My guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It is M.C. Taylor of the band Hiss Golden Messenger. This year, he released a great record called Jump for Joy and we talked about that as well as Goth vs. Death Rock, his old band Ex-Ignota and how hardcore still influences him, changing band lineups, his hometown of Irvine, CA, and much much more. M.C. Taylor is a dream guest, he’s wise and thoughtful and passionate. It’s a great talk, listen and subscribe !...
Dec 13, 2023•56 min
My guest on this episode of THIRI is Dessa. She’s at true multi-hyphenate artist: a rapper, singer, author, podcast host, and more. This year she released a great album called Bury the Lede and we talked about that as well as her 2018 book My Own Devices , lutes, secret songs on CDs, lucid dreams, the term “breaking news”, our hometown of Minneapolis, and a whole lot more. It was a really great conversation. I very much enjoyed it and I bet you will too. Listen and please subscribe !...
Dec 06, 2023•56 min•Season 3Ep. 6
This week’s THIRI guest is Johnny Marr. Johnny is truly one of the all-time great rock and roll guitarists, and has created a musical body of work that has very few rivals. He’s recently released a new book called Marr’s Guitars as well as Spirit Power , a collection pulled from his solo records. We talked about all of that as well as his emotional response to colors, “street bands”, the life-changing moment of buying The Stooges’ Raw Power LP, and the time The Smiths met Van Halen. An incredibl...
Nov 22, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Today my guest on That’s How I Remember It is Peter Jesperson. Peter has written an awesome book called Euphoric Recall which details a rock and roll life filled with amazing music stories. We talked about our mutual hometown of Minneapolis, hearing the White Album for the first time, early 1970s concerts, managing the Replacements, whether the Replacements should have been bigger, his fandom for Phoebe Bridgers, and so much more. It’s an incredible book and a great episode. Listen and subscribe...
Nov 15, 2023•57 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Today on That’s How I Remember It , I welcome John McCauley and Ian O’Neil from Deer Tick. This year they put out a new album called Emotional Contracts , and I think it’s their best yet. We talked about that as well as songs about space, John playing with Los Lobos at Newport Folk Festival this year, playing covers, and increasingly shared songwriting duties. It was a great talk and the first double guest episode of this podcast. Lots more coming up, listen and subscribe !...
Nov 08, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 3
This week on That’s How I Remember It , I am thrilled to host an absolute hero of mine, Bob Mould. In his seminal '80s band Husker Du, in the '90s with Sugar, and across all decades as a solo artist, Bob is an artistic force that shows no signs of slowing down. We talked about '60s pop music, taking guitar lessons, visiting The Replacements Tim sessions, the 1984 Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll, and writing a memoir before releasing five more albums. Huge thanks to Bob Mould for being awesome....
Nov 01, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Welcome back to That’s How I Remember It. I’m honored to have the incredible songwriter Lucinda Williams here to kick off Season 3. Lucinda is an all time great American songwriter and a three time Grammy winner. This year she put out a fascinating memoir and a great new album as well. I talked to her about all of this as well as seeing Jimi Hendrix in concert, getting past grieving to write songs, Blaze Foley & Townes Van Zandt, how the Vietnam War affected her personally, and so much more....
Oct 25, 2023•43 min•Season 3Ep. 1
We are back. Season 3 of That’s How I Remember It is here and we’ve got some fantastic guests coming up to talk about how memory affects the stories we tell ourselves and others. And so much more. Listen and subscribe !
Oct 23, 2023•12 min
Hope everyone is having a great summer. In this flash episode I share some of my favorite summer rock festival moments and let you all know about upcoming Positive Jam festival that The Hold Steady is hosting on August 5 in Accord, NY. I give thoughts on all the bands on the lineup: Guided by Voices, The Tallest Man on Earth, Laura Stevenson, I Get Wild, and Oceanator. We’ll be back before too long with Season 3. In the meantime - listen, subscribe and join us at Positive Jam....
Jul 19, 2023•12 min
That’s a wrap on Season 2! School is out for summer. We had a great time here with some incredible guests. Here I reflect on the season that was: the great conversations, what I enjoyed, what I learned, etc. I also let you know what I’m doing this summer and where I’m going to be. A huge thanks to everyone that listened and we’ll be back for Season 3 in a little bit. Stay Positive!
May 17, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 14
The Hold Steady is my guest on this week’s episode of That's How I Remember It . It was recorded live in front of a wonderful audience at Rev Hall Show Bar in Portland Oregon during our amazing weekend of shows there. This was our first episode with more than one guest, and it all worked out pretty great. I asked my fellow band members about their memories, especially how it relates to our twenty years as a band. We talked about early music memories, 9th albums, shirtless frontmen, remembering s...
May 10, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 13
This week on THIRI we take a break from hosting guests. I take the time to give a quick update on all the things I have going on in the next few months. Lots of shows, mostly with The Hold Steady. Next week we’ll be back with guests and our second-ever live audience taping. Listen and subscribe !
May 03, 2023•4 min
Hanif Abdurraqib is my guest on this episode of That's How I Remember It . Hanif is the author of two poetry collections and three non-fiction books, all of which have garnered critical acclaim and awards. We spoke a lot about his most recent book 2021’s A Little Devil in America as well as touring as an author, discovering MTV, dancing in school, "Don’t Stop Believing," geographic memory, and much much more. Great talk, was thrilled to have Hanif join me. Lots more coming up, please listen and ...
Apr 26, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Bill Hader is my guest on this episode of That's How I Remember It . Bill is an incredibly talented actor, writer, director. Barry , the show that Bill created and stars in, has just entered its fourth and final season, so we talked a lot about that. But we also spoke of Frank Zappa, late night movies, memorizing lines, being a PA on films, playing the same character for 4 seasons, the initial idea for Barry, and so much more. Huge thanks to Bill Hader for joining me here. We’ve got even more gr...
Apr 19, 2023•47 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Eric D. Johnson is my guest on the newest episode of That's How I Remember It . Eric is the singer, songwriter and principal of the band The Fruit Bats, and also a member of modern folk supergroup Bonny Light Horseman. The Fruit Bats are releasing their 10th studio album this week titled A River Running To Your Heart . We talked about that as well as the first Boston album, writing songs as therapy, anxiety dreams about shows, and how every audience is a unique organism. Big thanks to Eric for j...
Apr 12, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Karly Hartzman is my guest on this episode of That's How I Remember It . Karly is the singer and songwriter of the great band Wednesday, who are releasing their fantastic album Rat Saw God this week. We talked about this record, her interesting way of pulling details into songs, building monuments, being Southern, race car drivers, How To With John Wilson , and much much more. Huge thanks to Karly for joining, please listen and subscribe as there are lots more great guests coming up....
Apr 05, 2023•45 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Laura Stevenson is my guest on this week’s That's How I Remember It . Laura is a wildly talented songwriter and singer. I’ve been lucky enough to do a few tours with her. This year, she’s celebrating the 10 year anniversary of her album Wheel , and will be touring this spring. We talked about the making of that record and who she was at that time, but also: her memory of physical spaces, regretting excessive overdubs, Basia, Love is Blind and much more. Big thanks to Laura for joining me. Tons o...
Mar 29, 2023•49 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Alejandro Escovedo is my guest on this week’s That's How I Remember It . As a massive fan, I was very excited to have Alejandro come on and talk about his own memories and how they show up in his songs and stories. We spoke about Mott The Hoople, early punk rock, wanting to be a filmmaker, John Huston, how different producers influenced him, Townes Van Zandt, his imminent memoir, and so much more. A big thanks to Alejandro for taking the time to join me. Please listen and subscribe , we’ve got m...
Mar 22, 2023•43 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Scott Z. Burns is my guest on this episode of That's How I Remember It . Scott is a talented writer/director/producer of films such as Contagion , The Bourne Ultimatum , The Report , The Informant , and more. He’s also a close friend of mine. We talked about his new Apple TV show Extrapolations as well as how he names characters, humpback whales, cleaning otters after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Contagion 's resurgence during the pandemic, and hope vs. courage. Huge thanks to Scott for joining m...
Mar 15, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Kevin Morby is my guest on this episode of That's How I Remember It , which is a replay of the first ever live version of this podcast. It was recorded during the 2023 On Air Festival at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn. Kevin and I spoke about his last record This is a Photograph, writing the record in Memphis, Jeff Buckley, his Sonic Youth superstition, Diane Lane, details he remembers about individual shows, and much more. A huge thanks to Kevin for joining us for such a special show, he was an in...
Mar 08, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 5
This week’s That's How I Remember It is a flash episode featuring me and me only. We’re taking a break from guests for a week, so I just wanted to get you caught up on everything I’ve been doing lately and have coming up: live podcasts, the new Hold Steady record “The Price of Progress” and upcoming shows for The Hold Steady and myself solo. We’ll be back with some great guests soon, so please listen and subscribe .
Mar 01, 2023•11 min
Amanda Shires is my guest on this week’s That's How I Remember It . Amanda is an incredible songwriter and musician. She’s an accomplished solo artist, a member of The Highwomen, and has played fiddle with The Texas Playboys, Billy Joe Shaver, Justin Townes Earle, The 400 Unit, and much more. Amanda’s incredible last record Take It Like a Man was one of the best of 2022. Here we talk about details in songs, Tom Petty, getting an MFA, the role of nature in her songs, and deliberately making songs...
Feb 22, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Ben Gibbard is my guest on this episode of That's How I Remember It . Ben is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service, and has written an absolute ton of great songs since DCFC formed in 1997. Most recently, the band released Asphalt Meadows, another great record and also announced a joint Death Cab/Postal Service tour for fall 2023. We had a great talk about van touring before cell phones, going pro as a musician, always finishing writing songs, Scott Hutchison, art living ...
Feb 15, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Eric Bachmann is my guest this week on That’s How I Remember It . Eric is the lead singer of classic indie rock band Archers of Loaf and has also made music as Crooked Fingers, as well as under his own name. Recently, Archers of Loaf put out the great Reason in Decline, 24 years after the release of their last record. I distinctly remember my first time hearing Archers of Loaf, as well as the first show of theirs I ever saw. We talk about both here, as well as Web in Front, first records, band r...
Feb 08, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Welcome back for season two of That’s How I Remember It . I’m thrilled to kick off this season with a conversation with the incredible George Saunders. George has written some of my favorite recent fiction, and his 2022 book Liberation Day is a fascinating story collection that we get into deeply here. We talk about Johnny Tremain, humor in stories, drawing on memories of old jobs, late stage capitalism, gentle revolution, and so much more. We even spoke a bit about songwriting at the end of the...
Feb 01, 2023•49 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Katy Kirby will be joining myself and The Uptown Controllers on tour starting next week so I caught up with her on this special flash episode of That’s How I Remember It. Katy was in the parking lot of the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach CA when she dialed in, so there’s a little ambient noise, but that’s life on the road. And perhaps it added to our discussion about learning to sing harmonies, quality of light as a memory trigger, the making of her amazing record Cool Dry Place, the oranges tha...
Oct 10, 2022•26 min
Today I fly out to start the Uptown Controllers tour this weekend in Odense, Denmark. To celebrate, we’re releasing this flash episode where I have a small chat with Scott Lavene, who will be supporting on most of the dates. Scott is a brilliant songwriter who released one of my favorite records in recent memory, “Milk City Sweethearts”. We talked about the record and the upcoming tour. Check out craigfinn.net for all upcoming tour dates and I hope to see you on the road!...
Sep 15, 2022•23 min
Adam Duritz is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It and I am quite psyched about it. Adam is obviously the singer and songwriter of platinum selling band Counting Crows, and has been making thoughtful and great music for decades now. I met Adam when Counting Crows took THS on tour in Europe/UK in 2009 and was so excited he agreed to do this. We talked about how the details matter so much in songs, each of our first trips to Asbury Park, loving Christmas music, that dog., last year's ...
Sep 01, 2022•49 min
Maggie Smith is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It . Maggie is the author of four full length poetry collections, the most recent being Goldenrod from 2021. She also wrote Keep Moving , an essay collection about loss, creativity, and change. Maggie is the author of "Good Bones," a poem that went viral in 2016 and reached a massive audience across the globe; the last line of that poem “You could make this place beautiful” is the title of her forthcoming memoir in 2023. We spoke abou...
Aug 25, 2022•57 min
Tom Perrotta is my guest on this week’s That's How I Remember It . Tom is a fantastic author of at least eight novels, many of which have been made into films and TV series. This includes Election , Little Children , Mrs. Fletcher , and The Leftovers . On this episode we talk about his decision to revisit the Election character Tracy Flick in his new novel Tracy Flick Can’t Win , and his approach. We also spoke about high school reunions, nostalgia, personal narratives, how he uses smaller stori...
Aug 17, 2022•54 min
