After nearly a year of all Iowa musicians on Scented Vinyl, last night’s snow storm blew in my first out-of-state guest, singer/songwriter John Statz from Madison Wisconsin. The weather provided a nice backdrop for what would be a laidback evening full of music from some of the best songwriters, well, ever.
One of the fun things about doing this show is when I find that one of my guests has almost identical music tastes to my own. John Statz is a huge Dylan fan, and plays a really great cover of Tom Wait’s “Hold On”. We are also both going to see Daniel Johnston in 2 weeks; hopefully I can bring back some vinyl to play.
We did get to spice things up a bit, as we played one of John’s favorite albums of 2007, Modest Mouse, and I was excited to introduce John to my all-time favorite Iowa musician, William Elliott Whitmore. A nice cap on the evening’s records was the historic “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band(originally by The Carter Family), of which John also plays an amazing cover.
Here is some of the rest of what we played…
William Elliott Whitmore – Latitudes Bob Dylan – John Wesley Harding Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Ease Down The Road Radio Moscow – Radio Moscow Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank Kings of Leon – Aha, Shake Heartbreak The National - Boxer Handsome Furs – Plague Park Leonard Cohen – Death of a Ladies Man (2nd week in a row) Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Fresh of the release of his excellent album “Our Love Was Made For Canada”, John made Mars Café the first stop in what will be a ton of touring in 2008. Making music since the age of 15, John has started to earn some recognition in Wisconsin where he was awarded the 2006 Madison Area Music Award (MAMA) Best Folk/Americana Album for his debut album “Dusk Came Slow”
We talk about both of his albums, the award, and his plans for 2008 (which include at least a couple more trips to Iowa) in the interview, which you can download right now. Also, make sure you download the tracks we recorded at the always great Sonic Factory Studios, for free! Find out more about John Statz and listen to some more tunes at his website www.johnstatz.com
