Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!

On today's episode, I talk to musician Jake Xerxes Fussell. Originally from Columbus, Georgia, Jake is the son of folklorist Fred Fussell, and as a teenager began playing and studying with elder musicians in the Chattahoochee Valley, apprenticing with Piedmont blues legend Precious Bryant, with whom he toured and recorded. In 2015, Jake released his debut self-titled album composed entirely of adapted folk and blues songs on Paradise of Bachelors, his home for his next three albums: What in the Natural World, Out of Sight, Good and Green Again. Earlier this summer, Fat Possum Records released his latest album When I'm Called, and listeners, it's a delight!

This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!

On today's episode, I talk to cartoonist John Pham. Born in Saigon, John's family immigrated to the US towards the end of the Vietnam War. In the year 2000, John received a self publishing grant from the Xeric Foundation for his comic Epoxy, and later in the aughts, Fantagraphics published his books Sublife vol. 1 and 2, the latter of which was nominated for multiple Ignatz Awards. In between books, John works as an art director on some of your favorite cartoons including Lucas Bros Moving Co, Axe Cop and the new animated Everybody Still Hates Chris. His latest book J + K was published by Fantagraphics in 2020, and a new paperback edition was released mid-summer this year, and folks, it's terrific!

This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!

On today's episode, I talk to musicians Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thomson of the band Tsunami. Tsunami formed in Arlington, VA in late 1990, when Jenny and Kristin were housemates at Arlington, Virginia’s legendary punk-activist Positive Force house. Over the next seven years, Tsunami wrote and recorded prolifically, releasing three full-length albums (Deep End, The Heart's Tremolo and A Brilliant Mistake) and over a dozen seven-inch singles and EPs, most on their own Simple Machines label. And next week Numero Group will release Loud As Is, a 5-LP box set reissue of their entire catalog, and buddy, you better believe it's great!

This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!

On today's episode, I talk to guitarist and composer Roy Montgomery. Originally from London, Roy grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand, and his first band, The Pin Group, was part of the forefront of the New Zealand post-punk scene in the early-1980s, that, along with bands like The Clean and The Chills, centered around Flying Nun Records. After this, he began recording on his own, and he began to draw acclaim by his second solo album, Temple IV, which was released on Kranky. Since then, he has recorded any number of fantastic albums, collaborated with groups like Bardo Pond and Flying Saucer Attack, and become a lecturer - and head of the Environmental Management Department at Lincoln University. His most recent work Camera Melancholia was released on Grapefruit a few years ago, and like everything else Roy does, it's wonderful!

This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!

On today's episode, I talk to comedy writer Meredith Scardino. Originally from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Meredith first got into the business of show as an animator before landing her first writing job on Best Week Ever in 2004. This led to a series of gigs including Late Night with David Letterman, Human Giant and the Daily Show before she landed at The Colbert Report, which she wrote on for six years, netting a handful of Emmy Awards for her work. Meredith's streak continued writing for SNL, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, At Home with Amy Sedaris and Mr. Mayor before creating one of the best shows of the last decade Girls5Eva, all three seasons of which are streaming now on Netflix!

This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!

On today's episode, I talk to musician Rose Melberg. Originally from Sacramento, California, Rose has been a performing musician since high school in the early '90s. While only lasting a year, her first band Tiger Trap garnered a cult following and put out a self-titled album on K Records. Her next band Go Sailor lasted from 1994-1996, but in that short time, recorded a number of albums and singles for Slumberland and Lookout! At the same time, Rose formed The Softies with Jen Sbragia. While it was originally meant to be a side-project, it became the main musical focus for the pair, and between 1995 and 2000, they released three fantastic albums on K Records: It's Love, Winter Pageant and Holiday in Rhode Island. Since then, Rose has released a number of incredible solo albums and performed in different bands, but most recently, she and Jen started writing music together again, and their latest album The Bed I Made was just released on Father/Daughter Records, and it's the best!

This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!

On today's episode, I talk to rappers Brian Warren and Quentin Branch AKA Angry Blackmen. Both living in Chicago in the mid-20-teens, Brian and Quentin met through a mutual friend and eventually a few years later began making music together. Brian asked Quentin to form a duo saying, "I was looking at probably like, OutKast or something, and I was like, 'If they can do it, we can do it'." Their first album TALKSHIT! in 2019 netted them an online following, and subsequent albums were released on Deathbomb Arc. This includes 2020's HEADSHOTS!, 2021's REALITY! and their most recent, the fantastic The Legend of ABM, which was released back in January.

This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!