Artists Reclaiming Their Masters
News about artists battling with record labels to reclaim the master – or original – recordings of their songs has come to the forefront in recent years. But it’s not just big-name artists making those moves. KEXP’s Meerah Powell has the story on musicians from smaller record labels who are pushing…
First to Last: John Vanderslice
John Vanderslice has transformed from indie rock analog purist to electronic experimentalist during his more than 20-year music career. He spoke with Jasmine Albertson about the making of his 2000 debut album, 'Mass Suicide Occult Figurines,' as well as his most recent album, 'CRYSTALS 3.0.' They s…
Best Of: Bam Bam’s Tina Bell, The Unsung Goddess of Grunge
Bam Bam was a Black woman-fronted grunge band in Seattle in the early '80s — before grunge was a defined genre. Larry Mizell Jr. tells the story of Bam Bam and the life of frontwoman Tina Bell. He also explores why we’ve never heard of this group before and why their story has been erased from Seat…
Best Of: Mastering Behind the Console
For Women’s History Month, we are revisiting Sound & Vision's 2021 miniseries, Behind the Console, which highlights the stories of women and nonbinary audio engineers who are navigating what is still a very male-dominated field. In this episode we talk with two mastering engineers, who put the fin…
Best Of: Behind the Console: From Prince to PhD
For Women’s History Month, we are revisiting Sound & Vision's 2021 miniseries, Behind the Console, which highlights the stories of women and nonbinary audio engineers who are navigating what is still a very male-dominated field. Today we meet Susan Rogers, who engineered for Prince for four years,…
Totem Star Youth Recording Studio
Totem Star is a recording studio for Seattle area youth ages 14 to 25. The organization recently moved to a new 2,000 square foot space on the second floor of Seattle’s King Street Station in Pioneer Square. That’s where Totem Star will live rent free for the next 60 years, thanks to a lease from t…
Toussaint Morrison Reflects on MN Police Killings in Album
Toussaint Morrison is a New Orleans-born, Minneapolis-raised artist. He released an album earlier this year called 'The Very Best of Ricky and Jane.' Ricky and Jane are his parents. Morrison talks with KEXP’s Emily Fox about the activism his parents were involved in and how decades later, he quit …
Brittany Davis Raises Her Voice on ‘Image Issues’
Seattle’s Brittany Davis has released her debut album, 'Image Issues,' which she calls an "audio movie." It’s a sonic journey that weaves in many musical genres and spoken word vignettes backed by soundscapes. Davis is blind and audio is a heightened sense for her. She also has synesthesia and hear…
Best Of: Ella Vos on Postpartum Depression
Feb 29 is Music Heals: Mental Health at KEXP, where all day the station reads stories and plays listener requests of the songs that helped them through their mental health struggles. In honor of Music Heals: Mental Health, we revisit a conversation from 2021 that was originally part of the mini-ser…
Charley Pride – The First Black Country Singer to Sign to a Major Label
Charley Pride was the first Black country music singer to sign to a major record label (RCA) back in 1965. He went on to have 30 number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country chart and sold more than 70 million records. Emily Fox talks with Nashville Historian David Ewing about Charley Pride. They …