Music in the Minor League

04/09/2024

Episode 50 of Music in the Minor League is here with Jessica Murillo of Cactus Flowers Band! That's right! 50 episodes of the podcast! We really didn't know how far it would go and if people would be interested

Jessica has been on our list of folks we wanted to interview since we started the podcast and we finally got to catch up with her.

Jessica's path to and through music saw a Shania Twain appearance, time working for Daisy Rock Girl guitars, living all over the southwestern US and absolutely rocking stages everywhere Cactus Flowers sets up.

Listen here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you find podcasts.

For more info on Jessica and her projects, visit the following links:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cactusflowersband
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cactusflowersband/
Bandcamp - https://cactusflowers.bandcamp.com/

03/09/2024

Tonight at midnight! Episode 50(!!!) of Music in the Minor League drops! Our guest this week is Jessica Murillo of Cactus Flowers Band! We're huge fans of Cactus Flowers and were stoked to get a chance to talk with Jessica about her path in music, her songwriting, being an indie artist, working Artist Relations for Daisy Rock Guitars and so much more.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ldwYgYtPyrVHDaBZZqMNF or wherever you find podcasts!!

21/08/2024

Today, episode 49 of Music in the Minor League dropped! This week, our guest is Ryan Doyon, who hosts the Music Savage show on 91.5 WMFO in Boston, MA. The show is also available online at ⁠https://musicsavage.com⁠ and via Soundcloud

Listen here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you find podcasts.

We first became aware of his show back in 2022, when he featured one of our songs on his Summer Roadtrip, which sees one segment per show dedicated to bands along the route from Boston to the west coast and back over the summer. Since then, we've become big fans of the show and have found numerous artists that we enjoy from the show.

Ryan was kind enough to sit down with us to discuss what led to him to being a radio DJ, what planted the seed of love for music inside of him, how important networking is, favorite concerts and how much amazing new music there is out in the world.

To listen to the show and learn more about Ryan, visit these links:
Official Website: https://www.musicsavage.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicsavage
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicsavage/

20/08/2024

Tonight at midnight, episode 49 of Music in the Minor League drops! Our guest this week is Ryan Doyon, who hosts the Music Savage show on WMFO 91.5FM in Boston, MA. The show is also available online at https://musicsavage.com

We had a great conversation with Ryan about the importance of networking, how much great new music is out there to be found, favorite concerts and much much more. Be sure to check it out at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you find podcasts!

14/08/2024

One week from today, we'll be joined by Ryan Doyon from the Music Savage radio show out of Boston, MA! It is also available online at https://www.musicsavage.com/

A big part of this current season was trying to talk to folks who did more than just write, record and perform music. We wanted to talk to some folks who created the art, recorded the songs, hosted radio shows and more.

Talking to Ryan was a blast and we know you'll enjoy the episode! Set a reminder for next Wednesday at midnight!

07/08/2024

Episode 48 of Music in the Minor League is out now!

This week, we sat down with Connecticut-based folks musician Matt Nilsen. As the story goes with many folks in our orbit, Matt started out as a guitarist in various rock and punk bands before picking up an acoustic and writing his own songs.

His songs have a dreamy vibe to them and will really resonate with folks who like Elliot Smith, early Songs: Ohia and similar artists.

We enjoyed getting to catch up with Matt and learning quite a bit about him before we share a bill in New Haven later this month. We hope you dig it!

Check it out here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague/episodes/Episode-48-Matt-Nilsen-e2mt91o or wherever you find podcasts!

For more info on Matt, visit him on the web at:
Website: https://mattwesnilsen.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattnilsen8/
X: https://twitter.com/mattnilsen8
Bandcamp: https://mattnilsen.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-breeze

06/08/2024

Tonight at midnight, episode 48 of Music in the Minor League drops with Matt Nilsen! We'll be playing with Matt in New Haven, CT later this month, dug his new album and figured y'all would, too! We had a great time talking to him and getting to learn what his path to music looked like.

Be sure to listen via the show page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you listen to podcasts!

24/07/2024

Episode 47 of Music in the Minor League dropped today! Our guest this episode is Afton Wolfe! Listen wherever you find podcasts or direct from the show page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague/episodes/Episode-47-Afton-Wolfe-e2mcdbk/a-abesn03

Afton Wolfe's bio on his website opens with a quote from Americana Highways: "If you’re tired of wimpy mainstream vocals of pimply vocalists who haven’t lived yet — this is the cure. Wolfe sings with authority, experience & realism. He pours it dramatically but never artificially."

It definitely encapsulates the vibe of Afton's music. When he reached out about being on the podcast and mentioned Nashville, some understandable apprehension hit us, but his Mississippi roots shine through and Music Row is nowhere to be found. Great songwriting, textured sounds and a voice that has been lived in for a while. All great pieces.

Few interviews have been as seamless and easy as our conversation with Afton. We had never spoken before and barely emailed, but within a few seconds, we were talking, laughing and complaining about the world like old friends. We think it really shows in the interview.

Check out Afton on the internet at:
https://aftonwolfe.com/ - Official Website
https://www.facebook.com/aftonwolfemusic/ - Facebook
https://www.instagram.com/aftonwolfe - Instagram
https://www.youtube.com/aftonwolfe - YouTube

23/07/2024

Tonight at midnight! Episode 47 of Music in the Minor League drops anywhere and everywhere you listen to podcasts! This week's guest is Afton Wolfe!

Afton is a killer singer-songwriter and musician who currently resides in East Nashville, TN! We talked music, baseball and about everything in between. We think y'all will really enjoy this episode!

15/07/2024

Before the hurricane threw a wrench into the Houston area killing power and internet services, we headed out to see Shame On Me MTSP at Shady Acres Saloon! If you've been listening to this season, you heard us catch up with their bassist/vocalist, Mel Gutierrez, in episode 28! There is also a connection to what was supposed to be the upcoming episode, but is now last week's episode with Masaya Tamegai! That connection? Well, Masaya directed their video for the song "Lucky" and captured the band's aesthetic perfectly.

If you're looking for a band that encapsulates the sounds that makes Houston a special music scene, Shame on Me brings it all to the table. When you play music a lot, you can go see shows, but after about 40 minutes or so, the itch to play starts rearing its head so it's time to duck out, but we had no problem posting up for all 3 sets from the band because things move, genres shift and the sound is always captivating. Shame on Me is an act you can't look away from once they reel you in.

Catch them this weekend at the Long River Sessions Showcase over at the Community Cultivation Network (5510 Lawndale, Houston, TX) with Emily Glazener, Emilie Lynn, Rinas, Taylor Marberry and Pretty Vacant! That show kicks off at noon! The whole event is being put on by Masaya and the Long River crew. It's going to be a great collection of artists! Don't miss it!

Now, to close, here's the link for the video to "Lucky": https://youtu.be/eHcFB5O9sak?si=pjO711HeJQf6F2Il

10/07/2024

We finally found a functional Xfinity hot spot and uploaded this week's episode of Music in the Minor League! This week, we were joined by Masaya Tamegai of Long River Sessions, Visuals By Masaya, Houston Collective and KPFT Sessions.

Masaya has become an integral part of documenting the Houston music scene and we were thrilled to get to talk to him. The conversion was full of great information, lots of new bands to check out and lots of laughs. We know y'all will really enjoy this one.

The episode kicks off with Shame On Me MTSP's Lucky, which Masaya shot a video for. Check out the song in the episode, then go watch the video!

Check it out wherever you find podcasts!

09/07/2024

This week's guest is Masaya Tamegai of Visuals By Masaya, Long River Sessions and the new show KPFT Sessions on KPFT Radio 90.1 FM. He's a huge supporter and documentarian of the Houston music scene. It was a blast to get to talk to him about music, awesome Houston bands, what makes a good show, promoting a scene and much more.

Will it run at midnight? Maybe. We're currently waiting on our internet to come back up so we can upload the episode! If it isn't back by midnight, it will run as soon as we can upload it!

06/07/2024

Last night, we headed out to Dan Electros to see Cactus Flowers Band and Quinn the Brain play! We had Arta on the podcast way back at the beginning of season one and were stoked to see the new, hopefully permanent, lineup for Quinn the Brain! And one of these days, we'll get Cactus Flowers on the pod!

Cactus Flowers opened the show with their blend of fuzzed out psychedelic rock that touches on doom at some points and poppy psychedelia at other points. It's a really unique blend of sounds and they've become a band we've really grown to love over the years since first discovering them.

Out-of-towners Cinema Stereo played the bridge band with their late-70s/early-80s inspired rock n' roll tunes. Think Chris Squier.

Quinn the Brain closed it out with their dark punk-tinged rock. One of the last shows we saw before the pandemic was QTB playing with Fea and Branagan at Dan Electros and one of the first out of the pandemic was the same lineup. They absolutely brought it both times and quickly became a must-see band for us. That's why it is saying a lot to point to their new lineup being the strongest we've seen from them yet. Who knew moving a bassist to drums would make everything so tight? Clint Rater handled the move flawlessly and has locked in with new bassist Rachel Brooks to really kick it to the next level!

Be sure to check out both of these bands around town and when they hit the road! We're going to start spending a little more time on this page discussing music and sharing photos to get a little more push for local and national independent artists we get to see! Hope y'all dig it!

27/06/2024

We've broken 4k plays of the podcast! Thanks to everyone who has given us a listen. We're very grateful so many folks have taken the time to support independent music! There are so many downright mind-blowing and life-changing artists out there making music who have a hard time beating the algorithm to find their way to new ears and we've enjoyed doing our part to help them find new listeners.

We look forward to getting to 5k, 10k and so on. As long as y'all keep listening, we'll keep talking to folks from all levels of the minor leagues of independent music! See y'all with a new episode soon!

26/06/2024

This week on Music in the Minor League, we were joined by Todd Farrell Jr.! We first became aware of Todd's music way back in like 2013 when he posted some awesome videos on YouTube for the annual CXCW (Couch by Couchwest) Online Music Festival. Dude did Run to the Hills acoustically!

Over the years, our paths crossed many times and we continued to be fans of his music. Todd has played with so many bands including ⁠Benchmarks⁠, Todd Farrell Jr and the Dirty Birds, Two Cow Garage, Electric Python⁠ and many more! From blazing metal solos to dreamy pedal steel to being a front man, Todd can do it all!

We recorded the episode Monday night, so this one is FRESH! We're grateful to Todd for taking the time to talk to us. We got into baseball, why folksy singers like metal, why metal folks like folksy bands, being a touring musician with a family and a job and so much more. It was informative and fun.

Listen here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you find podcasts!

Find Todd online at:
https://toddfarrelljr.bandcamp.com/ - Bandcamp
https://www.instagram.com/toddfarrelljr/ - Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/benchmarksmusic/ - Benchmarks Instragram
https://www.instagram.com/electricpythonband/ - Electric Python Instagram

25/06/2024

In the quickest turnaround yet for a Music in the Minor League Episode, tonight at midnight, the new episode featuring Todd Farrell Jr. will go live! We recorded the episode last night and it was a blast. We're grateful to Todd for taking the time to talk to us. We got into baseball, why folksy singers like metal, why metal folks like folksy bands, being a touring musician with a family and a job and so much more. It was informative and fun.

Todd has played with so many bands including Benchmarks, Todd Farrell Jr and the Dirty Birds, Two Cow Garage, Electric Python and many more! From blazing metal solos to dreamy pedal steel to being a front man, Todd can do it all!

Be sure to check in tonight to hear all about him!

11/06/2024

We may be on the road, but that didn't stop us from recording and posting a new episode for y'all before we pushed off. At midnight tonight, episode 44 will drop with Jeff Perales of Mind Mine, Do It For Chico Records and Sunflower Syndicate! We've been digging many of Jeff's projects over the years and were stoked to get to discuss them with him and well as many other subjects!

Listen via the link in our profile or wherever you listen to podcasts!

05/06/2024

Steve Tagliere of Junebird, who we interviewed earlier this season, has a new solo album out today! It is available on Bandcamp at: https://stevetagliere.bandcamp.com/album/analog-spite

Junebird also announced they have a new album coming out in October! So make sure you mark your calendars for that one! For now, though, go give Analog Spite a listen!

10 track album

29/05/2024

This week on Music in the Minor League, we welcome Chris Edwards!

Chris Edwards, simply put, is a singer-songwriter rooted in the deep Pineywoods of East Texas. With a suitcase full of influences ranging from the old-time folk and country he grew up with (thanks to his grandparents' record collection) to more recent Texas troubadours like Robert Earl Keen into rockier territory like the Old 97's, Chris Edwards' blend of catchy melodies and literate lyrics prove that he is a songwriter, first and foremost, focusing on "just writing good songs."

We enjoyed getting to sit down and have a conversation with Chris via Zoom. We learned a lot about his music, his approach to songwriting, what he loves about music and his new album, Homebrew, which is coming out on June 28th.

Listen here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you listen to podcasts!

To find more info on Chris, visit on the web at:
https://chrisedwardsmusic.com/ - Official Website
https://www.facebook.com/ChrisEdwardsMusic/ - Facebook
https://www.instagram.com/chrisedwardsmusic - Instagram
https://www.youtube.com/ - YouTube

28/05/2024

Midnight tonight! Episode 43 of Music in the Minor League drops featuring Chris Edwards discussing what brought him to music, what led to a break from performing and his new record called Homebrew that is coming out on June 28th.

Set those alarms and get ready to hear a fun conversation about music and get a preview of the new album with his lead single 'Moonshine Habit' that leads off the episode.

Tune in via the link in our bio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

22/05/2024

Hope y'all are having a great week so far! We're preparing for next week's episode on this end, which will mark a "midpoint" in the season as we take a few weeks off from the show to hit the road and do some touring...which was the subject on last week's show. Season two has been a blast so far and we've gotten to talk to so many wonderful folks about poster art, using music for charity, touring, cover art, podcasts, DIY and so much more. If you haven't listened to all the episodes, you really should catch up!

To recap, so far this season we have talked to: Bevin Luna, Mel from Shame On Me MTSP, Steve and Jason from Junebird, Eric Pearce from Mixed Media Radio and Burning Bones Press, Elaine Holmes from Choice City Stomp, Sean Burns of Sean Burns and Lost Country plus Corb Lund, Jenna Gohman, Tara and Alex of Rock Bottom String Band, Vanessa Jean Speckman of Call Me Rita, Micah Schnabel of Two Cow Garage and more, Daniel Torres (Artist), Stefan Prigmore, Katherine Paterson of very good friends and Doggerland, Jeff Appleby of Pretty ok BBQ and Bart Roberts of Sweet Spot Audio and Records.

It's been one hell of a season so far! If you're looking for new music, Corb Lund has a new album out, Micah Schnabel has a new album out and Jenna Gohman has a new album coming out soon! Want to see some live music? Most of these bands are on tour and a few of them can get knocked out at once if you attend this year's edition of the summer Choice City Stomp on May 31st-June 2nd in Laporte, CO at the Swing Station!

Keep coming back and we'll have lots of fun stuff for you to check out! Listen to the podcast here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you listen to podcasts already!

15/05/2024

Today, episode 42 of Music in the Minor League was released into the world! This week, we discussed touring amongst ourselves.

A couple of weeks ago, folks started posting an article from The Guardian about the difficulties of touring for mid-level and lower-level indie bands. It covered how much money folks can LOSE while out on tour and how the bands are coping with it. It also covers venue difficulties, etc. The situation definitely parallels what is happening in the United States.

While not being experts on the situation, we have toured rather extensively in our time as a band, as well as our time in other bands. So, we all read the article and had a discussion on the difficulties of touring, the costs, how we do it and various other side conversations that are almost relevant.

This is definitely a look into how every practice starts and why 90 minutes of playing turns into 3 hours of practice with Brightwire. We hope you enjoy!

Check out the episode here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague

Check out the article here; https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/25/shocking-truth-money-bands-make-on-tour-taylor-swift

14/05/2024

At midnight, the new episode of Music in the Minor League drops! We'll be having a band discussion on the episode about our experiences touring, hardships we've faced, how we make things almost work financially and much more. We based it off an article from The Guardian that has been floating around for a few weeks. We hope you enjoy it!

To prep, read the article here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/25/shocking-truth-money-bands-make-on-tour-taylor-swift

14/05/2024

Our episode 36 guest, Micah Schnabel, has his new album previewing in its entirety over at Punknews.org complete with a song by song breakdown! We're currently rocking it out and figured you would all probably like to do the same! Go dig it!

Send a message to learn more

08/05/2024

It's halftime week! No show this Wednesday, so you still have some time to catch up by listening to our interview with Bart Roberts from Sweet Spot Audio and Records!

Over the past couple of weeks, an article from the Guardian talking about the dire situation for touring bands in the UK led us to take a week to have a discussion amongst ourselves about the article and touring in the US. So, if you want to do some homework for the next episode, check out this article: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/25/shocking-truth-money-bands-make-on-tour-taylor-swift

See y'all next week! Remember, tell your friends about the show if you like it! Hit us up if you want to be on the show!

As Taylor Swift tops $1bn in tour revenue, musicians playing smaller venues are facing pitiful fees and frequent losses. Should the state step in to save our live music scene?

03/05/2024

Our episode 36 guest Micah Schnabel Music has a new album that is available for pre-order on Bandcamp TODAY! We previewed two songs from it on our episode with Micah back in February. It is also Bandcamp Friday so he'll get all the money you pay!

Pick it up here: https://micahschnabel.bandcamp.com/album/the-clown-watches-the-clock

All the other artists will get the same treatment so if you've wanted to pick up an album from one of our guests, today would be a great day to do it!

02/05/2024

We're a little late on finding this, but season one alum Quinn the Brain released a killer new EP on March 22nd called Bleed Me! If you like to rock, you will love this. They're really one of Houston's finest!

01/05/2024

Today on Music in the Minor League, we are joined by Bart Roberts, who, as he says, is the Chief Vinyl Officer at Sweet Spot Audio and Records in Webster, TX. Bart came from a background in network television and dove right into another dying industry: physical media! We're joking, of course. Vinyl sales have continually grown over the recent years as people look for something tangible for their musical needs. Plus, variants of releases get the collectors excited to gather each version of selected releases.

One of the really important things for independent artists is finding ways to get your music out, be it Bandcamp, online retailers, streaming networks or social media. It is also great to have independent, local record stores that will carry records from local bands on their shelves. For a lot of people, they will take a chance on an album that is sitting on the shelf in front of them before they will via mail order.

We caught up with Bart the same week as Record Store Day, so that was a topic of discussion, we talked about great record store finds, what led Bart to taking over Sweet Spot and all the drama that goes into having your record pressed as an independent artist. There's a lot of great info in this episode and a lot of fun conversation. We hope you dig it!

Check out the episode at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague or wherever you find podcasts!

30/04/2024

Tonight at midnight, episode 41 of Music in the Minor League drops! This episode's guest is Bart Roberts from Sweet Spot Audio and Records. One of the most important parts of being an independent musician is actually selling the records you have pressed and local, independent store like Sweet Spot are instrumental in having your music available on an actual shelf.

We caught up with Bart the same week as Record Store Day, so that was a topic of discussion, we talked about great record store finds, what led Bart to taking over Sweet Spot and all the drama that goes into having your record pressed as an independent artist. There's a lot of great info in this episode and a lot of fun conversation. We hope you dig it!

It'll be available wherever you listen to podcasts or at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/musicintheminorleague

Finally, we're going to start spending some more time posting here on social media and helping to promote the artists we've talked to recently by keeping you up to speed on where they're at now!

17/04/2024

This week, we have reached the milestone of 40 episodes and to celebrate, we brought in our friend, Jeff Appleby, to discuss how we can use music to discuss how music an be used to serve your community and the common good.

While Jeff is not a musician, he what we'd call a "Scene Leader". He puts on shows, connects bands with one another and has his finger on the pulse of everything going down on the southside of Houston.

Each year, he throws a huge birthday party at Ronnie's Hog Heaven⁠ and, for the past four years, has used it to raise money for Texas EquuSearch⁠. We've played it every year he's done the benefit and really enjoyed seeing the community come together to support a great organization like Texas Equusearch.

Jeff runs Pretty ok BBQ, which cooks up some of the best BBQ you'll ever have. He was also a co-host of the Two Sheet Cookers podcast!

We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation with Jeff as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Visit the Texas Equusearch website to learn more and/or make a donation at: https://texasequusearch.org/