If there was one thread I can find across all of my music, it is the deep love of storytelling...

Michelle Rhea Goddard is a Nashville-based songwriter who is originally from California.  Here album Breaking Bread: Songs of Reconciliation is arranged like a play, with an introduction, three acts, and an intermission. What is her writing process like? How did she come up with the idea to structure an album this way?  What did her childhood smell like?  You'll get the answers to all of these questions in…

Three At Home is a band from the greater Boston area. I met two of them in Austin a few months ago while we were attending the CD Baby DIY Musician Conference. All three of them join me for this conversation.  They have an interesting dynamic, with two songwriters and two lead vocalists. Listen to this episode to learn what they remember as the first song they ever heard and what their childhoods smelled like.

LINKS

Three At Home official website

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

This is about to be you and I on an adventure that may sometimes appear to be a little bit more rough and unrefined than what you may be accustomed to, but it is genuine

You might remember talented Dayton-based rapper TINO from a previous appearance on my blog.  He's on the podcast today, because today is Bandcamp Friday when they waive their cut of artist payments, and he has a new album over there right now.  Midwest Sorrow covers different sonic and emotional ground than TINO's other work.

How did…

I loved parker ben parker right from the first song the first time I heard them way back in the 1990s.  My guest on this episode, Marc Aiello, played guitar in that band. Those of you around the Dayton music scene will especially appreciate this episode. If you're any sort of music fan, you'll probably like this as well, as it's simply two music enthusiasts talking about the thing they love.

LINKS

five seven five music - Marc's publishing company

parker ben parker

The Durable Fiction

 writing songs, playing music, and I realized that was my joy in life... and so to be able to continue to do that from that point to now, I feel lucky...

That's Joe Anderl pictured above on the left in the foreground.  He's been making music for two and a half decades or so, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who brings as much passion as he does to the stage at a show.  Joe is the lead singer and songwriter for The 1984 Draft.  You'll hear some stories in our conversation about a past ska…

Whenever I see a friend of mine doing something cool, thriving in some way in music, it makes me nothing but happy...

My guest today is Nathan Peters, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, performer, and long-time supporter of local music.  He's with us to talk about Dayton Music Fest, an annual celebration of music.  We sure would love it if you'd accompany us to this event.  Why do we think you'll enjoy it?  You can find out the answer in this episode. 

Here are some highlights:

1. The beginning of…

When you are a small community, coming together and having shared experiences is a big part of how that exists and how that persists over time...

Matthew Kirk has already shown love to his community by resurrecting a long time ice cream business that had closed.  He continues to show love to his community by being host to musicians at two different locations for Yellow Springs Porchfest this upcoming weekend.  I have the honor of playing at O and E's Corner Cone at 4:00 PM.  What other musicians is…

It's emotion, right?  That's music. We're connecting with people on an emotional level...that's ultimately at the end of the day what it's all about, just connecting with other people.

Sometimes things happen in life that seem like an implausible story from a movie.  I have one of those to tell, and the stars of this story are Brittany Bliss and Reid Givens of Brittany and the Blisstones.  Brittany and the Blisstones is an indie band from Chico, California. Their sound draws from influences as diverse as…

I love rock and roll and I love writing rock and roll songs

Brandon Semler lives in Austin, but originally hails from Greene County, right here in Ohio.  We met in 2019 at the CD Baby DIY Musician Conference.  We'll be headed back there again this weekend, and in fact, this episode is being posted on the morning of the conference's first day.  What kind of things is Brandon up to musically with his band, Westerly Station?  What's his new business all about?  What's the first song he can remember ever…

A veces los músicos pecamos de no darnos cuenta de que es mucho trabajo...

Tengo el honor de dar la bienvenida a Icho Van, bajista para Jenny and the Mexicats.  Su grupo consiste de dos mexicanos, un español, y  una inglesa.  Viajan por todo el mundo traendo gozo músical a la gente. Van a descubrir que Icho es un caballero interesante y pensativo, quién trabaja duro y no da por sentado sus logros. ¿Cómo comenzó ser músico?  ¿Cómo está aguantando el grupo su fama?  ¿Que fue la primiera canción que…

Don't ask somebody how they are unless you really want to know

My guest for Episode 50 is a tastefully named gentleman who hosts a podcast called Detoxicity.  I had the honor of appearing on his podcast back in September 2021.  You'll get to hear him explain what his podcast is about in our conversation.  You'll get to hear me use the word "perfunctory" in a sentence more than once.  What's a basic tagline for life?  What did Mike's childhood smell like?  

Detoxicity Podcast

Instagram

Photo by Harish Pathak

I definitely was not thinking about writing a book for people who teach music lessons, but it's funny how these weird little intentions... if we keep following the thread, we can get to it...

Lesley Barth is a singer, songwriter, recording artist, musician, author, teacher, and mom who is currently based in Nashville. She released her second full-length album, called Big Time Baby, in May 2020. We talk about the album and some of the songs on it.  (Many of them have music…

It's really all about me exposing myself honestly... exposing my heart, exposing real life experiences and challenges that I've gone through... exposing lessons from those challenges... 

This episode keeps us in the Gem City.  Mariah J is my guest.  She's a singer/songwriter, poet, dancer, artist disruptor, cultural strategist and overall creative being who has just released an album titled Unfolding.  How did Mariah learn how to sing? How long did it take her to make this album?  How does she know…

Voilà ça c'est vraiment ce que savent faire les américains, écrire une chanson très très emotionnel sur un souvenir...

Franz Robert Wild is a songwriter, musician, vocal coach, and all-around music industry professional from Toulouse, France.  We had this conversation in French. For you English-speakers, we'll have another chat in English later.

Franz Robert Wild est auteur, compositeur, musicien, coach vocal et professionel de musique qui vient de Toulouse. Quand est-ce qu'il a commencé à jouer la…

Image courtesy of Tony Drovretto for Museum of Pop Culture

Music journalist Taylor Ruckle makes his triumphant return to the podcast, and we talk about our favorite albums released in the second quarter of 2022. Just like our previous conversation we break down the albums in varying degrees of detail and go full-on music nerd for your listening pleasure. The albums we selected are as follows:

Taylor

Florence & the Machine - Dance Fever
Jasmyn Burke - In the Wild
Joyce Manor - 40 ounces to Fresno
Billy…

Joe is from Richmond, Indiana, just a little bit West of Dayton on I-70. He is a singer-songwriter who performs as Achilles Tenderloin. In this episode, he becomes the first guest to play a song live on the podcast, an exclusive that you can't find recorded anywhere at the moment. You'll hear us talk about his songwriting process, building community around music and giving back.  You'll also learn about his two newest singles and plans for an upcoming album. He is a thoughtful lyricist, and that…

Rachel Rosen is a journalist, and this is a career that piques my curiosity, so you'll hear me asking a bunch of questions about that in this conversation.  Rachel Rosen is also a musician, as you can see from the above picture.  We'll find out how she got started playing music, what her songwriting process is like, and what her childhood smells like. In addition to that, well, this is a wide-ranging and meandering conversation that goes into a bunch of different places, including an epic tale of being…

...I don't like to be labelled as one genre, because I love so many different genres of music...

The Kadence is a Dayton-based songwriter and artist. He is blessed with a gifted voice. In our conversation, you'll learn how he got started making music and get a look into his songwriting process. Have you ever wanted to drop everything and leave? If so, maybe you can live vicariously through The Kadence, as he is about to move into a Nissan Altima and drive to Los Angeles. Why is that happening? You'll…

It wouldn't make sense for me to call this 'For Dayton By Dayton' if it doesn't encompass everything Dayton has to offer... I want inclusion in all aspects... this is a city-wide house party...

I welcome my first rapper to the podcast with K. Carter.  Carter is based in Dayton, Ohio.  He is a poet, artist, and small business owner who clearly loves the Gem City and has a desire to bring people together. His most recent album, The Prototype, was released this year.  You'll learn what he is up to…

I don't want watches, I just want more time

Alan "Corduroy" Brown is a musician from West Virginia.  I first met him through an article on the Columbus Music in Motion website, and was very glad to get a chance to get to know him better in our conversation. The debut album with his band as Corduroy Brown is called Let Me Know, and it was released in August 2021.  You'll find out how he got into music, what his influence are, what is the first thing he reaches for when it's time to write a song... but…

photo credit: Jon Estes

That's really what art is about, right?  Just connecting with people on an emotional level...

Greg Owens is handsome and bearded and from Nashville, Tennessee. He's an Americana artist, songwriter, recent father, and sipper of whiskey.  In this episode, we talk about his album Life, Love, and Southern Sadness and the stories he tells on it, his songwriting process, his love for 90s rock, grandmothers who are armed, Batman (?), and some other stuff. I like Greg's songs and…

My goal is always to get people to feel a little deeper, which I think is what the world needs.

Sara Jelley is a songwriter and musician currently based on Maui.  She is also a vocal coach.  What's the story behind her debut album, Holes?  What is her songwriting process like?  Who might benefit from taking voice lessons?  What kind of smell does Sara remember from her childhood?  You'll learn the answers to these questions, and possibly even more, from a careful listen to our conversation.

LINKS

I feel like when I first started playing... there was just really not a whole lot that was coming into my immediate system, and now I'm just flooded with... non male humans playing guitar and making music and being successful at this thing... it's really inspiring and really cool to watch that happen

Sarah Rudy joins me on this episode.  She is a songwriter and guitarist who leads Hello June.  What kind of work goes into marketing and promoting a show?  What is a simple thing that you can do on social…

Taylor Ruckle is a freelance music journalist who has written for Post-Trash, Flood Magazine, and Merry Go Round, among others.  We had a lovely chat a couple of years ago when he was writing for The All Scene Eye, and if you wish to do so, you can still listen to that conversation here. For this conversation, well, one fourth of 2022 is already gone. Both Taylor and I put on our music fan hats and talk about our favorite albums of the year - so far.

LINKS

Taylor's interview with Elise from Oceanator

…

This isn't a company created by and of silicon valley based tech bros... this company was founded by and employs a lot of creatives who come from backgrounds in the fine arts... these are people who understand the plight of the aspiring creative...

I met Brian Zisook on Twitter. He is cofounder and Senior Vice President of Operations at Audiomack. He is also VP and Editor-in-Chief of an music blog called DJBooth. His page over there describes him like this: "Over the past 13 years, Zisook has conducted…