PNW’s Payge Turner on Home, The Voice and Her New LP
PNW’s Payge Turner on Home, The Voice and Her New LP

Payge Turner, the trench-deep, powerful-voiced singer-songwriter who wowed audiences and judges on NBC’s “The Voice” last year and recently helped to open up Western Washington live music again last month at the WA Museum of Flight with rockers, The Black Tones, begins to break up and cry when she thinks about what the idea of home means to her. When asked, it hits her — she’s home. Meaning she is her own home. Wherever she goes, her home – herself – follows, is there. It’s an important realization for Turner, and it’s taken her some 28 years to come to it. But she has now.

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ProfilesJake UittiSouth Sound Talk
The Seattle Storm Is the Most Political Team in Sports
The Seattle Storm Is the Most Political Team in Sports

The WNBA’s Seattle Storm continues to make history on and off the court. The basketball squad won its fourth league title last year in the “bubble” (or “wubble” as the WNBA community called it), tying it for the most trophies in the WNBA’s 25-year history. The team is also blazing new trails as a championship sports franchise by supporting Planned Parenthood and fighting for social justice. From the ownership group to the last player on the bench, the Storm, now led by a new head coach, Noelle Quinn, is poised to continue to redefine what it means to be a winner.

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EssayJake UittiThe Nation
Garbage’s Shirley Manson on “No God No Masters”
Garbage’s Shirley Manson on “No God No Masters”

Shirley Manson, who is the frontperson for the platinum-selling rock band, Garbage, has both learned and done quite a bit in the 25 years she’s been in the public eye. Garbage, which rocketed to fame with its self-titled album in 1995, was all over the radio and MTV airwaves with hit songs like “Only Happy When It Rains” and “Stupid Girl” in the mid-’90s. In the years between, the band have released a number of successful records and now the band is poised to release its latest, No God No Masters, this Friday.

No Gods No Masters was produced by Garbage alongside long-time collaborator Billy Bush. The album will also be available in a deluxe CD/digital version, which will feature covers of songs by David Bowie, Patti Smith, and Bruce Springsteen, as well as guest appearances by Screaming Females and Brody Dalle, among others.

Manson, who is Scottish, joined the band’s other three members—Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and famed musician and engineer, Butch Vig—after an audition in Wisconsin in 1993. At first, the audition went disastrously. But nevertheless, fate intervened and Manson joined the band and the rest is history. We caught up with Manson to ask her when she first fell in love with music, how Garbage’s new record came to be and what she loves so much about Patti Smith.

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Q&AJake UittiUnder The Radar
Andra Day: Golden Girl
Andra Day: Golden Girl

There are moments in the new film, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, that are very hard to watch. They’re socially gruesome. But at the center of each is the acclaimed musician (and now actor!), Andra Day, who portrays Holiday in the way any naturally great actor might. She—Day—is lost completely in the roll. Holiday then emerges, bright, brittle voice and all. Cigarette smoke swirl and scary-beautiful eyes. Then, on stage, Day as Holiday becomes the thick, buoyant beam of light that can form only when two other beams merge. That’s when Day’s singing prowess meets her newfound acting talent. Those eyes look up into the camera. Are they Day’s eyes? Holiday’s? And her voice finds you, pulls at your earlobes. You succumb note by note. It’s magic. But it’s also tragic. Holiday’s story is the stuff of tears and tissues. But it’s also much more than that. It’s the stuff of inspiration. Just ask Day.

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Five Ways to Get From Noodling to Live Performance
Five Ways to Get From Noodling to Live Performance

I never, ever thought I’d play in a band. Or perform on stage for anyone. I never thought my time spent musing alone would extend past the four walls of my bedroom.

In the long run, maybe that’s what helped make it all happen.

I got my first guitar, a six-string acoustic, when I was a freshman in college. A few months beforehand, I’d seen a songwriter on TV, accompanying himself on guitar as he performed a Beatles song on the anniversary of John Lennon’s death. I watched as thousands in the audience were enraptured. “I need to learn how to do that,” I thought.

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EssayJake UittiYamaha
Sérgio Mendes on Brasil 66, Herb Alpert, Doubt, and His New PBS Documentary
Sérgio Mendes on Brasil 66, Herb Alpert, Doubt, and His New PBS Documentary

In the span of about six decades, the famed Brazilian composer and performer, Sérgio Mendes, has worked with Cannonball Adderly, Herb Alpert, Lani Hall, Quincy Jones, John Legend, Will.i.am, and many others. In each collaboration, Mendes brings his lighthearted, though thoughtful spirit to the music he produces. Indeed, this is the theme of the new documentary on the musician, Sérgio Mendes & Friends: A Celebration, which will air this month on PBS.

We caught up with the Brazilian-born Mendes to ask him about how he first found music, what it was like to grow up in Brazil, what it’s like for the 80-year-old to look back on his life in the new movie, and how he deals with doubt.

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Q&AJake UittiUnder The Radar
John Carpenter Enlists the Help of Family for ‘Lost Themes III’
John Carpenter Enlists the Help of Family for ‘Lost Themes III’

Famed horror movie director and score composer John Carpenter says he might be addicted to playing video games. But, for the artist, that’s not necessarily an awful thing. In fact, Carpenter says a great deal of music and inspiration have come from the time he’s spent taking a break from his favorite gaming console. And these video game sessions have of late helped usher in a new phase of Carpenter’s creative career, one for which he is especially grateful.

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Ashley Nicole Black and Gabrielle Dennis on HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show”
Ashley Nicole Black and Gabrielle Dennis on HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show”

When HBO first partnered with now-world-famous show-runner, Issa Rae, for her television show, Insecure, the sky was the limit. Today, with Insecure headed into its fifth and final season, having made its way into the hearts of many adoring fans, Rae’s footprint on HBO remains large. Thankfully. In her own way, she has helped to usher in more diversity to the channel and a keener eye for more so in the future.

One of the shows Rae has helped bring to HBO is A Black Lady Sketch Show, which stars the quartet of Robin These, Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis, and Quina Brunson. This season, the show added Laci Mosley and Skye Townsend. The show features sketches, recurring characters, and a flare for the surreal that equates to an important new series.

We caught up with Black and Dennis to talk about how they got into entertainment, what it was like to build the show from scratch, what it was like heading into the show’s second season and much more. The season finale of A Black Lady Sketch Show appears tonight, May 28, on HBO.

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Q&AJake UittiUnder The Radar
Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner on the making of New LP, Jubilee
Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner on the making of New LP, Jubilee

Michelle Zauner, known by her stage name, Japanese Breakfast, is clear-headed and sharp even when discussing her most vulnerable experiences. This, of course, is no easy task.

Zauner, who is preparing to release her third and forthcoming LP, Jubilee, on June 4, also recently released her popular memoir, Crying in H-Mart, which discusses her Korean mother’s passing and the devastating ripple effects of that time in Zauner’s life.

Yet, perhaps surprisingly, Zauner’s new record is not sad or morose. Rather, the musician says, it was an attempt to turn the tables on that story and dive deeper into concepts of joy and jubilation.

We caught up with Zauner to ask her about how she first found music and how she later came to play guitar. We also talked about grief, death and egg-and-cheese sandwiches.

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Q&AJake UittiGuitar World
Yola Discusses Finally Feeling Liberated on “Stand for Myself”
Yola Discusses Finally Feeling Liberated on “Stand for Myself”

If you ask Yolanda Quartey—better known as the voluminous singer Yola, who today released her second single, “Stand for Myself,” from her forthcoming new record of the same name—when she first began to listen and pay attention to music, she’ll tell you it started especially early. “The birth canal,” she says, with a chuckle. “I kid you not!”

Here’s how it happened: While pregnant with the future groovy Grammy nominee, Yola’s mother was working as a registered nurse in a mental institution in the U.K. When she would work the overnight shift in the hospital, her supervisors would understaff “because of racism,” Yola explains. So the singer’s mother had to find ways to keep things in order. “She would find it hard,” she says, “with two nurses to a ward of 60 patients. She used to play disco to chill them out. So, even through gestation, I was grooving to disco—and apparently I quite enjoyed it!” As a child, Yola continued to love the art form. At four years old, she told her mother she wanted to be a singer and she’s never wavered since. Of course, that didn’t mean her path was easy. For Yola, that’s never been the case, despite boasting a singing voice that could fill a room in a millisecond.

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ProfilesJake UittiFLOOD
Violent Femmes – Gordon Gano on “Blister in the Sun” and 40 Years With the Band
Violent Femmes – Gordon Gano on “Blister in the Sun” and 40 Years With the Band

As soon as the bouncy guitar riff from Violent Femmes’ enduring pop hit, “Blister in the Sun,” comes on the stereo, likely you’re immediately boosted into a good mood. Then the childlike snare drums clap and the helium-like singing voice of the band’s frontman, Gordon Gano, comes in and the melody-induced grin on your face is complete. But how did that song come about? Why did Gano first write it?

That question is answered below, along with a handful of others. We caught up with Gano to talk to him about the origins of his music career, the beginnings of Violent Femmes, and of their popular 1983 single. Gano talked with us to help celebrate and spread the word about the band’s new reissue of its LP, Add It Up. The 23-track album, which features hits and never before released songs, came out last Friday. The band was formed in 1981 by Gano (vocals, guitar), Brian Ritchie (bass), and Victor DeLorenzo (percussion).

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Q&AJake UittiUnder The Radar
Ayron Jones Opens Up On New LP, ‘Child Of The State’
Ayron Jones Opens Up On New LP, ‘Child Of The State’

Recently, it dawned on the prolific rock ‘n’ roll guitarist, Ayron Jones, that people, even in his home city of Seattle, don’t really know who he is, as a person. In the Pacific Northwest and beyond, Jones’ name is increasingly synonymous with musician and six-string shredder. But who he is, where he comes from, his perspective—those are much less prevalent than the dynamics of his sonic potency. Now, though, Jones is set to change that. The artist, who rose to national popularity in 2020 with Billboard-charting hit singles and an Instagram shout out from the notorious podcaster, Joe Rogan, is set to release his newest LP, Child Of The State, on May 21. The record’s autobiographical debut single, “Take Me Away,” which already boasts about one million YouTube views, serves as a window into Jones’ life, beginning with the very first lyric: The day my fuckin’ mom abandoned me / was the day I learned to lie.

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
How Hard Work Inspired Robert Finley’s New Dan Auerbach-Produced LP
How Hard Work Inspired Robert Finley’s New Dan Auerbach-Produced LP

To call Robert Finley’s life story the basis of a movie is both accurate and overly facile. The musician, now in his sixties, grew up the son of a sharecropper in small Winnsboro, Louisiana. He toted water, milked cows and sweated along with his parents and his seven siblings, barely earning a living and never earning a fair share. As a kid, Finley would go with his family to church (his father was very religious) and he’d sing in the choir while watching the hands of the band members on their guitars.

Finley got his first guitar around 10 years old and he played any chance he could. Later, he joined the military and found himself a bandleader in the barracks. But after leaving the ranks, his creative career never found the proper footing. Finley worked as a carpenter. He eventually lost his sight. He aged. But one day his life changed. Recently, he began working often with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and the Louisiana native will release his second Auerbach-produced rock ‘n’ roll LP, Sharecropper’s Son, on May 21.

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ProfilesJake UittiAmerican Songwriter Magazine
Leon Bridges on His New Album “Gold-Diggers Sound” and New Single “Motorbike”
Leon Bridges on His New Album “Gold-Diggers Sound” and New Single “Motorbike”

Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, Leon Bridges, has one of the best voices on the planet. But it’s not one that he throws out bombastically or haphazardly. Rather, Bridges is often reserved, measured, composed. In fact, one might want to hear him belt out a vocal run more so than the crooner seems willing. But, deep down, Bridges is a low-key fellow. To him, often an uneventful day is the best kind. Yet, when you’re one of the best singers on earth, few days are uneventful.

Bridges, who will release his forthcoming LP, Gold-Diggers Sound, on July 23 via Columbia, released the record’s first single, “Motorbike,” and corresponding music video today. The video for the romantic track was directed by the famed artist and musician, Anderson .Paak. It’s a stunner. We caught up with Bridges to ask him about the genesis of the single, video and LP. We also talked the repercussions of fame and working in the restaurant industry.

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Q&AJake UittiUnder The Radar
Matt Berry on Fame, Songwriting, ABBA, and His New Album
Matt Berry on Fame, Songwriting, ABBA, and His New Album

When seen in one light, actor and musician Matt Berry could be thought of as a Shakespearean performer. His big, booming British-accented voice could easily fit atop the dialogue in Macbeth or Othello. Yet, Berry doesn’t limit himself to these traditionally prestigious roles. He is a comedian, at heart, able to give monologues that both compel and bust your sides. But even more than that, Berry is also a musician of great facility, capable of writing a stripped-down folk song as much as he is performing acid jazz.

Berry currently stars as vampire Laszlo Cravensworth in FX’s acclaimed mockumentary horror comedy What We Do in the Shadows, based on the 2014 New Zealand film of the same name. Before that he was a fixture of quirky British comedy shows, such as Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, and Toast of London. But his music career goes back even further, with Berry’s debut album, Jackpot, being self-released in 1995.

Berry’s newest LP, The Blue Elephant, is out this Friday on Acid Jazz. The record is the sounds of the day drunk sun shining its swiveling golden rays down on a grinning Berry, shades atop his knowing eyes. We caught up with Berry to ask him about his relationship to music, what he loves about it most, and how his acting career connects to his love of song.

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Q&AJake UittiUnder The Radar