{"id":2003,"date":"2017-09-06T18:09:31","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T22:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/?p=2003"},"modified":"2017-09-06T18:09:31","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T22:09:31","slug":"dot-podcast-ep38-the-joyful-contradiction-of-valerie-june-plus-new-comedy-from-shane-torres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/2017\/09\/06\/dot-podcast-ep38-the-joyful-contradiction-of-valerie-june-plus-new-comedy-from-shane-torres\/","title":{"rendered":"DoT Podcast EP38: The Joyful Contradiction of Valerie June plus New Comedy From Shane Torres"},"content":{"rendered":"

About four songs into her set at New Hampshire’s Prescott Park<\/a>, Valerie June<\/a> addressed the crowd. \u201cWhat about the things that are going right?\u201d she said. Random cheers from the audience. \u201cI hear a lot about what\u2019s going wrong, what about what\u2019s going right?\u201d <\/p>\n

She had just finished a hip-shaking rendition of \u201cShakedown,\u201d from her latest album The Order of Time<\/em>, a roots-folk-soul gumbo with a bit more of an electric attitude than her breakthrough album, Pushin\u2019 Against a Stone<\/em>. June is no saccharine neo-folk artist. Many of her narrators don\u2019t have what they truly want. They either just missed it or it\u2019s forever hovering just in front of them. That\u2019s the case in the next song she played, \u201cSlip Slide On By.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I knock at your door,\u201d she sings, \u201cGather your heart from the floor\/When no answers come\/Ever still, never run.\u201d The attitude is, if you\u2019re going through hell, keep going. June wrote the song \u201cHigh Note\u201d for Mavis Staples<\/a>\u2019s recent album, Livin\u2019 On A High Note, and the influence is obvious. I have said in the past that if you don\u2019t leave a Mavis Staples show feeling good, I don\u2019t know how to cure you. June is made from that same mold. She may sing about heartbreak and struggle, but she does it with an irresistible joy. <\/p>\n

There may be more happy tunes on the way. \u201cI don\u2019t have many positive songs,\u201d said June. \u201cI have maybe two or three.\u201d Then she described an inspiring conversation she had with Staples. \u201cAfter I got off the phone with her I had like ten or twelve. I\u2019m still waiting to put out my spiritual album.\u201d <\/p>\n

At Prescott Park, June and her band played a note-perfect set of songs June wrote for herself and others. She danced with a group of children in front of the stage and brought a girl up onstage to keep dancing. It was uplifting, by design, even as she tore through a fierce rendition of \u201cWorkin\u2019 Woman Blues\u201d and the more wistful \u201cWith You.\u201d \u201cGot Soul\u201d was the closer, and that\u2019s the bottom line. <\/p>\n

I spoke with June before the show in the \u201cgreen room\u201d at Prescott Park, which is an open tent outfitted with comfy furniture and a bar in front of the dressing room trailer. We started off talking about a \u201cfashion show\u201d she had done, just for herself, in her trailer that day. She had started to talk about it as I was setting up the microphone, and I thought there might be something there, so I asked her about it as we started, and wound up with a wonderful tangent right up front, about confidence and attitude, and David Bowie. We spoke about her career, which began long before she broke through in 2013 with the Dan Aeurbach<\/a>-produced Pushin\u2019 Against a Stone<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The conversation ended somewhat abruptly as my memory card filled up at the same time June had to get going to get ready for the show. So hopefully, we\u2019ll get her back on the Department of Tangents somewhere down the road. Maybe when that spirituals album comes out. <\/p>\n

After the conversation, hear a hilarious new track from Shane Torres<\/a>\u2019s new album, Established 1981<\/em>, on which he defends one of America\u2019s cheesiest chefs<\/a>, and one of Canada\u2019s cheesiest bands<\/a>. The track is called \u201cA Man Named Fieri Filled With Fury.\u201d Established 1981<\/em> is out on September 8 on Comedy Central Records<\/a>. <\/p>\n

You can listen to and download the podcast from the player below, or subscribe\/review on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Enjoy!<\/p>\n