NEM#251: Dr. Alan Williams (Birdsong at Morning)

Tom was an integral member of the Greenwich Village early ’60s folk scene (playing originals regularly before Bob Dylan did). His tunes have been covered by Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Harry Belafonte, and many others. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2009. We talk about “Rebel Gal” from Together Again (2026) (a collaborative album with John McCutcheon), “If the Poor Don’t Matter” from Redemption Road (2015), “Mr. Blue” from Morning Again (1968), and “The Death of Stephen Biko” (with Anne Hills and Bob Gibson) from Best of Friends (live in 1984, released in 2004; the song was originally recorded for Heroes, 1978). Intro: “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound” from Rambin’ Boy (1964). More at tompaxton.com. Hear all of “I Can’t Help But Wonder…” From that same album, here’s “Goin’ to the Zoo.” Here he is playing it live in 2024. Some of his other classic ’60s folk tunes are “Bottle of Wine,” “The Last Thing on My Mind,” and “Ramblin’ Boy.“ Hear the cover version of “Mr. Blue” by Clear Light that we discuss. One of the crazier arrangements by Tom himself from this period is “Icarus” (1971). Not too many years after that, a lot of his material was quite relaxed and safe, e.g. “Something in My Life” from the 1975 album of that name. One of his slick ’80s tunes is “And Lovin’ You,” co-written with Bob Gibson. (FYI Tom’s hero Bob Gibson’s most famous song was “Abeline,” from 1957.) Hear the original 1978 version of “The Death of Stephen Biko.” (Here’s the Peter Gabriel tune about the same topic that Mark mentions.) An important tune from the ’00s for Tom is “Comedians & Angels.” Probably my favorite album from his later career is 2008’s “Looking for the Moon.” Here’s the tune from the new album that Mark mentions, “Lay This Old Guitar Down.” Watch Tom and John perform “Same Old Crap” from their first album together; a lot of their tunes together are funny ones like this. Another funny one from a different recent collaboration (with Jon Vezner; this 2019 live album is credited to Tom Paxton & The DonJuans) is “All My Stalkers.” He has remained politically relevant, releasing “No Kings Here!” last September. Listen to my interview with John McCutcheon. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

After studying at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music, Alan released two albums with folk-rock band Knots and Crosses in the early 90s, put out one solo album in 1994, then became a freelance recording engineer and earned a PhD in ethnomusicology. He released three albums between 2010-2019 fronting Birdsong at Morning and released two more solo albums. We discuss “Just Like Water” (and listen at the end to “Somewhere There’s a Train”) from Floating on the Dreamline (2026), “The Great Escape” by Birdsong at Morning from A Slight Departure (2015), and the title track to Curve of the Earth (1993) by Knots and Crosses (co-written with guitarist Rick Harris). Intro: “Neon Dreaming,” from Evidence Unearthed (2020), which is just a re-sung and remixed version of the track from Evidence (1994). More at alanwilliamsevidence.com. Sponsor: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem. Hear all of “Neon Dreaming.” Watch the video for “Somewhere There’s a Train.” And here’s a sort of a color collage video for “Just Like Water.” He’s got several videos from the songs from his previous album on his YouTube channel; this also features some of the work he’s led with his students at U. Mass Lowell (including a King Crimson ensemble!). Watch the video for “The Great Escape.” Watch my favorite Birdsong at Morning song live. Alan has also does some interesting (and generally very slow) cover tunes: “Love You To” (George Harrison/Beatles), “The Logical Song” (Supertramp), “Matte Kudasai” (King Crimson). And here’s Knots and Crosses playing “Walking on a Wire” (Richard and Linda Thompson) pretty faithfully. Alan mentions (as an inspiration for “Just Like Water”) the XTC song “Love on a Farmboy’s Wages.” Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

Bill is a singer/songwriter who recorded five albums of catchy tunes between 1989 and 1991, then retired but came back a vengeance in 2014. He’s now just released his 13th album, Haunted, and we talk about “Perpetual Tourist” and listen at the end to the title track from that, “Trentham” from A Trip to the Coast (2014) and “Pigalle on a Tuesday is Charming” from Parce Que (1988). Intro: “Tommy & Co,” from Three Months, Three Weeks and Two Days (1989). More at billprichardmusic.com. Despite being British and very well settled in Stoke-on-Trent, he works with a German producer/label, has collaborated with multiple French musicians (and sometimes sings in French), and writes a lot about various cities, as exemplified by our second and third selections. Sponsor: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem. Watch the video for “Tommy & Co.” On the same album, he sings “Romance Sans Paroles” partially in French (he’s still singing that one; here’s a recent live performance). For more French, here’s one of the Daniel Darc tunes from their 1899 album together (the one that comes right before “Pigalle”). Watch the video for “Trentham.” Here’s “Lille,” the single from the new album that we nearly included in this episode. Listen to “Grey Parade,” a song from his very first album with heaps of synths. Here’s a video from his 2016 album Mother Town Hall. Watch him and his band live in 2008. Here he his talking and performing back in 1992. Photo by Luke Hodgkinson. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

Guitarist Kavus began in dual-guitar bands in the ’90s with his buddy Dan Chudley, most notably Monsoon Bassoon. He joined the Cardiacs for their final lineup in the late ’00s, recorded an unreleased album with The Pogues’ Spider Stacey, and was a guitarist in several other bands. His project Knifeworld released the first of its four albums in 2009, he released solo albums in 2020 and 2024, and since 2014 he has released six albums with legendary prog-rock band Gong, serving as their lead singer since the death of Gong’s founder Daevid Allen in 2015. His other major ongoing project is The Utopia Strong, an electronica collaboration with Steve Davis that has released four studio albums since 2019. We discuss “Stars in Heaven” by Gong (co-written by the whole band) from Bright Spirit Haulix (2026), “Send Him Seaworthy” by Knifeworld from The Unraveling (2014), “You Broke My Fall” by Kavus Torabi from Hip to the Jag (2020), and “Wise Guy” by The Monsoon Bassoon, a 1998 single released on the album I Dig Your Voodoo (1999). Intro: “Ditzy Scene” by The Cardiacs, a 2007 single co-written with Tim Smith, eventually released on the album LSD (2025). Watch a Gong video and see them live in 2017 and last year. Watch a Knifeworld video, and see them live in 2016. Watch Kavus play solo live in 2021. Watch Monsoon Bassoon live in 1998. Watch a Utopia Strong video. Hear The Utopia Strong’s tune “Doperider” that was originally going to be featured at the end of this podcast. Hear all of “Ditzy Scene.” Here’s the same song live recently (with Mike Vinnart covering lead vocals in Tim’s absence). A one-off project Kavus did was Admirals Hard, playing sea chanties. A later project he did with Dan Chudley was Hatchjaw and Bassett. Hear lots of Kavus/Dan songs (including Monsoon Bassoon and Die Laughing) on Dan’s SoundCloud page. Watch a live DJ set with Steve Davis. The two of them also wrote a musical memoir together, Medical Grade Music. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

Lande started in the 2010’s in the British punk-pop group Muncie Girls, with six releases (mostly EPs), and began her solo career in 2019. We discuss “Coming Home” (and listen at the end to the title track) from her fourth solo album Lucky Now (2026), “80 Days of Rain” from Going to Hell (2011), and “Learn In School” by Muncie Girls from From Caplan to Belsize (2016). Intro: “Gay Space Cadets” from House Without a View (2022). Watch videos to “Gay Space Cadets” and “Lucky Now.” Another single from the new album with a video now is “Favourite Pair of Shoes.” Watch Lande play “80 Days of Rain” live. Watch a full, recent live set with Watch Muncie Girls play “Learn in School” live. Hear their take on the Ramones’ “Pet Sematary.” Watch a Muncie-era solo acoustic performance. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsors: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem. Download the Gametime app and use code NEM for $20 off your first purchase of concert tickets.

John has released at least fifteen albums, more than half of these under the name King Missile, but even this name covers three different bands, since John until recently didn’t play any instruments, so his music is always collaborative with one or more music writers. Apart from his various musical projects, he’s published around 50 books of poetry and publishes poems every day on his Facebook page. We discuss “Her Cock is True” from the yet-to-be-released King Missile album Quest for Fire (with music by Stephen Tunney, aka Dogbowl), “Eating People” by King Missile III from The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (2003, music by Bradford Reed), and “Sensitive Artist” by King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) from Fluting on the Hump (1987). End song: “Garden” by You, Me and This Fuckin’ Guy from Garden Variety Fuckers (2020, music by Azalia Snail and Dan West). Intro: “Detachable Penis” from Happy Hour (1992). We also get to hear how he writes his daily poems; the poems from the day we recorded that John brings up are here. Watch the big-time video For “Detachable Penis.” Other notable classic KM songs include “Jesus Was Way Cool,” “Wuss,” and the poem (which you can watch him recite) “Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die.” Here’s the re-make by King Missile III, “Jesus Was Way Cool (Millennium Edition).“ Some of John’s other recent musical projects include Silk Cut (with King Missile’s Rebecca Korbet), Unusual Squirrel. His “solo” album Real Men (1991) was a collaboration with Kramer. Watch John do a full poetry show. Watch him performing in 1995 with Kramer and just a bit from 2016 with Dogbowl and even more recently with Dogbown and Rebecca Korbet. Watch him live with Unusual Squirrel. Watch a King Missile gig from 1994. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsor: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem.

Folky singer/songwriter and psychotherapist Robert started in the ’80s but considers 1994 his professional debut and has now released his seventh album since then, The Space Between Us. We discuss “Attic of Desire” (and the intro is “The Forest From the Tree”) from that album, plus “Uncertain” from Beloved (2017), the title track from Earthside Down (1998), and we conclude by listening to “Rock A Bye” feat. Victoria Williams from Days Like These (1994). More at robertdeeble.com. Watch Robert’s video for “The Forest From the Tree.” The previous version of “Attic of Desire” was called “A Formal Apology” from Thirteen Stories (2003). Watch Robert and his band play “Earthside Down” live in 2002. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsor: Download the Gametime app and use code NEM for $20 off your first purchase of concert tickets.

Ontario guitarist Darren has released six albums of concise instrumentals since 2019, often using metal guitar tones and tropes, but with a great range of tones and often catchy melodies. We discuss “The Day Beneath Yesterday” (and listen at the end to “Dangerous Curves”) from Perpetual Night (2025), “Broken Glass and Disappointment” from Thoughts and Scares (2022), and “The Earth is B Flat” from Lifting the Curse (2019). Intro: The title track from Wonders of the Invisible World (2020). More at darrenboyd.com. Watch the video for the title track for the new album, showing his full band. Experience all of the song “Wonders of the Invisible World” with this video. He’s made videos for many of his songs; here’s the channel. Watch Darren talk about guitar shredding. Hear that 2018 “horror band” EP with a singer and lyrics that Darren wrote about murder and suicide. Also, The G-String Murders EP. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

In a special holiday episode, we get to meet the talented and very British musician and podcaster Roger Heathers, who is my new audio editor for this show and most of my others starting in Jan. 2025 or so. At the beginning and the end of the show, you get to hear two tracks from his soon to be released Upward Spiral: “Guard Dogs” and “Hopefully.” They both feature a warm, holiday-like glow. You can listen to him at rogerheathers.bandcamp.com, or check out The Weekly Song Podcast, where he and his buddy Declan each write and present a song to each other and talk about how they wrote them along with various music-related topics. Together, Roger and I hash through how we make the show and share some highlights and challenges re. recent guests. As mentioned at the end, my Substack (which I plan to do another post for soon) is marklinsenmayer.substack.com. If you’re interested in my spring philosophy class, check out partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Hope you enjoy it! Happy holidays! Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsor: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance; connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/nem.

Corey has released many of zydeco music since 2004 (I count eight, but his bio says 16), and mixes his dedication to tradition (even recording a recent album in Louisiana Creole) with his love of many types of music. We discuss “J’ai Parti dans la Campagne” (and listen at the end to “Outro”) from his new release, Live in Alaska; “That Girl Wanna Dance” from the Grammy nominated Nothin’ But the Best (2012); and “Way Back Home,” a Jazz Crusaders (Wilton Felder) cover recorded for 3 Years 2 Late (2003). Intro: “Boudin Man (Remix)” from Destiny (2013) (written by Joseph Rossiyn). More at coreyledet.com. Hear all of “Boudin Man.” Watch a live version from back in 2004. Hear the original Accordion Man (2018) version of “J’ai Parti dans la Campagne.” Watch a full, recent live show. Watch a full solo from-home set from the pandemic. Watch Corey playing with my previous guest Louis Michot (hear Louis’ NEM interview). Watch him on the evening news about being inducted into the Louisiana music hall of fame. I couldn’t find one of his recent live cover tunes of pop songs on YouTube, but this 2009 clip includes part of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” and features a guy praising him. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Support us on Patreon. Sponsor: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance; connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/nem.