The True Tunes Podcast

This show would not exist without the long, steady, wise guidance and technical prowess of music writer, radio veteran, and mixmaster extraordinaire, Bruce A. Brown. In this special, inside-out episode, we turn the microphone around. Host and podcast co-founder John J. Thompson sits down with Bruce in the “Virtual True Tunes Interview Suite” for a wide-ranging conversation about his life, his work, his passions, and the four-decade friendship behind this podcast.

The conversation comes on the first anniversary of the Big Beautiful Bruce Brown Benefit, a two-hour streaming event held after Bruce's cancer diagnosis, where a slew of artists contributed home-recorded songs and testimonials. Together with Bruce's GoFundMe, the benefit raised roughly $20,000 toward the treatment costs insurance doesn't cover. Woven throughout this episode are clips of music from artists who benefit from friends, including Michael Roe, Terry Scott Taylor, Bill Mallonee, Bill Campbell, Dave Perkins, Glenn Kaiser, Phil Keaggy, Jimmy Abegg, The Choir, Chris Taylor, and others. There’s a lot more music, too!

Bruce's fundraiser remains open — costs have continued to mount in the year since the benefit. If this episode moved you, please consider putting a few bucks in the jar HERE.

If you want to support the show more broadly, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip via PayPal, and check out our MERCH!

And thank you for doing all the other stuff — leaving us ratings and reviews on Apple Podcasts, signing up for the email list, and subscribing to the weekly Spotify Mixtape. Spotify and Apple are great places to discover new music, but once you discover an artist you love, please support them with your dollars and your attention.

(NOTE: Our friend and long-time supporter, David Bunker, is also in need of help as he is battling Lewy Body Disease. We are helping to host a special tribute event in Nashville on September 12th, and encourage you to give to his GoFundMe Campaign as well. More info can be found HERE.)

This episode features numerous exclusive musical clips from the “BBBBB” livestream, including: 

Jimmy Abegg; Phil Keaggy; Terry Scott Taylor; Michael Roe & Bruce Spencer; Kevin Max; The Choir; Bill Campbell; Phil Madeira Trio; Glenn Kaiser; Dave Perkins; Bill Mallonee

(And a few words from Amy Grant & Steve Taylor)

With additional musical excerpts from:

The Sunshine Boys - We Need A Whole Lot More Of Jesus (And A Lot Less Rock & Roll)

Daniel Amos - Divine Instant (instrumental mix)

David Grisman - Shenandoah Breakdown

Johnny Cash - Hey, Good Lookin’

The George Martin Orchestra - Can’t Buy Me Love

Steve Taylor - Svengali (Remix)

Russ Taff - If II Had My Way

The Seekers (of St. Louis, MO) - Road of Life

The Way - If You Will Believe

Blessed Hope - Something More

Jethro Tull - Bourée

King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man (Instrumental Mix); The Court of the Crimson King (Instrumental Mix)

Daniel Amos - Everyone’s Fallen Down (Live Bootleg ’82 version)

The Osmonds - Down By the Lazy River

The Horace Silver Quintet - Song for My Father

The Monkees - Early Morning Blues And Greens (Master Backing Track)

The Charlie Peacock Jazz Quintet - Promise of Fellowship Kept

Delirious - Deeper

Natalie Bergman - Shine Your Light On Me

Dexter Gordon - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Ella Fitzgerald - Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney

Flo Price - Scene 1: Somewhere In Outer Space Above Planet Earth / It’s the Very Best Time of the Year

Bruce Cockburn - Deer Dancing ‘Round a Broken Mirror; After the Rain

Jacob Collier - You Can Close Your Eyes

Mike Roe - Mercy Seat

Bill Mallonee - Best Seat In the Room (Instrumental)

Chris Taylor - Meditation (Melt Into Morning)

Phil Keaggy - Noah’s Shuffle; Jam In The Side Pocket; Tiger Tail (Super Sessions!)

(And possibly a few notes from Michael Roe & Mark Harmon - Spirits Flying Over Mt. Tamalpais and The Choir - Cool Black Water)

Welcome to the PILOT EPISODE of True Tunes Connect, a new chapter in this continuing story that began back in 1989.

Thirty years ago, I interviewed a freshly minted artist named Sheryl Crow for the pages of our old print magazine, True Tunes News, right as her first hit single was breaking. We had a feeling there was something deeper going on than "just having some fun." Turns out we were right. (Our Patreon members can find a digital reprint of that original article in their feed.) 

For this pilot, we're dropping in on a private event recently held near Lipscomb University that we called "Wisdom From The Well", where one of my Music Industry Studies students, Abby Whitman, sat down to interview Sheryl herself. I open the show, then hand her the mic — and she did a better job of it than I did three decades ago.

A note for longtime listeners: True Tunes Connect isn't the classic True Tunes Podcast, though it comes from the same place. These episodes run shorter — usually 15 to 20 minutes — built around two things we care about most: developing artists, and developing the audiences who need them. The long-form conversations you remember haven't gone anywhere; they'll surface from time to time as Special Features, and the full extended interview (including the rest of this Sheryl Crow conversation) is available to our Patreon members (and coming soon to our Substack subscribers) at Patreon.com/TrueTunes and TrueTunes.Substack.com.

We will also continue to throw super-short "Microdose" episodes into the feed, along with some @45RPM specials. But True Tunes Connect is a wider, more comprehensive project we are developing to connect artists to the ideas, inspiration, and resources they need, and listeners to the artists they love. It's about artist - and audience - development and connection, with expressions that include the podcast, articles, workshops, books, and gatherings. You'll hear about it all - including our creed - here on the pilot and in upcoming episodes. Spread the word!

Find photos, links, and more on the full Show Notes Page at TrueTunes.com/Connect-Pilot 

We are back where we started, in more ways than one, with songwriter, artist, producer, and musician’s musician – Charlie Peacock. In this comprehensive conversation, recorded in person at Charlie’s home studio in Nashville, JJT and CP revisit his earliest days as a young musician in California. The release of his recent memoir, Roots and Rhythm, and an EP worth of previously unheard recordings from 1981 called The Kahne Sessions, frames this story of formation and transformation. We then follow the man as he becomes one of the most successful producers in the history of pop music. A special 30-minute Jukebox feature traces the evidence – from his earliest production work with The Choir and The 77s, to a Top 40 pop breakthrough, his discovery and launch of one of the great 90s alternative rock bands, and multiple Grammy Awards in the 2000s in the Americana and Folk space.

This may be our longest show yet (and it features over 60 musical cuts), but when considering the work of someone like Chuck, it seems more than fitting. His voice, both literally and as experienced through his piano, pen, and studio control board, has done as much to shape our concepts and imagination about the redemptive potential of art in a broken yet beautiful world as just about any other artist. So, sit back, relax, and let the words and the music wash over you as we give thanks for the gift that is Charlie Peacock.

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!

For full show notes, (including a list of all of the songs used on this show,) photos, and more, visit TrueTunes.com/CP25 (coming soon)

Music List:

Set 1

Watching Eternity

Winsome Kelly Blues

One Man Gets Around

Charlie Peacock-Ashworth - Redbones In The Shadows

John McLaughlin - Extrapolation

Jeff Beck Group ft. Jan Hamme - Freeway Jam (Live)

Scrappy Lil’ Cat

We The People

Dance 4 Me All Night (Afrobeat ’23)

Jamming with Edward - The Boudoir Stomp

Refuge of the Wild (f. Eric Harland, John Patitucci, Chris Potter & Marcus    Printup)

Suddenly

Big Man’s Hat (Live)

Istanbul, Gate To Prosperity (ft. Jeff Coffin & WonderTwins)

Set 2

High Risk Casualty

American Music

Lie Down In The Grass (Bruce Neher STEM mix)

Rhythm Girls

Charlie Peacock Group - Motion Sickness (Last Vestiges of Honor)

Charlie Peacock Group - No Magazines (Last Vestiges of Honor)

Hot Night Downtown

Vector - Running from the Light

Charlie Peacock-Ashworth - Jude, as in Hey Jude

Vector - Mannequin Virtue

Congolesia

I Will Need Your Help

Iridium-2022-07-09-Demo-Mix

Set 3

Message Boy (Video remix)

Experience

Rainbow Motherfunk

Monkeys at the Zoo

Blue for You (ft. Eric Harland, John Patitucci, Chris Potter & Marcus Printup)

This is How the Work Gets Done

Sexy Chill Sway

Beauty Left the Room

Go Light, Go Free (ft. Turtle Island Quartet)

One Small Pebble

A Boy and His Dreams

Whole Lot Different, Whole Lot the Same (Pandemic version, ft. Jimmy Abegg, Sam Ashworth, Brent Bourgeois, Eric Heilman, Michael Roe, Aaron Smith, Bongo Bob Smith and Roger Smith)

All songs credited to Charlie Peacock, except where noted.

Jukebox Playlist

77s

The Choir

Russ Taff

Margaret Becker

Jimmy Abegg

Out of the Grey

Charlie Peacock

Amy Grant

dc Talk

Aaron Smith

Sarah Masen

Switchfoot

The Civil Wars

Charlie Peacock

Charlie Peacock ft. Sam Ashworth & Ruby Amanfu

Charlie Peacock (ft. Brian Blade, Scott Mulvahill, Roger Smith & Jeff Coffin)

Also heard:

Phil Keaggy - God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Charlie Peacock - Blue for You (ft. Eric Harland, John Patitucci, Chris Potter & Marcus Printup)

Charlie Peacock - 88 Tons of Awesome

Millions have been impacted by Charlie Peacock's Grammy Award-winning production and songwriting work. A smaller, but devoted group has been with him since his days as a Sacramento-based alternative pop artist and member of the progressive Exit Records scene. But very few have ever heard the work he did prior to his 1983 debut, Lie Down In The Grass, until now. On the heels of the release of his expansive and revealing memoir Roots and Rhythm, Peacock just dropped a never-before-heard collection of songs he recorded in 1980 and 81 with the legendary rock producer David Kahne (later named among the 500 most important Rock Producers by Rolling Stone for his work with Regina Spektor, The Bangles, Paul McCartney, Fishbone, Lana Del Rey, Springsteen, Tony Bennett, Stevie Nicks and others.) The Kahne Sessions reveals a young diamond in the rough, and on this special episode Charlie takes us back to those early days in his career and puts it all into context.

And there is a LOT more where this comes from. This conversation, recorded in person in Charlie's home studio, covered everything from his earliest days as a musician, to the transformation sobriety and faith brought to his work, to concerns he has over the ways commodification, dehumanization, and artificial intelligence are impacting the way today's artists are engaging with the work. That will all be coming soon, but we wanted to get THIS part - celebrating the release of The Kahne Sessions out to you right away. Be sure to subscribe to the show on whichever platform you prefer so you don't miss a beat. And if you missed our very first episode - way back in 2019 - it featured none other than Charlie Peacock. You can find that show HERE.

For more information, including a list of all of the songs used on this episode, visit the show notes page at TrueTunes.com/CPKahneSessions

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!

Follow Charlie on Substack HERE: https://charliepeacock.substack.com/ 

In the final installment of our "True Tunes Live at Audiofeed 2025" series of 45RPM episodes, we listen in on John J. Thompson's speaking session dubbed "The Sound of Revolution." What does revolution sound like? What is countercultural music all about? This spirited conversation with a roomful of aspiring radicals provided some actionable perspective. (You'll have to forgive the challenging sound quality on this one. The tech was not in our favor. But it sounds much better than the boombox recordings we used to treasure after going to seminars at Cornerstone back in the day.)

For more information, including a list of all of the songs used in this episode, visit the show notes page at TrueTunes.com/SoundOfRev 

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!

Chuck Girard, one of the architects of Jesus Music and founder of the band Love Song, recently passed away at the age of 81 after a battle with cancer. On this special episode of the podcast, we visit with fellow Jesus Music veteran, Alex MacDougall, who recently survived a very close call with esophageal cancer, and our own Bruce Brown, who is in the midst of chemo as he edits this very episode. We also hear from Terry Scott Taylor via a special clip from the upcoming documentary "Us Kids" about the role Chuck and Love Song played in his own musical story. 

Might there be some wisdom in the ancient Christian practice of "memento mori" in times such as these? Did Chuck Girard leave us a song for this very moment fifty years ago? 

For more information, including a list of all of the amazing (and in some cases extremely rare) music used in this episode, visit the show notes page at TrueTunes.com/Girard. 

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!

In part three (of four) of our "True Tunes Live at Audiofeed 2025" series of 45RPM episodes, we open the floor for questions about anything! The panel included Gileah Taylor, Chris Taylor, Matt Hammitt, and JJT.

For more information about Gileah visit Gileah.com (and be sure to check out her Bandcamp store.) For more information about Matt Hammitt, check out his website: https://matthammitt.com/ 

For more information, including a list of all of the songs used in this episode, visit the show notes page at TrueTunes.com/AudioFeedAMA

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!

In part two (of four) of our "True Tunes Live at Audiofeed 2025" series of 45RPM episodes, we visit with Matt Hammitt, former frontman of the rock group Sanctus Real and currently ramping up a new band, Lo Cloud. Hammitt joined JJT and a small live audience in the "Subculture Tent" for a conversation before his performance to discuss growing up in the rock and roll scene, choosing to walk away, and his return.

For more information about Matt Hammitt, check out his website: https://matthammitt.com/ 

For more information, including a list of all of the songs used in this episode, visit the show notes page at TrueTunes.com/Hammitt

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!

In part one (of four) of our "True Tunes Live at Audiofeed 2025" series of 45RPM episodes we visit with one of our favorite independent artists, Gileah Taylor. The Velvet Blue Music artist joined JJT and a small live audience in the "Subculture Tent" for a conversation before her performance later that night. 

For more information about Gileah visit Gileah.com (and be sure to check out her Bandcamp store.) 

For more information, including a list of all of the songs used in this episode, visit the show notes page at TrueTunes.com/Gileah.

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!

The public may best know Phil Madeira as an ace-in-the-hole sideman for high-profile Americana artists like Emmylou Harris, while Nashville insiders know him as a songwriter's writer and a go-to studio musician as well. While his career goes back well over 50 years, over the last decade or so, Madeira has released a series of superb, highly-focused solo albums and creative collaborations that have focused on various aspects of his musical, lyrical, and overall artistic skillsets. On his latest project, Falcon, (releasing July 18), Madeira combines all of these elements seamlessly. It presents as a sort of "Best Of Phil Madeira" project, that happens to be comprised of all new tunes. 

On this episode we catch up with Madeira to hear about Falcon in detail, and how it fits into his larger body of work. We will also peek behind the curtain a bit, into the deeper personal work this music reflects in the life and heart of the artist. 

For more info visit the full show notes page at TrueTunes.com/Falcon and to learn more about Phil Madeira find his website at PhilMadeira.net. 

If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our MERCH!