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A Cosmic Roundtable Pizza: Scott Hirsch, Bobby Lee & Joe-Harvey Whyte in conversation
Last week, Joe-Harvey Whyte and Bobby Lee released their phenomenal futurustic time capsule of a record, Last Ride, on Curation Records. Tomorrow, Scott Hirsch releases Lost Padre, a textural exploration of a man’s existential crisis, on his own Echo Magic Records. The lads got together to play a show in Topanga and our friend Roberto Johnson was kind enough to interview them and facilitate a conversation. The FOMO I had knowing three of my favorite musicians and humans as delightful as they are talented were sharing thoughts, feelings, and mushroom pizza at Endless Pizza in Topanga Canyon. Make sure to…
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Mapache on songwriting, collaboration and their new album Swinging Stars
Petal Motel contributor and author, photographer, wanderer, and all-around brilliant creative Roberto Johnson was kind enough to interview Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci about their new record, Swinging Stars. Mapache has been dear to my heart ever since I saw Sam and Clay singing under the stars at Landers Brew Co. (RIP) here in the desert, long before it became my home. Mapache is integral to the overall web of Petal Motel and I can’t believe it took this long to get them on here. Read on as Roberto inquires the source about their magic. Mapache’s music is the heartbeat…
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If I Could Only Remember My Name
Ah…If I Could Only Remember My Name. A record that has travelled the roads and decades of my life burned into my heart and mind since I bought my first copy in some crumbling cardboard box marked $1 LPs all those years ago. The majesty of this album is in the artist’s ability to elevate the unfinished idea, to let it run in its rawest form completely unbound, the seed of artistic creation unguided and in some cases dissolving rather than evolving in the air before our very ears. Yet, the resulting architecture, like that in a Calvino novella, though…
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Desert Skies: Modern California Country-Rock Essentials
Originally posted on Riffs & Rhymes on 1.13.21. Thanks for asking me to talk about all of my favorite records, Roberto; and teaching me about some new ones! Last month, Beachwood Sparks officially reissued their self-titled debut album in light of its 20th anniversary. The reissue, out via Brent Rademaker’s L.A. imprint Curation Records, includes an exquisitely packaged vinyl remaster, new merch, and a Beachwood Deluxe CD comprised of alternate versions of classic songs and eight live tracks from a concert in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 2000 – a dandy of a collector’s item from one of the early aughts most celebrated indie bands. At…
