Immediately upon hearing Hurray for the Riff Raff, a number of important songstresses whoosh to mind: Dolly Parton, Fiona Apple, First Aid Kit, Jolie Holland and many others. What distinguishes Hurray for the Riff Raff's Alynda Lee Segarra from all these others? Perhaps it’s simply the specific look on her face, her eyes marked with shadow and long lashes, often closed and locked in concentration. But more than just an interesting face, Segarra travels the dusty road of Americana like a wandering bard, gathering like-minded travelers, to share her deeply poetic, often personal, but always universal lyrics. Watch her recent in-studio session, live in The Roadhouse with Greg Vandy, on KEXP:
Full performance:
Vikesh Kapoor is chasing the American Dream. Born to immigrant parents in rural Pennsylvania, he traveled cross-country going west, where he started work on his new album, The Ballad Of Willy Robbins, influenced by newspaper headlines, stories of the working class and ideas of loss. It’s nearly imp…
Five years is way too long for a visit from Midlake, but let's just say the hauntingly-beautiful folk-rock group from Denton, Texas had a good reason. After spending two years recording in the farm, frontman and founding member Tim Smith announced he was leaving the band. Rather than break-up, the …
It's always a delight when psychrock voyagers Wooden Shjips return to dock in the KEXP studios. The band have just released their fourth album, Back to Land, on Thrill Jockey Records, an album that captures the feelings of home from frontman Erik "Ripley" Johnson, who has just thrown down anchor in…
For the rest of the year, we'll be spotlighting our KEXP DJs Top Albums of 2013, leading up to our 2013 90.3 Top Album Countdown! Tune in on Thursday, December 19th for KEXP's One-Day Radio Rally as we countdown the top albums of the year, as voted on by KEXP listeners.
