WFUV's Take Five

Since the growing folk scene of mid-1960s Boston, Chris Smither has proven himself a master of modern acoustic blues. He's just released his twelfth album, 'Hundred Dollar Valentine,' and it's his first ever to feature only his own tunes, so he brought his guitar and his stomp board to FUV to play us a few of them, and to chat with host Darren DeVivo.

The Alternate Side's Kara Manning talks with the Brooklyn band Here We Go Magic about working with the long time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on its latest album, 'A Different Ship.' The band also performs live, acoustic versions of the songs: 'I Believe In Action ' and 'Make Up Your Mind' in WFUV's Studio A.

A sister, two brothers and three others make up the band Delta Rae. Their sound has been described as 'Mumford & Sons meets Fleetwood Mac,' and the alt-pop blend of rock, blues, country and gospel is perfectly exhibited on the band's debut album, 'Carry The Fire.' The Durham-based sextet recently squeezed into our Studio A for a lively chat with FUV's Claudia Marshall and some powerful live songs.

The roots-rocking singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim has a natural ease that permeates his music. His fourth album, 'The Way We Move,' traces his internal path from a romantic break-up to emotional recovery. It does so with a thoughtfulness that is sometimes surprising, given his band's joyful ability to whip up a hootenanny on the spot — which Langhorne Slim & The Law did during a recent visit with FUV's Eric Holland.

It's been a big year for The Lumineers, partly due to the release of the Colorado band's self-titled debut album, but also because their high-energy folk-rock sound has reached a lot of ears. Sold-out shows and TV commercials aside, it's also been a long road to this success, and FUV's Alisa Ali got more of the story when The Lumineers stopped by Studio A to perform live.

The Verbs are singer-songwriter Meegan Voss and her husband Steve Jordan. She was the leader of The Poptarts and The Antoinettes; he is a world-renowned drummer, composer and producer who has worked with a stellar list of musicians including Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and John Mayer. As The Verbs, they came to FUV's Studio A to perform with several all-star side players, and to talk with host Dennis Elsas about a wide range of musical subjects ranging from castanets to The Rolling Stones.

The Alternate Side's Kara Manning talks to the London band, Bombay Bicycle Club about the changes in the bands sound throughout these past few albums, including their latest, 'A Different Kind Of Fix'. The band also performs a couple of live songs in WFUV's Studio A.

Rhythm abounds in all of the many layers of Antibalas, and after 14 years as a band, the Brooklyn-based Afrobeat orchestra is sounding as energized as ever. Back with a new self-titled album, the whole band recently squeezed into Studio A to perform live, and to talk to host Claudia Marshall about weaving the new batch of songs together. 

JD McPherson was raised on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma and hit stylistic pay dirt when he found some 1950s rock 45s in the discard bin at a local record store. Now the former punk rocker has a dynamite debut album of R&B-tinged rockabilly, called 'Signs and Signifiers,' and JD and his band recently performed a shredding FUV Live set for us at Rockwood Music Hall, hosted by Rita Houston.

Mary Chapin Carpenter's private life in the last few years has been marked by several major blows, but her approach to surviving loss and grief has been to make her most personal album yet: 'Ashes and Roses.' Never afraid to paint the complexities of live and love, this Grammy-winning artist discussed the new songs on a recent Studio A visit with host John Platt, and gave some beautiful live performances as well.

Mississippi's own soulful rocker, Charlie Mars, has been taking the long view in his career, and it shows. The songwriter and guitarist unveils a gorgeously-evolved sound on his sixth album, 'Blackberry Light,' and he joined FUV's Rita Houston in Studio A to perform a few of the songs live.

The Alternate Side's Alisa Ali talks with venerable indie rock band, The Dandy Warhols, about their seventh full-length album, 'This Machine' as well as their lifelong experience in the music business. The band also performs live acoustic versions of the songs: 'Well They're Gone' and 'Sad Vacation' in WFUV's Studio A.

Beirut frontman Zach Condon made his first album at home, but travel is a major influence on his songs and sound. He recently spoke with FUV's Alisa Ali about where the batch of new songs on 'The Rip Tide' came from.

Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore each have long resumes in music, but the couple just released their debut album as The Mastersons, called 'Birds Fly South', and they recently performed a few songs at FUV. Says host Claudia Marshall: 'Chris Masterson was wearing the geekiest glasses I think I have ever seen (high praise coming from me, as I have some pretty nerdy-looking vintage frames myself), and Chris and wife Eleanor also share my love of a pricey, British shoe designer. All of this to say that they seem to be tailor-made for their current home in Brooklyn rather than their home state of Texas, though they do return to Dallas for the holidays. No, Chris and Eleanor - gypsies like most musicians - fit in perfectly here in their adopted hometown, but their music often reminds me of the Minnesota-based Jayhawks. Geography and fashion aside, there is plenty to love about The Mastersons' Americana pop, but don't take it from me: Steve Earle likes them so much he added both to his band and even featured the duo during his last tour. High praise, indeed.'

Joan Osborne has a voice made for singing blues and soul, and now she's devoted an entire album to those classic sounds with 'Bring It On Home.' Ahead of its release, she brought a killer band to Studio A to perform a few of the tunes, and also spoke with FUV's John Platt about the 'why' and 'why now' of the album.