A Deeper Listen

Seattle’s Brittany Davis has released her debut album, 'Image Issues,' which she calls an "audio movie." It’s a sonic journey that weaves in many musical genres and spoken word vignettes backed by soundscapes. Davis is blind and audio is a heightened sense for her. She also has synesthesia and hears music from smells.

Davis talks with Emily Fox about raising her voice in the face of adversity in this album.

“Being an overweight Black blind female from the wrong side of the tracks that has no physical capital, no cultural capital, but I do have a message and I had to make a choice to raise my voice despite all of the things that I didn’t have. I had to use the one thing I did have,” Davis says.

Davis also talks about finding a strong musical community in Seattle and shares the stories behind three important tracks on her album.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 29 is Music Heals: Mental Health at KEXP, where all day the station reads stories and plays listener requests of the songs that helped them through their mental health struggles. In honor of Music Heals: Mental Health, we revisit a conversation from 2021 that was originally part of the mini-series, Apparently, focusing on the intersections of parenting and art.

On this episode, Ella Vos talks with Rachel Stevens about how getting pregnant inspired her to become a solo artist and how her popular song, "White Noise," was about her struggles with postpartum depression and the loneliness of being a new mom.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charley Pride was the first Black country music singer to sign to a major record label (RCA) back in 1965. He went on to have 30 number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country chart and sold more than 70 million records.

Emily Fox talks with Nashville Historian David Ewing about Charley Pride. They discuss Charley Pride’s baseball career, how he landed a demo and record deal after giving up on baseball, his struggles with mental health and racism, and his legacy in country music.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mia Dyson is an Australia-raised, LA based musician who is an award winner of the Australia version of a Grammy—an ARIA award. She’s opened for Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mack and Bonnie Raitt. She’s releasing her 8th album on Feb 23rd, it’s called Tender Heart. Mia Dyson started writing this album shortly before an earthquake hit her home. Following the earthquake, she experienced an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia which caused her to stop breathing. She almost died. Emily Fox talks with Dyson about the themes on the album including forgiveness and mental health, but first she talked about what she can remember from her near death experience.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ray Lacorte runs an Instagram page called BIPOC Punk. KEXP’s Martin Douglas caught up with Lacorte to learn more about him, music and his Instagram page.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hazel Scott was a Black pianist who was classically trained at Juilliard at the age of 8 and started making a name for herself as a performer in New York in the 1930s while she was still in high school. She went on to play big concert halls and notable nightclubs. As stated in a biography about her by actor and author Karen Chilton, “She was the first black woman to host her own television show and one of the first to refuse to perform before segregated audiences. She negotiated lucrative contracts with Hollywood studios, becoming one of the highest-paid performers of her era.” Chilton speaks with Emily Fox about Hazel’s life and career and why she might not be a household name today despite her extraordinary career.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mali Obomsawin talks with Emily Fox about how her new album, 'Greatest Hits' with guitarist Magdalena Abrego, is about intimacy under colonialism. Obomsawin also shares Indigenous history from the northeast and stories of her father’s involvement in the Red Power Movement in the 1980’s and how Obomsawin is carrying on his effort today to reclaim Abenaki land.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sofia Kourtesis is a house music producer based out of Lima, Peru and Berlin, Germany. She recently released her debut full-length record, 'Madres.'. During the making of the album, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and there were only three neurosurgeons in the world who could operate on her. One of those neurosurgeons agreed to operate and saved Kourtesis’ mother’s life. Kourtesis shares her story with KEXP’s Dusty Henry. She also talks about maternal love and raving with neuroscientists as they celebrated the success of surgery.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emily Fox talks with KEXP DJ and Radiohead fan, DJ Morgan Chosnyk on her take on The Smile’s new album, ‘Wall of Eyes’. The Smile started as a pandemic project with Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke along with Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood and Tom Skinner of the jazz band Songs of Kemet.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Karla Chubb of the Irish garage-punk band SPRINTS talks with Emily Fox about the band's debut album, 'Letter To Self.' They discuss the inspiration behind some of the songs, including campaigning to end the abortion ban in Ireland, Catholic guilt and being queer, and the unfair standards women are held to in music. Karla also talks about her recent ADHD diagnosis and why girls and women are under-diagnosed.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.