Surviving the Music Industry

Between The Marfa Tapes (with Miranda Lambert and Jack Ingram) and his newest project in 15 years Neon Texas, Jon Randall's year might be one for the books. The proud Texas troubadour recounts his time in Emmylou's Nash Ramblers, pickin' parties with Guy Clark, overcoming anxieties while Jerry Rice was side stage noticing every lick, and countless other pivotal moments in Randall's career. Hard to imagine the writer behind one of the greatest country songs ever written ("Whiskey Lullaby") and the producer behind many top albums has been dropped by label deals. Even though some might beat themselves up after challenging times, Randall assures that the journey was meant to be.

What started as a spring break trip to Nashville for Alex Kline ended up being what started the whole thing for her. After years of trial and error, Alex recently made history as the first female to solely produce a No. 1 country radio hit on the Mediabase chart. Tenille Arts “Somebody Like That” is also the first No. 1 country radio single to be written, performed, and produced by an all-female team.

By the time Raleigh Keegan played his first Nashville showcase. He had two proposed record label deals, close to a million Spotify streams, and was rubbing shoulders with all the right power players of Nashville all within 4 years. Keegan shares that it was fast but wasn't easy. Raleigh shares his adoption story, his journey from Lexington to Nashville, and the power of redemption to change the narrative.

There are two types of Texans, one of those Texans takes Texas soil with them so they can put it under a bed so they can say that their children were born in Texas. Jim Beavers is one of those. The hit songwriter ("Red Solo Cup," "Watching Airplanes," "How Am I Doin," "Sideways") talks about some of his hits, his life journey, and the power in the mundane.

Shannon McNally talks about ‘The Waylon Sessions’ and the perspective that was already there that she resurfaced from the legendary outlaw's music. She also shares the power behind selenium, the gangster's behind record labels, and the challenge of changing narrow perspectives.

The Accidentals sit across Brandon to talk about not pranking Taco Bell, Jack White encounters, and writing with heroes for their Time Out Session 1 EP. Katie, Sav, and Michael share their origin story in the episode along with how they balance their egos to not become the stereotypical band story.

It's a podcast crossover with hit songwriter Marty Dodson from the SongTown on Songwriting Podcast. The songwriter behind Kenny Chesney's “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven”, Billy Currington's “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right” and “Let Me Down Easy” talks about redemption and even the path of his songs from the writing room to the top of the charts. Marty also shares his early years of deals, lessons learned from legendary songwriters, and even the intentions behind SongTown.

Chris and Eleot of Volk share how they landed on their brand of cowpunk, glam-rock in their debut album 'Cashville'. Embarrassing moments with musical hero's, perspectives from other artists and community, the death of genres, and how the music of Volk is pointing at the flaws of the Nashville music economy.

After a successful run of America's Got Talent, Robert Finley thinks that it's time for people to know the sharecropper's son. Robert sits with Brandon to talk about 'Sharecropper's Son' produced by Dan Auerbach, as he reflects on his time with America's Got Talent, his childhood, and how after 67 years Robert feels that you are never too young to dream nor too old to live.

Mat Kearney ("Hey Mama", "Closer To Love", "Nothing Left To Lose", "Breathe In Breathe Out") pops up on a computer screen to talk about his newest album, 'January Flower' that is releasing on May 21st and shares some of the origins of the deep cuts from the record. Mat also talks about some of his early album cycles and writing patterns, the beauty of regret and redemption, the anxieties of invasive plants, and the pressures of an artist's life.