Jenny Lewis Concert Review + Catalog Discussion / Rilo Kiley, Jenny & Johnny, Postal Service (VIDEO)

Hello, friends. Welcome back. Today's video is one I have wanted to make for a while. Jenny Lewis is, in my opinion, the best songwriter of the 2000s. Over the course of her 20+ year career in music - whether as a solo artist or as a member of Rilo Kiley, Jenny & Johnny, or Postal Service - Jenny Lewis has shown an amazing ability to craft songs that can be simultaneously catchy, beautiful, emotional, powerful, heart wrenching, danceable, and very relatable lyrically. Her albums have featured guest spots from Elvis Costello, Ringo Starr, Beck, members of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and many more. She has many famous friends and collaborators. 

I caught Jenny Lewis in concert recently on her Joy'All Ball Tour at a stop in Omaha at The Admiral Theater. The concert was amazing, as Jenny's shows usually are. Rather than merely review the concert, I decided to devote a little time in the video to reviewing her "solo" albums. This is not a catalog ranking, merely a discussion of her music. 

In addition to video clips and photos from the concert,  I also made a short video inside the video about Jenny's early career as a child actor and her time in the band Rilo Kiley.

The Dark Stuff Podcast 116: Orenda Fink (Part One)

For episode 116, we have part one of my interview with Orenda Fink. Orenda has just released her third solo album, Blue Dream, on the Saddle Creek Records label, and is about to embark on her first tour in a few years.

Orenda's musical journey began when she met singer/songwriter Maria Taylor at a performing arts school in Alabama. The two began writing songs together, and eventually formed the band Little Red Rocket. LRR was signed by Geffen Records while Fink and Taylor were barely out of high school! Following some personal tragedy, LRR broke up, but Fink and Taylor stayed together and formed the band Azure Ray.

It was around this same time that Orenda became involved with the Omaha music scene, and Azure Ray was signed to Saddle Creek Records, which was home to Bright Eyes, The Faint, and Cursive, at the time. Orenda would eventually re-locate to Omaha, and marry Todd Fink, who is the lead singer of The Faint.

When Azure Ray went on an extended hiatus in 2004, Orenda Fink began her solo career with the 2005 album, The Invisible Ones. Her restless artistic spirit had her continuing to form new bands and collaborations, and she also recorded with Art In Manila, O + S, and toured as a member of Rilo Kiley.

In our interview, Orenda and I discuss the inspiration behind the new album, Blue Dream, as well as the making of the record and her upcoming tour. We then delve into Orenda's entire career, including the reunion of Azure Ray. Our discussion was pretty long, so I have decided to make this a two-part episode. Part Two will be episode #117.

This episode contains portions of the following songs: "Blue Dream," and "This Is a Part of Something Greater" by Orenda Fink, and "New Resolution" by Azure Ray. The music underneath my voice in the intro and outro is "Holy Holy" by Orenda Fink. All songs ©the artist.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy.

©2014 The Dark Stuff Podcast

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Orenda Fink Will Be the Next Guest on The Dark Stuff Podcast

Last night I interviewed the lovely and talented Orenda Fink for the podcast. Orenda has been a member of the bands Little Red Rocket, Azure Ray, Art In Manila, O + S, and has released three solo albums. Her newest album, Blue Dream, has just been released by Saddle Creek Records.

The episode will be posted September 8, and will likely be a two-part episode. We spoke for over 90 minutes and I would hate to leave any of it out. Your homework before the episode is posted is to buy Orenda's new album, Blue Dream. Here is the video for the first single, "Ace of Cups."

 

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itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-stuff/id201997514?mt=2

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NEW Orenda Fink Video "Ace of Cups"

 

"Ace of Cups" is the first single from the forthcoming Orenda Fink album, Blue Dream. The album will be released August 19th on Saddle Creek Records.

Are You Cool Enough For the Omaha Music Scene?

For the record, I am not a Saddle Creek hater. I like a good amount of the bands that the label has released: Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Two Gallants, Azure Ray, Ladyfinger (ne), and a few others. But sometimes I do think they take themselves a little too seriously, and think they are just a little bit too cool. The former Omaha band Drakes Hotel (who just relocated to Portland) had this hysterical quote on the current state of the Omaha "scene" -- "Three cheers to Saddle Creek Records for building an impenetrable wall around themselves. How indie are you really when you build a shrine to yourselves with the blessing of the city and only book your friends and bands from your ultra cool record collections? Good luck with that."

There is a certain amount of truth to that quote, but it could also be chalked up to envy. There is a lot of backbiting among indie music people.