The Other 22 Hours

Between late-night TV appearances and relentless album sprints, how does a working artist remain anchored in their own life? This week, we sit down with Nick Carpenter (Medium Build), whose catalog of raw, empathetic storytelling has earned him critical acclaim, tours with Mumford and Sons and Tyler Childers, and fans likes of Elton John, John Mayer, and boygenius. We discuss the exhausting trap of algorithmic omnipresence, the Jungian necessity of integrating our shadows rather than suppressing them, and the profound wisdom passed to him by Ben Kweller on honoring the muse. It is a generous, disarming exploration into stepping off the treadmill of validation and reclaiming art as an act of service rather than a product.

In This Episode:

• Medium Build
• Jimmy Kimmel
• Rosie Rush
• Carl Jung
• Duke's (Nashville)
• Niall Horan
• Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings)
• Bonnaroo
• Ben Kweller

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

What does it mean to witness ourselves transform? Singer-songwriter and bluegrass powerhouse Lindsay Lou, a frequent collaborator with artists like Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Sierra Hull, as well as a member of the Sweet Water Warblers and a festival staple in her own right, joins us to explore the tender, high-stakes choreography of modern artist-parenthood. 

Celebrating her landmark all-women project, Bluegrass Women, Lindsay reflects on giving historical weight to the women who shaped roots music. She also gives unvarnished clarity about postpartum identity, surviving festival chaos with a 15-month-old strapped to her chest on stage, and the quiet revelation that comes when we stop trying to compartmentalize who we are. This episode is a deep dive into creative endurance, presence, and why artists pursuing their craft is a gift to their family rather than a subtraction.

In This Episode:

• Lindsay Lou
• The Sweet Water Warblers
• Rolling Stone Stateside Festival
• Grand Targhee (Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival)
• Sam Grisman
• Ep 145 Derek Trucks
• Ep 12 Leyla McCalla
• Ep 39 Joe Henry
• Meshell Ndegeocello
• The Stanley Brothers
• Keith Whitley
• Ricky Skaggs
• Ola Belle Reed
• Tim O'Brien
• Ep 147 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
• Bluegrass Album Band
• David Grisman
• Scott Vestal
• Shani Gandhi
• Ep 11 Lucius
• Rachael Price
• Fran's Eastside Tavern (Fran's)
• Rachel Baiman
• Ep 85 Caroline Spence

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

In a culture that demands creative output be loud, continuous, and universally relatable, what does it mean to plant your flag in the quiet, specific, and unpolished? Grammy-winning artist and guitarist Madison Cunningham joins us with raw generosity, examining the dissonance between holding music’s highest honors and sitting with everyday feelings of failure. Across an intimate hour, we delve into the discipline of ignoring both praise and venom, how teaching unlocked her own creative permission, and Mary Oliver’s timeless directive to never hesitate when leaning into what gives us joy.

In This Episode:

• Madison Cunningham
• Remi Wolf
• Ep 56 - Guster
• Dolly Parton
• Mike Viola
• Mary Oliver
• "Don't Hesitate" (Poem by Mary Oliver)

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

As the frontman of Grammy-nominated rock band My Morning Jacket, Jim James has spent decades at the center of new alternative. His long list of achievements includes a solo catalog of five studio albums, recording as part of the supergroup Monsters of Folk, and producing artists such as Ray LaMontagne, S.G. Goodman and Basia Bulat. Yet, beneath these accomplishments was an exhausting cycle of perfectionism and self-loathing fueled by the quiet fear that rest equals irrelevance. In this tender and expansive conversation, Jim explores what happened when he stopped trying to outrun his own shadow. He reflects on four years of sobriety, the transformative nature of EMDR and parts work therapy, learning to dance with his creative muse rather than whip the workhorse, and why reclaiming true creative vitality starts by making peace with the human being inside.

In This Episode:

• Jim James
• My Morning Jacket
• Iris DeMent
• Grateful Dead
• Kurt Cobain
• Nina Simone
• Wowed Out
• Brian Reitzell
• Brendan O'Brien
• Carl Broemel
• Bo Koster
• Billie Eilish
• Kane Parsons
• The Backrooms
• Hollywood Bowl
• Bob Weir
• Ep 80 - John Moreland
• ManKind Project
• Mister Rogers

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

We are often sold the myth that success cures insecurity. Brandy Clark joins us to unravel that narrative. Named one of the '"30 Greatest Living Songwriters" earlier this year by the New York Times, she is also a Grammy-winning artist who has placed her songs with Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and Reba McEntire. In addition, she is the co-writer of the Tony Award-winning musical Shucked. In this beautiful conversation, originally aired in November 2024, she opens up about her fifteen-year journey to a breakthrough, the courage it takes to be a gay woman in country music, and the importance of only staying in rooms where you feel like a genius.

In This Episode:

• Brandy Clark
• Cyndi Forman
• Dave Brainard
• Shucked Musical
• Ep 60 - Lori McKenna
• Jessie Jo Dillan
• Ep 43 - Gretchen Peters
• Ep 46 - Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Kieth Urban
• Dwight Yokam
• Brandi Carlisle
• Shangri-La Studio
• Shane McAnally
• k.d.lang
• Ep 126 - Chely Wright
• Ep 97 - Fancy Hagood

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

What if the messiness of life isn’t an obstacle to making art, but the very material itself? In this reissued conversation from our archives, we sit down with New York Times bestselling poet and author Maggie Smith (Good Bones, Dear Writer). Together, we explore what happens when you dismantle the dividing wall between art and everyday life, the discipline of staying in solitude rather than catering to an audience, and how learning to trust your own instincts becomes the ultimate safety net for a sustainable creative life.

In This Episode:

• Maggie Smith
• “Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life”
• “My Thoughts Have Wings”
• "For Dear Life" - Maggie's Substack
• Lucinda Williams
• Joan Didion - The Center Will Not Hold documentary
• Jane Goodall
• “Good Bones”
• Jim Carrey commencement speech
• Tara Brach
• Stanley Plumly

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

With two Grammy Awards, 15 number-one singles, and a songwriting catalog recorded by legends like Emmylou Harris, Bob Seger, and Waylon Jennings, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Rodney Crowell stands as one of Americana's most enduring icons. Yet, after 50 years in Nashville, Rodney’s relationship to his craft is grounded not in recognition, but in the quiet, daily act of showing up.

In this conversation from 2023, Rodney reflects on the early years of roaming Nashville alongside Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt to evolving past the need for applause, the spiritual discipline of 7-day vision quests, and why a song can take 40 years to finally tell you what it wants to be.

In This Episode:

• Rodney Crowell
• Jedd Hughes
• Marty Stuart
• JD Miller's Recording Studio
• Wilburn Brothers
• Emmylou Harris
• Guy Clark
• Mickey Newbury
• Bob Seger

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

GRAMMY-nominated songwriter and author Mary Gauthier, whose songs have been recorded by everyone from Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton to Boy George and Jimmy Buffett, joins us for a deeply resonant exploration of life, survival, and craft. Starting her songwriting journey at age 40 after a successful career as a chef and restaurant owner, Mary offers a deeply grounded perspective on what it means to build a long-haul artistic life.

Originally aired in August 2023 as Episode 27, we are revisiting this favorite conversation from our archive to unpack her 33-year journey in recovery, the necessity of patience in art and persistence in business, and how songwriting serves as a container for processing trauma and bridging human divides.

In This Episode:

• Mary Gauthier
• Songwriting With Soldiers 
• 'Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting'
• Ep 152 - Matraca Berg
• Ep 43 - Gretchen Peters
• Beth Nielsen Chapman
• Liz Rose
• Patty Griffin
• Neko Case

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

This week, we dive into our archives for this special reissue of our conversation with GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, activist, and chef Ruby Amanfu. Known for her profound collaborations with H.E.R., Brandi Carlile, Alicia Keys, and Beyoncé, Ruby has navigated the highest peaks of the music industry while fiercely protecting her inner peace. In this episode, we explore the structural collisions that force us to speak our truth, the reality of reclaiming your identity outside of financial validation, and what happens when we finally release our death grip on how we thought our lives would look.

In This Episode:

• Ruby Amanfu
• Sam and Ruby
• Porter’s Call
• Andy Little
• MusiCares
• Lee Ann Womack
• Willie Nelson
• Love Rising Concert

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

What happens when creative people stop looking for a seat at the table and build a table of their own? For generations society has treated an artist's life as an economic sideline, a romanticized piecemeal struggle. Today, we are witnessing a structural revolution. With Colorado recently passing the nation's first Artist Corporation legislation (the Colorado Artist Company Act) in June 2026, we are reissuing our definitive conversation with the architect of that very movement, Yancey Strickler.

As the co-founder of Kickstarter, Metalabel, and the Artist Corporations Foundation, Yancey has dedicated his life to equipping creators with the structural tools to act as real entrepreneurs. In this expansive conversation, we trace the line between blue-collar artistry and private equity, explore why the industry trades meaning for convenience, and look closely at how interdependent networks can finally break the cycle of artistic exploitation.

In This Episode:

• Yancey Strickler
• A-Corps
• Colorado Legislation, June 2026
• MetaLabel
• The Creative Independent
• Hipgnosis
• Nirvana
• The Royal Alberta Advantage
• Ep 68 - Evan Honer
• “All The King’s Men”
• Virgil Abloh
• Bentoism
• CS Lewis - “The Inner Ring”

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.