SHEROES

Sarah Jarosz joins us on SHEROES and reflects on her journey thus far, including starting her career in her teens and early 20’s, the importance of joining forces with Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Watkins to form I’m With Her, and how her new album, Polaroid Lovers, her seventh studio release, finds her both breaking new ground by deciding to invite co-writers to work with for the first time, while simultaneously bringing her full circle to her early days when the world had crowned her a bluegrass prodigy and she had just barely graduated high school.

Bridget Kearney returns to SHEROES to celebrate the release of her new solo album Comeback Kid. Best known as a founding member of Lake Street Dive, the bassist, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist and host Carmel Holt discuss Bridget's multi-faceted journey thus far - from discovering her love of songwriting and the bass as a child in her native Iowa City, to her pursuit of jazz at New England Conservatory where Lake Street Dive was formed, to her travels and recordings in Ghana with one of her many side projects, to teaching a course in songwriting at Princeton University and the magic of sharing her love of music with others.

Alynda Segarra returns to SHEROES to discuss their critically-hailed new Hurray For The Riff Raff album The Past Is Still Alive, their journey that is documented in these memoir-style songs, and how the songs and recording of the album took on a whole new meaning following the sudden passing of their father.

This week Laura Lee Ochoa, best known as the bassist and founding member of Khruangbin, sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss Khruangbin's brand new album, A LA SALA - or, to the living room - and shares her journey from her own childhood living room that inspired the title. From her pursuit of visual art, to picking up the bass and starting the band, the role of her alter ego Leezy and how that is evolving, and integrating her newest role as a mother into her life as a touring musician with her chosen family of Khruangbin.

It's Sheryl Crow week on SHEROES! The iconic singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, activist, Rock-and-Roll-Hall-of-Famer, and all-around SHERO joins Carmel Holt to celebrate the release of her 12th album, Evolution, which both sees her more inspired than ever, and handing over production duties for the first time since her debut. Sheryl shares her reflections on a four-decade career, her insights on where we have seen progress for women in the music industry and where we still have work to do, the crucial piece of advice that Chrissie Hynde gave her when she was still coming up in the business, and the questions she has about where feminism fits into the music industry.

On this episode, Carmel Holt welcomes back singer-songwriter Aoife O'Donovan to SHEROES to celebrate the release of her fourth solo album, All My Friends: a timely and ambitious new collection of songs whose origins began with a commissioned work for the Orlando Philharmonic to honor of the centennial of the 19th amendment and inspired by one of the central figures in the women's suffrage movement, Carrie Chapman Catt.

On this week's episode, host Carmel Holt welcomes one of her SHEROES, Kim Krans (creator of The Wild Unknown tarot decks) to the podcast to celebrate and discuss her journey back to music, as she has recently released her first solo album MIRRORMIRROR - her first recorded music in a decade. Kim was part of an indie band in the mid-late 2000's called Family Band, whose star was on the rise when Kim created her first hand-drawn tarot deck, The Wild Unknown. In this moving conversation, Kim shares how her career unfolded, finding her way back to recording music again, and the importance of sharing your artistic gifts with the world.

This week we’re thrilled to bring you a special edition of SHEROES recorded live in front of an audience at On Air Fest - an annual podcast festival at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn. Our very special guest this year was nine time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Norah Jones, who has just released her ninth studio album Visions on Blue Note Records, and is preparing to head out on tour starting in May. With tequilas in hand, Norah and I chatted about the new album, her fantastic podcast called Norah Jones Is Playing Along, and much more.

UK singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Amber Bain aka The Japanese House sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss her newest album, In The End It Always Does, her journey from getting her first instrument (a ukelele) at three years old to getting signed to the 1975's record label Dirty Hit, the transformative experience she had working with Chloe Kraemer as her producer, and why she wants to work almost exclusively with women and queer people.

Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Madi Diaz has been hard at work building her music career since dropping out of Berklee back in 2007, and self-releasing her debut, Skin and Bones. 2021 ended up being her year. A record deal with Anti- Records and her critically hailed fifth full length effort, History Of A Feeling, got a much bigger wheel in motion than ever before, including finding a fan in one Harry Styles, who invited Madi to join him on tour to open some of his shows, and join his band. Now after standing on some of the biggest stages in the world with one of its biggest pop stars, Madi Diaz has returned with her sixth full length album, with a title that perfectly sums up finding the courage to fall in love again, and sticking it out in the music industry. It's called Weird Faith, and just before she released the album, Madi stopped by SHEROES to chat with host Carmel Holt about the new album, her journey, and perspectives she’s gained along the way.

Sleater-Kinney is one of the most influential and revered indie rock bands of the last three decades, and just returned with their eleventh album, Little Rope. The co-founders, guitarists, vocalists, and songwriters Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein (with a guest appearance by Carrie's dog) join Carmel Holt in conversation to discuss the intense emotional landscape the songs for the album journeyed through, finding a new perspective and a renewed commitment to Sleater-Kinney, and their perspectives on feminism and intersectionality.

The visionary and Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Brittany Howard joins Carmel Holt in conversation to take an in-depth look at her brand new album What Now, her second solo outing and follow up to 2019's Jaime.

Los Angeles singer-songwriter-guitarist Clementine Creevy sits down with Carmel Holt to talk about her fourth Cherry Glazerr album, I Don't Want You Anymore. Already a decade into a career that started after uploading songs to Soundcloud while she was still in high school, Clem reflects on her journey thus far, and taking more ownership of her work than ever before.

With the Grammy's just over a week away, host Carmel Holt welcomes back the extraordinary multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, poet, and activist Allison Russell, who is up for four Grammy's this year for her second solo album, The Returner, making her an eight-time nominee in three short years. Allison's career spans over two decades, and over a dozen albums recorded with her bands Po' Girl, Birds of Chicago, and Our Native Daughters - her collaborative project with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, and Leyla McCalla. But it was Outside Child, Allison Russell’s critically acclaimed, and four-time Grammy-nominated 2021 solo debut, that set off what has been a whirlwind three years of awards, accolades, touring, headlining Newport Folk Festival, collaborating, activism, and building what she calls “the Rainbow Coalition”. In today's conversation, Allison reflects on the last couple of years, discusses what awards mean to her, and shares the story of making The Returner as a second chapter of a trilogy: Outside Child was a chronicle of her escape from childhood abuse and trauma, to finding healing, love and chosen family in art, music, and community, and The Returner is the next chapter: a celebration of survivor’s joy.

Mary Lattimore is an experimental and improvisatory harpist, composer, recording artist, collaborator, and in-demand session player for some of the most revered names in indie rock. Recently back with her fifth full length album, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada, Mary Lattimore joins Carmel Holt to talk about using her compositions to channel and hold on to memories, feelings, and places, what made her finally feel like an expert in something, and how getting fired from a job not only inspired a new song on the album, but then led to working with a founding member of one of her favorite bands of all time, The Cure.

The U.K. singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Marika Hackman is back today with her fifth full-length album and first of original material in four years, called Big Sigh - what she both calls the hardest album she has ever made, and her favorite thus far. She joins host Carmel Holt to talk about the genesis of Big Sigh, finally finding the confidence to take production credit, and what her journey of the past eleven years as a career musician has been like.

A lot has happened since March of 2023 when the singer, songwriter, producer, and musician Caroline Rose released their brilliant third studio album, The Art of Forgetting. In addition to critical praise from NPR, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, and Under the Radar, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Recording Package category - a big deal for Caroline Rose, who was the visionary and creative director behind the cover. They also announced their biggest tour yet, which kicks off in March of this year. We celebrate by revisiting our interview, and giving away a 10 pairs of tickets to her nationwide tour. (details at sheroesradio.com)

One reviewer said of Corinne Bailey Rae's new album, Black Rainbows: "It sounds like a departure, but feels like a renaissance." In this episode, Corinne Bailey Rae discusses how industry expectations and massive success had begun to infiltrate her own creativity, and how meeting Chicago artist Theaster Gates, and visiting his Stony Island Arts Bank propelled Corinne Bailey Rae into a transformative period of songwriting and the multidisciplinary project now known as Black Rainbows, and how allowing herself to remove all preconceived notions of her persona ultimately becoming the most fully expressed representation of who she is as an artist and a woman.

A fascinating conversation with the multi-hyphenate artist Dessa, who sits down with host Carmel Holt to talk about a wide range of topics including the evolution of her career, her thoughts on image and feminism, what drives her to create, how and why she integrates art and science in her work, and her latest creation - the new full length album, Bury The Lede.

The iconic Rosanne Cash joins Carmel Holt this week to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her landmark album, The Wheel. A unique and deeply significant album anniversary that doubles as a romantic one for its co-producers, Rosanne Cash and her now-husband and creative partner, John Leventhal, as well as a watershed moment in Rosanne's life and now 45-year career.