Talking with Tim

I crave myriad means to learn about new music–and I’m truly partial to independent quirky music. So when Coverville’s Brian Ibbott tipped me off to Shelby Miller’s Shifted Sound podcast, I was ecstatic. So happy, in fact, I got Miller to agree to an email interview. Miller is a middle-aged father of three who loves music. A little over two years ago, he began discovering how much fantastic music was available on the Internet from independent bands he hadn’t heard a million times on the radio. So, as a way to share the music he found as well as figure out what podcasting was all about, he started the Shifted Sound podcast. Shifted Sound is a free weekly podcast showcasing great independent music from around the world. Music the masses should be embracing. And, even if they don’t, his kids love the show. Or at least that’s what Miller told me. Now on to the interview.

Tim O’Shea: In the About section of the blog, you note the show “is an experiment which will change and grow as needed.” How has the show changed and grown since it first launched?

Shelby Miller: The Shifted Sound podcast began as a way to share new music with people who might not hear it otherwise. Before I started the show, as I searched the internet for more music to listen to personally, I discovered more and more independent bands who were producing great songs and I was constantly telling my friends and coworkers about them. I eventually decided to try it on a broader scope with a podcast. So, in that respect, Shifted Sound has remained the same. I still feel like I’m sharing some great music with friends. What has evolved a bit is how I approach the show. When I began, I always plays two songs each from five different bands. And, of course, they were probably bands I hadn’t played before. Now I’m a bit more lenient with myself as far as how many bands I play, and I’ve started playing a couple of songs per show that I have played before as a bit of a reminder for listeners. One of the issues I’ve had over the more than two years of producing Shifted Sound is that I am often moving on too quickly. I have to spend so much time looking for new music that I can’t really get to know too many bands, which I regret. Playing some of their music repeatedly on the show allows me to go back and rediscover and enjoy music that might have slipped off my radar a bit too quickly. I also ran into a period last year where I was a bit burned out on it all and decided to go down to a show every two weeks. That didn’t last too long, though, because I had too much music I wanted to share. So now I record two shows on one night, but still post one per week. That way I get every other week off from having to organize and complete a show.

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First off, I was remiss last week in not mentioning the return of Tony Kornheiser to the radio. He’s grumpy, sure, but few are more funny than him. And even fewer can jump from politics to pop culture to sports with such ease.

AiT/PlanetLar made it in the news, not in the way that most publishers may want to, but I have to give Larry Young (full disclosure, he came up with the name for this blog) a tip of the hat for handling the coverage with candor and grace.

In the folks I would not have heard about otherwise, thanks to Scott Dunbier for directing his readers to the Dave Karlen Original Art Blog where Karlen recently wrote about Frank Godwin. Godwin was a contemporary of Hal Foster, Milton Caniff, and Alex Raymond but never received the level of attention that it appears his work should have warranted. He did two strips, Connie (which ran from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s) and Rusty Riley (which ran from the late 1940s to the late 1950s). The latter strip is the focus of Karlen’s post. Be sure to stroll around Karlen’s blog, there’s plenty of wonderful art to look at, and interesting info about myriad artists, including folks like Frank Robbins.

I love to go looking through You Tube for musical performances. In the past few weeks, I ran across a beautiful string arrangement backing John Cale on his cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (be sure to check out Cohen’s live rendition as well). Another gem I found was Cocteau Twin’s Elizabeth Frazer & The Blue Nile’s Paul Buchanan collaborating with Peter Gabriel on Downside Up.

Speaking of covers, Brian Ibbott recently did an all Warren Zevon episode of Coverville. Man, I miss Zevon. Enjoy every sandwich, as Warren once advised.