SMI (Seattle Music Insider) Radio

The BGP is a Northwest outfit that doesn’t sound like they are from The Northwest. Their sound flows through cities like New Orleans, Memphis, Atlanta, NY or Philly; it is definitely not the Puget Sound, if you dig. One could say that this group of friends and accomplished musicians plays a very sophisticated yet accessible brand of soul pop and rock. The truth is The BGP defies categorization. Oh sure you hear the influences but the boys have their own thing goin’ on and have for several years. Allen Stone used to open for them. The BGP opened for Fitz and The Tantrums who were playing their coming out party before achieving local and global success. These talented group of cats also appeared on national TV on America’s Got Talent. Over the course of their time together they have released an EP and a handful of singles. It all started when they released their debut EP, titled Love & Rent, in 2010. After a very successful Kickstarter campaign, the group has released their second EP, titled Fort Knox, in late 2015. The BGP is a band we have championed for almost 6 years. We have watched and heard them evolve during that time. It was an honor to have them kick off the musical portion of our 5 year Anniversary party last summer at Rhapsody World Headquarters in Seattle. We did so because we love their sound and you couldn’t meet a cooler bunch of fellas. The BGP will play their first show of the new year at the legendary Neumos on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, January 20th. Also on the bill will be Down North and Bardot. Tickets are available here. We have interviewed The BGP for past episodes of SMI Radio. We finally got the group to come into Critical Sun Studios for a live in-studio session and interview. The full interview and performances can be heard by clicking the player below. We invite you to take a look at their live performances of “Uhmerica,” “Normal Things,” and “VCR” engineered by Bubba Jones of Critical Sun Recordings with the video production and photo gallery courtesy of Jason Tang.

Lemolo’s last effort, The Kaleidoscope, released in 2013, was a critical success and one of our favorite releases of the year. The follow up, Red Right Return has been highly anticipated by fans and press alike. I have heard the new disc, and it is a brilliant collection of highly addictive, progressive, dream-pop ditties. After a few listens, it is obvious that Meagan Grandall has grown as a songwriter, arranger and musician. On the newest record, the songs and arrangements are more complex, and the soundscapes more lush. Seattle Rock Orchestra and Sisters’ very own Emily Westman performed on the new record and, along with Grandall, put together a heavier sound while still maintaining the trademark Lemolo sonic tapestry and dreamy vibe. Grandall’s musical journey has taken her on an interesting path that has led her to discover her true voice, which is beautifully on display on Lemolo’s newest release. Lemolo will celebrate the release of their new disc, Red Right Return on Friday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m. at an all-ages show at The Crocodile. Also on the bill is the amazing Maiah Manser and Mimicking Birds. Tickets for the show are available here. For our first SMI Radio episode of the fall season, we welcome Lemolo into Critical Sun Studio who will talk about Red Right Return, and perform a few songs from the record. Lemolo’s Grandall and drummer Adrian Centoni talk about the evolution of the sound and songwriting, as well as some of the distinctions between their new, highly touted release, The Kaleidoscope.

On this Episode, SMI Radio’s Greg Roth invites Vaudeville Etiquette into Critical Sun Radio Studio for a chat and an in-studio performance, including an unreleased song from their forthcoming release. Greg talks to the band about their history, their sound and their upcoming performances at Chinook Fest. Vaudeville Etiquette will be performing on the main stage on Saturday, July 11 at 3:15. Also on this week’s show, we feature tracks from Chinook Fest artists, X-Ambassadors and Allen Stone.

On this week's episode of SMI Radio, Naked Giants visit the Critical Sun Radio Studio to chat with host Greg Roth and perform live in studio. The boys will be performing live at Timber! Outdoor Music Festival taking place in Carnation, Washington July 16 - 18. Naked Giants will be taking the main stage at 4:40 on Saturday (6/17). Based on what you we heard and saw in the studio, this is a band not to be missed! In the second half of the show, Greg caught up down with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame DJ, and music curator Marco Collins a few weeks back while he was taking a break from his MC duties at Fisherman's Village Music Festival. Marco gets personal as he talks about his movie The Glamour and The Squalor, which made its very successful debut at SIFF to rave reviews. Marco also shares his insights to the state of the music industry today and his continued passion for discovering and curating great Northwest artists. Marco will be the official MC for Chinook Fest Summit 2015 taking place this weekend, July 10- 12. Marco will be hosting and DJ the after-party on Saturday (7/11) right after headliner Allen Stone finishes his headlining set.

On this week's episode of SMI Radio, Greg Roth takes you back inside Critical Sun Radio Studio for another live session with the brilliant Catherine Feeny and Chris Johnedis. Feeny and Johnedis create a big, etherial and eclectic sound with their unique arrangements and tones. Fenny talks about the challenges and joys of being a recording artist and shares her experience of participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement which began in September 2011 in Zuccotti Park. Feeny and Johnedis were in town to play a special Seattle Living Room Show performance later that night. In the second half of the show Greg catches up with Seattle Living Room Show founders, Carrie and Kristen Watt backstage at Northwest Folklife. The Watt sisters talked about their 7 year anniversary celebration and what they have planned coming up in year eight.

SMI Radio's Greg Roth sits down for an interview and live in-studio performance with Seattle Supergroup, Super Jam at Critical Sun Radio studio. Roth talks to the band and their promoter Steven Roseta about the project and their upcoming show which took place at Seattle's Triple Door on Saturday, May 23 The band performs music from UK music legends, Squeeze and Elvis Costello

Chinook Fest kicks it's fourth year but unlike previous years, Chinook Fest brings music fans double the fun on both sides of the Snoqualmie pass. Chinook Fest at the summit will feature Allen Stone headlining the main stage along with X Ambassadors, Barcelona, Vicci Martinez, Austin Jenckes, The Maldives, Northwest supergroup, Rust on The Rails, Tess Henley and a lot more. Check out the complete lineup by going to http://chinookfest.com. On this week's episode you will here my interview Austin Jenckes right after he walked off stage for his performance at the Crocodile. Austin talks about his move to Nashville, his strong connections to the Northwest and his new record that is in the works. Austin will be playing both Chinook Fest events at Snoqualmie Summit and Naches, Washington, September 11 - 13. In the first half of the show I speak with longtime friend of SMI, Cody Beebe. Cody chats about organizing Chinookfest 2015, How he booked Allen Stone and his musical projects. In addition, Cody shares a very special personal announcement.

On this week's episode of SMI Radio, host Greg Roth sits down with long time friend of the show and soul singer Eldridge Gravy from Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme. Roth debut's the band's brand new single, "Hey Big Freak" and talks to Eldridge about the band's plans for 2015 and their new record which will drop later in this year. In the second half of this week's episode, Zarni steps into Critical Sun Radio studio for a special in-studio performance of selections from her recently released EP. Zarni talks about the making of the record and the inspiration behind the songs that comprise her newest release

In the first half of this week's episode SMI Radio's Greg Roth has an exclusive backstage interview at Seattle's Triple door on night one of his 5 night series, Allen Stone: Evolution of an Artist. Roth and Allen talk about how his life has changed in the last 3 years and his forthcoming May, Capitol Records release, Radius. In the second half of the show Roth interviews Seattle artist Maiah Manser. Mariah opened for Stone earlier in the evening at The Triple Door

On the most recent episode of SMI Radio I catch up with NWCZ Radio founder, Darrell Fortune and host of his new show True Fidelity which can be heard every Thursday night from 6:00 - 8:00pm PST. In the second half of the show we treat you to a wonderful in-studio performance and conversation with a very talented Northwest singer/songwriter, Sarah Gerritsen, recorded at Critical Sun Radio.

In the first half of this week’s episode of SMI Radio, I catch with Ben Harwood and Jeff Silva, who form the powerful, high-octane rock duet, Hobosexual. The boys talk about they got together, their approach unique approach to how they make up their sound, the origins of the band’s name and some interesting entrepreneurial ventures they are embarking upon. Hobosexual recently performed at Chinookfest 2014. In the second half of this week’s show, I take you back inside of Critical Sun Radio studios for a special live performance and conversation with the beautiful and brilliant Olivia De La Cruz, joined by bassist, Issac Castillo. Along with some selections from her debut record, Olivia and Issac perform an unreleased song from her forthcoming, yet to be titled 2015 release. Olivia also talks about her musical influences and her most recent performance which took place this past Sunday night at The Triple Door (The EP release of Rust on The Rails, a new supergroup, comprised of past SMI Radio guests, Cody Beebe and Blake Noble). Olivia swill also be performing Thursday night, October 9 at Columbia City Theater as part of Come Together for the Planet: A Tribute to John Lennon. Tickets for the show are available here.

SMI Radio is back for the new Fall Season and we are kicking it off right with two brilliant artists. It is hard to believe that it was 30 Summers ago that that the iconic movie and record Purple Rain.was released. Both were a blockbuster successes and the film and recording still holds up as a wonderful musical snapshot which captured Prince at his commercial peak. In the first half of this episode we bring back a good friend of SMI. Matt Fink AKA, Doctor Fink . The good Doctor recorded and performed with the legendary funk rock icon Prince from 1979 to 1991 and best known for being a member of The Purple One’s backing band, The Revolution. He had one of the best lines in the movie Purple Rain.The soundtrack sold over 18,000 million copies and The good Doctor won a Grammy for his contribution. I caught up with Dr. Fink backstage at Nectar Lounge when he was in town to play some classic Prince songs with Haiku Chi. Dr Fink also sat in with The Stax Brothers and Furniture Girls. Matt shares his experience working on Purple Rain and talks about some of his many projects including his Prince tribute band, The Purple Experience. In the second half of the show, we take you to Critical Sun Radio Studios for my conversation and live performance from the pop/soul chanteuse, Susan Galbraith. Susan performs her brand new single, “No Room For You,” as well as some unreleased material from her forthcoming record.

SMI Radio in conjunction with Critical Sun Recordings and Artist Home present another episode of a newly launched series entitled “Timber! Shows!” The series features exclusive artist interviews and live, exclusive music sessions recorded at the Critical Sun Radio studios. The second annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival is slated for July 24 – 26 in beautiful Carnation, Washington. On this week’s episode, SMI Radio’s Greg Roth, along with Timber! Critical Sun’s Bubba Jones welcomes Timber! artist, Julia Massey & The Five Finger Discount. The band performs exclusive live selections off of their forthcoming record. This refreshingly original world-pop outfit talks about how they all came together and the evolution of their unique sound.

SMI Radio in conjunction with Critical Sun Recordings and Artist Home present another episode of a newly launched series entitled “Timber! Shows!” The series features exclusive artist interviews and live, exclusive music sessions recorded at the Critical Sun Radio studios. The second annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival is slated for July 24 – 26 in beautiful Carnation, Washington. On this week’s episode, SMI Radio’s Greg Roth, along with Timber! Camp Counselor, Joe Hammill welcomes Timber! artist, Cumulus. The band performs exclusive live selections off of their most recent record, I Never Meant It To Be Like This, the making of their most recent video “Do You Remember” (See Below), their brand of music, which defies categorization. Cumulus has some eclectic influences, and they share with us some of the wonderful artists who have helped shape and inspire their sound.

SMI Radio in conjunction with Critical Sun Recordings and Artist Home present another episode of a newly launched series entitled “Timber! Shows!” The series features exclusive artist interviews and live, exclusive music sessions recorded at the Critical Sun Radio studios. The second annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival is slated for July 24 – 26 in beautiful Carnation, Washington. On this week’s episode, SMI Radio’s Greg Roth, along with KIRO Radio's Sean De Torre welcomes Timber! artist, Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme. When SMI Radio launched in April, 2010, our very first musical guest was Eldridge Gravy from Eldridge Gravy and The Court Supreme. This time around, the band visits the Critical Sun Radio studios for some funky conversation and to perform several numbers LIVE off or their most recent joint, Gravy's In Your Area. EG&TCS ringmaster Eldridge Gravy talks about the origin and mythology of this tight and funky outfit. Also, Mr. Gravy talks about the recent gig the band performed at Nectar Lounge to raise money for The Tribes Project. Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme will open for the incomparable soul man, Charles Bradley at 7pm on Saturday, July 26 on the MainStage at Timber! Out Door Music Festival.

SMI Radio in conjunction with Critical Sun Recordings and Artist Home present another episode of a newly launched series entitled “Timber! Shows!” The series features exclusive artist interviews and live music sessions recorded at the Critical Sun Radio studios. The second annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival will be taking place July 24 – 26 in beautiful Carnation Washington. On this week’s episode, SMI Radio’s Greg Roth, along with Artist Home's Phil O' Sullivan welcomes Timber! artist, Mikey and Matty. This brilliant brother duo perform an exclusive unreleased song from their forthcoming release as well some other music from their most recent effort, Harbor Island. Mikey and Matty also chat about their musical influences, their collaborative style, playing Timber! 2014 and their recent performance with The Head And The Heart. Also, Artist Home's and Timber co-organizer Phil O'Sullivan talks about the fun happenings and unique activities that help make up this year's festival as well as the robust festival lineup.

SMI Radio in conjunction with Critical Sun Recordings and Artist Home present the debut episode of a new series entitled “Timber! Shows.” The series features exclusive artist interviews and live music sessions recorded at the Critical Sun Radio studios. The second annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival will be taking place July 24 – 26 in beautiful Carnation Washington. On this week’s episode, SMI Radio’s Greg Roth, along with Critical Sun’s Bubba Jones welcomes Timber! artist, Lonesome Shack for an interview and a live in-studio session featuring exclusive performances of songs from the band’s debut record, “City Man” and forthcoming release “More Primitive.” Lonesome Shack will be performing their record release show on Friday, May 23d at Columbia City Theater. Also visiting Greg in the studio is Timber! counselor Eric Sullivan. Eric chats about some of the fun and exciting activities taking place along side the great music acts performing at the festival.

Sean De Tore an assistant producer of the Ron and Don Show, on KIRO Radio. He is also a passionate music journalist and colleague. Sean has been hosting his Mixtape podcast for over 4 years. The Mixtape features some stellar Northwest music talent of all genres. This past summer, Sean hosted his very first Mixtape "Live" at Barboza in Capitol Hill. Headlining the bill that night was The Glass Notes, who delivered a rousing and gritty performance that night. Sean shares his thoughts on the local music scene and more. On this weeks's episode of SMI Radio Sean comes into the studio to help cohost this week's show. You will hear some exclusive tracks from artists like Nouela, Yucca Mountain, Tangerine, The Maldives and Smokey Brights. Also, if you listen carefully to the show you may be able to win some cool prizes. In the second half of the show. Bradford Loomis stops by along with fellow artist Beth Whitney. Brad talks about his most recent record, Into the Great Unknown. Brad also chats about his next project with Beth and his recently launched Kickstarter campaign which will go to raise funds for them to record the new disc. Brad is playing tonight (1/25) in Seattle with The True Spokes and Ian McFeron Band at the Crocodile. Tickets for the show are available here.

he Jordan Cook AKA Reignwolf crazy buzz started almost two years ago with a stunning in-store performance at Easy Street Records in Seattle and an equally stunning performance at Sasquatch! and Bumbershoot 2012 and Sasquatch! 2013. Mr. Cook is wowing fans across the land with his electric and intense showmanship. Reignwolf is an artist in perpetual motion and there is no stage or space that can contain him. This is one wild wolf that can’t be caged and consumes anything and everything in his path. He does his thing live, large and walks a musical tightrope without a net. On this week’s episode of SMI Radio I chat with Reignwolf to talk about his style is approach to his live performances and his blues-based, gritty, raw Americana rock sound. Back in the 1990′s band’s like Nirvanna, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees helped lead a rock and roll revolution and collectively contributed to putting Seattle on the music map. Another Seattle rock outfit called Truly earned a ton of respect but their sound defied the grunge classification. Truly featured former Screaming Trees skin pounder, Mark Pickerel, former Soundgarden bassist, Hiro Yamamoto and the smooth yet menacing voice and overdriven guitar stylings of Robert Roth. The power-trio was first championed in the 90′s by DJ and tastemaker, Marco Collins while he was on air at 107.7 The End. The band’s first full length record and sonic masterpiece Fast Stories From Kid Coma released on Capital Records garnered praises from MTV and Steve Kurutz of Allmusic. Kurutz gave the album four and a half stars, calling it “a loosely based concept album. After a several year hiatus, Truly is back and will help celebrate The Moe 20 Neumos 10th Anniversary Shows on Sunday, January 12 at 6:00pm

When SMI Radio launched in April of 2010 our very first musical guest was Joe Simpson AKA Eldridge Gravy from Eldridge Gravy and The Court Supreme. The band released their most recent record, Gravy’s In Your Area which was released last month. I catch up with Joe to talk about the band’s new disc, some of the personal changes in the group and we spin some selected tracks from the new release. In the second half of the show I welcome back Artist Home's Kevin Sur. Kevin and his crew are responsible for staging some incredible Northwest music festivals. Last year Artist Home launched the very first annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival. It was so successful that he is bringing it back an expanded version taking place this summer. You don't have to wait for the summer sun to enjoy some great music in a festival setting. Artist Home will present the very first Timberrr! Winter Music Festival which will take place later this month (1/10 - 1/11) in beautiful Leavenworth, Washington. Kevin and I chat this unique music event and the participating artists such as Hey Marseilles, Telekenisis, The Moondoggies, Radiation City and a lot more. (For the complete lineup go here.) We also share some music from Timberrr! artists as well.