Announcing Radio Resistance: Tennessee Experimental
A Podcast Featuring Genre-Defying Musicians in the South, First Four Episodes Now Available
NASHVILLE, TN (June 14, 2024) – Radio Resistance: Tennessee Experimental is a new podcast featuring genre-defying music makers in the South. Each episode follows the music and personal story of one experimental artist as they navigate the thriving local underground DIY scene. Radio Resistance’s first four episodes are now available for streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and more information can be found on the podcast’s website.
Hosted by Carissa Stolting, Season One begins in Nashville, TN and addresses the challenges and opportunities of creating unconventional work in a state whose musical legacy – especially as perceived by those outside of Tennessee – is rooted in country music, bluegrass, and blues. The season features four episodes spotlighting Nashville-based musicians Dream Chambers, Michael Hix, Joshua Dent, and Belly Full of Stars. Future seasons and episodes will be announced at a later date.
In addition to sharing new ambient, electronica, neoclassical, and jazz music, the podcast features interviews and live performances with local Nashville artists, and programs each guest artist’s work alongside their creative influences. Radio Resistance: Tennessee Experimental shows the breadth and depth of Tennessee’s boundary-pushing artists, highlights the blossoming experimental scenes in the South, and connects the work of these visionary artists with their internationally recognized peers.
Radio Resistance: Tennessee Experimental
Season One–Nashville
001: Dream Chambers
002: Michael Hix
003: Joshua Dent
004: Belly Full of Stars
001: Dream Chambers: Dream Chambers is an artist whose music blends modular synths and crystalline vocal harmonies with bone rattling sub-bass. Dream Chambers (aka Jess Chambers) tells her story of leaving the folk/Americana world to find the spectrum of color and the infinite expanding universe in synthesizers. At the time of this interview, she was one day away from leaving Nashville to return to New Zealand. With the bird’s eye perspective that transitional space offers, she shares stories about the underground music scene in Nashville and embraces technology as her personal feminist manifesto. Plus, music by Dream Chambers’ creative influences: Pauline Anna Strom, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Arushi Jain, and Suzanne Ciani.
002: Michael Hix: Michael Hix is a composer whose music incorporates synthesizers and electronics to build dynamic structures that evolve over time, delving into the human condition and the metaphysical dimension. His work draws upon classical minimalism, sacred music, analog techno, and house. In this episode, Hix talks about the profound influence William Basinski and his artist collective Arcadia had on his personal creative journey, as well as the unique culture of collaboration and experimental “jamming” in Nashville. Plus, music by Michael Hix’s creative influences: Pep Llopis, Ryuchi Sakamoto, and Carl Stone.
003: Joshua Dent: Joshua Dent is a Nashville-based cellist, composer, and member of experimental new music ensemble, chatterbird. In this hour, Joshua performs an original solo cello composition “Vulnerable/Vicious” live in the studio and shares their story about living and creating in Tennessee while Trans/Queer rights are under attack. The vision and inspiration behind Dent’s work stems from a hope to both give and receive perspectives that instill compassion for fellow human beings. Plus, music by Joshua Dent’s creative influences: Giovanni Sollima, Caroline Shaw, Mingjia, and Kaitlyn Raitz.
004: Belly Full of Stars: As Belly Full of Stars, artist Kim Rueger often blends FM synths and granular vocals with sundry field recordings and modular processes, improvising textured compositions that veer ambient, with hints of glitch. In this hour, hear Kim’s philosophy on improvisation and music meditation, as well her thoughts on the challenges and opportunities of making experimental music in Nashville. The episode closes with a sneak preview of new unreleased material by Belly Full of Stars. Plus, music by Belly Full of Stars’ creative influences: Caterina Barbieri, Rosenau & Sanborn, Low, and Meg Mulhearn.
About Host Carissa Stolting:
Carissa Stolting is the founder of Left Bank Artists, where she represents several internationally beloved musicians. She is also the co-founder of Unmanageable, a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to mobilize resources and build power for artists engaged in social change work. She began her work in music at AC Entertainment, supporting concerts and festivals in the South like Bonnaroo and Forecastle, and was the Managing Director of the Big Ears Festival in 2018 & 2019. She is a board member of Nashville-based experimental music ensemble, chatterbird.
Credits:
Radio Resistance: Tennessee Experimental is created by Unmanageable Arts and made possible with support from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Audio produced by Kai Welch. Live interviews and performances recorded and engineered by Matt Andrews. Graphic design by Ben Smith. Podcast distributed by We Own This Town. Intro music by Dream Chambers.
Follow Radio Resistance: Tennessee Experimental on Instagram and subscribe via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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