Musicians chat and play on substack
The Substack Music & Creativity Sessions - post #2
This is my second post sharing the livestream videos of artists and bands who took part in the Substack Music & Creativity Sessions over the past couple of weeks.
The last post was devoted to musical performances. Today’s is devoted to livestream videos that combine chat with play.
By ‘chat’ we’re actually talking a wide array of activities. These include:
an interview with the co-founder of Substack
a house or studio tour
repartee with one’s musical or life partner
poetry-reading, story-telling, and swapping creative insights
showing off reading materials
answering viewer questions
quizzing one’s musical partner on their romcom knowledge.
These artists get up to all sorts of things in these livestreams (and probably in life, not to mention backstage).
As Forrest Gump sagely said, “Life with songsters is like a box of French chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
By ‘play’ here, I mean that there’s some playing of music and, in some notable cases — I’m looking especially at you, We Are Scientists — some outrageous playing around.
I’m also looking at you, Andrew Bird, in your video above (which, granted, is from Youtube and not from the Substack livestream).
Below I give you, dear readers, a brief introduction to each artist and a sense of what they did in their livestream, followed by a link to the recording.
Feel free to download and to share with anyone you think might be interested.
I highly recommend all of these sessions. They give you a great flavor of each artist. Get some popcorn, settle in, and enjoy!
Part music, part ‘chat’
Andrew Bird is an indie rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s also played in jazz and swing ensembles and composes film soundtracks. He played Thurman Smutney, a part written just for him, in the fourth season of Fargo. He is interviewed by Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie and then performs for about 15 minutes (from 8:00). Enjoy his session below and his humorous song “Sisyphus” above.
Lou Barlow is an alt rocker with a hardcore punk background, affiliated with Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, and The Folk Implosion, as well as solo work and various collaborations. His wife Adelle Louise Burda is a knitwear designer. Let me just say that these two are a riot. Their session was a one-hour tour of their house, and they are quirky, fun, and down-to-earth. You’d never put them together as a couple (or I wouldn’t), but it works. Fun if you’ve got some time to hang out. They also do a podcast called RAW Impressions.
Jeff Tweedy is a musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer and the lead vocalist and guitarist for indie, alternative, and folk rock band Wilco. He previously led alternative country band Uncle Tupelo. I’m a fan of Jeff’s book How to Write One Song. Jeff is a congenial and entertaining host of a 40-minute acoustic set ‘Live from the Loft.”
Jesse Paris Smith is a rock and New Age singer-songwriter, composer, producer, and musical collaborator who has played keyboards in the band Belle Ghoul, for the Tree Laboratory production company, and in her mother Patti Smith’s band. See videos on her website. She also focuses on therapeutic music and Performance Wellness coaching (and grief support). In her livestream she shares her creative process in writing poetry, reads some poems, and performs some of her tunes on the ukulele. She tells a very amusing story about how she found her perfect ukulele.
Margaret Glaspy is a critically acclaimed rock and pop singer-songwriter who plays guitar and fiddle, while Nick Hornby is a novelist and screenwriter whose High Fidelity novel about a record store was made into a film starring John Cusack and Jack Black. Nick interviews Margaret about her songwriting process and shares what he does as a writer. She then plays (starting around 8:00). They have decided to do this on a regular basis, so subscribe to their substacks if you’re interested. (I joined the livestream yesterday and it was a fascinating conversation about creativity and some tunes by Margaret.)
MC Taylor is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who leads folk and country rock band Hiss Golden Messenger, which has been influenced by the Beatles, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and, as MC shares, Michael Hurley who just passed away. The band was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album. MC shows us his home studio, answers questions (about his guitar picking, favorite film and books, his amps), shares some anecdotes, and performs some old and new acoustic music. It felt just like chillin’ with a good buddy.
Patti Smith is a punk rock, art rock, and pop rock songwriter and musician who has performed solo and fronting her own bands since the 70s, and who has collaborated with many artists, including Bruce Springsteen. Lenny Kaye is a rock and punk rock musician, composer, producer, and radio host, was a continuing member of the Patti Smith Group, and has been in her ‘new’ band since 1995. For 25 minutes they chat and do some acoustic tunes, as well as rave about what they had for lunch at the best soul food restaurant in Harlem. Note that Patti posts regular chat and music videos on her substack.
We Are Scientists is an indie and alternative rock band that is also known for their comedy, both Chris Cain and Keith Murray being connoisseurs of comics (the kind you read) and improv comedy. Their substack strapline — “None of the facts, all of the nonsense” — describes them perfectly, but they have the musical chops as well. Here’s the video for one of the songs on their new abum, “Please Don’t Say It.” Their livestream was a 65-minute session with frontman Keith performing two songs and the two of them being their comedic selves the rest of the time, including Chris administering a quiz to self-proclaimed romcom expert Keith. These guys are fun.
