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…

As a reminder, or as background if you're new to this podcast, Juliet Fromholt is Music Director at WYSO, and Taylor Ruckle is a freelance music journalist.  Both of them have a deep love for music, are discerning and careful listeners, and like to nerd out about songs and albums.

The three of us had this conversation back on December 26th.  Shame on me for taking so long to post it.  That said, anything here that you haven't heard is new to YOU, so if you are a music lover, this conversation is evergreen…

This particular episode is an important one to me, and if you care about authenticity in music, I think it'll be important to you as well.

Country isn't my genre of choice, but I've been making an effort to listen to more of it over the last few years.  To keep it 100, as the kids say, the sound never spoke to me when I was young, and I couldn't see any value for me in that genre.  As I've gotten older, I've learned that country music is a vehicle for Black stories as well, despite what the music industry…

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…

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…