Ithaca artist Crow Greenspun discusses his origin story as an artist in two different genres, his musical influences and the different experiences of being a hip-hop artist after starting his musical career in folk music.

After a brief hiatus from podcasting Nate returns to bring you the first of two interviews with his musical peer and songwriting hero, Brad Barr.

The interview took place as the The Barr Brothers were just finishing their latest full length release, Queens of the Breakers. They had a lot of catching up to do, and fans will enjoy hearing anecdotes from the Boston scene they both came through in the early 90's.

Nate sits down with long time collaborator Elliot Martin, lead singer of John Brown's Body and Black Castle.

Nate spent most of 1998 to 2006 touring and recording with Elliot in JBB, which Elliot still captains today, and Nate continues to contribute to. Their more eclectic side project, Black Castle, has only released one CD (in 2000) and a handful of singles, and plays sporadically to very enthusiastic local crowds in their hometown of Ithaca NY.

In the course of this discussion you will hear names of many people who were influential to Elliot. We may not have stopped to explain who each person is, as is normal in a conversation between friends. I hope that at risk of being too familiar and perhaps casual we were able to allow the conversation to cover a wider range of topics in a reasonable amount of time.

We welcome your feedback! Tweet at us at @powsong or email [email protected]

blackcastle.bandcamp.com

johnbrownsbody.com

All Episodes: changingaging.org/shows/powerofsong

Nate sits down with another one of his musical superhero friends/collaborators for a deep exploration of musical process and personal meaning. Since they are good friends they mostly skip the basics of Joe’s career and start by taking apart some of Joe’s songs - and from there go into a free form discussion of his life experience, including concepts such as mental illness and healing, family dynamics, loss, connection, sentimentality, integrity, and a fair amount of musical/lyrical mechanics too!

For more information about Joe and his music visit: http://www.joecrookston.com/

This week Nate is joined by Ithaca songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tenzin Chopak. Nate and Tenzin discuss the process of songwriting on a personal level. Sit back and learn about the visceral reaction that comes from listening to music and taking in lyrics. Tenzin shares his process of writing lyrics as a method of storytelling in a non-linear fashion; how music can be a connection to the heart and expose a different way of seeing.

For more information on Tenzin and his band Rockwood Ferry visit: http://tenzinchopak.com/

Nate sits down with local Ithaca, NY musician and songwriter Will Musham to discuss music, the musical process and the power of music in their lives. Nate and will discuss everything from Gregorian chants to their latest projects.

Sit back and listen to find out why music so powerful? Why are some songs so captivating and inspiring? While others instantly fall into the background, only to be forgotten... How is it that there’s always more to say? And new ways to say it?

This is episode 001 of The Power of Song.