It is a very hard thing to do the thing that you want to do.

There I am on Polywork, and I see a posted opportunity from a company looking for people who want to learn piano.  I took piano lessons a few years ago, but once I got enough knowledge to use it as a composition tool, I stopped.  I'd like to learn more.  I responded to the opportunity, which was posted by Vlad Georgescu.  Shortly thereafter, Yue Deng-Wu reached out to me.

Vlad and Yue are cofounders of Spacenotes, a startup company looking…

All these songs really mean a lot to me and help me to kind of decipher my thoughts...

Jovi Espina is a songwriter from Virginia who is currently based in Los Angeles. She has been making music since she was ten years old. I got a chance to see her play at an open mic, and I can tell you from my first person observation that she is a very poised performer who plays with confidence.  In this conversation, you'll learn about her writing process, what her childhood smelled like, and all sorts of interesting…

Why am I being so secretive when it's just a song?

I met Nina Nepa in Los Angeles at an open mic event.  Both of us managed to overcome our nerves from being in a room full of strangers and play our songs.  Since listening to her play that day, I've wanted to chat with her about her music for this podcast.  Well here you are, Nina is the guest on today's episode.

Nina is from Pittsburgh, currently living in Los Angeles.  She plays piano and writes songs. She describes herself as a mechanical engineer…

Let me tell you a tale of blunder, confusion, and woe. I procrastinated when it came to editing my conversation with Brenda Carsey, but it was going to get done in the early afternoon, and everything was ok.  I'd have this episode up and out, ready to tell folks to go listen to Brenda's new album Cognizance on January 9th anywhere you stream music. I'm in my DAW, working on the file, and I clicked the wrong thing... I couldn't see exactly what it was, but strange things were happening, so I tried to cancel…

Photo by Libby Danforth

these three hundred songs, they're all assets... they're all pieces of magic that started on a blank piece of paper

A few years ago, I arrived at Yellow Cab Tavern to play a show at my favorite curated open mic, Showcase Thursday. I had been told that we had an artist from Nashville in town to play with us that night. It's not every week that we get someone on tour to stop by, so I was very much looking forward to meeting this intrepid individual. The intrepid individual…

Cara Van Thorn is an Austin, Texas based new swing jazz fusion sort of nineties alternative band that just plays whatever we like to hear...

I'm sure you're wondering why this lovely lady is in a room in this nice dress whilst being surrounded by musicians in their underwear.  Well, there's a lot to wonder about Cara Van Thorn, this eclectic band from Austin. This band was founded by active musicians in the metal and punk scenes, and they came together to create a style of music that has more in…

At some point, you know, it's hard to carry a piano around...

Mary Beth Carty is a fascinating individual, a songwriter, an artist, and a multi-instrumental musician. She can be heard singing in four (4!) different languages on her new album, Crossing the Causeway. How did the diversity in the area she grew up contribute to her music?  How did she get started playing accordion?  What did her childhood smell like?  You'll get the answers to these questions - as well as hear me list some names of a musical…

Josh Bradford has been on the podcast before, and he's back to talk about new adventures. Specifically, we talk about the "creative nomadic journey" that he has recently undertaken. Where is he going?  Why is he going?  What's he going to do? When he's making a piece of music, how does he decide on instrumentation? What's the difference between a composing performer and a performing composer?  You'll get the answers to those questions and more in this new episode.

Also, if you can come up with a…

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…

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.

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Music has always helped us to feel our feelings and we want to be that for other people, we want to create music that helps people to feel their feelings and to make people feel a little less alone...

Jon Kresin and Amelie Eiding are a pop duo called 7000apart.  They are currently based in Wisconsin, but at the time of our conversation, they were in Stockholm, Sweden. The story of the beginning of their project is compelling, but it's one they have told many times, so I'll send you over to the Our…

J'ai pas choisi en fait. Je dirais que c'est plutôt la musique qui m'a choisie moi...
because it's what's in my heart, it's what I love...

Becca is French, originally from Nantes. She has lived in the United States for a little over twelve years now. You'll see right away that she has a deep passion for music that comes spilling out of her. Becca radiates joy and enthusiasm. Since I happen to speak French, we meander between French and English during our chat. In fact we talked for over three hours…

"We use that pathos and we make something out of it... that's what artists have done for thousands of years..."

We go to Texas for this episode, for a chat with Josh Bradford. He is an artist, a creative.  His skill set includes making music, teaching music, filmmaking, and improvisational composition. Piano is the main weapon in Josh Bradford's arsenal. Josh and I have some unexpected things in common, and one of these is a love of dissonance. How does Josh get the audience at a concert involved in the…

"The bass is profoundly cool."

Meet fellow Midwesterner Gail Gallagher.  Gail is a singer-songwriter, composer, artist, and podcaster with a background in sketch comedy and improv. She released an album in 2020 called Power of the Unnamed Passion, which explores balancing dark emotions with joy. Her new single "Long Johns" is out today, 21st January 2022, on all streaming platforms. Gail is also a teacher, helping to bring the joy of music to the next generation.

Some highlights of our conversation:

1. …