Review Fix Exclusive: Dave Plaehn Talks ‘Radio Sister’

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Dave Plaehn, who discusses his new album, “Radio Sister.”

Featuring Blues, Reggae, Funk, Pop and even Hambone, Dave Plaehn’s “Radio Sister,” is an eclectic assortment of tracks that real music fans, who spread their genre loves as widely as can be, can and will enjoy. While more casual fans will find the range almost too bewildering, that won’t stop them finding a track or two they’ll dig.

Review Fix: What was the creative process for this album?

Plaehn: The creative process can be broken into (at least) 3 aspect: songwriting, arrangement and production. All of the 11 originals were written before going into the studio. In many cases I had made demos of many of the songs at a smaller studio. Song ideas often came from messing around on a keyboard sometimes developing ideas that came to me in a dream or that popped into my mind, say, driving around. Occasionally I would write using the harmonica. Stranger Blues is a case in point.

The second aspect of the creative process came about when playing/learning the songs in a group. Each player can have a vision of a song which can influence the rest of us. The instrumental arrangements generally ended up being collaborative efforts. This could include instrumental lines, groove, chord changes, etc..

Most of the vocal arrangements had been worked out before the recording i.e. in the 80s or before. Two exceptions were Radio Sister and Better Things To Do. The background vocals on these were recorded in 2014. I got lucky with Radio Sister coming up with what I consider a nice alternate “hook”—“you are my radio, um, my sister radio, and you …”.

Finally, I often work with creative mixing engineers who hear things I don’t. For example, in “Better Things to Do” the engineer (Tom Tatman) “doubled” some of the lead vocals in the choruses which definitely helped. I thought Tom did a great job overall.


Review Fix: What did you learn through the experience?

Plaehn: Don’t recall my thoughts back when we did most of the recording (80s). Listening to the tracks again after so many years I was impressed with the musicianship. The players were a very talented bunch! Overall I thought the tracks held up pretty well but I admit I’m not current on the various music “scenes.” A number of reviewers have noted that some/most of the songs sound from another era (in a good or bad way, depending on the reviewer).

Review Fix: You’ve been in the industry for four decades; what inspires you to continue to create?

Plaehn: Music inspires me. Playing with good players and/or for good audiences inspires me. Although I don’t write as much as I used to, I’m still creative in vocalizing and in my harp playing. Music can still have a transforming/transcending affect on me.

Review Fix: What made you pick up the harmonica for the first time?

Plaehn: In high school I played keyboards in a cover band (1967-1968). The lead singer played harmonica occasionally. We’d often practice in my parents’ basement and he would leave the harmonicas there. I was curious and would occasionally try to play the harmonica after practice. I apparently felt some connection to it as I decided to learn the harp part on Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me” which we ended up doing. Then I started picking up harp parts on early Stones songs.

Review Fix: The album has so many different tones and encompasses so many different genres. Considering that which do you think is the one you’re most comfortable performing in?

Plaehn: Currently, I’m the most comfortable performing the blues. At the time of the recording I was more under the sway of reggae. I had played with two reggae acts in Madison, WI, The Tony Brown Band and The Roots Band, both of which were important in shaping me as a musician.

Review Fix: What song do you think is the one that gives listeners the best sampling of what you’re capable of?

Plaehn: Hard to say. As you mentioned the album is multifaceted/heterogeneous. The Leadbelly Medley shows off a different yet fundamental aspect of my voice. Better Things To Do has some nice harp work. Love and Truth is one of my more emotional pieces. I consider Is Anybody Listening? one of my best songs.

Review Fix: What song on the album do you think has the most potential to grow on listeners?

Plaehn: Again, hard to say. The Leadbelly Medley was a favorite for a number of reviewers.

Maybe Is Anybody Listening? Love and Truth?

Review Fix: How do you want this album to be remembered?

Radio Sister has some of my best vocal performances, so I hope that is “noted.” It’s also an indicator of a broad array of influences with an emphasis on reggae. Finally RS has some of my best lyrics/lines.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Plaehn: I’ve started another album of originals that will again cover a lot of territory. Also, I’m hoping to do third CD with slide player friend, Jeff Hino, of new takes on mostly blues covers (artistecard.com/plaehnhino). My friend, Creighton Lindsay (creightonlindsay.com), will be releasing a new album possibly later this year on which I’ll be playing some harp.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13820 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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