dennis of Maserati, featuring Kellii Scott of Failure on drums.  "Ex-Patriot" is their second digital single to be released ahead of their highly anticipated debut album (due out next year), and it is available now everywhere.

For fans of Cloakroom, The Cure, Deftones, Drop Nineteens, Fearless, Flyying Colours, The Fucking Champs, Gleemer, Holy Fawn, Holy Fuck, HUM, Ides of Space, Killing Joke, Loathe, Maserati, Mercury Rev, No Joy, Nothing, Pink Floyd, Quicksand, Shellac, Shiner, Slowdive, Starflyer 59, Swirlies, Trans Am, Wednesday, and Whirr.

LISTEN NOW

OUT NOW: MindsOne & Tink_Musik ft. DJ Iron "Why We Do This" [Digital Single]

MindsOne has been offering their listeners innovative lyrics, heart pounding instrumentals, precise cuts, and intense live shows since 2002. Their music embodies the spirit of independent hip hop culture and pays homage to those boom bap masters and others who came before. MindsOne have consistently delivered powerful and inspirational music over the years, and have continued to perfect their sound with each project.

The second digital single "Why We Do This" with Tink_Musik, featuring DJ Iron, off MindsOne's new double album titled Stages (due out next year) is now available on all music platforms as of today.

LISTEN NOW | PRE-ORDER VINYL RECORD

JPW 'Raw Action On Route'

[Repost from Foxy Digitalis; by Brad Rose]

The Capsule Garden Vol 3.19: September 25, 2024

There’s a call being broadcast from beyond the cosmos, hypnotizing our focus into the deepest reaches of space. Hazy memories snake through inner starfields like a mantra beckoning us to go back to reality. JPW’s voice crackles at the crests of slinking guitar leads, all with a wry smile buried in resonant hollows. Simple rhythms underscore the melancholy as if our hearts beat in unison across different stories in different times. Raw Action On Route sings in space-age shadows, adrift on lackadaisical waves while hanging heavy in the golden gravitational pull of future dreams.

On a mission to inspire, national 'Creative' organization opens Wilmington chapter

[Repost from StarNews; by John Staton, October 12, 2024]

As the outer bands of Hurricane Helene blew through Wilmington on Sept. 27, about 75 people assembled in the ballroom of historic Thalian Hall for what would be the inaugural gathering of national organization Creative Mornings' brand-new Wilmington chapter.

The crowd, which included musicians, actors, visual artists, arts administrators and even a few people who claimed not to have a creative bone in their bodies, was lively despite the stormy weather and the 8:30 a.m. hour, chatting as they enjoyed free coffee and doughnuts, and commenting on each others' answers to a question on a name tag handed out when they arrived: "What advice would you give to your younger self?"

After 30 minutes of socializing and opening remarks by Creative Mornings chapter host Kerry Skiles and Thalian Hall director Shane Fernando, it was time for the main event: A Ted Talk-like presentation by James Tritten of Wilmington label Fort Lowell Records on the topic of "reflection."

"People in creative fields or who are doing creative projects, there's always something you can learn from them," Skiles said during an interview a week or so after Creative Mornings made its Wilmington debut. "It's really about just connecting with people in the community. We want this to reflect what the community needs."

The Creative Mornings motto? "Everyone is creative."

Skiles, a native of Edenton, lived in Wilmington in the early 2000s before moving to Raleigh, where she lived for about two decades before returning to Wilmington a couple of years ago.

During her time in Raleigh she attended monthly Creative Mornings meet-ups for close to a decade, and "every time I left one, I was like, 'I'm so inspired,'" she said.

When she looked for a Wilmington chapter of Creative Mornings and found there wasn't one, she decided to start her own. Founded in Brooklyn in 2008, Creative Mornings now boasts some 238 chapters in 69 countries. According to its website, about 70,000 people attend a Creative Mornings event worldwide each month.

Events are typically held on the last Friday morning of the month, with all chapters hosting a speaker who expounds on a common theme. In September, it was "reflection."

Aside from a minor technical glitch that cropped up when slides she had prepared didn't project properly, the inaugural event seemed to go swimmingly.

"It became bigger than we expected," Skiles said, "And that was just from word of mouth."

September's speaker, James Tritten of Fort Lowell Records, told the story of how the label he runs with wife, the singer Tracy Shedd, started in Tuscon, Arizona, and responded to a tragic shooting there in 2011 by trying to put positive energy back into the community via a compilation album of local bands that raised money for anti-violence causes.

The label has released 76 albums since its founding 2009, the majority of them since Tritten and Shedd moved to Wilmington in 2018. In 2020, inspired by the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests, Fort Lowell released a compilation album of Wilmington bands called "GROW" that has funded scholarships for a half-dozen students through the Wilmington chapter of the NAACP.

That project, Tritten said, "helped us realize the beauty of what was here," and he also talked about the label's "This Water Is Life" series of albums that pairs Wilmington indie rockers with local hip-hop artists to raise money for environmental causes.

"We took it as an opportunity to share the story of Fort Lowell. To reflect back, but also creating this idea of, 'I just want to shed light on the things around me,'" Tritten said. "I went at it wanting to ensure that there was an opportunity for inspiration to be had."

In talking with people after his talk and "having people tell me, 'That really was inspiring,' I definitely left feeling good," Tritten said.

When Skiles first asked him to speak at Creative Mornings, Tritten said, "My first question was, 'Where's the money?' If anyone was making money off this, I was going to have a problem with it. I quickly recognized Kerry is doing exactly what I'm doing, which is trying to shed light on our peers and our community."

After talking with her, he said, "I realized, I have to be involved with this."

Skiles said that Creative Mornings meet-ups are required by the national organization to be free, with volunteer labor and meeting space, food and coffee all donated.

"That's kind of the beauty of it," Skiles said. "Chapters aren't run as profit-making machines, and there's not this underbelly of having to raise money."

The idea is for the meet-up to be in a new place each month, at least at first, though Skiles said it might evolve into having "a go-to place sprinkled in with other locations."

Wilmington's second Creative Mornings meet-up will be 8:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 25 at the Cameron Art Museum and feature filmmaker Christopher Everett, director of the 1898 documentary "Wilmington on Fire" and co-founder of Wilmington's Three Chambers Festival, which has a combined focus on film, hip-hop and martial arts.

"I've always been a fan of Creative Mornings. It's like Ted Talk for creatives," Everett said. "I plan on talking about creating a vision for a creative future. This story is important to me."

Skiles said that, as speakers, Tritten and Everett "appealed to me in different ways. They had an idea and they wanted to bring it to life, and that's just inspiring."

OUT NOW: Al Foul 'Come Back a Dog' [Final LP]

When Al Foul left this world in the twilight hours of May 25, 2022, he roared like a lion. His arms were stick-straight, precisely parallel to his body, fists clenched and holding a posture not unlike a daredevil diver heading feet first into some sort of otherworldly, aquatic abyss. It was a frightening, beautiful, and fully fitting exit for a man and musician who had already been described as a living legend long before he was diagnosed with the laryngeal cancer that took his life. Over his 50 years on this mortal coil, Alan Lewis Curtis overcame a bleakly violent, impoverished childhood in Hyde Park, Boston and went on to live a richly adventurous, extraordinary life, primarily under his stage name, Al Foul. After forays into punk rock, mostly with his Tucson-based band Al Foul and The Shakes, he settled into a solo configuration, occasionally augmented with various players from Tucson and always with his reputation for charming showmanship and ribald humor intact. The joyous mayhem of his delivery made his performances memorable and eventually underground iconic. He toured Europe for decades and gained a particularly devoted following in France and Germany where his shows took on a more Lynchian quality with the input of his touring partner, DJ Laurent Allinger ( a.k.a. “The French Tourist”), who added surreal samples and textures that echoed Foul’s chosen Southwest home. Whether he was playing biker festivals in tiny villages or sharing larger stages with King Khan and The Shrines or The BellRays, Al was always utterly unforgettable. During the pandemic, Foul was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer and was cared for by his wife, KXCI DJ Hannah Levin, until his death in 2022. Al’s battle and their love story was chronicled by local PBS station AZPM and in 2024 the resulting documentary “Al & Hannah” won the Edward R. Murrow award for Best News Documentary. Come Back a Dog is Al Foul's final album, a combination of originals and covers that were fan favorite staples of his live sets. From the starkly prophetic title track and his gleeful take on the Muscle Shoals’ staple “Six Days on the Road” to the neo-noir spin on the American traditional murder ballad “Frankie & Johnny” and the haunting atmospherics of “Darker Shade of Blue”, Foul sketches a gritty-yet-compassionate portrait of raw Americana that could sit comfortably on a shelf between a Raymond Carver anthology and a Tom Waits’ boxed set.

Al Foul Come Back a Dog is out now and available everywhere as of today.

LISTEN TO FULL ALBUM | VINYL SOLD OUT

Is the protest anthem a lost art, or has the sound of revolution switched political sides?

[Repost from KJZZ 91.5FM Phoenix; by Sam Dingman, September 27, 2024]

As a summer of political chaos draws to a close, the wars and policy debates that have prompted violence and upheaval remain. Some pundits are saying it feels like the late '60s all over again. But when it comes to music, things don't quite sound the same.

Jason Woodbury, musician and podcaster on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, has been documenting the fluctuations of the music industry for years on his podcast and he joined The Show to talk about how things have changed since the golden age of the protest anthem.

Full conversation

JASON WOODBURY: The late ‘60s, early ‘’70s really are the time when a number of factors, the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement produced a sort of cultural consciousness that crossed over into the pop realm.

You've got songs like Creedence Clearwater Revival's “Fortunate Son,” an anti-war song that hit number 14 on the Billboard hot 100. Also in 1969, John Lennon's “Give Peace a chance.” Pretty blatant outright lyric there that also hit number 14. Not only is this stuff really conveying a, a point of view and a message, but it's also achieving mainstream success.

SAM DINGMAN: I think one of the interesting phenomena about the success of these songs is that it makes us look back at that time, kind of through the lens of the popularity of the songs, if that makes sense. Like, because of the widespread resonance of those songs, it becomes very easy to look back at that time and think like, well, everybody hated the Vietnam War, when of course, the reality is that those things were the subject of very intense debate.

WOODBURY: Yeah, I almost feel like the pop culture element of it allows for a sort of retrofitting, right? Like, oh, yeah, everybody must have been on board because I mean, listen to how, how good this song is. It's easier to paint a slightly rosier picture maybe if you're just going by the sort of artistic breakouts of that time.

DINGMAN: Yeah. Well, and I'm curious to know what you think about this idea, too, that maybe another reason that it's easier to paint with a bit of a broad brush in terms of memory using these songs is that they were by and large channeling a kind of sentiment rather than a specific message against one particular party.

You know, obviously there was probably, you know, some implicit messaging against say the Nixon administration, but it's not like, it, it, it seemed like it was more about channeling a general spirit amongst the people rather than taking a firm stance on one side of the aisle or the other.

WOODBURY: Yeah, that's actually really interesting to think about. You know, I think about the, the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song “Ohio,” which was written about the Kent State massacre. And it specifically says, you know, “Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming.” But I think it's that next line that almost speaks to what you're saying. You know, he says, “we're finally on our own.” That speaks a lot more to the spirit of a thing and, and sort of a general feeling than actually saying, you know, you can only listen to this song if you're against the Vietnam War.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, you get into stuff that actually probably was far more aligned with the actual very, very radical stuff from that counterculture, stuff like Public Enemy, NWA. These were artists that were speaking about very bleak realities and often accompanying them with really controversial statements, you know. And that remains popular music. When you think about news anchors freaking out over NWA lyrics, it's like a reminder that like, that's the mainstream, paying attention to this, this stuff.

And I think that that continues on for a while, you know, in the early 2000s, you also had stuff like Green Day with “American Idiot” or the Dixie Chicks, now just the Chicks, but at the time, the Dixie Chicks, who spoke out against the war in Iraq and really faced like a very, very intense backlash from the Nashville establishment. And I think that after that point, say in the early 2000s, you really do start to see the kind popular protest song, not completely go away but certainly lessen in, in frequency.

DINGMAN: Yeah. But I think it is really interesting that, that point you're making about the Chicks, I mean, obviously the Chicks still have their fans, but at the time that they made that statement, they were one of the, the biggest acts in popular music, right?

WOODBURY: That's right. And I mean, I think that when you even think about just sort of the strange way that political ideology ebbs and flows in relation to culture, you look at the, the Chicks, who were taking this stance and were speaking out against the George Bush administration and people like Dick Cheney. You think about that in context of 2024 and you've got like Dick Cheney saying that you should vote for Kamala Harris, you know, the quote unquote progressive person on the ticket.

And I think that speaks to just how weird and sort of complicated these things have become and how it's become increasingly difficult to sort of take a coherent stance in certain ways. And, and to some degree or another, most protest music requires that kind of specificity that's become maybe a little bit more elusive in a time where people are like, well, hang on. What, what exactly, where do I align, you know, is there an anti-war, you know, candidate or whatever things like that?

When you look at some of the stuff that has broken through in more recent time, there's a MAGA rapper, Forgiato Blow, who managed to score a really big hit with his song “Boycott Target.” That Oliver Anthony's super viral “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which debuted at number one.

Like now you might actually have more of a chance of scoring like a protest hit if you're sort of saying something very different than what you might hear more progressive artists saying. And those are both examples I think that sort of show how this has changed quite a bit.

DINGMAN: Yeah. Well, it certainly feels like we've come a long way from “Give Peace a Chance.”

WOODBURY: I mean, I like that one still. I, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a John and Yoko stan. So plenty of protest music in their cannon to to, to return to.

OUT NOW: Al Foul "Memphis" [Digital Single]

The third single "Memphis" from Al Foul's (1971-2022) final album Come Back a Dog — a combination of originals and covers that sketch a gritty-yet-compassionate portrait of raw Americana — is available now on all digital music platforms.  

For fans of Hasil Adkins, Bloodshot Bill, Johnny Burnette, Johnny Cash, Raymond Carver, Nick Cave, Eddie Cochran, The Cramps, Dave Dudley, Elvis, Charlie Feathers, Howe Gelb, Earl Green, PJ Harvey, Richard Hawley, Trini Lopez, Carl Perkins, Reverend Horton Heat, Dex Romweber, Nick Shoulders, Jon Spencer, Mark Sultan, Kip Tyler, Gene Vincent, Tom Waits, Link Wray.

LISTEN NOW | PRE-ORDER VINYL LP NOW

“Welcome to Jaxxonville” Episode 9: James Tritten from Fortlowell Records

Hip-Hop artist, local resident of Wilmington NC, and Iron Maiden fanatic Fuzz Jaxx interviews yours truly on Episode 9 of Welcome to Jaxxonville. Watch now: https://youtu.be/StnR_V63xhU?si=zkAPGBu82pr2Rl0B

OUT NOW: This Water is Life, Vol. IV ft. Fuzz Jaxx & CoolOutSessions + Tercel

This Water is Life is a self-sustained and ongoing series of split EPs with two express purposes: to highlight new hip-hop / indie rock music from Southeastern North Carolina, as well as to provide a platform for Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group to deliver up-to-date authoritative reports on the health of the Cape Fear River Basin for both human beings and wildlife.

Volume IV features Fuzz Jaxx & CoolOutSessions and Tercel, and is out now everywhere!

Hip-Hop: Fuzz Jaxx & CoolOutSessions

These two hip hop heads Fuzz Jaxx and CoolOutSessions are a force to be reckoned with. Hailing from Georgia (FJ) and North Carolina (COS) the love and knowledge they have for the music and culture is astonishing. Fuzz had bars beyond the average emcee and a stage presence to match. The smooth melodic tones that CoolOutSessions provides compliments Fuzz’s voice and lyrics. The two are creating a different sound that is slowly but surely grabbing ears. Also, the production is far beyond the watered down versions of what hip hop is today. Their sound is a definite throwback and tribute to J Dilla and Native Tongues vibes. 

Indie Rock: Tercel

Hailing from The Cape Fear region, the Tercel sound carries reverence for its homeland. The lyricism of Robin and Savannah Wood pull from the beliefs of climate activism, societal collapse, and the ennui of existence in the modern world. But Tercel is fun. Tercel is joyous. These are heavy words, lightly thrown. Wall-of-noise guitars in alternate tunings, the give-and-take singing between the vocalists, Chris Vinopal’s pedal steel in all its brightness, Taylor Salvetti’s driving drum beats to accent the changes: Tercel knows the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And in this, we are all smothered in the green glow of existence. Go outside. Enjoy the light.

LISTEN TO FULL EP | ORDER VINYL RECORD

In partnership with: - Cape Fear River Watch

- Coastal Plain Conservation Group This Water is Life is brought to you buy: - Dock Street Printing - Fortis Builders - Gravity Records - Persephone's Farm

- Satellite Bar & Lounge

CreativeMornings launches in Wilmington, first event happening Friday

[Repost from WWAY TV; by Matt Bennett, September 24, 2024]

WILMINGTON, NC — CreativeMornings, a global breakfast speaker series for the creative community, has officially arrived in Wilmington, bringing together artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and other creative professionals.

Kerry Skiles, the host for the Wilmington chapter, says she used to attend events in Raleigh before relocating to southeastern NC.

“When I moved to Wilmington, there wasn’t a chapter here, so I applied to open one with a group of creative friends,” she said. “We wanted to provide something for the creative community to dig into on a monthly basis.”

CreativeMornings meetings are designed to foster a welcoming environment for everyone, regardless of their professional background.

“We think everyone is creative, and everyone is welcome,” Skiles said. Each event features speakers who share their experiences and projects, encouraging attendees to connect and collaborate.

The inaugural event is scheduled for Friday, with James Tritten from Fort Lowell Records set to be the featured speaker. Tritten, along with his wife, Tracy, operates a record label that focuses on indie rock and hip-hop artists. They are also working on a benefit record titled This Water is Life, aimed at supporting water safety in the region.

For those interested in attending, Skiles says all events are free, including attendance, coffee, breakfast, and ideas. “It’s a great collaboration and networking opportunity,” she said. The meetings typically start with socializing, followed by the speaker presentation, and wrap up by 10 a.m., allowing attendees to return to their daily routines.

The inaugural meeting will take place on Friday at 8:30 a.m. at Thalian Hall.

Click here for more information, and to register for the event: https://creativemornings.com/talks/james-tritten

Tercel live at The Cave in Chapel Hill NC

[Repost from Independent Review Crew; by Brian Slattery, February 18, 2024]

After a short break the Wilmington, N.C.-based band Tercel took the stage, interspersing amiable banter with heartfelt anthems that grew more epic as the set progressed. Their songs fit into the mold of melodic indie rock with more than a few rhythmic tricks up its sleeve. Anchored by hard-driving bass and drums, guitars and pedal steel swapped between big hooks and gritty textures, while the vocals soared over it all.

OUT NOW: Al Foul "Darker Shade of Blue" [Digital Single]

The second single "Darker Shade of Blue" from Al Foul's (1971-2022) final album Come Back a Dog — a combination of originals and covers that sketch a gritty-yet-compassionate portrait of raw Americana — is available now on all digital music platforms.  

For fans of Hasil Adkins, Bloodshot Bill, Johnny Burnette, Johnny Cash, Raymond Carver, Nick Cave, Eddie Cochran, The Cramps, Dave Dudley, Elvis, Charlie Feathers, Howe Gelb, Earl Green, PJ Harvey, Richard Hawley, Trini Lopez, Carl Perkins, Reverend Horton Heat, Dex Romweber, Nick Shoulders, Jon Spencer, Mark Sultan, Kip Tyler, Gene Vincent, Tom Waits, Link Wray.

LISTEN NOW | PRE-ORDER VINYL LP NOW

JPW - Raw Action On Route

[Repost from Doom & Gloom From the Tomb; by Tyler Wilcox, September 9, 2024]

A great writer/editor/podcaster/dude — Jason P. Woodbury is definitely all of those things. But he’s also slowly but surely building a beautiful sound world as JPW. This short-but-sweet EP is like JJ Cale and Cass McCombs going on a long desert road trip with no particular destination in mind. Lonesome drum machines, drift-y vocals, burnt guitar lines — the good shit, as we like to say. And hey, another great dude Chris Schlarb (Psychic Temple/Big Ego Records) shows up to lend his skills to a dank ‘n’ dubby remix of “The Road That Knows No Law.” My only complaint for this one is that it should go on for at least 10 more minutes.

OUT NOW: MindsOne & Drew Dave ft. DJ Iron "It's All Family" [Digital Single]

MindsOne has been offering their listeners innovative lyrics, heart pounding instrumentals, precise cuts, and intense live shows since 2002. Their music embodies the spirit of independent hip hop culture and pays homage to those boom bap masters and others who came before. MindsOne have consistently delivered powerful and inspirational music over the years, and have continued to perfect their sound with each project.

The first digital single "It's All Family" with Drew Dave, featuring DJ Iron, off MindsOne's new double album titled Stages (due out next year) is now available on all music platforms as of today.

LISTEN NOW | PRE-ORDER VINYL RECORD

James Tritten: Fort Lowell Records | Building Community Through Music

CreativeMornings is a free monthly breakfast lecture series designed for creative communities. In 2008, Tina Roth-Eisenberg founded the lecture series in Brooklyn, New York as an ongoing, accessible event for New York's creative community. The concept was simple: breakfast and a short talk one Friday morning a month. Every event would be free of charge and open to anyone.  Lecturers include professional creators, designers, photographers and illustrators. 

CreativeMornings now hosts events in 207 cities worldwide in 65 countries. Their events are run by approximately 1,500 volunteer organizers.  Kerry Skiles of Wilmington, North Carolina has taken the lead on hosting the local chapter for our Port City, and has invited yours truly — James Tritten — to be the first guest speaker for CreativeMornings Wilmington's inaugural event taking place on Friday, September 27th at Thalian Hall from 8:30-10:00am.

• Register for your free ticket here: https://creativemornings.com/talks/james-tritten
• Learn more about CreativeMornings here: https://creativemornings.com/pages/about 

About the speaker

Fort Lowell Records’ James Tritten has spent the better part of his life dedicated to two major efforts: creating and supporting good music and giving a damn about the people and places around him.

Working (and playing) his way from Jacksonville, FL, to Boston, MA, to Tucson, AZ, to Raleigh, NC, and finally, to Wilmington, James and his wife, Tracy, launched Fort Lowell Records in 2009 to promote and release music for artists they love – paying back the kind of support they received as young musicians. They also wanted to give back to their now-hometown of Wilmington, and do everything possible to help nurture its soil, and establish deep roots for a long lasting, music-filled future.

To that end, in 2020, Fort Lowell released a compilation album of Wilmington indie rock bands called “GROW,” as a way to raise money for New Hanover County’s chapter of the NAACP. And since then, the couple has started a vinyl series called “This Water is Life,” which not only highlights new hip hop and indie rock artists from the region, but also provides a platform for environmental organizations — like Cape Fear River Watch and the Coastal Plain Conservation Group — to help spread the word about GenX contamination in the Cape Fear River Basin and the fight for clean water.

Bringing together his love for music and a desire to strengthen his community, James and Fort Lowell Records are using creativity to not only shine a light on deserving hip hop and indie artists, but to also make a real difference for the health and well-being of Wilmington.

OUT NOW: JPW 'Raw Action On Route' [Digital EP]

Noted podcaster, liner notes author, and music writer Jason P. Woodbury, aka JPW, returns with another broadcast from the far side of the cosmos. The Raw Action On Route EP collects three recordings made circa JPW’s debut, Something Happening / Always Happening (Fort Lowell Records), which was hailed by MTV News (RIP) as “...a desert broadcast from the past where remnants of space-age pop mingle with an undeniably easy (and breezy) feeling you might've found out Topanga in 1972." Utilizing a sparkly red Partscaster gifted to him by his brother, a set of vintage drum machines, and plenty of reverb and echo, these selections present a darkly comic side of Woodbury’s songwriting: “I Miss That Song” tells the story of a doomed cosmonaut drifting through outer space with an Osmonds’ deep cut playing on a loop in their head, while the instrumental “Old Scratch” blends soundtrack score cues with dubby ambiance, a wheezing pump organ subbing in for reggae’s signature melodica. The EP closes with a remix of SH/AH’s “The Road That Knows No Law,” featuring woozy, Twin Peaks-worth synth textures from Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple, who mixed these songs to tape at his Long Beach studio Big Ego. Drifting into spookiness but retaining a lo-fi friendliness, Raw Action On Route drops you back into JPW's orbit. Enjoy your spin. 

JPW Raw Action On Route is out now on all digital music platforms.

LISTEN NOW

PRE-ORDER NOW: MindsOne 'Stages' [Double LP]

MindsOne has been offering their listeners innovative lyrics, heart pounding instrumentals, precise cuts, and intense live shows since 2002. Their music embodies the spirit of independent hip hop culture and pays homage to those boom bap masters and others who came before. MindsOne have consistently delivered powerful and inspirational music over the years, and have continued to perfect their sound with each project.

MindsOne's new double-album titled Stages is due out in February 2025, and it is now available for you to pre-order to ensure you don't miss out. Reserve your copy today!

PRE-ORDER VINYL RECORD 

What is musical sainthood? One artist shares his perspective on music's connection to spirituality

[Repost from KJZZ 91.5FM Phoenix; by Lauren Gilger, August 14, 2024]

Who are your musical saints? Not just those artists you admire, but those you view in almost mystical terms.

For Jason P. Woodbury, it’s a long list. Woodbury is a local musician himself, as well as a music writer and podcaster for Aquarium Drunkard.

And, as many good (and bad) things begin, this conversation began on Twitter, or X, with a post from another musician about musical sainthood. It’s a concept that hits close to home for Woodbury — who told The Show he’s always viewed music through a spiritual lens.

He joined The Show to share some of his own musical saints and tell us what the idea means to him.

Full conversation

JASON P. WOODBURY: To start off, I will do the disclaimer, which is to say this in no way adheres to any single religion or dogma. I think canonization in the Catholic Church proper, let's say, you have to have a few requirements, right?

There's like overall virtue. There are, of course, martyrdom — should you die defending your belief or whatever — faith and charity, and then, of course, miracles. And so, to me, songs are miracles. So, all you have to do is have a good song to qualify as a musical saint in my personal canon.

But, at the same time, I think a lot about saints as somebody who has given something up or sacrificed something because they believe that their art has something important to say. So, I tend to think there's a slight trials and tribulations element to sainthood. So, so yeah.

LAUREN GILGER: Just like Joan of Arc, okay. 

WOODBURY: Just like Joan of Arc and the Smiths

GILGER: Right, right, and you say music has always been kind of spiritual to you. You grew up in this way, right?

WOODBURY: Yeah. I grew up in a very, very small church in rural Arizona — in Coolidge, Arizona — and, even before I hit puberty, I was like leading the song service for the church. My dad had done it and uncles, and, to me, music and sacred experience always go — have always gone hand-in-hand.

And the most interesting thing is that even as my own faith and perception of the Divine has changed over the years and become far less tied to one specific religion, that element of music as a sacred space has never gone away.

GILGER: Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about and hear some of your musical saints. Who did you come up with? This can't be an easy list to make.

WOODBURY: No, I mean, because there's so many people that I wanted to talk about. So, I just kind of went with some of my gut responses. And the first one is the late Sinéad O'Connor, who I think of as — she's, you know, I'm sure that somebody listening right now goes, yeah, not my saint, you know, because she's known, of course, for a very controversial moment in which she ripped up a picture of the pope on SNL.

But when you look at Sinéad's life, I think that she is, in so many ways, the prototypical seeker. She grew up in the Catholic Church, had a very violent and strong reaction against it related to abuse that she suffered at her mother's hand.

But Rastafarianism spoke to her. So she's dabbling in these, like reggae religions. And then, of course, I think she joined a break off sect of the Catholic Church, and when she passed away, she had converted a few years earlier to Islam.

So, I mean, so Sinéad sort of had like a journey, but when I look at her music — and I could pick dozens and dozens of songs from the catalog — I just think of someone who, in that Irish poet sense, just had to sing about the most enormous topics she could, the biggest mysteries.

The song I selected is called, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," which is the ultimate aim sometimes. This idea of being content. It's a real haunting vocal too.

GILGER: Yeah, let's listen.

[“I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” by Sinéad O'Connor]

GILGER: All right, so who's next on the list?

WOODBURY: All right, so next on the list, I think we're gonna go with the great Sun Ra. Sun Ra is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of music, hands down.

He claimed that he was not from the planet Earth. He was from Saturn, and he was in touch with galactic super beings, more or less, that imparted to him a message that he needed to share with humanity. And so, when the Sun Ra Orchestra — which is the name his group most often used — performed, they'd wear these huge robes, very ceremonial, right?

But, Sun Ra himself was sort of this figure who — really pivotal in the Afrofuturism movement. And he often sang of angels and demons. So there's that, in terms of the religious thing, and he just tended to speak in this sort of nomic riddling kind of fashion. And I think it speaks to a sort of a saint — or maybe we're moving more into the prophet realm here.

But it's like, these people, they don't always make sense in their time, but then many, many years later, you realize just how incredible what they were doing was. And so, I selected one of the more serene Sun Ra songs, and it's called "The All of Everything."

["The All of Everything” by Sun Ra]

GILGER: All right. Next, you have on the list Judee Sill, right?

WOODBURY: Yeah. Judee was this sort of Christian mystic songwriter. She put out two records in the 70s, and this song, "Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos," is from her self-titled 1971 debut.

["Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos” by Judee Sill]

And Judee grew up singing Baptist hymns, so she had this like sacred quality. But, by the time she gets to making her own music, she had lived years — sometimes in really, really dire circumstances. Drugs, sex work.

She's a perfect example of a saint who is far from saintly on paper, but when you listen to her songs, I think she just understood some sort of William Blake-style marriage of heaven and hell. Like pain and pleasure, high and low, transcendence and damnation. For her, they're all in the mix, and they're always happening.

There's just a lyric in this that, were I to come up with my own religion, I would keep this as like one of the main commandments. The lyric is, "so keep on moving / or stay by my side, either way / I'll tell you a secret / I've never revealed / however we are is okay."

["Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos” by Judee Sill continues]

GILGER: All right. Next up, we have — at least one name I had heard of — John Coltrane, but you've got John and Alice Coltrane here.

WOODBURY: Yeah, that's right. And, in fact, the song I selected is just Alice. But, John Coltrane, of course, a jazz legend. Absolute innovator of the form, and one of the all-time greats. John and his wife, Alice Coltrane, made a lot of great music together.

After he passed away, she continued making great records, and her music became even more overtly focused on sort of spiritual forms. This was the 1960s as all sorts of Eastern esotericism was starting to kind of make its way into the US counterculture.

This song, "Journey in Satchidananda" is a song that she wrote about her guru. She's playing harp, and there's tambura, and it's this like just really evocative soundscape that I think it's kind of impossible to listen to it and not fall into some sort of a trance.

["Journey in Satchidananda" by Alice Coltrane]

GILGER: So, let's talk, lastly, about about a song I think everybody knows — and an artist we definitely all know. Madonna's last on your list.

WOODBURY: Yeah. Yeah, "Ray of Light" from 1998. This is a song that I remember being pretty young when it came out — you know, junior high or whatever. But I remember hearing it, absolutely loving it, and being just so taken by it, but also being really nervous to tell all my friends that I like the Madonna song

GILGER: I have the CD. I listen to this every day. Yeah. 

WOODBURY: Oh my gosh, I mean, I think this is her best work, to be honest.

["Ray of Light" by Madonna]

WOODBURY: And this is an interesting song, because it's from an era where she was dabbling extensively in like Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. And I think when I listen to — particularly the song "Ray of Light" — it just actually sounds like a ray of light. It sounds like a transmission of divine solar energy or something. It is so repulsive and so — it's so immense.

["Ray of Light" by Madonna continues]

I mean, the lyric, "she's got herself a universe completely." It's like, it's kind of a reminder that we tend to think of the cosmos purely from an out — you know, the cosmos are out there. But, I think when I listen to a song like this, it reminds me that the cosmos are kind of in here as well, and I think that that's really what the song speaks to. And of course, the beat is pretty undeniable.

GILGER: Yeah, it's pretty good. All right, we'll end it on that one. Jason P. Woodbury, musician and music writer, host of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast and creative director of the Wastoids Podcast Network, joining us to talk more about his musical saints. Jason, thank you so much as always for coming on. I really appreciate it.

WOODBURY: Oh, it's always a blast. Lauren, thank you so much for having me. And I look forward to hearing what musical saints this conversation inspires people to bring up. Thanks so much.

Shelby Smoak: Dancing

[Repost from Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, August 21, 2024]

Indie rocker Shelby Smoak is in a post-punk mood on his new single "Dancing", with pleading vocals carefully draped over repetitive guitar motifs and off-kilter drums. He wrote it for his wife, reminiscing about holding her tight on the dance floor without a care in the world. Busting a move on this particular track will be a challenge for most, but as an 80s inspired love song it can stand on its own.

"Dancing" is released via Fort Lowell Records.

» shelbysmoak.com