You can hear the raw and unguarded version of today’s guest when you listen intently to The Bootleg Recordings Of Marshall Crenshaw. This new collection of Crenshaw originals, which was released on Record Store Day of this year, was culled from a trove of work tapes recorded while making his third and fourth albums. These recordings afford listeners and fans the opportunity to hear a host of unvarnished material, exposing the blood and bone of the songs.

Marshall Crenshaw grew up in the leafy post-war suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Although Motown, The MC5, and the glitter of the big city were just minutes away by car, the Crenshaw family largely stuck to the safety of the streets near their home, eschewing all that Detroit had to offer, except on the rare occasion of a ball game or a trip to see holiday lights.

After high school, Crenshaw found himself with dwindling prospects at home and hit the road for New York and then eventually Los Angeles. He auditioned for bands, performed in the touring company for Beatlemania, and shopped his songs to any producer or label that would take the time to listen. Eventually, Crenshaw landed a deal with the small Imprint Shake Records which released his debut single, “Something’s Gonna Happen” in 1981. On the strength of that single and a few other demo recordings, Crenshaw inked a deal with Warner Bros. Records.

Marshall Crenshaw’s first two albums, Marshall Crenshaw and Field Day found both critical and commercial success, and landed Crenshaw in a pair of Hollywood roles. He appeared first in Francis Ford Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married as part of the wedding band that is prominently featured in the film. Later in the same year, Crenshaw appeared in La Bamba as the ill-fated first wave rocker, Buddy Holly.

During our conversation, Marshall and I discuss his childhood in Detroit and his urge to get out once he had reached adulthood. We cover his early days in both New York and LA, including a riveting story about a compromised producer that inadvertently gave Crenshaw the confidence to produce his own records. We talk about being in over your head, and learning to swim your way out. Plus, we cover helping to maintain the legacy of another great power pop band of the 80s and 90s. It’s a great conversation with a truly unique artist still working at a very high level.

Let’s get into it.

Cheers,Matty C

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End Credits

Thanks so much to Marshall for joining me. You can find out all about him and his work at https://marshallcrenshaw.com/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Eef Barzelay has seen the peaks and valleys of the music industry. In the course of a lifetime playing music, Barzelay has toured the world as a solo performer and in his longtime outfit, Clem Snide. He has had his songs used in motion pictures, and major TV commercials. He’s written original songs and scores for independent films, while also continuing to tour and release new music regularly.

Barzelay has also suffered through a painful divorce, had his house in foreclosure, and was even forced to declare bankruptcy at one point. More than one time he was sure he had reached the end of his career in music. Still, he forged ahead, beieving that better days would arrive.

During our conversation, Eef and I cover a great deal of ground. We delve into his birth and early upbringing in Israel before his family moved to New Jersey while Eef was an elementary schooler. Barzelay talks about his spiritual path and even parses out his complicated relationship with the country of his birth. We also cover Eef’s long and winding path to today which has also included crowd funding his records, writing bespoke original songs for his fans, and embarking on a series of house concert tours.

Eef openly discusses the economic realities of the music business in 2026, while also wondering if perhaps the business is as egalitarian as it has ever been. We talk about being “jazz famous”, and the concept of freedom over fame. There is discussion about the cinematic nature of Eef’s songwriting, and the ways in which we can use songs to explain our own experience.

Let’s get into it.

Cheers,

Matty C

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End Credits

Thanks so much to Eef for joining me. You can find out all about him and his work at https://www.clemsni.de/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Every record is something like a sonic quilt; a pastiche of songs and sonic ideas laid out as a single product. That quilt might be stitched together with mechanical precision or it might have been hand-sewn by a grandmother with shaky hands. The squares of fabric used for our quilt might be of uniform shape, or they could be a collection of misshapen rags.

Jason P. Woodbury’s newest album, Jason P. Woodbury & The Night Bird Singing Quartet plays like a bespoke seamstress setting to work with both precision and playfulness. Astute listeners of the album are likely to pick up notes of My Morning Jacket, Fruit Bats, Michael Penn, and Woods, but Woodbury is anything but a copycat. Treading a line that dips into alt-folk, cosmic-country, and neo-Americana, Woodbury and his collaborators have stitched a quilt perfect for crisp fall evenings.

In addition to his terrific recorded work, Jason spends most of his days at the esteemed indie music blog, Aquarium Drunkard. He also has a terrific Substack called Range and Basin, where he writes and podcasts about music and culture. This work, in addition to his musical pursuits, gives Jason an interesting perspective on the state of today’s musical ecosystem. We talked openly about the role of the curator and critic in a world where we can access any music we want to hear at a moment’s notice.

During our conversation, we talked about Jason’s childhood in rural Arizona and covered some of the Phoenix and Tempe music scenes that soared in the 1980s and 90s, and ultimately influenced him and his work. Jason shared his early experiences singing with others in church, and the profound impact it made on his young mind. We also hit upon the best ways to wear your influences as an artist. We got into the ragged nature of songwriting, and we discussed the necessity of making difficult choices in your art.

Let’s get into it.

Cheers,Matty C

-------------------------

End Credits

Thanks so much to Jason for joining me. You can find out all about Jason and his work at https://jasonpwoodbury.com/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Jack Rabid was bitten by the drug of rock and roll before he even hit adulthood. Before he was old enough to drive, Rabid was taking the train from Northern New Jersey into the city with friends to soak up the burgeoning punk and art rock scenes happening across Manhattan’s Lower East side. Often, this ragged pack of high schoolers would be forced to spend the night in the city when the trains stopped running before the rock shows they were frequenting would end.

By the time high school came to an end, Jack and a buddy found a sublet in the city and moved in the week that they graduated. Rabid immersed himself in shows on an almost nightly basis. At the urging of a friend, he began working on putting his experiences at those shows into written words. After this pair of budding scribes had each devoted one hour to writing about their showgoing exploits, they put together a fanzine, the very first issue of The Big Takeover.

Since that summer of 1980, Rabid has been dutifully printing regular issues of the magazine. Each issue is packed with show reviews, record critiques, and in-depth interviews with some of the brightest luminaries in indie and punk rock. It’s also crucial to Rabid that The Big Takeover stays in print. While he has embraced the immediacy and the convenience of the internet, Jack insists that there is still something sacred about the tactile glory of the written word.

In addition to his journalistic exploits, Rabid is also a founding member of the shoegaze band Springhouse, who have toured voraciously throughout North America and the world while garnering praise from MTV, Rolling Stone, Spin and a number of other esteemed outlets. While the band is largely inactive these days, Jack shares a story from the band’s semi-recent visit to Kalamazoo, MI for the KalamaShoegaze Festival.

Having spent half a century ensconced in the NYC music scene, Jack is filled with great stories. In this episode he shares a few nuggets about having Alan Ginsberg as a landlord, seeing XTC at his first show, being radicalized by Bowie at 15, disappointing Steve Albini by taking him to see the Replacements, and so, so much more.

Cheers,Matty C

-------------------------

End Credits

Thanks so much to Jack for joining me. You can find his work at https://bigtakeover.com. Be sure to subscribe to the print version of the magazine

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

There is a rhythm to life in the south that appeals to MC Taylor, the mercurial mind and voice at the center of the band Hiss Golden Messenger. Taylor has come to treasure that slower cadence of life in North Carolina, a place he has now called home for roughly two decades. Growing up in southern California during the 1980s, Taylor was a typical LA kid. He spent his days skating and soaking up the sun.

Eventually, the Bay Area and the allure of starting a band pulled Taylor to San Francisco where he fronted Court And Spark, a cosmic folk/country band that helped Taylor to hone his songwriting chops, and find a bit of musical footing. After the natural dissolution of Court & Spark, Taylor and his partner moved to the Durham, North Carolina area where he formed Hiss Golden Messenger while also pursuing a master’s degree in folklore studies.

Taylor’s work in the world of folk studies led him to a greater understanding that good songwriting requires presence. He’s also made an effort to be as efficient in his songwriting as possible, continually trying to say more with fewer words. Taylor also mentions that his songs are where he puts his vulnerability. That openness and the raw vulnerability within his songs are an intrinsic part of what makes Hiss Golden Messenger such an engaging listen.

During our chat, MC and I hit upon his San Francisco glory days and wax poetic about the magical musical scene there in the Y2k era. We talk about field recordings, story collecting, Grammy nominations, and the Newport Folk Festival, while also dancing toward the inward places within ourselves. This is a great conversation with a terrific songwriter who is also a thoughtful and gentle soul.

Let’s get into it.

Cheers,Matty C

---------------------

End Credits

Thanks so much to MC Taylor for joining me. Be sure to check out the new Hiss Golden Messenger album, I’m People, wherever you get your music, and you can find tour dates and more info at https://hissgoldenmessenger.com/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Anna Canoni describes herself as a coalholder for the legacy of her grandfather, the late great Woody Guthrie. Anna is the third, and most recent steward in a line of women helping to keep Woody’s work available and alive. Like her grandmother, Marjorie, and her mother Nora, Anna is now entrusted with the whole of Woody’s songs and writings to ensure that his work will be available for future generations. These are the women that have been stoking the fire of Woody’s legacy for more than 70 years.

Almost every American alive knows Woody Guthrie, and his legendary tune, ‘This Land Is Your Land’. That now famous song was Guthrie’s response to Irving Berlin’s sappy, and nationalistic ‘God Bless America’. With his unique brand of simple genius, Woody managed to weave civic pride, natural beauty, and the very ideas of opportunity and fairness into a four minute ditty that was also easily memorable. In the eighty plus years since he first penned it, the song has been sung by hundreds of millions of Americans, many of whom have often failed to notice its deeper meanings.

While the song is his hallmark, ‘This Land’ was far from the sum total of Woody’s contribution to our national cultural heritage. Guthrie traveled the country far and wide to see its citizens as they actually lived, and then wrote openly about those realities using humor, honesty, and generosity. By singing songs of and for the people, Woody helped to capture an often overlooked America filled with dust bowl refugees, migrant workers, itinerant laborers, and farmhands.

The folks at Woody Guthrie Publications are dedicated to keeping this legacy and work alive and well. During our conversation, Anna and I talk deeply about the work of her grandfather, and his quest to capture the spirit of humanity in song. Woody believed deeply in the collective power of people, and in the responsibility of every citizen to be engaged and activated.

Anna and I also spend a good chunk of time focused on Woody’s 1948 tune, ‘Deportee’, which chronicles a plane crash near Los Gatos Canyon, California wherein 28 migrant workers and three crew members died. In the subsequent news reports, only the white passengers that died were named, with all other, non-white victims listed simply as “deportees”. I share the story of my own recording of the song, and we discuss the meanings of the tune in the era of Trump’s mass deportations, and the killing of two innocent Americans on the streets of Minneapolis this winter.

It’s clear to see that Woody Guthrie and his work remain incredibly relevant today in our very fractured America. Thankfully, Anna and her team at Woody Guthrie Publications are continuing to keep Woody’s beliefs and ideas alive through the preservation and publication of his incredible archive. Even in the years after Woody’s death, Anna, her grandmother Nora, and their team have worked with Billy Bragg and Wilco to complete the Mermaid Avenue albums, a series of recordings based around Guthrie’s lyrics. Anna and her team have also worked with Dropkick Murphys on a pair of albums using previously unseen lyrics from Woody.

Through these continuing projects, and constant archival work, Woody’s legacy is being secured for generations to come. In addition to the archive, and the subsequent recordings and special projects, there is now a Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The center describes itself as a place that celebrates the life, music and artistry of Woody Guthrie while seeking to ignite a passion for social change and foster a world in which the values of justice, equality, and compassion prevail.

Join me and Anna Canoni as she shares all of this and more about her amazing and legendary grandfather, Woody Guthrie. Let’s get into it.

Cheers,

Matty C

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End Credits

Thanks so much to Anna for joining me. You can find out all about Woody Guthrie, and all of her work at  https://woodyguthrie.org/. You can also find out more about HUntington’s Disease at https://hdsa.org/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Bob Andrews fell ass backwards into becoming the touring manager for Uncle Tupelo and Wilco. He’d been working at a drum shop in Nashville and was good friends with Ken Coomer, Uncle Tupelo’s drummer. After a brief meeting with the band, Bob was hired. He went on to manage Tupelo, and eventually Wilco through the initial tours for their 1996 opus, Being There. Undertow began the same year that Andrews walked away from the Wilco gig, as he began to take on management duties for clients like David Bazan of Pedro The Lion.

Over the course of the intervening thirty years, Bob and his ever expanding roster of mid-level artists have been building careers amidst an ever-changing and increasingly difficult musical landscape. By leveraging the intimate power of house concerts, Andrews has also helped to foster a burgeoning underground network of alternative venues.

More than a decade ago, Jayne Ballantyne came on board as an intern. Coming from a theater background, Jayne combined her navigational skills with a penchant for logistics and a deep love of music to become a natural at the dark arts of artist management and booking. Today she counts herself as a partner in Undertow with Bob.

Artists That Have Worked With Undertow

Anders Parker

Bad Bad Hats

Bottle Rockets

Califone

Cave Singers

Chris Brokaw

Chris Staples

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Craig Finn (The Hold Steady)

Damien Jurado

Danielle Durack

David Bazan

David Dondero

Diane Cristiansen

Earlimart

Eef Barzelay (Clem Snide)

Emma Swift

Eric Bachmann (Archers of Loaf)

Flock of Dimes

Forrest Kline (HELLOGOODBYE)

Geoff Farina

Jason Narducy

Jenn Champion

Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate)

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter

John Vanderslice

Josh Caterer (The Smoking Popes)

Julia Nunes

Justin Kinkel-Schuster

Kevin Devine

Lady Lamb

Laura Gibson

Laura Jane Grace

Laura Veirs

Lauren Ruth Ward

Lenore

Maria Taylor (Azure Ray)

Marie / Lepanto

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club)

Matt Talbott (HUM)

Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing)

Mirah

The Mynabirds

Nataly Dawn

Nora O’Connor

Oceanator

Peter Silberman (The Antlers)

Pedro the Lion

Richard Buckner

Rocky Votolato

S. Carey

Samantha Crain

Sarah Borges

Say Hi

Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Young Fresh Fellows)

Sera Cahoone

Shelby Earl

Spencer Thomas

Steve Dawson

Sydney Sprague

Thalia Zedek

Tim Kasher (Cursive)

TORRES

Up Around the Sun

Vandaveer

Walter Martin (The Walkmen)

Warren Dunes

Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel)

Wussy

Both Jayne and Bob are very cognizant of the myriad changes happening within the music industry. Music is something close to free while concert ticket prices have soared astronomically in recent years. At Undertow, they’re working incredibly hard to create the best possible environment for each and every show. They have developed a network of reliable hosts across the country, and with each show are spreading the gospel of the house concert.

These shows are not just terrific experiences for audiences, they are also a great deal for the artists as well. House concerts help to cut out the middle man costs that exist at most established venues. This means that an artist can keep the vast majority of what they make without the venue taking a big cut on ticket and merchandise sales. For many middle class artists, that means a night playing to just 40 or 50 people can still pay the bills, all without charging ridiculously high ticket prices.

During our conversation Jayne and Bob share some of the frightening economic realities for artists not at the top of the pile. We discuss what a golden age it is right now for house shows and alternative venues. And, we talk about the ever expanding definition of what it means to host a “house concert”. We also cover the unexpected community that has popped up around Undertow, and we even rail a bit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation. This one does include a little inside baseball on the music industry, but it’s a crucial conversation for anyone that loves live music.

So, here now are Jayne Ballantyne and Bob Andrews from Undertow Shows. Let’s get into it.

Cheers,

Matty C

-------------------------

End Credits

Thanks so much to Bob and Jayne for joining me. You can find out all about their work and upcoming shows at  https://undertowmusic.com/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Growing up in rural Kansas, Robin Hilton took a job in radio as a teenager mostly because it sounded cool. At fifteen, a pair of friends helped him land a weekend slot at a local station, and a career on the airwaves was born. The job came with almost no creative freedom as Robin stuck closely to a color-coded playlist for his weekend shows. Eventually, Hilton left the station for a more lucrative position at the local grocery store, but it would be far from the last time that he would grace the airwaves.

After high school, Robin trucked off to the big city of Lawrence, for a stint at the University of Kansas. While there, he found his way to the college station where he eventually became a reporter. As a reporter, Robin went on to win more than two dozen awards for his work, as both a reporter and a newscaster, from The AP, the National Association Of Broadcasters, Public Media Journalists Association (then called PRNDI) and more. He eventually landed at NPR’s Morning Edition, where he worked as a Production Assistant before starting as the Assistant Producer for All Songs Considered in 2001.

Hilton and Bob Boilen, then the head of All Songs Considered, worked to turn NPR into one of the most esteemed outlets for music curation and criticism. Their collective work at All Songs has been heard on hundreds of NPR affiliate stations, and has been downloaded by millions in podcast form. In 2008, Boilen and Hilton began co-hosting All Songs Considered. Since Boilen’s retirement in 2023, Hilton has taken over full hosting duties.

Hilton has also been instrumental in the creation and growth of NPR’s incredibly popular and influential YouTube series, Tiny Desk Concerts. These stripped down performances, all happening in a small space at the NPR Music offices, have featured some of the most famous and exciting performers working in music today. The series focuses on raw, unfiltered performances, and have drawn more than 40 Million views, and have helped to launch careers of up and coming artists, to recontextualize the work of veteran performers.

During our chat, Robin and I unpack the true cultural influence of radio in the 21st century, and we take a peek at the power of music in a fraught era. We discuss the art of the album in the age of the algorithm, while tackling the role of curation and criticism in a world where nearly all western music is available at the touch of a button.

Robin shares his personal path from Kansas to the studios at NPR. We tackle the necessity for more listener investment in the digital age, and stare down the reality that our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter by the day. How are these waning attention spans affecting the way we listen to music? And we wonder if having easy access to so much music is perhaps diminishing the quality of our listening experience.

Come join me for a fascinating chat with a radio lifer that still believes in the art of the album, the power of radio, and the true value of hard fought music discovery.

Here now are me and Robin Hilton. Let’s get into it.

Cheers,

Matty C

------------------------

Thanks so much to Robin for joining me. You can find out all about his work at NPR’s All Songs Considered. 

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Singing came to Esther Rose almost as early as breathing did. She began by singing harmony with her sisters, often taking the highest portion of their three-part harmonies. As she grew into writing and singing her own songs, Rose slowly learned to transform those beautiful harmony parts into a powerful and melodic lead instrument.

It took Esther Rose a few years and more than one locale to find the full throated version of her own voice. Growing up with what she describes as, “hippie liberal parents”, Rose was exposed to art, music, and culture at an early age. She even had the benefit of a practical arts education in a place where that might seem awfully unlikely.

By her teenage years Rose had started work at writing her own songs and eventually moved to New Orleans with a boyfriend in her early 20’s to pursue a life in and around music. While in the Crescent City, Esther learned to play guitar and worked at songwriting with a full time dedication.

Esther Rose has now released a quintet of terrific albums that incorporate Americana, folk, and pop into her ever evolving sound. She describes her most recent album, Want as “a roadmap to recovery”. In 2023, after a lengthy tour schedule in support of her Safe To Run album, Rose found herself exhausted, anxious, and on the verge of walking away from music altogether.

Thankfully, through a great deal of work, that included the help of psychedelic therapy, Rose is now healthier than she has been in a very long time. Esther opens up about the process of her treatment and its effects on her life. She also speaks eloquently about the ways in which the power of collaboration have helped to shape the sound of her more recent work, and enhanced her connection to the outside world.

Let’s get into it.

Cheers,

Matty C

----------------

End Credits

Thanks so much to Esther for joining me. You can find out all about his writing, music, and more at https://www.estherrose.net/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking

Wesley Stace grew up in a home where excellence seems to have been par for the course. Stace’s parents were both intelligent and talented educators that instilled a love of academia and the arts into all of their children. Wes, for his part, would find his path to excellence through words. After attending a series of noted boarding schools throughout England, Stace entered university at Cambridge, where he obtained a degree in English Literature before enrolling again to complete a Ph.D. in Social and Political Science.

After leaving Cambridge, Stace began to perform his own compositions under the stage name, John Wesley Harding, named after a famed outlaw and the lead character of a Bob Dylan album. Eventually, Wes landed a recording deal that resulted in It Happened One Night, a live solo album released in 1988 on the small imprint, Demon Records.

That first live album was enough to grab the attention of famed record executive Seymour Stein at Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Stein offered the up and coming singer a record deal, and hooked him up with a producer who managed to score the rhythm section for Elvis Costello’s backing band the Attractions to play on the album. The resultant record, Here Comes The Groom, was a critical and college rock hit that opened Wes to a brand new audience in America.

In the intervening 35 years, We has released more than two dozen albums as John Wesley Harding, or under his own name. In addition to those impressive sonic accomplishments, Stace has also penned a quartet of novels, as well as a series of essays and articles for a variety of well known publications including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

In 2009, Stace began staging The Cabinet Of Wonders, a live variety style show that features musicians, authors, comedians, and storytellers. These shows have featured luminaries from the worlds of indie rock and publishing including Rosanne Cash, Graham Parker, Josh Ritter, Rick Moody, Colson Whitehead, Jonathan Ames, A.C. Newman, Rhett Miller, Steven Page, Eugene Mirman, and Kristin Hersh.

In recent years, Stace obtained his US citizenship. During our conversation, he talks openly about the process of becoming an American at a difficult time in the country’s history, and what the choice has meant to both him and to his family. Wes and I discuss the lonely pursuit of writing and the joyous powers of collaboration. This is a fascinating chat with a thoughtful and whip smart artist, who despite being wildly prolific, still feels like he could be doing more.

Let’s get into it.

Cheers,

Matty C

-------------------

End Credits

Thanks so much to Wes for joining me. You can find out all about his writing, music, and more at https://www.wesleystace.com/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.

You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.

Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.

You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking