The Song Inside

Welcome to The Song Inside's second season, focused on Music and Healing.

Cellist Serena Jost is, among other things, a photographer and a songwriter who lives in the moment. Join us as we chat about how songs can rescue us, how letting go brings peace of mind, and how weakness can lead to possibility.

Welcome to The Song Inside's second season, focused on Music and Healing.

This week I'm thrilled to introduce you to my colleague, Manuel Bagorro! Manuel is the Creative Advisor for Carnegie Hall Social Impact Programs (and a very nice fellow). Learn along with me about the inception of the Carnegie Music Program at Sing Sing, The Lullaby Project, and a new series of concerts Manuel is curating around the issue of Music and Well-Being. Along the way, we'll talk about songs as heirlooms, persevering in the work, and the alchemy of creation.

Welcome to The Song Inside's second season, focused on Music and Healing.

Actor Vicky Finney was just living her life, when a series of events upended her trajectory. We talk about what led her to a course in Conscious Dying, how opening our hearts can ease our end of life, and how music is the bridge.

Welcome to The Song Inside's second season, focusing on Music and Healing.

Dave Wilbur is a kickass bass player, runs a Rock Lab, and happens to be one of my oldest friends. Join us as we go deep on humor as healer, imperfection as humanizer, daily gratitude, and letting impermanence be a teacher. 

Welcome to The Song Inside’s second season, focusing on Music and Healing. 

Settle in with a cozy blanket and perhaps some tissues, as David Garland takes us through the remarkable journey of his life as a visual artist, musical creator, and radio host of Spinning On Air, a weekly music show on WNYC for 28 years. After his wife Anne received a terminal cancer diagnosis, David and his son Kenji created and played music together in the room directly below Anne’s bedroom throughout the months leading up to her passing.

In this episode, we talk about creating without presumption, trusting our curiosity, and exploring ambiguity.

Welcome to The Song Inside’s second season, focusing on Music and Healing.

Toby Williams is head of the music therapy department at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, as well as a professor at NYU and a licensed creative arts therapist. In this episode, she talks about her journey from bandleader to therapist, therapy as a conduit to insight, and shares personal stories of how music has helped clients at different stages of their lives. 

Welcome to Season 2 of The Song Inside, the only podcast which does deep dive interviews about the songs which bring us from darkness to light. 

This season will be focused on Music and Healing, with interviews from music therapists, doulas, and regular folks who have used songs to get them through tough times.

New episodes drop every Monday, wherever you find podcasts. 

Find The Song Inside:

One of the great things about working at an arts camp is that you get to meet like-minded creative souls. Oliver (drummer from Orange County CA) and Vero (director from San Angelo TX) are two such souls, each with a unique perspective on songwriting to share. Enjoy! 

I put out a call for songwriters for the pod, and Adam Fitch was the first to respond! I'm very grateful, because I loved getting to know him and his music. Our conversation goes from the art of falling apart, to creating a safe container of a song, to leaving love notes to God, to connecting to your inner child. 

Richard Julian: bar/live music venue owner, renowned songwriter, tour aficionado. In this episode, RIchard takes us on a heady journey through his songwriting process, which involves him recording and listening to one song a whopping 100 times (!) while writing it. (Don’t worry, we only listen to four or five versions!)

We also give some thoughts on Delaware, the mastery of Norah Jones, the romanticism of touring, chasing down the lyrics, and listening to what the song is telling you.

It’s summer! But we’re taking a trip back to the chill of February, which is when composer Russ Kaplan moved from sunny Florida to icy Minnesota. We talk about minimalist metric modulation and manatees (say that three times fast), the organic creation of Broadway’s first (and last??) a capella musical, the tenacity to keep going, and following the crazy. 

Russ Johnson. One of my oldest and dearest friends. Also an incredible trumpet player, composer, and educator. Join us as we take a walk with our younger selves to reflect upon our careers, New York and Chicago, writing with deadlines, and the two (no, THREE!) rules for success.

It's Jazz in June here at The Song Inside, starting with the lovely pianist Aimee Nolte. We'll share some New York stories before talking about finding the right bandmates, her successful YouTube channel, and who our favorite jazz pianists are. 

Indian singer-songwriter (and now Grammy winner!) Falu Shah has been an inspiration to me since we first started working on the Lullaby Project together years ago. Here we talk about how winning a Grammy is a group effort, how the downbeat unites us, how all life's occasions are important to celebrate, and how everything is music!

Franck Amsallem is a French jazz pianist and jolly good fellow. Join us as we talk about the meaning of names, 80s East Coast living, leaving something to be desired, and how music changes our DNA. 

We did it! 50 awesome songwriter interviews, a year of songwriting tips, and music which brought us from darkness to light. 

Continue celebrating Mother's Day with me and Suzi Shelton! We take you on a journey all the way from the weirdest place we've done gigs, to Coney Island, to a song about co-parenting (video and new recording just premiered! see below), to the most important thing of all-doing what makes us HAPPY!

Not only is Graham Brice a cool neighborhood dad; he's also a killer songwriter with a sense for surprising chords. We have a lively chat about Song Club, learning from The Beatles, melodies arriving at inconvenient times, and how lucky we feel not to have been child stars.

To close out INTERNATIONAL TROMBONE MONTH!, this week I'm joined by composer/trombonist Ryan Keberle. We have fun talking about trombone as a folk instrument, music as connection, rule implementation as freedom, and finding your own voice. Also, the composition that ends the podcast is one of my favorite songs, ever.

I met Curtis Fowlkes my first day in New York. That's what we call Lucky! You, too, are now Lucky! Meet this true gentleman, soulful singer, and fantastic trombonist as we discuss goofing off at the circus, the origin of The Jazz Passengers, the foibles of working with Jeff Buckley and Lou Reed, and embracing the mess. As a bonus, OG Big Apple Circus bassist and friend of us both, Gene Torres, happens to call in during the interview! It's all gossip and goodness for this third installment of Trombone Month here at The Song Inside.

We continue our Trombone Month celebration with the hardest working trombonist in show business, Brian Drye! Come and listen to us geek out about the trombone, discuss the choreography of recording, marvel at the glue of ostinato, and learn about giving it your all on Broadway every night.

People! It is time to celebrate THE TROMBONE! All! Month! Long! Starting with Alan Ferber, co-director of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop and all-around talent. Join us as we talk about community through music, the beauty of a nonet, the importance of economy, and harmony as cake. (Great, now I'm hungry).  

Leah Paul is a sweet potato who runs a music business for kids called Sweet Potato Music! She also lives in LA, is a mom, plays the flute, and writes the coolest chamber pop tunes you've ever heard. We talk about pivoting after motherhood, treating vocals like flutes, finding home, and not waiting for happiness. 

Songs:

Brazilian composer, singer, lyricist and percussionist Luciana Souza is a light in the darkness. In this conversation, we revisit our younger selves, call our friend (and Sunnyside producer) Francois live with a birthday message, reminisce about Cornelia Street Cafe, and explore the freedom of harmony and the gestures of melody.  

Singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche comes from a musical family. She also has a very amenable dog, and a voice like a damn angel. Join us as we talk about going to Wikipedia for song ideas, the dark tundra of not writing, how a song can be anything, and how life on the road is definitely funnier with a companion!

Happy International Women's Month from The Song Inside! To kick things off, Spanish songstress Lara Bello (a fellow Carnegie Hall Lullaby Artist), joins me to explore the feelings inside the melody, the importance of introducing new cultures and languages to audiences, how to open our arms to new fruit, and just what the heck the meaning of Sikame is. 

Django Haskins calls in from his North Carolina cabin to talk about the discipline of Monday Night Song Group, musical and narrative dissonance, why proficiency shouldn't get in the way of being authentic, and the importance of lifting others up. 

Pianist/Composer Brittany Anjou recently completed a Masters in Music Psychology and has done research on the mental health of musicians living in NYC.  Join us for an intellectually stimulating conversation! Brittany tells me about hosting avant-garde jams in Kuwait before we move on to discuss jazz as a democratic art form, embracing opportunities to fail, and the eternal conflict between teaching and playing. 

What do Tribe Called Quest and the Love Boat have in common? What did Stravinsky say to do daily, as if brushing one's teeth? Find out in this interview with master composer and saxophonist Ohad Talmor! We talk about his lifelong relationship with Lee Konitz, the importance of buying the scores, the purpose of etudes, and the responsibility of artists.

Songs

If you were in a Manhattan hotel 25 years ago, or a German castle recently, you may have heard Robin Meloy Goldsby tinkling the ivories, and not even known it. Her latest book, Piano Girl Playbook: Notes on a Musical Life, captures what it's like to play for all kinds of people in all kinds of places, and still find music at the heart of things. We talk about her storied life (played at Buckingham Palace? Check! Played for naked folks while wearing a concert gown? Done that!), the intentions of the composer, Mr. Rogers, and putting the work in.

Is Rich Bennett a producer, guitarist, composer, and music studio/school owner? Yes. Is he also Roman Angelos? YES. He makes music for underwater supermarkets, is a coffee and seltzer enthusiast, and enjoys the shifting of phrases and the art of the long fade.

Eric Biondo (aka Beyondo), is a behatted trumpet player, songwriter, and vocalist. Yes, we made up the word "behatted". We talk about song boats drifting by open channels, the many feelings about jazz, writing with whatever you've got in the moment, and whether or not Eric has a ghost living in his apartment. (My money is on YES).

Sonia de los Santos was born in Mexico with a smile on her face, so the story goes. Listening to her music, it's easy to believe! Her joy is infectious. In this episode we talk about the beauty of informal singing, the importance of saying "I'm here", the rise of family folk musicians such as Dan Zanes, and the sound a chipmunk makes.

Tony Malaby. Saxophonist. Teacher. Kung Fu Panda. Join us as we talk about Mexican food, NYC in the 1990s, falling into the waters of improvisation, and Ricardo Montalban.

It's a new year, and we are starting out by celebrating the large ensemble jazz arrangements of Alan Baylock! Full disclosure: Alan was my arranging TA at the University of North Texas, where he now runs the infamous 1:00 Lab Band. Lucky me! In this episode we discuss starting simple, what we learned in college, framing devices, and How To Gain Life Skills From Playing In A Big Band (this should totally be a college course, right?)

It's a special family-friendly holiday episode here at The Song Inside! Curl up by the fire with The Pop Up's Jason Rabinowitz, and listen to why kids are the best audience, what it's like finding out you've been nominated for a Grammy, falling backwards into Broadway, and finding the weird true spark that is YOU.

This week, meet Anna Dagmar! Like me, she's a pianist, singer, and songwriter, as well as a mom. We get into the momtalk a bit with regards to the music theater industry, and move on to discussing inviting our idols to the table, growing up with both spirituality and science, the new Beatles documentary, and leaning on love.

Composer Jannek and I meet for the very first time to talk about the unexpected surprises that come from being of service, the importance of mentorship, the experience of listening to electronica in Brooklyn warehouses, and dancing toward the sun.

Attention, hashtag duneheads! Songwriter Pete Galub and I have cast ourselves in our own biopics, and, spoiler alert, Pete has cast hottie Chalamet to play him. This movie will include accepting the different parts of ourselves, the power skill of empathy, the fifth dimension, and how to prep for Bar Mitzvah using classic rock. And maybe sandworms and stuff. Have a listen! 

Visit the beautiful decay of Coney Island with me and songwriter Carol Lipnik. In this chat, we walk through pulling song rabbits out of hats, the metaphors of roses, throwing out the instruction manual, and finding our inner clowns.

In this episode, film composer Paul Brill and I talk about the current landscape of film composing, the residue of design, the imagery of powerlines, and the unswerving punctuality of chance. 

In the first episode of this shorter "snack" series, I expand on a songwriting tip from my first podcast guest, Blake Lewis. The tidbit? Be your authentic self. Easy to say, harder to do! 

I'll give a little personal background, dive into why I like this songwriting snack, and give everyone some concrete homework to try. 

Buy me a mocha or leave me a note!

Debbie Deane is a neighbor of mine. More importantly, she has a new album out that will make you sing La Dee Da for days. We talk about school music committees, the importance of friends, telling our inner critics to take a hike, and living joyously!

Michael Harren, songwriter, teacher, and animal rights activist, sits down with me to discuss our analysts, the nature of cats, being OG podcasters (remember Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code??) and deflecting our inner saboteurs. 

Song Inside: Camp Edition! Bronx songwriter Jeremy Suarez and I met at summer camp this year, and directed teens together in a musical. I chatted with them in the staff lounge (aka barn loft) to talk about home recording, being our own biggest fans, creating new genres, and making people cry (in a good way).