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Built to Spill Bassist Melanie Radford Spent Years on Solo Debut – And Now She’s Already Planning Her Next One

Posted in Interviews with tags Blood Lemon, Built to Spill, Melanie Radford on 06/27/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Yesterday saw the release of Sake of Stillness, the forever-in-the-works debut record by Built to Spill bassist Melanie Radford. Its poetic title reflects the care, time and patience the Boise musician put into an exquisite collection made available through Portland, Oregon’s Jealous Butcher Records.

The Bad Penny had never communicated with Radford, who now lives in Seattle and has a second band called Blood Lemon that started in 2018. That is, except for the time we obtained a quote from her in which she commented on Built to Spill’s performance at a Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rally held in neighboring Nampa earlier this year.

So, after seeing Radford perform with various projects at various venues on various occasions over the years, we were revved up to pick her brain and finally get to know her what makes her tick. We had the opportunity to do so on Wednesday, and what follows is the bulk of our conversation.

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Guerilla Toss, Pals of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus and Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Ready to Go Ape in Boise Tonight

Posted in Interviews with tags Built to Spill, Doug Martsch, Evan Zuri, Guerilla Toss, Kassie Carlson, Pavement, Phish, Stephen Malkmus, Still Depths, Trey Anastasio on 09/27/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

After a kinda middling summer concert-wise in Boise, the next month is chock-full with super shows, and The Bad Penny will do its best to both inform you about can’t-miss and encourage you to attend them. One is happening tonight at Shrine Social Club, which will host Sub Pop art-rock quintet Guerilla Toss, along with Vancouver, British Columbia’s alt-punks Still Depths and Evan Zuri.

Guerilla Toss’ set will perform selections from their fifth record, You’re Weird Now, which dropped Sept. 12 and features contributions by Stephen Malkmus of Pavement (who produced the album) and Ben Katzman, who came in third on Season 46 of Survivor. Bet you didn’t have that latter guest appearance on your bingo card.

Guerilla Toss singer Kassie Carlson did The Bad Penny the favor of touching base with us during their long drive from Portland to the City of Trees. Our conversation went a little something like this:

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At Boise Gig, Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst Recalls Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch Doing Him a Solid

Posted in Concert Reviews, News, Reviews with tags Bright Eyes, Built to Spill, Commander Venus, Conor Oberst, Doug Martsch, Saintseneca, The Poison Oak Project, trans, Treefort Music Hall on 09/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Bright Eyes commander Conor Oberst shared a heartfelt and formative memory with the crowd that packed the Treefort Music Hall to see his ensemble perform tonight.

About halfway through Bright Eyes‘ 20-song set, Oberst recalled that his prior band Commander Venus opened for their idols, Built to Spill, when the latter band performed in Oberst’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. He noted that he was only 14 years old at the time.

Oberst then recounted that when Bright Eyes played to an empty Neurolux in Boise when they were starting out, he received a note from that city’s hometown hero, Built to Spill leader Doug Martsch, on which he had written his home phone number an invitation for Oberst’s band to crash at his house for the night.

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Big Takeover #96: Michael Gira and Todd Trainer Interviews, Bernie/AOC Rally Coverage, More

Posted in Album Reviews, Essays, Features, Interviews, Reviews with tags Airport 77s, AOC, Bernie Sanders, Built to Spill, Dez Dare, Librarians With Hickeys, Mdou Moctar, Michael Gira, mssv, Onsetter, Pleasure Pill, Plight, Royal Chant, Shellac, Swans, The Big Takeover, Todd Trainer, Unstable Shapes on 06/05/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The special 45th anniversary edition of The Big Takeover, one of the oldest and last-surviving punk-rock magazines, is now available here. The special issue features more contributions from yours truly than every before–and they’re exclusively featured in the magazine:

• a deep conversation with Michael Gira of Swans
• my second feature with drummer Todd Trainer, stemming from the first interview he gave after the passing of his beloved Shellac bandmate Steve Albini
• a dispatch from a “Fighting Oligarchy” event in Idaho that featured Built to Spill, Bernie Sanders and AOC (and drew national attention)
• my reviews of new releases by Airport 77s, Dez Dare, Librarians With Hickeys, Mdou Moctar, mssv, Onsetter, Pleasure Pill, Plight, Royal Chant and Unstable Shapes

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Built to Spill Bassist Says Bernie/AOC Rally Provided ‘Ray of Hope’

Posted in Concert Reviews, Interviews, Reviews with tags Built to Spill, Melanie Radford on 04/18/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“As a woman who was raised in Nampa, Idaho, I know what the politics there can look like, and it’s usually pretty bleak,” Built to Spill’s Melanie Radford told New Noise. “But (Monday’s event) was a ray of hope.”

Interview: Built to Spill Bassist on ‘Solidarity’ at ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ Rally with Bernie Sanders, AOC

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Toro y Moi, Chai, Liz Phair, Acid King Rock Treefort Music Fest ’19

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Acid King, American Football, Black Mountain, Built to Spill, Chai, Ealdor Bealu, Liz Phair, Mandolin Orange, Rituals of Mine, Sonic Titan, Toro y Moi, Treefort, Weeed on 02/21/2023 by Kurt Orzeck

With just 30 days until Boise’s Treefort Music Fest kicks off — and shortly before the Bad Penny rolls out an exciting interview series surrounding it — here’s a look back in photos (and some words) at 2019’s installment.

(Originally published by Music Connection.)

Treefort Music Festival 2019 Recap

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Joshua Lewis, Multi-Instrumentalist Extraordinaire, Conveys a Sense of ‘Friction’

Posted in Interviews with tags Built to Spill, Joshua Lewis on 11/11/2022 by Kurt Orzeck

Most mystics and some musicians, when asked for advice, inevitably stress the importance of silence. One of the most healing aspects of retreats, hikes and the like is embracing the lack of noise and letting one’s mind go undisturbed. Miles Davis famously said, “It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play.”

Through no fault of their own, musicians — who want to be at least heard, if not worshipped — have a tough time staying humble.

Cerebral multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer Joshua Lewis doesn’t have that problem.

For the first 10 years of his career, the Boise-based artist played nary a note on a stage or in a studio. Instead, his primary trade was (and still is) engineering and producing music for other artists. Most recently, he helped record and mix the new album When the Wind Forgets Your Name by Boise’s best band of all time, Built to Spill.

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