Middle Class Rock Star

My guest this week is session keyboardist, producer, and founder of the Little Village Foundation, Jim Pugh. His international performing music career spans 40 years and includes multiple Grammy Award, platinum and gold records. He has recorded and performed with a star-studded array of musicians including B.B. King, Etta James, John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Boz Skaggs, Syl Johnson and Van Morrison. He created Little Village Foundation in 2014 to share the diverse music that has always inspired him and to help other artists, especially musicians no one would learn about without Little Village Foundation’s support. (littlevillagefoundation.com)

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

Website: www.littlevillagefoundation.com

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator Music.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratormusic.com

Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and performer Sunny War is my guest this week.

Extreme emotions can make that battle all the more perilous, yet from such trials Sunny has crafted a set of songs that draw on a range of ideas and styles, as though she’s marshaling all her forces to get her ideas across: ecstatic gospel, dusty country blues, thoughtful folk, rip-roaring rock and roll, even avant garde studio experiments (like the collage of voices that closes “Shelter and Storm”). She melds them together into a powerful statement of survival, revealing a probing songwriter who indulges no comforting platitudes and a highly innovative guitarist who deploys spidery riffs throughout every song.

It's a style she’s been honing for most of her life, at least since she took her first guitar lessons and fell in love with music. True to the punk ethos, her first punk band, the Anus Kings, made music with whatever they had at hand, and what they had at hand were acoustic guitars. That made them stand out among other Los Angeles groups at the time, and today Sunny is the rare roots artist who covers Ween and can drop a Crass reference into a song (as she does on “Whole”). “I don’t really make music with a traditional roots audience in mind. I like weird music, outsider music, like Daniel Johnston and Roky Erickson.”

Even as she was developing a guitar style that married acoustic punk to country blues, those two sides of Sunny were already at odds. As a teenager, she began drinking heavily, which led to her dropping out of school. She played punk shows, stole and chugged bottles of vodka, and quickly became addicted to heroin and meth. For money she busked along the boardwalks in Venice Beach, recording an album to sell out of her guitar case and letting that self-destructive side win most of the battles. But “the body can’t handle both heroin and meth,” she explains. “When you’re young, it’s hard to gauge that you’re killing yourself.” A series of seizures landed her in a sober living facility in Compton, so emaciated that she could only wear children’s pajamas.

Music remained a lifeline, and she fell in with a crew at Hen House Studios in Venice, where over the years she made a series of albums and EPs, including 2018’s With the Sun and 2021’s Simple Syrup. Twelve years after she kicked meth and heroin, Sunny is remarkably candid about this time in her life. “Everyone I loved died before they reached 25. They OD’ed or killed themselves. We were just kids who didn’t have anyone looking out for us. You’re not supposed to know so much about death at such a young age. Maybe that’s why I write a lot about not taking shit for granted, because it always feels like something’s about to happen.” (sunnywar.com)

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

Website: https://www.sunnywar.com

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator Music.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratormusic.com

My guest this week is Shane Smith of Shane Smith & The Saints. It was great getting to catch up with Shane just a few weeks after my band (modestly titled, Andy Sydow) got to open for his band at a sold out Ogden Theatre in Denver. We first met back in 2018 when I got to do an opening slot for Shane Smith & The Saints at the Bluebird Theatre (also in Denver). I'm glad we've stayed in touch over the last few years and finally got to sit down to talk for a while.

In our conversation, we chat about growing up in Terrell, Texas, playing college Tennis, how the Saints got their start on 6th Street in Austin, and building a following one fan at a time through years of touring. Shane also talks about his desire to do other things musically, and getting to perform on Yellowstone, the acclaimed TV show starring Kevin Costner.

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

Website: https://www.shanesmithmusic.com

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator Music.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratormusic.com

On the heels of his new album, "A Matter of Time" (Sept 23, 2022), Kalyn Beasley is quickly becoming an established facet of the Wyoming and Montana country music scene. We met and became friends this past summer at the Red Lodge Songwriter Festival in Red Lodge, MT and the Yellowstone Songwriter Festival in his hometown of Cody, WY. Kalyn also holds the distinction of being my only podcast guest who has also interviewed me.

In our conversation, we talk about music and songwriting, rodeo, managing a book store, and getting a pilots license.

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

Website: www.davidstarrmusic.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/davidstarrmusic

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator Music.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratormusic.com

David Starr keeps a busy schedule between touring and running his own music store (Starr's Guitars) in Cedaredge, CO. He also manages to consistently release music. His 2021 album, "Touchstones" features one original and 11 creatively interpreted cover songs. He released one song per month, following the "new school" path of releasing music. In 2020, Starr released "Beauty and Ruin," a concept album produced by John Oates (Hall & Oates) based on a book written by his grandfather. I think you'll enjoy our conversation!

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

Website: www.davidstarrmusic.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/davidstarrmusic

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator Music.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratormusic.com

This weeks guests are Sav Buist and Katie Larson from The Accidentals. It's hard to know where to start when talking about the 3-piece Nashville based (by way of Traverse City, MI) punk-folk outfit. They've made an album and toured with a full orchestra, scored a film, received acclaim from NPR and Billboard, and collaborated with the likes of Tom Paxton, Mary Gauthier, Kim Richey, and Dar Williams. On top of that, Sav just won the overall grand prize in the USA Songwriting Competition. I think you'll enjoy our conversation!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

Website: www.theaccidentalsmusic.com/about

YouTube: www.patreon.com/theaccidentals

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator Music.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratormusic.com

I met Shane McLaughlin at FARM (Folk Alliance Midwest) just outside of Chicago back in October. I was blown away by the performance of his band, Buffalo Rose. Reminiscent of Nickel Creek or Punch Brothers, the 6-piece group is a feel good, high energy group that puts on a theatrical live performance. On top of releasing a group of songs as a collaboration with Tom Paxton back in February, Buffalo Rose just released their newest full length effort, "Again Again Again" on November 18. You can find it in all the usual places.

In our conversation, we chat about growing up in Virginia, how Buffalo Rose came to be, music conferences, and of course their new album.

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

https://linktr.ee/buffalorosemusic?utm_source=linktree_profile_share

It was great to have Jason Grishkoff back on the podcast this week. The last time we talked, (April 2020) the world was just learning about Zoom, which opened me up to the possibility of interviewing people not just outside of my room, but on the other side of the world. Jason, who resides in South Africa, founded Indie Shuffle about 15 years ago as an avid music fan. He used his knowledge as a coder and web developer to create his own easy-to-use blog site. At its peak, (2013) Indie Shuffle was getting 6 million listens per month and churning out nearly 10 music reviews per day.

Several years later, Jason started SubmitHub as a solution to a problem that he and other bloggers, as well as artists were experiencing... how to sift through gillions of emails per day! Artists were releasing songs and sending stock pitch emails to any blog they could find, while bloggers simply couldn't respond to 300 emails every day. SubmitHub looked to solve the problem by providing a platform where artists could submit their music, and bloggers could easily sift through and say "yes" or "no" to who they wanted to cover.

When an artist submits their song on SubmitHub, they answer a few questions to help pair them with the best fitting curators for their music. That way, artists don't just send out a stock email to everyone. That doesn't do anyone any good. As an added incentive for the curators to listen to music they may not have heard about, artists pay a small fee (usually about $1-$2) per submission to the curator for consideration. However, if the curator doesn't respond within 48 hours, the artist gets their money back. This creates a quick, easy transaction between like-minded musicians and influencers.

As we well know, the industry has changed significantly over the years, and it's not all about blogs anymore. SubmitHub also lets the artist pick if they are interested in pitching to curators (which includes Music bloggers, Spotify playlisters, YouTube channels and more), social media influencers (on TikTok and Instagram), or record labels. (And with social media influencers, if they don't share your song, you get your money back. They only get paid that small fee if they actually share  your song).

There are a few holdouts from bigger blogs such as Pigeons and Planes, Pitchfork, and Stereogum, but for the most part, bloggers, influencers, and curators in general all use SubmitHub to find new music.

During our conversation today, we discussed some of SubmitHub's new features. We also talk about some of the new competitors that have popped up in the last couple of years such as MusoSoup, Groover, and HumanHuman.

**NOTE that this is Jason's second time on Middle Class Rock Star. Back on episode 37 (which aired May 7, 2020) I shared my screen with Jason and we actually submitted one of my songs to SubmitHub. If you're an artist who is curious about how SubmitHub works, click on the YouTube link just below this, and you can watch Jason walk me through how to use the website's tools most effectively to submit a song.**

HOW TO USE SUBMITHUB:

https://youtu.be/lmFUeXhsnco?t=2692

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

SubmitHub: https://www.submithub.com

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator RF.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratorrf.com

This week I got to chat with my pal, Bryan Reynolds. Reynolds, who goes by Seven Pound Thesaurus when dealing with all things music, is a Washington based singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. We first met at the Durango Songwriters Expo back in Ventura back in February and immediately hit it off. Bryan is all about the song. From the weave of the lyrics, to the vocal melody, to the production and seeing the song come to life, his focus is on the song.

In our conversation, we chat about his start and his first cuts with Emmy-nominated songwriter and producer, Scott Krippayne, the art of the creation over the performance, writing across different genres, and balancing a day job with creating music.

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

SUPPORT SEVEN POUND THESAURUS ON PATREON:

https://www.patreon.com/m/sevenpoundthesaurus

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Narrator RF.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

narratorrf.com

A native of North Louisiana, Ever More Nest’s Kelcy Wilburn (“Kelcy Mae”) is as equally influenced by the gospel, country, and blues of her Bible Belt hometown as she is by the emotional rawness of the artists that consumed her generation: Cranberries, Counting Crows, Tori Amos, Radiohead, et al. At 18, she moved to New Orleans, where open-mindedness and acceptance gave her the freedom to be herself and to find her voice. As a student of creative writing, she fostered a love of language evident across her early releases as Kelcy Mae and across Ever More Nest’s debut and sophomore albums. (evermorenest.com)

Kelcy and I met at FARM (Folk Alliance Region Midwest) near Chicago this past October. I immediately took a liking to her music and personality, and was excited to get to speak with her on my show. The two of us are also connected through our mutual friends, Louise Baker and Bruce Swan of Baker Booking. (Bruce was on episode 89 of MCRS)

Our conversation delves into Kelcy's childhood and roots in music, her new album ("Out Here Now" - Aug 19, 2022), and her extraordinarily written website bio. EMN is also releasing a single, "Happy New Year" on December 2.

If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to my YouTube Channel help out the most!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/andysydow

Guest Links:

Website: https://evermorenest.com

Ever More Nest on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4SyLT21Hx2AptF6kdopLqL?si=wlxO-iwwRPG1UG0hrAfxZA

Episode Music:

Original music by Andy Sydow

Sponsors:

A huge thanks to our sponsors, PQ Mastering and Narrator RF.

For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at [email protected]

pqmastering.com

narratorrf.com