Vinyl Emergency

Vinyl Emergency is where your favorite songwriters, producers, record label owners or other personalities who just love music come to discuss how vinyl's mere existence has shaped their lives and careers.

With a new solo album dropping later this month — In the Heart of the Mountain, his first in over 15 years — Lucero frontman Ben Nichols addresses why some of his recent songs feel like graphic novels, how he’s reconnected with the mythological Arkansas of his youth, and the parts of him that still wrestle with his southern heritage. Vinyl pre-orders, tour dates and more can be found at bennichols.net.

A vocal advocate for artist rights and a senior lecturer on all things music business at the University of Georgia, David Lowery discusses today the recent losses of Sly Stone and Brian Wilson, learning accounting while on tour, and how Camper Van Beethoven expanded their legend through record store performances. David's latest release -- a 3LP set titled Fathers, Sons and Brothers -- is available now. Tour dates for all of David's projects are available at davidlowerymusic.com, crackersoul.com and campervanbeethoven.com. Also, check out thehiddenjams.org, in beta testing, as David and a group of current and former students attempt to upset the recorded music algorithm. 

This is an encore presentation of a previous episode, originally airing in September 2022. "Planting By The Signs," S.G.'s latest album, comes out on June 20th. -- S.G. Goodman delivers both a voice and a lyrical wisdom that feel perfectly worn in -- like that of an artist who's been crafting decades worth of masterful, soul-baring material. What's all the more astounding is that she's only a few albums in to what will hopefully be a long, deep career. The publication Bitter Southerner defines her sound as "driven by love, sometimes by defiance, but always by a delight in singing out... like the declaration of an artist who knows exactly who she is, backed by a band that blows the roof off the studio." On today's show, S.G. shares her affection for Herb Alpert's "Ladyfingers," some candid struggles with diagnosed OCD, the unique way in which her Marantz receiver was acquired, and the underappreciated comforts of house slippers. Find tour dates, social media and more at sggoodman.net.

This is an encore presentation of a previous episode, originally airing in April 2021. Wild and Clear and Blue, Sara's latest album as a member of I'm With Her, was released on May 9th. --- Over the last twenty-five years with acclaimed acts like Nickel Creek, I'm With Her and Watkins Family Hour (as well as her own solo material), Sara Watkins has become one of the most prolific musicians in folk and bluegrass. Dig into your record collection, and you'll also find her work on albums from Steve Earle, The Decemberists, Mandy Moore, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett and Father John Misty, to boot. Today, Sara discusses how vinyl has played a major factor in her life, right down to how her dad crafted a makeshift turntable out of a sewing needle and paper. Find Sara's socials, upcoming live dates and more info at SaraWatkins.com.

Though a rather one-off side-project, David Bazan says his Headphones LP may be his most stressful artistic expression. Though the band Pedro the Lion was his breadwinning endeavor at the time, he admits to losing interest in guitar, album by album. Suddenly, dabbling in synthesizers led to not just a new avenue for songwriting, but a borderline obsession, bringing his gear everywhere from lakeside family vacations to vacant movie theatre parking lots in order to perfect these unconventional sounds, alone. Putting the album to tape was a whole other hill to climb, leading to David staying up several days straight, attempting to finish incomplete songs literal minutes before the rest of his band would hear them for the first time, and then record them. But fast-forward to now, and the lone Headphones album is regarded as a crucial corner of David's discography, one that he's now revisiting with a new deluxe 20th anniversary vinyl edition, available in multiple color variants, from both Suicide Squeeze and Undertow. On this episode, David gives us the how’s, where's and why’s on the entire Headphones experience, two decades removed. Catch Pedro the Lion opening for Grandaddy this fall, as well as live streams of their 30th anniversary performances. Details, tickets and more are at  pedrothelion.com.

Jay Ryan and Jason Harvey, bassists for the Chicago-area trio Dianogah, describe the route to -- and surprise release of -- their new, career-spanning 5LP box set. Visit landland.bandcamp.com to order this limited pressing, and follow @dianogah_official on Instagram for more updates.

Harvey Danger vocalist Sean Nelson makes a good case for his group being, in his words, "the last band through the door" of the alternative revolution: Though the quartet went gold thanks to the frenetic, inescapable "Flagpole Sitta" as the nineties closed, the landscape for them (and cohorts such as Cake, Semisonic or Fastball) would look much different a year later. By 2000, a sudden contingent of beefy backwards cappers, led by the likes of Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach, had commandeered arenas and the airwaves as an antithesis to pop radio. Paired with a massive label shake-up, this left Harvey Danger's expansive second album King James Version DOA. But like a lot of unsung masterworks, many have praised King James Version over the last quarter century for its dialed-in cacophony and sarcastic swagger -- enough to drum up major excitement for a first-ever vinyl pressing, which hit shelves as a Record Store Day exclusive recently from both Barsuk and Latent Print Records. Today, Nelson gives us the full arc of how King James Version was born, died and rose again, taking its throne on 12-inch format to mark the album's 25th anniversary. Follow @officialharveydangerarchive and @actualseannelson on Instagram for updates. You can also hear The Wonder of It All, Sean's engaging podcast on the blessings and curses of fame, via this link or wherever you listen.

After 15+ years on the road, Seattle's Minus the Bear said goodbye in 2018... but not for long. Marking two decades since the release of their second album, Menos El Oso -- heralded by both critics and fans alike -- the five-piece are back this year to play the album in full across the country. A sprawling, math-rock masterclass, Menos takes listeners on a globetrotting trail through Spain, Ireland, Los Angeles and more, while vocalist/guitarist Jake Snider inhabits characters seeking escape, be it from fever dreams, crime scenes or soul-crushing day jobs. Today, Jake is joined by guitarist David Knudson, as the pair breakdown Menos track-by-track. Along with host Jim Hanke, they dive into the meanings behind some of the band's most impactful songs twenty years later, and how the genre-bending experimentation of Danger Mouse and DJ Shadow influenced the LP. Catch Minus the Bear at this year's Best Friends Forever Fest in Las Vegas, or on tour cost-to-coast, this fall. Visit minusthebear.com for tickets, social media and more.

On the heels of a fiery new album (Here We Go Crazy), influential indie icon Bob Mould reflects on how record store culture informed Hüsker Dü's formation and why the jukebox singles of his youth still help him get out of the occasional songwriting stalemate. Visit bobmould.com for tour dates, social media and more.