Stay ConnectedWhether you write music, record music, play music…….or just LOVE music, this podcast is for you!
Note: Mix equal parts Top Hill Recording Podcast and bourbon.
Visit “One Shot One Mic One Song” on YouTube to hear artists from this podcast recorded live with a minimalist one mic approach from the past.
Copyright: © Brad Weston/Neil Johnstone
The Bad Day Blues Band was our guest back on episode 52. The group has since dropped Blues Band from the name. They are back for Top Hill Recording Podcast's "5 from......" series. The Bad Day exploded onto the scene in 2017, playing Times Square in New York City with double Grammy Award winner Delbert McClinton. This was followed by two critically acclaimed performances at The Isle Of Wight Festival in 2018 and 2019. The Bad Day Blues Band has wowed audiences at many of the UK’s major festivals and has garnered glowing reviews from BBC Radio 2, Bassplayer Magazine, Planet Rock, Record Box Reviews, London Live TV, and many more. Winner of the Digital Blues Awards Best New Blues Band 2019, they have played alongside artists such as The Killers, Kirk Fletcher, Ben Poole, The Manic Street Preachers, Starsailor, Badly Drawn Boy, Delbert McClinton, George Ezra, Sheryl Crow and many, many others. The Bad Day Blues Band has amassed a dedicated fanbase and are in the process of releasing a new concept album.
The featured 5 songs:
1. Table by the Wall
2. The Hustler
3. Hurricane
4. Luna Rooms
5. Devil's Lullaby
With a deep understanding of songwriting as a method for storytelling, Glory Daze creates lyric-driven, cinematic folk tunes that play out like a soundtrack for late nights and long drives.
First active musically as a teenager in Louisville’s underground hardcore scene, Rinehart's first band Flight Nineteen played with seminal underground acts like At The Drive In, Joan of Arc, Avail & By The Grace of God.
His first solo album “Memories Are Hunting Horns," released in 2010 under the pseudonym “Saredren Wells”, featured a new and very different direction, situating him alongside off-kilter folk artists like Daniel Johnston, & Bonnie “Prince” Billy. He toured briefly following the release, sharing the stage with fellow troubadours Steve Gunn & famed queer folk artist Ed Askew.
Relocating to NYC, Rinehart co-founded both The Body Actualized Center, a DIY arts space in Brooklyn, and the "New Age Boy Band" 'Splash', whom he toured the US with in the Summer of 2012 (supporting the band Friends).
Turning his attention back to solo work in 2013, Rinehart released “The Funeral Home Sessions,” a 3-song EP of tributes to Fugazi's Ian Mackaye, Neil Young, & folk legend Elizabeth Cotten.
In 2015 Rinehart released "Nothing/Everything,” his most ambitious work to date. A 15-song double album LP (released on LA's Buddyhead Records), “Nothing/Everything” highlighted his chameleon-like talent for genre hopping. In turn melancholy and magnanimous, a deft synthesis of all of his previous projects, “Everything” improved on the old while hinting at something new.
In recent years he's released a slew of singles including "Protect", "Death Time" (Feat. Charles), "Off On A Roll With The Soul", "Interdimensional Nonconversational Inconsequential Love", "They Say" & "Sight Unseen", and 2 EP's ('Have Fun Idiot' & 'The Funeral Home Sessions'). He's currently gearing up to release another EP ('Finite Jest') later this year.
Young Romantics is an alternative rock band formed in Bowling Green, KY, in early 2017 when high school friends and Louisville natives Matt Porter (drums) and Griffin Fletcher (vocals) started making music together while studying at Western Kentucky University. The duo began by recording in Porter’s Honda Accord and Fletcher’s bedroom closet with a $100 audio interface, releasing two self-produced EPs to SoundCloud between November 2017 and January 2018.
With the addition of guitarist Mitchell Manuel and bassist Gerek Patrick in late 2018, the band began playing shows across the state and writing original material, releasing its debut studio EP, "In Case You Feel the Same," in August 2019.
After bassist Gabriel Rogers joined the group in early 2020, the band gravitated toward a brand of alternative rock rooted in R&B. From Fletcher's soulful vocals, Manuel's inclination toward hip-hop-like melodies to Rogers' love of '90s underground rap, Young Romantics seeks to write and perform music that is passionate and felt.
This is present throughout the band's sophomore effort, "In Case You Don't," (Aug. 27, 2021) an album guided by its unfiltered, self-reflective lyricism.
Andrew Shockley, AKA Delafaye, started recording on a gifted eight track recorder in middle school. Several years down the road, he released his self-recorded, self-produced debut EP "The Hilltop" with, in his own words, "zero expectations". The lead single for "The Hilltop" EP, "Time and Money" (which he recorded on an iPhone) quickly garnered a great deal of attention resulting in regular playlist rotation on the radio, being signed to Street Mission Records, and supporting San Fermin, Cory Brannan, Blank Range, Arlie and many others. "Time and Money" also gained Delafaye a nomination for Singer-Songwriter of the Year at the Louisville Music Awards. "Time and Money" currently has over 1.5 million listens on Spotify alone.
Constantly creating, Delafaye has spent the last year re-establishing his roots in his new Indiana home. Moving to a new house, and more importantly taking with him his home studio (Beechwood Studios) which forms at integral part of his home life, he crafted a brand-new batch of songs that are laced with the melancholy synonymous with Delafaye’s sound. ‘Dog Day’ is the latest in a recent run of singles from his Beechwood sessions.
Villa Mure is a husband/wife alt/psych songwriting team from Louisville, KY.Rooted as much in 70’s progressive rock as 90's alternative and cultivated by the eclectic "Louisville Indie" music scene, Villa Mure’s music is anchored on the chemistry of textural, flowing guitar work and driving, melodic bass. The group creates an atmosphere that recalls the psychedelic, but presents itself in the simplicity of the tried and true rock n’ roll power trio, with grooving instrumentals intertwined with lyrics intended to speak to one's inner voice.
Villa Mure has shared the stage with regional and national acts such as Christone Kingfish Ingram, and Black Mountain, and have shared festival lineups with All Them Witches, Blackfoot Gypsies, and Cedric Burnside Project. Villa Mure performs across the region at venues of all sizes, from basements and living rooms, to large concert halls and amphitheaters.
Mixing elements of R&B and soul with their jazz roots, Kiana & the Sun Kings make music that is modern yet timeless, energetic yet contemplative. Their ultimate goal is to create music that is equal in complexity and simplicity, crafting sounds for the jazz player and casual listener alike. The Sun Kings were founded by vocalist Kiana Del as she was searching for a hot group to play her senior recital at Bellarmine University. From there, Del realized the chemistry radiating from the group and decided to take Kiana & the Sun Kings on the road. The Sun Kings can be found entertaining in local eateries, cocktail lounges, music festivals, jazz clubs, and other places in Louisville, Kentucky's thriving music scene. The collective influences of the group include John Coltrane, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and even modern players such as Esperanza Spalding, Kamasi Washington, Jon Batiste, and Robert Glasper.
Founded in July 2016 by Kentucky songwriter Billy Swayze, Thunder Sound Studio quickly became one of Kentucky’s premiere destination studios. Thunder Sound is a fully equipped analog and digital complex in the Franklin, Kentucky countryside, just 45 minutes north of Nashville recording studios and Music Row. Seth Pedigo, affectionately called "Paramount Pedigo" by Swayze, is one of many creative humans in the Thunder Sound family. Seth joins us to discuss the special people, such as Billy Swayze and Tiger Merritt, that were the driving force in what is Thunder Sound Studio. From the tape machine in Nat King Cole’s studio to a console which recorded Johnny Cash and many legends, Thunder Sound has incredible karma and a positive, exploratory vibe. The compound also includes a 3,000 sq. ft. outdoor performance venue and bar; a 3,000 sq. ft. rehearsal hall and 1,800 sq. ft. Hotel California living facility with living room, three bedrooms, cable TV, laundry, kitchen and shower.
Also available is a 3,500 sq. ft. luxury log home with three bedrooms where guests can enjoy fishing, hiking trails and total privacy. Combined with creative people focused and dedicated to helping artists find their sound and the 16,000 sq. ft. facility set on 100 beautiful acres at your disposal, Thunder Sound is an incredible destination recording studio.
Neil and Brad reflect on two years of the Top Hill Recording Podcast and nine months of One Shot One Mic One Song. They also discuss what they would like to see in the future.
The Highlanders Band got its start when co-founders Colin O’Daniel, Sam Olshansky, and Sam Coryell played a show for their employer's summer music concert on a whim. From there, they went on to recruit soulful keyboardist Beck O’Daniel (Colin's brother), as well as lead guitarist Jake McKean and drummer Conner Goldsmith. The six man group built quite a following, filling bars and taverns with family, friends, fans, and music lovers. The Highlanders Band spent a year as a college cover band before deciding it was time to venture more into original music. They released the singles “Whiskey Dreams” and “Get Back” in 2019. After receiving a positive response to their first releases and having an additional year to develop as a band, they released their first full length album, "Different in the Dark", in late 2020. The Highlanders Band is yet another genre-defying Louisville, Kentucky band that can best be described as "Louisville Indie". The Highlanders Band currently plays in the Louisville and surrounding areas as a five-piece.
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