Episode 30: A Conversation with Larry Kirwan of Black '47

Explicit content warning

07/16/21 • 49 min

Buckle up folks. This is a special episode of For Songs. My guest is Larry Kirwan, lead singer/songwriter for the seminal Irish-American rock band Black ’47. Black ’47, for a time, was considered New York City’s house band; they had a massive following up and down the East Coast. For folks of a certain age, Larry’s music was their introduction to Irish history, particularly the Northern Ireland conflict. Join us as we talk about three great Black ’47 songs, along with a brand new, exclusive track Rockaway Blue, based on his newest novel of the same name. If you like history, music, politics, and songwriting, you won’t want to miss this!

Previous Episode

Episode 29: A Conversation with Matt Easton of The Jenny Thing

Depending on where you live, one could say that we’re going through a bit of a renewal. COVID cases are dropping, people are eating out, and as we’ve chronicled, live music is back! So it’s appropriate, then, that my next guest and his band are going through a rebirth of their own. Berkeley, Ca., based [The Jenny Thing](www.thejennything.com) first came to be in 1991. Their music blended 80s synth pop with the industrial rock sound popularized by 90s bands like Nine Inch Nails. The band was a West-Coast touring mainstay before calling it quits in 1999. As we get ready to venture back out into the world, The Jenny Thing is giving it another go as well. On this episode of For Songs, I speak with Matt Easton, lead singer and co-songwriter for The Jenny Thing. We talk about what led to the band’s return engagement—American Canyon, released in early June 2021. We discuss four songs off the album: Paper Angel, American Canyon, Lightfield, and Waiting for the Knife. Matt talks about how the songwriting process works between himself and guitarist Shaom Rao, and just what a 90s band influenced by 80s music sounds like. Sometimes texture and space is just as important as driving bass and fresh guitars! So tune in!

Next Episode

Episode 31: A Conversation about #Cuba with Lisset Diaz

Let me be clear: this is the most important interview I’ve ever done. It is my humbling honor to welcome the amazing singer/songwriter Lisset Diaz of the [Sweet Lizzy Project](www.sweetlizzyproject.com) back to For Songs. Lisset and her bandmates emigrated from Havana, Cuba, to Nashville, TN, in 2017 to record their second full-length album Technicolor. Lisset is a frequent guest of the show, but this interview is different. If you’ve been watching the news, you know there is a once-in-a-generation protest movement in Cuba. Cubans are putting their lives on the line to bring an end to the authoritative regime.

For Lisset, watching this from afar is both painful and inspirational. Painful because she doesn’t know if her friends and family are safe, but inspirational because of the incredible courage her fellow Cubans are showing by taking to the streets. In this interview, Lisset talks about her hopes and her fears for her country. While she faces no repercussions in the US for speaking out, she knows there’s a chance she may never be able to return to Cuba as long as the current regime is in power. And because Lisset is taking such a huge risk, we owe it to her to listen. Please, if you care about what’s happening in Cuba, share this episode with a friend or family member. Make sure the world knows what is happening right now. Thank you and please welcome Lisset Diaz back to For Songs.