SONG DIVING - An American Songwriter Podcast

We go Song Diving with Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Judy Collins.We get into the stories behind songs like “Both Sides Now,” “Suzanne,” “Since You’ve Asked,” “My Father,” “Someday Soon,” and “Send in the Clowns.”We also explore the songs and artists who shaped the way Judy hears, writes, and interprets music, from the traditional ballad “Barbara Allen” and the folk songs she discovered growing up to Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Stephen Sondheim.And we talk about her classical piano training, the song that changed the course of her life, hearing Joni Mitchell sing “Both Sides Now” over the phone, and Leonard Cohen playing her “Suzanne” before he was even sure it was a song.It’s a conversation about recognizing a great song, discovering your own voice as a songwriter, and a lifetime spent listening for the songs that demand to be sung.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We go Song Diving with Warren Haynes, Grammy-winning guitarist and songwriter for the Allman Brothers Band and founder of Gov’t Mule.We get into the stories behind songs he’s written, including “Soulshine,” “Banks of the Deep End,” “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House,” “Beautifully Broken,” and “My Separate Reality.”We also explore the music that shaped him, from hearing Simon & Garfunkel and Black gospel as a kid to discovering John Prine, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt, and later finding a deeper connection to the songwriting of the Grateful Dead.And we talk about how sneaking into an Asheville folk club as a teenager led to an education in songwriting, how “Soulshine” found its way onto an Allman Brothers Band record, finding a way forward with Gov’t Mule after the loss of Allen Woody, and how circling a line on a page of ideas became an iconic song for Garth Brooks.It’s a conversation about the songs that get inside you before you understand why, how musical friendships can shape the songwriter you become, and finding new ways to explore, interpret, and carry forward the music that shaped you.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We go Song Diving with Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and producer Paula Cole.We get into the stories behind songs she’s written, including “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?,” “I Don’t Want to Wait,” “Me,” “Chiaroscuro,” and “Hush, Hush, Hush.”We also explore the songs and artists who shaped how Paula hears, writes, and produces music, from Kate Bush, John Lennon, and Joni Mitchell to XTC, k.d. lang, and Annie Lennox.And we talk about growing up believing music should be self-made, learning to think like a drummer, finding the freedom to produce her own music, and what it means to return to the beginner’s mindset after decades of making records.It’s a conversation about embracing your eccentricity, finding freedom in making music your own way, and the power of music to heal both the person making it and the people who hear it.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We go Song Diving with Texas songwriting icon Ray Wylie Hubbard.We get into the stories behind songs he’s written, including “Cassette Mix Tape,” “Snake Farm,” “Dust of the Chase,” “Drunken Poet’s Dream,” “Redneck Mother,” and “Mother Blues.”We also explore the songs and artists who shaped how Ray hears and writes songs, from Michael Martin Murphey and Neil Young to Jimmy Reed and J.J. Cale.And we talk about getting sober and rebuilding his career in his 40s, swallowing his pride and taking guitar lessons, the comfort of knowing you don’t have to write “Yesterday,” and the unexpected places a song can come from.It’s a conversation about starting over, staying curious, learning from the songwriters who came before you, and making the kind of songs only you would think to write.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We go Song Diving with five-time Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist Keb’ Mo’.

We get into the stories behind songs he’s written, including “Every Morning,” “Am I Wrong,” “Life Is Beautiful,” and “Stitched Up Heart.”We also explore the songs and artists who shaped how Keb’ Mo’ hears, writes, and performs songs, from Motown and the blues to Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Taylor Swift.And we talk about why Keb’ Mo’ considers one of his biggest failures his biggest success, why honesty and simplicity matter in songwriting, and The Breakdown, the record he says he’s been threatening to make for 30 years.It’s a conversation about the long road to becoming yourself, the wrong turns that point you in the right direction, and why the truth is usually the best place to start a song.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices