Musically Speaking

As the Winter Olympics begin, I reflect on the music of John Williams and how his work has come to define some of our most recognizable public moments. While he is best known for film scores, Williams’s music reaches far beyond the cinema into television, football broadcasts, and Olympic ceremonies. In this episode, I consider how his commitment to the symphony orchestra, his use of fanfare and leitmotif, and his trust in musical development have helped bring orchestral sound to a global audience, often without listeners even realizing it.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this episode, I share a handful of musical recommendations centered around Joshua Lee Turner and Carson McKee, musicians I first discovered during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning with their delightful banjo and guitar cover of ABBA’s “Mamma Mia,” I reflect on what drew me to their work and to collaborations with Tony Lindgren and Elle Cordova, including memorable covers of “Stuck in the Middle with You,” Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” Paul Simon’s “Baby Driver,” and Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill.” As the pace of life has slowed again in recent days with Winter Storm Fern, this episode simply offers a few sounds worth revisiting and enjoying at an unhurried pace.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

Here’s the “Mamma Mia” Cover: https://youtu.be/lWpmALY8Z_s

Here’s “Stuck in the Middle of You”: https://youtu.be/1T3B502Ut94Live album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7mAGwobSNRrXmcTlfvnWZT?si=boneXJNQSma6UIZ3nWe8IA

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this episode I reflect on silence, not as the absence of sound, but as an active and necessary partner to music. Drawing on musical examples like rests, cadences, and communal pauses before and after singing, I consider how silence shapes meaning, gives weight to words, and trains our attention. In a culture filled with constant noise and distraction, this episode invites listeners to notice silence again and to let it do its quiet work.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this week's episode, I reflect on how many of us were quietly introduced to orchestral music through cartoons long before we ever set foot in a concert hall. From Tom and Jerry to Looney Tunes, familiar animated worlds trained our ears to recognize musical gesture, drama, and beauty. This episode explores how public domain classical music became the soundtrack of childhood and why those sounds still shape how we hear and feel music today.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this episode, I reflect on why lyrics tend to stay with us when they are sung, but often fade when they are merely spoken. From familiar popular songs to Scripture memory projects, I consider how melody binds words to memory and shapes how those words live inside us. With examples from Integrity Music and Dr. David Erb’s Cantica Sanctorum, this episode invites listeners to reflect on what we allow to lodge in our minds, as what stays with us often shapes us.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

Here’s a link to hear David Erb’s Cantica Sanctorum on streaming platforms:

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2KL6DXz

Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/2ZiBJZV

Google Music: http://bit.ly/2XnNGLU

iTunes: https://apple.co/2Xj8Las

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

What happens when truth is communicated without beauty?

In this bonus episode of Musically Speaking, I sit down with Dr. Scott Aniol to argue that beauty is not an optional accessory to truth, but the means by which truth is perceived, embodied, and lived. Drawing from theology, philosophy, and the Western artistic tradition, they explore why aesthetics shape belief, why all art is inherently interpretive, and how modern culture has detached the arts from formation and worship.

The conversation also discusses the vision of the Redeemer School of the Arts, a residential, church-based academic program committed to forming artists within community, discipline, and the pursuit of the good life.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this episode, recorded in the first days of the new year and still within the twelve days of Christmas, I reflect on the meaning of Auld Lang Syne. Tracing its roots in the poetry of Robert Burns, I consider how this simple and enduring song gives us words for memory, friendship, gratitude, and hope. With reflections on recordings by Harry Connick Jr. and Lou Rawls, I invite listeners to make room for remembering, giving thanks, and carrying what is good into the year ahead.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

Here’s Lou Rawls’ cover of Auld Lang Syne: https://youtu.be/yBv9_oP7pVA

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this episode, I consider the quiet richness of the days that follow Christmas and why the season is worth more than one day. Drawing on Robert Herrick’s Christmas Carol poem, I invite the listener to make room in their mind and heart for the joy that continues beyond December 25.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

Here’s a recording of Rutter’s musical setting of Herrick’s poem: https://youtu.be/yckjpO1vvnE

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

Merry Christmas Eve - Bonus Mini-Episode

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this episode, we reflect on singing as a communal act that forms us in ways private listening cannot. Drawing on recent performances by my Delta Youth Chorale and Geneva Academy students, we consider how making music together binds singers and listeners alike, especially during Advent and Christmas. In an age of earbuds and individualized playlists, this episode invites us to recover the joy, fellowship, and shared presence that come from singing aloud with one another.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com