DittyTV's Insights | Music Interviews

Our guest this hour is New West recording artist and Nashville-based singer-songwriter, Aaron Lee Tasjan. Amy Wright had the pleasure of speaking with Aaron over Zoom about his new album Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!, which is available now and comes highly recommended by all of us here at Ditty. We’ve been fans of Aaron’s music and guitar playing for years, and especially his ability to bend genres whi...

Our guest today is Michael Brauer, a world-renowned, multi-Grammy award-winning sound engineer who’s worked with some of the most influential and successful artists in the world, ranging from Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Luther Vandross, and Paul McCartney, to John Mayer, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket and numerous others. Sam Shansky was able to catch up with Michael while he hunk...

Join Amy Wright as she talks with American Rock & Soul artist Maggie Rose. Rose is an Emmy award-winning songwriter and Nashville recording artist originally hailing from Potomac, Maryland. She has toured with Kelly Clarkson, Heart, Joan Jett, Sheryl Crow, and more. She has performed at the Grand Ole Opry over 75 times as well as Bonnaroo, CMA Music Fest, Bourbon and Beyond, AmericanaFest and the...

Our guest today is a founding member of the North Carolina-based band, Mipso. His name is Joseph Terrell, and he’s no stranger to DittyTV. He and the other members of Mipso visited our studios a couple of years ago to record a session for the DittyTV Concert Series. Joseph's on the line with Sam Shansky to discuss Mipso’s latest album – their 5th album together and first for Rounder Records. Let’s...

In this episode, you’ll hear from Ben Nichols, founding member and bandleader of Lucero, a Memphis-based Americana Rock group with over 20 years of experience. In this conversation, Ben chats with an old friend his, DittyTV host and fellow Memphis musician, Mark Edgar Stuart. They reminisce on a variety of topics, which we think you’ll enjoy, and they also dig in to the making of Lucero’s 10th stu...

In this episode of Insights, you'll be hearing from Nashville-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Lydia Luce. Lydia was known as the go-to strings session player in Nashville working with everyone from Dolly Parton to Eminem but is now stepping into the spotlight with her solo album Dark River. She’s a completely independent artist and, without the help of a label, has amassed milli...

Today on INSIGHTS we’ll hear from Raul Malo, founding member of The Mavericks, the GRAMMY Award-winning band behind albums like Music For All Occasions, Mono, and most recently En Español, the band’s first completely Spanish language album. Raul Malo stopped by to chat with Amy Wright about his life as a first-generation Cuban American, growing up playing in garage bands and dreaming of being a Ro...

We’ll hear from Woody Platt and Graham Sharp of the Steep Canyon Rangers; the GRAMMY Award-winning outfit behind albums like Nobody Knows You, Out in the Open, and most recently Arm in Arm, which is available now via Yep Roc Records. They’ve also collaborated quite a bit with comedian and banjo player, Steve Martin, on albums like Rare Bird Alert, and The Long-Awaited Album. Woody and Graham are j...

Hillman was the bassist and one of the original members of The Byrds, a band that advanced the development of country rock and Americana like none other; he was also a founding member of the “West Coast” version of The Flying Burrito Brothers, which he started in 1968 in Los Angeles with Gram Parsons. Chris is considered a true visionary and we’re so excited to have him on the show today. So, with...

In this episode, you’ll get to hear from Nashville-based Americana band, The Wild Feathers. Or a couple of its members at least. Sam Shansky caught up with Ricky Young and Joel King over Zoom to discuss The Wild Feathers new album, Medium Rarities, a really awesome collection of B-sides, covers, and other odds and ends that the guys worked up once the 2020 quarantine rendered touring a non-option....

Amy Wright spoke with Becky over video call to learn a little about her background and her current projects. Becky is 2-time Grammy award-winning songwriter and a 10-time International Bluegrass Music Association award winner. As a special treat, she performs a couple of tunes on guitar, fiddle, and banjo during the call, so don’t miss those. Without further ado, here’s Amy Wright in conversation...

Our Program Director Sam Shansky caught up with Tré over video call to discuss his album Caught it from the Rye, which is out now on Oh Boy Records. It’s a wholehearted musical experience with cryptic lyrics and existential folk snapshots that only an independent spirit like Tré could conjure. We think he’s an artist that you need to know, so we’re happy you’re here. Let’s listen in. See omnystudi...

Our guest this hour is the always spirited and always creative, Patty Smyth, who first made waves in the 1980s with the rock band Scandal, and who has since gone on to enjoy a successful career as a solo artist. One interesting note to make is that Patty was a huge star on MTV in its hay day, and DittyTV draws a lot of inspiration from those early MTV days, so it’s kind of a full-circle affair, wh...

Our Program Director Sam Shansky caught up with Arlo over video call while Arlo hung outside a tattoo shop near Cincinnati called Designs by Dana, where his drummer was getting some work done. Arlo’s been living in Cincinnati for 41 years. He grew up in the church, drifted into the punk rock scene, but later developed into a singer-songwriter. In this talk, Sam and Arlo discuss his 2020 LP release...

Our guest this hour is Brandy Clark, the inspired and insightful singer-songwriter from Morton, Washington who's been nominated for 8 Grammy awards and who's collaborated with Dwight Yoakam, Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile and Kacey Musgraves, just to name a few. Today, she chats with Amy Wright about how she’s feeling to be currently nominated for two Grammy Awards, BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE for...

Today, you’ll be hearing from Amy Wright as she talks in-depth with Ray Benson, the truly iconic front man and co-founder of the Western Swing and Country Music outfit, Asleep at the Wheel, a band of which about 90 people have been part of at some point since 1969. But Ray’s been the balanced center of the Wheel, so to speak, for over 50 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Joe Firstman of the Nashville-based band Cordovas is one of the most interesting cats around with all sorts of great stories. He has important messages to share with the world and does so in a very intuitive way. Cordovas recently put out a record called Destiny Hotel, on ATO Records, and you can find your very own copy by visiting Cordovasband.com. Please enjoy this conversation between Joe and D...

Our guest this hour is Suzanne Santo. Suzanne’s a Los Angeles-based songwriter best known as one half of the duo, Honeyhoney, but whose acclaimed solo work and collaborations with artists like Gary Clark Jr. are earning her fans far and wide. And maybe you’re already one of those fans since you chose this episode, but if not, we're glad you’re here cause Suzanne is an artist you need to know. So w...

Tammy Rogers is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. In addition to releasing three albums on the Dead Reckoning Records label, she is also a founding member of the Grammy Award winning bluegrass group The SteelDrivers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Tatiana Z takes Waylon back to his childhood: growing up around country royalty, playing Jerry Lee Lewis in Walk the Line, and his newest album, Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caleb Caudle sits down with Amy Wright to discuss his newest album, Better Hurry Up. He even plays a few acoustic tunes! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Wright talks with Billy Strings, one of the best bluegrass guitarists on the scene right now. They talk about his love for fishing, vintage cars, and of course, music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Don McLean, the New York-born singer-songwriter who released his debut album, Tapestry, in the early1970s, and whose song"American Pie" spent four weeks on the Billboard charts and five decades in the minds of people all over the globe, eventually earning entry into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2017. A very big honor. McLean fell in love with folk and e...

Hayes Carll sits down with Amy Wright to discuss his newest album, Alone Together Sessions. They also talk about the future of touring post COVID, and learning more about recording while in quarantine. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ray Wylie sits down with host Amy Wright to discuss his newest album Co-Starring. The album features an all-star line-up like Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Elizabeth Cook, Larkin Poe, Don Was, and many more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices