KUTX at Home: Sylvie Simmons 9.10.20


Veteran rock journalist and singer-songwriter Sylvie Simmons joins Jody Denberg from her home in San Francisco. ‘Blue on Blue’ produced by Howe Gelb, is out now on Compass Records.


YOUTUBE/KUTX – KUTX Host Jody Denberg and Sylvie Simmons – Full Interview with songs “Sweet California” and “1000 Years Before I Met You”

Most music aficionados know the name Sylvie Simmons from her work as one of the most insightful journalists to ever darken a music magazine’s page. From her work with a wide range of publications (from Kerrang! to Mojo and beyond), to her definitive biographies of Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, Neil Young and others, Simmons is an authority whose love of all styles of music quickly becomes obvious after reading one or two of her pieces.

What’s not as well-known is Simmons’ deft touch as a songwriter and musician, first evidenced on 2014’s Sylvie (Light in the Attic Records) – and now even more in view on her brand-new second volley, Blue On Blue out now on Compass Records.

Sylvie first started accompanying herself with her ukulele and songs on stages during her book tour (which landed at the Cactus Café in 2012) in support of her Cohen masterful bio I’m Your Man. Her latest album is an intimate album of 11 snapshots (two of which you’ll hear in the interview) produced with a light-but-never-lightweight touch by Howe Gelb of desert-rockers Giant Sand.

And if all this sounds a bit genteel for your tastes, don’t be fooled. This is the same Sylvie Simmons who co-wrote Mötley Crüe: Lüde, Crüde and Rude. She’s also the same Sylvie Simmons who was name checked by Ray Wylie Hubbard in his song “Chick Singer, Badass Rockin’“ (Her Sylvie Simmons book is dog eared). As you’re about to find out, Sylvie Simmons more than fits Ray Wylie’s bill. – Jody Denberg, KUTX Host


SYLVIE SIMMONS
WEBSITE || BOOKS || BLUE ON BLUE || BANDCAMP


Mötley Crüe: Lüde, Crüde, and Rüde was Sylvie Simmons’ first published book back in 1995. Check out the OG Mötley Crüe paraphernalia from when the band was “indie and didn’t know the law of heavy metal was a black t-shirt.” 


Host: Jody Denberg
Producer: Deidre Gott

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