June 29, 2026: Merchant of God's Canyon

BONUS EPISODE: The Loft's Mark Greenberg at Solid Sound 2026

Mark Greenberg is the studio manager and part of the production team at The Loft, Wilco’s Chicago recording studio and HQ. He composes and produces music for film, television, and video games through his own studio, the Mayfair Recordings Workshop.  A long-time contributor and advocate of art and music in Chicago, Mark was the assistant talent booker at Lounge Ax, headed the team that built the physical aspects of Art Chicago at Navy Pier, was a founding member of the Coctails, and continues to play and record with Eleventh Dream Day among others.  He's also one of our favorite people to hang out with every other year, so before Wilco's Saturday concert of originals at this year's Solid Sound Festival, Monte had a chance to sit with him and hear how the music is going.

June 29, 2026: Merchant of God's Canyon

In a brand new collection from Restless Books [https://restlessbooks.org], it’s made apparent that we as a country have been trying to figure out our relationship with the divine for centuries. A Nation Wrestles with God: American Prophets, Philosophers and Firebrands [https://restlessbooks.org/bookstore/a-nation-wrestles-with-god] is a collection of writings from before this was a western recognized nation to to present day and we speak with editor Ilan Stavans [https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/istavans] and contributor Reza Aslan [https://www.rezaaslan.com/] about the ways the untied states have engaged with and without religion.  This past weekend one of the most lauded guests at Wilco’s every other year festival was a surprise to Solid Sound attendees. Natalie Merchant [https://www.nataliemerchant.com/] was all over the festival, performing pop-ups, and comedy, and sitting in on sets over all three days. We chatted with her about her history with the project, and her musical education work including her project with the Chicago Symphony: Mother Goose & the Cabinet of Wonder. [https://cabinetofwonder.org/]   And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios' [http://kainaatstudios.com]Salman Hameed, is fresh off a trip to the southwest and returns to relate how our approach to the Grand Canyon gives a lot of insight to the ways people lay claim to the Moon.

June 26, 2026: At Solid Sound 2026!

It’s that time again.  The time every other year that fans of a very specific Chicago band head east to North Adams Solid Sound 9 [https://solidsoundfestival.com/] is happening this weekend in the Berkshires, and today we’re at Mass MoCA [https://massmoca.org]to capture it. So as we ready to hear Mermaid Avenue for the first time ever live in concert with both Wilco [https://wilcoworld.net/] and Billy Bragg [https://www.billybragg.co.uk/], we’ll talk to some of the multi-hyphenate members of that band about this festival and their many other projects, including a documentary from keyboardist Mikael Jorgenson [https://mikaeljorgensen.com/], and a sound art installation from drummer Glenn Kotche [https://www.glennkotche.com/]. We’ll talk music with Sima Cunningham [https://www.simacunningham.com/] of Finom [https://www.finommusic.com/], I Hear Voices, Postock [https://www.postockfestival.com/], and many other musical ensembles about the pop-ups she’s involved with all weekend, and Jeff Tweedy [https://jefftweedy.com/] himself about the importance of performing Mermaid Avenue at this moment. Plus the curator of the festival’s comedy cabaret, and former W. Mass resident himself, John Hodgman [https://www.johnhodgman.com/]gives us a preview of the funny folx headed to the air conditioned portion of the weekend, and what hijinx helps to bring comedians to the northern Berskhires.

June 25, 2026: Sounds local

A rewind to last weekend at the Green River Festival [https://www.greenriverfestival.com] where we’ll hear the warm bass tones of the Amherst based bassist Deja Carr better known to the world as Mal Devisa [https://maldevisa.bandcamp.com/]. We’ll get a glimpse into Deja’s creative process and revel in her performance under the Grandstands at the Franklin County Fairgrounds And US Congressman Jim McGovern [https://mcgovern.house.gov] gives us his take on what went on with Trump’s alleged temper-tantrum where he refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill. And if the Democratic Social Mayor Mamdani effect, that swept through NY primaries this week, will have any implications for Democratic primaries closer to home.

June 24, 2026: Nerve-racking ceramic survival

We are getting people together for artistic endeavors no matter how harrowing it may be.  Off to Westhampton, where one of the many studios that is part of the pottery collective the Hilltown 6 [https://www.hilltown6.com/]lays nestled by a waterfall. The artists who make up the group are hosting a workshop at Easthampton Clay [https://www.easthamptonclay.com/] this weekend and opening up their respective workplaces for a tour later in July. Potters Sam Taylor and Robbie Heidinger meet us to talk about the ceramics scene of western mass and more.  In Amherst just outside of the UMass campus is an important lifeline to folx of Hampshire and Franklin counties. The Amherst Survival Center [https://amherstsurvival.org/]is much more than just a food pantry, addressing the growing needs of the public. We get a tour of their daily work with director Carleen Basler, hear a bit of how their services have changed, and learn how you can support them at a benefit concert this weekend.  And word Nerd Emily Brewster knows we might be a bit stressed out by language sometimes, and especially with a deeper look at wrack with a w versus rack without one and how their meanings are kinda tied together.