What Am I Making Podcast

David Nance grew up in the quiet confines of Grand Island, Nebraska, a lonely little spot on the Great Plains that offered little in the way of cultural excitement, save for a few kids sporadically staging punk shows at makeshift venues around town. These shows offered a glimpse of the vast cultural world that might exist beyond the borders of Grand Island. Eventually, Nance relocated to Omaha whe...

After nearly 40 years, 13 full length albums, and millions of miles of touring, it’s fair to call Teenage Fanclub a legendary band. Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in the waning days of the 1980s, The Fannies - as their fans affectionately call them - have forged a sound built upon chiming guitars, jangly hooks, and resplendent three part harmonies. In 1991, the band’s second album, Bandwagonesque was...

Growing up in Bordeaux, France at the crack of the millennium, Theo Lawrence was inundated with the shiny pop music of the era. Eschewing the sounds of the moment, Lawrence found himself entranced with the golden era of American Country Music from the 1950s and 60s, as well as the haunting sounds of first wave rock and roll. Theo managed to find new meaning in those old songs and stories. Since 20...

Mary Gauthier sees herself as a true troubadour; a solo artist traveling the country, traipsing from town to town with her satchel filled with songs and stories. Gauthier’s songs are steeped in lived experience, granting her a sort of faith in humanity. “I think deep faith comes from lived experience, more than religion,” Mary says. “Remember, I’m 37 years sober now. I’ve watched tens of thousands...

Raised on the bars and backroads of Beaumont, Texas, recording artist and songwriter Pug Johnson’s mission is simple: be a gateway. He wants listeners who think they don’t like country music to find him, feel something, and go digging into the long, rich history the genre was built on. On his third full‑length, From a Beaumont Bar , Johnson doesn’t soften the past so much as define it, turning the...

Like so many children of his generation, Mike Connell fell in love with rock and roll the moment that he saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Growing up in Raleigh, NC and Georgia during the 1960s and 70s, Mike was obsessed with the jangling cacophony of the British Invasion. In addition to the Beatles, Mike and his brother David, tore through the catalogs of The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks...

Nicole Atkins grew up on the Jersey shore in a family that her own father described as “trash with cash”. While her rowdy and athletic family were not musical, they loved the nightlife and knew how to throw a party. Nicole was never an adept athlete, instead gravitating towards music and the arts, with her family remaining supportive from the beginning of her artistic journey. Neptune City , Atkin...

Growing up in the wilds of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Jeremy Porter knew that he needed to get where the action was. That meant getting out and getting south to a city like Milwaukee, Chicago, or Detroit where music, culture, and art were readily available. After high school and a year at Northern Michigan University, Porter decamped for the Detroit area where he hoped to continue his education,...

The Knife, The Needle , the debut album from Elanor Moss was initially recorded in New York City, but Moss felt haunted by a different, quieter version of the record within her own mind. She felt those recordings were “too rollicking” and were lacking in weirdness and Englishness. Eventually, Moss scrapped the sessions and decided to begin anew, decamping to a cabin in the Scottish Highlands with...

“Sometimes life gets so dark, it starts to feel like a bad trip,” at least that’s how Lily Seabird reflects on the seasons that led to the making of her new record, Lightspheres on Their Way . Seabird’s third record in as many years deals in mortality and reverence for the innately human, piecing her troubadour-ish folk to a grungy rock sentimentality. Born from a period of reckoning and renewal,...

No Depression magazine was first launched by Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock in 1995 as a response to the burgeoning alt-country movement happening within American music. The magazine took its name from a Carter Family tune that had been covered by seminal alt-country act Uncle Tupelo on their first LP. For the last three decades, No Depression has been at the vanguard of American roots music, co...

Aaron Lee Tasjan was experiencing the worst bout of imposter syndrome of his career when he sat down and wrote Todd Snider a vulnerable email asking for advice. Tasjan, despite writing and recording some of the most astute Americana rock songs of the last decade and being nominated for a Grammy, just didn’t see a future for an independent singer, songwriter, and guitarist like himself. Snider read...

Growing up just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, Arlo McKinley soaked up a hardcore midwestern outlook on the world; one filled with hard work, humble hopes, and good manners. The McKinley family instilled a deep love of country music in young Arlo. The church choir provided some early singing lessons, and eventually McKinley picked up a guitar and slowly learned to pen his own songs. As Arlo develope...

Charlotte Cornfield was raised amidst culture, music, and art in Toronto. Born to a pair of artistically inclined parents, Charlotte was immersed with classical, jazz, and folk albums from birth. She fell in love early with Joni Mitchell, and the deeply involved stories that lay beneath Mitchell’s gorgeous voice. Eventually, Charlotte began playing and writing her own songs while also exploring th...

Tommy Nickoloff never set out to be a filmmaker. Growing up in the narrow world of Lorain, Ohio just outside of Cleveland, the arts were something other people did in other places. In Lorain, you worked, you took care of your family, and you did what was expected. Nickoloff’s childhood friend Jason Molina refused to accept that path for himself. From the get go, Nickoloff remembers Molina as somet...

Kevin Kinney has been singing for himself for more than forty years now. You are welcome to sit and listen, but Kevin will still be singing songs, even if no one else is there to hear them. Kinney first formed Drivin’ & Cryin in the mid-1980s, on a foundation of jangle, grit, and honest storytelling. Kevin describes the band as a “quasi political self help garage rock band.” Growing up in Milwauke...

Kerry Alexander takes full advantage of being out on the road as a touring musician. Despite nearly fifteen years touring in her band, Bad Bad Hats , Alexander is still always on the lookout for the next grand adventure, or seeking out a meal worth remembering. Alexander and her bandmates see touring not just as an opportunity to see America, but as a chance to genuinely experience this country an...

As Laura Veirs set out to make her new album, Temple Songs , she committed to the idea of making a record with no masters. She chose not to use a producer and opted to play and record all of the instruments in her home studio, The Temple Of Bloom. Unsure if she had the chops or the technical acumen to pull off a full record of songs completely by herself, Veirs pieced Temple Songs together one tak...

Wayne White knew he had an artistic gift at a very early age. By the time he was in first grade, White had begun making drawings of The Beatles and selling them to kids for a portion of their lunch money. At six years old, Wayne White had made his first dollar in the art world, and in many ways he never looked back. While Wayne was certainly blessed with innate talent, growing up in rural Tennesse...

Andrew Sa grew up under the spectre of country music. Growing up in Fremont, California, some of Sa’s most intense childhood memories revolve around the family crammed into his father’s F150 pickup listening to Top 40 country radio allowing him to soak up the likes of Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton. Sa’s grandparents kept a collection of cassette tapes at their home, and Andrew always found himsel...

Johanna Samuels’ terrific new album, Sorry, Kid was anything but a straightforward endeavor. After recording and then scrapping eight songs, Samuels considered walking away entirely. Filled with frustration and uncertainty, Johanna attended a New Year’s Eve singalong at the home of producer Jonathan Rado and his wife Jackie. Between piano renditions of Ben Kweller tunes, the idea of recording toge...

John Darnielle never set out to be an indie rock icon. Long before his band, The Mountain Goats were a household name in indie rock circles, Darnielle was an unlicensed nurse working in various psychiatric wards in his home state of California. While working full time, Darnielle also pursued a bachelor’s degree at Pitzer College. Throughout his studies and nursing work, Darnielle also managed to c...

Thomm Jutz did not make his way to Nashville along the usual path. Growing up in the Black Forest of West Germany, an eleven year old Thomm saw American country star Bobby Bare on TV and instantly began a lifelong love affair with country and American roots music. Jutz gradually mastered the guitar and even began to pen his own songs, always dreaming of a move to America. In 2003, Jutz entered and...

Kyle Thomas is a musical lifer. Best known to audiences under the moniker King Tuff , Thomas first heard the siren call of rock and roll as a young child when he was given his first record player. That simple gift was a sort of rosetta stone moment for Kyle that led to an existence fueled by the power of rock and roll. Growing up in Brattleboro, Vermont, Thomas began playing in bands at a very ear...

Dorothy Parker was one of America’s greatest wits, and one of its finest writers. Born into privilege, Parker lived a life of contrasts. Her scathing wit and razor sharp humor made her famous, but that quick tongue shielded a low self-esteem. At the height of her powers, Parker found herself the de facto leader of the famous Algonquin Round Table, a weekly collection of intellectuals and writers a...