Kentucky musician Jeremy Pinnell joins us to talk about the making of his third studio album, “Goodbye L.A.” This time around, Jeremy went for a record that “would make people feel happy, make people dance”, but the themes are still weighty as on his previous critically acclaimed albums. Here he sings of the conflicts inherent in the lifestyle of touring musicians who try to balance their musical calling with their longing for home, relationships, family. We hear about his early days singing in church, getting his first guitar (“it was all Ovation round backs and Kung Fu), connecting with his lifelong musical pal Arlo McKinley, and how he sometimes writes complete songs without picking up his guitar or a pen/paper.

Tell You What! the Podcast

Episode 34: Jeremy Pinnell

We are joined by Nashville based musician and songwriter Rachel Baiman, who discusses her recently released record Cycles. Rachel has travelled an interesting and varied creative path: from young fiddle prodigy to Nashville session and touring band musician to producer and noted songwriter. Our conversation centers on the transitions in Rachel’s musical journeys. For her new album Cycles, Rachel travelled to Australia to record with producer Olivia Hally (Oh Pep), as she tried to capture the influences of the gritty Melbourne indie rock scene. Also covered: interior design and spaghetti rhymes.

Episode 33: Rachel Baiman

Beth Whitney joins us from her home state of Washington to discuss her album “Into the Ground”, recently released on Tone Tree Music. It is a wonderfully rich, at time orchestral collection of songs that draws deeply from the forests and high desert landscapes of Beth’s home state. We hear about Beth’s early years singing with her family, how a procrastinated school assignment birthed her first song, and what the heck is a swarmatron?

Episode 32: Beth Whitney

We are lucky enough to be joined by the full complement of the indie power-trio band The Accidentals for Episode 31. Sav Buist, Katie Larson, and Michael Dause join us to discuss their just released EP Time Out (Session 1). Recorded during quarantine, the EP is the product of online collaborations with some of the band’s favorite songwriters, including Kim Richey, Dar Williams, Maia Sharp, Tom Paxton, and Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris. We had much to discuss with this multi-faceted band, including songwriting workshops, string arrangements that sound like fire, and musical saws.

Episode 31: The Accidentals

David Wax returns to Tell You What! to discuss the new David Wax Museum album Euphoric Ouroboric and what else they have been up to during quarantine. For the full David Wax Tell You What! interview, check out Episode 14.

Special Episode: David Wax returns!

Texas born and raised and now Nashville based musician/songwriter Katy Kirby joins us to talk about her excellent debut album Cool Dry Place and her approach to songwriting and music making. Cool Dry Place is an intriguing and marvelously put together collection of musical gems, songs that combine catchy pop melodies with poetically askew, thought provoking lyrics, all wrapped in complex and sometimes surprising arrangements and productions. We talk about how Katy’s early exposure to the melodic hooks of contemporary Christian music has worked its way into her creative process; the mystery of how or why a song is never actually finished; and how, on one of her songs, the swirl of the song is contained within itself. Also, I finally get to talk about autotune.

Episode 30: Katy Kirby

Cincinnati native Arlo McKinley released his debut solo album Die Midwestern in 2020 on John Prine’s Oh Boy Records, an album that ended up on a number of “best of 2020” lists. These are songs of deep personal truth, snapshots from a difficult time in Arlo’s life. His soulful voice, songwriting talents, and the services of an all-star Memphis studio band combine to produce beautiful and wonderfully compelling music. We discuss Arlo’s hip-hop influenced vocal style, the absolute mystery of the songwriting process, and musical debts owed to the formal wear industry.

Episode 29: Arlo McKinley

James Bradshaw, who records under the Pony Bradshaw moniker, joins us to talk about his new album Calico Jim. The songs on the record, most of which were written during quarantine, are stories and poems about the north Georgia territory that James calls home. It is a truly remarkable collection of songs, evoking images and characters that come to life through his finely crafted lyrics and subtly complex arrangements. James talks about how he finds musical inspiration through literature, how he feels about being a “late bloomer” in the music field, and his love of a non sequitur verse in a song.

Episode 28: Pony Bradshaw

In this episode we talk with Dave Senft and Harris Paseltiner, who, along with Don Mitchell and Auyon Mukharji, make up the Massachusetts based band Darlingside. The band recently released their fourth full length album Fish Pond Fish. We talk about how this album’s creation took some different paths than Darlingside’s previous work, some of which were planned (different approaches to group song writing) and some not so planned (the album had to be mixed and finished during quarantine). The band’s highly entertaining approach to live performance is also discussed. Also covered: knee slapping, pecking pigeons, and enthusiastic washing machines.

Episode 27: Darlingside

We are joined by Dani Stone and Nick Stone, two of the members of self described "folk forward indie rock" band South for Winter. They discuss their amazing new record Luxumbra, their musical paths from Colorado (Dani) and New Zealand (Nick) to Nashville, and their approaches to songwriting and collaboration. Also discussed: dancing the Carlton, murder, and it turns out that one of the three of us is a badass.

Episode 26: South for Winter

For our 25th(!) episode of Tell You What! we are joined by Canadian musician and songwriter Jeremie Albino. Jeremie talks about his late teen years when he moved from the Toronto suburbs to the farmlands of Ontario, working the soil while writing songs. We discuss the songs on his amazing debut record Hard Time, how the sounds of creaking floorboards made their way onto the album, and how he works hard to try to stay true to the original inspiration of his songs-the reason he “fell in love with the song in the first place”. Also covered- what the heck is the “pompatus of love”?

Episode 25: Jeremie Albino

We talk in this episode with musician and songwriter Joy Ike. Currently based in Philadelphia (after moving from Pittsburgh), Joy’s latest album, “Bigger Than Your Box”, released in 2018, is a wonderful record. Joy talks about the Nigerian praise music that was the soundtrack to her childhood and how its percussive sounds influence her songwriting, her interesting on and off relationship with the piano, and ideas she has for her next project, which may turn out to be a spoken word album. We hear about the making of the delightful video for her interpretation of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”, the Mr. Rogers theme. Joy is also generous enough to share her thoughts on current events shaking the United States, the Black Lives Matter movement and the George Floyd killing.

Episode 24: Joy Ike

We spend this episode with Nashville based singer/songwriter Michaela Anne, who released her third full length album (her first with label Yep Roc Records), the wonderful Desert Dove, in 2019. We discuss the diverse arrangements and songwriting styles on the record, which, while a country record at its core, integrates a variety of sounds and influences. Michaela has an interesting background, moving around a lot as she grew up; we discuss how this has impacted her creative style. Michaela also provides two helpful public service announcements (everyone keep singing!), and we spend some time deconstructing Chopin’s Nocturne #72 and Donnie Osmond’s “Puppy Love”, finding their shared musical core.

Episode 23: Michaela Anne

We are joined by Cara Luft and JD Edwards, who make up the Canadian duo The Small Glories. Recently named artist of the year by the International Folk Alliance, as well as Vocal Group of the Year at the Juno Awards, (where their recent album "Assiniboine and the Red" garnered Contemporary Album of the Year), The Small Glories are a product of both JD and Cara’s individual veteran singer/songwriter talents as well as the dynamic creative combination they become together. They offer great insights into why their particular vocal talents works so wonderfully together, the various ways their different songs come to be, and what they feel is important in their wholly engaging, entertaining, and energetic live performances.

Episode 22: The Small Glories

In this bonus episode, we talk again with Logan Ledger, whose long awaited debut album was recently released on Rounder Records. Logan discusses the process of putting the album together, how his co-write with Steve Earle came about, and the origin stories of several of the tracks. Also, Logan dishes out some heavy font knowledge.

Bonus Episode: Logan Ledger Album Release

Welcome to Tell You What! the Podcast. We have conversations with young songwriters about the creative process, live performance, and anything else we stumble upon. It's fun! Check out all our episodes and discover some great young songwriters and bands. Music is the best. Drop us a line at tellyouwhatpodcast@gmail.com

hubhopper

Tell You What! the Podcast

hubhopper