Singer/songwriter Bruce Hornsby may be best known for his rootsy hits (and a few subsequent hip-hop samples of same), but his restless creativity has kept him experimenting into the 21st century. In this episode, he discusses how songs by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Paul Brady shaped his own work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Composer Arnold Dreyblatt has carved a unique course through contemporary music, combining just intonation with a vigorous self-devised approach to 20th-century minimalism. In this episode, he discusses how Mexican folk music, Tony Conrad and Robert Ashley shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guitarist/singer/songwriter Beth Orton’s work in the mid-1990’s helped usher in a new era for both electronic and folk music by melding electronic sounds with acoustic instruments to achieve a warm and personal, but also boundary-pushing, sound that still feels modern almost 30 years later.  In this episode she talks about how songs by Sinead O'Connor, Sons of Kemet and Father John Misty shaped her own work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your...

Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein form the two-voice, two-guitar core of Sleater-Kinney, one of the most revered and long-lived rock bands of the past 30 years. In this episode, they discuss how music by Sinead O'Connor, the Pointer Sisters, Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, Kate Bush and the Wipers influenced their work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although clearly born out of the folk and Americana tradition, guitarist and singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz brings a modern pop sensibility to her work, while also remaining true to the American songbook that values the tenets of both simple harmonies as well as strong melody. In this episode, she talks about how songs by Nickel Creek, James McMurtry and Paul Simon shaped her work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See...

Guitarist Marc Ribot possesses one of the most distinctive six-string sounds in American music, audible both in his work with collaborators like Tom Waits and John Zorn and in his own projects, such as his band Ceramic Dog. In this episode, he discusses pieces by Frantz Casseus, Ornette Coleman and Chocolate Genius. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drummer Kassa Overall is steeped in jazz and has played with some of the greats, but he also came of age with hip-hop, and his polyglot solo work reflects a mix of those traditions. In this episode, he discusses how music by Ahmad Jamal, Digable Planets, and John Coltrane guided his art. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kurt Vile's loose, melodic style of indie rock has won him many friends and admirers over the past 15 years. On this episode, he talks about how tunes by Lou Reed, the Pixies and Thelonious Monk shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the course of three decades and 22 studio albums, John Darnielle's band The Mountain Goats have blazed a fiercely independent, lo-fi trail that has since been followed by many indie bands. In this episode, Darnielle discusses how songs by Stockholm Monsters, Digital Underground and Ava Gabriel shaped his creative process. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

French musician Cécile Schott, who records as Colleen, has spent the past 20 years building a fantastic sound world from samples and loops, with albums on the esteemed Leaf and Thrill Jockey labels. In this episode, she talks about how music by Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Beatles and This Heat changed her life. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kim Deal has amassed a staggering body of beguiling pop songs over the past three decades with her bands the Breeders and the Amps. On this episode, she talks about how songs by Hank Williams, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd shaped her course. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has built a rich solo sideline as a soundtrack composer and collaborator with other artists. In this episode, he discusses how pieces by Abdel Halim Hafez, Kraftwerk and Mohamed Abdel Wahab influenced his recent album with Kuwaiti-Israeli musician Dudu Tassa. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reeds player Henry Threadgill has capped a storied 50-plus-year career as a bandleader and composer with a superb new memoir of his life and thoughts about music entitled Easily Slip Into Another World. In this episode, he discusses how music by Howlin' Wolf, Thelonious Monk and James Brown shaped his course. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kuwaiti-Israeli musician Dudu Tassa's latest record, a collaboration with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, is a love letter of sorts to a variety of favorite, but potentially lost-to-the-ages songs of the Middle East.  Titled Jarak Qaribak, which translates to "Your neighbors are your friends," the Nigel Godrich-mixed record features guest vocalists from across the region taking on songs dear to Tassa's and their hearts. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and...

British trio the Clientele make guitar pop as literate as it is melodic. In this episode, frontman Alasdair MacLean discusses how music by Boards of Canada, Love and Michael Jon Fink influenced him. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian experimentalist Oren Ambarchi has charted a course that crosses modern composition, post-rock and electronic music without ever lingering long in any genre. In this episode, he talks about how music by Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis and Alvin Lucier shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Art-pop duo Water From Your Eyes specializes in a hazy blend of beats, bites, luxe melodies and wry lyrics. Nate Amos discusses how music by Scott Walker, Jute Gyte and Ben Johnston shaped the group's sound. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen O'Malley is best known as a guitarist for drone-metal band Sunn0))), but his musical practice spans composing, collaborations with a host of contemporary artists and a span of other groups, such as electronic duo KTL and dirge-metal legend Khanate. In this episode, recorded live at the Big Ears Festival, he discusses how music by Fugazi, Pita and Iancu Dumitrescu influenced his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public...

Harpist Brandee Younger is blazing a trail for her instrument across jazz, soul, and many stops in between. In this episode, she discusses how music by Alice Coltrane, Tank and the Bangas, and Dorothy Ashby shaped her work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singer/songwriter and former Essential Tremors guest Will Oldham guest hosts this episode featuring a conversation with June Tabor, whose long career belies the simple label "folk singer." They discuss Danny Kaye, Anne Briggs, learning to sing, Frank Sinatra and Robert Plant. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bassist William Parker has spent 50 years at the heart of jazz, as a collaborator with many of the music's greats and as a composer and bandleader in his own right. In this episode, recorded live at the Big Ears Festival in 2023, he discusses how Duke Ellington, Don Cherry and Cecil Taylor shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under the name Scritti Politti, Green Gartside has been making smart, cutting-edge pop for decades, on his own terms and his own schedule. On this episode, he discusses how tracks by the Paragons, Robert Wyatt, and the Albion Country Band shaped his work. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guitarist Bill Orcutt has gone from noise artist to an iconoclastic solo guitarist who redefined his own relationship with the instrument, deconstructs American standards, and now composes music for larger groups. In this episode, he discusses how music by Jimi Hendrix, Judy Garland, and Joseph Spence shaped his course. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has carved out a career as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and collaborator who has played with a spread of artists within and beyond the jazz world, including instrumental power trio Messthetics. In this episode, he discusses how tunes by Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp and Abdullah Ibrahim, and Sonny Rollins influenced his playing. Essential Tremors is produced by Matt Byars and Lee Gardner and distributed by Your Public Studios. See...