The World Cafe

The first incarnation of the Seattle band Pickwick revolved around Galen Disston's strummy acoustic songs. Disston eventually found himself bored with his own music until a not-so-subtle shift took place; the band began experimenting with new sounds and ideas, Disston shifted into the role of lead singer and crowds immediately noticed.

In this installment of World Cafe, you'll hear three songs from Pickwick's debut (Can't Talk Medicine), as well as the full story behind the band's reinvention.

The fact that Matt Pond has dropped the vestigial "PA" from the end of his moniker has more to do with geography than sound. On this episode of World Cafe, we learn why the singer-songwriter (and former Philadelphian) has moved around so much — it's all for love.

Pond does tell host David Dye what hasn't changed: his always likable voice and an ability to write heartfelt songs with melodies that stick.

It's kind of surprising that Iron and Wine's Sam Beam has ended up making his living in music. Early on, he received a cautionary lesson from his dad.

"My father used to book Motown bands in college," Beam says. "And he imparted some wisdom on me that it's an easy gig to lose your shirt in."

Beam grew up in South Carolina; he studied art in college, then got into making movies. Music was just something he did on the side, for fun.

A little reinvention never hurt anyone. Nashville singers Jordan Meredith and Louis Johnson met in St. Augustine, Fla., and quickly discovered how well their voices blended together, so they moved to New York City and formed Augustine.

The duo, which now resides in Nashville, has since become The Saint Johns, and recently released its gorgeous new songs on a free downloadable EP. Listen to two songs from The Live Sessions here.

Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith writes heartfelt first-person songs, somewhat in the style of Laurel Canyon predecessors like Jackson Browne. In an exhaustive interview with World Cafe's Michaela Majoun, Goldsmith describes the inspiration for the songs on the band's new album, Stories Don't End.

Langhorne Slim & The Law are touring  in support of their latest CD The Way We Move and they'll be making a stop at WCBE before their show that night at The Bluestone with Lucero! 

Folk and pop singer-songwriter Seth Glier will join us "Live From The Library" during the Global Village.  He's out on the road in support of his latest release Things I Should Let You Know.  He'll perform that night with Liz Longley at Columbus Performing Arts Center for a Six String event.  Tune in for live music and conversation on WCBE!  Listen here!

David Beck and Paul Cauthen were both playing music around San Marcos, Texas, when they recognized that it might be a good move to combine their talents and became Sons of Fathers. Actually, they originally went by the name Beck and Cauthen until another, more famous Beck took notice.

Thao Nguyen has been busy since her last album, Know Better Learn Faster, came out in 2009. The band moved to San Francisco while Nguyen explored recording with other artists, even making an album with Mirah.

When Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan ditched their solo careers to form The Milk Carton Kids, they discovered that they had a lot to teach each other. They also had a plan: to give their music away in order to find their audience. It worked remarkably well. Now, their third album, The Ash & Clay, is out on a regular label — no freebies this time around — and they're playing to packed houses across the U.S. and Europe.

You could hear it in their first singles in 2011: Sisters Jessica and Jennifer Clavin and their band Bleached are onto something. Now comes their debut full-length, Ride Your Heart, and it fills in the story: Beachy harmonies combine with punk attitude to take what you loved about Best Coast to a grittier place. It's fun and it's heartfelt — what could be better?

While on tour with his band Guster, Adam Gardner noticed that a lot of energy was being consumed, particularly in getting bands and fans together for a show. His wife, an ecologist, had been nudging him at home to become more green, and he'd started to wonder what could be done about the environmental impact of life on the road.

The Brooklyn trio The Lone Bellow is out on the road in support of their debut self titled release and will make a stop by WCBE ahead of the show at The Basement! 

The Seattle folk-pop band Ivan & Alyosha are touring in support of their debut release All The Times We Had on Dualtone Records.  

The last few years have found Mark Oliver Everett of Eels doing more than a bit of summing up. That includes an autobiography, Things the Grandchildren Should Know, as well as an anthology of the band's past work — all while putting out an inter-related trilogy of new studio albums.

Today, we welcome singer-songwriter, Grammy-nominated producer and record-company owner Rachel Faro, who visits World Cafe to discuss the Portuguese tradition of Fado.

Husband and wife Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst had their own careers going — his with the band The Films and hers solo. Then they started performing together, just the two of them, and found that their personal chemistry translated to their music together.

The South Carolina duo released its debut album, O' Be Joyful, last summer. Here, Trent and Hearst join us to talk about how that homemade record came to be — and, of course, perform live in the studio.

James Hunter fell in love with vintage R&B during his youth in England, with his grandmother's records providing a foundation. Hunter sang in workingman's clubs and got a break in the early '90s, when Van Morrison heard him singing and invited him on tour as a backing vocalist.

Jesse Dee grew up in Boston — far from the South, where the music he loves has its roots — and could never quite shake the '50s and '60s R&B he'd heard on the radio as a kid. He started writing his own material in high school because he wanted his music to be contemporary.

Dee's first album, Bittersweet Batch, came out in 2008; his latest is On My Mind/In My Heart. His love of singing shines through, in both our conversation and this live session.

The name Lady Lamb the Beekeeper came to singer-songwriter Aly Spaltro in a dream. When the Maine native emerged from the DVD-store basement where she'd been experimenting with music for several years, her friends responded positively. She soon moved to Brooklyn, where those original songs were re-worked for her debut album, Ripley Pine, released this past February.