Tell You What! the Podcast

Our guest for episode number 57 is Portland based musician and songwriter Jeffrey Martin; we discuss his most excellent 2023 album, Thank God We Left the Garden. Recorded in an 8 x 10 shed he built in his backyard, these songs explore religious/spiritual/existential questions, contradictions, mysteries and paradoxes. Jeffrey tells us about making the difficult decision to leave his position teaching high school English to pursue music full time, the fascinating way these songs came together as he wrestled lyrics from melodies, and interesting reactions the songs have gotten as he plays them on the road. We also make plans for our spin-off podcast, in which Jeffrey and I will break down the classic song, “That’s the Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”-stay tuned!

Abe Partridge is a talented songwriter/musician, visual artist, podcast star, former preacher, Air Force veteran, and so on. Hear Abe tell his own long and winding story; it is a fascinating tale told with honesty, incredible insight, and good humor. This conversation was one of my favorites of all time. Check out all things Abe at abepartridge.com including his latest record, Love in the Dark, and the excellent podcast Alabama Astronaut.

Willy Tea Taylor is a gifted songwriter: a storyteller, a truth teller. His recent record, The Great Western Hangover, features an all-star cast of musicians who bring rock and roll energy to Willy’s superbly crafted songs. Willy sat down with us at Tell You What! Studios for a wide ranging, highly entertaining, and insightful conversation. We hear about Willy’s early years writing poetry and fronting high school rock bands, then learning mandolin and banjo on a winding and adventurous path that eventually led Willy to his instrument of destiny: the four-string tenor guitar. Willy discusses how important connecting with people is to him, how music done right can be physically healing, and the unorthodox ways he comes up with his songs. Also covered: heroic doses of LSD, dashboard percussion, barstool wisdom, taxidermy.

Gabe Lee, Nashville born and raised, joins us to talk about his latest record, the excellent Drink the River. His fourth album, Gabe chose a more stripped down sound, and assembled a killer set of musicians to create beautiful soundscapes for the story songs he wrote. We discuss Gabe's training as a classical pianist and his resulting love affair with melody, and how he thinks about perspective in his writing. Also covered: avoiding an Ed Hardy future, and learning the Smoke on the Water riff. Also: new podcast theme song! Composed and arranged by Shane McLaughlin of Buffalo Rose. Reach out to Shane for more at shanemclaughlinmusic.com

Siri Undlin is the musician who records and performs as Humbird. I sat down with Siri (and a mysterious cat) at the most excellent Mile of Music festival in Appleton Wisconsin. We take a trip through Humbird’s varied song catalog as a way of learning about Siri’s creative journey, which included time spent on a post-grad fellowship studying folklore in northern Europe. Siri tells us about the place of story in her songwriting and her other creative pursuits, working with bad ideas, and how an excruciating decision in the recording studio led to Humbird’s first breakout hit song. Also covered: ice hockey leads to Irish trad music, and how it sucks to pretend.

Jobi Riccio is a Nashville based musician and songwriter. Jobi was born and raised in the mountains of Colorado before heading to Boston and The Berklee College of Music; eventually finding her way to her current musical home of Nashville. Jobi has just released her debut album, Whiplash, on Yep Roc Records. We discuss the origin stories of some of these excellent songs, as well as the winding road story of the album's creation itself. Also covered: Jobi’s adventure at Newport Folk Festival, water glass sounds, and our mutual admiration for Jonathan Richman.

Chris Pierce is an L.A. based musician, singer, and songwriter. He has released a number of solo records, is a part of the duo War and Pierce with Sunny War, the trio Leon Creek, writes songs for television and movies, teaches songwriting and the business of music. I got tired just typing that and I missed a number of his projects. Chris’ latest record, “Let All Who Will” will be released in September; he joins us to talk about his songwriting, his lifelong passion for music, and his thoughts around a few of his excellent and powerful songs.

Idaho based musician and songwriter Eilen Jewell discusses her latest record, Get Behind the Wheel, and her difficult personal journey of the last few years that shaped this collection of songs. Eilen went through a divorce from her husband, who was also her drummer and manager, and the untimely deaths of some close friends and family. We hear about how through meditation practices and beneficial use of psychedelics she came out the other side with this excellent album and a renewed approach to her life and her music.

Blair Howerton is a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for the Austin based band Why Bonnie. We discuss the making of their recent album 90 in November, comprised mainly of songs Blair wrote during quarantine in her New York City apartment. The songs, self described by the band as “shoegazeicana” in style, blend fuzzy 90’s guitars with some country twang, and Blair’s lyrics evoke wonderful imagery while still allowing the listener to find his own way.

Nashville singer-songwriter Brit Taylor joins us to talk about her 2023 record Kentucky Blue, which was produced by Sturgill Simpson. Brit talks about what she learned from working with Sturgill, how she got her first guitar by singing “Landslide’ in a music store, how her first song “fell out the sky” when she was a youngster and how songs have continued to appear to her from her muse. Also covered: the martial arts, hillbilly disco, and hollering donkeys.

I had the chance to sit down and chat at the Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City with all three members of the Brooklyn based band Damn Tall Buildings: Sasha, Max, and Avery. Damn Tall Buildings make smart, witty, infectious music that has a bluegrass heart but swirls in some swing, blues, jazz, and other stuff-it’s a winning recipe. The band met at Berklee College of Music, and we hear their take on the academic approach to songwriting and creativity and talk about songs from their excellent 2022 album Sleeping Dogs. Also discussed: rocking the Pasta Loft, writing with a lot of words, and does Sasha really hate me and my podcast?

Folk singer and poet Willi Carlisle talks about his excellent record "Peculiar, Missouri"; exploring folk traditions in the Ozarks; his love for (addiction to?) live performance and touring; and his messages of optimism and love for a slightly broken world. Also discussed: square dance calling, advice from a clown, and bad puppeteering.

Kevin McKeown is one half of the high octane Austin rock duo Black Pistol Fire, providing guitar and vocals alongside drummer Eric Owen. They have released 6 albums over the last 10 years, the most recent being 2021’s Look Alive, and the band has built a reputation for their incendiary live performances. As a big fan of the band, I was quite excited to sit down with Kevin to discuss his creative process, the band’s approach to live performance, and get his thoughts on the various aspects of the rock duo concept. We also cover the stories behind a few of Black Pistol Fire’s latest songs, the evolution of the band’s music towards more complex arrangements, Kevin’s origin story as a traditional Scottish/Irish Highland style drummer, and other fun stuff. Kevin was a wonderful guest, full of insight and energy; we had a great conversation.

We recorded this episode in person at AmericanaFest in Nashville. Early James released “Strange Time to Be Alive”, his second album produced by Dan Auerbach at his Easy Eye Studios, earlier this year. We hear about the process of working with Dan and his band of legendary musicians as they interpret James’ songs, working with Sierra Ferrell on their duet “Real Low Down Lonesome”, how he developed his unique singing voice because he did not like or trust the sound of his “church voice”, and how his songs are like Japanese video games.

We talk with Canadian artist Abigail Lapell about her recent album Stolen Time. Abigail tells us that writing melodies, for her, is “like breathing…I can’t avoid it”, while lyric writing she finds more challenging, as she struggles to find the language to express the moods and feelings her melodies carry-“…words are ...very definite…” We also hear tales of canoes and bicycles, guitar for dummies, and walls of reeds.

Fellow Pynins is a contemporary folk duo from Portland, Oregon. Dani Aubert and Ian George sat down with us at the Folk Alliance International conference in Kansas City to discuss their beautiful new album, Lady Mondegreen. All the songs on the album are traditional songs that were learned person-to-person from various people they met while traveling with their two children through Europe/UK/Ireland. We hear some fascinating tales of how these songs were found, and about the threads that connect the traditional songs of centuries ago with current songwriting and creative processes.

For this particularly special episode, we are joined by Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, folk music legend and prolific songwriter Tom Paxton; along with Shane McLaughlin and Lucy Clabby, principal songwriters for the band Buffalo Rose. Tom tells us how he discovered the music of Buffalo Rose and was so taken by it that he reached out to Lucy and Shane to suggest they work together writing songs. The fabulous EP Rabbit, released earlier in 2022, was the result of this collaboration. We talk with Tom about his creative process, and how at age 84 he continues to write songs almost every day. Lucy and Shane share the insights they have gleaned from working with Tom. And we get one bonus Bob Dylan anecdote from Tom as he relives a bit of the early 60’s NYC folk scene in which he was a central figure. Also, I get to talk about my Dad-the original music nerd. “How can a band be loose and tight at the same time? Listen to Buffalo Rose for the answer. I flat love them.” — Tom Paxton, folk music legend and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient

Maya de Vitry joins us from her home in Nashville to discuss her recent album, Violet Light. Maya co-produced this record with partner Ethan Jodziewicz in their home studio during quarantine, collaborating with a different cast of musical guests (including her three siblings) for each song. Maya discusses her musical youth, her time as a touring musician as part of The Stray Birds, and how she has created a new musical life around her solo work. We also get to hear the story of her chickens-all the important stuff.

Ryan Anderson, songwriter and frontman for the Louisville based band Bendigo Fletcher is our guest, in a conversation recorded at SXSW in Austin. We hear about working with producer Ken Coomer (Uncle Tupelo, Wilco) on their amazing 2021 release “Fits of Laughter”, playing a gig at Willie’s ranch, and the element of surprise in music making. Also covered: sword fighting with rock stars, and which is better for songwriting ideas-digging trenches or mowing grass? Ryan also politely requests that we call our mothers.

Margo Cilker released her debut full length album Pohorylle late in 2021 on Portland label Fluff and Gravy, and it has quickly received a lot of attention. She joins us to talk about working with producer Sera Cahoone, how her time living in various parts of the globe has impacted her creative process; and singing songs to the elk on the prairie. Also, it turns out Margo and I approached higher education with similar gameplans: no homework! (I see you econ majors.)