Libby Rodenbough: On the Other Side

The first time I heard Libby Rodenbough sing and play the fiddle, it was on Mipso’s daytrotter session and the song was Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues,” and I became an instant fan. It was a great pleasure to chat with Libby for this episode of the RLR Podcast to dig into her fantastic solo record, “Spectacle of Love.”

The album is most certainly not a collection of Libby-penned Mipso songs; this is a different artistic expression. On the first song, “How Come You Call Me,” it feels like Libby is drawing on Aimee Mann more than Guy Clark or Emmylou Harris. And the songs that follow represent a wide range of sensibilities, from synth-driven songs to the entrancing instrumental, “Under the U-Bahn.” The album brings different sonic explorations together through lyrics that explore the distances between ourselves and others and how we reconcile the fact that our relationships are always in flux. 

The conversation for our podcast was really fun and we got to dig into specific tracks on the album as well as Libby’s bigger picture approach to writing and developing songs. Enjoy and pass it on!