Shows
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: jasmine.4.tUK trans-femme artist jasmine.4.t sits down with Carmel Holt for a deeply moving and inspiring conversation ahead of her second night at Radio City Music Hall opening for Lucy Dacus, who co-produced her full length debut, You Are The Morning, with Lucy's boygenius bandmates Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker.
Please note: if topics of suicide and gender-based violence are triggering for you, listen with care. 2025-05-0258 min
SHEROESA SHEROES Journey: HindsCarlotta Casials and Ana Perrote are best friends and co-founders of the Spanish garage-punk-pop band Hinds, and they join Carmel Holt this week to share their story, which saw them rise to stardom, release three albums, and then suddenly find themselves without a label, or management, and the dissolution of their lineup as their drummer and bass player departed the band. Their latest album Viva Hinds! is the result of their recommitment to each other and to the spirit that originally inspired them to start the band over a decade ago.2025-04-1852 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Ebonie Smith of Gender AmplifiedThis week producer, audio engineer, singer, songwriter and founder of nonprofit Gender Amplified, Ebonie Smith joins Carmel Holt to talk about the evolution of Gender Amplified, how she views the statistics of women and gender expansive individuals in the recording industry, and how Gender Amplified is approaching equalizing the space, as well as sampling Gender Amplified's newly released EP called In Bloom, born from their CTRL Room series of production camps. 2025-04-0459 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: YukimiYukimi Nagano is best known as a founding member and lead vocalist of Grammy-nominated Swedish band Little Dragon, but after two decades and seven albums, she has stepped out on her own for a solo debut called For You. Yukimi sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss the new album, infusing her work with more feminine energy, and the newfound freedom of calling the shots.2025-03-2839 min
SHEROESA SHERO'S Journey: Caroline RoseIn this not to miss episode, singer, songwriter, producer Caroline Rose returns to SHEROES to join Carmel Holt in conversation about their sixth album, Year of the Slug, which sees Caroline taking a "experimental year" to do things in a much simpler, more grassroots way. No fancy gear, no label, no streaming platforms, no big productions on tour. Just Caroline, a microphone, a guitar, and a desire to find a way to be a modern day musician that makes sense. 2025-03-2149 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Deep Sea DiverJessica Dobson aka Deep Sea Diver returns to SHEROES to talk with Carmel Holt about her fantastic fourth full length album (and first for indie stalwart label, Sub Pop) Billboard Heart, and the hard-won journey it took to get here.2025-03-1446 min
SHEROESL.A. singer, songwriter, and producer Miya Folick joins Carmel Holt to discuss the themes behind her new album Erotica Veronica, her love for Los Angeles, and how we still need to level the playing field for women and non-binary folks in music.2025-02-2856 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Basia BulatToday Polaris Prize and Juno Award nominated Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer Basia Bulat returns with her seventh studio album, Basia's Palace, and returns to SHEROES to sit down with Carmel Holt to discuss the new album, the importance of staying in touch with her inner child, and how becoming a mother herself brought Basia to some unexpected new sonic landscapes.2025-02-2144 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Victoria CanalSpanish-American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Victoria Canal joins Carmel Holt to discuss her full length debut album, Slowly It Dawns, and they have a fascinating conversation about gender, identity, and being perceived, beauty as currency, and the many factors that may be playing into gender imbalances in the recording industry.2025-02-0743 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Emily LazarJust in time for the Grammy's, nine-time Grammy Award nominated mastering engineer Emily Lazar joins Carmel Holt to talk about her journey to becoming the ceiling breaking audio engineer she is today, what led to founding her nonprofit We Are Moving The Needle, who have recently launched their new microgrants supporting creators who have been affected by the L.A. wildfires, and what she believes is the solution to getting more cis and trans women and nonbinary folks hired as engineers and producers. 2025-01-3151 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: The Weather StationOne of the year's most anticipated albums is out today - Humanhood, the seventh studio album by The Weather Station - and Carmel Holt helps celebrate its arrival by welcoming the brilliant singer, songwriter, producer and musician at its center, Tamara Lindemann for a fascinating conversation about the making of the new album, how learning about differing skull shapes between men and women changed her life, and revelations that have come from teaching songwriting to others.2025-01-171h 00
SHEROESA SHERO'S Journey: Amy HelmSinger-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist and producer Amy Helm recently returned with her fourth solo studio album called Silver City, and joins Carmel Holt to discuss the album's central themes of generational women's voices, and her own journey as a single mother, touring musician, middle age, love and divorce. Amy reflects on her path of revealing more of her own inner world in her songs, and discovering how much she has to share that can inspire and uplift others.2024-12-1344 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Kathleen EdwardsSinger-songwriter Kathleen Edwards returned with her first album in eight years in 2020 called Total Freedom, only to have her comeback thwarted by the pandemic. Earlier this year in Austin, Texas, Kathleen sat down with Carmel Holt to talk about that experience, as well as her then-upcoming series of cover songs she was recording. With a whole lot planned for 2025, including her sixth studio album, produced by Jason Isbell, we get a sneak peek at the newest addition to that series coming on December 11th, and hear why, when she quit music, she wanted to talk to Joni Mitchell.2024-12-0625 min
SHEROESSHEROES Live at The Current with St. VincentWe just wrapped our limited SHEROES series called The Road to Joni. The road was both a metaphor for artists’ paths that led to Joni Mitchell and where those roads led them - and it was a literal road to Joni, as simultaneously, host Carmel Holt travelled across the country from New York to Los Angeles to see Joni at the Hollywood Bowl and back again, while on a tour of public radio affiliate stations who carry SHEROES each week. At the very start of the journey back in September, I visited The Current in St. Paul, Minnesota, and ho...2024-11-2241 min
SHEROESThe SHERO of Her Own StoryThe penultimate episode of the Road To Joni series packs in more conversations than any episode so far. As host Carmel Holt heads east toward home and the finale of the series on Joni’s 81st birthday, the throughline of “Both Sides Now” continues on with four artists whose creative path would have been very different if not for Joni Mitchell. Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath was introduced to Joni’s music at the age of 12 by her dad. They listened in the car on cassette until she knew the songs by heart. Amelia cites Joni’s freedom with her voice an...2024-11-011h 32
SHEROESThere's STILL Nobody Like Joni MitchellThis week’s episode comes to you in the afterglow of two sold out Joni Mitchell performances at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where molecules were rearranged, hearts were broken wide open and 17,000 fans basked in her brilliance. Though she has a bit of FOMO over missing out on being part of the Joni Jam, this week’s first guest, Shawn Colvin, has plenty of Joni stories. After initially discovering Clouds as a teenager at church camp, Shawn found herself many years later recording her 2nd album at Joni’s house with Joni’s then-husband Larry Klein, and Episode...2024-10-251h 29
SHEROESShe Was Right There With UsThe two guest interviews featured in Episode 7 with Bruce Hornsby and Béla Fleck were recorded back-to-back by host/producer Carmel Holt. As it turns out, the threads that connect the two artists to each other and to Joni, make the conversations a perfect pair. Joni's then-husband, Larry Klein, played bass on and co-produced several of her albums in the '80s and '90s. He would also bring the two guests in this episode closer to each other and to their shared SHERO, Joni.Pianist and genre-blending musician Bruce Hornsby sings us through h...2024-10-181h 04
SHEROESThere Is More Freedom To ExploreFor Episode 6, we continue a thread from last week as host Carmel Holt talks with three “boundary dweller” artists about their Roads To Joni. Each of our guests this week are visionaries who push beyond their comfort zone. They are producers, singers, songwriters and instrumentalists. Like Joni, they are multi-Grammy nominees and winners who do things on their own terms. Grammy award winning artist Arooj Aftab spent her teenage years in Lahore, Pakistan listening to American folk music. She found Joni Mitchell’s Blue and from there she was “all in.” Arooj takes us through her gue...2024-10-111h 05
SHEROESThe Boundary DwellerThe title of this week's episode comes from a term that legendary rock photographer Norman Seeff uses to describe a truly innovative artist, one who is willing to risk sacrificing their career in order to expand beyond their creative comfort zone. He calls these people “boundary dweller artists.” Norman says that he sees Joni as the archetype of this concept. Her evolution to incorporate jazz influences in the 70s, threw some of her fans for a loop, but as we’ve heard in previous episodes, Joni was not concerned with what others think. Working with the likes of Wayne Shorte...2024-10-041h 07
SHEROESThe Bridge to JoniSHEROES is on The Road To Joni, but in this episode we discover that sometimes that road is a bridge. A bridge to healing. A bridge to holding your own. A bridge to a new creative path. A bridge from one generation to another. Episode 4 of the Road To Joni begins at the SHEROES studio in upstate New York with 5x platinum recording artist and activist Natalie Merchant. A long time friend of host Carmel Holt, they discovered that they were both Joni Mitchell fans at a 1999 at breast cancer benefit concert that Carmel organized and Natalie headlined. The...2024-09-271h 25
SHEROESDear Joni, The World Loves YouEpisode 3 of The Road To Joni picks up a thread from our conversation with Don Was… and leads us to esperanza spalding. In 2021 esperanza collaborated with her mentor Wayne Shorter on Iphigenia, an opera with a revisionary take on Euripides' Greek tragedy Iphigenia at Aulis. It was Ipheigenia that led esperanza to Joni’s living room, though her path on the road to Joni started years prior with a track from the 1976 album Hejira. esperanza tells host Carmel Holt how, at a recent Janet Jackson concert, she was reminded that Joni Mitchell has “literally influenced everyone.”Jon...2024-09-2056 min
SHEROESShe's Like CézanneWe travel to Los Angeles for the first half of Episode 2, where Carmel talks to legendary producer, bassist, and Blue Note Records president, Don Was about his first gig ever at age 12 opening for Joni Mitchell. Don also shares how he learned an important life lesson from listening to Blue, and discusses the sophistication of Joni's harmonic and poetic compositions, and how this naturally intersected with some of the greats of jazz, including their mutual friend, the late Wayne Shorter. Next, in a heartfelt conversation, host Carmel Holt tells Bonnie Raitt that her own road to Joni began with ca...2024-09-131h 04
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Shana Cleveland of La LuzSinger, songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader Shana Cleveland returns to SHEROES to celebrate the release of the fifth full length album from her longtime band La Luz, called News of the Universe. Carmel Holt and Shana discuss the themes of change on the new album, the first following her cancer diagnosis and treatment, birth of her son, and departure of two of her longtime bandmates. 2024-08-0241 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Yuka C HondaThe trailblazing artist, electronics instrumentalist, composer, and producer Yuka C Honda, has made a career of making music that doesn’t necessarily subscribe to rules and genres. Widely known for her band Cibo Matto, Yuka's career now spans over three decades. Carmel Holt sat down with Yuka at Wilco's Solid Sound festival in June to discuss her journey thus far, and her brand new EP under her moniker eucademix, Farm Psychedelia, released just before performing at Solid Sound. 2024-07-1952 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Cassandra JenkinsCassandra Jenkins joins Carmel Holt this week to discuss her third album, My Light My Destroyer, her third full length album and follow up to her 2021 breakout, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature - an album that despite its widespread acclaim, was also nearly her last. 2024-07-1251 min
SHEROESA SHERO'S Journey: Brittany Howard (revisited)Now that we are officially halfway through 2024, the first wave of "Best Albums of 2024 (so far)" lists are here. So this week, host Carmel Holt brings back one of her favorite episodes of the year so far, in conversation with one of her favorite artists discussing her then-new album that is now newly anointed as one of the best of the year by critics (and was immediately put on our own). The album is Brittany Howard's sophomore solo album, What Now, and Carmel sat down with Brittany back in February when it first was released to talk about what...2024-07-0544 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Teresa WilliamsSinger and guitarist Teresa Williams joins Carmel Holt to talk about her new album with husband and musical partner, guitarist/songwriter/producer Larry Campbell, All This Time. Teresa shares her journey from growing up in the deep South where "things don't change much", to chasing her dreams of being an actress and singer in New York City, meeting her future husband, Larry Campbell, and after years of being apart while Larry was touring with Bob Dylan, finally getting to join forces in Levon Helm's band. Now with four albums together as Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Teresa reflects how music...2024-06-281h 01
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Ann PowersIn this episode of SHEROES, host Carmel Holt welcomes fellow public radio SHERO and music critic Ann Powers to discuss her latest book, Traveling: On The Path of Joni Mitchell, her nearly decade-long journey writing it, her own story building a 30-year career, and the evolution of her relationship to Joni as an artist, and to her music.2024-06-141h 00
SHEROESSHEROES Live at Brandi Carlile's Mothership WeekendHost Carmel Holt takes SHEROES on the road to Brandi Carlile's Mothership Weekend in Miramar Beach, Florida. Through conversations with Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, S.G. Goodman, and Brandi's co-curators and festival organizers, Topeka, we continue the ongoing conversation and inquiry into lack of inclusion on festival lineups (see last week's episode with Book More Women), discussion about touring artists who are mothers and how to make working conditions better for them, and what queer identity and visibility means in both music spaces and to the artists themselves.2024-06-071h 26
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Jobi RiccioColorado-born and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Jobi Riccio released her critically-hailed debut album Whiplash last September and has just been nominated for her first Americana Music Award as Emerging Artist of the Year. She sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss the path she has been on since her early teens as a guitarist, the crucial mentorship and influence she has received from artists like Sarah Jarosz, her experience as a student at Berklee College of Music, and how she has finally learned to take up the space she deserves.2024-05-2458 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Grace CummingsAustralian singer-songwriter Grace Cummings joins Carmel Holt this week to talk about her stunner of a third album, Ramona, and her journey thus far. A self-taught guitarist who is also an actor, Grace was encouraged by a fellow musician friend to share her mighty voice on stage, and though at first reluctant, she discovered a love for performing and music that quickly landed her a U.S. record deal, and a newfound musical soulmate in producer Jonathan Wilson, who produced her new album. 2024-05-1732 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Gabriela Quintero of Rodrigo y GabrielaGuitarist Gabriela Quintero joins Carmel Holt to discuss the latest Rodrigo y Gabriela album, In Between Thoughts... A New World, their sixth studio release and first since their 2019 Grammy-winning album Mettavolution. Gabriela takes us back to her earliest days of teaching herself to play guitar, discovering her love of rock and metal bands, and the chance meeting at fifteen with Rodrigo Sanchez that would eventually lead to forming their metal-influenced acoustic duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and traveling around the world to playing some of the biggest stages.2024-05-1052 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Reyna TropicalGuitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, activist, and founder of She Shreds Media, Fabi Reyna joins Carmel Holt to discuss Malegría, her full length debut as Reyna Tropical - now a solo project she initially started as a duo in 2016 with producer and dj Sumo Diaz in 2016, who passed away in 2022. Fabi shares her journey from picking up the guitar at age nine, to learning about activism through music at Girls Rock Camp as a teen, touring in femme and queer bands, founding She Shreds Magazine (the world's first and only magazine focused on women and gender nonconforming guitarists and b...2024-05-0357 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Bridget KearneyBridget 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...2024-04-1958 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Laura Lee Ochoa of KhruangbinThis 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. 2024-04-0552 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Sheryl CrowIt'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...2024-03-2948 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Aoife O'DonovanOn 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. 2024-03-2253 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Kim KransOn 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...2024-03-1557 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: The Japanese HouseUK 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.2024-03-0151 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Madi DiazSinger, 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...2024-02-2352 min
SHEROESA SHEROES Journey: Sleater-KinneySleater-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.2024-02-1650 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Brittany HowardThe 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. 2024-02-0944 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Cherry GlazerrLos 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.2024-02-0233 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Allison RussellWith 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 of...2024-01-2641 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Mary LattimoreMary 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...2024-01-1942 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Marika HackmanThe 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.2024-01-1243 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: DessaA 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. 2023-12-0852 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Rosanne CashThe 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. 2023-12-0143 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: VagabonLaetitia Tamko - the multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer who records and performs as Vagabon - joins Carmel Holt to discuss her newest album, Sorry I Haven't Called, how grief and love and heartbreak informed the process in a somewhat surprising way, and three albums in, discovering how much she enjoys collaborating after years of doing everything on her own.2023-11-2738 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Rhiannon GiddensRhiannon Giddens returns to SHEROES exactly three years since host, producer, and creator Carmel Holt launched the show as a syndicated radio hour for public radio (November 17, 2020) with her as its very first featured interview guest. As SHEROES Radio celebrates its third anniversary, Carmel welcomes the multi-Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, artist, composer, author, and activist Rhiannon Giddens back to discuss her third solo outing You're The One, a week following its Grammy nominations for Best Americana Album and a second for Best American Roots Performance for a song from that album, making her a 10-time G...2023-11-1752 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Margo PriceSinger, songwriter, producer, and author, Margo Price joins Carmel Holt to discuss her newly expanded fourth album Strays / Strays II, which overlapped with writing and publishing her 2022 memoir, Maybe We'll Make It. A proud feminist, Margo talks about the journey thus far, the realities of being someone that refuses to conform, staying true to her artistic muse, and speaking out. She also shares what was behind her decision to quit drinking and the new chapter it has opened up for her.2023-11-1041 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: IAN SWEETOur newest episode coincides with the release of Sucker, Jilian Medford's fourth album as IAN SWEET. Jilian sits down for an in-depth conversation with Carmel Holt to discuss why this album is so significant, and represents a triumphant arrival, and a return. Persevering through the disillusionment and discouragement she encountered in her college music program, loss of confidence due to controlling bandmates, a band breakup, and mental health crisis, Jilian Medford has found her way back to the freedom, joy, and confidence she once had as a child, while now embodying the wisdom of all she has endured as...2023-11-0355 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: L'RainTaja Cheek aka L'Rain joins host Carmel Holt this week to discuss her brilliant, genre-bending, and multiverse of a third album, I Killed Your Dog, which saw Taja contemplating definitions / redefinitions of womanhood and femininity. An in-depth look at Taja's journey thus far reveals an artist who has always been an intrepid explorer of musical worlds: from her classical training on piano, cello, and recorder as a child, to crate digging through her father's record collection, to teaching herself bass so that she could play bands and join the ranks of a burgeoning Brooklyn scene of rock, DIY, experimental...2023-10-2744 min
SHEROESSinger/songwriter/poet Jamila Woods sits down with host Carmel Holt to discuss Water Made Us, her third solo album and first since 2019's critically-hailed conceptual album Legacy! Legacy! While that last album saw the Chicago native researching and writing about some of her SHEROES and heroes, Water Made Us was born of introspection and gathered wisdom from more immediate teachers in Jamila's life - her therapist, her family, her friends, her astrologer, and her tarot practice.Singer/songwriter/poet Jamila Woods sits down with host Carmel Holt to discuss Water Made Us, her third solo album and first since 2019's critically-hailed conceptual album Legacy! Legacy! While that last album saw the Chicago native researching and writing about some of her SHEROES and heroes, Water Made Us was born of introspection and gathered wisdom from more immediate teachers in Jamila's life - her therapist, her family, her friends, her astrologer, and her tarot practice.2023-10-2048 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: This Is The KitFifteen years and now six albums into her career, British-born, Paris-based, Kate Stables aka This Is The Kit sits down with host Carmel Holt to discuss her brilliant latest album, Careful of Your Keepers, reflections on her journey thus far, early lessons learned from her SHERO Ani DiFranco, and the many facets of the irritating yet necessary question: what's it like to be a woman in music? Her answers are poignant and at times hilarious. 2023-10-131h 00
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Molly Rankin of AlvvaysIt's October 6th and tomorrow is exactly one year since Alvvays released their third album Blue Rev, a career high-water mark for the Toronto-based group. With only a couple months remaining in 2022, the lightning speed with which it was unanimously named one of the best of the year - in many cases taking the number one spot on those lists, or top three - was thrilling to witness. 2023 brought Alvvays their second Juno Award for the album, and their third consecutive Polaris Prize shortlist. So it makes good sense that this is an anniversary well worth celebrating, as the...2023-10-0638 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Jenny Owen YoungsA decade after self-releasing her third LP, An Unwavering Band of Light, the singer, hit songwriter, and hit podcast host (Buffering: A Rewatch Adventure, The eX-Files), Jenny Owen Youngs recently returned to release her gorgeous new album of "Jennysongs" Avalanche. In this episode, she sits down with host Carmel Holt for a fascinating conversation about her journey thus far, what the highly productive past ten years between albums has taught her, and traces the pivotal moment when everything opened up in her career and songwriting back to when she opened up publicly about her queer identity.2023-09-291h 02
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Rissi PalmerWhen Rissi Palmer released her debut single "Country Girl" in 2007, she became the first black woman in 20 years to have a song on the Billboard Hot Country chart in 20 years. Little did she know that a decade and a half later, she would use her platform and experience in Nashville to be a champion for people of color in that space. Now the host of Color Me Country with Rissi Palmer on Apple Music, a CMT correspondent, among many other things Rissi is involved in, she has just put out a three-song EP aptly titled Still Here, and joins...2023-09-2259 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: RomyA companion episode to Romy's recent visit to SHEROES during Pride Month on the heels of announcing her debut album Mid Air, Romy Madley Croft, who is best known as one-third of The xx, returns to SHEROES to celebrate the release of the album and reflect on the journey thus far as a solo artist with Carmel Holt.2023-09-1537 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Grace PotterMulti-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist Grace Potter has been making records since she was nineteen years old. Two under her own name, then four more between 2005 and 2012 with her massively successful band Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. In 2015 she began releasing albums as a solo artist once more, but with a full band mentality. Her third outing following the Nocturnals chapter is called Mother Road - both a callout to what Steinbeck called Route 66, and the road she has taken as a mother. In this in depth interview, Grace sits down with host Carmel Holt to talk about the journey she h...2023-09-0856 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Debby FridayMontreal-born, Toronto-based artist and producer Debby Friday came up in the rave and club scene, and was a DJ before deciding she wanted to make music of her own. In five short years, Debby Friday has released two self-produced EP's, and co-produced her 2023 full length debut Good Luck, which is shortlisted for the Polaris Prize. Just a few weeks away from the award ceremony, host Carmel Holt sits down with Debby to discuss her journey thus far, and the new album.2023-09-0230 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: BullyAlicia Bognanno is a triple threat: artist, producer, and engineer. Recording and performing under the moniker Bully for the past decade, she has historically done everything herself. But her fourth album, Lucky For You, marks a new chapter in her career with lots of firsts - sharing production duties (with Nashville producer JT Daly), inviting an outside voice to sing on a couple tracks (Sophie Allison aka Soccer Mommy) - and with a supportive and trusted team of her management and label now in place, she is no longer carrying the weight of it all on her own. Alicia B...2023-08-2532 min
SHEROESSHEROES Live at Newport Folk Festival with Neko CaseSHEROES returned to Newport Folk Festival this year with special guest Neko Case, who just released the vinyl edition of her career-spanning retrospective, Wild Creatures, and discusses her many current writing projects : music for a Broadway musical, songs for a new album, a book, and her ongoing Substack, Entering The Lung. She and Carmel Holt also talk in depth about her relationship with her audience, the influence of the Indigo Girls, and the importance of queer/BIPOC/women's spaces. 2023-08-1133 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Beth OrtonThirty years into her illustrious career, which included pioneering the "folktronica" sound of her early albums in the mid 90's, Beth Orton released one of her best albums to date last year. She joins Carmel Holt to discuss the critically acclaimed Weather Alive, finding her agency in midlife as a producer, and how the success of her eighth album gave her hope.2023-08-0448 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Bethany CosentinoBethany Cosentino sat down with Carmel Holt back in May on the day her solo debut Natural Disaster was announced. It was her first interview about the SHERO's Journey that led to breaking away from Best Coast to record this album, and now that the album release day is finally here, you're invited to take a deep dive with Bethany and Carmel discussing the complexities of being a musician who wants to be a mom, the roots of Bethany's feminism, and finally finding confidence in her voice as a singer and solo artist. 2023-07-2846 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: FeistA universally revered SHERO of indie rock, the Canadian singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer Feist joins Carmel Holt for a fascinating conversation about the intersection of her art, motherhood, grief, and recent experimentation with communal, interactive performance. The aptly titled sixth album and show, Multitudes, shows once again just how eternally artful and visionary Feist's work is, and reflective of the changing nature of time. 2023-07-2144 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Hannah Hooper of GrouploveSinger, songwriter, keyboardist, and visual artist Hannah Hooper co-founded the band Grouplove with her husband Christian Zucconi fourteen years ago, and rarely does interviews alone. But on the heels of releasing the band's sixth album, I Want It All Right Now, Hannah sits down with Carmel Holt for an in-depth conversation about the journey from solitary visual artist to a catsuit-wearing band leader, singing on some of the world's largest stages.2023-07-0742 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Indigo De SouzaSinger, songwriter, guitarist, Indigo De Souza returns to SHEROES to talk with Carmel Holt about her new album All Of This Will End, and the necessary changes she made in her personal and professional life over the last couple years, resulting in her most confident work to date.2023-06-3037 min
SHEROESSHEROES & QUEEROES with Meshell NdegeocelloAs part of SHEROES Pride Month series, SHEROES & QUEEROES, Carmel Holt sits down with acclaimed singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and eleven-time Grammy nominee, Meshell Ndegeocello, who has just released her 13th album, The Omnichord Real Book.2023-06-1630 min
SHEROESSHEROES & QUEEROES Pride Hour with RomyRomy Madley Croft of The xx has just announced her solo debut album, Mid Air (out September 8), and Carmel Holt invited Romy to take part in her month-long celebration of Pride by joining her for a special SHEROES & QUEEROES Pride Hour, that features a playlist curated by Romy, a peek at the new album, and in depth conversation about the journey that led her here.2023-06-0954 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Julia BailenGuitarist and singer-songwriter Julia Bailen is one third of the NYC power pop trio BAILEN with her elder twin brothers, David and Daniel. On the heels of releasing the second full length BAILEN album, Tired Hearts, Julia sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss her journey to discovering the empowering stability that her instrument and"owning it" brings her, the democratic process of making records with her brothers, and working through some of the negative effects and thought patterns caused by our ageist and sexist music industry. Julia started playing guitar when she was just 7 years old, taught by...2023-05-1936 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: NannaThe Icelandic band Of Monsters & Men exploded onto the scene in 2010, instantly becoming an internationally known band with their multi-platinum-selling debut, My Head Is An Animal, but the seeds of this band were planted during their front woman's teen years. Nanna got her first guitar at 13 and immediately began writing songs. Within a few years she was performing as a solo act under the moniker Songbird, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. A move to the city of Reykjavik gave her the opportunity to connect with and recruit musicians for that project, that would eventually become her bandmates in Of...2023-05-0528 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Rosa LinnA small village in Armenia might be an unlikely place for a future Eurovision contestant and global TikTok star to be discovered but that is exactly what happened for this week's guest, singer-songwriter-producer, Rosa Linn. With a series of massively successful singles already out, and a major record deal with Columbia Records, Rosa Linn's star is rising fast. She joins Carmel Holt in conversation to share her story.2023-04-2826 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Lucinda ChuaCellist/multi-instrumentalist/composer/producer/singer/songwriter Lucinda Chua sits down with host Carmel Holt to talk about the themes of returning to her self and her cultural identity on her beautiful self-produced and engineered full length debut, Yian. 2023-04-2031 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: BlondshellOn the heels of releasing what is already a critically hailed debut album, Sabrina Teitelbaum aka Blondshell sits down for an in-depth conversation with Carmel Holt about freeing herself from trying to fit the mold of a female pop star, internalized misogyny, and how she imagines herself 40 to 50 years into her career.2023-04-0738 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Nikki LaneNot only is this week's guest a fantastic songwriter and performer, she is a genuine outlaw country SHERO, a rebellious tough girl with a tender heart, and, as she dubbed herself on her last record in 2017, a Highway Queen who has logged countless miles as a touring musician, while running several businesses at once. She is a woman who suffers no fools, but with a smile. On this new episode of SHEROES, we meet the many sides of Nashville singer-songwriter-entrepreneur Nikki Lane, as she sits down with Carmel Holt to talk about her fourth and most personal album, Denim a...2023-03-1736 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Rachael PriceSinger Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive, and the duo Rachael & Vilray, joins Carmel Holt to talk about the new Rachael & Vilray album I Love A Love Song!, what pregancy and planning for new motherhood as a musician has been like, and changes she would like to see for women and nonbinary people in the music industry.2023-03-1030 min
SHEROESSHEROES Live at On Air Fest with Valerie JuneGrammy-nominated singer, songwriter, poet, and author, Valerie June sits down with Carmel Holt live in conversation at the annual podcast festival, On Air Fest: Brooklyn. They discuss Valerie's hard-won success, the spiritual practices that have carried her through, and the many questions that she has when it comes to equality in the music industry. Two decades into her already illustrious career, Valerie June continues to forge an incredibly inspiring, not to mention prolific, path, and a message of joyful resistance, courageous dreaming, and compassionate love. 2023-03-0351 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Miss GritPolymath Margaret Sohn sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss their visionary full length debut as Miss Grit, Follow The Cyborg, the importance of making technology cute, and the ongoing challenges of communicating and collaborating in male dominated spaces. 2023-02-2443 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Black Belt Eagle ScoutSinger, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul (KP) sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss her third album as Black Belt Eagle Scout called The Land, The Water, The Sky, moving back home to ancestral lands, and the need to lean into the things that ground her.2023-02-1732 min
SHEROESA SHEROES Journey: Laurie Henzel, co-founder + creative director BUST MagazineThis episode takes a detour from the usual SHEROES artist interview to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the O.G. feminist lifestyle and culture publication, BUST Magazine. Founded in 1993 by three women in New York City, BUST started as a ‘zine, made of stapled pages and a passion for their cause: to make feminism cool again. Now a quarterly magazine, BUST has kept going despite financial challenges along the way - and a world which still favors hyper-sexualized images of women on magazine covers and advertisers that sell unattainable standards of youth and beauty. BUST proudly continues to feature ne...2023-02-1032 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: H.C. McEntireSouthern singer-songwriter H.C. McEntire joins Carmel Holt to discuss her newest solo album, Every Acre, and how her exploration into the deeper meanings and complexities of home and land ownership connected with her own journey with grief, loss, love and relationships. 2023-02-0326 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: SamiaOur new episode drops the same day as our guest's anticipated sophomore album, Honey. Singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist Samia joins Carmel Holt to talk about how the new album connects with her first (the critically-hailed debut, The Baby), how spending time in Sylvan Esso's universe has inspired her, and learning quickly how to avoid toxic people and sexism in music spaces, instead focusing on surrounding herself with the right team. 2023-01-2730 min
SHEROESA SHEROES Journey: Big JoanieOn the heels of releasing their sophomore album, and Kill Rock Stars debut, Back Home, UK black feminist punk trio Big Joanie join Carmel Holt for a thought-provoking conversation about their journey as musicians pushing back against the lack of intersectionality in punk and the music industry for the past decade, and the ongoing double bind of an industry that is simultaneously trying to diversify music spaces and falling prey to tokenism. 2023-01-2036 min
SHEROESA SHEROES Journey: Say She SheThe Brooklyn-based trio Say She She joins Carmel Holt in conversation to discuss their debut album Prism, the importance of using their voices for positive change, and how uplifting women (and each other) has impacted their creativity for the better. 2023-01-1333 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Weyes BloodNatalie Mering aka Weyes Blood sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss her critically-hailed new album, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, Mering's fifth studio effort; as well as her thoughts on feminism, sexism in the music business, and how her outlook has shifted on both.2023-01-0638 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: iLeThe multi-Latin Grammy and Grammy award winning Puerto Rican songwriter, singer, and composer Ileana Cabra aka iLe, joins Carmel Holt to discuss her third album Nacarile, the feminist themes of her music, and the importance of speaking out.2022-12-1634 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Kanene Pipkin of The Lone BellowFor the past decade, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter and producer Kanene Pipkin has been a founding member of Americana trio The Lone Bellow. She'll tell you that she rarely does interviews on her own, and isn't used to talking about herself. But on this episode of SHEROES, she joins Carmel Holt for an in-depth conversation that reveals what that decade has been like for her, as she navigated motherhood and being a touring musician, and the sometimes lonely life of being woman in the male dominated industry of music. 2022-12-0841 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Danielle PonderAt 16 years old, Danielle Ponder was given her first guitar and that same year her brother was sent to prison. These two events would chart the course of the rest of her life. After two decades working as a public defender and activist, while moonlighting as a touring musician, Danielle Ponder finally took the leap to devote herself entirely to music, and word of her talent and inspiring story has spread like wildfire. In this not to miss episode, Danielle joins Carmel Holt to share her extraordinary journey and discuss her stunning debut album Some of Us Are Brave.2022-12-0235 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: YunaWith a fanbase of millions and a decade-long career behind her, Malaysian singer/songwriter/producer Yuna has become an internationally known artist on her own terms, staying true to her identity as a Muslim Southeast Asian woman who wears the hijab. Carmel Holt sits down with Yuna to talk about her 5th full length album Y5, and the journey that led her here. 2022-11-2835 min
SHEROESA SHEROES Tribute to Mimi Parker of LowFollowing the heartbreaking loss of Mimi Parker of Low who passed away due to ovarian cancer on November 5th, 2022, SHEROES host Carmel Holt took to social media to gather song requests and remembrances from fans, collaborators, and fellow musicians, reached out to Minnesota radio hosts for guest DJ spots, and spoke to Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, who produced Low's 2013 album The Invisible Way. The result is a moving two-hour communal tribute to Mimi, that includes an encore presentation of her SHEROES interview from January 2022, where she had first revealed her cancer diagnosis to the public. **Special thanks to...2022-11-161h 56
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Natalia LafourcadeThe multi-Grammy winning and internationally acclaimed Mexican artist Natalia Lafourcade joins Carmel Holt to discuss her first album of original material in seven years, De Todas las Flores. Natalia Lafourcade hails from the Mexican state of Veracruz. She is the daughter of two musicians, and grew up studying and playing several instruments, including piano, flute, saxophone, singing and guitar. Natalia joined her first band while still in high school, a pop music group called Twist, but came into her own within a few years, releasing her 2002 self titled debut - a combo of latin, pop, and bossa nova, which...2022-11-0324 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Courtney Marie AndrewsGrammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and producer Courtney Marie Andrews sits down with Carmel Holt on the heels of releasing her eighth album, Loose Future, to both discuss her newest work, and share the journey that led her here. From growing up as a latchkey kid in Phoenix, Arizona, raised by a single mom, her grandmother, and surrounded by a family of women, to founding her first band in her early teens as a feminist punk rocker, to hitting the road by age 17 to pursue music. We learn how her sound has evolved, and how she has learned to navigate a...2022-10-2831 min
SHEROESA SHEROES Journey: Tegan and SaraTegan and Sara return to SHEROES, this time as the featured guests, joining Carmel Holt to discuss their 10th studio album Crybaby, and what this chapter in the Tegan and Sara story is all about. They go deep about Sara's newest role as mom to a newborn, and the new questions it raises about what the future looks like, lessons learned from the pandemic pause in touring, and the importance of swinging big to pave the way for women and LQBTQ voices in music.2022-10-2147 min
SHEROESA SHERO'S Journey: Maya HawkeAn in-depth conversation with the multi-talented Maya Hawke - currently best known as an actress (Stranger Things, Do Revenge) but who is quickly becoming as beloved as a musician and songwriter. Maya sits down with Carmel Holt to discuss her second album Moss, and how her hunger for life manifests in her boundless creative energy. A brilliant young woman who won the gene-pool lottery as the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, Maya opens up about how wonderful, yet complicated, the life of a professional family can be, how it is to walk through the world in her "...2022-10-1439 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Shemekia CopelandAward-winning and Grammy-nominated blues, soul and Americana singer Shemekia Copeland joins Carmel Holt to discuss her 11th album, Done Come Too Far, and the SHERO's journey she's been on since her teens when she first took the stage to open for her father, the Texas-bluesman Johnny Copeland. Nearly 25 years into her career, Shemekia has always used music to confront tough issues, especially for women, and her latest album completes a trilogy of albums addressing issues like racism, xenophobia, and gun violence, alongside messages of hope and lighthearted humor.2022-10-0731 min
SHEROESA SHERO's Journey: Karen OAs we celebrate the release of Cool It Down, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' fifth, and first album in nine years, Carmel Holt welcomes the iconic front-woman, songwriter, and vocalist Karen O for an in-depth, SHEROES conversation. While talking about the joy and inspiration behind the new album, Karen opens up about the struggles she's had in the (still) male dominated world of rock to be taken seriously as an artist and writer, the ways she has carved out a space for herself, and the life-affirming effect of seeing more and more Asian American and Pacific Islander women emerge as...2022-09-3037 min
SHEROESSHEROES Live at AmericanaFest with Amy RayOn this episode of SHEROES, Amy Ray sits down with Carmel Holt in Nashville on the day between receiving an Americana Music Award with Indigo Girls and the release of her 10th solo album, If It All Goes South. Listen in as they discuss her journey as a queer feminist musician and the importance of intersectional feminism, the role that her solo work has had to play for her creative expression, aging as a woman, and the song Amy wrote for their mutual friend and radio SHERO, the late Rita Houston.2022-09-2329 min
SHEROESSHEROES x SHEROES: Ani DiFranco x Tegan and SaraOn this special episode of SHEROES, host Carmel Holt bring Tegan and Sara together with their SHERO Ani DiFranco for the very first time to discuss her landmark live album Living In Clip, which celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. 2022-09-161h 06
SHEROESA SHERO'S Journey: Mimi Parker of LowAs a long time fan of the band Low, Carmel Holt realized that she hadn't heard many (or perhaps any?) interviews that focused on drummer, singer, and songwriter Mimi Parker. When they sat down together for an interview back in January of this year, Carmel couldn’t have anticipated how important and rare this conversation would be. In addition to hearing about her nearly three decade journey with Low, the band she co-founded and has been in with her husband Alan Sparhawk since 1993, and the new high water mark of their latest album - 2021’s Hey What - what Mimi...2022-08-1232 min