Jayme Stone is a musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer based in Colorado. He talks to Matt about the genesis of his albums Africa to Appalachia (2008) and Jayme Stone's Lomax Project (2015). Writing his latest album, aWake (2020), allowed Jayme to process some of the grief he felt upon losing his brother Michael in 2017. During the Covid-19 quarantine, Jayme engineered & produced the forthcoming debut album from Max Allard, who will be a guest on this show this fall. In addition to all the music Jayme makes, he is about to launch in August 2021 an online music business course called Compose Your Career. Check it out if you are an independent artist who wants to better arrange the business side of your working life. Relax Your Grid Superfans who support Matt Brown on Patreon for $2/month get exclusive access to a beautiful performance of Jayme playing his banjo just for you! Sign up now, and you'll get a Relax Your Grid sticker to proudly display on your travel mug or theremin case.

Links:

• Jayme's website
• Compose Your Career
• Patreon exclusive: Jayme plays his banjo!
• Relax Your Playlist (Spotify)
• Support this show on Patreon for $2/month

Bonnie & Taylor Sims have long been fixtures of the Colorado roots music scene, including with their band Bonnie & the Clydes. In 2018, Bonnie was approached by Robbie Nevil (of "C'est la Vie" fame) to be the voice of a new project that would become Everybody Loves An Outlaw. In 2020, Nevil's original song "I See Red" featuring Bonnie's singing, Taylor's guitar playing, and Robbie's production, went to #1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 - Global chart thanks to its climactic placement in the Netflix film '365 Days.' This is a conversation about that transformative chapter in Bonnie’s and Taylor's careers, beginning with their being signed to Columbia Records. Relax Your Grid Superfans who support Matt Brown on Patreon for $2/month get exclusive access to a live video performance of Bonnie, Taylor, and Matt performing Taylor's original song "Texas Again."

Links:

• Patreon exclusive: Bonnie, Taylor & Matt play a song together!
• Support this show on Patreon for $2/month
• Queen Bee Music Association Kids Bluegrass Camp
• Everybody Loves An Outlaw
• Listen to "I See Red" (Spotify)
• Relax Your Playlist (Spotify)

Mark Harris is a musician and teacher based in Fort Collins, Colorado. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Mark recorded and released his debut solo album entitled Old Time Guitar. Matt consulted with Mark as he was preparing to record, and in this conversation they chat about the finished product and how Mark developed his impressive sound. They also discuss Mark's new YouTube guitar lesson in which he teaches the arrangement of "Ducks on the Millpond" that is featured on the album.

This show is underwritten by Matt's Patreon supporters. Pledge at $2/month and you'll receive a trendy sticker with the Relax Your Grid logo as well as exclusive digital content for each month's episode. This month's bonus is a video of Matt and Mark performing a duet together on one of Matt's original tunes!

Links:

• Buy Mark's album Old Time Guitar
• Read the liner notes to Mark's album
• Learn "Ducks on the Millpond" from Mark on YouTube
• Patreon exclusive: Mark & Matt play a duet!
• Relax Your Playlist (Spotify)
• Support this show on Patreon for $2/month

Dr. Gregory Reish, director of the Center for Popular Music (CPM) at Middle Tennessee State University, chats with Matt about how they met, their duo album Speed of the Plow, what happens at the CPM, and a number of the wonderful albums that Greg's label Spring Fed Records has released. They focus in particular on the Tejano music that the label has put out in recent years. They also discuss Spring Fed's forthcoming Ed Haley box set that will surely send waves of excitement throughout the old-time music community. Patreon supporters of this show will get exclusive access via that site to Greg's passionate and detailed description of how he makes BBQ! Being a Relax Your Grid Superfan on Patreon also entitles you to a beautiful sticker with the show's logo on it. It ships globally and will look perfect on your kombucha bottle or Dobro case.

Links:

• Speed of the Plow - Matt Brown & Greg Reish (Spotify)
• Center for Popular Music
• Spring Fed Records store
• Ed Haley Tribute & Old-Time Fiddle Night at The Station Inn (3/14/2018)
• Patreon exclusive: Greg's BBQ recipe!
• Support this show on Patreon for $2/month
• Relax Your Playlist (Spotify) — All the songs from all the episodes in one convenient spot!
• Matt's instructional two-finger banjo website

Matt Brown and Michelle Billingsley chat about her debut album Not The Marrying Kind (Western Myth Records), which he produced in 2019. They discuss her songwriting process and what it was like to record at Narwhal Studios in Chicago. They also chat about how the album came about, all the great musicians who join her, engineer Brian Deck, and Michelle's new project that is now underway. You'll hear clips from Not The Marrying Kind as well as the entirety of its eighth track, "She's Gone," which concludes the episode. For exclusive bonus content (Michelle gives Matt's patrons a quick songwriting workshop!) and the show notes replete with hyperlinks, become a Relax Your Grid Superfan on Patreon for just $2/month. You'll even get a cool sticker to slap on your mandolin case!

Links:

• Buy Michelle's album & merch
• Patreon exclusive: 8-minute songwriting workshop with Michelle
• Support this show on Patreon for $2/month
• Relax Your Playlist (Spotify) — All the songs from all the episodes in one convenient spot.

To support this podcast so I don't ever have to bore you with CBD underwear ads from sponsors, please become one of my Patreon donors. My Patreon tiers range from $2/month to $50/month with various rewards and features at each level. You can save 15% if you donate annually rather than monthly.

Music in this episode:

In the episode, Patrik mentions The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. We talk about Simon Stålspets , one of Patrik's teachers who plays cittern and guitar. One of Simon's bands is the Stockholm Lisboa Project with Patrik's first fiddle teacher Sergio Crisostomo. Patrik also mentions Sven Ahlbäck from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (KMH). Sven wrote the folk music theory textbooks they used at Sjöviks Folkhögskola, the folk music school Patrik attended.

I also mention:

Relax Your Grid is produced, edited & mixed by Matt Brown. This episode was recorded by Matt Brown and Patrik Ahlberg. Tim Brown and Dave Sinko provided essential post-production assistance. The Relax Your Grid logo was designed by Otto Allard.

Links:

• Buy Patrik's album Gitarrlåtar (guitar tunes)
• Support this show on Patreon for $2/month
• Relax Your Playlist (Spotify) — All the songs from all the episodes in one convenient spot.