March 2, 2025 • 38 mins
Singer-Songwriter Brendan James joins me to talk about touring, his latest album “Chasing Light,” connecting with nature + more! The Charleston, SC-based artist speaks with me while on the road.Check it out!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tftc-with-bob-nebel--4703586/support.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tftc-with-bob-nebel--4703586/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome, welcome, welcome to my little corner of the world.
Over to you.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Thank you so much for joining me today. This is
March third, twenty twenty five. This is just an absolutely wonderful,
splendid day for you to join me. I have the
wonderful Brendan James. He's a wonderful, accomplished singer songwriter who
hails from Charleston, South Carolina. We speak via him talking
(00:24):
while he's driving from Chicago over to North Carolina. He's
on a wonderful tour just promoting his new album called
Chasing Light. We have a great time talking. I hope
you really enjoy this and I'll see on the other
side of this.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Great to see you, can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Okay, yeah, I think that's good. For those who don't know,
it looks like you're on route.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I am.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I just wrapped a tour last night in Chicago, and
I had to bring my drummer to the airport in
Chicago traffic, and now I have to drive all the
way to North Carolina by myself.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So this is just what I'm working with that. I'm
sorry that I was a few minutes late, but I'm here.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
It's cool. I mean, that's actually pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I have maybe one or two guests who did that,
who were on the road talking, so it's nice visuals
we have there for those who might be viewing this
view on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Oh my gosh, what's up everybody.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I'm driving. I'm going to remain safe. I promise I
got through the worst of it. Chicago traffic was really
bad this morning, but.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Oh it always is. Atlanta does have Chicago beat, but
it's yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, exactly exactly. But I'm in a good mood, so
I got that going for me. It was a great
tour and I'm headed somewhere really exciting, so always always good.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
It's a nice route, and you know, especially when you
get to the end there in North Carolina, it's just gorgeous.
I've been living here in the southeast for many moons,
so it's just it's really nice. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I totally agree. I totally agree.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, So how's this been going?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Performing and in places like Chicago far from where.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
You are, Man, We played It's called Space last night
in Evanston, which is about fifteen miles north of Chicago,
and it is just probably my favorite venue in the country.
Apologies to every other venue it's just in my top.
I'll just say it's in my top top.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
You know. It's something about it the fans.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
There's such a warmth and energy in the room and
just a big old ceiling, so the acoustics.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Everything just really carries and feels loose.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
And I just we sold it out last night and
it just felt so so good.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I'm on good vibes from a good show.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, that's awesome. You're in your sixth album, Chasing Light.
How is that being received? You know, it's always kind
of tough to have that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
New material out there, like, oh, well, you know, they
don't really know this as well. But it's fun premiering
as well to an audience that hasn't heard these tunes.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I know, I know, and I it's been received so well.
Was I was nervous about it and I did something
with this album. I certainly didn't go commercial in any sense.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
I sort of listened to I was talking to a
friend of mine in the music industry before I wrote
this album, and he's done really well, and he just said,
did you need to remember with each album to find
your own golden thread and before you try to write
all these songs that you think people want you really
more than ever these days. Have to find what you
(03:38):
do best and you gotta just stick to that, stay unique.
And I'm so glad that he said that at that time,
because that's really what I tried to do with this album.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
I think it's resonating because of that.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, yeah, And it's it's incredibly personal. You have a
lot of reflection. You know, you're at a rather young
age here, so it's like you have all this wisdom
in this packaged doll up track to track. So it's
just really so personal and you're not really yeah, going
for that commercial juggular that you know, the A and
(04:14):
R people you'll want you to do at the record company.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
No, I know, It's just I don't think that's the
path that's going to work for almost anyone anymore unless
unless truly in your soul you are pop leaning and
commercial and upbeat and catch you like that, and if
it aligns with you, then you're going to find success,
you know it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Just yeah, yeah, it is a good way to go.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You're more authentic that way, rather than like going through
that traditional means that that it was done many years ago,
that model by and large is blown up. Maybe what
you got your five percent who are still going by that,
and those are the ones who are selling out the
arenas and stadiums.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
But then you got.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Artists like yourself who are just you know, you're playing
these rooms you love and you're just doing what you
love and you looks like you've reached that place in
your life with all of your struggles and seeing other
people's struggles, and you weave that all together in this package.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
So true, you're you're hearing it correctly. That's where I've
come to. Yeah, these venues I'm playing aren't enormous, but
and cozy and they're full and they make me feel great.
So you know that's where I'm at right now.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And you're traveling with the full band, is it's, you know,
quite a halt to take all this from venue to venue.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
No, I have it stripped down right now for these
tours the last few years, I'm just a drummer.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
My drummer, Craig.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Meyer and me, So we're just a keyboard and drum duo,
which seems to seems to be working. It's those two
instruments are both so capable of filling out you know,
all the spaces when they need you too.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
So it kind of kind of feels full, you know.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, that does. That does, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
But when you listen to the album, it really does
have that full sound to it. And where you recorded it?
So where did you record this album Chasing Light?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Oh my gosh, almost all of it, if not all
of it, was right in Charleston in Craig Meyer. He's
my drummer and also co producer. He has a studio
in his house. So it was just, you know, three
hours at a time, four hours at a time. However,
many of those little three or four hour sessions we
could fit in because of our lives being really busy,
(06:39):
and I have two kids who are at that age
where they got all the sports and all the things
and all the activities, and so this album was just
made in the gaps of traveling and raising kids. And
you know, it probably took a little longer than it
needed to for that reason, but you know that's how.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
It was made.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, quite a little bit of a multitasking going, especially
when they're that young and so active and you're just
shuttling all over the place. Yeah, you know, family life
isn't there as you represent in seventeen years you have
been together with your wife, so you celebrate that in
a track.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Gosh, how many wives.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Around the country and the world wish they had somebody
who could write a song celebrating an anniversary.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I mean, and I don't do it enough. I feel
like I don't even have enough love songs. So I
was just like, I need to celebrate us and just.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I didn't even it was seventeen. It's such a random
number too.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I didn't even pick it, you know, I didn't even
pick it for any other reason.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh No, stuck as a toll and the thing is
not going.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
There was something on the internet of this elderly man.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
This elderly man was dealing with a toll booth and
it wasn't like he kept throwing coins into the basket.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It's like, what is going on?
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Actually not good? Hold on a second, I'm reversing this
is this is I shouldn't be reversing here. Nobody reverses
these moments. But they're not letting me through.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
So I got to come over here and I'm gonna
use a credit card. Yeah, pop over here.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
At least you can do that these days. That's exciting.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
This is an exciting moment for the whole.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Right, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
And I'm going to answer that question, which was, oh,
I was just saying that, Yeah, seventeen years.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I didn't even Oh why I put seventeen. It just
was a big.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Number to me, and I thought, Wow, I'm really proud
of us. That wasn't just like nine or eleven years.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Right, We're doing.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Something, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah, yeah, I know that feeling.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
It's like, you know, you feel like you've accomplished something,
and it's wow, that's really gone by a lot of
don't take seventeen years.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
It's like, you know, I.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
No, especially these days, I just feel like everybody's relationships
are People are just going through it, and I'm I'm
proud of us, and it's taking work.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
It's not it's not come easy, you know what I mean,
But on.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Part of us.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, in this society, it's really really tough. And when
you could find a way to make things work and
you realize, yeah, we have a great thing, and you
build a lot too, you have you have so many
assets by that point in.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
The area exactly exactly, and that's why it's so hard
to think about it ending you know, and that's why
whenever we've had our really hard times, we really do
sit there and we think, you know, there's so much
here that we want to have forever, you know, so
it's worth it for.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, I can tell you.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, the grass is not always greener when going gets
hard and you're thinking, oh, yeah, it's just oh, this
would be so much easier just flying solo, and it's
really not.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
You're just trading in one set of issues for another.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
I bet, I bet totally. It might feel good for
the first three, but then you're like, oh, no, I
don't want to share these things with someone.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yeah, yeah, you do learn that, and so many have
gone through that, and you know, got so much personal
stuff on here, and you learned a lot from your
father in law who's now in his eight days, and
how that inspired a song.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
It's yeah, he's such a good man.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And really I was writing that song in his house
over Christmas, break again in the gaps of life, you know,
I just found time to write a song and he
came in and he was just standing there in the
doorway and he said, what are you writing about?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
He said, well, I can't really come up with it yet.
But I'm the.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Song about you know, the meaning of life, what we're
all doing here? What do you think the meaning of
life is? I said to him, and he said, well,
I have no idea, but tell you what I'm I'm
just happy to be here. Yeah, still happy to be here,
living it. And you know that could be in one breath,
pretty simple. That another breath so profound, and I kind
(11:02):
of took that line and just thought, you know what,
I'm happy to be here too.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I'm just simply happy to be here. Let me make it,
let me make a whole song about that. And I
got kind of deep on that top.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, it's so much to be learned from those who
have been through and Happy just to be Alive is
just a great track that really encapsulates.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Just being grateful.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
It seems to be this whole theme through the project too,
is that I'm just grateful for the things that I have.
I'm celebrating it. There's so much noise and craziness out there,
so I'm connecting with nature.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And this is inspirational. It's inspirational to hear that and
just the value of like.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Really unplugging from the madness that we have so much
in our daily lives.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
It's it's just so important to be able to do that.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
I thank thank you first of all for hearing all
that in this record.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
I really I did intentionally try to put that in
this record because these times are crazy. Since twenty twenty,
you know, and even before that it was getting wild,
but just since twenty twenty, we've been in a washing
machine and we you know, we're trying to be resilient
and try to say we're moving on from it, but
we're not. We haven't even moved on from the scars
(12:16):
of the pandemic. And then now there's all this political
turmoil and god knows what's coming next. It a weird
decade that that's going to be written about.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I think, yeah, you know, what's happened is and technology
has aided that along, is that we're in so many
different silos and everybody's you know, they're here, and it's
like they're not we're not cohesive.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I think when you do your shows and you probably
felt this in Chicago, is that you do have cohesiveness
at least with the fans of people who were showing
up at the venue. So it feels good in that moment.
But like overall in society, it's just so tough. It's
like talking past each other, I.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Know, and it's so I have you know, that song
goes really well called Peacemaker that's on the album and
I played it last night, and I have a T
shirt that just says the word peacemaker, and I just
say to people, all I'm hoping is that you guys
can go be peacemakers. I don't think we need some
huge peacemaker to try to bind the whole world together.
(13:20):
I think we need like thousands of small peacemakers just
in conversations in their workplace and their schools and their
offices and just just to just keep the peace as
best we can.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
If we had more of those people, we're going to do, okay.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, And peacemaker was the name of the person the
Iroquois people. You saw documentary on that. And now he
was able to get what six warring tribes to find peace.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Yeah, six warring nations and they had fought for for
years and years, and yep was able. You know, that's
their story, and that's the story of their creation and
of their their history, that a peacemaker was sent from
their creator and It's just a beautiful story. And I
just just made me think, I don't hear about peacemakers enough.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I don't hear about hear about politicians.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I hear about famous actors and musicians and autocrats and
leaders and conquerors, but you know, the average person can't
name more than three peacemakers, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And yeah, it's just been on my mind.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So true and just you know, really just I would
you go and look at the no about Peace Prize
winners and see like these geniuses who were able to
do that and somehow find that in modern society. It's
it's really amazing, it really is. So growing up, who
(14:43):
really inspired you? And when did you start like learning
all the instruments and to get into music.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
You know, I probably started kind of late in the
terms of starting. I was probably seventeen or so.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
And it was really it was a mentor that I
and I that found me in my hometown of Derry,
New Hampshire, and that mentor just knew everything about the
history of music and all the best writers. And I
started spending time at his house and he introduced me
to Bob Dylan's and yeah, probably, of course I'm in
(15:20):
a toll country. This is ridiculous. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's how they make their money.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
This is insane. Okay, I'm through it. Yeah. He introduced
me to Bob Dylan and to Patsy.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Klein and to Stevie Wonder and we would just sit
there together and he would spind records and he'd pause
it and he'd pull the needle off the record.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
And he'd say, did you hear how she just phrased that?
Did you hear that? That line that Bob Dylan said?
Speaker 4 (15:46):
And we would just we talk about things line by
line sometimes, and he was such a such a special
person in my life in those days, and you know,
it just got me hooked. I went off to college
and I just was listening to Billy Joel and Elton
and Jeff Buckley and Paul Simon and Joan Biaz and
Harley Simon. That was that, you know, Rufus Wainwright, just
(16:09):
getting so moved by by all these different songs and
lyrics that mattered, you.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Know, and learning the instruments. How did you get into
piano and learning all of those?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
That was kind of a slow journey for me because
I didn't take lessons and around the same time, around seventeen,
that same guy said, you probably should learn an instrument
so you can write these songs that I think are
in your heart. And I was like, well, I don't
really know an instrument. I have a piano in my
house that I don't really know how to play. And
he said, well, go figure it out. And I remember saying, well,
(16:42):
why don't you teach me, and said, I don't want
to teach you because if I teach you, then you're
going to play like other people play.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
I want you to go figure it out.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
And again, some of the best advice ever because I
was It meant I was a shitty piano player for
the next ten years.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
But when I finally.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Became a piano player, I have my own style and
you know, so I'm really grateful. Took a lot of
years to figure that instrument out, you know, in a
good sense.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I imagine, did you look at things on YouTube? You don't
read music really, so like, how do you figure out
the keys and getting into that there?
Speaker 3 (17:21):
You know, I was always in chorus.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
I was always singing, and it was around musical people,
so I don't know how.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I did it.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
I mean, there was no YouTube when I was starting.
It was I was in the basement of my college
music department, and then I was sneaking into ballrooms of
the fanciest hotels in Manhattan. When I moved to New
York for music, I was just sneaking into their ballrooms
because they had.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
All the nice grand pianos. And I would act like
a guest.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
I would look like a guest at the hotel and
just waved to the doorman, and I go find whatever
eighth floor I knew where the ballroom was at the
Intercontinental or the Plaza Hotel, or even in four the
University Ford University, I could sneak in there.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Juilliard, I could sneak in.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
I would act like a student, and I would follow
a big, like upright bass player or cellist through the
security gate when he swiped his card. But I would
just be real close to him and I would sneak
in with him and just have my coffee.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It look like a student.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
And I'd spend like five hours that afternoon on a
Juilliard Steinway Brand just to figure it out, just to
learn the instrument. I was so crazy, but chord by chord, really,
I was so fascinated with the process of singing over
the piano and writing the song that I was thinking
more about the song than about the piano, And before
(18:42):
I knew it, I was accompanying my own songs and
I think I'm playing piano now, you know what?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Yeah, that's how it happened.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
That's an interesting way of coming up on the instrument
like that. So have you transferred that to other instruments
as well?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
No, I I stick to keys.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I play a little, I play a little guitar, working
on the acoustic, which is a which is really beautiful.
I really want to get better at the acoustic. But yeah,
I'm just kind of a Cays player mainly.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, And how do lyrics come to you? That's that's
another half of that. You got fifty music, fifty lyrics.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
They stream of consciousness.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Man, I'm I've only only two or three of my
eighty five songs. I think I have written lyrics first,
like a poem first.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
The rest.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
I just sit down at the piano and these melodies
start to come to my head. Little phrases start to form,
and then something clicks, like oh that clicks with the
real thought I've been having lately. I think that the
piano is telling me that this song needs to be
about that thought and I need to flesh this out,
but it really comes from the melodies first.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Just sit there and.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Then I'll find tune for a couple of months and
try to Lyrics are so important to me that I'll
just sit there, like all right, I'm going to get
this phrase perfect and it needs to blend into the
next phrase perfectly, so I get meticulous there.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Don't beat yourself up as bad as Billy joel who
seems to have a common throat on my podcast every
time I mentioned something, Yeah, somehow it's Billy and Elton.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Of course we were one of my favorites.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
But like, yeah, but there's somebody who it just brings
me to mind, somebody who beats himself up over lyrics
and has just stopped, you know, pop music writing.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
It's true, it's twenty something, almost thirty years, right, he
just hasn't really wanted to write almost at all.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Right, right, that and the more recent single was like
there were three other writings, three or four other writers
on that single that came out with But yeah, I
mean that's you know, somebody who just really can say
this isn't fun anymore. I just, you know, maybe overthinking
it of it. I don't know, But you can't argue
(21:04):
with success, you can't.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
No.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I mean, he had such a prolific period, why not
capitalize off it?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
And you know, enjoy singing.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
You know, yeah, yeah, total classics, part of the American fabric,
and you know, the record sales don't lie for the
time that he's been doing this. So yeah, it's it's
really fascinating to say that. But I like how that
you stress the importance of like going out and connecting
with nature. Is that something that's really always been in
(21:32):
your spirits all these years.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah, and I think more than ever right now, like
you were saying about the way the world is, and
these times we're in I'm doing it even more.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And I think it stems from me being a kid.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
And you know, I don't I don't know if it
goes this deep, but my parents got divorced when I
was four. We happened to we happened to live by
the woods, and I remember that was really my special place.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
That was my safe fun.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I would get home from school and whether I had
a friend with me or not, or even just my dog.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
I remember just really going deep.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Into the woods by myself, building a little fort, you know,
probably talking to the trees. I was always I was
always comfortable just sitting in a pile of leaves and sticks,
and I was just very comfortable in the woods. And maybe,
you know, performative years, maybe that just really has stuck
with me. So when I get out into the woods now,
(22:29):
I feel like I'm kind of home. It's just regenerating,
you know.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, and very inspirational too.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I'm sure you know, ideas probably come to you in
those moments in the solitude.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
Oh yeah, Yeah, it's almost more like almost every day
off I've had on tour for the last seventeen years,
it's been spent on some hike or some walk, and
it gives me the strength to perform.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
It just calms me down. And yeah, I think I
got a lot.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
I get a lot of inspiration for my songs and
my lyrics being out there.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, and run your opener track The Great Unknown just
really kind of you know, says, hey, you know, go out,
commune with nature, go on those hikes.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Go out and get it. I know.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Oh my gosh. I was at my show in my
merch line last night. This woman was so excited to
talk to me, and she said, I just have to
tell you. I just was in Nepal and I hiked
three different mountains. I went on a solo trip. And
she's like in her late fifties, you know, and I
went on a solo trip.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
I just had one guide.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
That is, it's nice to be able to go out
there and commune and go there what place like Ney Paul,
It's got to be really a fascinating.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
She just said, I just wanted you to know that
I sat there, I had a Bluetooth speaker and I
played the Great Unknown for all of the Mountain range
and it was just me and my guide, and I
listened to that whole song on high volume and I
almost teared up. I was like that, it's like that
song just got the best experience that it could ever
(24:03):
have in its life. You know. I just loved, loved
hearing that, and that's why I wrote it for those moments,
you know.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, it's it's life inspiring as it is on this album.
The title track is really really incredibly personal, and how
the whole project follows this theme. It's like what you
were going through in twenty twenty, like so many people
or with mental health.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And your wife had.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Open heart surgery not too far after that in twenty three.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yes, yes, which was somewhat we knew it might come
at some point in her life. She was born with
nutral valve collapse and she just had to have a
valve repaired. The doctors decided this was the age to
do it, so woof, it was real.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
It was she was you know, her blood was stopped.
She was on the transfusion machine for me on a
four and a half hour so no blood running through
her body.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
And we had to just kind of get through it
as a family, and I took time off of touring,
and I was on the kids, and we had two
different moons living with us, and you know, that was
just on top of everything else that felt like our
family was going through in these years. So I don't
know that song, I just I just needed pure optimism
(25:22):
for me.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I needed to come out of that darkness with something.
So that's why I wrote that song.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, and doing this obviously has got to feel like,
you know, this is your form of therapy as.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Well, which we all need therapy, I think.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
But yeah, I mean, yeah, exactly that exactly that.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, completely, so I a lot of great tracks on here.
It's just it's it's numerous, though, the wall of sound
that you create. Obviously you and your producer had to
really like get this down. I like, I think it's
so mesmerizing how these songs are built. I like that
how they just have this huge sound to them, and
you know they they could start quiet and go off
(26:02):
to this really expansive feel.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Thanks that's the goal.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
That's so nice that you hear that, because that's even
what we try to do live. Dynamics are so important
to us. I think the best shows are when the
performers can just bring it down to just almost no
sound at all, and they're just living in this perfect
moment with them, and then by the end of the
song they can just be slamming away and you're full
emotions and full sonic.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Just love the dynamic of a record.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Yeah, And I love this track Clarity. It just is Now.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
This obviously is incredibly personal. Somebody you had known doesn't
feel like you know, they kind of feel like somewhat
helpless dealing with a partner who is struggling mentally. And
I think all of us who have been there doing
that can totally relate to it.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
It's a fund of moment, a close friend who sometimes
you don't know how much people are spiraling down.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
You really don't know.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
And we didn't know how far she was going down
until she said some really scary things to us, like real.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Real prize for help, and we all were like.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Wait, you really that's happening to you, And we all
just jumped in, including her husband, who's my dear friend,
and I ended up kind of writing trying to write
the song through his eyes because he felt so helpless.
He felt so helpless, and it was a two year
journey trying to get her back, you know, and get
(27:34):
her back on her feet. And she's there, now, who's there.
She's in therapy, you know, two times a week, but
she's she's there.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
I think when you're helping somebody get their life back
and they feel like they've just gotten so far off track,
it's so tough for the regular person who's not a
mental health counselor, right right, you're being asked to be
this in a way, or at least you feel I'm
sure he did, like probably felt like it. Oh yeah, yeah,
all of a sudden you've got to be a mental
health counselor it's like you don't have the tools.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
It's very tough, it's.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Totally and all of a sudden, their relationship is in
jeopardy and there and his career and everything has to
stop for a second to really figure out what caused
this person to go to this place, like how did
it spiral?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
And how do you backpedle?
Speaker 4 (28:20):
And I just kept thinking, all you want in that
situation is clarity. You just you just want some answers
in your head to feel like you know the path again.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
She just couldn't find the path.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Hm m hmmm.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
It's just such a horrible feeling, like when you feel
like you know it's it's a loss of control, and
we all want control.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Yeah, exactly exactly. So anyway, it's I'm kind of happy
to report that she's she's doing a lot better now
and she loves the song and she doesn't feel like
it was invasive.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
She's really proud of the song, and that made me
feel good.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, it's all about writing what you know, and I'm
sure like a lot of your catalog it's you know,
that's when you are at your best is not trying
to just you know, you can as a songwriter just
make up things too as well. But I think, you know,
an album like this can definitely feel like it's just
so real and it's so much better when you're doing
(29:22):
it from that perspective, thank you.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Yeah, I don't really know. Sometimes it's been to my detriment.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I don't really know how else to write then, Yeah,
almost dangerously authentic. Like sometimes in my early years I
was like, I wish I wasn't so earnest all the time, but.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I think I have.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
I'm at a point finally where I've matured and I've
sort of the over earnest movie writer that I used
to be has kind of mellowed.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Into just just authenticity, and it's kind of where I
hope to arrive at some point, I guess.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah, So recording this in Charleston, how what was the process?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Like?
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Did it take a bit to record this?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Was it on and offered you just did in the
one Fell Swoop over a week or two.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
You know, it's like anything challenging, Once it's over, you
kind of forget why it was challenging. But I certainly
remember being only two tracks deep, having seven others that
I was so proud of, and not having the money,
not knowing how I was going to figure it out. Here,
I am working with a dear friend who's doing half
(30:31):
of it for free and half of it for money.
And I ended up having to contact some of my
biggest fans and they did this. There's a whole group
of people that I performed for in upstate Michigan. Every summer,
I do a big private show there. And I contacted
her and I said, I'm trying to raise some money
(30:52):
to just finish this album. And I wondered, if you know,
you could help me through some of your friends, and
she was like, of course, i'd love to, we'd love to.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
What do you need?
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And I was like, I mean, I don't know, not
too much, just enough to get some of these songs
mixed and you know, really get it squared away.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
She's like, Okay, I'll get back to you in three.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Weeks, and they all rallied together and they raised I
don't know how much it was between five and ten
grand to kind of finish off the mixing, and and
then a couple other families chipped in and before I
knew it I'm like, Okay, I got the money just
to finish the album. And I've obviously since thanked them,
I've done another show with them, and but that's what
(31:31):
it takes. Like you're you're sitting there, you're an artist,
and you're like trying to pay the bills. I'm paying
the bills through touring. I get no really no real
money from streaming, get it. I get a little money
from sinks, from I get I'm lucky to get a
few shows, songs and shows these days. But you know,
it's it's hard to put an album together because they're
gonna it's just gonna cost a minimum of ten grand,
(31:53):
you know, ten to one hundred grand, depending on how.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
You want to make it.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
So there were financial obstacles that we're overcome with the
generosity of fans, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Mm hmmm do you yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Because there it's always been said, like in recording, it's
not where you're making the music, putting out the album
singles or whatever. It's just like, yeah, you get like
a haypenny for every play on not even on Spotify, Yeah,
places like that. So is it mainly the source of
maybe some money coming in is usually what royalties through
(32:27):
your publisher.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Yeah, royalties through songs they've written, or songs that have
gotten themselves into TV and film.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
And then I mean Spotify isn't no money. It's just
not much at all.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
I have a few strong songs that have some high
stream counts that give me some thousands of dollars a year,
but not much. It's it's nothing. I mean, when you
try to live off it, it's impossible. So you know,
and that's a whole debate in itself whether Spotify is
helpful or not. It's it's hard to it's hard to
quantify that for me right now.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
But well, yeah, I mean most of my money is
just touring.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
It's why I feel really grateful to be healthy and
that I can still get out there and that I
still have I think fifty or sixty percent of my
shows are private shows now and I play which started
as living room shows ten years ago, and they've just
they've kind of morphed into bigger living room shows where
people are renting out their community clubhouse or their church
(33:26):
or their barn. I do a show with Massachusetts and
this beautiful wedding barn and two hundred people now come,
So it's kind of like grown into some actual venues
and actual shows hosted by fans.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
It's really cool.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
And you have a catalog of over eighty five songs,
that's over six albums. Do you do any covers or
is it basically all originals?
Speaker 4 (33:47):
Now?
Speaker 3 (33:48):
I do more covers these days.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
I mean, I do try to do at least one
or two per show, per live performance. I haven't recorded
many of them, but yeah, right now. I covered Bill
Withers last night, and I covered Taylor Swift a few
shows ago, and Bob Dylan's I was a favorite of mine,
so I try to mix it up.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Yeah, yeah, those are good. You can't go wrong with
the Dylan covers for sure.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
And I specifically chose Bill Withers for this tour because
you could almost pick the credence almost saying bad moon rising,
because part of me feels like there's a bad moon
rising right now. But I don't want to bring that
energy to the show. I really wanted to bring some
Bill Withers. I played Lovely Day and I just I
just tried to make people feel feel good for that hour.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And a half. You know.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Yeah, yeah, so cool.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
You're on a very good route there, going from Illinois
into North Carolina. So that's I'm sure that's quite fun.
Probably have a lot of stop offs along the way
as well.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Well.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Truth be told, I'm doing this in one fell Swoop
because I have a big I'm a runner and I
have a big race in North Carolina on Saturday morning.
Oh wow, Okay, I'm trying to get there. My family's
all going to meet up there. And it's in the woods.
The race is all through the woods, so I'm really excited.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
I'm a runner as well, but I prefer the road races.
My ankles can get beat up. I've been doing it
a long time now. But yeah, is this a full
marathon you're doing.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
It's a fifty k So I'm trying. I did one
last year. I did two last year and I only
finished one of them, and so I really this was
the one I didn't finish last year, so I'm going
to try it again. And it's just madness. I mean,
you're a runner, so you get it. It's madness to
try a distance this far. But also it's in the mountains,
(35:45):
so it's so much elevation. It's just so much elevation gain.
But it's an adventure. I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Yeah, it's the challenge of it and for people who
don't understand, and you'll do it and push yourself. And
I've done it too myself through the pain too much
at times and it's just but yeah, it's it's the
high you get off of that. It's a good one.
But yeah, sometimes you can overdo it as well.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, you're right, so I'm gonna be careful.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah, I would hope you have good trail running shoes.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
That's uh.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
I got a good traction, got the ultra trail running shoe.
I'm excited to give it a go. So yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
That's great. Yeah, good for you. That's great.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
And you're combining all this and you know, it's a
lot of positivity. Great new album, Chasing Lights your sixth album,
and bust Wishes and uh, you know, and touring as well.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Were you just here in Atlanta or did I see
somebody else?
Speaker 3 (36:44):
I was? Yeah, I was. I was there last last weekend,
last Sunday and.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
You were you at eddies as well? Eddies A Yeah, okay,
I'm always over there.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Man.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
We should have should have tried to get you there.
I should have told you. Yeah, next time, I'll come back.
And I'd love you to come.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
I'm always there. I mean a lot of artists I interview.
I've done video work there as well for some artists.
So yeah, yeah, wonderful little venue there. That's that's nice.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Yeah, I'm sorry we haven't met before. I'd be like,
I want to stay in check at this point.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Yeah, I'm very inspired by this new album, and I
hope everybody goes out there to get It's already been
out as we speak now. This is late February of
twenty twenty five, so it's been out for what five
six weeks?
Speaker 1 (37:31):
And yeah, I'll shout it from the hilltops.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
We'll have this out and have everybody you know go
out and get this wherever you get music. Chasing Light
Brendan James That it's just fantastic.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Thank you so much everybody.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Thanks for tuning in, and I really thank you for
putting up with all my driving distractions.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
I'm sorry, it's cool.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
We did better. I did better than expected with this,
So that that's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Okay, good good, take care, keep in time. Thanks very
see you.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Have a good one. And isn't that wonderful? He is
just an amazing musician, wonderful artist. It was great speaking
with him and I hope to keep on doing this,
so enjoy
Welcome, welcome, welcome to my little corner of the world.
Over to you.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Thank you so much for joining me today. This is
March third, twenty twenty five. This is just an absolutely wonderful,
splendid day for you to join me. I have the
wonderful Brendan James. He's a wonderful, accomplished singer songwriter who
hails from Charleston, South Carolina. We speak via him talking
(00:24):
while he's driving from Chicago over to North Carolina. He's
on a wonderful tour just promoting his new album called
Chasing Light. We have a great time talking. I hope
you really enjoy this and I'll see on the other
side of this.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Great to see you, can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Okay, yeah, I think that's good. For those who don't know,
it looks like you're on route.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I am.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I just wrapped a tour last night in Chicago, and
I had to bring my drummer to the airport in
Chicago traffic, and now I have to drive all the
way to North Carolina by myself.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So this is just what I'm working with that. I'm
sorry that I was a few minutes late, but I'm here.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
It's cool. I mean, that's actually pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I have maybe one or two guests who did that,
who were on the road talking, so it's nice visuals
we have there for those who might be viewing this
view on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Oh my gosh, what's up everybody.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I'm driving. I'm going to remain safe. I promise I
got through the worst of it. Chicago traffic was really
bad this morning, but.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Oh it always is. Atlanta does have Chicago beat, but
it's yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, exactly exactly. But I'm in a good mood, so
I got that going for me. It was a great
tour and I'm headed somewhere really exciting, so always always good.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
It's a nice route, and you know, especially when you
get to the end there in North Carolina, it's just gorgeous.
I've been living here in the southeast for many moons,
so it's just it's really nice. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I totally agree. I totally agree.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yeah, So how's this been going?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Performing and in places like Chicago far from where.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
You are, Man, We played It's called Space last night
in Evanston, which is about fifteen miles north of Chicago,
and it is just probably my favorite venue in the country.
Apologies to every other venue it's just in my top.
I'll just say it's in my top top.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
You know. It's something about it the fans.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
There's such a warmth and energy in the room and
just a big old ceiling, so the acoustics.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Everything just really carries and feels loose.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
And I just we sold it out last night and
it just felt so so good.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I'm on good vibes from a good show.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, that's awesome. You're in your sixth album, Chasing Light.
How is that being received? You know, it's always kind
of tough to have that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
New material out there, like, oh, well, you know, they
don't really know this as well. But it's fun premiering
as well to an audience that hasn't heard these tunes.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I know, I know, and I it's been received so well.
Was I was nervous about it and I did something
with this album. I certainly didn't go commercial in any sense.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
I sort of listened to I was talking to a
friend of mine in the music industry before I wrote
this album, and he's done really well, and he just said,
did you need to remember with each album to find
your own golden thread and before you try to write
all these songs that you think people want you really
more than ever these days. Have to find what you
(03:38):
do best and you gotta just stick to that, stay unique.
And I'm so glad that he said that at that time,
because that's really what I tried to do with this album.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
I think it's resonating because of that.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, yeah, And it's it's incredibly personal. You have a
lot of reflection. You know, you're at a rather young
age here, so it's like you have all this wisdom
in this packaged doll up track to track. So it's
just really so personal and you're not really yeah, going
for that commercial juggular that you know, the A and
(04:14):
R people you'll want you to do at the record company.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
No, I know, It's just I don't think that's the
path that's going to work for almost anyone anymore unless
unless truly in your soul you are pop leaning and
commercial and upbeat and catch you like that, and if
it aligns with you, then you're going to find success,
you know it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Just yeah, yeah, it is a good way to go.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You're more authentic that way, rather than like going through
that traditional means that that it was done many years ago,
that model by and large is blown up. Maybe what
you got your five percent who are still going by that,
and those are the ones who are selling out the
arenas and stadiums.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
But then you got.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Artists like yourself who are just you know, you're playing
these rooms you love and you're just doing what you
love and you looks like you've reached that place in
your life with all of your struggles and seeing other
people's struggles, and you weave that all together in this package.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
So true, you're you're hearing it correctly. That's where I've
come to. Yeah, these venues I'm playing aren't enormous, but
and cozy and they're full and they make me feel great.
So you know that's where I'm at right now.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And you're traveling with the full band, is it's, you know,
quite a halt to take all this from venue to venue.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
No, I have it stripped down right now for these
tours the last few years, I'm just a drummer.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
My drummer, Craig.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Meyer and me, So we're just a keyboard and drum duo,
which seems to seems to be working. It's those two
instruments are both so capable of filling out you know,
all the spaces when they need you too.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
So it kind of kind of feels full, you know.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, that does. That does, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
But when you listen to the album, it really does
have that full sound to it. And where you recorded it?
So where did you record this album Chasing Light?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Oh my gosh, almost all of it, if not all
of it, was right in Charleston in Craig Meyer. He's
my drummer and also co producer. He has a studio
in his house. So it was just, you know, three
hours at a time, four hours at a time. However,
many of those little three or four hour sessions we
could fit in because of our lives being really busy,
(06:39):
and I have two kids who are at that age
where they got all the sports and all the things
and all the activities, and so this album was just
made in the gaps of traveling and raising kids. And
you know, it probably took a little longer than it
needed to for that reason, but you know that's how.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
It was made.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, quite a little bit of a multitasking going, especially
when they're that young and so active and you're just
shuttling all over the place. Yeah, you know, family life
isn't there as you represent in seventeen years you have
been together with your wife, so you celebrate that in
a track.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Gosh, how many wives.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Around the country and the world wish they had somebody
who could write a song celebrating an anniversary.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I mean, and I don't do it enough. I feel
like I don't even have enough love songs. So I
was just like, I need to celebrate us and just.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I didn't even it was seventeen. It's such a random
number too.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I didn't even pick it, you know, I didn't even
pick it for any other reason.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh No, stuck as a toll and the thing is
not going.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
There was something on the internet of this elderly man.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
This elderly man was dealing with a toll booth and
it wasn't like he kept throwing coins into the basket.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It's like, what is going on?
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Actually not good? Hold on a second, I'm reversing this
is this is I shouldn't be reversing here. Nobody reverses
these moments. But they're not letting me through.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
So I got to come over here and I'm gonna
use a credit card. Yeah, pop over here.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
At least you can do that these days. That's exciting.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
This is an exciting moment for the whole.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Right, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
And I'm going to answer that question, which was, oh,
I was just saying that, Yeah, seventeen years.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I didn't even Oh why I put seventeen. It just
was a big.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Number to me, and I thought, Wow, I'm really proud
of us. That wasn't just like nine or eleven years.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Right, We're doing.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Something, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah, yeah, I know that feeling.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
It's like, you know, you feel like you've accomplished something,
and it's wow, that's really gone by a lot of
don't take seventeen years.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
It's like, you know, I.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
No, especially these days, I just feel like everybody's relationships
are People are just going through it, and I'm I'm
proud of us, and it's taking work.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
It's not it's not come easy, you know what I mean,
But on.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Part of us.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, in this society, it's really really tough. And when
you could find a way to make things work and
you realize, yeah, we have a great thing, and you
build a lot too, you have you have so many
assets by that point in.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
The area exactly exactly, and that's why it's so hard
to think about it ending you know, and that's why
whenever we've had our really hard times, we really do
sit there and we think, you know, there's so much
here that we want to have forever, you know, so
it's worth it for.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah, I can tell you.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, the grass is not always greener when going gets
hard and you're thinking, oh, yeah, it's just oh, this
would be so much easier just flying solo, and it's
really not.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
You're just trading in one set of issues for another.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
I bet, I bet totally. It might feel good for
the first three, but then you're like, oh, no, I
don't want to share these things with someone.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yeah, yeah, you do learn that, and so many have
gone through that, and you know, got so much personal
stuff on here, and you learned a lot from your
father in law who's now in his eight days, and
how that inspired a song.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
It's yeah, he's such a good man.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And really I was writing that song in his house
over Christmas, break again in the gaps of life, you know,
I just found time to write a song and he
came in and he was just standing there in the
doorway and he said, what are you writing about?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
He said, well, I can't really come up with it yet.
But I'm the.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Song about you know, the meaning of life, what we're
all doing here? What do you think the meaning of
life is? I said to him, and he said, well,
I have no idea, but tell you what I'm I'm
just happy to be here. Yeah, still happy to be here,
living it. And you know that could be in one breath,
pretty simple. That another breath so profound, and I kind
(11:02):
of took that line and just thought, you know what,
I'm happy to be here too.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I'm just simply happy to be here. Let me make it,
let me make a whole song about that. And I
got kind of deep on that top.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, it's so much to be learned from those who
have been through and Happy just to be Alive is
just a great track that really encapsulates.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Just being grateful.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
It seems to be this whole theme through the project too,
is that I'm just grateful for the things that I have.
I'm celebrating it. There's so much noise and craziness out there,
so I'm connecting with nature.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And this is inspirational. It's inspirational to hear that and
just the value of like.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Really unplugging from the madness that we have so much
in our daily lives.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
It's it's just so important to be able to do that.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
I thank thank you first of all for hearing all
that in this record.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
I really I did intentionally try to put that in
this record because these times are crazy. Since twenty twenty,
you know, and even before that it was getting wild,
but just since twenty twenty, we've been in a washing
machine and we you know, we're trying to be resilient
and try to say we're moving on from it, but
we're not. We haven't even moved on from the scars
(12:16):
of the pandemic. And then now there's all this political
turmoil and god knows what's coming next. It a weird
decade that that's going to be written about.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I think, yeah, you know, what's happened is and technology
has aided that along, is that we're in so many
different silos and everybody's you know, they're here, and it's
like they're not we're not cohesive.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
I think when you do your shows and you probably
felt this in Chicago, is that you do have cohesiveness
at least with the fans of people who were showing
up at the venue. So it feels good in that moment.
But like overall in society, it's just so tough. It's
like talking past each other, I.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Know, and it's so I have you know, that song
goes really well called Peacemaker that's on the album and
I played it last night, and I have a T
shirt that just says the word peacemaker, and I just
say to people, all I'm hoping is that you guys
can go be peacemakers. I don't think we need some
huge peacemaker to try to bind the whole world together.
(13:20):
I think we need like thousands of small peacemakers just
in conversations in their workplace and their schools and their
offices and just just to just keep the peace as
best we can.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
If we had more of those people, we're going to do, okay.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, And peacemaker was the name of the person the
Iroquois people. You saw documentary on that. And now he
was able to get what six warring tribes to find peace.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Yeah, six warring nations and they had fought for for
years and years, and yep was able. You know, that's
their story, and that's the story of their creation and
of their their history, that a peacemaker was sent from
their creator and It's just a beautiful story. And I
just just made me think, I don't hear about peacemakers enough.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I don't hear about hear about politicians.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I hear about famous actors and musicians and autocrats and
leaders and conquerors, but you know, the average person can't
name more than three peacemakers, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And yeah, it's just been on my mind.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So true and just you know, really just I would
you go and look at the no about Peace Prize
winners and see like these geniuses who were able to
do that and somehow find that in modern society. It's
it's really amazing, it really is. So growing up, who
(14:43):
really inspired you? And when did you start like learning
all the instruments and to get into music.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
You know, I probably started kind of late in the
terms of starting. I was probably seventeen or so.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
And it was really it was a mentor that I
and I that found me in my hometown of Derry,
New Hampshire, and that mentor just knew everything about the
history of music and all the best writers. And I
started spending time at his house and he introduced me
to Bob Dylan's and yeah, probably, of course I'm in
(15:20):
a toll country. This is ridiculous. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's how they make their money.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
This is insane. Okay, I'm through it. Yeah. He introduced
me to Bob Dylan and to Patsy.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Klein and to Stevie Wonder and we would just sit
there together and he would spind records and he'd pause
it and he'd pull the needle off the record.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
And he'd say, did you hear how she just phrased that?
Did you hear that? That line that Bob Dylan said?
Speaker 4 (15:46):
And we would just we talk about things line by
line sometimes, and he was such a such a special
person in my life in those days, and you know,
it just got me hooked. I went off to college
and I just was listening to Billy Joel and Elton
and Jeff Buckley and Paul Simon and Joan Biaz and
Harley Simon. That was that, you know, Rufus Wainwright, just
(16:09):
getting so moved by by all these different songs and
lyrics that mattered, you.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Know, and learning the instruments. How did you get into
piano and learning all of those?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
That was kind of a slow journey for me because
I didn't take lessons and around the same time, around seventeen,
that same guy said, you probably should learn an instrument
so you can write these songs that I think are
in your heart. And I was like, well, I don't
really know an instrument. I have a piano in my
house that I don't really know how to play. And
he said, well, go figure it out. And I remember saying, well,
(16:42):
why don't you teach me, and said, I don't want
to teach you because if I teach you, then you're
going to play like other people play.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
I want you to go figure it out.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
And again, some of the best advice ever because I
was It meant I was a shitty piano player for
the next ten years.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
But when I finally.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Became a piano player, I have my own style and
you know, so I'm really grateful. Took a lot of
years to figure that instrument out, you know, in a
good sense.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I imagine, did you look at things on YouTube? You don't
read music really, so like, how do you figure out
the keys and getting into that there?
Speaker 3 (17:21):
You know, I was always in chorus.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
I was always singing, and it was around musical people,
so I don't know how.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I did it.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
I mean, there was no YouTube when I was starting.
It was I was in the basement of my college
music department, and then I was sneaking into ballrooms of
the fanciest hotels in Manhattan. When I moved to New
York for music, I was just sneaking into their ballrooms
because they had.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
All the nice grand pianos. And I would act like
a guest.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
I would look like a guest at the hotel and
just waved to the doorman, and I go find whatever
eighth floor I knew where the ballroom was at the
Intercontinental or the Plaza Hotel, or even in four the
University Ford University, I could sneak in there.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Juilliard, I could sneak in.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
I would act like a student, and I would follow
a big, like upright bass player or cellist through the
security gate when he swiped his card. But I would
just be real close to him and I would sneak
in with him and just have my coffee.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It look like a student.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
And I'd spend like five hours that afternoon on a
Juilliard Steinway Brand just to figure it out, just to
learn the instrument. I was so crazy, but chord by chord, really,
I was so fascinated with the process of singing over
the piano and writing the song that I was thinking
more about the song than about the piano, And before
(18:42):
I knew it, I was accompanying my own songs and
I think I'm playing piano now, you know what?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Yeah, that's how it happened.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
That's an interesting way of coming up on the instrument
like that. So have you transferred that to other instruments
as well?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
No, I I stick to keys.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
I play a little, I play a little guitar, working
on the acoustic, which is a which is really beautiful.
I really want to get better at the acoustic. But yeah,
I'm just kind of a Cays player mainly.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, And how do lyrics come to you? That's that's
another half of that. You got fifty music, fifty lyrics.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
They stream of consciousness.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Man, I'm I've only only two or three of my
eighty five songs. I think I have written lyrics first,
like a poem first.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
The rest.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
I just sit down at the piano and these melodies
start to come to my head. Little phrases start to form,
and then something clicks, like oh that clicks with the
real thought I've been having lately. I think that the
piano is telling me that this song needs to be
about that thought and I need to flesh this out,
but it really comes from the melodies first.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Just sit there and.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Then I'll find tune for a couple of months and
try to Lyrics are so important to me that I'll
just sit there, like all right, I'm going to get
this phrase perfect and it needs to blend into the
next phrase perfectly, so I get meticulous there.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Don't beat yourself up as bad as Billy joel who
seems to have a common throat on my podcast every
time I mentioned something, Yeah, somehow it's Billy and Elton.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
Of course we were one of my favorites.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
But like, yeah, but there's somebody who it just brings
me to mind, somebody who beats himself up over lyrics
and has just stopped, you know, pop music writing.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
It's true, it's twenty something, almost thirty years, right, he
just hasn't really wanted to write almost at all.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Right, right, that and the more recent single was like
there were three other writings, three or four other writers
on that single that came out with But yeah, I
mean that's you know, somebody who just really can say
this isn't fun anymore. I just, you know, maybe overthinking
it of it. I don't know, But you can't argue
(21:04):
with success, you can't.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
No.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I mean, he had such a prolific period, why not
capitalize off it?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
And you know, enjoy singing.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
You know, yeah, yeah, total classics, part of the American fabric,
and you know, the record sales don't lie for the
time that he's been doing this. So yeah, it's it's
really fascinating to say that. But I like how that
you stress the importance of like going out and connecting
with nature. Is that something that's really always been in
(21:32):
your spirits all these years.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah, and I think more than ever right now, like
you were saying about the way the world is, and
these times we're in I'm doing it even more.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And I think it stems from me being a kid.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
And you know, I don't I don't know if it
goes this deep, but my parents got divorced when I
was four. We happened to we happened to live by
the woods, and I remember that was really my special place.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
That was my safe fun.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I would get home from school and whether I had
a friend with me or not, or even just my dog.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
I remember just really going deep.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Into the woods by myself, building a little fort, you know,
probably talking to the trees. I was always I was
always comfortable just sitting in a pile of leaves and sticks,
and I was just very comfortable in the woods. And maybe,
you know, performative years, maybe that just really has stuck
with me. So when I get out into the woods now,
(22:29):
I feel like I'm kind of home. It's just regenerating,
you know.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, and very inspirational too.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I'm sure you know, ideas probably come to you in
those moments in the solitude.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
Oh yeah, Yeah, it's almost more like almost every day
off I've had on tour for the last seventeen years,
it's been spent on some hike or some walk, and
it gives me the strength to perform.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
It just calms me down. And yeah, I think I
got a lot.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
I get a lot of inspiration for my songs and
my lyrics being out there.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, and run your opener track The Great Unknown just
really kind of you know, says, hey, you know, go out,
commune with nature, go on those hikes.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Go out and get it. I know.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Oh my gosh. I was at my show in my
merch line last night. This woman was so excited to
talk to me, and she said, I just have to
tell you. I just was in Nepal and I hiked
three different mountains. I went on a solo trip. And
she's like in her late fifties, you know, and I
went on a solo trip.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
I just had one guide.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
That is, it's nice to be able to go out
there and commune and go there what place like Ney Paul,
It's got to be really a fascinating.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
She just said, I just wanted you to know that
I sat there, I had a Bluetooth speaker and I
played the Great Unknown for all of the Mountain range
and it was just me and my guide, and I
listened to that whole song on high volume and I
almost teared up. I was like that, it's like that
song just got the best experience that it could ever
(24:03):
have in its life. You know. I just loved, loved
hearing that, and that's why I wrote it for those moments,
you know.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, it's it's life inspiring as it is on this album.
The title track is really really incredibly personal, and how
the whole project follows this theme. It's like what you
were going through in twenty twenty, like so many people
or with mental health.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And your wife had.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Open heart surgery not too far after that in twenty three.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Yes, yes, which was somewhat we knew it might come
at some point in her life. She was born with
nutral valve collapse and she just had to have a
valve repaired. The doctors decided this was the age to
do it, so woof, it was real.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
It was she was you know, her blood was stopped.
She was on the transfusion machine for me on a
four and a half hour so no blood running through
her body.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
And we had to just kind of get through it
as a family, and I took time off of touring,
and I was on the kids, and we had two
different moons living with us, and you know, that was
just on top of everything else that felt like our
family was going through in these years. So I don't
know that song, I just I just needed pure optimism
(25:22):
for me.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I needed to come out of that darkness with something.
So that's why I wrote that song.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, and doing this obviously has got to feel like,
you know, this is your form of therapy as.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Well, which we all need therapy, I think.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
But yeah, I mean, yeah, exactly that exactly that.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, completely, so I a lot of great tracks on here.
It's just it's it's numerous, though, the wall of sound
that you create. Obviously you and your producer had to
really like get this down. I like, I think it's
so mesmerizing how these songs are built. I like that
how they just have this huge sound to them, and
you know they they could start quiet and go off
(26:02):
to this really expansive feel.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Thanks that's the goal.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
That's so nice that you hear that, because that's even
what we try to do live. Dynamics are so important
to us. I think the best shows are when the
performers can just bring it down to just almost no
sound at all, and they're just living in this perfect
moment with them, and then by the end of the
song they can just be slamming away and you're full
emotions and full sonic.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Just love the dynamic of a record.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Yeah, And I love this track Clarity. It just is Now.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
This obviously is incredibly personal. Somebody you had known doesn't
feel like you know, they kind of feel like somewhat
helpless dealing with a partner who is struggling mentally. And
I think all of us who have been there doing
that can totally relate to it.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
It's a fund of moment, a close friend who sometimes
you don't know how much people are spiraling down.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
You really don't know.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
And we didn't know how far she was going down
until she said some really scary things to us, like real.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Real prize for help, and we all were like.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Wait, you really that's happening to you, And we all
just jumped in, including her husband, who's my dear friend,
and I ended up kind of writing trying to write
the song through his eyes because he felt so helpless.
He felt so helpless, and it was a two year
journey trying to get her back, you know, and get
(27:34):
her back on her feet. And she's there, now, who's there.
She's in therapy, you know, two times a week, but
she's she's there.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
I think when you're helping somebody get their life back
and they feel like they've just gotten so far off track,
it's so tough for the regular person who's not a
mental health counselor, right right, you're being asked to be
this in a way, or at least you feel I'm
sure he did, like probably felt like it. Oh yeah, yeah,
all of a sudden you've got to be a mental
health counselor it's like you don't have the tools.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
It's very tough, it's.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Totally and all of a sudden, their relationship is in
jeopardy and there and his career and everything has to
stop for a second to really figure out what caused
this person to go to this place, like how did
it spiral?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
And how do you backpedle?
Speaker 4 (28:20):
And I just kept thinking, all you want in that
situation is clarity. You just you just want some answers
in your head to feel like you know the path again.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
She just couldn't find the path.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Hm m hmmm.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
It's just such a horrible feeling, like when you feel
like you know it's it's a loss of control, and
we all want control.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Yeah, exactly exactly. So anyway, it's I'm kind of happy
to report that she's she's doing a lot better now
and she loves the song and she doesn't feel like
it was invasive.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
She's really proud of the song, and that made me
feel good.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, it's all about writing what you know, and I'm
sure like a lot of your catalog it's you know,
that's when you are at your best is not trying
to just you know, you can as a songwriter just
make up things too as well. But I think, you know,
an album like this can definitely feel like it's just
so real and it's so much better when you're doing
(29:22):
it from that perspective, thank you.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Yeah, I don't really know. Sometimes it's been to my detriment.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I don't really know how else to write then, Yeah,
almost dangerously authentic. Like sometimes in my early years I
was like, I wish I wasn't so earnest all the time, but.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I think I have.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
I'm at a point finally where I've matured and I've
sort of the over earnest movie writer that I used
to be has kind of mellowed.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Into just just authenticity, and it's kind of where I
hope to arrive at some point, I guess.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah, So recording this in Charleston, how what was the process?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Like?
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Did it take a bit to record this?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Was it on and offered you just did in the
one Fell Swoop over a week or two.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
You know, it's like anything challenging, Once it's over, you
kind of forget why it was challenging. But I certainly
remember being only two tracks deep, having seven others that
I was so proud of, and not having the money,
not knowing how I was going to figure it out. Here,
I am working with a dear friend who's doing half
(30:31):
of it for free and half of it for money.
And I ended up having to contact some of my
biggest fans and they did this. There's a whole group
of people that I performed for in upstate Michigan. Every summer,
I do a big private show there. And I contacted
her and I said, I'm trying to raise some money
(30:52):
to just finish this album. And I wondered, if you know,
you could help me through some of your friends, and
she was like, of course, i'd love to, we'd love to.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
What do you need?
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And I was like, I mean, I don't know, not
too much, just enough to get some of these songs
mixed and you know, really get it squared away.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
She's like, Okay, I'll get back to you in three.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Weeks, and they all rallied together and they raised I
don't know how much it was between five and ten
grand to kind of finish off the mixing, and and
then a couple other families chipped in and before I
knew it I'm like, Okay, I got the money just
to finish the album. And I've obviously since thanked them,
I've done another show with them, and but that's what
(31:31):
it takes. Like you're you're sitting there, you're an artist,
and you're like trying to pay the bills. I'm paying
the bills through touring. I get no really no real
money from streaming, get it. I get a little money
from sinks, from I get I'm lucky to get a
few shows, songs and shows these days. But you know,
it's it's hard to put an album together because they're
gonna it's just gonna cost a minimum of ten grand,
(31:53):
you know, ten to one hundred grand, depending on how.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
You want to make it.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
So there were financial obstacles that we're overcome with the
generosity of fans, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Mm hmmm do you yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Because there it's always been said, like in recording, it's
not where you're making the music, putting out the album
singles or whatever. It's just like, yeah, you get like
a haypenny for every play on not even on Spotify, Yeah,
places like that. So is it mainly the source of
maybe some money coming in is usually what royalties through
(32:27):
your publisher.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Yeah, royalties through songs they've written, or songs that have
gotten themselves into TV and film.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
And then I mean Spotify isn't no money. It's just
not much at all.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
I have a few strong songs that have some high
stream counts that give me some thousands of dollars a year,
but not much. It's it's nothing. I mean, when you
try to live off it, it's impossible. So you know,
and that's a whole debate in itself whether Spotify is
helpful or not. It's it's hard to it's hard to
quantify that for me right now.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
But well, yeah, I mean most of my money is
just touring.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
It's why I feel really grateful to be healthy and
that I can still get out there and that I
still have I think fifty or sixty percent of my
shows are private shows now and I play which started
as living room shows ten years ago, and they've just
they've kind of morphed into bigger living room shows where
people are renting out their community clubhouse or their church
(33:26):
or their barn. I do a show with Massachusetts and
this beautiful wedding barn and two hundred people now come,
So it's kind of like grown into some actual venues
and actual shows hosted by fans.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
It's really cool.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
And you have a catalog of over eighty five songs,
that's over six albums. Do you do any covers or
is it basically all originals?
Speaker 4 (33:47):
Now?
Speaker 3 (33:48):
I do more covers these days.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
I mean, I do try to do at least one
or two per show, per live performance. I haven't recorded
many of them, but yeah, right now. I covered Bill
Withers last night, and I covered Taylor Swift a few
shows ago, and Bob Dylan's I was a favorite of mine,
so I try to mix it up.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Yeah, yeah, those are good. You can't go wrong with
the Dylan covers for sure.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
And I specifically chose Bill Withers for this tour because
you could almost pick the credence almost saying bad moon rising,
because part of me feels like there's a bad moon
rising right now. But I don't want to bring that
energy to the show. I really wanted to bring some
Bill Withers. I played Lovely Day and I just I
just tried to make people feel feel good for that hour.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And a half. You know.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Yeah, yeah, so cool.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
You're on a very good route there, going from Illinois
into North Carolina. So that's I'm sure that's quite fun.
Probably have a lot of stop offs along the way
as well.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Well.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Truth be told, I'm doing this in one fell Swoop
because I have a big I'm a runner and I
have a big race in North Carolina on Saturday morning.
Oh wow, Okay, I'm trying to get there. My family's
all going to meet up there. And it's in the woods.
The race is all through the woods, so I'm really excited.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
I'm a runner as well, but I prefer the road races.
My ankles can get beat up. I've been doing it
a long time now. But yeah, is this a full
marathon you're doing.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
It's a fifty k So I'm trying. I did one
last year. I did two last year and I only
finished one of them, and so I really this was
the one I didn't finish last year, so I'm going
to try it again. And it's just madness. I mean,
you're a runner, so you get it. It's madness to
try a distance this far. But also it's in the mountains,
(35:45):
so it's so much elevation. It's just so much elevation gain.
But it's an adventure. I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Yeah, it's the challenge of it and for people who
don't understand, and you'll do it and push yourself. And
I've done it too myself through the pain too much
at times and it's just but yeah, it's it's the
high you get off of that. It's a good one.
But yeah, sometimes you can overdo it as well.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, you're right, so I'm gonna be careful.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah, I would hope you have good trail running shoes.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
That's uh.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
I got a good traction, got the ultra trail running shoe.
I'm excited to give it a go. So yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
That's great. Yeah, good for you. That's great.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
And you're combining all this and you know, it's a
lot of positivity. Great new album, Chasing Lights your sixth album,
and bust Wishes and uh, you know, and touring as well.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Were you just here in Atlanta or did I see
somebody else?
Speaker 3 (36:44):
I was? Yeah, I was. I was there last last weekend,
last Sunday and.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
You were you at eddies as well? Eddies A Yeah, okay,
I'm always over there.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Man.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
We should have should have tried to get you there.
I should have told you. Yeah, next time, I'll come back.
And I'd love you to come.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
I'm always there. I mean a lot of artists I interview.
I've done video work there as well for some artists.
So yeah, yeah, wonderful little venue there. That's that's nice.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Yeah, I'm sorry we haven't met before. I'd be like,
I want to stay in check at this point.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Yeah, I'm very inspired by this new album, and I
hope everybody goes out there to get It's already been
out as we speak now. This is late February of
twenty twenty five, so it's been out for what five
six weeks?
Speaker 1 (37:31):
And yeah, I'll shout it from the hilltops.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
We'll have this out and have everybody you know go
out and get this wherever you get music. Chasing Light
Brendan James That it's just fantastic.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Thank you so much everybody.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Thanks for tuning in, and I really thank you for
putting up with all my driving distractions.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
I'm sorry, it's cool.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
We did better. I did better than expected with this,
So that that's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Okay, good good, take care, keep in time. Thanks very
see you.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Have a good one. And isn't that wonderful? He is
just an amazing musician, wonderful artist. It was great speaking
with him and I hope to keep on doing this,
so enjoy
Popular Podcasts
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!