Al Torrence is a producer, engineer, guitarist, and the owner/operator of Music Garden Studios in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. After studying Music Production & Engineering and Songwriting at Berklee College of Music, Al returned to western Pennsylvania and eventually took ownership of the historic Jeree Recording Studio in 2017, rebuilding it as Music Garden Studios.

In this conversation, Al talks about his path from musician to audio engineer and producer, taking over a recording studio that might otherwise have disappeared, and the philosophy behind creating honest, natural recordings. We also discuss his work with Charles Wesley Godwin, including the music surrounding Seneca and How the Mighty Fall, and his role as a guitarist with The Allegheny High. Godwin has credited Al’s production, arranging, and instrumental skills with helping turn the sounds in his head into finished recordings.

It’s a conversation about recording, production, musicianship, preserving a historic studio, and building a creative career around helping other artists realize their vision.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Al Torrence and Music Garden Studios through the studio’s official website and social channels.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

Charles Wesley Godwin is a West Virginia singer-songwriter whose music turns everyday lives, places, struggles, and relationships into deeply felt Appalachian country and folk stories. After establishing his voice with Seneca, he expanded his storytelling on his 2021 album How the Mighty Fall, a 12-song collection exploring mortality, struggle, and the complicated turns life can take.

In this conversation, Charles talks about his songwriting process, the progression from Seneca to How the Mighty Fall, and how he moved beyond primarily autobiographical writing to tell the stories of other people and characters around him. We also discuss working with producer and musician Al Torrence and the process of bringing those songs to life in the studio.

It’s a conversation about songwriting, Appalachian identity, storytelling, musicianship, and finding universal meaning in the lives of ordinary people.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Charles Wesley Godwin, How the Mighty Fall, and his current music through his official website and social channels.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

Kirk West’s journey began in small-town Iowa and eventually put him at the center of American rock history. A lifelong photographer and music obsessive, he went from shooting cars and concerts to documenting some of the most important musicians of his generation before becoming a longtime member of the Allman Brothers Band organization.

In this conversation, Kirk talks about growing up in Nevada, Iowa, discovering photography, and the path that took him to Chicago and eventually around the world. We also get into his years with the Allman Brothers Band, the access and trust that allowed him to document musicians both onstage and behind the scenes, and the massive archive of photographs he built along the way.

Kirk and his wife Kirsten also played a major role in preserving the Allman Brothers Band’s history by purchasing the band’s former Macon home, known as the Big House, and helping set in motion its transformation into the Allman Brothers Band Museum.

It’s a conversation about photography, music history, relationships, preservation, and what happens when a kid from Iowa follows his passions far enough to become part of the story he once admired from a distance.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Kirk West’s photography, books, and work documenting the Allman Brothers Band through his official channels and the Big House Museum. His books include Les Brers: Kirk West’s Photographic Journey with The Brothers and The Blues in Black & White.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

John Cuniberti is a veteran recording engineer, producer, and mastering engineer whose career includes landmark work with artists such as Joe Satriani and the Dead Kennedys. He also developed the Reamp and has spent decades experimenting with ways to capture music more naturally and directly.

In this conversation, John talks about his OneMic Series, a minimalist recording concept built around capturing an entire band live with a single AEA R88 stereo ribbon microphone. The musicians arrange themselves around the mic and control their own balance, dynamics, and stereo image in the room, with no conventional multitrack mixing or overdubbing to manufacture the performance later.

We also discuss the history and evolution of recording, how the acoustics of a room become part of the performance, and why communication between musicians matters so much when there is nowhere to hide. It’s a conversation about engineering, musicianship, experimentation, and stripping the recording process back to the point where the performance itself becomes the production.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about John Cuniberti, the OneMic Series, and his recording work through his ⁠official website

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

Thomas Csorba is a Texas singer-songwriter whose music is rooted in the storytelling traditions of artists like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and other classic Texas writers. Raised in Houston, he developed a songwriting voice that felt unusually mature from an early age and quickly built a reputation for thoughtful, understated Americana and country music. His 2020 self-titled album was produced by Beau Bedford and features members of The Texas Gentlemen.

In this conversation, Thomas talks about his path into songwriting, the influences that shaped his work, and what it was like making the self-titled record with Bedford and The Texas Gentlemen. We also get into the songs that stood out from those sessions and the balance between carrying forward the Texas songwriting tradition while still finding a voice of his own.

It’s a conversation about songwriting, Texas music, collaboration, and learning how to build a creative identity around honest, well-crafted songs.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Thomas Csorba, his self-titled album, and his current music through his official website and social channels.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

The Mother Hips have built a remarkably durable musical partnership around the songwriting, guitars, and voices of founding members Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono. In 2021, the Northern California band celebrated its 30th anniversary with a major look back at its catalog, including a series of limited-edition vinyl reissues through Blue Rose Music.

In this conversation, Tim and Greg talk about three decades of making music together, revisiting the band’s history, and what it feels like to hear albums from different periods of their career given new life on vinyl. We also discuss Shootout, one of my favorite Mother Hips records, their songwriting partnership, and how a friendship that began long before most listeners discovered the band has continued to fuel the music.

The anniversary reissue project also connected the band’s music to the broader mission of Blue Rose, a record label and artist collective that directs a portion of its revenue to the Blue Rose Foundation, which provides preschool scholarships to financially disadvantaged children.

It’s a conversation about songwriting, friendship, longevity, looking back without living in the past, and what it takes to keep a band creatively alive for decades.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about The Mother Hips, their music, and current projects through the band’s official website and social channels.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

Dan Tedesco is a Chicago-born, Des Moines-based singer-songwriter whose guitar-driven music pulls together folk, rock, storytelling, and the raw energy of ’90s alternative music. A longtime independent touring artist, Dan has spent much of his career thinking not only about how to make music, but how artists can build sustainable careers while maintaining control of their work.

In this conversation, Dan talks about the creation of the Dan Tedesco Music Channel, or DTMC, a direct-to-fan platform he developed to give listeners access to exclusive songs, live performances, videos, tour documentaries, and other material outside the traditional streaming model. The idea became especially relevant when the pandemic disrupted touring and forced independent musicians to rethink how they connected with audiences.

We also discuss the realities of being an independent musician, navigating streaming and social media, and finding ways to build a deeper relationship with the people who actually support the music.

It’s a conversation about songwriting, entrepreneurship, technology, independence, and finding new ways for artists and listeners to connect.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Dan Tedesco, his music, touring, and the Dan Tedesco Music Channel through his official website and social channels.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

Scott Sharrard is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer whose career has taken him from the bar-band scene of Milwaukee to some of the most important stages in American roots music. He spent years as Gregg Allman’s guitarist, musical director, bandleader, and producer, and co-wrote “My Only True Friend” for Allman’s final album, Southern Blood—a song that received a Grammy nomination for Best American Roots Song.

In this conversation, Scott talks about his years working closely with Gregg Allman, the creative relationship they built, and the experience surrounding Southern Blood. We also discuss the unexpected path that brought him into Little Feat following the death of longtime guitarist Paul Barrere, and what it means to step into a band whose music had influenced him since he was young.

Scott also takes us into his own songwriting and solo work, including Rustbelt, his deeply personal 2021 album featuring musicians including Bill Payne, Charlie Drayton, Catherine Russell, and Amy Helm.

It’s a conversation about guitar, songwriting, collaboration, musical legacy, and finding your own voice while carrying forward the music that shaped you.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Scott Sharrard, his solo music, and his work with Little Feat through his official website and social channels.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams have built a life together around American roots music. Campbell’s career has included years performing with Bob Dylan, while he and Williams later became integral parts of Levon Helm’s musical world and the legendary Midnight Rambles in Woodstock. Eventually, the husband-and-wife team stepped forward as a duo and began putting their own songs, voices, and musical partnership at the center of the stage.

In this conversation, Larry and Teresa talk about their musical journeys, the experiences that shaped them, and their role at the heart of It Was the Music. Directed by Mark Moskowitz, the 10-part documentary series follows the couple on the road as they pursue what they call “music utopia,” while exploring their marriage, their love of American gospel, blues, country and rock ’n’ roll, and the connection music creates between performers and audiences.

The series also brings in musicians including Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, Buddy Miller, Jerry Douglas, Jorma Kaukonen and others, placing Larry and Teresa’s story inside a much larger celebration of American music and the people who keep it alive.

It’s a conversation about musicianship, marriage, life on the road, musical history, and what it means to devote a life to the music you love.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, their music, and It Was the Music through their official website and the documentary’s official site.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.

Ian Noe is a singer-songwriter from Beattyville in Eastern Kentucky whose songs turn the people, hardships, landscapes, and everyday lives around him into vivid pieces of American storytelling. His 2019 debut album Between the Country, produced by Dave Cobb, introduced that voice through ten original songs filled with complicated characters and stories rooted in the world Noe grew up around.

In this conversation, recorded at the Rust Belt in Moline, Illinois, Ian talks about putting Between the Country together, the writers and musicians who influenced his approach, and how he developed his own style of storytelling. We also get into the characters that populate his songs and the process of turning observations of real life into music.

It’s a conversation about songwriting, Eastern Kentucky, observation, authenticity, and the power of telling small human stories exceptionally well. Noe’s work has continued to draw heavily on the people, places, and moods of his Kentucky home.

Follow The Art Inside the Craft for more conversations with musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and other artists.

Learn more about Ian Noe, Between the Country, and his current music through his official website and social channels.

You can also find more of Jeremy Glazier’s work at jeremyglazier.com.