Musings of the Artist: (Honest) Conversations with Montse Andrée

Krista Tippett is the creator and host of On Being and a New York Times bestselling author. She radiates wisdom and generosity and is one of the wisest voices of our time. In 2014, President Obama awarded Krista the National Humanities Medal at the White House for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence.” In this conversation, we dive into the deeper meaning of the words “beaut...

Zac Clark is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville. After seven years traveling the world as a member of Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Zac is leaving the band and heading out on his own with new music on the way. While co-writing on each Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness record, Zac released two solo records, 2015's "I Am a Guest" and 2012's "Young Volcanoes."  His se...

Ben Moon is a filmmaker, photographer and author based on the Oregon coast. His beautifully vulnerable memoir "Denali: A Man, a Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime" will be released on Penguin Books in January 2020. Ben has inspired countless people with his photography for Patagonia, impactful portrait series, and the short film "Denali". His new memoir is a moving account of Ben’s journey with...

Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet and theologian based in Ireland. He is the author of a number of books including a gorgeous memoir called In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World . Themes of loneliness, belonging, language, and the power of storytelling are laced throughout his work, and we unpack these topics, and much more in this conversation.  If you enjoy this episode, I’d highly recommend readi...

E. J. Koh is a poet, author and translator based in Seattle, WA. Her book of poetry is called A Lesser Love , and her memoir The Magical Language of Others is forthcoming this January. I had the pleasure of sitting down with E.J. in her home recently, where we discussed everything from memoir writing, to inter-generational trauma, to her “Love Letter” project which is all about her mission to writ...

Alex Hwang is a singer and songwriter for the Los Angeles based band Run River North . In this conversation, we touch on growing up bi-culturally and Alex speaks on learning how to find ways to talk about his Korean culture. He also talks about his faith, how finding a routine in yoga helps him battle anxiety, about his love of reading and getting lost in menial tasks. He also shares the most touc...

Sam Lamott is the creator of the Hello Humans website and How To Human podcast. If you like this podcast you should definitely check his out as well! He’s had many wonderful guests including Brené Brown, Byron Katie and his mom Anne Lamott. In this conversation, we get deep real fast. I love that Sam speaks so openly and honestly about his story. He talks about being the sensitive kid who didn’t f...

Danya Kukafka is the bestselling author of the novel Girl in Snow and is currently at work on another book. In this episode we talk a lot about writing, and the whole process of publishing a book. We dive into the differences between writing long form fiction vs. non-fiction, what drew her towards fiction in particular, and she shares how her first published novel came to be. Some other themes we...

Nicholas Petricca is the lead singer of pop-rock band WALK THE MOON and is also an incredibly thoughtful, deep soul as you’ll hear in this episode! In this conversation, we dive deep and talk about art and expression - as he says “we’re either expressing or suppressing”. He speaks on how being a touring musician is like living multiple lives, his greatest teachers, and we unpack anxiety and learni...

Natalie Stovall is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, from Nashville, TN. She’s also an old friend of mine as we met years ago in college. Natalie has been playing on a stage almost her entire life and made her Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 12. She has performed everywhere from the White House to The Oprah Show and more recently was a contestant on The Voice . Natalie tells us about her ti...

Holly Miranda is a singer-songwriter who grew up Detroit but left home at 16 to pursue music. We speak on forgiveness, inter-generational friendships, healing through singing, grief, Ibiza, chosen family, moving through feelings of not belonging, stage fright, how to protect yourself from negative energy and more. Holly has an incredibly powerful story and her resilience and depth continues to ins...

A special episode featuring sneak peeks of the songs on Heather Maloney's upcoming album "Soil In The Sky". Heather speaks openly and honestly about the stories behind these songs. For more info on the album visit heathermaloney.com This episode was produced by Aaron Moring. Theme song by Heather Maloney (!).

Pico Iyer is a travel writer who has been to over 80 countries, the best-selling author of many books, and he has given TED talks that have reached millions. More importantly, he is one of the most genuine, generous, kind-hearted people I have ever come across. I had the honor of sitting down with him recently in Santa Barbara, California. It was one of the most special conversations of my life, a...

Melissa Messer is an American realist oil painter based in Seattle, WA. I got a chance to sit down with Melissa in her beautiful studio last week. We were surrounded by her paintings, there was tea, some cat meows in the background... and it was just perfect. We had a wide-ranging conversation and cover a lot of topics dear to my heart - including art and vulnerability. The gifts and challenges of...

Katie Jayne Earl is part of the Los Angeles band The Mowgli’s. She’s also a fierce advocate and does so much good in this world. I’ve been lucky to know Katie for a number of years now and have seen that first hand. This conversation was both fun and deep. Katie speaks on how grieving holds value. On why it’s important to her to use her platform to do something that’s greater than herself. She ref...

Aran Goyoaga is a cookbook author, photographer and creator of Cannelle et Vanille. Everything that Aran touches holds so much beauty – her photos, her food, her words. One of the things that makes Aran so special is her genuine care and honesty. She isn’t afraid to talk about the messy parts of being human, including as she says her “shadow side.” We go deep in our conversation and talk about eve...

Jeffrey Martin is an internationally touring singer-songwriter based in Portland, OR. Mick Flannery is an award-winning singer-songwriter from Ireland. These two share a deep appreciation for each other, many similarities, and a tour van occasionally. It was great to sit down with them while they were on tour recently and catch a glimpse into their friendship and hear their unique stories. Jeffrey...

Rachel Demy is a music photographer who honed her craft while on the road with various rock bands over 10+ years as a tour manager. She’s from Portland, OR and now based in Seattle. Our wide-ranging conversation takes us everywhere from panic attacks, to the romance (and heartbreak) of friendships, to taking leaps of faith by following your instincts, to learning how to live in the grey. This is o...

Peter Mulvey is a folk singer-songwriter and all around wonderful human. He is a deeply curious person who loves poetry, so I already knew we’d be fast friends and have a lot to talk about! We got a chance to sit down together in San Francisco, and we cover a lot of ground during this conversation. He tells us about a time he was living alone in an empty house in a little town, and the profound en...

In this episode, I’m talking to my good friends Daniel Ellsworth and Beth Mathews. Beth is a graphic designer but also spends her time working on many impactful social justice projects, including The Mom Bag , a non-profit she started to help refugee mothers. Daniel is a musician in the band Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes. We touch on so many topics throughout this conversation - everythin...

Meera Lee Patel is an illustrator and writer, whose work is focused on mental health and helping people feel more connected to themselves. She is the author of My Friend Fear: Finding Magic in the Unknown , and two beautiful journals: Made Out of Stars, and Start Where You Are . In this episode, we chat about pushing through fear, and the freedom that comes from both being wholly yourself and lear...

Emily Katz of Modern Macramé is an artist (in many forms!) based in Portland, OR. This conversation is woven with so many nuggets of wisdom from Emily. She tells us about her beautiful creative story, and I really loved how she calls out that even though on the outside it might look like everything “just happened” and fell into her lap, that while yes there was a kismet magic to her story, that i...

Griff Goldsmith is a Los Angeles-based musician in the band Dawes. In this episode, we chat about his life as a touring musician, and his love of books and dogs. He shares how introspection and mindfulness help him get through moments of stress or unease. We also talk a lot about the mind-body connection and how being mentally unhealthy can manifest itself into the body. He tells his own story abo...

Misty Boyce is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is part of the band Lord Huron and has an incredible solo career to boot! Her latest album is called "Get Lost" and touches on the hard stuff in life including tragedy and loss, depression, and what can be the emptiness of fame. In addition to her solo career, Misty has performed and toured with many notable artists inclu...

Sara Forte is the creator of the award winning food blog Sprouted Kitchen, as well as the author of two cookbooks - James Beard nominee Sprouted Kitchen and Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon. She is based in Southern California. I first stumbled onto her blog some years ago and before I even tried any of her recipes I fell in love with her writing, and the way she wrote so truthfully about life stuff....