Kate Walsh was such a lovely person to sit down with.  Every bit as genuine as her music leads you to believe she would be.

My thanks to the Soiled Dove Underground in Denver for letting us record this there.  Sound man Chris did an awesome job of recording Kate's Sound check for us to use as her live performance.  They're a beautiful venue and listening room that I highly recommend if you're passing through Colorado.

Buy Tim's House from Kate Walsh!

Jesca Hoop's music is incredibly authentic and so is she as a person.  Although she is very quirky, I was surprised by some of her traditional values that came out when we talked.

I found her to be very much in control of her career and very aware of where she wants both her music and her career to go.

Don't miss Seed of Wonder at the beginning.  Stewart Copeland plays drums.  And don't miss Murderer of Birds at the end.

Buy Kismet!

Allee Willis is truly one of a kind.  Born in Detroit, it seems Allee, like me, should probably have been born black.  More soul than the people know what to do with.

The quality of sound on this podcast is terrible.  But, I beg of you to ignore that and listen to the quality of content in terms of what Allee has to say.  it's really challenging to go from an audio podcast to a video podast and keep the quality the same.  Trust me.  We're working on it!

You can help us bring the production up a notch by donating if you love the show!

And you MUST watch the Bubbles & Cheesecake video Allee wrote and produced at The Highway Girl.

Martha is without a doubt the coolest artist I've had the pleasure of working with. She is real and honest and so incredibly talented. She's got a powerhouse of a voice and she's not afraid to tell the truth.
 
If you haven't heard her new album, you must go out and buy "I Know You're Married, but I've Got Feelings Too." It's tremendous and so is she.

Big thanks to Jamie Jackson for making this interview happen.

Buy the album!

It goes without saying that I'm a huge fan of Aimee Mann's. The fact that she's been able to remain true to herself and experience such success as an independent artist gives me hope that any of us can do it.

Aimee wrote the music for the incredible film Magnolia a few years back, for which she received a lot of attention and notoriety.

Make sure you buy her new album Smilers! It rocks.

Compilation 2008.  SMtv is becoming The Highway Girl!  We're so excited to be finally bringing you video on all of the artists we interview, as well as their live performances!  In just a few short weeks we'll be right back with so much more on all of the artists you love!

To wrap up SMtv, I'm featuring 7 amazing artists I've had the pleasure of sitting down with in the last few months.  Please support them and buy their records!

Gentleman Caller
Paleo
Kristoffer Ragnstam
Gregory Alan Isakov
Jonathan Coulton
Virginia Coalition
Teitur

Email me your requests and questions at sm@thehighwaygirl.com!

Joie Calio has had an incredible ride as one third of the band Dada.  Now he's got a new project called X Levitation Cult and I think you're really gonna dig these songs!

I had a blast sitting down with Joie in the Hollywood Hills this week.  Make sure you check out his tour dates and see him live.

Buy Happiness in Hell!

Gentleman Caller are the most incredible band I've found since starting SMtv.  I discovered them when I was looking for a video director for my song Days Like This.  I ended up wirking with Ryan Newman, who had directed many videos for Gentleman Caller.  I immediately fell in love with their sound.  Kenny Childers has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard and one I could listen to for hours.  I've yet to have the pleasure of meeting the band, but cannot wait to have them on the show. 

This particular episode comes to you from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year.   I sat down with Public Knowledge Founder Gigi Sohn and discussed all that's wrong with copyright.  Gigi's one of the sharpest minds out there if you ask me.  My thanks to Digital Freedom for organizing this.

I first met Paleo when I was recording a show with These United States at IOTA in Virginia.  His music is intense and so is he.  Paleo is David Strackany and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with him at a noisy, outside patio.  Paleo is also the first artist who requested we record the live performance outside in the street while he leaned up against a stranger's van.  We'll have the video for you soon.

In all my years doing this show I've never met an artist who treats touring more like a business.  He books his own tours and makes a solid living as an artist.  Kudos to Paleo for his level of commitment to not only the craft, but the business of music.

My gratitude to Meadowlark in Denver who graciously opened their doors to let us record this show there.

Buy Death & Taxes by writing to David Strackany!

Photo by Cary Norton.

We featured Cameron McGill in the early days of SMtv.  I was so excited to find out he was coming through Boulder on a tour with Margot & the Nuclear So & So's. 

Andy at Albums on the Hill in Boulder graciously allowed us to gather in his amazing vinyl store to record this show.  Please support amazing independent music and music retailers like Andy.

Buy Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders!

Teitur is a classic artist that I feel so grateful to feature on the show.  Perhaps my most enjoyable show ever recorded at the beautiful Soiled Dove in Denver. 

Apart from having a successful career of his own and working with artists like Rufus Wainwright, Aimee Mann and John Mayer, Teitur has penned songs with Corinne Bailey Rae.  Mayer says, "(Poetry and Airplanes) may be one of the best albums to come along in the last five years.  Music like this is jet fuel on the fire of a broken heart."  I couldn't have put it better myself.

Teitur's voice will melt you.

Snag yourself a copy of his latest, The Singer!

Warner Bros Recording Artists Eisley were SO much fun to chat with!  We talked about everything from what it was like to open for Coldplay to how Staci felt when she interviewed Stevie Nicks.

This talented family are writing great songs and playing their own instruments.  I'm honored to have them on the show!

My thanks to the Fox Theatre in Boulder for letting us record this show in their green room.

Buy the Album!

This week it's my turn to interview Rumblefish Founder and CEO Paul Anthony.

We feature music from three Rumblefish artists:

Track 1 is Back Before We Were Bitter from the band Say Hi (Pictured).  The album is The Wishes & the Glitch

Track 2 is Only Beginnings by the band Oh Darling.  The EP is Nice Nice.

Track 3 is To Show You My Love by the incomparable Mike Schmid, whose album The High Cost of Living (A Love Story) has been featured on SMtv many times.

Check out Rumblefish's weekly podcast, the Zach & Whit Show!

My good friend Paul Anthony interviewed me for this week's show.  Next week I get him back!

If you're interested in helping me make another album, listen in to this week's show to hear what my plans are.

Buy Somewhere Between Starving & Stardom!

Reverend Deadeye won't talk about whether or not a Rattlesnake really did bite him in the eye.  But one listen to his music and you know he's been through a lot in life.  His music's passionate, raw and very unique. 

The son of a reverend, he grew up playing music with his family on a reservation.  I had a great time hanging with this guy.  See him live while he's on tour now!

Explicit lyrics in this show.

Buy the Album!

Sweden's Kristoffer Ragnstam writes such great songs and sings and performs them with equal intensity.  He's featured on the cover of this month's German Vanity Fair

Another great artist brought to my attention by the wonderful John Porter over at Bluhammock Records.  I had the great pleasure of meeting Kristoffer when he appeared on The Samantha Murphy Show from SXSW.  I decided to edit the interview into a podcast to make sure everyone got to hear his amazing music.  A real sweetheart of a guy, too!

Buy Sweet Bills and Other Side of the Room!

Parthenon Huxley's music takes me back to highschool when I spent my weekends listening to bands like The Cars and The Beatles. 

His songs are infectious and tell great stories that make me feel understood.

Buy Kiss the Monster!

Reed Foehl is just one of those artists like Tom Petty and Neil Young: he tells a story.  His music typifies America and takes you back in time.

Reed's music can be heard in films like Spark, as well as many TV shows and commercials.  Perfect music for a Sunday afternoon.

Buy Stoned Beautiful!

Virginia Coalition's music will get in your head and stay there.  My friend John Porter sent me a copy of their "Sing Along" and it's been swimming through my thoughts ever since.

VaCo are on episode 7 of The Samantha Murphy Show along with their video director Tyler Shields and Rainn Wilson from The Office.

Love these guys!

Buy Home!

Gregory Alan Isakov is my favorite discovery since starting SMtv in early 2005.  One listen and you'll see why.

Gregory won the coveted Best Songwriter Award at the Telluride Festival in 2007.  His melodies will take you on the sweetest journey.

Buy That Sea, the Gambler!

Jonathan Coulton is without a doubt one of the smartest artists I've ever met.  He has single handedly launched his own career using the Internet and a cover of the song Baby Got Back.

I just love him! 

Buy Thing a Week!

It's that time of year again, kids.  I'm thankful for you and an incredible lineup of artists who have honored me by being on the show.

In this show I feature:

Miniature Tigers
Matthew Ryan
Abra Moore
Rob Giles
Buddy
Swati
Jesse Malin

Merry Christmas and an incredibly happy 2008 to you from SMtv and me!  See you in February.

Samantha  xo

Justin Jones came to me via Laura Tsaggaris and I couldn't be happier.  His Love Versus Heroin album has captured me.

We sat down in Alexandria, VA to talk about drugs, music and his two hot aunts.

Buy the Album!

 A very interesting discussion with Stoll Vaughan on this week's show.  If you're interested in hearing two sides of the story regarding technology as it pertains to music, I recommend you hang around for all 61 minutes of this week's show.

Oh and Stoll's music pretty much kicks ass.

Buy the Album!

When David Wright of Speakerheart played me Natalie's music, I was immediately touched by her voice. Next I started to love her quirky, unusual writing style. She's a true artist.

This is only the second artist in three years that I've featured on SMtv who doesn't have an album out.  I'm pretty adamant about it.  I broke the rule only for Alex Davis and now for Natalie Prass, both of whom I feel won't let me down in the future.

All three songs were recorded by me live on the day of the interview.  Most were first takes.