The New York-based singer/keyboardist/guitarist issued three albums and four EPs with Nova Social (initially called Stretch) from ’98-’14 while also serving as music director for Wesley Stace’s Cabinet of Wonders variety show. After four solo releases, he’s formed a new project setting his droll lyrics in a ’60s Brazilian setting called As For the Future.

We discuss “Koan for the Music Business” (and listen at the end to “Encyclopedia of Songs”) from this project’s 2024 eponymous album, “See the Devil” by David Nagler & The Legislation from Songs of Advice and Adversity (2020 EP), and “Drunk at the Prom” by Nova Social (co-written with Thom Soriano) from For Any Inconvenience (2011). Intro: “Theme in Yellow” (feat. Jeff Tweedy) from Carl Sandburg’s Chicago Poems (2016). More at davidnagler.com, facebook.com/asforthefuture, and carlsandburgchicagopoems.com.

Sponsors: Try out online therapy at betterhelp.com/nakedly and get 10% off your first month. Check out the Let Me Ask My Dad podcast, featuring Bon Jovi co-founder David Bryan.

Watch a lyric video for “See the Devil.” Hear all of “Theme in Yellow.” Here’s a fancier video for another song from that Carl Sandburg album, “Fog,”  and one for “Chicago.” He recorded a version of the Gnarls Barkley song “Crazy” that has a nice video too. Here’s a video for the late Nova Social tune, “Turn to Crime.”

Watch David live supporting The Appointees album. Watch Nova Social performing “Drunk at the Prom” live. Watch David playing acoustic guitar and (separately) singing. Watch David backing Wesley’s crooning live, and doing a solo piano/vocal rendition of a Dead Kennedys song. Watch David conducting a choir for Jon Langford.

Listen to my Wesley Stace interview, which includes a song that David wrote the music for.

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John Wardle (named Jah Wobble by Sid Vicious) started playing bass in John Lydon’s post Sex Pistols band Public Image Ltd. in 1978, left after two albums, and has since recorded 50+ solo and collaborative albums, largely led by the bass, but spanning many genres including some particularly famous work in the world-music area.

We discuss “Last Exit” from A Brief History of Now (2023), “21 Towards Lewisham Shopping Centre” from The Bus Routes of South London (2023), “Fly Away” from Jah Wobble & Invaders of the Heart from Ocean Blue Waves (2019), and “Blowout” (a 1985 single). End song: “Visions of You” by Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart (feat Sinéad O’Connor) from Rising Above Bedlam (1991). Intro: “Public Image” by PiL from First Issue (1978).

Hear all of “Public Image” via the official video. Watch the new video for “Last Exit.” Another new video is for “I Am, I Am, I Am.” Watch the video for “Visions of You.” Watch a recent live version of the track.

Watch a video for a recent collaboration between Jah and one of my other NEM guests, Mark Stewart. Jah refers to playing with the drummer Jaki Liebezeit from Can; listen to this early release (1982) with Jaki and another Can member Holger Czukay. Listen to Jah in 2004 with his band Deep Space. Here he is with the Modern Jazz Ensemble. Watch a full live video performance on radio from 2016 with Invaders of the Heart. Here’s a recent work with one Jah’s recurrent collaborators, Bill Laswell. Here’s a video of Jah’s sons’ band that he’s featured on. Hear the brand new take on the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up.”

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Oliver is the son of Yes keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman, and has not shied from this association, displaying similar sounds and chops, and serving as Yes’ keyboardist himself for four years. His work has in part played in this prog rock space, creating concept albums with Clive Nolan, working with Yes’ Steve Howe and Peter Banks, and playing with Starcastle and (another band his father used to be in) Strawbs. However, he’s also created a few explicitly New Age albums, the Oliver Wakeman Band seems more centered on hard rock, and Oliver has an evident love for ’80s power ballads.

We discuss “Golden Sun in Grey” from Anam Cara (2024) (feat. Hayley Griffiths singing), “Is This the Last Song I Write?” from Ravens and Lullabies (2013) (an album credited to Gordon Giltrap and Oliver Wakeman; the vocals are by Paul Manzi), and “Mind Over Matter” from The 3 Ages of Magick (2001) (an album credited to Oliver Wakeman with Steve Howe). End song: “To the Moment” by Yes from From a Page (recorded 2010, released 2019). The intro is “Diving” from Oliver’s first album, Heaven’s Isle (1997). More at oliverwakeman.co.uk.

Watch the videos for Oliver’s new singles “Miss You Now” and “Inside of my Fear.” Watch Oliver play one of his Yes songs solo during the pandemic. Hear the first album Oliver did with my previous guest Clive Nolan (featuring Rick Wakeman reading poetry), Jaberwocky. Hear the harder rock side of Oliver’s output with a song we mention, “The Agent,” from the live album Coming to Town. An Asia-like tune from its source album Mother’s Ruin (2005) is “Walk Away.” Watch that band live playing an Oliver-heavy instrumental. Watch Oliver and Gordon Giltrap live playing another song we mention, “Credit Carnival.” Watch Yes with Oliver live in 2011. Here’s Oliver with Starcastle in 2009. Here’s a song by another band Oliver played with, Light Freedom Revival.

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Pat has been a session drummer since the mid ’70s, was a founding member of Mr. Mister in the ’80s, and played in all line-ups of King Crimson since ’94. He’s also a producer and no stranger to electronics.

We discuss “31” by Tu-Ner from T-1 Contact Information  (2023), “Flinch” by TUNER from Totem (2005), “Life Goes On” by Mr. Mister from I Wear the Face (1984), and we conclude by listening to “Prog Noir” by Stick Men (2016). Intro: “Vroom Vroom” by King Crimson from Thrak (1995).

Hear all of “Vroom Vroom.” Watch Stick Men playing this classic King Crimson song live. Here’s Tu-Ner on last year’s tour, and here’s TU (which in this case was Pat, Tony Levin, and Trey Gunn). Watch King Crimson live in its 1995 double trio (with Bill Bruford and Tony), and with the three-drummer 2017 line-up (where Pat takes the first solo). Watch “Life Goes On” live in 1985. Here they are recently reunited.

I previously had Pat’s KC/Tu-Ner bandmate Trey Gunn on the show, where we talked about “Level Five,” which Pat talks about at length prior to “Flinch.” Markus Reuter’s episode features another Tuner track featuring Pat.

Another track Pat mentions is Tunisia’s “The Use of Black,” where he used drum samples from Dennis Chambers. Here’s Pat introducing another of his current bands, O.R.k. Here’s a track from his duo album with another drummer, Terry Bozzio. Here he is in 1999 with his semi-solo project “Mastica.” With his wife, he recorded a whole album of balladic reinterpretations of King Crimson songs.

At the end, we mention the Work in PROGgress album by Stick Men, so you can hear how these three greats develop their music remotely.

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Richard started as guitarist in the folk-rock staple Fairport Convention in 1967 but left in 1970 after five albums. He then recorded his debut solo album, six as Richard and Linda Thompson, and has since recorded 20 more solo albums of lyrically inventive, stylistically varied tunes that nearly always feature very skilled guitar work.

We discuss “Freeze,” the first single from his new album Ship to Shore, “The Ghost of You Walks” from You? Me? Us? (1996), and “Don’t Take It Lying Down” from Still/Variations EP (2015). End song: “When I Get to the Border” by Richard and Linda Thompson from I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974). Intro: “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” from Rumor and Sigh (1991). More at richardthompson-music.com.

Check out his autobiography Beeswing, which I think is especially great as author-read audiobook (listen to a preview).

Listen to all of “Vincent Black Lightning.” Watch a live version of “The Ghost of You Walks.”  Another of the ballads he often plays live is “Beeswing.” And “Meet On the Ledge,” which dates back to Fairport Convention. Here he is with a live cover of “Oops I Did It Again.” Watch a full concert with a band in 2004. Here he is reuniting with Fairport Convention in 1985.

Here’s a video from his US heyday. Some of the other songs we mention include “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight,” “Broken Doll,” “Keep Your Distance,” “I Misunderstood,” and “Persuasion” (also released by Tim Finn).

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Kim has recorded about ten meticulously recorded country-evolving-to Americana albums out of Nashville since 1995. We discuss “Joy Rider” (written with Aaron Lee Tasjan) from Every New Beginning (2024), “A Place Called Home” (written with Mike Henderson) from Rise (2002), and “I’m Alright” (written with Angelo Petraglia and Larry Gottlieb) from Bitter Sweet (1997). End song: “Floating on the Surface,” also from the new album (written with guitarist Roger Nichols). Intro: “Every River”, also from Bitter Sweet. More at kimrichey.com.

Hear all of “Every River.” Watch a video from Kim’s label period, “Those Words We Said” from 1995. Watch a live solo performance of “A Place Called Home.” Watch a recent band performance of “I’m Alright.” Watch a full band gig from 2023.

For some idea of Kim’s Glimmer 20th Anniversary project, here’s the original 1999 version of “Came Around” and here’s the stripped down re-recording. For another example, compare the original and the new “Can’t Lose Them All.”

Listen to Kim’s duet with Chuck Prophet (and Chuck’s appearance on this podcast). Here’s one of Kim’s “work tapes,” that she describes near the end.

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Singer-songwriter Lynn has released 10 albums since 2001. We discuss the title track (and listen at the end to “I Waited Too Long”) from High Tide (2024), “11:11” from Rise of the Fall (2017), and “Drugstore” from Crossing Frequencies (2001). Intro: “City Life” from Sugar on the Floor (2011). Hear more at lynndrury.com.

Watch some video about the making of the new album. Watch her album release party. Watch her live band a decade ago. Hear her collaborative project The Honeypots. Watch the video for “City Life.” I mention Lynn’s relentless solo performance of “Soundtrack.” Hear her play a cover tune.

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You can watch this discussion as unedited video.

It’s a new, discussion-only format, just for this episode (and perhaps some rare ones in the future)! When we write, how much is planned vs. improvised? How much is inspirational vs. double-or-triple checked? How does this factor weigh into how much music we release, how eclectic our sound is, and how well we improvise with others?

This discussion features three returning guests:

• Roger Joseph Manning Jr. was the keyboardist/singer for Jellyfish and Imperial Drag, and more recently as a solo artist and with the Likerish Quartet. Hear his solo episode. The end song on this episode “I’m Startin’ a Band” from his Radio Daze EP (2023).
• David Christian is the singer/guitarist for Britain’s Comet Gain. Hear his solo episode. The intro music to this discussion is “Love and Hate on the Radio” from Radio Sessions 1996-2011.
• Portland-based Rachel Taylor Brown has released 10 solo albums. Hear her solo episode. Her song choice relevant to this discussion was “Stagg Field.”

Hear a pre-release of Mark’s 8-person band’s new demo.

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Illinois singer/bassist Paul had his first release in 1985 and joined with drummer Ric Menck to form a band that was eventually called Velvet Crush, which released six studio albums from 1991-2004. He has since played a lot in Matthew Sweet’s band and has now released two albums with drummer John Richardson under the name The Small Square.

We discuss “Can’t Let Go (Oh, Tommy)” by The Small Square from Ours & Others (2023), “California Incline” by Velvet Crush from Stereo Blues (2004), and “Flower Field” by Choo Choo Train from Briar Rose EP (1988). Intro: “Hold Me Up” by Velvet Crush from Teenage Symphonies to God (1994). End song: “SML” from The Small Square (2015, remastered 2023). More at smallsquaremusic.com and actionmusik.bandcamp.com.

Hear all of “Hold Me Up,” and watch Velvet Crush play it on Conan. Here’s another, mellower live track called “Why Not Your Baby.” Watch some of a live reunion show. Hear Paul’s first single “Halo” (1985). Watch Paul harmonize with Matthew Sweet (with Ric in the band too), and accompanying Matthew and Susanna Hoffs on guitar on an interesting cover tune.

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Graham is the quintessential British singer-songwriter. Though often compared to Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson, he started before either of those guys, with his first album as Graham Parker & the Rumour coming out in 1976. He released five albums with them by 1980 and then went solo for another 15 albums (sometimes with a backing band, sometimes entirely solo). Then The Rumour reformed for two albums and has now morphed into The Goldtops.

We discuss “Lost Track of Time” by Graham Parker and the Goldtops from Last Chance to Do the Twist (2023), “Going There” by Graham Parker & The Rumour from Mystery Glue (2015), “She Wants So Many Things” from Struck By Lightning (1991), and “Between You and Me” by Graham Parker & The Rumour from Howlin’ Wind (1976). Intro: “Local Girls” from Squeezing Out Sparks (1980).  Hear more at GrahamParker.net.

Watch the video for “Local Girls.” Another big song from that album (Squeezing Out Sparks) is “Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions,” and the opening track is “Temporary Beauty.” An ’80s hit (my introduction to Graham) was “Get Started, Start a Fire.” Wikipedia says his only US hit was “Wake Up (Next to You).” (For an “album artist with no hits,” he sure had a lot of produced videos back in the day!)

Watch the live film of the Rumour reunion tour. Hear a live, relatively recent take on “Between You and Me.” Watch a complete solo show from 2022. Watch a complete classic show with The Rumour from 1977.

Graham has written a few books; I read his first novel, the fictional but based on his experience as a musician, The Thylacine’s Lair. A fun, recent release from Graham is The Middlesex Demos, which show what his writing and singing was like in 1973; listen to to the folky “Stay Here Loving You.” Hear his first single (from 1976), “Silly Things.”

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Coming from a family who played traditional cajun music in Louisiana, violinist Louis and his accordion-playing brother Andre have released nine albums (plus some live releases and EPs since 2001), winning two Grammy awards, plus Louis has had a couple of releases under the name Michot's Melody Makers, and he just released his first solo album.

We discuss the title track (and listen at the end to "Ti Coeur Bleu" from Rêve du Troubadour, that 2023 solo album, plus "Marée Noire" from Mammoth Waltz (2012) and "Mexico One Step" from Bayou Perdu (2005). Intro: "Grand Marais" by Michot’s Melody Makers from Blood Moon (2018). Learn more at louismichot.com and lostbayouramblers.com.

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