The Music Chat

Joining us for Episode 53 of The Music Chat Podcast is Mike Mattison.  During the intro to this episode, you were listening to the song “Deadbeat” from Mike’s latest album Afterglow.  I caught up with Mike a few weeks ago, before things started getting crazy in the world and particularly in the world of live music.

If you are not familiar with Mike, he has built a successful career as a songwriter and vocalist, beginning with his early days fronting Scrapomatic and The Derek Trucks Band, and currently with Tedeschi Trucks Band.   He has won two Grammy Awards, and contributed highly acclaimed material as a songwriter on the tracks Bound for Glory and Midnight in Harlem with TTB.  Mike’s new album finds him exploring different genres of American music including country, soul, and Americana with varying vocal styles.

During this episode, Mike and I discuss how he became a lead vocalist after starting as a bass player, his musical influences, and what it is like to be a part of one of the hardest-working, most talented live acts in the country with Tedeschi Trucks.

I would like to thank Mike for being our guest for this episode.  Please check out Mike’s new album Afterglow, and if you would like to keep up with the latest events for Mike, you can check out his website: www.mikemattison.com.

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Joining us for Episode 52 of The Music Chat Podcast is Heather Youmans.  This episode starts with Heather’s recent track “You Made Me Hate Love Songs”, which will be appearing on her upcoming EP.  

Heather is a multi-talented artist, having started her creative life in theatre at an early age before moving on to singing and recording, and then later adding writing and journalism to her creative resume.  Heather also plays bass and works for Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in PR.  

During this episode, you will hear Heather talk about dealing with the ups and downs of being an artist, the importance of being open-minded to new experiences, and the significance of surrounding yourself with like-minded, supportive individuals as a working musician.

If you would like to keep up with Heather’s music and appearances, you can check out her website at www.heatheryoumans.com, or follow her on Instagram where her profile is @heatheryoumans.

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Welcome to Episode 51 of The Music Chat Podcast.  This episode starts with a clip of the song OG Philosophy by the guest for this episode, Che Smith a.k.a. Rhymefest.  The song features appearances by Black Thought of The Roots and Raheem DeVaughn, and is produced by Symbolyc One (S1).  This song is part of Rhymefest’s upcoming project, which includes a book entitled Love Lessons Pt. 1, and an album entitled Love Lessons Pt. 2.  

For those of you not familiar with our guest, he has accomplished much, including two Grammy Awards  - one as co-writer for Jesus Walks with Kanye West and the other as co-writer for the song Glory with Common and John Legend (which also landed him an Academy Award).  He has released solo albums as a hip hop artist, been the subject of a documentary about his life (In My Father’s House), and acted in a feature film directed by Emilio Estevez (The Public).

Even with all of these accomplishments, after speaking with Che and listening to his experiences, I feel like this episode was more about philosophy than specific events.   Throughout the episode Che shares his perspective on music, giving back to the community, artistic collaboration, and many other topics as well.  I really enjoyed speaking with Che, and more importantly listening to what he had to say.  I hope you will as well.

If you would like to learn more about Che, you can follow him on Instagram, where his profile is @rhymefest or take a look at his website which is www.cheworldwide.com.

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Welcome to Episode 50 of The Music Chat Podcast.  During the intro of this episode, you will hear the song “Don’t You” off the album Like Your Brother by our guests for this episode.  They are brothers Ted and John Siegel of the band The Deltaz.  These guys are one of my favorite independent artists to see play live, and I have had the opportunity to do so a couple times over the past year.

During our conversation, you will hear about how the brothers got their start in music, the importance of mentors in their development as musicians, what it is like to be out on the road, and many other tales from their background as both artists and studio professionals.  There is also a clip of The Deltaz song "Creek Bed" from their latest album Barrelhouse Boys in the middle of this episode.

If you would like to learn more about the band, or follow their adventures on the road, you can check out their website at www.thedeltaz.com, or follow them on Instagram which is @thedeltaz.  

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Welcome to Episode 49 of The Music Chat Podcast.   Our guest for this episode is Nashville-based country artist George Ducas.  I caught up with George a few days before the release of his latest album, Yellow Rose Motel.   

In addition to his career as a solo artist and performing musician, George has also written songs for Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Sara Evans, and the Dixie Chicks, among others.  During this interview, you will hear some great stories from George, including:

- his decision to leave behind a potential career in banking to move to Nashville and follow his musical dreams

- his experiences playing country music for fans in places as far and wide as Japan and France

- why you might want to avoid playing ballads when performing in Brazil as a musician 

Our conversation begins with George describing the thoughts behind the staggered release of the tracks from Yellow Rose Motel, which is his 4th album as a solo artist.  

If you would like to learn more about George and his upcoming shows, you can check out his website which is www.georgeducas.com, or follow him on Instagram where his profile is @georgeducas.

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Our guest for Episode 48 of The Music Chat Podcast is filmmaker Fran Strine.  Fran directed and produced the excellent session musician documentary Hired Gun, and is one of the founding principals of production company Powerchord Films.  

During our conversation with Fran, you will hear about some of the back story behind putting together Hired Gun, including Fran’s own story of his transition from tour photographer and videographer to documentary filmmaker.  While the musicians’ stories are incredible, I think you will find Fran’s own story of taking a chance and putting everything you’ve got into making something happen equally compelling.  

Fran also discusses his upcoming music documentary Who You Gonna Call?, depicting the life and career of Ray Parker, Jr.  Many of you may be familiar with Ray due to his composition of the Ghostbusters theme song, but as you will hear Fran describe, Ray’s career has had many more layers and successes along the way.  

Thanks to Fran for sharing his stories with the audience.  I had a great time talking music and music personalities with him.  If you would like to keep up on Fran’s upcoming films, you can follow him on Instagram which is @franstrine or check his production company’s website which is www.powerchordfilms.com.

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Our guest for Episode 47 of The Music Chat Podcast is Adam Kline of the musical collective Golden Shoulders.   During the intro, you will hear the song Golden Gates from Golden Shoulders recently released album entitled Could This Be The End.  This is the first album in about 10 years for Golden Shoulders, following 2009’s Get Reasonable.  

During our conversation, you will hear about Adam’s development as a songwriter, his views on finding your distinctive voice as an artist, and his unique perspective on dealing with criticism among other topics.   There are also audio clips of the songs Old Country and Setting Sun from Could This Be The End.

This was an entertaining conversation with a talented musician, who also has a reflective and self-deprecating sense of humor.   I had a great time talking with Adam, and I hope you all enjoy this episode.  

If you would like to follow the upcoming shows and get updates on the developments with Golden Shoulders, you can follow them on Instagram which is @goldenshoulders or check out their website which can be found at www.goldenshoulders.com.  Golden Shoulders will be playing the Make Out Room, along with friends Aaron Ross and Brett Shady, on 22nd Street in San Francisco on December 7th, 2019, for anyone who would like to catch their live show.

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Our guest for Episode 46 is filmmaker John Scheinfeld.  John has written, directed, and/or produced a number of acclaimed documentary projects, including some outstanding music-focused films such as Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary (on Netflix currently), The U.S. vs. John Lennon, Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everyone Talking About Him?), The Divine Bette Midler, Vintage Sinatra, and many more.   

The conversation with John covers his interest in storytelling and filmmaking from an early age, his transition into documentary work, and his appreciation of music among other topics.  The interview is a great behind-the-scenes overview of a career spent developing projects of artistic expression.

If you would like to learn more about John’s projects, please check his website which is www.crewneckproductions.com or take a look at his IMDB page here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0770643/.  

There is also an excellent PBS interview with John that can be found here:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/filmmaker-john-scheinfeld-chases-coltranes-legacy/

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

Our guest for Episode 45 is guitarist and vocalist Cristina Vane, who currently calls Nashville home.   As you will hear during our conversation, Cristina has a strong sense of individuality and follows her own musical intuition, something I have a great respect for as a music fan and admire as well. 

During this episode Cristina talks about her journey to becoming a musician, what inspires her to create, and how she approaches improving her craft.  If you would like to learn more about Cristina, you can follow her on Instagram which is @cristinavanemusic or check out her website www.cristinavane.com.

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.

This is a special episode of the podcast, as our guest for Episode 44 is photographer J. Grant Brittain.   Grant has been documenting the skateboarding scene since the late 1970s. He has photographed the giants of professional skateboarding, including Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Andy Macdonald, and many, many others.  Grant is also a devoted fan of music, and the intersection of skateboarding and music is one of the topics we cover during our conversation. 

If you are interested in seeing some of Grant’s photo work, check out his website at www.jgrantbrittainphotos.com or follow him on Instagram where his profile is @jgrantbrittain.  

As always please remember to subscribe to the podcast, and also leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear.