If it took a boat to get to Iowa, Austin May would be fresh off of it, as this singer/songwriter has only been in the state for about 6 months. He has already made some friends in the music scene though; including one of our better songwriters in Dan Hutchinson of Why Make Clocks (who will make a return visit to Scented Vinyl next week).
I was excited to hear that Austin was still learning about the great music we have, because that gave me the opportunity to help steer him in the right direction. Starting with one of my all-time favorite musicians, not just from Iowa but ever, William Elliott Whitmore; from there I had to fill him in on The Envy Corps, Poison Control Center, David Zollo, The Nadas and more.
With his record collection back in Pennsylvania, Austin left the music up to me. It wasn’t hard to guess what type of music he was into; I brought up a lot of singer/songwriter albums. Luckily this quite, foggy night at Mars Café was spiced up a bit by albums brought in by a fan of the show. That and the Guinness that was flowing because of St. Patrick’s Day…although oddly enough we had no Irish music.
Here is some of what we played…
Bob Dylan – John Wesley Harding Quicksilver Messenger Service – Happy Trails Pere Ubu – Dub Housing Gary Numan – Telekon Bob Dylan – Greatest Hits Vol. 1 The Envy Corps – 7” William Elliott Whitmore – Song of the Blackbird Weezer – Blue Sugarcubes - Deus Elliott Smith – From a Basement on a Hill Velvet Underground & Nico Elton John – Tumbleweed Connection Rolling Stones – Tattoo You
Being from Pennsylvania, Austin May has a lot to learn about Iowa music and it seems like he is happy to stay and do so. By the end of the week he will be a married man so naturally now he can start having some kids and getting them into Des Moines Schools! He seems happy to be here, and it’s great to have another songwriter on board.
Austin has released four albums in as many years, and his most recent effort “20 Something” was released March 4th. I say released, but I should clarify that he is not taking the typical approach to putting his music out. All four of his albums can be downloaded for free at his website www.austinmay.com, that’s right he’s doing it Radiohead style. We talk all about the reason for this and more during the interview, which you can download right now.
