The 19th and 20th Sound Check Chat podcasts with Greg Dulli of Afghan Whigs and Stelth Ulvang of The Lumineers. The podcast is sponsored by Earthquaker Devices (http://earthquakerdevices.com/), Ghettoblaster Magazine, YouIndie.com and Frame Jump Music Videos.  The podcasts are available here: http://www.soundcheckchat.com/index.html.
Though The Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli long denied that the powerful rock band would ever reunite in an official capacity, long time Whigs fans kept fingers crossed, holding out hope that Dulli’s occasional gigs with John Curley would spark a full blow reunion for the former-Cincinnati outfit.
What fans didn’t know, was that Dulli was bonding behind closed doors with Whigs guitarist Rick McCollum during the Twilight Singers 2011 spring tour, and that the seed of reuniting the band was taking roots. In November 2011, the three convened for several days in New Orleans, conjuring an old black magic that had been kept under wraps for years.
Do To The Beast marks the triumphant return of the band to both their onetime label Sub Pop, and recording in an official capacity. Although Rick McCollum is absent, and details surrounding his departure are sketchy, Afghan Whigs unleash and deploy their arsenal of aural dark drama and suspense in ways that only a troupe with years of unrelenting practice in pop vitriol can, leaving fans satiated and satisfied.
Although the name Stelth Ulvang may not be familiar, his performance with celebrated Denver, Colorado-based folk rockers The Lumineers probably is. The band’s self-titled debut album, released in mid-2012 peaked at number two on the Billboard charts in early 2013 and has been certified platinum in the U.S. As a result, they were nominated for both Billboard Music Awards and Grammy Awards.
Ulvang released his first proper solo album, And As Always; The Infinite Cosmos, on Feb. 19 and has been road testing his skillful, multi-layered rock tunes. We caught up with him to discuss the LP, and the delicate balance between songwriting and showmanship.
Previous podcasts included interviews with Dads, Mineral, Dot Hacker, Grieves, Buffalo Killers, Circle Takes The Square, The Jazz June, Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) and more.