An Album of the Month Event You Should Check Out

We've got a great host and a killer record, all set to go. All we need now is you! Here's how to join the fun.

Jun 06, 2025

Cover art courtesy of Dangerbird Records

Good Morning!

Today we’re talking about Holly Miranda’s self-titled sophomore album, and well, how you can talk about the band with other like minded people.

Note: As some of you know, I’m one of the editors for an online music publication called The Riff. Each month, we host an album discussion (via Zoom), and this month’s is coming up on Sunday.

To be clear, all credit goes to

Terry Barr

and
Scott Fountain
who facilitate the meetings, as well as
Jeremy Shatan
this month’s host. These guys are doing the heavy lifting.

As you’ll see below, these are low-key affairs; all are welcome! If you want to share some thoughts, that’s awesome. Wanna just sit back & listen? That’s cool, too.

Either way, it’d be better with you there.

KA—

It’s that time again; it’s time for our monthly album discussion!

One of The Riff's core tenets is sharing music. That obviously involves writing about it, but also talking about it together. We do that monthly here.

This Sunday, June 8th, is that day.

Below is my boilerplate explanation of these discussions and the value you’ll get from joining us. Under that are both the record being discussed and the meeting login details.

Don’t know the record? Doesn’t matter.
Not comfortable speaking in public? Me either. And you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Heck, you don’t even have to turn your camera on. It’s a safe space, but you control what you share.
Ultimately, you’re part of the community; we want you to be a part of this, too.

So check out the “rules” below, and then plan to dial in.

What is this?

For new readers (hi everyone!), The Riff hosts an online discussion every month.

Here’s how it works:

A writer (more on that in a second) picks a record to discuss and writes a brief piece about their choice and the meeting details.
At the meeting, they discuss why they picked it, offer a bit of a backstory/context, and whatever else they’d like to share.
Everyone else on the call can share their own “hot take,” related story, or anything else you think is relevant.
At the end of the meeting, the next month’s writer volunteers (or is chosen), and the process repeats itself.

NOTE FOR INTROVERTS: If you’d prefer to sit in and listen, that is 110% okay. Keep your video off…stay muted…it’s up to you. It’s a safe place; you can participate as much/as little as you’d like.

This month’s host:

This month’s host is

Jeremy Shatan

who writes the fantastic ‘Stack An Earful. He’s also been blogging since, well, forever, and has a YouTube channel. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also an accomplished photographer and was behind the lens for a record cover you might’ve seen before.

Cool! So, what are we talking about?

Jeremy has chosen Holly Miranda’s self-titled sophomore record.

From his review of the record:

That same year, she released Everlasting and Desert Call, two of her best songs yet, featuring the kind of singing and emotion that just stops you in your tracks. That made 2014 the hardest year of waiting, because I knew she had finally figured out how to reveal her full talent in the studio. While she did let us pledgers know about some of the mitigating circumstances behind the delay, I did start to worry that she was stalling out somehow, getting lost in side projects and backing other musicians.
Then, [in 2015], the dam finally broke. Some songs appeared on Spotify, and pledgers were notified that the album was coming in May. I tried not to get too hung up on dates, to just let it happen, but it all happened on schedule: Holly Miranda was released on May 18th, and it is brilliant.

Musical adventure, exploring new sounds, and sharing great music with great people make these discussions a joy.

Join us and see for yourself.