DJ Mike Show #180 – 1/09/2021: Allyson Seconds interview!

DJ Mike Lidskin spent ten years at a National Public Radio station in Chicago, returned to California in 1997 and created Twirl Radio, and now hosts 30 hours of programming a month at Woody Radio. His two shows, “The Show With No Name” and “The Saturday Thing”, feature the finest independent music and artists from the rock era. Mike’s on a mission to not “just spin rock music, but to educate listeners about this vital art form.” Indeed, he doesn’t just announce the songs, but gives histories about some of the artists, the albums, and the songs themselves.

You can catch the DJ Mike Shows live on Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. PST and Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. PST at Woody Radio, http://www.woodyradio.com.

THIS WEEK’S GUEST:
I know what you’re thinking. “DJ Mike–didn’t you JUST have Allyson Seconds on your radio show, 11 years ago, to talk about her debut album, ‘Bag of Kittens’?”

Yes, yes, guilty as charged. But if I didn’t have her back on the show, to talk about the welcome re-release of that great album on Big Stir Records, I’d also be guilty of musical malpractice.

Back in 2009, Allyson, a hometown hero here in Sacramento, collaborated with Anton Barbeau on Bag of Kittens. I’d first heard of her as lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Go National, one of the first bands I’d started following when I moved here back in the 1990s. As she points out, her husband Kevin Seconds is an incredibly prolific songwriter. And Anton, who you already know from his many visits to my shows, is incredibly prolific at releasing albums. But Allyson pointed out to me that her wheelhouse is to be a singer, more than a songwriter. So Anton wrote a batch of songs for her. They fit perfectly, and she stepped up in front and became a lead vocalist. Easily.

However–a decade ago, there wasn’t as much musical sharing between regions going on. Not a whole lot of internet radio, social media was just taking off, and purchasing music online hadn’t quite become a thing yet. So Allyson’s music more or less was unknown outside of NorCal.

But now–we’ve busted out of our regional music silos, and Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome, who’d released some of Anton’s music on Big Stir Records, signed Allyson for a re-release of Bag of Kittens. So finally, the music is getting the widespread attention it deserves. As it should. It’s an absolute delight of an album. Some of the songs are cute yet subversive. The style ranges from folk to alternative to psychedelic. And there’s some help from some heavy musical hitters on this record. Folks like Kimberley Rew (Soft Boys, Katrina and the Waves), Gabe Nelson and Vince DiFiore (Cake), and Alison Sharkey, my favorite West Coast cellist.

On this episode, Allyson and I have a light hearted, sprawling chat, covering a lot of ground–but we always return to the subject of music. Oh yeah–the 2020 re-release of Bag of Kittens contains four bonus tracks–so it was well worth the wait! https://bigstirrecords.com/allyson-seconds

LISTEN TO ARCHIVED DJ MIKE SHOWS HERE!