Ghost Notes: Recent Episodes
Fountain City Frequency
This podcast tells the story of Kansas City’s musical landscape through in-depth, honest, and unpredictable interviews. Ghost Notes is a space where listeners, musicians, and the industry can have the uncomfortable conversations about music creation and consumption that often go unheard in the final product.
Calvin Arsenia is a vocalist, multi instrumentalist, music teacher, and performance artist based in Kansas City. He has performed internationally and lived and made music in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Jeff Harshbarger is a bassist, composer, and staple of the Kansas City music scene. Along with playing bass all over the globe in a variety of bands, he co-founded an artist run record label named Tzigane Music, and hosts Wednesday’s Jazz in the Afternoon on KKFI.
The Buhs is an eleven piece pop group from Kansas City that fuses elements of hip-hop and soul. I spoke to lead vocalist Julia Haile and trumpeter Hermon Mehari.
Taryn Miller is a musician from Winfield, Kansas who plays under the moniker Your Friend. She was signed to Domino Records, home of Animal Collective and Neutral Milk Hotel, in 2014. After the release of her first self-produced EP called Jekyl/Hyde. Since then, she's toured internationally, and put-out a full length album Gumption via Domino Records.
Vocalist Kianna Alarid and guitarist/songwriter Jared White lead the Kansas City Band Yes You Are. Kianna discuss the transition from the indie rock band Tilly and The Wall to the pop rock group, Yes You Are; and they both talk about how faith has shaped their music.
Mogan Cooper, also known as Barrel Maker is a Kansas City hip-hop emcee and filmmaker. A man of many talents and names, he usually goes by his last name, Cooper. He released his second full length album with producer Conductor Williams this year. It’s called "Blk Flan II: For The Imperfect. For The Diligent". Right now, he’s making music with LiON, a DJ based in Lawrence, Kansas.
Marty Hillard is a Topeka, Kansas native and founder of Ebony Tusks, a three piece hip hop group he formed in 2010. DJ Daniel Smith joined the group two years later. And Marty met his supporting vocalist Nathan Giesecke while "Geese" was running lights for the Lawrence Band Thieves. Marty joins us on Ghost Notes today at KCUR 89.3 studios.
Cody Wyoming and Kimmie Queen have been creating music as a couple in Kansas City for 12 years. They have carefully selected four Kansas City musicians to join their heavy psychedelic infused rock group, The Philistines. Cody writes most of the group’s songs on guitar and sings. Kimmie is the group’s lead singer, and unofficial lead dancer on stage as well.
Mr. Amado Espinoza is a Kansas City based composer and musician from Cochabamba, Bolivia. We’re joined today by Espinoza and his wife Karen Lisondra, who will jump in and help us translate.
Mikal Shapiro is a Kansas City singer-songwriter-musician who grew up in suburban Johnson county and remembers never quite fitting in. Her mom studied occult science by mail, and her dad was known for telling extravagant tales. Mikal released her fourth full length album The Musical in April 2015. We’ll dive into her past and how it’s shaped her 20-year musical career.
Growing up, Stephonne Singleton told people he wanted to play music. He’s black; he’s tall; he’s a dude, and he thinks that’s why most people responded saying: “So you wanna be rapper?” But people’s assumptions were far different from Stephonne’s true musical dreams.
Noah Geller is the Kansas City Symphony’s concertmaster, also known as the principle solo violinist. He has won numerous awards for his performances all over the world. Noah earned his bachelor and graduate degree at Juilliard. During his time there, he also co-founded the Group Shirami, which is Hebrew for “Song Of Our People.” The group is still active, playing Jewish music that is often obscure and composed during the Holocaust era. On this Ghost Notes interview, Noah addresses the exclusivity of the classical music world, and how it has evolved throughout the centuries. The music you hear underneath the interview is our recording from Noah’s solo performance at our studio.
Joe Stanziola, known as the rapper Second Hand King, remembers a time when no one came to his shows. That was three years ago. Now, he can't play a concert in Kansas City without the crowd singing his songs back to him. Joe says that in his early rap days after a show, most people would avoid him. But, there was always someone who would tell him, “dude, you got balls,” he said. What that person probably was hinting at, is the fact that Joe is a white rapper. Hear how people on the road react to Second Hand King’s music, and the color of his skin. And here about Joe’s struggle reaching for national exposure still living in Kansas City.
We’ve all been wowed by a 6 string guitar player, but what about a sixty string guitar player? Jeff Freeling used to play the electric zither, a sixty string monter of a guitar used in his past career with The Blue Man group. In 2010, he quit his job with Blue Men to become the Victor of Victor and Penny, Kansas City’s own antique pop duo. He’s scaled back to a six string guitar and his parter Erin McGrane plays Ukulele.
This week, we hear Erin Mcgrane, AKA Penny from Victor and Penny. She shares her journey towards their new album, Electricy, which is the first body of work Jeff and Erin have created with almost all original songs. That’s a great diversion from their previous work of covering American Jazz tunes they dug up through Sonic Archeology.
If John Coltrane, one of the greatest horn players ever, was on stage trying to impress a crowd he would completely lose their attention if Ella Fitzgerald grabbed a mic and started singing next to him. That’s the power the human voice. Dominique Sanders is a bass player and producer who recognizes that power.
This podcast tells the story of Kansas City’s musical landscape through in-depth, honest, and unpredictable interviews. Ghost Notes is a space where listeners, musicians, and the industry can have the uncomfortable conversations about music creation and consumption that often go unheard in the final product.