Interviews

Holly Bowling's latest release from Royal Potato Family titled 'Better Left Unsung' is a collection of classical solo piano improvisations and arrangements of the music of The Grateful Dead.

Bowling possesses a devotion to improvisational rock music and the vision to painstakingly transcribe “jam” masterworks note-for-note, arranging them for solo piano and improvising upon what was already written.

Still in her early twenties, there’s a sophisticated elegance that radiates around singer, songwriter and brass connoisseur Natalie Cressman. This rare aura can be felt not only through her demanding stage presence, or incredibly complex and layered compositions, but also through her kind, gentle tone and easy-going demeanor.

Grateful Web recently had a unique opportunity to speak with veteran psychedelic guitarist, producer and composer Henry Kaiser. Few have as vast of a musical resume as Kaiser, who has contributed to countless studio recordings both as bandleader and accompaniment. His inventiveness has additionally yielded a long list of film scoring credits and soundtrack work. While Kaiser is frequently busy and rarely promoting a certain singular work, Dylan Muhlberg focused the conversation on Kaiser’s potent new album Ocean of Storms.

Recently Grateful Web had another chance to speak with Santa Cruz, California based bandleader, singer, and songwriter Steven Graves. His seventh studio album Captain Soul is indeed his most personal statement to date. In conversation with Dylan Muhlberg, Graves opened up about the collaborative nature of his studio time, music as a guide to self-awareness, and his spirituality as a creative vehicle. His most rocking record yet exposes an artist on a peak of his own journey.

Grateful Web recently had a humbling opportunity to speak with Amy Helm, mandolinist, singer/songwriter, and bandleader of The Handsome Strangers. She also cofounded Midnight Ramble Band, whose roots began with her father the late and great Levon Helm, an Arkansan who met a gifted group of Canadian musicians and inevitably formed The Band in 1964.

This past Monday, Brooklyn’s Lucius captured the hearts and minds of their audience at Boulder’s Fox Theater with their powerfully emotive set showcasing their sophomore album, Good Grief. I was able to chat with half of the band’s frontwomen duo, Holly Laessig, before their performance to learn more about the new album and tour, and the band’s unique musical (and nonmusical) inspirations.

The Nth Power is a group of incredibly accomplished musicians, comprising people who have played with everyone from Jennifer Hartswick to Maceo Parker to Beyonce. Their music is a blend of funk and soul and gospel and old-school R&B. And everything they do is about spreading the core values of love and understanding.

Grateful Web recently had the opportunity to speak with photo anthropologist Susana Millman. Longtime spouse of the Grateful Dead’s historian and publicist Dennis McNally, Susana began her friendship with and photographing the Grateful Dead in the mid-1980s. Her unique vantage as a true insider granted her access to photograph behind the scenes intimately with the band, their family, their friends, and the Deadheads.

Music transcendency is often times the result of relentless patience, self-awareness and significant hours mastering technique. Crafting a product that reflects these characteristics can often times be a daunting task for artists, and for many musicians the perfect composition often times doesn’t translate in the studio. For Georgia-based jamtronica pioneers STS9 however, this enigma may have finally been mastered.