Justin Alan Payne is originally from Newark, Ohio.  These days, he's based in East Nashville.  Justin is currently on tour, and is stopping by Dayton this weekend, so this is an excellent time to talk to him for Episode 128.  Yes, we are trying to promote the show, but the vast majority of our conversation here is evergreen.

We talk about Justin's songwriting process.  What tool does he reach for first?  How does he figure out which of his multiple projects the song belongs to?  How does he know a song is…

Dayton is privileged to have had a listening room for decades, a wonderful music venue called Canal Street Tavern.  Alas, both that venue and its visionary owner are no longer with us, and while it's surely impossible to replicate that experience, it is definitely possible to carry on a similar spirit.  That's what Windsor Knotts has been doing for years by hosting Showcase Thursdays at Yellow Cab Tavern.  He is my guest on this episode, a conversation that has not been edited.

What exactly is a listening…

I love to perform… I'm in my community and I'm talking to people and I'm connecting with people, and people are connected with my music… I love it, I never want to stop.

Eleanor Dakota is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Dayton, Ohio, though these days she can be found in Cleveland.  In addition to being a prolific songwriter, Eleanor is the lead vocalist for Columbus based band crabswithoutlegs. When you listen to this conversation, it'll become clear to you how important music is for Eleanor…

For those of you who are new to this podcast (or as a friendly reminder), I'm Mike Bankhead, bass player and songwriter from Dayton, Ohio.  I'm an indie musician, not a journalist.  My two esteemed guests on this episode are journalists.  Juliet Fromholt is Music Director at WYSO, which is an NPR affiliate in Southwest Ohio.  She hosts two music shows on the station, Alpha Rhythms and Kaleidoscope.  Taylor Ruckle is a freelance music journalist whose work has appeared in FLOOD Magazine and Under the Radar…

You don't wanna waste time trying to impress people who aren't already into what you're doing…

Mery Steel is Canadian and Ohioan and pretty awesome. We cover a great deal of ground in this conversation. Some of the topics we discuss are: Canada, hockey, imposter syndrome, being fearless, their songwriting process, playing bass, chronic pain, their last album She's Back, their next album, and being sad, among other things.
 

LINKS

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For those of you who are new to this podcast (or as a friendly reminder), I'm Mike Bankhead, bass player and songwriter from Dayton, Ohio.  I'm an indie musician, not a journalist.  My two esteemed guests on this episode are journalists.  Juliet Fromholt is Music Director at WYSO, which is the NPR affiliate in Southwest Ohio.  She hosts two music shows on the station, Alpha Rhythms and Kaleidoscope.  Taylor Ruckle is a freelance music journalist whose work has appeared in FLOOD Magazine and Under the Radar…

…it's the most fun instrument to play with other people…

I still read music blogs, and that's a good thing because that's how I first discovered fellow bass player and songwriter Pictoria Vark, whose given name is Victoria Park.  In early 2023, I discovered that she was going on tour with Maneka (hopefully a future episode), and I couldn't pass up the chance to see two indie artists I was into at the same time.  Their tour was limited to the Northeast United States.  I cashed in some frequent flyer miles…

Alex Winters is a talented songwriter based in Texas. Her most recent album, Unexpected Trespasses, was released on February 27, 2024.  We had this conversation way back in April, and it's 100% my fault that I'm just now getting this episode into your ears, dear listener. 

This conversation will show you what makes Alex tick as a songwriter, and I think you'll be able to tell just how important the act of putting feelings into song is for her.  We dive into the recording process for Unexpected Trespasses…

(photo by Fred Shank)

there's always gonna be a little darkness, there's always a little melancholy…

My conversation with Tod Weidner remains the highest listened-to episode of this podcast. This is clearly a testament to how much this gentleman means to many people here in Ohio.  He's back in the Buckeye State this week to play a couple of shows, so we're having a brief chat in advance of that to invite folks to come out and listen. He's playing with the wonderful Peter Mulvey on Thursday May 2nd at…

Valerie Vonn is in Germany. We did not have our conversation in German, though I imagine that she can surely hold her own in a German conversation, because, well, that's not a language that I speak.  However, I do speak musician reasonably well, and for that reason, I think the two of us understand each other.

Valerie is a singer, songwriter, and producer.  Why does Valerie choose to live in Germany? What did her childhood smell like?  What does her songwriting process look like? What are some of the…