Podcast Open Mic

POM 9/22 No. 2:  Smizz Born and raised in New Hampshire, Smizz grew up with a mother who loved soul and folk. His father was into older music such as Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. An avid vinyl collector, his dad eventually handed down the records to Smizz. Smizz’s older siblings introduced him to hip hop artists such as Nas and Jay-Z. As an early teen, Smizz drew influence from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, and J. Cole. Smizz began releasing solo music exclusively on SoundCloud as early as 2013, at the age of 15. At the age of 19, Smizz began producing his own beats, which eventually led to him building relationships with likeminded producers and engineers in his area. In 2022, Smizz and his team founded Shine Music Group, their independent label dedicated to shining a light on local New Hampshire talent. Over the past year, Smizz has been steadily building momentum. Between a constant flow of music and a slew of performances around New England, he and his team have been working to solidify the f

POM 9/22 Nicole LePera returns I'm a singer/songwriter living in the beautiful state of Maine. After all these years, I finally found my home — and her transcendent beauty and power never fails to inspire and nurture me.  Music has always been a central part of my life — my mother said I sang before I spoke. Most of what I write is pure improvisation, and I write the music and lyrics on the fly, in a holistic manner. As such, my music is a diary, a means of therapy, and a window into my deepest thoughts and other worlds, and encompasses everything from pure folk to multitrack experimental or atmospheric music. At 15, my parents took me on a vacation that would change my life. We went to Michigan and "while we were there," we visited the Interlochen Academy for the Arts. I was transfixed by the immense talent around me and I never forgot that place. One day, I mentioned the school to my mother and she had me apply. I was accepted and never looked back. I went on to study music composition at Peabody Conservat

POM 8/22 No. 2: Jen Ayers Jen Ayers is a vocal dynamo with a throat of gold, pianist, songwriter and recording artist. She’s performed thousands of shows nationwide, fronting Seattle-based band Honey Tongue and shared bills with the likes of Jack Johnson, Tom Petty and Bill Frisell. Her powerhouse vocals and electric stage performances have earned invitations to sing across the U.S., including the National Anthem at NBA/MLB games, Led Zeppelin for “Bonzo’s Celebration Day” (with members of Heart, REM, Pearl Jam) and “House of Thee Unholy” – Broadway-level burlesque at Seattle’s Triple Door, and most recently appearing with Dave Matthews at Seattle's Moore Theater for SMASH. Jen is a frequent guest singer in high-profile gigs across the Northwest and currently fronts Wild Rumours – A Fleetwood Mac Experience. Since 2012, Jen has also been performing at Teatro Zinzanni. First in “Return To Paradise,” which enabled her to dabble in the things she loves most: singing, acting and dancing. She even spun from a cirq

POM 8/22 No. 1:  Reesa Wood Reesa Wood has been making music in Portland, Maine since 2016, when she learned to embody rage, desire and confrontation fronting the metal edged Cadaverette, and developed confidence in her songwriting and guitar abilities in the heavy shoegaze tinged Burr. She has been performing her unique twangy ballads under the name Draudiga since 2019, both as a solo artist and with her backing band. Draudiga lurks in the dusk, in the sleaziest corner of a haunted glade- where the dryads and the wood nymphs Sleep in Safety, head to toe Death Rock, covered in desert dust and strung out on old Gun Club and Hasil Adkins records while maintaining the airy whimsy of Kate Bush and the toothsome menace of Lydia Lunch. https://draudiga.bandcamp.com/ @draudiga_ www.cadaverette.bandcamp.com 

POM 7/22 No. 2: Dave Bullard returns Dave Bullard... Singer songwriter performer from California on Spotify iTunes, apple music tours once or twice a year COAST TO COAST davebullardguitar on Instagram and tiktoc Dave Bullard on Facebook Amazing You.S.A. book on Amazon Kindle.    New albums online: SILOUETTE, Amazing You.S.A., & LOST HORIZON BLUES  

POM 7/22 No.1: Spook Handy (from 7/21, the final POMotR broadcast) A year ago this month Podcast Open Mic on the Radio had its final broadcast.  But my last guest was a goodie and needs to be reheard.: Spook Handy, the only guest I have found via Portland Hour Exchange... Spook Handy performed alongside Pete Seeger at festivals and concerts more than 50 times from 2003 – 2013 learning firsthand many of Pete’s songs and the stories behind them. Even more, he learned who Pete Seeger was and what he stood for. Spook is now traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada with his “Remembering Pete Seeger” World Tour, keeping alive Pete’s tradition by sharing a few songs by Woody Guthrie (Pete’s most notable mentor), plenty of songs by Pete Seeger and a healthy handful of new songs Spook wrote under Pete’s tutelage. Spook’s sixth studio album, “Pete, Woody & Me, Volume II – Dedicated to the Proposition” reached the No. 3 position on the International Folk Radio Charts in May, 2019. His fifth studio album, “Pete, Wood

POM 6/22 No. 2 April Keez April Keez is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and music educator. April's YouTube channel, April Keez, has over 8,000 subscribers and is ranked among Feedspot's Top 5 Songwriting Channels to Follow in 2022. Her goal is to push the world of songwriting further by giving people access to great information, new ideas, and inspiration. April believes that anyone can be a great songwriter if given the right tools to get there, so she creates songwriting lessons, full songwriting curricula, as well as easy-to-use resources for people of all ages and skill levels to explore their creativity with songwriting. After many years of teaching and writing, she continues to use her own songwriting practice as a tool for both mindfulness and creative curiosity, exploring storytelling through unusual harmony, literary devices, sonic connection, and vivid imagery.  Social Media & Pages: Website: aprilkeez.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6xER9ixLXSrlhowfQN0gpa YouTube: youtu

POM 6/22  No. 1:  Bill Stamey I was born, and grew up, in Memphis, learned the basics of reading music at a young age, and got my  first guitar at around age 5. Self-taught for the most part, I took lessons from a few key figures: Bob  Salley (a university instructor) at age 14, Shawn Lane (a musical phenom) at age 18, was a University of  Memphis music student for 2 years. Later, when I arrived in Maine I studied guitar for a year with the  truly gifted Bob Thompson.   In my teens I started playing in original and cover bands (rock, R&B, and blues). I played out a lot,  mostly in town, sometimes other states down south.   I had the privilege of recording in a few of the landmark studios in Memphis, which brought me into  contact with incredible people. Some of my work was on original music, and some was in an effort to be  a studio musician: playing on song demos for writers, or cutting jingles, theme songs, or really anything.   From 1998-2002 I took a detour and attended the East Tennessee State Univer

POM 5/22 No.2:  "Chaos Creator" Artimus Wolz Artimus Wolz is a musician and social media influencer. He went viral on TikTok with his original song, Incompedance[1]. After a successful KickStarter campaign[2], he began work on his comedy album Chaos that is slated to publish in 2022.

POM 05/22 No.1:  Jim Baumer ME returns Biddeford-based indie rocker Jim Baumer has released a diverse pastiche of songs on the provocatively titled Living in Some Strange Days. The songs emanate from a space of darkness and deep pain and his music hearkens back to a period of time he calls indie’s “halcyon days,” in the early-to-mid-90s. Music has been Baumer’s path forward after losing a son, well-known environmental activist and poet, Mark Baumer, killed in 2017.  Picking up an old Yamaha acoustic he’d had around the house for 20 years, Baumer says he took it out of the case and started to play. “I’ve been playing it ever since.” LISSD has solo acoustic material, rooted in 70s music and artists like Arlo Guthrie, Neil Young, Big Star, and others. Then, Baumer’s one-man-band electric songs” are influenced by angular indie bands like Pavement, Polvo, Silkworm, while channeling T. Rex and other influences, too, especially the grittiness of Lou Reed’s solo material. A child of the 70s, Baumer grew up with music

Live on WMPG, featuring:  Jamie Frick, Lindsey Montana, Jeffrey Knox, The Orchards, James Paul Gosslin, Rick Colella, and Christian Cuff & Amanda Gervais

Stuff from my flash drive that I hope will entertain you.

Wielding a voice that defies the size of her body and strong storytelling sensibilities, Emilia Dahlin has carved out her name as a unique songstress. She weaves mesmerizing tales (complete with Greek myths, robotic messiahs, epic floods, and tax evaders) with raw, rootsy folk and dynamic jazz vocals. Her well-crafted songs sound as if they've been left outside where time and weather have worn cracks for the wind to whip through. Her sky-rocketing energy is delivered with honesty. Throughout a sixteen-year musical performing career that has taken her through the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Europe, Emilia Dahlin has made Maine her home. Known for memorable performances, Emilia garnered national awards, from Telluride Troubadour, Winner of the Starbucks Music Makers Competition, Winner of Boston Music Conference Songwriting Competition, and the Great Waters Songwriting Contest. Emilia garners great joy from collaborating and co-creating and believes that music and storytelling are some of the most powerful tool

Chris Newcomb has performed on stages from Kittery to Holton; Penobscot Theatre to Mad Horse. He’s appeared in numerous independent movies, commercials, podcasts, music videos, and in his younger days he wrote commercials and DJ’d at two radio stations in Auburn, ME. More than anything, he loves telling his own stories. "Think You Might Be Wrong"  One Man Show https://www.thefootlightstheatre.com   YouTube channel. “Thanks for Thinking with Chris Newcomb” https://youtube.com/user/cchrisonutube   ARTernitives  https://www.chrisnewcombart.com

The best of Podcast Open Mic on the Radio broadcasts on WMPG!

Dano’s music infuses modern folk, post rock, and groove oriented rhythms with poetic lyrics creating a unique brand of conscious music that uplifts and inspires.   Born and raised in the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda, Dano’s role models were The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Bowie, Simon and Garfunkel. As a youth during 70’s, Dano began leading the band Odysseus at the age of 13, playing guitar and singing at school events and neighborhood parties. At 16 years of age he switched to bass and joined the band Crossroads. He was immediately thrust into the Buffalo music scene playing some of the biggest venues and supporting international touring bands such as Judas Priest, Ambrosia, John Cougar Mellencamp, Modern English, Spirit, as well as many others. After a lineup change Crossroads would become the Beez and Dano would leave to start The Western Voice and his song writing was now front and center. With The Western Voice there was label interest from A&M records as well as production interest from

Alejandra O’Leary was born to a Colombian mother and Irish father in Portland, Maine. Having a different sounding name and being a woman of color both challenged and shaped her as she grew up listening to crashing ocean waves and Beatles records. Specifically, growing up in Portland instilled feelings of being both a native and an outsider. “I’ve always been at home with messiness, big emotions and uncertainty,” Alejandra reflects. “I guess that’s why I like rock n roll.”   After moving to Santiago, Chile at age seventeen, Alejandra became infatuated with the idea of creating rock music and followed her muse across the world for a decade, releasing four albums of original songs, sharing the stage with Guster and Asobi Seksu, and drawing positive nods from outlets like No Depression, PopMatters and Magnet. The sound Alejandra cultivated during this time was an expansive mix of raw rock theatrics, spiky indie bangers, anthemic Top 40 pop melodies, and soulful retro flourishes. In 2016, Alejandra returned hom

Jason Lambert has been playing music for more than a quarter century. It started out as solo acoustic ballads, with some rock n' roll mixed in, and has eventually evolved into other musical outlets, including 80s influenced synth pop, and old school hip-hop. All the while, he has continued to write heartbreak ballads on the acoustic guitar. Lambert is also an author, who, this past summer, self-published a work of young adult fiction set in late 80s Portland. It is called Sophomore Summer and has been well received.  plus, one of my favorite holiday Lorenzo Commentaries. Happy Holidays & stay safe!

Erin is a Portland resident who plays the keyboard and wants to connect with other musicians to create some fun new music. She uses her YouTube channel and playlists to help her loop her original music and add depth to her sound. Currently her music interests include playing Blues, Grateful Dead, English Country Dance music, and creating unusual piano compositions like the one titled “Messing around with the Chromatic Scale” which is on her YouTube channel. Reach out to her through YouTube or Instagram.

Based in Biddeford, ME, JimBaumerMe operates as the performance unit of singer/songwriter, Jim Baumer. Baumer’s music originates from a space occupied by tragedy. In January 2017, Baumer’s only son—an award-winning poet and well-known environmental activist—was killed on a cross-country walk. A year later, Baumer picked up the acoustic guitar he’d had for 20 years and started playing and writing songs. He’s written more than 30 over the last 2 ½ years, and began posting music on platforms like Bandcamp and Soundcloud His music is one part stripped-down acoustic, but Baumer is first and foremost a rocker and over the course of 2021, has developed a lively electric performance set that finds him operating as a one-man-band—playing electric guitar and utilizing a drum machine/stomp box as his percussionist. His originals speak from loss and sadness, but also offer newfound hope found in music. Plus! New Plague Dad EP Back In The Tree on BandCamp, and check out ThatPortlandSound.com