Our friends at the Rockin’ the Suburbs podcast had the good fortune of recently sitting down with power-pop icon Tommy Keene for a long look back at his career, an interview that now, following his unexpected death last week, serves as a memorial to the good-hearted singer-songwriter. Listen to the first two parts right now.

Tommy Keene, the influential singer-songwriter with a sharp ear for power-pop who emerged in the New Wave era and went on to work with admirers including R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Paul Westerberg of The Replacements, and Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard, died in his sleep Wednesday night, He was 59.