My first interview as a roving interviewer was thrust upon me this week. None other than the very friendly (as it turns out) Joe Pernice but the build up to this first gig was somewhat frantic. Firstly, it meant using Zoom, which although useful during lockdown is not my favourite means of communication. And so it proved to be, when with 20 mins to go to interview time I discover that the scheduled meeting has somehow disappeared from my schedule ffs. This means hurried new scheduling and, finding a phone number for the UK Pr to tell them that there is a new meeting, then them telling the US Record label that there is a new meeting who in turn have to tell Joe somewhere in the wilds of Canada. What to ask had been on my mind for a couple of days. Sure he wants to promote his new album but is there a protocol? Should we chat first before diving into the meat of the subject? A listen to the new album ensured that I was fully engaged with the work. What a cracker it is. This was going to be easy.
The lines of communications had worked and there he was on my PC in my shed. And what a lovely fella. Some initial beard discussion broke the ice. He’s gone full Old Testament whereas I remain resolutely goatee. It was a great chat which will appear in print in these very pages sometime soon but if I had one criticism was that the interviewer kept forgetting that he was interviewing and kept butting in. My apologies Joe, I’ll get better and thank you for your patience.
So what have I been listening to this week. Well the new Pernice Brothers deserves another AUK play as it is the opener on a smashing set of songs. I have also been listening to Pete Bruntnell and James Walbourne. The Shed this week is a lovely thing if I say so myself featuring the new Small Town Jones as well as new music from Katharine Priddy, Frontier Ruckus, Hurray for the Riff Raff as well as many others. Take what you want or need.
