Tasty Brew Music Diana Linn

What does a Florence, Italy transplant in Austin, Texas have in common with a community radio dj in Kansas City? Turns out a connection to the first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong.  Listen to this episode of the Tasty Brew
Music Podcast to learn the details.

 A creative and prolific artist, Giulia has released a number of solo albums, touring nationally throughout the USA and
internationally. An accomplished guitarist, Giulia also plays ukulele and sings in four languages. She has been called smart, pensive and cool credited with psychedelic grooveability whilst “baring her clairvoyant soul” to “deliver musical mojo.”

I am in awe of female artists who travel the world solo… it is not for the faint of heart.  The dedication must be steadfast and the nerves of steel.  Millanta’s newest
record Only Luna Knows  and her cookbook ‘Dinner
with Giulia” – Flavors, Songs and Stories of a Florentine Troubadour are available now!

Enjoy my conversation with singer songwriter and lucid dreamer … Giulia Millanta. 

The final installment of the 2024 Folk Alliance
International Conference Takeover of the Tasty Brew Music Radio Show spotlights two musical and life partner duos… Liz and Nilko of New York City and Tipps and
Obermiller of Fort Worth, Texas. 

First up Liz and Nilko, a New York City based “Latin Americana” duo combining and celebrating the music of their backgrounds… Appalachia and the Andes Mountains.   LIZ CHIDESTER is a critically acclaimed and award winning Americana singer/songwriter, actor, teaching artist, and ukulelist.  Since his 2009 Carnegie Hall solo debut, multi-faceted touring artist Nilko Andreas has been performing for audiences on three continents as an internationally awarded classical guitarist, Composer, Actor, Music Director and singer. The goal is to have their harmonies contribute to the healing of the Americas. They have performed at different festivals around the US including the Folk Alliance International Festival in Kansas City, NJ Uke Fest, and the Lavender Festival in Charlottesville, VA.

When Hilary Tipps and Steve Obermiller met, it took no time at all for these Fort Worth, Texas songwriters to fall in love and start their lives together. It took another decade of trying to create life, deal with death and build careers in teaching and nursing before they wrote their first songs together. Now they are fully invested in their passion for songwriting and performing. They bring a connection of energy and charm unique to a couple dedicated to each other, their music and their audience.

Enjoy these conversations and musical
interludes with Liz & Nilko and Tipps and Obermiller.

Collaboration and networking are instrumental in whatever success I enjoyed in my former corporate work life and now in my post career volunteer world.  Nancy LaBerge of Calgary’s “Backyard Betties” was introduced to me via email by Linda Wilson, a former radio colleague….giving me the heads up Nancy and her group would be coming to Kansas City for the 2024 Folk Alliance International Conference.  Might there be any broadcast or performance opportunities for the Backyard Betties on the Tasty Brew Music Radio Show?  Of course. 
I soon came to know that Nancy, through her affiliation with the Calgary Songsmiths, had already come into my orbit through a songwriting collaboration exercise with our local Heartland Song Network members borne from a prior year’s introduction at Folk Alliance. Joining Nancy LaBerge in three-part harmonies are Pip Hazel and Sarah Nielson on percussion with Mark Cassano on guitar. 
The Backyard Betties are exceptionally talented with a strong commitment to connecting with their audiences through songs of love, life and loss while fostering the growth of emerging songwriters in their community. 

Colin Cutler, an Army Vet, is a Greensboro, North
Carolina-based singer-songwriter, folk musician, poet, and storyteller toting a banjo and guitar. Whether solo or with his band, Hot Pepper Jam, he is a wide-ranging performer whose musical roots draw from the breadth of American folk music—from Appalachian oldtime to blues to gospel to country to rock’n’roll—to form what No Depression has described as “one magnificent tapestry of roots music.”. In the course of curating a private showcase for a Folk Alliance International Conference, it becomes quite daunting to make decisions with so very many
talented artists making submissions.  Colin Cutler made the decision easier for me to choose him when his bio
revealed his latest work “Tarwater” was based upon the work of Georgia author Flannery O’Connor.  That was enough of a hook to send me down the rabbit hole of his background and discography. 

Enjoy my conversations with and in studio performance by Backyard Betties and Colin Cutler.

It always lovely to welcome Montreal’s Genevieve Racette back to the KKFI studios whenever she can make it to Kansas City; this visit was facilitated by Genevieve’s attendance at the 2024 Folk Alliance International Conference.  Please excuse some background construction noise that may be discernible while she and I are having our conversation…Both the street in front of the station and our building itself is under some serious reconstruction to accommodate a street car line extension and new tenants.

As a woman in the music industry, Genevieve prioritizes surrounding herself with like-minded women-identifying individuals, taking pride in the fact over 80% of her team consists of woman-identifying musicians and industry members.  She has showcased at prestigious music events
such as Folk Alliance, Folk Music Ontario. Americanafest, Canadian Music Week and more.   Her fourth record, “Golden” is set to be released this Fall.

Next up in the Folk Alliance 2024 Takeover… Arizona’s Remi Goode is a trained classical guitarist and choral singer turned alternative folk/pop singer-songwriter. When she first decided to put her voice and guitar together and write original music, she quickly developed a style that highlights her careful classical sensibilities, pure vocal quality, and the distinctive sound of a nylon-string guitar. With an affinity for small arrangements and modest production, Remi’s highest priority is lyricism. She writes
with blunt honesty and introspection, searching for the root of the dynamics within a relationship or a deeper understanding of her own self-conception. Although Remi’s analysis of herself and others is often unforgiving, her songs always contain a qualifying aspect of emotional ambiguity—an expression of both grief and acceptance at having to navigate a world that isn’t black or white. 

 

Enjoy 
these conversations and performances in Episode 1 of the Folk Alliance
2024 Take Over of the Tasty Brew Music Podcast.

Originally from the mountain state of West Virginia, Eades began making music at the age of 12, when out of boredom her father handed her a 1950's Gibson that had been stored away, waiting for someone to play.   It wasn't long before she began writing songs, recording her first album at age 17 as part of the duo Special Guest.  After a more than decade-long hiatus from music, Eades began playing music again after moving to Kansas City and began her solo career in 2015.   Her music is genuine, and shares bits of her story, drawing from experiences that many find relatable.  Influenced by the strong female singer-songwriters she listened to growing up, including
Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Jewel, she followed their lead and added her own tinges of twang, angst, and blues.

I am a fan of her versatility and fluidity between genres and it is always a pleasure just to have a regular
conversation with her on any number of given topics.  Erin has played out in public somewhat sparingly since the pandemic but as you’ll hear on this recent visit to the
Tasty Brew Music Radio Show, Erin recently released some new music after nearly a 5-year hiatus of publishing any new work and is ramping up her in person footprint to promote the new music that is coming.  It was an honor to air the radio broadcast debut of her new song “Lesser of Two Evils.”

Enjoy my conversation with Erin Eades! 

I am so honored when a friend and artist such as songwriter Kelly Hunt recommends a fellow musician to me for consideration.  In the case of songwriter and fellow Buckeye Ben Gage, she could not have been more spot on with her recommendation.    As you will  hear in this conversation and performance on a recent Tasty Brew Music Radio Show, Ben sounded totally at ease and seemingly is a rather comfortable space in his lyrical life.  A couple of corrections to note in my on air comments. The Folk Alliance International Conference for 2025 will be in
Montreal not Toronto and although its true Travis Kelce played college ball at the University of Cincinnati, he is in fact from Cleveland. 

 I love how Ben blends folk and roots blues. I understand how he grew up in the rust belt of Northeast Ohio along the great Lake Erie with roots running  deep alongside hard
working Ohio blue collars. His tenacity, love of family, and respect for a long day can be heard in his music.  He now travels the country full time sharing and collecting stories and songs. 


Enjoy this episode of the Tasty Brew Music Podcast and be sure and check out Ben’s work and schedule at https://www.bengagemusic.com/