On this week’s episode of The Morse Code Podcast, host Korby Lenker sits down with genre-bending songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan for a wide-ranging conversation about art, identity, and staying weird in a world that wants to put you in a box.

They talk about the challenges of navigating the music industry without losing your creative center, the unexpected gift of not fitting in, and how authenticity — even when it’s messy — can be a source of power. Aaron opens up about his journey from sideman to solo artist, how he’s learned to protect his inner world, and what it means to build a career on your own terms.

Stick around to the end for a stripped-down performance of Aaron’s song “E.N.S.A.A.T.” — a reminder that the real stuff is often what we try hardest to hide.

I didn’t know much about Jessica Willis Fisher before she came over to the studio. I knew she was part of the family band The Willis Clan, and I knew something bad had happened — but I didn’t know the shape of it. Or what she’d done with the pieces.

Turns out, she’s one of the most quietly courageous people I’ve ever sat across from.

In this episode of The Morse Code Podcast, Jessica and I talk about the long road from silence to self-expression — how writing became a lifeline, and how songwriting helped her reclaim her identity on her own terms. We talk about trauma, yes, but more importantly, we talk about what comes after: the craft, the healing, the stubborn hope of making something meaningful out of the mess.

It’s a conversation about boundaries and bravery — about telling the truth even when it’s costly. I think anyone who’s ever started over (creatively, emotionally, spiritually) will find something to hold onto here.

Stick around till the end of the episode for a live in-studio performance of her song “Seeds.” It’s spare and luminous and all the more powerful for what it doesn’t say. You can also watch the performance as a standalone video if you want to send it to someone who needs it.

~Korby

MORSE CODE (our award-winning 30 minute pilot) is now live! thanks for 8k views in 3 days, and many glowing comments, and a few hateful ones! This is the project that launched all the stuff I’ve been doing for the last several years.

One thing I’ve noticed about lifers — artists who stay in the game past the shiny early years — is that they tend to carry this quiet steadiness. Northeat based singer-songwriter and band leader Ryan Montbleau is one of those people. He’s been making music professionally for over two decades, without a label, without a gimmick, and without (as he puts it) a real “backup plan.” Just the work, the gig, the voice.

We taped this conversation in the back studio at Ranch Vovo, and to be honest it felt less like an interview and more like a hang between two people who’ve made a lot of questionable decisions in service of something that still feels worth it. We talked about what it means to be an artist when your twenties are far behind you, when you’re still chasing something real but with less ego and more gratitude. Ryan talked about teaching at his old high school by day and playing bar gigs at night — how even though the money was trash and the schedule was brutal, something was happening. He was getting better.

Spotify and streaming has been overwhelmingly positive for me and my career and my life — game-changing level of like I don’t have to tour my face off forever. Part of it is I own my records. Part of it is I’ve built up a grassroots following of listeners over 25 years of doing it. And also, yeah, some luck — I got on some playlists. But Spotify was pretty good at giving people what they want to hear.— Ryan Montbleau

There’s a line in the episode where he says, “The gig is the goal.” That stuck with me. Not the press, not the playlist, not the viral moment. The gig. The thing itself. That’s the part I always come back to — the reason we make this podcast, and the reason I think you listen: to stay connected to the part of you that creates, that supports, that believes in art as an ordinary act of faith.

Stick around till the end of the episode, because Ryan plays a gorgeous acoustic version of his song “Bright Side.” It’s tender and grounded and exactly the kind of reminder I needed this week. You can also watch the performance as a standalone video if you want to share it with someone who needs it.

P.S. we’re finally making MORSE CODE — the short film that started all of this — available to the public! Join us for the official premiere this Sunday at 4pm central. Click the embed below 👇 and watch the 1 minute trailer. and while you’re there click the the bell and you’ll get a reminder when it drops. I’ll be in the chat. You can of course, watch it whenever you want after Sunday, I just won’t be there.

Still so proud of this film we all made and — now that I’m a dad in real life — the story feels more relevant than ever. See you Sunday.

~ Korby

There’s a kind of artist who gets better the more they get broken open. Who wears the hard stuff — the heartbreak, the hangups, the spiritual confusion — like a second layer of skin. Liam St. John is one of those artists.

You may have come across him recently via his viral single Dipped in Bleach, or maybe from his powerhouse audition on The Voice a few years back. But if you’re just tuning in now, you’re catching Liam right as things are starting to click. His sound has always been somewhere between blues and gospel and folk — but in the last year, it feels like he’s finally tapped the root system. There’s clarity now. Depth.

In one of the most candid conversations we’ve ever had on the pod, Liam and I talk about the long road to that kind of creative honesty — how he clawed his way through church trauma and a brutal divorce, how he almost walked away from music entirely, and how it wasn’t until he let go of “trying” that things actually started to move. It’s a story about surrender, but also about staying in the game long enough to make something real. And for anyone who’s in that weird in-between space — unsure of the path, but unwilling to settle — I think this one will resonate.

Near the end of the episode, Liam plays a stripped-down version of his song “Stick to Your Guns” — and I promise, it’s worth sticking around for. No frills, no edits — just a man, a voice, and a crazy story behind it.

~Korby

Big announcement coming Sunday. 👤

🎵 Watch Liam’s live performance of “Stick to Your Guns” 👇

There’s something I love about artists who don’t wait for permission. The ones who carry a crowbar so they can pry the tiny crack into a opening big enough to strut though. Judy Blank is one of those crowbar carryin types.

Her latest ablum, “Big Mood” came out on tastemaker label Rounder Records this September.

She grew up in the Netherlands, obsessed with American music — gospel, folk, Laurel Canyon, Springsteen. Instead of treating that dream like a fantasy, she followed it. First a trip to the States. Then a show. Then another. One small door opened, she walked through, and another one opened after that. Eventually, she found herself signed to Rounder Records and living in Nashville — not because someone chose her, but because she kept showing up.

This week on The Morse Code Podcast, Judy and I talk about the slow-building path to a creative life. No big break, no silver bullet — just persistence, a willingness to reinvent, and a deep love for the craft itself. We talk about self-doubt, staying honest in a culture obsessed with branding, and what happens when you follow the thread of your own taste, even if it takes years.

It’s a conversation about saying yes — not to a label or a gatekeeper — but to yourself.

At the end of the episode, Judy performs a stripped-down version of her haunting, beautiful song Fading Star — which you can also watch as a stand-alone video. The song is a gut-punch, and I think you’ll be glad you stuck around to hear it.

__

Next week’s guest is one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever taped, Liam St John. Do not miss it. And if you didn’t catch our last episode with walking controversy Sloe Jack, find a short clip below.

In personal musical news I’ve been spending my free time working on piano version of Gillian Welch’s “Hashtag”. There are a couple great non-diatonic chords in there that sound perfect on guitar but getting them to not land janky in a piano setting, is tricky. Results forthcoming.

~k

This conversation, like Sloe Jack himself, is going to offend some of you.

In a little over 6 months the 23 year-old Australian-born, Nashville-based artist has amassed a huge following on Social Media, mostly for his outspoken takes on all the hot button social issues. Under the rubric of, as he describes it, “Common Sense”, Jack has thrown himself against the liberal monolith that is the contemporary music business with the fury, hilarity, and dare I say charm, of a first rate provocateur.

Before you listen to this podcast, go to his instagram and poke around for a second. One of two things will happen: you’ll either dismiss him as a foul-mouthed phobe and unfollow me for platforming him, or maybe you’ll see what I think he actually is — a modern avatar of what used to be called Rocknroll spirit, spokesperson and hero to a generation of kids who grew up in a decade where being white and male was irredeemably problematic.

We taped this interview in mid-August, when his follower count had just crossed over 300K on instagram. Seven weeks later he’s well over half a million. I point this out to indicate the impact his message is having on culture — especially young men.

He’s worth your attention — at the very least — because he has theirs.

Okay, If I might put a little of myself out here… another reason I reached out to Jack is because I saw him doing something courageous. Speaking out against what he thinks is wrong or stupid, and accepting the knocks that come.

As someone with some conservative sympathies (a better way to put it is I’m a little —as opposed to waaaay — left of center) I’ve at times felt like a coward for not speaking up against the more egregious examples of a left that has increasingly seemed to have lost its mind. For instance, I don’t think biological males should be allowed to compete with biological females (or change in their bathrooms). But until this moment, I’ve never said so publicly. Why?

Because for the whole of my career, my desire to reap the benefits of the pop culture’s shinier largesse — to be on Tiny Desk, play Bonnaroo, get a glowing review from some mainstream tastemaker — preempted any moral compunction I might have to speak out against what I felt to be an obvious wrong. Not only is this cowardice, but worse, it allowed a community of which I am part (the creative community if that’s not clear) to careen even farther out of step with a general public striving to maintain some kind of hold on normalcy.

The current state of the democratic party is the probably result of similar inactions by thousands of people like me — moderate people who kept their heads down out of fear of being called a name rather than tap their friends and colleagues back a step before everyone talked themselves insane.

If you got something from this episode of the Morse Code Podcast and want to help us with the associated (considerable) costs, become a free or paid subscriber. Thank you!

I mean, what do you think is gonna happen when you tell a generation of young men that they, by virtue of being alive, are the problem? According to the Washington Post, employment rates for working age men are at an all-time low. This recent Gallup Poll shows that young American men are uniquely lonely compared with their counterparts in other rich countries. This one minute clip from a news program I tune into, Breaking Points, explains what everybody already knows — we are way past the narrative where men need to get out of the way so that women can flourish.

Along comes Sloe Jack. He starts stirring shit up, saying what a lot of young people think but are afraid to say. I saw this kid and to be honest I felt like he had a lot of guts. I got where he was coming from, and I wanted to know him a little better. This conversation is the result.

I have always been something of a contrarian. So this is me behaving contrarily. However you feel about the episode, I hope we can agree: an institution, industry, or political party that operates with the kind of rigid ideological conformity that marks this particular cultural moment, is, without at least some internally-generated opposition, doomed.

As the late great Jack Clement once said “What we need around here are some high class dreams.” And you don’t get high class dreams without a little controversy now and then. ~Korby

🎙️ Check out Sloe Jack’s live performance of “Fools Gold” live on the podcast

This week on The Morse Code Podcast, I sat down with Nashville artist Paul McDonald — someone I’ve known in the periphery for years, but never really talked with until now. We cover a lot of ground in this one, but the big arc is this: what happens after everything falls apart… and how you find your way back.

Paul had it all — record deals, red carpets, the kind of fast success most musicians only hope for. But after his marriage ended and the spotlight faded, he found himself broke, aimless, and bummed out on the whole machine. The hustle stopped making sense. So he did something not a lot of people have the guts to do: he burned it down and started over.

We talk about that unraveling and the slow rebuild that followed — how sobriety, stillness, and solo songwriting helped him reconnect to music as something sacred again. It feels like he’s not chasing anymore. He’s just… doing the work.

There’s a lot here for anyone trying to walk the line between ambition and authenticity — especially those of us who’ve been at it a while. Paul’s story is a reminder that sometimes the best thing that can happen is to lose the script you were trying to follow.

The Morse Code with Korby Lenker is a reader-supported deal. If you get something out of my writing, music or episodes of the Morse Code Podcast, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Also in this episode: Paul performs “Rosemarie” live in the studio, accompanied by Mike Miz on guitar and Joel Parks on keys. Don’t miss it. Any of it.

🎧 Listen to or the watch full episode on the official curated Spotify’s Morse Code Podcast Playlist (And give us a follow!)

If you’ve followed Lera’s career over the last decade — through True Detective (she both cowrote the Season 2 theme song with T Bone Burnette and Roseanne Cash, and acted in the show), through motherhood, through a handful of sonic evolutions — you know she’s not afraid to change.

But in this latest season of her life, she didn’t just evolve; she let go. Gave her old self a funeral, as she puts it.

And in doing that, she found a deeper connection to music — one that didn’t have to justify itself with relevance or approval. It just had to be real.

The Morse Code with Korby Lenker is a listener-supported publication. If you are encouraged or inspired by my writing, my songs or these episodes of the Morse Code Podecast, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

We got into the weeds on her new album Comic Book Cowboy (see below) — why it almost didn’t happen, and why she had to make it anyway. Produced with creative and life partner Todd Lombardo, it’s a record that asks hard questions about ego and self-worth, and it does it without flinching.

We also touched on the things that scare artists right now: AI impersonation, shrinking royalties, an increasingly passive culture around art. Lera brings a clarity to these challenges that I found empowering — not because she had easy answers, but because she’s learned to live with the tension. To stay curious, and to keep making the thing.

If you’re navigating your own version of reinvention — creatively, professionally, personally — I think this episode will speak to you. Sometimes letting go is the bravest part of beginning again.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify📀 Lera’s new album Comic Book Cowboy is out now 👇

Nashville artist Jake Etheridge shares how “Happy Ever After You,” written with wife Mackenzie Porter, went viral overnight—leading to a record deal, praise from John Mayer & Brandi Carlile, and a whole new chapter for Thelma and James. Plus, live music & Nashville stories.

Korby talks with Clark Beckham about the highs and lows of American Idol, faith and expression, and what it means to stay the course as an artist.