The Unstarving Musician

Alyssa Trahan is the featured artist in this Rewind episode. What's a Rewind episode? It's a previously published episode, one of my favorites and merits re-publishing. I also give these episodes a fresh edit, which means you will find it even more enjoyable from a listening perspective. Nashville based singer songwriter Alyssa Trahan first appeared in episode 18 (2017), which is remarkable becaus...

New York City based singer and multi-instrumentalist Kayana recently dropped a new single and has more on the way. Kayana is an emerging music artist who fuses pop, R&B and afro-beat with trap-like production style. The music of her forthcoming album delve into personal matters of family, romance and self acceptance.  We talk about her latest single, drip release strategy, her manager, finding a p...

My guest is singer, songwriter, producer Sam J Garfield. He has a new self-produced single out called "Monster." Sam is an actor turned sound engineer and music producer. He's now leaning into songwriting and releasing his own music.   Sam is taking a break from a very long stretch of working nonstop. Apparently he was working so to an extent that people around him were concerned. But Sam's young,...

JJ Lovegrove  refers to herself as the dark dream pop sidekick to Minus Cube. The Nottingham, England-based songwriter has a new collaboration with Minus Cube, which dropped very recently. You can check it out on Bandcamp and other music platforms.   The new album is titled "The Lines We Leave Behind" and is Lovegrove's first full-length album. She previously released a series of singles and the E...

Worth Weaver is a guitarist for the Wilmington, North Carolina-based rock band alltheprettythings . Worth is also a producer and an experienced touring guitarist, working with the bands He Is Legend and Thousand Foot Krutch. He loves music and he loves music production. He in fact lives and breathes music. When he's not producing, recording, and playing, he works sound gear at the music company Mo...

David Lane teaches piano, composition, and music theory. He's composed over 100 concert works, and several films, and has been the arranger for several dozen works. David is scheduled to serve as Vice President of the Winston-Salem Piano Teachers Association starting in the summer of 2023 and currently is the Chair of Composition and Theory for the North Carolina Music Teachers Association. As an...

Minus Cube is a songwriter and studio engineer. He's had a busy year in 2023 mixing and producing five singles and an album. Much of that work was in collaboration with friend and fellow music artist JJ Lovegrove. Minus Cube and I had a long and pleasant conversation, covering his busy year, capturing studio processes, maintaining a sense of enjoyment in music, the occasional struggle to stay exci...

My guest Max Frye fronts the band Lost Hearts. He and his bandmates have a pop sensibility with a big rock sound. Max comes across as humble and grounded, possibly because he's worked with many musicians who are more experienced than himself. This is an experience we share.   Lost Hearts formed earlier this year and thus consider themselves a very new band. At their core, the band members are work...

Brian Wolff is a five-time guest of The Unstarving Musician podcast. Brian has also appeared in episodes 55, 119, 192, and 197.  His band, Brian Wolff & The Howlers, has a new EP called  The Golden Age . Wolff and his band draw on influences from classic rock, 90's alternative, and blues. His music features big guitars, pop rhythms, and introspective lyrics.   In this conversation, we talk about ...

Grant Tilbury Jaiswal is Head of Artist Success at  Openstage . He's formerly the Artist Relations and A&R guy with Trackd, the collaboration platform that lets musicians record, collaborate and share their musical creations, all from an iOS device.     Openstage helps artists, labels, and music managers efficiently develop and scale their core audience and business, giving artists tools and insig...

Christine Smith is a classically trained pianist with a varied career history. She's done composition, film score, cover bands, teaching, and anything else you can think of doing as a good piano player/musician. She co-founded the entertainment and informational content development company called Frosted Lens. Before that, Christine was the Sound & Music Director/Composer-in-Residence for RPR Stud...

Frank Salazar is the creative mind and talent behind a project called  Spigots . He is a long-time friend and former bandmate from my days in Dallas-Fort Worth. The friendship is still going strong, despite my many relocations. He's been playing guitar for at least as long as I've been playing drums (forever).   Frank has worked as a full-time gigging musician, studio engineer, and sound designer....

My guest  Ariane Paras is a coach for music artists and industry professionals. After working in the music business for 15 years, and as a result of a lot of stress, late nights (and way too many hangovers), Ariane says she is very aware of the realities of the industry behind the scenes. Witnessing the work-hard/party-hard lifestyle and watching so many artists and colleagues struggle or burnout,...

Alicia Van Sant, founding member and lead singer of The Wag , is my guest for this episode. Alicia's bandmate Joshua Van Ness introduced us. Joshua was featured in episodes 257 and 134. Alicia and I had a great time talking. She loves to laugh and comes across as a genuinly pleasant and fine human being. The Wag has been going over 20 years, so cheers to Alicia and The Wag! These days, they have t...

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Cranston Dean is my guest for this episode. Cranston is a New Jersey native whose music draws from Americana, folk, jazz, country, blues, pop, and soul. He sees songwriting and performing as a way to translate and transform the human condition into beautiful works of art. Cranston's solo tours have taken him throughout the Mid-Atlantic to Nashville and n...

Julieta Heredia is a founding member and guitarist of Fin del Mundo. The band is from Buenos Aires, with roots in the southernmost region of Patagonia. The music of Fin del Mundo uses melodies, lyrics, and instrumental passages to combine indie sounds with nuances of emotional post-rock. Their first songs were released in April 2020 and became the soundtrack for their days in isolation (the pandem...

My guest in this episode is alternative/nu-punk artist Krosst Out. His latest song,  This   The New Shit,  drops on May 12th, 2023. The single is the first of many to come from rap-rocker Krosst Out with the announcement of his forthcoming album  I Had A Dream I Didn't Have Eyes . The first time we spoke was in March 2018, when Krosst Out had recently released his first album. That conversation wa...

Guitarist, composer, and recording artist  David Pedrick has earned accolades from critics and audiences alike for his work in recording and performance. David has played and recorded jazz, classical, rock, ambient, and more. His live performance credits also run the gamut from jazz clubs to concert halls. He has also performed for guitar societies, concert series, musical theater productions, and...

Kelda Williams is known professionally as Keldamuzik (aka Diva). She is an American music artist, actress, TV host, and producer. Born in the Bay Area of California, she is known for her hit singles  Queen for A Night  and  Thirsty.  Both songs   are on her 4th studio album, Diva TV (2010).   After honing her craft as a music artist, Kelda expanded her brand into different areas of the entertainme...

My guest for this episode is John Templeman of Jib Machine Records . His label focuses mainly on rock but started as a punk label and has featured metal acts. John is a multi-instrumentalist musician and includes some of his work among the Jib Machine roster.  John started Jib Machine Records in 2004. The label has released over 60 records, initially focused on local talent in and around Cleveland...

Welcome to another rewind episode of the Unstarving Musician. What is a rewind episode? It is an abridged version of a prior episode, intended to hone in on something I found particularly interesting and worthy of repackaging. This rewind features Daniel Stidham of Raid The Quarry , a modern rock band out of Raleigh, NC.  Daniel Stidham first appeared on the Unstarving Musician in May of 2019. As...

This rewind episode features author and music journalist Zack O'Malley Greenburg . What is a rewind episode? It is an abridged version of a prior episode, intended to hone in on something I found particularly interesting and worthy of repackaging. This rewind comes from episode 226 of the podcast. Zack is also the featured guest of episode 149. He writes a great deal about the music business withi...

Joshua Van Ness first appeared on the Unstarving Musician in episode 134. He is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, drummer and native of New Jersey. Joshua has performed with many bands and as a solo artist, but for the last eight years he has been a member of The Wag .    Joshua has strong sentiment for The Wag. The band's music is very upbeat and positive, which Joshua says he had a hard time with...

Carter Ray is described as a cinematic raconteur, colorful,  charismatic, and entertaining. He recently released a single called Forever Plus One (Feb. 10, 2023), which is a cross-genre, EDM inspired ballad, a declaration of unity to span a lifetime.   In 2014, Carter began documenting his transition from female to male, on the internet, in hopes of raising awareness and to help spread a message o...

My guest for this episode is Shilpa Ananth . Shilpa is an Indian vocalist, songwriter, and performing artist based between the US and the UAE.  Her sound fuses the dreamy landscapes of South India with Soul, Jazz, and Electronic influences. Shilpa brings together 3 of the oldest Indian languages - Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi - with English, creating a sound that transcends borders and cultures. Af...