indie folk Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Kyle Meadows & Sean Richardson: the #WVmusic Collaboration You've Been Waiting For

Two Charleston-based artists. One indie folk’n collaboration. Singer-songwriters Sean Richardson and Kyle Meadows have come together for a new 4-song split EP, and they’ve even brought in seminal indie rock fellow Ken Stringfellow from The Posies along for the ride. We sat down with Sean and Kyle to talk about their new music, Ken Stringfellow’s return to the Mountain State and you know, cats.

Kyle Meadows and Sean Richardson’s self-titled EP is available now on Bandcamp, and they’ll each have full-length releases out this June. Keep up with Kyle and Sean’s careers on socials. While you’re at it, go ahead and give ‘A Change of Tune’ a follow and like on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. To hear more of their music, tune in to ‘A Change of Tune,’ airing Saturdays at 10pm EST on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Interview Highlights

On getting into music:

Sean: [My start in music] was actually formed by The Cousins Five, and that was a grouping of all my cousins. We used to practice in my grandparents’ garage, and we would put original songs together and dance moves, and then we would come in and entertain my grandparents when my parents would drop us off for the weekend (so the parents could get away from us [kids]). And we’d just entertain my grandparents! They seemed genuinely engaged by our performances.

Kyle: Well, I’ve always considered myself sort of shy and introverted, so I never wanted to be in a band. I’d much rather play by myself. I’ve been playing guitar for a long time. I recorded my first album throughout 2012 to 2014 and gave it to a few friends and was talked into releasing it. So I released it in 2015, May 15 actually, and it went over pretty well. There aren’t many places to play where I lived in Pennsylvania. My friend Michael asked me to move in with him in Boone County, and I did that. He showed me all the spots in downtown Charleston, and I just started playing open mic nights and… here I am.

On being a new transplant to the #WVmusic scene:

Kyle: I was born in New York and moved to Pennsylvania when I was 7. Then I moved here last year. I kind of live in the middle of nowhere. I like it because it’s quiet. I prefer it over everywhere else I’ve lived so far. When I bring up Boone County, [people] say, “Why? Why Boone County?” But I like Boone County. It’s nice and quiet.

On venues in/around West Virginia:

Kyle: I wish there were bigger [venues]. I feel like if there were just a few more that were somehow bigger, it would be easier for touring bands to come in and play instead of you having to go to Pittsburgh or Richmond. I only really started playing music live here [in Charleston, West Virginia]. I’ve been playing live for a short period of time. I played at the Chameleon Club in June of 2015 and opened up for The Secret Sisters… [Other than that,] just the Empty Glass, the Boulevard Tavern, Taylor Books and The Blue Parrot.

Sean: I think what I’ve found is the house show circuit is my new favorite way to go with live music performances. It’s intimate. For example, there’s a gentleman named Dusty Segretto who puts on “The Living Room Series” in Louisville, Kentucky, and I played last weekend. I made more money there than I would at any venue. It was incredible! This circuit exists, and people are starting to connect the dots. So you can run a tour nationally now and never play an actual venue. That intimacy is so key because it’s a listening room. I actually started up a house show concert series, and I’m on show number four now, and I love it! You can hear a pin drop. People are tippy-toeing whenever they need to get up and leave the room. And sometimes in these live music venues, it’s just an X-Factor. You may have a cluster of people who are coming and celebrating a bachelor party [or] a birthday, and no offense to them [because] they want to celebrate in an open forum. But for quieter, solo singer-songwriters, you do feel that sometimes you may just be the afterthought.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a data-cke-saved-href=”http://seanrichardson.bandcamp.com/album/kyle-meadows-and-sean-richardson” href=”http://seanrichardson.bandcamp.com/album/kyle-meadows-and-sean-richardson”&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Kyle Meadows and Sean Richardson by Sean Richardson&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

On the meaning of success:

Sean: [Success has] always been for me to work with other artists. I love booking musicians. I love lifting that person up to get them exposure.

On working with Ken Stringfellow of The Posies:

Sean: Back in January, I wrote a song that appears on the split called “Deceiving.” And I heard it in my head and thought, “Wow, this needs an organ part. Who’s going to play organ? Who can I find?” So last year, I brought Ken Stringfellow (from The Posies, Big Star and R.E.M.) to Charleston. And on this record he put out called The Record with Holly Munoz, which was homage to Willie Nelson’s ’75 Red Headed Stranger, he has an amazing Hammond B3 organ track near the end of the record. And he played some piano at the show in October at The Fireside Bar & Lounge [in Charleston]. He’s such an amazing multi-talented instrumentalist. So I thought, you know what, I’m going to send this track to Ken Stringfellow and say, “Hey man, will you give this a listen and consider recording?” He was in France, actually, playing Elliott Smith’s album Figure 8 with a bunch of musicians over there. So there’s that weird feeling if you’ll get that email back that says, “Thanks for sending this to me. I don’t think this is going to work.” But much to my surprise, he messaged back and said, “Yes! I think I can do something with this.” He absolutely killed, and now I have him as a featured artist on a song. So to me, those are the ways that I define success in my music career. I’m not that guy that wants to be in front of 600, 000 people. I am this quieter person, similar to Kyle [Meadows]. I think that’s why we connect. We can just chill and enjoy smaller intimacy with our friends. But hey, world! I’ve recorded a track with Ken Stringfellow, and I am over the moon.

Kyle Meadows and Sean Richardson’s cover art.

On bonding over music:

Sean: I think we knew that without having to say it. That’s kind of the best thing, though. Music can be instinctual, and it doesn’t necessarily have to have more words than Kyle saying, “Hey, want to put out a split?” [laughing] I think we both knew when we heard those tracks that they would probably coalesce.

Kyle: When I first heard Sean play, he reminded me of Sufjan Stevens. When he told me he opened for Elliott Smith and I was like, “That is really cool, too.” We do share a lot of musical interests. So [this partnership] was just right off the bat.

On getting your band booked:

Sean: Put the link to your music right up front in the body of your email. We all want to know what you sound like. Some people are excellent writers, and that’s cool, but it doesn’t tell me if I can fit you on a particular stage that is calling for a certain number of players or that style I’m looking for. So let me know what you sound like! I want to see an electronic press kit as well. I want to know who’s in the band, how many [are in the band], what your stage set’s going to be. I want to see a biography and where you come from. But mostly it’s that link to the music right away, because some people try to sell you on a bunch of words. And be polite… and be patient.

May 17 marks The Posies’ first show in Charleston, WV, alongside local acts Qiet, Spencer Elliott and Sean Richardson’s Tofujitsu.

On The Posies’ May 17 show in Charleston:

Sean: Well, Ken [Stringfellow] and I communicated and he said, “[The Posies] want to play non-traditional venues.” One option was a house show, but my house show concert series doesn’t allow for the size group that’s probably going to show up and see The Posies [laughing]. I’m a big fan of Patrick Guthrie, who owns the V Club and both Black Sheep Burritos & Brews in Huntington and Charleston. I really love what he does with the V Club. I think that’s my favorite music venue in the entire state. Nothing against 123 Pleasant Street [in Morgantown], it’s pretty awesome too. And I love my local Charleston venues as well, The Empty Glass and the Boulevard Tavern in particular, and The Blue Parrot. But for non-traditional venues, [Black Sheep] has a stage and we’re going to remove the chairs and make it standing room only because we want to fit in as many people as possible. I love that Black Sheep also brews its own beer, they have great food, and it’s also a venue where we can have an all-ages show. I hope that young people will come and experience this… It’s going to be a fantastic show.

A Chat with Indie Folkers The Sea, The Sea

Acoustic folk duo The Sea The Sea are coming back to the Mountain State this month to play a couple shows. If the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because they’ve played a couple times on NPR’s Mountain Stage, or because one of the band members is a Charleston native or because they just play great music.

I sat down with The Sea The Sea’s Mira Stanley and Chuck E. Costa to chat about their new record, their thoughts on music streaming as an indie band, and their connection to the Mountain State.

the_sea_the_sea_wvpublic_pt_2.mp3

Part Two of our chat with The Sea The Sea. We talk about the duo's new record and what the future holds for them.

The Sea The Sea released their debut LP Love We Are We Love last year. You can catch them on tour in West Virginia on Saturday, May 2 in Charleston at the Clay Center and Friday, May 8 in Parkersburg at the Parkersburg Arts Center. To hear more of their music, tune in to ‘A Change of Tune,’ airing Saturdays at 10pm EST on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

An Illuminating Chat with Indie Folk Act Phosphorescent

When you think of live records, usually you think of album stop-gaps, in-between releases that don’t exactly add or subtract much from a band’s sound. Not so for indie folk rock band Phosphorescent, whose newest release, Live at the Music Hall, definitely deserves a listen. We talked with band frontman/founder/CEO Matthew Houck about the band’s name, its evolution over the years and even its inclusion in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack.

Phosphorescent released Live at the Music Hall on Dead Oceans this past spring. You can catch up with the band on Facebook and Twitter, and you can connect with Joni Deutsch on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Hear more tunes from Phosphorescent on ‘A Change of Tune,’ airing Saturdays at 10pm EST on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Iron & Wine on Folk Music, West Virginia and Beards

Singer-songwriter Sam Beam has been releasing indie folk records under the name Iron & Wine for over a decade. With his newest release, Archive Series Volume No. 1, Beam’s going back to basics with bedroom folk melodies and down-home whispers. We talk about his music, his new short film, “Dreamers and Makers are My Favorite People” (which features footage from his 2014 stop at the Jerry Run Summer Theater in West Virginia) and, of course, his infamous beard.

Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) released Archive Series Volume No. 1 this past week. For more artist chats (and even some ticket giveaways), make sure to follow ‘A Change of Tune’ on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Hear more tunes from Beam on ‘A Change of Tune,’ airing Saturdays at 10pm EST on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

"A Change of Tune" Interviews Run River North

"We play folk music, but not in the sense that we play banjos. We just like talking about people and their stories." -Alex Hwang

This week, “A Change of Tune” host Joni Deutsch interviews Alex Hwang (vocals, acoustic guitar) of indie folk group Run River North about the band’s self-titled debut. The discussion also veers into the Korean-American band’s connections to Honda, their definition of folk music, and how the group was influenced by, of all things, rap and hip-hop music. If you’re a fan of indie folk music with a twist, this interview is recommended for you.

Joni: Did you guys feel like you were getting punk’d by Honda when they put you on Kimmel’s talk show?

Alex: We really had no idea. We were hoping we would get a Honda van out of it, but obviously they had something else in mind. It basically was an episode of Punk’d. But luckily, the people who punk’d us are really good friends of ours, and we meet-up with them once every other month to have burgers and barbeques. There’s no hard feelings after that, even though it did feel kind of mean at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4vKLKK0l8w

Joni: After that, did it feel like an obligation to keep using Honda vehicles? Is there a clause that says, “You must only use and talk about Honda vehicles?”

Alex: That’s the cool thing about the people that work at Honda. All of us drive Hondas naturally, and we did afterwards. If they ever need anything from us, we’ll try it out, but there’s no contractual thing. We’re not sponsored by them or anything. It’s like an organic relationship. I do like Honda, without them ever putting us on Kimmel. [Laughing] I think I got in trouble last time, though. There was this festival that Toyota was sponsoring, and I was just bragging about Honda and how they put us on Kimmel. Toyota was confused as to why we were on the bill and why we were talking about Honda.

J: Toyota was probably thinking, “You expect us to one-up Honda by putting the band on Conan?”

A: [Laughing] Yeah, that would be nice. We love Conan and watch him all the time.

J: Going into your new record, how’s the experience been releasing it?

A: We’re just excited to be able to go on tour and play the songs that are on the album. It’s just great to have an actual CD that’s pressed and not burn CD’s from Target that we have to put on the road. It’s good to have a product to sell that we’re really behind, and it just shows a great snapshot of what we were like last summer. The reactions have been great, people have been really liking our live show and buying our CD. For some people, it’s there first time coming out to a concert, so we’re really excited for people to experience live music in general and allowing our music to be their first to do that. Sometimes it’s the first CD they’ve bought in a while, too, so they’ll tell us, “I’ve only bought the Taylor Swift CD and yours!”

J: That’s really interesting. Do you think there’s a correlation between your music and Taylor Swift?

A: [Laughing] Ah, no. I think that was just that one fan. I just kind of remembered her making a big deal that I was in the same category as Taylor Swift. I didn’t know what to say, so I said, “Thank you. Have a nice day.”

J: Are you guys hearing a lot of comparisons to Fleet Foxes and other indie folk-rock bands?

A: Oh, totally! We did work with the producer who worked on a Fleet Foxes album. It’s a similarity that we don’t not like. I think it’s interesting that you have some acoustic guitars and everybody singing and a lot of similarities come up. But when you come to our live shows, there’s a lot happening. We’ve grown up a little bit more since the album was recorded, and it’s interesting to see people be surprised about what they read about, what they hear on the album, and then what they actually see live.

J: When you think of folk bands, like Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men, you think of 30-year-old white men with beards, sometimes in flannel or with banjos and mandolins. But you describe your music as “gangster folk.”

A: [Laughing] For me, personally, I always wanted to be a rapper. It’s going to be a life-long dream that I might not ever fulfill, so I wanted to put it out there into the world. If somebody latched onto the genre of gangster folk, somebody should do it anyways. I like how our music and the songs that we write are about folks that we know and our own folks. In a quite literal sense, it’s “folk music.” As for the gangster part, I just like how everybody in the band can not only play their instruments really well, but they can hold a note, they can sing, and their voices are also a part of the whole make-up of the band. I think that’s really gangster for everybody to stand-up to the plate, not just hide behind their instruments, and be vulnerable enough to sing out loud. That’s the part that I really appreciate about gangster folk or the genre that I’m continually trying to press onto the world.

J: I can’t let that rap comment go. You’ll have to tell me a little more about that. Why did you want to be a rapper? Can you give us a verse or two?

A: [Laughing] No, I can’t give you a verse. But I can tell you we love listening to A Tribe Called Quest in the car on road trips. Kanye is a lot of fun to listen to. Personally, I just love free-style rap. There’s one that I was growing up with who’s still going around. He’s called Dumbfounded, but I think he goes by Parker now. He’s a Korean-American from Koreatown, and he’s kind of close to my age. Seeing him do his thing, speak his own opinion, and do what he wants to do in a genre that isn’t really dominated by any Asians, it was really inspiring to see that happening in that genre. I was really pulled to rap and hip-hop because of that. So having that background, I’m just inspired by people who can break stereotype and give their opinion on things and be heard. I think a lot of rappers have the potential of doing that well, if given the right platform. If you ever have a chance to check out Parker (Johnathan Park) and Awkwafina, they’re these Asian-American rappers who I personally find really interesting to listen to.

J: Besides the influence of parents and past generations, what else inspires your music?

A: You know, that’s interesting. Going on the road, people have been coming up to us telling us about their immigrant stories, their family lives, or what gets them through. It’s weird: when you’re an artist and, luckily for us get on TV, people then start gravitating to you and start sharing stories. I think the inspiration comes from fans and hearing these incredible stories that I wouldn’t have heard otherwise. I think it’s continually finding stories out there already, reacting to that, and repurposing and packaging that to put out there. I really enjoy just writing songs about folks and that I know of or hear. We play folk music, but not in the sense that we play banjos. We just like talking about people and their stories.

J: I assume the audiences you’re seeing are a mix of all kinds of people. Do you think your music is helping improve or diversify the indie folk scene?

A: I hope so. I’m not trying to be crusader to be a diversity person for indie folk, but when you come to our shows, there’s not only ethnic diversity but a generation diversity. Parents are bringing their kids. Sometimes there’s an old couple, looking like they’re in the 70’s, listening in the back and politely telling us they heard us on NPR. It’s great to see so many walks of life coming through. I think that speaks to the fact that we try to write stories about people, so the more people we write about, the more different people will show up. It’s really interesting to see such diversity in the crowd. [Laughing] They’re always wondering why we’re all Korean. We’re trying not to be racist, it’s just the five people I first shared our songs with.

J: I noticed that the band covers quite a few songs on YouTube. Do you have any favorites?

A: Oh yeah! We haven’t done a video for it, but on our first head-lining tour, we did “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. It’s a totally different take on it. It came from the fact that I probably listened to the album a thousand times over and be [The Killers’ frontman] Brandon Flowers. We made it our own, and I think it’s a lot of fun. A lot of the covers actually come from one source. Our friend started a relationship and wanted us to play a song for a girl, and right now he’s married to that girl. At each step of their relationship, they’ve asked if we could cover a song. They’ve been the only ones that we’ve said yes to the request. Each one has been great, and it’s been an interesting way of covering songs. They’ve always picked good songs for us, actually, ones that we didn’t think were going to be great or we didn’t personally connect to, but we just wanted to help this couple out. So now, whenever they ask, we’ll say yes because they’ve been so good about picking songs.

J: That’s so cute! So you’re not doing the covers because you like doing covers, you’re doing them because you’ve been given a quirky relationship request.

A: It is! If you look at the video for the City and Colour song, every place we go to in that video is a spot that our friend Cory and Bev really like about L.A. So the whole video’s like a “Happy Valentine’s Day” gift to them that Cory wanted to give to her. That asked us to play a song for them for their wedding, but unfortunately we were on tour. It was one we wanted to cover to as well, so you’ll probably see another cover come out because Cory and Bev are in love. We’re excited to see where that keeps going.

J: Beyond the cover songs, I also saw your cutesy music videos on YouTube. Did you have a favorite?

A: They’re both so much fun. The first one, [“Fight to Keep”] with [Napoleon Dynamite’s] Diedrich Bader, he was such a great guy. We got to go to Big Bear and get murdered by him, and that’s something I’m never going to be able to do again. But the “Excuses” video was near and dear. The two guys who directed it are good friends of mine, and the guy who stars in it is also a friend. We had so much fun running around L.A. and shooting it in a day and a half. I think it was great because it didn’t require too much for the band. We could all just go to different places in L.A. and watch him make a freak of himself. When we do videos, we like to support people that are our lives, and everything in that video was made possible by friends. It’s always fun to incorporate friends in everything that we do and support small businesses in the art world.

J: And in “Fight to Keep,” I didn’t realize Bader played “Rex Kwon Do” in Napoleon Dynamite until I looked it up.

A: He doesn’t really do music videos, but he was fantastic, and the fact that we was willing to do that for us was mind-boggling. He was really down to earth, and not only does he have funny lines, but he’s a great guy. I think somebody from our label had worked with him on The Drew Carey Show, so she just reached out and he was super excited about it. He doesn’t really do music videos so, once again, it was a friend relationship that made this happen.

J: Do you have any dream collaborations with musicians?

A: I think working with some of the artists that Phil [Ek, Run River North music producer] has produced like Fleet Foxes would be good. But on a way more serious note, there’s a group on YouTube called Turquoise Jeep, and two of the members of that group are Yung Humma and Flynt Flossy. If we could collaborate with them, it would be a dream come true. They are our musical influences, and they make the band really happy when we drive for long, long hours into the night. Collaborating with them would be a dream come true. It’s rap, but you don’t know if they’re serious or not. It’s really good.

J: The band was originally called Monsters Calling Home. Now it’s Run River North. Is there a new name for the band on the horizon?

A: [Laughing] Hopefully not. I think the first step was because we didn’t want to hold onto anything too tightly, but I think it’s hard for fans to find us again and to change our Facebook and YouTube and all of these things. It’s really stressful, so we might just want to keep this name, but you never know. I love the way Arcade Fire have a different name for each album, and each album they personify that and think of themselves like, “This time we’re Neon Bible, that time we’re Reflektor.” They find different ways to get behind a name. I do love Run River North and how it exemplifies what our band is holistically. It’s all about our music being like a river and being bombastic but quiet at the same time, and there’s this fluidity to it that’s great to talk about. But who knows. We might meet Flynt Flossy in a year and he’ll come up with a better name for us.

Run River North will join fellow folk rockers Boy & Bear on their North American fall tour. You can follow Run River North on http://home.runrivernorth.com/. Listen to “Fight to Keep” on Joni Deutsch’s “A Change of Tune” this Saturday at 10 PM EST on West Virginia Public Radio.