Nathans & Roncast

We’ve been working together for 14 years and counting, and our staying power is thanks in large part to the fact that we are some of each others’ biggest fans. In this episode, we (Aaron and Michael) pick a song of each others’ to praise. What makes the song work, both musically and lyrically? You’ll hear the songs in their entirety at the end. You’ll also hear the wind whistling during this episode. We recorded it in Rockport, Mass., by an open window on a blustery day, preparing for a house concert.

Hello, Aaron here. Anyone who has heard me play has probably heard me speak the words “February Album Writing Month” on more than one occasion. Most of my songs — not all of them, but most of them — have been written during the month of February, when there isn’t much to do outside, and the sun sets well before dinnertime. What is February Album Writing Month? Fashioned after National Novel Writing Month, it’s a challenge to write 14 songs in the 28 days of the shortest month of the year. You upload the words and music to their website, […]

Musically we can try to emulate, recreate, and imitate, but how do we begin the process of creating a song within our own voice? How can we get the listener’s attention with some surprises while simultaneously helping them feel at home and comfortable? Do we write with a genre in mind or can we not worry about that until we create the song that wanted to be written? Join Michael as he explores these ideas.

You have very likely never heard this song before, and it grips you right from the start. There is Buddy Mondlock’s trademark sweet steel-string guitar and soothing voice, but in contrast to much of his other, subtler material, this story is heart-stoppingly dramatic.  Mondlock sings from the point of view of his co-writer, Wade Bates, who had been an Army infantryman stationed in Afghanistan when a little girl outfitted with a bomb vest begins walking toward him and the base. Bates worked with Mondlock to process the trauma of that experience. In our last episode, we spoke with Mondlock about […]

Songwriting master Buddy Mondlock is known for having cowritten with Guy Clark, Janis Ian, Art Garfunkel, and some fellow named Garth Brooks. His music has been covered by Peter, Paul and Mary, as well as Nanci Griffith, and David Wilcox. We love his gentle voice and his lyrical eye for detail. His inspiring tune about wanderlust, “The Kid,” was covered by the supergroup of “Cry Cry Cry” made up of Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky, and Richard Shindell more than two decades ago. Much of his music is uplifting and will make you smile, but in recent years he has branched […]

One surefire way to make your song stand out is to add an unexpected twist in the story. In this mini episode, Aaron will review some classic songs, from “Drive My Car” to “Sunny Came Home” to “The Pina Colada song,” that employed this method to great effect. And we’ll take a special look at how James Keelaghan, who we interviewed in the last two episodes, is a master of writing plot twists into his songs.

This is the second part of our conversation with James Keelaghan about his classic song “Cold Missouri Waters,” one of the most covered and admired folk story songs of our time. He wrote it about the Mann Gulch fire in western Montana in August 1949, which happened 75 years ago this month. He’s told the story of how he wrote the song before, but this may be the first time he’s done so for posterity. In this half, we’ll talk about how the narrator of the song managed to survive the fire by starting a fire of his own. He’ll […]

Today we join songwriter James Keelaghan as we take a deep dive into one of the best folk songs ever written, a story song that has been covered countless times. The song is “Cold Missouri Waters,” first released in 1995. The song is a harrowing portrait of the Mann Gulch Fire in the mountains of Montana, which occurred on August 5, 1949, 75 years ago today. We are proud to have James as our guest in this two-part interview, the first part of which we release today. You may have heard the song as covered by the supergroup “Cry Cry […]

What is it about a song that draws us in? Is it the melody? A catchy beat? A story, or perhaps wordplay? In the new season of the Nathans & Roncast, which premieres on August 5, we’ll shine the light on other peoples’ songs. We will talk with musicians and songwriters about the building blocks that make up a great tune. We’ll start with a two-part interview with the author of one of the most covered folk story songs in recent memory. Who is it, and what is the song? You’ll need to wait until next week to know for […]

What is twelve-tone music? Made famous by Arnold Schoenberg, Anton von Webern and Alban Berg, it was a new concept in how to construct music. It was developed roughly around World War I, and for a while was all the rage in conservatories and bastions of serious music. But it can be difficult to listen to, and as such made for a great topic for a (ironically) very tonal song, Aaron & Michael’s “Twelve Tone Girl.” In this fascinating episode, we take a deep dive into twelve-tone music with Kenneth Stewart, a Durham, N.C.-based guitarist/cellist, conductor and composer. He considers […]