A New KEXP Show, ‘Vinelands,’ Will Play New Bay Area Music

There’s plenty to draw on when we think of Bay Area musical history. The 1960s were marked by psychedelic pop. A decade later, Sylvester ignited dance floors with his flare for disco synths. And later, legacy rock bands such as Metallica and Green Day emerged.

A new weekly radio show, called Vinelands, wants to pay homage to these “golden ages” of Bay Area music — while highlighting emerging artists, says Kelley Stoltz, the show’s co-host and a San Francisco musician, whose 18th album came out in June and is known for guitar-laden psych pop tunes.

“We’re due for another deeper examination,” he said.

Vinelands, which premieres Saturday, comes on the heels of a Bay Area expansion of KEXP, a respected independent music station based in Seattle. Stoltz said when his own music was played on KEXP in the mid-aughts, it was a turning point in his career.

“I liken it to the applause you get at a live gig,” he added. “It’s that encouragement that you’re not just screaming in a void.”

Speaking with KQED’s Brian Watt, Stoltz talked about the vision for Vinelands and gave a preview of the inaugural playlist.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

Brian Watt: The name of this show, I’m guessing there’s a reference to wine. But is there more to it than that?

Kelley Stoltz: My co-host Gabriel Lopez and I had a meeting over coffee. We were just shooting names back and forth. Bing bong, bing bong. Vinelands popped out, and I think in reference to Northern California, to Thomas Pynchon and science fiction. To me, it means it’s like a chain of community. And I think that works.

The Bay Area has produced a lot of great musicians over the years. But what’s exciting to you about the up-and-coming artists who are performing here nowadays?

There’s so many different kinds of music being explored by young people today. As a guitar-based singer-songwriter-type of person, my ears are always open to people who are doing that kind of music. There are bands [like] Chimes School, The Umbrellas. Maya has her own stuff and plays with a group called Mild Universe. It’s vaguely psychedelic pop. It’s a touch of The Byrds, R.E.M. – with an awareness of early ’80s English music that’s made a big resurgence here, for whatever reason.

It’s evident to me that there is a whole new generation of people who are working hard and putting in the time and figuring out a way to make it work. It’s not easy in this economy. It never was really, even in the old days. But there are so many different genres being explored, and it’s just exciting to me.

Is there a scene of Bay Area music that you feel is especially under-covered right now that you want to highlight on the show?

They’re all under-covered. I think mainstream radio tends to look for something to go to. This year it’s Seattle, then it’s Detroit, then it’s Bristol. It’s easier to focus on one thing, highlight it and explore it and then leave it. The Bay had its last golden age, 2008 to 2012. It got a lot of press. And I think we’re just six months, a year away from people going, ‘Whoa, there’s a lot going on there right now.’

What is on the playlist for this first show?

I’ve got Charles Brown, one of the greatest singers all of time. The Flaming Groovies, a band from the ’60s-’70s. They’re still playing today. “Shake Some Action” is probably the greatest power-pop song ever written; it’s the blueprint for 40 years of music. That’s a Bay Area invention. Sylvester. Patrick Kelly. How many people are still trying to achieve that sound and have that reach to all different kinds of people? Tower of Power, John Lee Hooker. It goes on.

The great thing about Gabriel and me is I’m deep over here. He’s deep over there. We don’t want to do a specialty show that’s focused on just Oakland R&B from 1982-83. It’s not indie rock, psychedelic music from the ’60s only. And I guess that’s where Vinelands comes in. It’s this long line of growth from way back on up to today. And I think we want to explore all kinds of music. Luckily, KEXP is all about it. And I hope you discover something you never heard.

‘Vinelands’ airs every Saturday from 6 p.m.–9 p.m. on KEXP at 92.7 FM, and streaming on KEXP’s site. The Seattle-based station is a tenant partner of KQED.