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…

It's about the right people seeing your product, it's not about the masses...

Josh grew up in Middletown, Ohio. Liv grew up in Australia.  They both live in Los Angeles now, and are both musicians and filmmakers. They are currently on the road promoting a new independent punk rock feature film called Wrong Reasons.  Josh wrote and directed the film.  Liv produced and starred in the film.  Kevin Smith is executive producer.  Cameron Mosavian composed the film's score.

Josh and Liv are on the road…

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…

Ben Monat is an amateur guitar player from Massachusetts.  You'll be able to feel the enthusiasm he has for the instrument in our conversation.  We talk about his wide-ranging influences, how he got started making music more than 20 years ago, and the value of collaboration.

Visit Ben's YouTube Channel

Ben on Polywork
 

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…

Exactly one year ago, on 30th December 2021, Juliet Fromholt joined me for a chat about our favorite albums of 2021.  I released that conversation the next day, 31st December, and it was Episode ½ of this podcast.  It was so much fun, I just HAD to have her back this year. Taylor Ruckle joins us for this conversation.  You might remember him from Episode 27 and Episode 43, where we talked about our favorite albums of the first and second quarters of 2022 respectively. 

All three of us are completely…

Yuppie is happy music about hard things.

Zack Sliver is the gentleman in the red shirt in the above picture, taken during Dayton Music Fest at Blind Bob's.  His project is called Yuppie.  Zack is altruistic, kind, and talented, and comes with a polished elevator pitch.  How did wearing a wig in Okinawa help make him a better performer and musician?  What's his songwriting process like?  Does he still like Peculiar, the album that he released this year? Why should you eat Lee's Famous Recipe chicken…

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…