Deep Voices

Deep Voices 138 on Spotify Deep Voices 138 on Apple Music The first time I heard Bill Callahan’s music I was sitting at my friend Simon’s kitchen table. It was 2005, maybe 2006. Simon was playing A River Ain’t Too Much to Love. It felt like music I didn’t know I was looking for. Intense, but pure in its intensity, with Bill’s voice deep and clear. I was astonished. I had a work trip that next week, driving to DC.

Deep Voices 137 on Spotify Deep Voices 137 on Apple Music Last week I bought an LP at a thrift store of Appalachian folk music from Tennessee called A Bottle of Wine and Ginger Cake. It was recorded in the 1970s, part of a series of LPs by an educator named Ron Williams for his label Pine Breeze. He and his students traveled around, recording fiddle players, dulcimer players, banjoists. The music is beautiful, on the raw edge of bluegrass.

Deep Voices 136 on Spotify Deep Voices 136 on Apple Music Hello! Welcome back to Deep Voices! This playlist was originally meant to be sent out around New Year’s, as a renewal playlist. I’ve sent those the past few years, a collection of meditative songs to guide you towards an hour of reflection and resetting as one year wound down and another began. Obviously, that didn’t happen. It’s May now; have you renewed yourself without me? I’ve been trying.

In Deep Voices #55, I wrote about the music I was listening to after my son died suddenly. Bill Callahan, Bill Evans, Peter Garland. Four years later, those names are largely the same. What helps helps. I’m not looking a gift horse in the ear. All three of these artists, and many more, appear in my book Rise Above, which will be released by Random House this summer, on July 26th.

Deep Voices 100 Best Songs of 2025 on Spotify Deep Voices 100 Best Songs of 2025 on Apple Music You know a song is good when you’re listening to it on the stereo and someone asks, “Do you have two songs playing at the same time?” and the answer is definitely no. “I Don’t Do/Grand Central” by Jim White and Zoh Amba, is a bizarrely catchy song, where White and Amba stressfully discuss going to Grand Central Oyster Bar.

Deep Voices 135 on Spotify Deep Voices 135 on Apple Music A few days ago, I couldn’t figure out what to listen to. I was walking around early one morning. It was cold and I had a lot to do. Most of what I’ve listened to in the past several months has been relatively gentle, and, if not, at least relatively human. But I wanted something tough and something synthetic. I didn’t want to identify with anyone singing to me, didn’t want to be consoled. I guess I wanted to feel angry.

Deep Voices 134: April on Spotify Deep Voices 134: April on Apple Music Deep Voices 134: May on Spotify Deep Voices 134: May on Apple Music Deep Voices 134 - June on Spotify Deep Voices 134 - June on Apple Music Hello! Happy summer. This edition of Deep Voices contains three playlists - one each for the best music of April, May, and June. April feels the gloomiest, a pensive month for music. May feels the indulgent music. And June is the loveliest, the most sweeping music.

Deep Voices 132 on Spotify Deep Voices 132 on Apple Music For this edition of Deep Voices, my good friend, writer Alex Frank, interviewed the guitar player Hayden Pedigo. I wrote about Pedigo in Deep Voices 109, about the dazzling open landscape of his instrumental songs. Pedigo’s new album, I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away, is lovely, wistful music. In their conversation, Alex and Pedigo talk about the beauty and the sadness in the songs. Pedigo also made the above accompanying playlist.

Deep Voices 132 on Spotify Deep Voices 132 on Apple Music Because of some life changes (I had to get a job), Deep Voices has been on an unplanned hiatus. But I am back with a new playlist, one that is (uncharacteristically?) catchy. The idea behind this one was to start with dub, in this case a track by African Head Charge, and spiral outward. A friend I sent this one to said it’s great for the gym. Apologies for the break. If you have a paid subscription and want to cancel or pause, please do.

Hello! Welcome to the Wormhole, Deep Voices weekend post of recommendations, observations, meditations, celebrations, and reverberations only for paying subscribers. Speaking of paying, Deep Voices is now cheaper. For access to twice as much Deep Voices intel, consider a monthly subscription for the price of a cup of coffee. This week: a wild vintage band tee haul, a great crime novel, a very unexpected music joke, Sonny Rollins’ dentist, and more.