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Ep. #64: Sharon Jones

Sharon Jones is a powerful, distinctive, and compelling American singer and performer who fronts one of the world’s greatest bands, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Their new album is Give the People What They Want and was released this month via Daptone Records, as Jones continues her recovery and treatment after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year. We caught up at her hotel in Toronto this week and discussed how Montreal was the first city that made her feel like a superstar, why America is confusing soul music with whatever ‘retro’ means and how soul music is a worldwide phenomenon, how Martin Scorsese is such a fan, he put Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings in The Wolf of Wall Street and what that experience was like, why she insisted on a do-over when she performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last week, the song “Now I See,” the undercurrent of rage on Give the People What They Want and how it relates to issues of economic disparity and her battle with pancreatic cancer, why she’s out promoting her record when her health isn’t 100%, a thorough explanation of her condition, why she tries to be open and honest with her fans about everything, how her ordeal has placed the American health care debate in a new light for her and why the politics surrounding it are racially motivated, writing her own songs vs. conveying the ideas of other writers, her recovery and future plans, how she manages the band’s social media platforms, the song “Making Up and Breaking Up (And Making Up And Breaking Up Over Again),” and more.

Related links: daptonerecords.com vishkhanna.com

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Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #58: Charles Bradley

Charles Bradley is a powerful American singer and performer steeped in the traditions of funk, soul, and R&B. After a hard knock life spent in Florida, New York, and California, Bradley took up cooking while also working as a James Brown impersonator, which caught the attention of Daptone Records. As a result, the label released Bradley’s debut record at the age of 61–the critically acclaimed 2011 effort, No Time for Dreaming. He was also the subject of the 2012 documentary film Soul of America, about his life and times, and earlier this year, he released an excellent new record called Victim of Love. His current tour brings him to Canadian cities like Kitchener on Dec. 11, Toronto on Dec. 12, and Ottawa on Dec. 13. Here Bradley and I discuss American hospitals, taking care of his ailing mother, the Affordable Healthcare Act, and President Barack Obama, his new album and the production experiments therein, rage and politics, the perception that he’s part of some kind of soul revival, what’s next, the song “Confusion,” and more.

Related links: thecharlesbradley.com vishkhanna.com

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