Bart Davenport

Ben and Christian interview Berkeley native Bart Davenport, about his involvement in a number of local bands with styles that range from electronic to R&B and play some tracks from Palaces, his latest recording.

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This week's podcast features Bart Davenport, a Berkeley native whose lengthy music career has spanned RB, garage rock, and electronic pop with The Loved Ones, The Kinetics, Persephone's Bees and Honeycut, as well as several well-received albums as a solo singer-songwriter. After years of successful touring with Honeycut, Bart now returns to the solo artist world with Palaces, out today on Antenna Farm Records. Full of compelling, catchy melodies and great pop songwriting, Palaces is definitely one of the best records we've heard this year.

Initially planned as collaborative effort with local producer and songwriter Kelley Stoltz, Davenport found himself taking over the reigns with only a handful of songs completed, when scheduling conflicts directed Stoltz elsewhere. Perhaps as a result, the album draws from across the talented performer's broad spectrum of musical tastes, with songs ranging from folksy to funky and melancholic to upbeat. And while Stoltz, the guys from Honeycut, and others appear on the album, it's clearly Bart's show, as he manages to channel his love of classic RB and pop into a thoroughly modern affair.

We spoke with Bart a few weeks back for a fascinating discussion of tour stories, evolving musical influences and more. We're also excited to include four songs from Palaces in the episode and you should be sure to catch Bart live at his CD release show later this month, or on his upcoming national tour.

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