Long known and loved as the front man for 90's rock band the Spin Doctors, Chris Barron flexes his musical muscles with his new solo project, Angels & One-Armed Jugglers which was released on October 20th. The eclectic, yet cohesive, eleven song set dynamically blends genres while eschewing typical lyrical themes, relaying stories that are personal, accessible, and ear-grabbing. Recently, Barron graciously took the time to speak about the album, the impact of losing his voice for the second time, and more. 

Being that you’ve made numerous records with the Spin Doctors, as well as your previous solo record [Pancho and the Kid], did you approach this project any differently? And if so, how?
Over time, you create a process that is consistent, yet I think every record you make is different because you’re at a different point in your life. When the Spin Doctors make records, Aaron [Comess] is in charge of the drums, Eric [Schenkman] the guitar, Mark [White] the bass and I have the vocals. On this one, even though other people were playing instruments, if something went wrong, that reflected on me. But during the process of making the record, I found out that I actually knew more about things than I thought I did, which is similar to when my daughter was born. I didn’t know how I was supposed to take care of a baby, but when she cried, I picked her up, held her gently against my chest, and took deep breaths; she stopped crying and I wasn’t scared anymore. I don’t know how I did it, but I did, which is how making this record was.

Seems like it was very intuitive.
Was this the first time that you had done a crowdfunding for an album?
I had never done a crowdfunding before and it was a great experience. At first, I could not see asking people for money to make a record, because I come from the 20th century where if you were good, you got a record deal and the record company gave you the money. But the other side of that is that with a record company, you’re not only trying to make a record that’s commercial, but you’re also trying to make something that fits in with the record company’s product line. Crowdfunding is a different animal. It’s like a pre-order, but with the fans not knowing the type of record you’re going to make, yet saying, ‘Alright, cool, make your record way you want, and we’ll support it.’ That’s super gratifying and very rewarding because they're helping me make the record I want to make.

I was reading that the album morphed from an acoustic one to the full band final product. Did your producer, Roman Klun have a hand in that?
Roman had a hand in that in quiet and mysterious ways. My intention was to tour just me and a guitar, so initially, with this record, I wanted to strip it down acoustically. Roman agreed, but with a funny smile that indicated he had something on his mind.

I wanted to record the songs and frame them the best I could in that manner, but Roman guided me to do what was right for the song rather than what was right for me when I'm on stage with them. He’s a terrific producer who gave me a lot of confidence and was very much there with good ideas when I didn’t necessarily know what to do.

You know, what's cool is that I wrote these songs with just me and my guitar. And now, on record, they get this big, beautiful production, but when someone sees me live, it’s a totally different interpretation with the songs broken down to their basic elements. I think people will find it very interesting. 

Tyler Mahan Coe spent thirteen years with the David Allan Coe Band, riding around the country with nothing to do but read books on the history of country music artists and institutions. As a result, Coe says he has "all these stories sitting around in my head" and decided to share them with fellow music lovers on his new podcast, Cocaine & Rhinestones. The first season will cover the musical partnership of Buck Owens and Don Rich, the three major players of “Harper Valley PTA," Wynonna Judd’s path from childhood through The Judds to her solo career, Doug and Rusty Kershaw, Spade Cooley (who tortured and murdered his wife), The Louvin Brothers and an episode dedicated to everything Ralph Mooney did for the entire genre of country music. With the first few podcasts already receiving a tremendous response, Coe kindly took the time to answer a few questions via email about the podcast, the stories he plans to share, and more.

First up, what is the significance of the name Cocaine & Rhinestones?
Well, I’m certainly not advocating the use of either one… Um, there’s a lot I could say here. The name means several different things to me. People think of cocaine as a seventies drug or an eighties drug but, as you can hear in the song I use at the very end of most episodes, it’s been around for much longer than that, particularly with musicians. Really, when you hang around the old-timers, cocaine use and rhinestone suits are always going to come up. They’re either talking about how they did blow or someone else did blow, they had rhinestones suits or they didn’t go in for that look. The name needed to be something where anyone who is already a fan of old country music would immediately know what to expect when they saw the name. Like I said, there are many different ways to interpret the name and, at least for all the ones I’ve thought about, that is very much intentional. 

Cocaine & Rhinestones covers incredibly interesting stories in music history, what spurred this new venture?
Well, I never really listened to podcasts or audiobooks or talk radio - anything with people talking - because I’m always multi-tasking and can’t pay attention. But a lifetime of playing guitar with poor posture has left me with a lot of lower back/hip problems and, about a year ago, I came upon an effective form of physical therapy I could do at home each night. It took an hour or two where I couldn’t really “multi-task,” so I started listening to podcasts during that time. I mostly prefer scripted, narrative things to the “one or several people having a conversation with microphones” format of podcasts. After a couple months of this, I realized I was breaking down the episodes as I was hearing them. Their outline, format, structure - whatever you want to call it - I could see it as I was listening just as plainly as if the script were in my hands. I thought, “I can do that,” and decided to give it a try.

How did you decide what/who you want to cover? Why do events in music history appeal to you?
It all kind of happened in the same moment. As soon as I realized how stories are told in podcast form, the next thought was, “Oh, and I know 10,000 stories that no other podcast is telling.” It wasn’t a matter of deciding to make a podcast and then going out to find out about all this stuff. My entire life has quite sincerely been lived in and around country music. Some of the stuff I’ll be talking about, I was there and saw it happen. But I’ve also been reading musician autobiographies and critical volumes on the genre since I was 12. I knew there weren’t any other podcasts about the history of country music because that was one of the first things I’d looked for when trying to find things to listen to myself. So, once you choose any topic as huge as The History of Country Music, the only decision you have to make is do you start at the beginning and work your way to the end in chronological order? Or do you go non-linear, choose places to jump in-and-out until the bigger picture becomes clear to the audience? I chose the latter.

With a distinctive, ethereal voice, London based NADINE is beginning to have a real impact in both her native Switzerland and the UK. Nadine grew up in the picturesque Emmental, where her multi-instrumentalist mother introduced her to the English-speaking world of soulful pop. In 2011, she moved to London where she started exploring the music scene and found her debut EP Spring Will Come (2013) climbing up the singer-songwriter iTunes charts.

Nadine's third EP Rise is produced by Dave Holden of Flat 6 Music and together they forged a unique genre they like to call Cinematic Pop, reminding of artists Lorde, Aurora and Imogen Heap. Here, Nadine talks about songwriting, her favorite fan gift, and more in the Essential 8.

With "Rise," what was the “a-ha” moment when you knew the song was completed and perfect?
I’ve learned that great songs need a lot of time to be edited. I often thought my songs were completed and perfect long before they were. With Rise we still made adjustments while recording! I have a friend who I trust 100% when it comes to songwriting, and at the moment she didn’t find any more flaws I was pretty proud of it!
 
What’s the story behind your album’s title?
The Single and the whole EP are called Rise because it’s all about going through fire and coming out the other side stronger. It’s a death and resurrection kind of theme.
 
Where do you draw inspiration from when writing?
I’ve been a dreamer and a deep thinker since I was a kid and it always felt freeing to express my emotions by singing and playing keyboard. Songwriting has become a way through which I can both express and transform the reality of my feelings and ways of thinking. One of my earliest songs called Spring Will Come came from a place of hopelessness and is now still a song I’d sing to myself when I need it.

Garth, Strait, Brooks & Dunn - all had an impact on singer-songwriter Chris Cavanaugh who came to Nashville after high school, graduated Middle Tennessee State University, and signed his first songwriting deal soon after. Over the next few years Chris honed his craft as a writer, but always knew he wanted to play and perform. Cavanaugh has played throughout Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, sharing the stage with artists such as Jake Owen, Lee Brice, Frankie Ballard, Justin Moore, Eric Church, and Kip Moore. In advance of his new single "Find You Sooner," which releases on December 1, Cavanaugh took the time to answer his Essential 8+ and fills us in on songwriting, road life, and much more!
 
Did you have a musical mentor? Who was it and how did they influence you?
I didn’t really ever have one specific mentor...I consider most my mentors to be the nashville songwriters that I grew up listening to and a lot of who I ended up writing with over the last 10 years. I’ve learned so much from them just sitting in the room and watching them think and seeing how they approach a song..

With "Find You Sooner," what was the “a-ha” moment when you knew the song was completed and perfect?
When we got the line “The Only way that I could make it better would be to start forever younger”... To me that just put the cherry on top of the song.
 
What’s the story behind your album’s title?
My fiance’ actually saw something on Pinterest that was along the same lines as Find you sooner. I think it was something like “If There’s anything I could ever change about us the only thing would be that I would find you sooner.” ....

Where do you draw inspiration from when writing?
From everywhere.  I always try to figure out what I want people to feel when they hear the song, and from there I try and reference anything that I can draw that emotion from, whether it’s a movie or a conversation I had with a friend.  

When/where do you do your best writing?
With a cup of coffee and a quiet place with no distractions

Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination? All of the above!!

What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician?
From my drummer, he told me countless times to calm down because I would consistently play ahead of the beat haha

What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out?
Practice every single day. And don’t just noodle around on your instrument, give yourself assignments. Make yourself learn songs, or grooves or solos, etc.

Picture Stevie Nix singing with Steve Earle backed by The Stray Cats, Social Distortion, and Otis Redding without the horns.

Husband and wife duo Harbor Drive Hookup sing old school rock and roll and country covers as well as Americana style originals that are blended with rockabilly, rhythm & blues, country, and jazz. The duo recently released their debut album “Engaged By The Harbor” and kindly took the time to talk about the album, touring tips, and more in their Essential 8.

What’s the story behind your album’s title?
Our debut album is called "Engaged By The Harbor" named after the title track that tells the story of how we fell in love and got engaged on Harbor Drive in Duluth, MN. 

Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? 
Jon: My writing is typically more topical than Amie's. I'll often pick a theme that's real to my life and expand on it from there, even going as far as to do research to tell a story, similar to "World's Fastest Indian."

Amie: Some of my songs have a real strong meaning that's super personal to me and some songs are just creative stories inspired by my days of writing poetry.


What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician?
Jon: Jack Conte who started Patreon really inspires me with his mantra of "Working to Publish" as art is never really truly finished, only abandoned. It's a different mindset that says growth comes from always releasing new stuff instead of just obsessing over one piece.


What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out?
 Amie: If you're starting out and are nervous about performing in front of people, try singing at an open mic night or something like that. Jon and I actually got our start singing at assisted living homes. The benefit of these audiences is that you're able hone your craft in front of a less judgmental audience. 

Jon: Use the resources available to you. We learned just about EVERYTHING from CD Baby and their DIY Musician Podcast and even attended their DIY Musician Conference recently in Nashville. It's been a HUGE help with navigating our way through this crazy indie music world. Also read Ari Herstand's book "How to Make it in the New Music Business."

Born in France, a coal miner's daughter, Pauline Andres made a name for herself with a sweet and smoky voice that “perfectly conveys the thoughts and observations of an old soul walking home at closing time.” A true citizen of the world, she’s lived in Paris, London, Berlin and now Nashville. She traveled the world, survived life-threatening diseases, late night fights and all kinds of heartbreaks. Her nonchalant style tastefully serves an inclination for ordinary suffering and everyday disappointments combined with subtle literary references. In February, the songstress will be releasing her next full-length album, Fearless Heart and just released her new single from the project, "Loneliest Girl in Nashville." In advance of the album's release, Andres talks writing, meeting her heroes, and more in the Essential 8.

What’s the story behind your album’s title?
This record was going to be called “Loneliest Girl in Nashville”. And it was going to be an EP. The whole project started with that song title the day I decided to leave Berlin to move to Music City. But then I added more songs, made it an LP. And it became a very eclectic mix of tracks including some bigger, rock moments (Fearless Heart, Good Grace). And I felt like Loneliest Girl in Nashville was not necessarily the best reflection of the record’s soul and vibe. It’s a collection of moments of hope, it’s about trying to be brave. And being brave is not being fearless. It’s working to get there, by denying fear the privilege of putting you down. So, after a detour where the record was gonna be called Can’t Keep a Town (my favorite song on the record, and probably the most personal), I went for Fearless Heart. It sums up my state of mind while making the record. I’m not fearless. I wish I were, that’s the actual lyrics too, and I’m working for it. I guess that’s already something.

When/where do you do your best writing?
When I’m not trying to write. The best songs I’ve ever written were spontaneous and usually written within a few minutes. I may correct a line or a rhyme afterwards as I polish the melody and the arrangements. But the songs that naturally come to me - because they’ve been brewing inside somehow - are the ones that feel right and honest. They just flow.

Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination?
It’s a combination. And it seems to be a source of confusion for many, even for journalists sometimes who literally apply my lyrics into a short bio. I guess that’s a compliment to the songs, they must feel real. And most of what I sing is real or inspired by reality. Yet it is not always directly about myself. And some of it is pure storytelling but the story is gonna be inspired by a moment in my life. Even if it’s just a landscape on a highway. But it’s great that songs get a life of their own and that different people can perceive them in a different way. I think that’s a very good sign.

​"My goal is definitely to write music from an authentic place that will connect with myself and others."

On October 6th, Nashville-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Paul Johnson released his second full-length studio album under the name Canyon City. The ten-track album, titled Constellation, is a beautifully intimate one that is layered with piano, keyboards, reverb, and the occasional percussion groove that envelopes the listener with lyrics and melodies that are comforting and ethereal. Recently, Johnson kindly took the time to talk in depth about the album including its origins, writing from the heart, and more.

You have created music for TV shows, movie trailers, and other multimedia avenues. How did the transition from that to Canyon City come about?
Before Canyon City, I was working on sync licensing, which was a way to make ends meet, but was never really the final goal or destination. I always felt the need for authentic expression and would come back to writing songs with the goal of trying to serve the heart.
I initially started Canyon City in my home studio and then found an audience from there – and it ended up being better than I could have planned it. I get to work out of the places I want to work out of and make music I believe in, so I’m very grateful that it worked out the way it did.

Being that Constellation is your second solo project did you approach it any differently than the first and if so, how?
For me, there was a bit of learning that occurred in the studio. I got more competent in my workflow and was able to expand and test my limitations more. I played around with different instruments, particularly adding some percussive elements, so the instrumentation would reach out a little further than Midnight Waves [Canyon City’s previous album]. And then for the recording process, I did half of the record at my home studio in Nashville and the other half remotely. I needed to create some space and get away, so I loaded my gear and went to a cabin in Minnesota. I took a month and a half to focus on this record which allowed me to go to some places creatively that I maybe wouldn’t have gone otherwise. Being in the cabin was isolating, yet I think some of that all worked out and came through in the performance in a good way - but in a way that was initially, maybe a little harder at the time.

You wrote, performed and produced the entire album yourself.
In the past, I’ve worked with producers and sessions musicians, but I found that although there is something you gain from collaboration, and I am not against it, I never fully got out of it what I was trying to express or hit the places I was trying to go. So with Canyon City, that’s a big reason why I do things in solitude. Although I might initially be risking the production value, it allows me to protect that creative space, explore it, and hit emotionally the places I want to go. I feel like I expressed what I came to express.

Founding member and lead guitarist of the indie-folk quartet The Show Ponies, Jason Hawk Harris started a new chapter with the release of his solo debut, Formaldehyde, Tobacco, and Tulips. Released on Free Man Records and produced by Andy Freeman (Eisley, Manchester Orchestra), the album comes on the heels of a season of grieving from a personal loss, prompting Harris to regularly refer to his music as "grief grass". His music has a distinct blend of old and new, credited to his ability to write music that respects the tradition of the Americana genres from which he draws inspiration, while always keeping his eye on the future. ​Here, Harris answers his Essential 8.

Do you have a musical mentor? If so, who was it and how did they influence you?
I’ve had a lot of great teachers/mentors.  One that sticks out is a guy named Keith Dixon.  When I was an arrogant freshman in High School I tried out for the senior level choir and felt sure I’d get in. I was dumb enough to believe that a little bit of talent would make up for the fact that I was also a total asshole.  Thankfully, my choir teacher, Mr Dixon, was wise to my inflated ego, and gave me a hard-nosed talking to.  He told me (in so many words) that I needed to get my shit together and that I wasn’t anything special, which is exactly what I needed to hear.  I shutter when I think about where I’d be if he hadn’t laid the pain down on me.  It changed my life.  I was all straight-laces, practice, and “lunch pale” after that. 

With "The Smoke and the Stars," what was the “a-ha” moment when you knew the song was completed and perfect?
"The Smoke and the Stars" was a problem song for me.  I just couldn’t get the lyrics to feel like I wanted them to feel.  Then one day I woke up with this image in my head of this dude chained up and standing in the middle of a wooden shed in the woods filled with one foot of snake-infested water, and well… it all fell into place after that. 

What’s the story behind your album’s title?
Scent is a big trigger for me.  At my mother’s funeral back in April, I remember walking into the parlor for the viewing and smelling the formaldehyde they use as a preservative, then hugging a family member and smelling the smoke on their clothes.  Smelling the flowers in the midst of those two smells was odd and disorienting.  I’ve come to understand those three smells as being what grief smells like.