Morse Code Podcast with Korby Lenker

Korby talks with journalist and author Jordan Ritter Conn about his new book American Men , interviewing 50+ men about masculinity, the four men whose stories made the book (Ryan, Gideon, Joseph, Nate), the process of getting men to be vulnerable, the permission structure concept, his first day at UC Berkeley journalism school, the cancer scare he hoped would get him out, the notepad as superpower...

Tonight's the thing. 100 episodes of the Morse Code Podcast, celebrated at The 5 Spot in East Nashville. 6 p.m. Guests from the show - Bre Kennedy , Andi Marie Tillman , Tyler Merritt , Leah Blevins , Tim Easton , Ryan Rado , Jessica Willis Fisher , Paul McDonald , Packy Lundholm , Randa Newman, Joy Todd, and me - playing songs, an author interview, a film screening, live painting, more. Come join...

Tabitha Meeks moved to Nashville from West Palm Beach with a folk band and a voice she’d been told five or six times wasn’t strong enough. The band didn’t last. One of her first Nashville experiences was getting fired as a backup singer 30 minutes into rehearsal. The guy who fired her said she’d have plenty of time for opportunities like this — she was, what, 21, 22? She was 28. That could have be...

Korby talks with Chris Capozzoli — musician, meme-maker, and the man behind Phony Rice Unit — about his Instagram bluegrass memes, the spirit animal dogs carousel, the Harris Teeter years, Vanderbilt, a history degree he can't use, jazz piano and Randy Newman , getting fired from ASCAP , the escape fire metaphor from Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire , Hillsborough Village as a lost Greenwich Vi...

Korby talks with singer-songwriter Tim Easton about his new album fIREHORSE , his sister Susan Easton 's painting that inspired the record, the Chinese zodiac Year of the Fire Horse, busking in Europe, getting a record deal with New West, a publishing deal with Madonna 's Maverick Music, recording with members of Wilco, tours with Lucinda Williams and John Hiatt, the hand-painted vinyl that got hi...

Korby talks with Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll about his 10th record We're Only Human , writing intentionally for an album as a piece for the first time, the two-phase creative process of free creation and editing, catching lightning bolts vs. honing craft, the monkey mind, journaling, The Artist's Way morning pages, growing up a latchkey kid in The Woodlands, the Kenny Rogers greatest hits...

The Brook and the Bluff members Joseph Settine and Alec Bolton came over to talk about Werewolf , their new record - and a conscious departure from the studio experimentation of their last few releases. After years of working with producer Micah Tawlks - chasing sounds, layering tracks, driving a mobile studio into the mountains of north Georgia - they went back to the room. Five guys plugged in,...

Korby talks with Canadian singer-songwriter Donovan Woods about his new album Squander Your Gifts , the deliberate restraint in his songwriting, growing up around reticent men, the reluctant narrator, words-first writing process, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan , leaving small-town Ontario to be an actor in Toronto, the Canadian grant system, why he won't learn production or improve at guitar, the specia...

Korby talks with Travis Book and Andy Hall of The Infamous Stringdusters about their 20-year history, the new 20-song album, the shift from searching to coming home in their sound, being elder statesmen of progressive bluegrass, IBMA and the bluegrass support system, the democratic process of running a five-person band, self-promotion, the business side of music, the Black Keys documentary, basic...

Korby Lenker talks with singer-songwriter and Zac Brown Band member Caroline Jones about her new album Good Omen , growing up in Connecticut and discovering country music at the Bluebird, the tension between privilege and credibility, the craft of collaboration, Nashville session players, finding her co-writing tribe, the pursuit of instrumental mastery, flat-picking, Zac Brown as a "people collec...

Korby talks with singer-songwriter Bre Kennedy about her new album The Alchemist , nearly quitting music, caregiving for her grandmother, reconnecting with her estranged mother, the song she wrote with Lori McKenna that started it all, Brandi Carlile's influence, letting go of metrics, and what it means to choose light when the industry won't choose it for you. Bre performs "Before I Have a Daught...

Craig Shelburne is a Nashville-based music journalist, author, and festival producer. He grew up in rural Nebraska, moved to Nashville in 1994, and spent 13 years at CMT where he launched the influential roots music blog CMT Edge. He's written for Rolling Stone, the Bluegrass Situation, MusicRow, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and many other outlets. Craig currently serves as festival...

For anyone who’s spent time around Nashville music over the last few decades, rocker Will Hoge is a familiar and trusted presence. He’s one of those artists whose name carries weight not because of hype, but because of longevity—someone who’s written great songs, toured relentlessly, survived multiple versions of the industry, and earned deep respect from musicians and listeners alike. Even if you...

Packy Lundholm joins Korby Lenker for a deep musical conversation about taste, restraint, and how meaningful records actually get made. Korby first took notice of Packy after seeing him open for Phil Cook at The Blue Room in Nashville—an immediately clarifying moment that revealed both his musical depth and quiet authority on the instrument. The conversation then turns to What It Takes , Korby’s f...

In this week’s episode of The Morse Code Podcast , host Korby Lenker sits down with drummer, bandleader, and musical connector Jerry Pentecost . Known for his years with Old Crow Medicine Show and as well as touring with Bob Dylan , Jerry shares the unexpected path that led him from cover gigs on Printer’s Alley to the biggest stages in American music. This conversation explores the tension betwee...

In this episode of The Morse Code Podcast , Korby Lenker sits down with Ron Pope for a wide-ranging conversation about longevity, independence, and what it actually takes to build a sustainable creative life. Ron reflects on his early success releasing music online, the lessons learned from major-label detours, and how he and his wife Blair ultimately rebuilt their career on their own terms. The c...

Why does music move us — and why do we so often stop listening? On this episode of The Morse Code Podcast , Korby sits down with journalist, musician, and Musicality for Modern Humans author Craig Havighurst to talk about the art of deep listening: how attention, empathy, and vulnerability shape not just how we hear music, but how we live. They explore the decline of music education, the rise of a...

I think one of the reasons I started this podcast was to talk to people like Stacie Huckeba . If you’ve been around the East Nashville creative scene for any length of time, you’ve seen her work — photos of Dolly Parton, Todd Snider , Elizabeth Cook , Jason Isbell , and countless others. What you may not know is that Stacie came into this line of work late , without a road map, and made a career o...

Allen Thompson joins Korby Lenker on The Morse Code Podcast for a conversation about the winding road of making music on your own terms. The two talk about Allen’s early years in East Nashville, the late great Todd Snider ’s lasting influence, and what it takes to stay true to yourself as an artist—even when it doesn’t pay. The episode closes with a soulful live performance of “Foolish and Blue,”...

On this week’s episode of The Morse Code Podcast , host Korby Lenker sits down with genre-bending songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan for a wide-ranging conversation about art, identity, and staying weird in a world that wants to put you in a box. They talk about the challenges of navigating the music industry without losing your creative center, the unexpected gift of not fitting in, and how authenticity...

I didn’t know much about Jessica Willis Fisher before she came over to the studio. I knew she was part of the family band The Willis Clan , and I knew something bad had happened — but I didn’t know the shape of it. Or what she’d done with the pieces. Turns out, she’s one of the most quietly courageous people I’ve ever sat across from. In this episode of The Morse Code Podcast , Jessica and I talk...

One thing I’ve noticed about lifers — artists who stay in the game past the shiny early years — is that they tend to carry this quiet steadiness. Northeat based singer-songwriter and band leader Ryan Montbleau is one of those people. He’s been making music professionally for over two decades, without a label, without a gimmick, and without (as he puts it) a real “backup plan.” Just the work, the g...

There’s a kind of artist who gets better the more they get broken open. Who wears the hard stuff — the heartbreak, the hangups, the spiritual confusion — like a second layer of skin. Liam St. John is one of those artists. You may have come across him recently via his viral single Dipped in Bleach , or maybe from his powerhouse audition on The Voice a few years back. But if you’re just tuning in no...

There’s something I love about artists who don’t wait for permission. The ones who carry a crowbar so they can pry the tiny crack into a opening big enough to strut though. Judy Blank is one of those crowbar carryin types. Her latest ablum, “Big Mood” came out on tastemaker label Rounder Records this September. She grew up in the Netherlands, obsessed with American music — gospel, folk, Laurel Can...

This conversation, like Sloe Jack himself, is going to offend some of you. In a little over 6 months the 23 year-old Australian-born, Nashville-based artist has amassed a huge following on Social Media, mostly for his outspoken takes on all the hot button social issues. Under the rubric of, as he describes it, “Common Sense”, Jack has thrown himself against the liberal monolith that is the contemp...