Indie 102.3 Sessions

On her debut album “Beyond The Bloodhounds,” Adia Victoria Paul — who performs as Adia Victoria — addresses her complicated relationship to the American South. The South Carolina native adapts the blues music of that region with a modern spin. Her album references artists like Billie Holiday and Robert Johnson — for both their music and politics. Paul and her band stopped into the CPR Performance Studio before a performance at this year’s Underground Music Showcase. She performed three songs from “Beyond The Bloodhounds” and spoke with Jeremy Petersen about the sociopolitical history of blues music, coming to terms with her Southern upbringing and expressing herself through live performance.

When NPR Music asked listeners to tell them their favorite new music artist of 2016, singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy received the second most votes. Glaspy released the album “Emotions And Math” this year. It’s a strong debut LP for the New York City-based singer-songwriter, featuring her crunchy guitar riffs and hard-nosed confessional lyrics. Prior to a Denver show at Larimer Lounge, Glaspy stopped into the CPR Performance Studio to play four songs from “Emotions And Math.” She also spoke with Alisha Sweeney about recording the album multiple times, performing on “Conan” and staying quiet on the meaning of her lyrics.

Eros And The Eschaton last joined us at OpenAir in 2014 after the release of their lo-fi debut album “Home Address For Civil War.” Since then Denver Westword readers voted the Colorado Springs band as the best local pop band of 2015 for their blend of shoegaze and pop melodies. The band has also extended to a five-piece for their sophomore album, “Weight Of Matter,” out August 19. Songs like “Rxx” are faster and louder, but still in the experimental rock vein that has made them local favorites. Eros And The Eschaton played “Rxx” and others from the forthcoming album during their second OpenAir session and spoke with Alisha Sweeney about signing to indie label Bar/None Records, the Colorado Springs arts scene and expanding their sound on “Weight Of Matter.”

Benjamin Clementine won the 2015 Mercury Prize for his debut “At Least For Now,” joining previous winners like PJ Harvey, Arctic Monkeys and alt-J. Clementine is a London-born self-taught musician who developed as a young street performer in Paris. His haunting and unique music blends classical music, rock and spoken word. At the center are Clementine’s bold tenor vocals and percussive piano arrangements. He stopped by the CPR Performance Studio before a headlining show at Denver’s Bluebird Theater. He played three songs from “At Least For Now” and spoke with Jeremy Petersen about his career since winning the Mercury Prize, his experience as a street performer and his love for early rock ‘n’ roll artists like Little Richard.

James Cooley has spent eight years making electronic beats and melodies in his Littleton bedroom. He has self-released five albums and three EPs under the name Mesita. Cooley rarely performs live, but he recently stopped into our studio for a unique Mesita performance: Instead of electronica, he performed solo with acoustic guitar. He performed three songs from his catalog including the recent single “All Out In The Open,” and spoke with Alisha Sweeney about his new album “Laniakea,” exploring new pop music directions and the possibility of a Mesita tour.

Peter Bjorn And John are now a decade removed from their breakthrough single, “Young Folks.” However, the Swedish trio has remained consistently busy since then, and this year they released their seventh studio album, “Breakin’ Point.” The band worked on the record for five years with several producers, including Adele and Paul McCartney collaborator Paul Epworth. The result is a more pop-centric album than previous releases. In addition to performing four new songs in our studio, the band spoke with Alisha Sweeney about approaching the new album as a series of unique singles, the logistics of working with many producers on the same record and running the new INGRID recording studio and label in Stockholm, Sweden.

When The Outfit visited our performance studio in 2013, they were a fairly young Denver rock band with a few songs in their repertoire. The band has evolved quite a bit since then, and now has a debut full length out via the local Hot Congress label. We welcomed back The Outfit shortly before an album release show to preview four songs off the self-titled record. The band spoke with Alisha Sweeney about recording at Denver’s Black In Bluhm studios, how Hot Congress founder Lucas Johannes has propelled their career and a recent opening set for punk pioneers Buzzcocks.

SHEL returned this month to the CPR Performance Studio for the first time since 2014. The band features the four Holbrook sisters from Fort Collins, though sister Sarah was absent for this particular session. ​ The band recently released the album “Just Crazy Enough.” The Holbrooks worked with producer and former Eurythmics member Dave Stewart for the record, which hit #13 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart upon its release in May. SHEL performed three songs from “Just Crazy Enough” in our studio.