September 30, 2025 • 28 mins
Check out my new interview tonight with JD Hinton on The Songwriter Show at:
https://www.songwritershow.com/
iHeart Radio:
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/209-the-songwriter-show-29999203/
Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-songwriter-show/id1507368488
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5CtfvhYKu5LC8xlYSab7J5
RSS feed:
https://www.spreaker.com/show/4297091/episodes/feed
@SongwriterShow @iHeartRadio #JD Hinton #iHeartRadio #interview #interviews #radio #radioshow #radiointerview #iheart #podcast #podcasts #PodcastAndChill #radio1 #LiveShows #liveshow #music #thesongwritershow #songwriter #songwriting #lyrics #singersongwriter #singersongwriters #Songwriters #IndieMusic #MusicInterviews #tuesday #BehindTheScenes #behindthemusic #newmusic #musician #musicians #TuesdayThoughts #indie #indiemusic #indiesmusician #songwritershow #musicindustry #singer #musicproducer
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-songwriter-show--4297091/support.
https://www.songwritershow.com/
iHeart Radio:
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/209-the-songwriter-show-29999203/
Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-songwriter-show/id1507368488
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5CtfvhYKu5LC8xlYSab7J5
RSS feed:
https://www.spreaker.com/show/4297091/episodes/feed
@SongwriterShow @iHeartRadio #JD Hinton #iHeartRadio #interview #interviews #radio #radioshow #radiointerview #iheart #podcast #podcasts #PodcastAndChill #radio1 #LiveShows #liveshow #music #thesongwritershow #songwriter #songwriting #lyrics #singersongwriter #singersongwriters #Songwriters #IndieMusic #MusicInterviews #tuesday #BehindTheScenes #behindthemusic #newmusic #musician #musicians #TuesdayThoughts #indie #indiemusic #indiesmusician #songwritershow #musicindustry #singer #musicproducer
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-songwriter-show--4297091/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you a songwriter?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Are you looking to turn your songwriting passion into a
full time gig gig? Whether you are just at the
start of your songwriting journey or a seasoned industry professional,
this show is made for you. You we will welcome to
the Songwriter Show, bringing together songwriting, news, interviews, and communicating. Now,
welcome your host, Sarantos.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Thank you so much for tuning in tonight, and welcome
back to the Songwriter Show. I'm your humble host, Sorontos,
a solo music artist who's been writing lyrics for as long.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
As I can remember.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Words just mean the absolute world to me, and that's
why I love hosting this show for you every single
Tuesday evening. I believe in my heart very strongly that
every song is a story. Tonight, I'm so excited to
have on the show Jad Hinton. He's been hailed as
one of the last great Romantics, a Texas native whose
voice and writing are steeped and lived experience. His career
(00:58):
stretches across music, film, and television.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And now welcome this week's special guest.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Welcome to show. Jadi.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
How you doing, hey, Soronos, It's great. I'm doing very well.
Let me answer that. It's good to be here.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
That's awesome, man, We're glad to have you here tonight.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Tell us a little bit about you. You have a
kind of a cool story. When did you start playing well.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
I started actually long long ago as a radio disc jockey.
I could not figure out, with all the piano lessons
and things that I had out to join the local
high school garage band. But I did talk my way
into a radio job on the big radio station in town,
and that gave me a chance, starting for many years,
to play the hit songs and learn what songs, you know,
(01:44):
communicated with people. So that's kind of where that started.
And then that got me to California, which got me
into Los Angeles, and you know, there's all these little
incidental things that happen, and suddenly I was in a
place where I could put a band together and I
did and people like my song. So here we go.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
That's really cool, man.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I got to tell you, like, just to talking to
you before you said that, I was like, man, this
guy sounds like a radio like a like like a discshocky.
It's like right, So you told me that and I
was like, oh wow, that totally that totally tracks.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
There's a thing that all of my friends who've known
me for a long time have to put up with,
and that is just driving in a car where the
music comes on on the radio. I still want to
announce it as if I'm actually doing a show. You know,
that's Cole, There's there's earth, wind and fire.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
We go awesome. Do you play the instruments?
Speaker 5 (02:35):
I do play. My first instrument I learned, starting when
I was a boy, was piano, and I had a
really great music theory teacher, so that that helped me.
In the piano, as you know, is very literal, each
note kind of sits beside itself. I loved that. When
I picked up the guitar, it was in college. I
had a college roommate who had a guitar, and I
just thought, it's been too long. Music is too important
(02:56):
to me not to know how to play this. So
I borrowed his guitar and I had him show me
how you make you know all the major chords and
all the minor chords. And from that moment on is
what's what's the song?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
You know?
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Three chords and the truth I was off to the race.
I was off to the races.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
That's awesome. Okay, what was the first tune you learned?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Oh gosh, I'm going to show you a song that
you've never heard. But I was in the first grade
and the song was called Sugar Time. It was by
the Maguire sisters, and for whatever reasons, in the school
that I was in, they had me playing the xylophone
in this little school band. And of course, if you
listen to Sugar Time, I've got to sheet music on
(03:34):
my wall framed. It's it's real simple. It's you know,
it's two or three notes spread over several measures. But
you know, as a six year old boy, that was
the way that I like to godd and play that down.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
Oh man.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So first of all, I just added the xylophone to
a song of mine that's coming out for February, and
people are like the guy was working with us, like,
why'd you have a xylophone to this Valentine song? I go,
you know what, just because I haven't had a xylophone
in a while.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
To anything.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
It's a really great instrument. It adds a wonderful color
to the rest of your musical palette, and it tends
to add this I hope I'm not waiting in the
weeds here, but it tends to add a really higher
frequency which helps the sound palette.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
You know, I love that absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I just thought it was like some cool track candy.
Oh yeah, yeah, so that's cool. The second thing is, man,
now that Johnny Cash song is stuck.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
In my head. Sugar in the morning, Sugar in the evening,
Sugar at supper time. Oh god, yeah, yeah, I want
to thank you for that. I'm going to be singing
that all night.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Now. There you go, and good luck, by the way,
we'll be praying for you on this end of the
phone line.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Okay, what famous musicians do you respect or admire? I'm
not sure that's the same, but.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
No, I think that's a good thing. It's like I
asked a musician one day, you know what, the first
record you ever heard that really turned his life around?
And he says, oh, you mean the first song I
heard that made me want to drive my car through
the seven eleven. I went, yeah, that's the thing I'm
looking for. So I loved Buddy Holly real quickly. I
had an older cousin in the fifties, and so I
(05:10):
found Buddy Holly probably first. The first songwriter that made
me want to write songs is Paul Simon, and then
all the real building writers you know, were just so skilled,
But I think Paul Simon was the first person that
made me really feel like, man, if you could write
songs like that, anything close to that, that'd be good.
And of course over time we keep adding to that list.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Tell us a little bit about competitions. Do you do competitions?
Have you ever done them?
Speaker 5 (05:38):
You mean, like I first play second place songwriter nights?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Yeah, anything could be singing, could be instrument anything.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
I've really never done that. I'm not even sure where
those things are, which is maybe why I've never done that.
That sounds kind of like an interesting thing. I don't
know how you would choose every year at the Academy
Awards or the Grammys, you go, how do you decide
one song truly is better than another song? Subjective call,
but it's still be nice to be And that's that's
(06:05):
the league. I'd like to get into one of those
circles and see how that goes.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
So I'll tell you the one thing. It's been a month,
two months. I finally became a member of the Recording Academy.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
And yes, I was trying. You really can't do much.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Like two people have to recommend you, and then they
have to check all your stuff and make sure it's
legit and you're good enough, and there's a whole thing that.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
But I was really honored. But I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You basically all vote. You know, you're voting members, So
you get this list and you just vote. And I
don't know because I'm going to be going through that
in the next month or two, but I can tell
you that already, like I get spammed by people are like,
for your consideration, listen to this instrumental or this song.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
Or that's exactly right.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yes, I'm sure it happens. A lot of people just
pick and choose what they listen to or vote for
their buddies.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
I don't know. Well, when I first moved to California,
I was working at a radio station and the music
director as well as being on the air, and it
was my job to get all the mail from all
the record companies and listen to all the phone calls
for people were pleading to play my new record. Yeah,
and I'm telling you, I saw I'm the perfect person
for this job. Because I love music so much, and
(07:17):
I love songs so much. And I'm telling you, on
the third day that I was there, I realized I
will never hear a bad song. Everything that you get
sent is very good. And so how do you decide
this is a better one than that one, or this
one's going to be a hit and this one's not
quite gonna make it. I don't know how you decide that.
All you can do is when you get that list
(07:37):
that you're going to have in front of you, is
pick what you like.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Yeah, man, we could talk about that for hours. I
don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Yeah, I really don't know, other than I'm sure marketing works.
Sure with a big label at Universal, they probably have
a lot of hats in the ring, But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
It helps, There's no question. And again, as you say,
we could be having this conversation at four in the morning,
which is what I call a dorm talk where you
finally just get tired and go and go home.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Are you talking about stupid shit until you fall asleep? Yeah, everybody,
So tell us about this song we're going to hear
in a minute here. What inspired this one?
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Once was blonde? You know, it's the way my imagination
works things that come to me if you were, if
you're around me in any for any length of time,
I will say a phrase now and again that that
people in the room go, oh, that sounds like a song,
and in general I really just turned around. That opening
phrase of the song is I apologize for this in
my shows because it's a little bit like my Texas
(08:37):
sense of humor, which people, you know, grant me a
little leeway with. So I go, I'm sorry, but I
have the sense of humor. And so I started out
with this song, and I decided to call it I
once was blonde, but now I see, and so you know,
and everybody, of course they've grown. And then I played
the song, but that's kind of where it started, and
then I just begin to see I started with the verse,
(09:01):
and then by the second verse, I was clearly writing
chapters of experience along the way. And it just seemed
to me like the whole idea was a little bit
about innocence or naivete, where you know you're into something
and you think and then you find out, oh my gosh,
if it's in your romantic moments, it runs aground and
you go, god, I'll never do that again, and three
(09:23):
weeks later, somebody cross and you rad our screen and
you're just absolutely sure you're going to get back in
with both feet, and here you go. So I just
thought it was a way to talk about the way
the hearts constantly is reinventing itself in spite of everything
that it knows, and so, and it was just a
humorous way to comment on how innocence works.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
That's cool, all right, tell you what.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Let's take a listen, and then we will come back
and talk tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Okay, great, awesome, everybody check this out. Here we go, the.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
Vertigoes n the girl's blond. How didny man you've ever known? Responded?
Speaker 7 (10:14):
I got in, We took a spin, We drove all
night long, and got up the next day completely nuts
about this ultra bound divorce.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Say, should have run? Oh but I was young. Should
have run?
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Should have run?
Speaker 8 (10:37):
I can see that now, should have run just as
far as long eight years ago. She was gonna get free.
I once was blonde, but now in along came a
girl with a smile you could taste, and I have
it for men who did.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
All be east was get smart.
Speaker 9 (11:03):
With my turnip truck hard.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
She had Oklahoma blood, she had a California mind. She
told me she loved me. She was just being kind.
I should have run. I was young.
Speaker 10 (11:22):
I should have run. I should have run.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
I can't see that now.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Should have run? Just just farse and long and loud.
Speaker 8 (11:30):
The Green Eye Landslide was coming after me. Her Runce
was blonde.
Speaker 9 (11:35):
Now see maybe.
Speaker 10 (11:40):
Lamb baby doll, baby love.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Maybe where you've been. It's so hard and it broke.
Speaker 10 (11:49):
No, it's just broken in.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
I feelloson.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
She's all kilts me love and learned to be ovil?
Speaker 10 (11:59):
What I can stop love? Why man.
Speaker 6 (12:04):
Fall in love?
Speaker 11 (12:05):
Here?
Speaker 9 (12:05):
Tonight this love ever done?
Speaker 4 (12:31):
And if favors for you, this love ever done?
Speaker 8 (12:35):
And if favors for.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
You, it's love famous for you.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
It's love ever done for you.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Tonight's young?
Speaker 10 (12:47):
Should I run?
Speaker 9 (12:51):
Should I run?
Speaker 8 (12:52):
Should I run?
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Nobody runs?
Speaker 12 (12:55):
You only lose your embnessens w I wish to de
would fuck get about me?
Speaker 10 (13:02):
I want who's blonde?
Speaker 11 (13:04):
Now?
Speaker 12 (13:08):
Wow, wish the devil would fulk get about me? I
want to blonde?
Speaker 9 (13:14):
No, whis the devil would book get about me?
Speaker 10 (13:22):
I want's blonde? But now see.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Well, thank you so much for sharing that song with us.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
It's big fun, big fun, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Interesting intro to that song. Anything you want to comment
about that.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
You know, as you heard that first verse, it starts
out at the convertible was where the girl was blonde?
How would any man you've ever known respond? I got in,
we took a spin. I saw that kind of visually,
and I thought, well, how about it if we do
something with some ambient traffic noise at the beginning of that,
so you can hear the sounds of traffic in the
(14:07):
street and horns honking and whatever. I just thought that
would you know, like maybe based on my radio kind
of background, it seated or the mind and it just
sets a mood before the song gets underway. So I
called friends of mine in New York and I said,
I'm trying to record traffic in New York. Can you
go do this for me? And they went, oh god,
we're going up to Rockefeller Center tonight and they recorded it.
(14:29):
They sent it back to me, and the thing that
seems so perfect was that the horns that you hear
honking in there are honking in the key of the song,
and they're honking in the rhythm of the tempo of
the song, and I don't know how you'd planned that,
so that was just kind of a little fun serendipity.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Okay, cool, someone's starting out in this business. What's the
one piece of advice you'd give them if you could.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
I'd say two things. First of all, I think it's
important to meet people. I'm not hesitating, I'm just deciding
where to go first. I mean, it's so important to
meet people because nobody can hire you or ask if
you've got a song if they don't know your name,
So you really have to spend some time making sure
that you said hello to people in your community or around.
(15:13):
The second thing is you have to know what you're doing,
so you have to. If you want to write songs,
then you just got to write songs. And by the
time you've written thirty songs, you will know how much
differently you write after thirty songs than you did right
at the beginning. I just think you have to start,
and you have to decide to commit to that thing
(15:34):
that you want to do, and so once you've done it.
So when I first hit down, I thought of this
two ways. I thought, it's a what you know business,
and it's a who you know business. So I thought
about what I did know and what I could learn,
and then I thought about who I did know and
who I could meet. So I spent my first four
or five years in Los Angeles growing what I knew
(15:57):
and growing who I knew.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
How do you think people should measure success in their
music careers?
Speaker 5 (16:05):
WHOA how would you do that? Of course, Fitt, you
want me to tell you all?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
I think.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Why you to tell me?
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Yes, this is going to sound I don't mean to
sound woo wooly, but this is the thing when I
write a song. I've learned this over time by writing songs.
I began to know when I was not finished and
when I was finished with the song. And I don't
know how there's not a moment that you can can
tell that. Maybe my best example of the idea is
(16:36):
I was with a woman one day. We went and
had lunch, and when we got back to her house,
her little girl wanted to take the training wheels off
her bicycle for the first time, And so I took
the training wheels off, and the mother stood behind the girl,
and the backyard had a little bit of a slope
to it, and she said honey, I can't tell you
how to do this, but I can tell you that
(16:56):
as you roll forward, you're going to get a feeling
that you've never had before, and you want to keep
that going as long as possible. Well, I can't describe
songwriting or singing or any other kind of a performing
idea any better. You do it, and there's going to
be a moment where you realize this isn't like anything else,
and if you like that, keep it going as long
(17:18):
as possible.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
What do you think your ideal superpower would be if
you could pick one?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Let's see. Of course, my first answer is probably the
one I should sit perfect pitch or it's either perfect
pitch or perfect maybe it's the same thing, the perfect ear.
I have a friend who is the music director for
the Pointer Sisters, and man, I just love this. It's
a unique ability. She can hear any chord and tell
(17:48):
you what it is. If she knows, you know one
or two things, she can tell what she can hear.
But it's perfect. I can't do that. I have to
work at it a little bit. So I wish my
superpower was perfect pitch.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Okay, all right, that's fair enough.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
I think anyone in any kind of musical career, it's
rare right to have that.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
So I think that's a great thing to wish for.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
You know, I think you can probably train yourself to
get better at it. I train myself. I work on that.
I pay attention to it. But you know, if you're
around somebody that just has it, it's just an interesting
it's fun to it's fun to see. It feels like
a magic trick. It's not a magic trick. They just
have that ability and I have to work at it.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
So yeah, and I think you're you're one hundred percent
correct that you can train yourself, especially relative.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Yes, yeah, it is cool.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
When someone could just do it, like without even thinking
about it.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
Every time I walk and buy my guitar, which is
always on a I have two guitars and ones on
a stand in front of me now, and every time
I walk by it, I hit the high East ring
and before I hit it, I hum what I think
it is in my head, and then I hit what
it is, and then I can figure out if I'm
flat or sharp or I'm right on it. In those days,
(19:01):
I feel really good because I'm just trying to train
my ear if you ask me what is what's E
natural sound like? And I can hummet if I'm right
on it. God, it makes me feel like I'm twelve
feet tall and bulletproof. But I practiced that every time
I walk by the guitar.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Yeah, no, I got it. Okay, cool, So tell us
where people can buy or stream your stuff.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
I am all over the internet at every place that
is where people stream or listen is at JD. Hinton Music.
So if you're on Spotify, it's at JD. Hinton Music.
If you're on YouTube, it's JD. Hinton Music. So every
and then, of course my jdhinton dot com website is
up and it lists everything on there if you want
(19:45):
to find it in one convenient location.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Okay, awesome, man, I want to thank you so much, dude.
A great interview. I did feel like I was talking
to somewhere that has a lot of experience on the radio,
so that's kind of cool.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, it's great fun, and I hope but we can
do this in person down the road and it'll be fun.
And thank you so much. It's been a joy.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Yeah, you're welcome, JD. So thank you to all the fans.
Tonight we know your time is precious, and spending a
little bit of it with the two of us really
makes us feel very worthy tonight. If you're a songwriter
with a story to share, please go to songwritershow dot
com and check us out. Tell the listeners I hope
this episode has inspired you like it did me. Please
continue to explore your own stories through music. My name
(20:27):
is Sarantos. Thank you for joining us on reality Radio
one oh one tonight. Have a great night. I love
you all.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
Put on a mask, I'm ready my be photo.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
But who's gone? No, grab a pie?
Speaker 13 (21:01):
The streets, dodging adults and ding for treats, growing the
night and feeling bold, pretending I'm just fits all ten
year old.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I've got double in a good way. Two But I
need my sugars. What can I do?
Speaker 14 (21:18):
Nag nagna paste? Please please give me, gimme, gimme something
sweet to eat.
Speaker 15 (21:24):
Because if you don't a paint born trick, trat trick
or treating, not of dagon streets and to also trigger treating,
can't resister candy.
Speaker 16 (21:35):
I speed and it's so all I'm training as I'm planing.
It's all I'm singing, I laning.
Speaker 15 (21:43):
I'm also a trickle treating addicted to this candy.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
I'm eating so.
Speaker 16 (21:50):
I'm seeing my softest pin, the sweetest pin.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
That's why I'm candy training.
Speaker 14 (21:58):
I might be too old fortune go treating, but sugar
is the only thing keeping this heart beating.
Speaker 13 (22:07):
The chop really sucks bort nine to five. But every
Halloween I have feel live. My kids are the embarrassed
and run, where as at you and gummies instead play
how much genius houses with full size bars and skip
the dam vity's name fu Mass, You'll never catch me?
Speaker 4 (22:27):
Or why can't you see candy car chocolate?
Speaker 6 (22:31):
Call out to me.
Speaker 14 (22:33):
Knakna, please please please give me, gimme, gimme some of
the screen to eat, because if you don't, okay, keep
born trick trick trick or treating up and down the street.
I'm through, Oh, sugar treating, can'tskay.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
I'm ste eating. It's all I'm treating.
Speaker 16 (22:53):
My eyes are bleating, it's all I'm singing, and.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
I'm too Oh gosh up a tree and adjective to
this game. And I'm eating.
Speaker 16 (23:04):
So I'm seeing my softest feeling, the sweetest feeling. It's
why I'm telling.
Speaker 17 (23:11):
Trees kids asleep, tell there and know whether can lead up.
Speaker 18 (23:52):
I know it's wrong that it feels so right reading
through the kitchener to a.
Speaker 15 (24:05):
Gout my eyes on that M and M germ. I'm
to alfo tricker treating, can't resist the candy I'm stealing.
Speaker 6 (24:19):
It's all I'm treating my eyes.
Speaker 16 (24:21):
I'm bleeding. It's all I'm sinking that I'm leaning. I'm
to all for trick.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Or treating, addicted to this candy I'm eating.
Speaker 16 (24:32):
So I'm saying, my sorr is feeling the sweetest feeling
twe I'm to a trickle treating to resistan ty stealing.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
It's all I'm training my eyes. I'm bleeding, so I'm
sinking and that I'm lean.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I'm to all.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Put a tricker treating, addictive to this candy. I'm needing.
Speaker 19 (24:58):
So I'm saying, listen, knock, knock, knock, I'm back again
because for me, trick or treating what matter?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Thank you for listening to The Songwriter Show. To keep
the momental going, head over to www Dot songwriter show
dot com and join our free music community of artists, songwriters,
and producers.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
That's www.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Dot songwriter show dot com.
Speaker 11 (26:36):
Any anything, any.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Any and a.
Speaker 11 (27:01):
No no no, no, no name, laming, hanging all my name,
(27:54):
hang hang, hang
Are you a songwriter?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Are you looking to turn your songwriting passion into a
full time gig gig? Whether you are just at the
start of your songwriting journey or a seasoned industry professional,
this show is made for you. You we will welcome to
the Songwriter Show, bringing together songwriting, news, interviews, and communicating. Now,
welcome your host, Sarantos.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Thank you so much for tuning in tonight, and welcome
back to the Songwriter Show. I'm your humble host, Sorontos,
a solo music artist who's been writing lyrics for as long.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
As I can remember.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Words just mean the absolute world to me, and that's
why I love hosting this show for you every single
Tuesday evening. I believe in my heart very strongly that
every song is a story. Tonight, I'm so excited to
have on the show Jad Hinton. He's been hailed as
one of the last great Romantics, a Texas native whose
voice and writing are steeped and lived experience. His career
(00:58):
stretches across music, film, and television.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And now welcome this week's special guest.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Welcome to show. Jadi.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
How you doing, hey, Soronos, It's great. I'm doing very well.
Let me answer that. It's good to be here.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
That's awesome, man, We're glad to have you here tonight.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Tell us a little bit about you. You have a
kind of a cool story. When did you start playing well.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
I started actually long long ago as a radio disc jockey.
I could not figure out, with all the piano lessons
and things that I had out to join the local
high school garage band. But I did talk my way
into a radio job on the big radio station in town,
and that gave me a chance, starting for many years,
to play the hit songs and learn what songs, you know,
(01:44):
communicated with people. So that's kind of where that started.
And then that got me to California, which got me
into Los Angeles, and you know, there's all these little
incidental things that happen, and suddenly I was in a
place where I could put a band together and I
did and people like my song. So here we go.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
That's really cool, man.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I got to tell you, like, just to talking to
you before you said that, I was like, man, this
guy sounds like a radio like a like like a discshocky.
It's like right, So you told me that and I
was like, oh wow, that totally that totally tracks.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
There's a thing that all of my friends who've known
me for a long time have to put up with,
and that is just driving in a car where the
music comes on on the radio. I still want to
announce it as if I'm actually doing a show. You know,
that's Cole, There's there's earth, wind and fire.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
We go awesome. Do you play the instruments?
Speaker 5 (02:35):
I do play. My first instrument I learned, starting when
I was a boy, was piano, and I had a
really great music theory teacher, so that that helped me.
In the piano, as you know, is very literal, each
note kind of sits beside itself. I loved that. When
I picked up the guitar, it was in college. I
had a college roommate who had a guitar, and I
just thought, it's been too long. Music is too important
(02:56):
to me not to know how to play this. So
I borrowed his guitar and I had him show me
how you make you know all the major chords and
all the minor chords. And from that moment on is
what's what's the song?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
You know?
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Three chords and the truth I was off to the race.
I was off to the races.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
That's awesome. Okay, what was the first tune you learned?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Oh gosh, I'm going to show you a song that
you've never heard. But I was in the first grade
and the song was called Sugar Time. It was by
the Maguire sisters, and for whatever reasons, in the school
that I was in, they had me playing the xylophone
in this little school band. And of course, if you
listen to Sugar Time, I've got to sheet music on
(03:34):
my wall framed. It's it's real simple. It's you know,
it's two or three notes spread over several measures. But
you know, as a six year old boy, that was
the way that I like to godd and play that down.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
Oh man.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So first of all, I just added the xylophone to
a song of mine that's coming out for February, and
people are like the guy was working with us, like,
why'd you have a xylophone to this Valentine song? I go,
you know what, just because I haven't had a xylophone
in a while.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
To anything.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
It's a really great instrument. It adds a wonderful color
to the rest of your musical palette, and it tends
to add this I hope I'm not waiting in the
weeds here, but it tends to add a really higher
frequency which helps the sound palette.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
You know, I love that absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I just thought it was like some cool track candy.
Oh yeah, yeah, so that's cool. The second thing is, man,
now that Johnny Cash song is stuck.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
In my head. Sugar in the morning, Sugar in the evening,
Sugar at supper time. Oh god, yeah, yeah, I want
to thank you for that. I'm going to be singing
that all night.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Now. There you go, and good luck, by the way,
we'll be praying for you on this end of the
phone line.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Okay, what famous musicians do you respect or admire? I'm
not sure that's the same, but.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
No, I think that's a good thing. It's like I
asked a musician one day, you know what, the first
record you ever heard that really turned his life around?
And he says, oh, you mean the first song I
heard that made me want to drive my car through
the seven eleven. I went, yeah, that's the thing I'm
looking for. So I loved Buddy Holly real quickly. I
had an older cousin in the fifties, and so I
(05:10):
found Buddy Holly probably first. The first songwriter that made
me want to write songs is Paul Simon, and then
all the real building writers you know, were just so skilled,
But I think Paul Simon was the first person that
made me really feel like, man, if you could write
songs like that, anything close to that, that'd be good.
And of course over time we keep adding to that list.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Tell us a little bit about competitions. Do you do competitions?
Have you ever done them?
Speaker 5 (05:38):
You mean, like I first play second place songwriter nights?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Yeah, anything could be singing, could be instrument anything.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
I've really never done that. I'm not even sure where
those things are, which is maybe why I've never done that.
That sounds kind of like an interesting thing. I don't
know how you would choose every year at the Academy
Awards or the Grammys, you go, how do you decide
one song truly is better than another song? Subjective call,
but it's still be nice to be And that's that's
(06:05):
the league. I'd like to get into one of those
circles and see how that goes.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
So I'll tell you the one thing. It's been a month,
two months. I finally became a member of the Recording Academy.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
And yes, I was trying. You really can't do much.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Like two people have to recommend you, and then they
have to check all your stuff and make sure it's
legit and you're good enough, and there's a whole thing that.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
But I was really honored. But I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You basically all vote. You know, you're voting members, So
you get this list and you just vote. And I
don't know because I'm going to be going through that
in the next month or two, but I can tell
you that already, like I get spammed by people are like,
for your consideration, listen to this instrumental or this song.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
Or that's exactly right.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yes, I'm sure it happens. A lot of people just
pick and choose what they listen to or vote for
their buddies.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
I don't know. Well, when I first moved to California,
I was working at a radio station and the music
director as well as being on the air, and it
was my job to get all the mail from all
the record companies and listen to all the phone calls
for people were pleading to play my new record. Yeah,
and I'm telling you, I saw I'm the perfect person
for this job. Because I love music so much, and
(07:17):
I love songs so much. And I'm telling you, on
the third day that I was there, I realized I
will never hear a bad song. Everything that you get
sent is very good. And so how do you decide
this is a better one than that one, or this
one's going to be a hit and this one's not
quite gonna make it. I don't know how you decide that.
All you can do is when you get that list
(07:37):
that you're going to have in front of you, is
pick what you like.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Yeah, man, we could talk about that for hours. I
don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Yeah, I really don't know, other than I'm sure marketing works.
Sure with a big label at Universal, they probably have
a lot of hats in the ring, But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
It helps, There's no question. And again, as you say,
we could be having this conversation at four in the morning,
which is what I call a dorm talk where you
finally just get tired and go and go home.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Are you talking about stupid shit until you fall asleep? Yeah, everybody,
So tell us about this song we're going to hear
in a minute here. What inspired this one?
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Once was blonde? You know, it's the way my imagination
works things that come to me if you were, if
you're around me in any for any length of time,
I will say a phrase now and again that that
people in the room go, oh, that sounds like a song,
and in general I really just turned around. That opening
phrase of the song is I apologize for this in
my shows because it's a little bit like my Texas
(08:37):
sense of humor, which people, you know, grant me a
little leeway with. So I go, I'm sorry, but I
have the sense of humor. And so I started out
with this song, and I decided to call it I
once was blonde, but now I see, and so you know,
and everybody, of course they've grown. And then I played
the song, but that's kind of where it started, and
then I just begin to see I started with the verse,
(09:01):
and then by the second verse, I was clearly writing
chapters of experience along the way. And it just seemed
to me like the whole idea was a little bit
about innocence or naivete, where you know you're into something
and you think and then you find out, oh my gosh,
if it's in your romantic moments, it runs aground and
you go, god, I'll never do that again, and three
(09:23):
weeks later, somebody cross and you rad our screen and
you're just absolutely sure you're going to get back in
with both feet, and here you go. So I just
thought it was a way to talk about the way
the hearts constantly is reinventing itself in spite of everything
that it knows, and so, and it was just a
humorous way to comment on how innocence works.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
That's cool, all right, tell you what.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Let's take a listen, and then we will come back
and talk tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Okay, great, awesome, everybody check this out. Here we go, the.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
Vertigoes n the girl's blond. How didny man you've ever known? Responded?
Speaker 7 (10:14):
I got in, We took a spin, We drove all
night long, and got up the next day completely nuts
about this ultra bound divorce.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Say, should have run? Oh but I was young. Should
have run?
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Should have run?
Speaker 8 (10:37):
I can see that now, should have run just as
far as long eight years ago. She was gonna get free.
I once was blonde, but now in along came a
girl with a smile you could taste, and I have
it for men who did.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
All be east was get smart.
Speaker 9 (11:03):
With my turnip truck hard.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
She had Oklahoma blood, she had a California mind. She
told me she loved me. She was just being kind.
I should have run. I was young.
Speaker 10 (11:22):
I should have run. I should have run.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
I can't see that now.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Should have run? Just just farse and long and loud.
Speaker 8 (11:30):
The Green Eye Landslide was coming after me. Her Runce
was blonde.
Speaker 9 (11:35):
Now see maybe.
Speaker 10 (11:40):
Lamb baby doll, baby love.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Maybe where you've been. It's so hard and it broke.
Speaker 10 (11:49):
No, it's just broken in.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
I feelloson.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
She's all kilts me love and learned to be ovil?
Speaker 10 (11:59):
What I can stop love? Why man.
Speaker 6 (12:04):
Fall in love?
Speaker 11 (12:05):
Here?
Speaker 9 (12:05):
Tonight this love ever done?
Speaker 4 (12:31):
And if favors for you, this love ever done?
Speaker 8 (12:35):
And if favors for.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
You, it's love famous for you.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
It's love ever done for you.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Tonight's young?
Speaker 10 (12:47):
Should I run?
Speaker 9 (12:51):
Should I run?
Speaker 8 (12:52):
Should I run?
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Nobody runs?
Speaker 12 (12:55):
You only lose your embnessens w I wish to de
would fuck get about me?
Speaker 10 (13:02):
I want who's blonde?
Speaker 11 (13:04):
Now?
Speaker 12 (13:08):
Wow, wish the devil would fulk get about me? I
want to blonde?
Speaker 9 (13:14):
No, whis the devil would book get about me?
Speaker 10 (13:22):
I want's blonde? But now see.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Well, thank you so much for sharing that song with us.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
It's big fun, big fun, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Interesting intro to that song. Anything you want to comment
about that.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
You know, as you heard that first verse, it starts
out at the convertible was where the girl was blonde?
How would any man you've ever known respond? I got in,
we took a spin. I saw that kind of visually,
and I thought, well, how about it if we do
something with some ambient traffic noise at the beginning of that,
so you can hear the sounds of traffic in the
(14:07):
street and horns honking and whatever. I just thought that
would you know, like maybe based on my radio kind
of background, it seated or the mind and it just
sets a mood before the song gets underway. So I
called friends of mine in New York and I said,
I'm trying to record traffic in New York. Can you
go do this for me? And they went, oh god,
we're going up to Rockefeller Center tonight and they recorded it.
(14:29):
They sent it back to me, and the thing that
seems so perfect was that the horns that you hear
honking in there are honking in the key of the song,
and they're honking in the rhythm of the tempo of
the song, and I don't know how you'd planned that,
so that was just kind of a little fun serendipity.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Okay, cool, someone's starting out in this business. What's the
one piece of advice you'd give them if you could.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
I'd say two things. First of all, I think it's
important to meet people. I'm not hesitating, I'm just deciding
where to go first. I mean, it's so important to
meet people because nobody can hire you or ask if
you've got a song if they don't know your name,
So you really have to spend some time making sure
that you said hello to people in your community or around.
(15:13):
The second thing is you have to know what you're doing,
so you have to. If you want to write songs,
then you just got to write songs. And by the
time you've written thirty songs, you will know how much
differently you write after thirty songs than you did right
at the beginning. I just think you have to start,
and you have to decide to commit to that thing
(15:34):
that you want to do, and so once you've done it.
So when I first hit down, I thought of this
two ways. I thought, it's a what you know business,
and it's a who you know business. So I thought
about what I did know and what I could learn,
and then I thought about who I did know and
who I could meet. So I spent my first four
or five years in Los Angeles growing what I knew
(15:57):
and growing who I knew.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
How do you think people should measure success in their
music careers?
Speaker 5 (16:05):
WHOA how would you do that? Of course, Fitt, you
want me to tell you all?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
I think.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Why you to tell me?
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Yes, this is going to sound I don't mean to
sound woo wooly, but this is the thing when I
write a song. I've learned this over time by writing songs.
I began to know when I was not finished and
when I was finished with the song. And I don't
know how there's not a moment that you can can
tell that. Maybe my best example of the idea is
(16:36):
I was with a woman one day. We went and
had lunch, and when we got back to her house,
her little girl wanted to take the training wheels off
her bicycle for the first time, And so I took
the training wheels off, and the mother stood behind the girl,
and the backyard had a little bit of a slope
to it, and she said honey, I can't tell you
how to do this, but I can tell you that
(16:56):
as you roll forward, you're going to get a feeling
that you've never had before, and you want to keep
that going as long as possible. Well, I can't describe
songwriting or singing or any other kind of a performing
idea any better. You do it, and there's going to
be a moment where you realize this isn't like anything else,
and if you like that, keep it going as long
(17:18):
as possible.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
What do you think your ideal superpower would be if
you could pick one?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Let's see. Of course, my first answer is probably the
one I should sit perfect pitch or it's either perfect
pitch or perfect maybe it's the same thing, the perfect ear.
I have a friend who is the music director for
the Pointer Sisters, and man, I just love this. It's
a unique ability. She can hear any chord and tell
(17:48):
you what it is. If she knows, you know one
or two things, she can tell what she can hear.
But it's perfect. I can't do that. I have to
work at it a little bit. So I wish my
superpower was perfect pitch.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Okay, all right, that's fair enough.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
I think anyone in any kind of musical career, it's
rare right to have that.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
So I think that's a great thing to wish for.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
You know, I think you can probably train yourself to
get better at it. I train myself. I work on that.
I pay attention to it. But you know, if you're
around somebody that just has it, it's just an interesting
it's fun to it's fun to see. It feels like
a magic trick. It's not a magic trick. They just
have that ability and I have to work at it.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
So yeah, and I think you're you're one hundred percent
correct that you can train yourself, especially relative.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Yes, yeah, it is cool.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
When someone could just do it, like without even thinking
about it.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
Every time I walk and buy my guitar, which is
always on a I have two guitars and ones on
a stand in front of me now, and every time
I walk by it, I hit the high East ring
and before I hit it, I hum what I think
it is in my head, and then I hit what
it is, and then I can figure out if I'm
flat or sharp or I'm right on it. In those days,
(19:01):
I feel really good because I'm just trying to train
my ear if you ask me what is what's E
natural sound like? And I can hummet if I'm right
on it. God, it makes me feel like I'm twelve
feet tall and bulletproof. But I practiced that every time
I walk by the guitar.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Yeah, no, I got it. Okay, cool, So tell us
where people can buy or stream your stuff.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
I am all over the internet at every place that
is where people stream or listen is at JD. Hinton Music.
So if you're on Spotify, it's at JD. Hinton Music.
If you're on YouTube, it's JD. Hinton Music. So every
and then, of course my jdhinton dot com website is
up and it lists everything on there if you want
(19:45):
to find it in one convenient location.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Okay, awesome, man, I want to thank you so much, dude.
A great interview. I did feel like I was talking
to somewhere that has a lot of experience on the radio,
so that's kind of cool.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, it's great fun, and I hope but we can
do this in person down the road and it'll be fun.
And thank you so much. It's been a joy.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Yeah, you're welcome, JD. So thank you to all the fans.
Tonight we know your time is precious, and spending a
little bit of it with the two of us really
makes us feel very worthy tonight. If you're a songwriter
with a story to share, please go to songwritershow dot
com and check us out. Tell the listeners I hope
this episode has inspired you like it did me. Please
continue to explore your own stories through music. My name
(20:27):
is Sarantos. Thank you for joining us on reality Radio
one oh one tonight. Have a great night. I love
you all.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
Put on a mask, I'm ready my be photo.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
But who's gone? No, grab a pie?
Speaker 13 (21:01):
The streets, dodging adults and ding for treats, growing the
night and feeling bold, pretending I'm just fits all ten
year old.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I've got double in a good way. Two But I
need my sugars. What can I do?
Speaker 14 (21:18):
Nag nagna paste? Please please give me, gimme, gimme something
sweet to eat.
Speaker 15 (21:24):
Because if you don't a paint born trick, trat trick
or treating, not of dagon streets and to also trigger treating,
can't resister candy.
Speaker 16 (21:35):
I speed and it's so all I'm training as I'm planing.
It's all I'm singing, I laning.
Speaker 15 (21:43):
I'm also a trickle treating addicted to this candy.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
I'm eating so.
Speaker 16 (21:50):
I'm seeing my softest pin, the sweetest pin.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
That's why I'm candy training.
Speaker 14 (21:58):
I might be too old fortune go treating, but sugar
is the only thing keeping this heart beating.
Speaker 13 (22:07):
The chop really sucks bort nine to five. But every
Halloween I have feel live. My kids are the embarrassed
and run, where as at you and gummies instead play
how much genius houses with full size bars and skip
the dam vity's name fu Mass, You'll never catch me?
Speaker 4 (22:27):
Or why can't you see candy car chocolate?
Speaker 6 (22:31):
Call out to me.
Speaker 14 (22:33):
Knakna, please please please give me, gimme, gimme some of
the screen to eat, because if you don't, okay, keep
born trick trick trick or treating up and down the street.
I'm through, Oh, sugar treating, can'tskay.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
I'm ste eating. It's all I'm treating.
Speaker 16 (22:53):
My eyes are bleating, it's all I'm singing, and.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
I'm too Oh gosh up a tree and adjective to
this game. And I'm eating.
Speaker 16 (23:04):
So I'm seeing my softest feeling, the sweetest feeling. It's
why I'm telling.
Speaker 17 (23:11):
Trees kids asleep, tell there and know whether can lead up.
Speaker 18 (23:52):
I know it's wrong that it feels so right reading
through the kitchener to a.
Speaker 15 (24:05):
Gout my eyes on that M and M germ. I'm
to alfo tricker treating, can't resist the candy I'm stealing.
Speaker 6 (24:19):
It's all I'm treating my eyes.
Speaker 16 (24:21):
I'm bleeding. It's all I'm sinking that I'm leaning. I'm
to all for trick.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Or treating, addicted to this candy I'm eating.
Speaker 16 (24:32):
So I'm saying, my sorr is feeling the sweetest feeling
twe I'm to a trickle treating to resistan ty stealing.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
It's all I'm training my eyes. I'm bleeding, so I'm
sinking and that I'm lean.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I'm to all.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Put a tricker treating, addictive to this candy. I'm needing.
Speaker 19 (24:58):
So I'm saying, listen, knock, knock, knock, I'm back again
because for me, trick or treating what matter?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Thank you for listening to The Songwriter Show. To keep
the momental going, head over to www Dot songwriter show
dot com and join our free music community of artists, songwriters,
and producers.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
That's www.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Dot songwriter show dot com.
Speaker 11 (26:36):
Any anything, any.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Any and a.
Speaker 11 (27:01):
No no no, no, no name, laming, hanging all my name,
(27:54):
hang hang, hang
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!