The Doers Of Things

I attended a panel discussion at a networking event, The Objective, in Nashville in May of 2023 with the 50-plus-year entertainment lawyer and industry deal-maker Jim Zumwalt in attendance. To my luck, after meeting him after the panel and asking if I could interview him, he said yes, and on May 23, 2023, I drove out to the posh Brentwood neighborhood (where Dolly’s acreage butts up to his) to sit...

On April 14, 2023, I sat down in Nashville with the Founder & Executive Director of The Xtreme Tour (a faith-based music missionary), Ted Bruun. To this day, despite shortly after this conversation with Ted, I attended his organization’s networking event in Nashville, The Objective , and joined a West Coast leg of the tour in July 2023, I’m not really sure if the operation is 100% legit. What...

Something inside of me was worried that a big prank was being played on me when I went to knock on Bee Taylor’ s hotel room at AmericanaFest 2022. It being my first time to reach out to someone out of the blue to see if they would talk to me had me wrapped up in imposter syndrome, expecting the whole thing to fall apart. Instead, I was greeted by a gal who was similar to me in so many ways, and we...

September 15, 2022, I sat down with Jonathan Byrd on my cousin’s back porch in Nashville, Tennessee. Byrd was one of the first people I interviewed when I decided to turn my 100.1 FM KMXT radio show in Kodiak, Alaska , into an interview show. And maybe, just maybe, a podcast someday. Ever a teacher and a student, the songwriter, musician, mathematician, painter, and photographer breaks it down for...

I met Shanna In A Dress in a Zoom songwriting workshop with Jonathan Byrd in 2020. Fast forward two years, and I ended up with a radio show in Alaska that I spun into The Doers Of Things podcast. Fast forward about another six months, and Shanna and I were sitting down together in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 12, 2023. Some things have changed for Shanna In A Dress since then, like now she tea...

When I returned to Texas from Alaska with a radio show in the fall of 2022, I wanted to see if I could expand it to be more than just my music and, one step further, if I could turn it into a podcast by getting people to say yes to an interview. So I went to AmericanaFest in Nashville with my newly minted press credentials and talked to every single person who crossed my path. Pooch, aka Patrick D...

On January 8, 2023, I was posted up in a 1970s-themed Airbnb in Nashville, able to have people visit me to conduct interviews. Hannah Delynn was one of those people. We met at an art gallery outside of Nashville in February of 2022, just a few months before my trip to Alaska, where I ended up with a radio show on KMXT that inspired me to spin it off into The Doers Of Things . A year from our origi...

On January 10, 2023, I was posted up in Nashville, Tennessee, and able to have people come to me. Ryan Rado , painter/ Make It Perfect host/ontological coach, was one of those people. Still early on in the interviewing game, I got a little carried away with sharing my view rather than getting curious about learning my guest's. I share this episode to be transparent on the messy middle of growth. A...

April 15, 2025, I was welcomed into the studio of Americana A-lister, Oliver Wood , of The Wood Brothers . We shared tea and got deep on all the things behind the songs, like being present, consistent, and authentic. Producers : Nancy McGalliard Emma Laroche Head over to thedoersofthings.com in the " DONATE " tab to learn how you can become a producer of The Doers Of Things.

On October 7, 2023, I had a phone call with the drummer of The California Honeydrops while he was on the streets of Indianapolis before a gig. When you only have less than 30 minutes, you’ve gotta come prepared, and I think I took him a bit off guard with how much I already knew, but there’s always room to learn a bit more. Producers: Nancy McGalliard Emma Laroche Head over to thedoersofthings.com...

While in Nashville in October of 2023, I went to a California Honeydrops show and was able to talk to powerhouse frontman Lech Wierzynski about doing an interview. 5 months later, on March 31, 2024, Easter Sunday, I had the pleasure of having a Zoom conversation with the charismatic doer. We uncovered a secret, talked about holding onto your passion, the importance of dance, and shared a few laugh...

January 4, 2023, just 3 days after interviewing Vitor Wooten in Nashville, I got to interview his stage tech and long-time friend, Jonathan Morse . It is so special when guests invite me into their homes. It really allows for a conversation to flow instead of feeling too formal. Jonathan and I had a great time chatting about peeking behind the veil, following the rabbit trail, mind-altering epipha...

I had 3 interviews on February 28, 2024, outside of Nashville, Tn, and this one was my last of the day. I love when I get to talk with people in their homes, studios, or personal spaces because it gives me a better idea of who they are. This chat in the home of Trish Clark , costume designer, seamstress, and tailor for the stage and stars such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Wynonna Judd, was really...

On a rainy day, February 28, 2024, I drove from Nashville to Bell Buckle, Tennessee, to talk with renowned bronze sculptor Russ Faxon . He broadened our conversation by inviting Catrin Westh , whose creative mixed media collages hang on the walls of his gallery amongst his beautiful bronzes. The three of us sat down in the gallery to talk about how their art feeds their soul.  Head over to th...

February 28, 2024, was a busy day for me. I spoke with 3 people for the show in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and then on my way back to Nashville, I stopped in Murfreesboro for a 4th. Maggie Vaugh was my last Bell Buckle stop, and we talked about her knowing she wanted to be a writer since 3rd grade, songwriting for Loretta Lynn, being the Tennessee poet laureate since 1995, and how she encourages ever...

A few years prior to the opportunity to start this podcast, I had just gotten into listening to podcasts. Jackie Jolie was on one I followed, and her passion and wealth of knowledge inspired me to follow her on Instagram . On a trip that took me through where she was living in Covington, Louisiana, I reached out for an interview, and she obliged. So on April 19, 2023, we first met at a restaurant...

On Nov 7, 2023, in between sessions of nude modeling for an art workshop in Nashville, I got to sit down with the art studio Warehouse 521 owner, painter, nutritionist, and Baja Burrito proprietor, Jeanie Smith. Executive Producers: Jon Gustovson Head over to thedoersofthings.com in the " DONATE " tab to learn how you can become a producer of The Doers Of Things.

On November 8, 2023, I sat down in Nashville with music publishing admin Michele Tristan . We started off talking shop, her taste of the stage as a young musician, and then transitioned to her pivot into a life that makes her happy.  Head over to thedoersofthings.com in the " DONATE " tab to learn how you can become a producer of The Doers Of Things.

November 6, 2023, I found myself in the basement home studio of Nashville sound engineer Mike Tristan . We got into AI, his journey in sound, and how creating for the fun of it and the fellowship of collaboration is a necessary thing.  Head over to thedoersofthings.com in the " DONATE " tab to learn how you can become a producer of The Doers Of Things.

On October 27, 2023, I sat down with General Manager Mattson Rainer at the KNBT 92.1 FM radio station in New Braunfels, Texas. We talked about his journey from worker bee to station top dog, the transformation from top 40 to Americana, how radio stations play a vital role in their community, and how he’s raising his girls to be lovers of live music.  Associate Producers: Nancy McGalliard Head...

On March 29, 2023, I sat down in Nashville with Jeff Plankenhorn . I could have had an hour filled with music factoids and tidbits about the thing that is music with someone who started singing in church at 7 and playing guitar by 10, whose whole life has been making and sharing music. However, with this singer, songwriter, and slide player extraordinaire, we touched on topics ranging from sobriet...

On May 31, 2023, I pulled off the highway (en route to talk to show 18's guest), turned off the car, began to sweat, and had a Zoom call with Tommy Prine . It was 20 minutes of being a fly on the wall of what overnight success can look like. Associate Producers: Nancy McGalliard Head over to thedoersofthings.com in the " DONATE " tab to learn how you can become a producer of The Doers Of Things.

I'm still riding that string of interviews that started with show 15's guest. After catching Grace Askew at the house concert of show 17's guest in southern Alabama, I knew I wanted to have this 6th-generation Memphian, prolific songwriter, season 5 of The Voice finalist, and sober musician on the show. Join us at Grace's kitchen counter on May 31, 2023. Head over to thedoersofthings.com in the "...

I found my way to premier South Alabama house concert site, The Frog Pond , for the first time on January 22, 2023, to have this talk with its proprietor, Cathe Steele. Far more than just a house concert host, Cathe has been a blacksmith for the Kentucky Derby, a NOLS guide, a bartender and talent booker, and I'm sure more things than we could cover in our first sit down with each other. Head over...

I met Ferrill Gibbs through Abe Partridge. They made this really cool podcast about the music of serpent-handling churches of the south (it's called Alabama Astronaut Podcast ). Ferrill and I met up at the public library in College Station, Texas on October 23, 2022 to talk all about it. Still pretty new to the whole interviewing thing, I might have rambled on a bit, but I think I had a point. I h...