Patrick Radden Keefe is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Patrick is an incredible non-fiction writer, he’s written a number of books including 2019’s amazing Say Nothing , about the troubles in Northern Ireland. The book was the basis for the successful TV series that was on FX last year. He’s also behind the Winds of Change podcast, which examined the potential of CIA involvement in the Scorpions hit song. We had a great talk here about falling in love with The New Yorker,...
Feb 26, 2025•45 min
Matt Johnson from The The is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . The The started in 1979 and has released a number of classic alternative records. In 2024, they came back with their first studio album in 24 years, the excellent Ensoulment . We talked about that as well as Jamboree bags, penny chews, coal-tar soap, being open to love and using old colognes to trigger memories. Matt is an inspiring artist who continues to do so much cool stuff, and it was an honor to have him he...
Feb 12, 2025•43 min
Tamara Lindeman makes music as The Weather Station and she is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Tamara just released a fantastic record called Humanhood , which comes follows 2021’s breakthrough Ignorance and its 2022 companion How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars . We talked about the making of Humanhood , climate grief, trusting musicians, winds vs. synths, and making music so you can go on tour. I thought this was a really great conversation, and I’m excited to be ab...
Jan 29, 2025•44 min
Willy Vlautin is my guest on the first That’s How I Remember It episode of 2025. Willy is an amazing songwriter and novelist. He’s published seven incredible novels, most recently 2024’s The Horse . After leading the band Richmond Fontaine for years, he moved over to a pure songwriting role in The Delines, who are releasing a great record Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom next month. We talked about that as well as the effect of anxiety on memory, Steinbeck, William Kennedy, TV/Film adaptations of his wor...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr
Dave Pirner is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . I grew up a massive Soul Asylum fan so I was thrilled to have Dave here to talk about his excellent new record, playing trumpet in the Minnesota Youth Symphony, different roles producers play, honoring his deceased band member Karl Mueller, our mutual guitar teacher Chris Osgood, and whether he is the guy yelling at the police at the beginning of The Replacements’ Stink record. Was a great talk. Listen and subscribe ....
Dec 04, 2024•45 min
Pete Yorn is my guest on this episode of THIRI . He’s had an amazing career as a songwriter, starting with his huge debut record musicforthemorningafter in 2001. Since then he’s made a ton of good records, including this year’s The Hard Way. We talked about that as well as liking sad songs as a young person, learning covers, Moleskin notebooks, being wary of producers, seeing one of Tom Petty’s last shows, Shrek 2 , and a whole lot more. Was an absolute pleasure to speak with Pete, I really enjo...
Nov 20, 2024•39 min
Jesse Malin is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . A complete legend of NYC rock and roll, Jesse suffered a spinal stroke in 2023 and has been rehabilitating since. His songs are covered in a new tribute album with a star-studded lineup. Many of these artists will be playing the Beacon Theater in December when Malin and his band take the stage for the first time since the stroke. We talked about all of that as well as playing with the Misfits in 1981, seeing the Ramones for th...
Nov 06, 2024•53 min
Kathleen Edwards is my guest on this very special episode of That’s How I Remember It . We were on tour together in September in Europe, and this was recorded live in front of an audience in Odense Denmark at the wonderful Nashville Nights festival before Kathleen and I also performed a show where we traded songs back and forth. On this podcast we talked about creating worlds where you’d want to live in songs, Whitney Houston, playing violin, John Mellencamp, clubbing in South Korea, Greggs saus...
Oct 23, 2024•42 min
Katy Kirby is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Her record Blue Raspberry came out in early 2024 and it’s one my absolute favorites from this year. We talked about making that record and also typing lyrics on an old school typewriter, “Hard Drive” by Evan Dando, worship chords, playing bass in a church band at 13 years old, 4 Loko, and much more. Great talk! Listen and subscribe . This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy wi...
Oct 09, 2024•40 min
Billy Bragg is a hero of mine and also my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . He’s a fantastic songwriter, incredible performer, outspoken activist and so much more. We talked about him teaching songwriting to hospice patients, songwriting allowing us to say things we can’t always say, Johnny Marr playing on “Greetings from the New Brunette”, his portable PA system The Portastack, his first US shows, and how he has great faith in the American people. A thrill for me to have Billy...
Sep 25, 2024•46 min
Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . I’ve known Eef a bit for a long time but never had this long of a conversation with him, which I loved. He’s just made a fantastic new record called Oh Smokey and we talked about that, resisting writing things down, the mystique of Led Zeppelin, bands not breaking up anymore, making his record with Josh Kaufman, God, and death, and the last time we hung out. Really fun hang, listen and subscribe ! This episode i...
Sep 11, 2024•44 min
Ian Felice from The Felice Brothers is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . I’ve admired Ian’s songs and performances for a long time, and the band’s new release Valley of Abandoned Songs is yet another great record from them. We talked about that as well as playing bagpipes, how he can remember whole pages from books, his painting, his relationship with Conor Oberst, going to the same high school as Mike Tyson, and so much more. Listen and subscribe ! This episode is brought t...
Aug 28, 2024•40 min
Beth Ditto is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Earlier this year, Beth and her band The Gossip came back after a 12 year break to release the excellent Real Power LP. We talked about that as well as the first Gossip tour, Cindy Lauper, The Monkees, hair metal, Gossip records vs. solo records, and a beautiful party on a boat in Sydney Harbor in 2006 that we both attended. Amazing talk, huge thanks to Beth for joining me. This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid...
Aug 14, 2024•49 min
Alex Edelman is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Alex is a brilliant comedian and writer who recently finished a wildly successful run with his one man show Just for Us, which won a Tony Award this year. I thought the show was really incredible, so I was thrilled to talk to him about it. We also spoke about his time as a ball boy for Boston College basketball, Ben Folds, doing a pottery apprenticeship in Japan, empathy as a vibe, and much more. Such a great talk, huge thank...
Jul 31, 2024•49 min
Josh Kaufman is my guest on this episode That’s How I Remember It . Josh is a massively talented musician and producer. He plays in the band Bonny Light Horseman and also has produced records for Bob Weir, Cassandra Jenkins, Anais Mitchell, The Hold Steady, and myself. Outside of my bandmates, no other person has made such an impact on my musical life. I'm honored to have Josh here to have this conversation, which was really great. Listen and subscribe ! This episode is brought to you by DistroK...
Jul 17, 2024•48 min
Ani DiFranco is my guest on this week’s episode of That’s How I Remember It . Ani is a true force of independent music and she’s done so much: over 20 studio albums, her own record label, a memoir, etc. Plus, she just finished a run performing on Broadway in the musical Hadestown . We talked about all of this as well as her new album Unprecedented Shit , working with producer BJ Burton, being proud to call herself a folk singer, and a lot more. Huge thanks to Ani for being a part of it. Listen a...
Jul 03, 2024•41 min
I am a huge fan of Arab Strap and I was so psyched to visit with Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton and talk about their band and their great new record I’m Totally Fine With It Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore . We also talked about NYC restaurant Sammy’s Romanian, moving away from autobiographical songwriting, “Jolly Roger” by Adam & The Ants, the word “stotious”, and so much more. A fantastic talk, please listen and subscribe . This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music d...
Jun 19, 2024•47 min
My guest today is Sam Beam, who writes and records music as Iron & Wine. Sam is an incredibly beautiful and vivid songwriter who has just released a great new album called Light Verse . We talked about whether this might be his funniest record, as well as college shows, The Rescuers, Davey Crocket, wisdom vs. experience, and the value of art being in the creation more than the reception. I loved speaking to Sam about all of this, he’s a fascinating artist. Listen and subscribe ! This episode...
Jun 05, 2024•45 min
Matthew Houck from Phosphorescent is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . I’ve loved Matthew’s music for years and was excited to talk to him about his great new record Revelator , what he learns from covering other artist’s songs, whether geographic moves affect his music, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, moon phases, and his most well-known song "Song for Zula". Matthew was a fantastic guest, and I very much enjoyed our talk. Listen and subscribe . This episode is brought to you by ...
May 22, 2024•49 min
We are back with a new episode of That’s How I Remember It , and we celebrate being back with excellent guest Eric Burton of the Black Pumas. The Black Pumas formed in 2018 and their rise can only be called meteoric. The band went from a bar residency to Grammy nominations and worldwide touring. We talked about this, skateboarding to Albert King, external meanings being attached to the BP song “Colors”, the first meeting with his bandmate Adrian Quesada, meditating before shows, and being presen...
May 08, 2024•45 min
This episode was recorded March 2, 2024 in front of a live audience at The Moth Club in London. I was just wrapping up a solo tour with Scott Lavene as the support act, and he was also my first guest of the afternoon. We talked about his upcoming record and his excellent memory for what he had for breakfast each day of our tour. My second guest was the amazing Mat Osman, who was the bassist and founding member of the band Suede as well as an author of several books. We spoke about his most recen...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Welcome to a bonus episode of That’s How I Remember It . This episode was recorded live at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn the first night of the Hold Steady’s annual Massive Nights celebration in November 2023. The first guest is Peter Shapiro, stellar music promoter, owner of the Brooklyn Bowls, former owner of The Wetlands music club, the list goes on. We talked about his philosophies about multi-night events, leaving early, playing zone defense and his first show at Wetlands. After Pete, we visi...
Mar 06, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Jason Isbell is my guest on the final episode of Season 3 of That’s How I Remember It . Jason is, of course, one of the great songwriters of our time. His newest record with his band The 400 Unit is 2023’s Weathervanes. It continues an incredible and probably unrivaled streak of great records in this past decade. We talked about that as well as Patterson Hood’s songs, Pentecostal band chaos, sequencing for vinyl, David Gilmour and Paul Kossoff, great backstage graffiti, whether Tool was influenc...
Feb 21, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Alynda Segarra makes music as Hurray For The Riff Raff and they are my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . I’ve been really loving Alynda’s new record The Past is Still Alive so we talked about that as well as the surprising nature of grief, ABC NO RIO, songs as monuments, taking lessons from nature, and Blood on the Tracks weather. This was such a great talk with a fantastic artist. Listen and subscribe !...
Feb 14, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Josh Ritter is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Josh is an immensely talented and prolific songwriter and author. I really dug his most recent record, 2023’s Spectral Lines . We talked about that as well as Lutheran hymns, looking back on old records, the night we met at a Springsteen tribute at Carnagie Hall, and Bob Dylan covering a song that he wrote. Josh is a fascinating guest and I enjoyed it immensely. Listen and subscribe !...
Feb 07, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Jay Sweet is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Jay has done a lot of things but is best known as the force behind the Newport Folk Festival. I have been at Newport for the past two years and have been blown away by the music and the community. Jay and his staff are in the business of making memories at Newport. We talked about that special vibe as well as Lewis Carrol, his first Grateful Dead show, REM at Radio City Music Hall as a youth, Lana Del Rey, and THS at Newport 23....
Jan 31, 2024•59 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Duff McKagan is my guest on the newest That’s How I Remember It . Duff is, of course, a founding member of Guns & Roses, one of the biggest rock bands of all time. He also is a million other things: old-school punk, martial arts enthusiast, history buff, etc. In 2023, Duff toured with Guns & Roses and found the time to release his own record Lighthouse . We talked about all of that as well as the influence of seeing The Clash in 1979, losing memory to excess, telling the truth, going thr...
Jan 24, 2024•43 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Tom Scharpling is my guest on today’s episode of That’s How I Remember It . Tom is the host and creator of The Best Show , a comedy and music radio show that has run since 2000. He has also written for television and, in 2021, published a great memoir called It Never Ends . We talked about the book, bad behavior at rock concerts, trying out for the New Monkees, the aggrieved yet positive tone of The Best Show , and so much more. Big thanks to Tom for coming on the show and being a great guest. L...
Jan 17, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Dennis Lehane is my guest on this episode of That’s How I Remember It . Dennis is the author of over a dozen fantastic novels. Some of these, such as Mystic River , Shutter Island , and Gone Baby Gone , have been made into successful films. We talked about his most recent novel Small Mercies as well as Boston bussing protests, “Strawberry Letter 23,” the '70s hangover of the Vietnam War in America, nicknames, and so much more. Huge thanks to Dennis for joining, please listen and subscribe....
Jan 10, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Slaughter Beach, Dog’s Jake Ewald is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It . Jake is a fantastic songwriter and storyteller, and in 2023 he released a killer record called Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling . We talked about the record as well as novelty songs, being a “talky” singer, artists with large catalogs, Delaware beach towns, and much more. Jake was such a fun cool guest and I really enjoyed the talk. Listen and subscribe !...
Dec 20, 2023•51 min•Season 3Ep. 8
