Author Archives: Evan Toth

The destination is not always the most important place, sometimes it’s the journey that is most impactful. A life’s odyssey really makes us who we are: the roads we’ve traveled, the mistakes we’ve made, and the lessons that we have learned along the way shape and mold us, these passages give us more tools and experiences to simply be better people or at least better at whatever it is we do.

Ron Sexsmith knows this well. In fact, his latest record—coming your way in February 2023—is titled The Vivian Line. The title is taken from a Canadian road leading from one part of Sexsmith’s life to another. His past is full of excellent work and great success, he’s had Rod Stewart, Michael Buble, Feist, and many others perform his music, he’s won several Juno awards, and this newest album will be his 17th.

I’m grateful to have Sexsmith join me to discuss the beautiful songs he’s written for the new record, but we also talk about the unique experiences he’s had since coming onto the scene in the early ’90s, the producers who helped craft his albums along the way, and his loving admirers on Twitter.

But perhaps, most importantly, we capture a very gifted musician in a stage of transmigration. He is talented enough to appreciate the journey he’s been on—the many roads he’s traveled throughout his career—and look at it through a musical perspective and we’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to hear it. Hop in, Ron Sexsmith has the car gassed up and he’s ready to take us on a journey down The Vivian Line.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Meet one of the most celebrated session guitarists of all time—a man who was also once a full member of both Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers: Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.

Goodness knows that the previous sentence gives he and I plenty to talk about, but we’re here to discuss the fact that Jeff has released his first solo album after being in the music industry for over half a century; the album is titled, Speed of Heat which clues us into another one of Jeff’s interests: missile technology!

Music and the arts are driven by passion and creativity, but there is also a science that can propel the mediocre into the extraordinary. When those two traits combine, well, hold on to your socks! Baxter is a master at doing just that, and he is more than happy to explain the commonalities between those two disparate chosen career paths.

Of course, we go over all of the territories that you’re hoping we do: we discuss his time slinging a six-string (and more) in the Doobies and the Dan, the music off of his energetic first solo record, where exactly the “Chuck Berry Portal” is and how to get through it, the many heavyweight legends he’s worked with and—since you never know where a conversation with Jeff Baxter might end up—you can also expect to learn about the latest in missile defense systems. He’s intellectually voracious, never boring, and has the coolest nickname you’d ever want. Let’s spend some time with Skunk.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

The Afrobeat sound has become a very popular genre in the last few years. Many bands—from all over the world—have embraced this exciting, funky sound that combines elements of West African music and couples it with American funk, jazz, and soul. While these recent creators make some wonderfully exciting music, the Super Yamba Band has a secret weapon that the others don’t have and his name is Kaleta.

Born in the West African country of Benin Republic and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Kaleta is a longtime veteran of the Afrobeat scene. He has toured with none other than the godfather of Afrobeat music, Fela Kuti, but over the years has also lent his guitar chops to Lauryn Hill and others. Kaleta finds himself teaming up with the Super Yamba Band, a group of young American musicians who have a supreme devotion and dedication to the music of West Africa and Afrobeat in particular.

Kaleta & Super Yamba Band find themselves back on the road still supporting their last release, Mèdaho. However, they reveal that they do have a completed follow-up album on the shelf and promise to get to that right after their tour ends. But first, it’s what some might see as a pinnacle of their performing schedule, The Kennedy Center on 11/3.

Also joining us in the conversation is the band’s drummer, Daniel Yount; he and Kaleta explore and describe how much they value the authenticity that Kaleta brings to their group, but also how Kaleta appreciates the youth and exploratory nature of the band that he has connected with. On all accounts, it seems as though this symbiotic union was a match made in heaven. You’ll also hear us discuss how Kaleta found his favorite records in Lagos, and the experience of being fined by Fela Kuti. You can hear a lot of Afrobeat out there nowadays, but only the Super Yamba Band has someone who was there during its formation; only they have Kaleta.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

PHOTO: CHRIS BRYCE | The Hammond organ—specifically the Hammond B-3, or C-3—has a long musical history. But it’s not for everyone; it’s a heavy machine that often finds itself in need of some regular repair and constant maintenance. However, when coupled with a Leslie speaker, the sound of a Hammond organ is difficult to match; its sonorous quality and authoritative heft make it unmistakable in many of what are probably some of your favorite recordings.

Adam Scone is a Hammond organ devotee, he’s made the commitment necessary to become one of the 21st century’s notable users. He’s long been associated with the instrument and has played in jazz and boogaloo legend Lou Donaldson’s band at the Village Vanguard and the Blue Note in New York City. Scone has also shared the stage and recorded with countless others, performing on over 50 albums and was selected as a Jazz Ambassador by Lincoln Center & the Kennedy Center for the Arts; an honor which took him to perform in over 35 different countries.

When he’s not working with his other band, the Sugarman Three, he’s branched out to form The Scone Cash Players; a group with a slightly more experimental and thoughtful range than the boogaloo and funk he’s often associated with. Their latest album on Daptone, Brooklyn to Brooklin, features a blend of the usual grooves, but also includes intriguing group vocal treatments that add a truly unique character to this release.

Join Adam and I as we discuss his life’s musical journey, the many musical masters he’s met along the way, the details behind his latest album and, of course, the good people who help him load out his 400 pound Hammond organ at the end of his gigs.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

You don’t have to be a musician to make great music. Sounds like a conundrum, right? Well, throughout history, there have been a number of producers behind the control room glass who have coordinated and instructed musicians to produce the music they hear in their heads; the musicians themselves become the producer’s instruments.

Meet Robert Waite. He’s not a musician, but he does love music and knows what he wants to hear. The project he has created is called Daylight Robbery! (exclamation point included) and while it’s not a band per se, by definition, it still sort of is. Robert connected with some musicians in Brooklyn, had them record parts of music, and then combined and arranged those recorded parts—after the fact—into the music you’ll hear when you listen to his latest release, Moons of Jupiter.

The project is a rich mix of jazz, hip-hop, and maybe a few elements of vaporwave mixed in for good measure. At first listen, it’s enjoyable music—that is, after all, what drew me in when I first discovered it on Bandcamp—but, as one learns about the unique method behind creation of the record, it becomes something completely different.

Robert joins me from South London to uncover the secrets behind Daylight Robbery! He’s also very eager to share some of his favorite recordings to give us a more accurate peek into what moves him as a music lover and creator. But, for goodness sake, whatever you do, don’t call him a musician. He’s a producer, goshdarnit.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Since 1989, Sundazed Music, founded by Bob Irwin and his wife Mary, has been the label to go to for hard-to-find reissues of rare surf, psych, and garage band rock and roll discs that have been lost over the years and were in dire need of a second life. In fact, in today’s crazy reissue world, it’s interesting to note that Sundazed was a pioneer in bringing long, lost recordings back to turntables all across the world.

However, the label is not only just focusing on those few genres anymore. There’s a big world full of different styles of music, and—with a fresh approach featuring Jay Millar at the helm—Sundazed is ready to explore them all. The label houses several imprints to organize the varied releases, with Modern Harmonic being the location for many of the more adventurous and exploratory titles.

Anyone who’s taken a peek at the label’s release schedule will note that they are as busy as ever. Millar stops by to not only walk us through the label’s recent catalog additions, but—almost more interestingly and importantly—he gives us the backstories behind how these releases came to be.

As we discuss, it’s refreshing for a reissue label to resist resurrecting the tried and true classics in favor of lesser known forgotten gems that deserve a wider audience. You’ll hear Millar explain how serendipity impacts Sundazed’s choices, and how casual conversations can sometimes lead to major discoveries.

Millar was generous with his time and has plenty of anecdotes and experiences to share; our conversation isn’t just browsing the aisles of Sundazed records, it’s a master class in the behind-the-scenes adventures involved in managing a major record label.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

The great alt-country band Whiskeytown had only two permanent members during its tenure: one of them was Ryan Adams and the other was Caitlin Cary.

While Caitlin’s name will always be intertwined with that band’s history, she’s also got a history all her own. After the group disbanded, Caitlin decided it was time for her to share the songs that may not have gotten the attention they deserved in her previous group. So, after connecting with Chris Stamey and Yep Roc Records, in 2002 she released her first solo album titled, While You Weren’t Looking.

Well, while we weren’t looking, the album has now turned 20 years old and Yep Roc is giving the album a remaster, a reissue, and is finally putting Caitlin’s music on vinyl where her compositions seem yearning to belong.

Caitlin joins me to discuss her transition from those wild and wooly Whiskeytown days to her own solo career. We also explore how her songs may be ripe for a new audience in the 21st century. Nowadays, Caitlin enjoys her time as a noted visual artist creating needleprint designs and running her own art gallery, The Pocket, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

But, as she traverses through her latest life’s incarnation, every once in a while, she must get flashes of those heady Whiskeytown days and the creation of her own music. Even though she’s more or less left the music world behind, she’s still pleasantly amused that the music she released those two decades ago still reverberates today.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Madison Cunningham has only just begun. At 25 years old, Cunningham has recently released her third record and it is definitely a well-crafted work.

She’s a born-and-bred Californian songwriter, but that’s only a part of her biography, there’s so much more going on. Madison is also an excellent guitarist with a penchant for funky chords and musical phrases. Even though internet sources lazily categorize her music as “Americana” or “folk,” any listener with open ears will hear that Madison’s influences and creations challenge and oftentimes transcend those niches.

Her latest album is titled Revealer, and Madison and I discuss just what’s being revealed and who’s doing the revealing. You’ll find that this young lady is comfortable digging into some of her more uncomfortable experiences if it means she’ll be rewarded with a new song. We also discuss her longtime producing and studio partnership with Tyler Chester, some studio tricks that led to some unique sounds, and where she hopes this musical road might lead her next.

There is a reason that, at her young age, Madison Cunningham has already been nominated for two Grammy awards and you’re about to hear why.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

PHOTO: ALEJANDRO ROS | Nobody likes to be pigeonholed; we all have different aspects to us that we’d like to be appreciated for. Life is short, and even though it takes a long time to become a master at something, there’s still time to become recognized for something else.

Juana Molina comes from a family of artists and entertainers and was one of the most widely recognized comediennes in her home country of Argentina. Even with that success, she still yearned to explore her musical interests. As is often the case with entertainers who switch tracks during their careers, the public who adored her for her comedy skills was not so sure about following her on this musical journey. However, Juana persisted and soon enough—after discovering her excellent second album Segundo—David Byrne invited her to be the opening act on one of his North American tours, and the rest was history. Juana is now an internationally respected musician specializing in experimental electronic indiepop music.

While she and I talk about all of these things, we’re really here to discuss her label’s efforts in reissuing an album that was important to a young Juana. Originally released in 1971, Musicasión 4 1/2 is a rare LP which was released in Uruguay and it features recordings of a series of performances by a group of artists who mixed theatrics, poetry, and improvised stage effects with rock and Latin American rhythms. During the pandemic, Juana reconnected with an old friend who had recently been given access to unreleased and rare recordings of the same musicians on the original album. Juana knew that the time was right for her new record label Sonamos to reissue the album and give it the 50th anniversary it rightly deserved.

So, join me and Juana—who joins me from Argentina—to discuss her career, Musicasión 4 1/2 and how it’s never too late to change the trajectory of your life, as long as you allow yourself to follow your heart’s true passions.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

The process of creating prerecorded music has always been shrouded in a fair amount of mystery; one of the most curious figures in the production chain is the role of the mastering engineer. Once a recorded album is completely finished, it is sent to that person who uses their magical and mystically unique skills to tweak the overall sound of the music and inject that otherworldly quality that most professionally recorded materials contain.

To help us demystify this enigmatic process is Grammy award winning mastering engineer Michael Graves. Mr. Graves has recently remastered the entire Blondie catalog for a sprawling box set highlighting Blondie’s complete recorded output, including many rare tracks that have never seen the light of day. Graves discusses not only his work on the Blondie project, but also his lauded output for Analog Africa, Omnivore Records, Dust to Digital, and other highly respected labels. He also mastered my most recent album, The Show.

Michael Graves isn’t just any mastering engineer, he’s also an audio restoration expert. While many listeners love hearing their favorite professionally recorded albums, remastered to sound even better than the originals—if that’s possible—just remember that there is much wonderful music that has been forgotten. Oftentimes, those tapes, records, cassettes, and CDs are not in the best physical condition. So, it takes an audio restoration expert like Graves to resurrect those recordings so that they sound the best that they can.

Show Business is an industry of sleight of hand, a world of illusion where everything is not always what it appears to be. There are a few insiders who are adept at using the tools necessary to create that final sheen of professionalism. Join us as Michael Graves gives us a quick peek behind the curtain to understand a few tricks of the mastering trade.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

PHOTO: SHAWNA SCHIRO | Michael Rault embraces the skill that all great musicians are good at: listening. All of his life, Michael has been carefully listening to his influences, and filtering those sounds through his own lens. It seems he’s finally completed the album that he’s been destined to make, his self-titled, second solo release.

Musically, he’s a sponge picking up some of the greatest sounds of the latter half of the 20th century. If your record collection is eclectic, then what Michael creates will fit right in next to the tried and true, well-traveled grooves sitting on your shelf. Completing this musical journey is the production and flavor that Daptone Records’ subsidiary, Wick Records, brings to the formula: a warmly textured, funky, organic and earthy feel, but applied to a rock and roll singer-songwriter instead of to the soul, funk, and R&B projects that the label is often known for.

This Canadian, like many famous songwriting Canadians in the 1970s, has made his current home beneath the sunny skies of Los Angeles, California. While there, he has connected with a like-minded group of other musicians who support each other musically and otherwise which is perfect for Michael, because he seems to always be looking for inspiration, always looking for something new to listen to.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

The first time I played Wilder Maker’s new album titled Male Models, I thought someone sent me the wrong link; I assumed that instead of the actual record, I was listening to a mixtape from the record label. The wide-reach and scope of the record seemed to be too much to accomplish from one group of musicians. But, as I listened, I began to piece together similar voices and instrumentation and—maybe, most interestingly—the style of musical composition. Finally, it dawned on me that this was the same band all along; this was Wilder Maker.

Gabriel Birnbaum has a history in jazz, but loves his rock and roll too. With Wilder Maker, he’s taken those free-form chops, and a healthy respect for clever composition, and juxtaposed it with rock and pop and folk and whatever else he deems necessary to share his vision with you, dear listener. He’s erudite, he doesn’t shy away from overarching themes and references; this Wilder Maker album is just like graduate school: scholarly, but fun and—most importantly—rewarding.

Birnbaum joins me from a farmhouse in Vermont to explain how the album was constructed during the pandemic, the players who currently make up the band, and his musical influences and goals. Birnbaum is at Wilder Maker’s helm, but the contributions of all of the talented musicians who helped create Male Models demonstrates that—like a good mixtape, or playlist—the best musical ensembles are greater than the sum of their parts.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Marshall Crenshaw bridged an important gap during the end of the twentieth century. His early hits glimpsed into the recent past; recognizing the work of the ’50s and ’60s masters but soldering it onto 1980s pop, thereby creating a sort of vintage-modern hybrid. Crenshaw also portrayed Buddy Holly in the 1987 film, La Bamba which added yet another layer to his aura back then: as if he were saying, “Hey, I’m going to nail this Buddy Holly cover right now, but stick around to hear my original music, too.”

And there was always plenty of fantastic original Crenshaw music to hear: “Someday, Someway,” “There She Goes Again,” and “Cynical Girl” and his co-written super-hit, “Til I Hear it From You” with the Gin Blossoms, a tune that was inescapable on rock radio during the 1990s (and beyond). He was also always writing and working. During the ’90s, Crenshaw forged a partnership with Razor & Tie Records, releasing several albums with the label.

Today, Crenshaw is revisiting those ’90s albums and reissuing them with fresh masterings and bonus tracks—many released on vinyl for the first time. In this episode, Crenshaw and I discuss his 1999 release, #447. Of course, we also talk about his major label days, the process of recording before digital became de rigueur, getting his act back on the road, and we also reminisce about the last time he and I spoke 10 years ago.

So, join us and remind yourself of how lucky we are to have Marshall Crenshaw in our midst. He might take an occasional glance in the rearview mirror, but his eyes are firmly planted on the road ahead.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

Between the British Invasion and the Summer of Love, there was a time when American music was trying to figure out just exactly what it was, what made it unique from the rest of the world. Many might answer—that in that slim window of time—one of the most important American bands on the scene were The Rascals, they were certainly unique: they were soul and R&B oriented, they knew how to rock a house party, and they were one of the first rock bands to proudly feature the mighty Hammond B3 as its signature instrument.

The main voice of the group—and the captain piloting that massive B3—was Felix Cavaliere. Originally a pre-med student, Felix was bitten by the rock and roll bug and found himself working with Joey Dee and the Starlighters. Following this, Cavaliere met the three other musicians with whom he would form The Young Rascals: Eddie Brigati, Dino Dinelli, and Gene Cornish. Between 1966 and 1968, the band reached the Top 20 nine times (hitting #1 three times) with timeless blue-eyed soul classics such as, “Good Lovin’,” “Groovin’,” “People Got to Be Free” and many others.

1971 saw the release of the final Rascals album to feature all of the original members, Search and Nearness. The band did, however, reunite in 2012 for a run on Broadway and a national tour which was produced by Steven and a Maureen Van Zandt. Of course, the group was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of a fame.

Recently, however, Felix has published a book of his experiences titled, Memoir Of A Rascal and he was kind enough to join me to discuss the book and share some great rock and roll stories and wisdom. You can’t tell the story of mid-60s American rock and roll without The Rascals, and the best guy to tell us about it is Felix Cavaliere.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

When was the last time you really danced and just lost yourself in the music without caring what you looked like? Analyzing music is a rewarding experience, but sometimes it’s best to just shut up, enjoy what you’re hearing and simply dance. And if you’re going to engage in such an activity, there’s no one finer to provide a soundtrack than James Hunter.

Hunter’s 2004 breakthrough album, People Gonna Talk was a refreshing listen back then as it was released just on the cusp of the retro-soul groove revival of the early 2000s, but it’s Hunter’s compositional skills which keeps the album fresh these 16 years after its release. Since then, he’s released many equally enjoyable albums, recently on the famed Daptone label.

So, it’s time for a retrospective. The James Hunter Six has recently released a compilation titled, With Love. To those who have enjoyed Hunter’s music over the last two decades it’s a great opportunity to revisit some classics from his catalog, but to the uninitiated, it’s a huge “where have you been” moment; a great opportunity to learn about a genuine soul music genius living in our modern day midst.

James Hunter joins me from Brighton in the UK to discuss the new compilation, his relationship with Daptone Records, a few secrets that go into getting the sonic quality of his albums just right, and how the best gigs are the ones where there’s plenty of room for people to get out of their seats and dance.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.