On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with Pianist, songwriter, and filmmaker Phil Cook . Cook - who cut his teeth as a member of Bon Iver - has been releasing some incredible solo material lately AND has been chronicling some of the best North Carolina roots Gospel music through his label Spiritual Helpline. His film Stay Prayed Up knocked us out! About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our fir...
Jan 04, 2024•5 min•Ep. 113
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with the Third Man Records artist Natalie Bergman . Her story, and her music, captivated us as she added her humble (but seriously impressive) offering to the Jesus Music repertoire. About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of...
Jan 04, 2024•5 min•Ep. 112
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with songwriter, worship leader, artist, and hymnist, Sandra McCracken . Having recently joined forces with Taylor Leonhardt , Jess Ray, and Leslie Jordan to form The Paper Horses, Sandra continues to evolve and innovate. About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes ...
Jan 04, 2024•5 min•Ep. 111
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with songwriter, artist, and pioneer, Terry Scott Taylor . Between his solo work, his groundbreaking work with the band Daniel Amos, his collaboration with The 77s' Michael Roe , The Choir's Derri Daugherty, and Adam Again's Gene Eugene as The Lost Dogs, and even his more experimental or humorous work with The Swirling Eddies or as the composer of soundtracks for animated shows...
Jan 04, 2024•5 min•Ep. 110
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with artist, poet, author, and theologian STEVE SCOTT - who also served as the Arts Editor of the original True Tunes News magazine back in the 90s. Scott just released The Way of the Sevenfold Secret, a collection of poetry with accompanying music and ambient sound, that he described to us when he originally joined us on the show. About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we...
Jan 04, 2024•4 min•Ep. 109
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with the always impressive and effervescent singer, songwriter, and producer, Taylor Leonhart. Taylor - who has recently joined forces with Sandra McCracken, Jess Ray, and Leslie Jordan to form The Paper Horses - continues to bring old-school songwriting soul to a new generation. About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered...
Nov 26, 2023•5 min•Ep. 108
On this "True Tunes Microdose" (an impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com) we revisit a short bit of our chat with Michael Roe of The 77s and The Lost Dogs. The episodes with Mike proved to be some of the most popular in the history of our show, with many long-time fans chiming in and some new fans joining the tribe as well. About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" ...
Nov 22, 2023•4 min•Ep. 107
Welcome to the True Tunes Microdose, an impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com. As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out. Amy Grant's music may be a bit more "mainstream" than most of the stuff True Tunes was known for back in the day, but her commitment to honesty, integrity, an...
Nov 15, 2023•5 min•Ep. 106
Welcome to the True Tunes Microdose, an impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com. As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out. Charlie Peacock is one of the hearts, minds, and voices who inspired the True Tunes story when it first launched in the mid-80s! He was our first guest when w...
Nov 06, 2023•4 min•Ep. 105
Mylon LeFevre was an award-winning, genre-defining, trailblazing artist and songwriter who had a song cut by Elvis when he was just a teen, got kicked out of his family's legendary Souther Gospel band for wearing his sideburns too long, and released on the earliest and most significant Gospel Rock albums ever ("We Believe" circa 1970.) He went on to work with a Golden Rolodex full of mainstream rock royalty in the 70s, including George Harrison, Eric Clapton, The Who, and many others, before tur...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 104
The Choir 's 1988 LP Chase The Kangaroo is a classic, and when we heard that they had launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the necessary funds to remaster and re-release it on vinyl and CD, we decided to pull together this special episode to lend some support. We spoke to primary songwriters Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty about the album a few years back but never used most of the recording. Here it is, along with clips from the recently remastered LP. You can join us in support of the ...
Aug 03, 2023•28 min•Ep. 103
John Pantano’s rock and roll roots go back to the 1960s psychedelic rock scene and the very genesis of the Jesus Movement. He and his friend, the late Ron Salsbury, were the core of JC Power Outlet - one of the earliest Jesus Rock bands on the scene. After two albums for Myrrh Records, the two signed with Larry Norman ’s vanguard Solid Rock label and changed their creative moniker to “Pantano Salsbury” for the release of their acclaimed, beloved (and doomed) 1977 album, Hit The Switch. That LP, ...
Jul 27, 2023•24 min•Ep. 102
On this episode we are joined by veteran artist and author Allan Aguirre (Scaterd Few, Spyglass Blue) to explore the artistic legacy of the late – and truly great – David Bowie. We’ll also crank up the Jukebox to listen to some of Allan’s music, which was clearly inspired by the Thin White Duke, but took that inspiration in many different directions. For full show notes, including a list of all of the music used on this episode, check out the show notes page by clicking HERE or visiting TrueTune...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 101
This special Couples Skate episode of the True Tunes Podcast started out as a normal Jukebox feature for the Wild Harbors In Paris episode. But as we dug deeper and deeper into the world of amazing music made by couples, the dang thing demanded to become a separate show! So, we just rolled the Jukebox out into the middle of the rink for an extended exploration of music being made by married folks – from famous names to newlyweds. And don’t miss the massive corresponding Spotify mix, curated by b...
Jun 30, 2023•59 min•Ep. 100
We often hear that being in a band is like being in a marriage. But what about when being in a marriage is like being in a band? What about those truly crazy people whose marriage IS a band? Chris and Jenna Badeker, aka Wild Harbors, have been carving out a functional and creatively exciting path as indie pop artists for several years. On this episode, they join us from Paris, where they were serving as Artists In Residence. We hear about their uniquely risky career choices, the path that led th...
Jun 20, 2023•57 min•Ep. 99
The 77s' 1987 self-titled album was not only that band's first real shot at the "big-time" success their fans knew they deserved. It was also the climax of a creative explosion from a unique Sacramento community that had been cooking up spiritually driven, culturally engaged, artistically excellent music for about a decade. On this special "From The Vault" episode of the podcast, we unveil previously unheard tape culled from frontman Michael Roe's conversation with True Tunes and with The Electr...
May 01, 2023•32 min•Ep. 97
Randy Layton may not be a household name, but that's not the point with people like him. Layton has been advocating for some of the most important - if not famous and successful - artists of the last forty years through his label Alternative Records and his previous work with the enormously influential Sacramento label Exit Records. He was all about the "Alternative" back when that word meant something. Layton has helped release projects by The 77s, Vector, Steve Scott, 2 Pound Planet, Robert Va...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 98
The very first episode of this podcast - which premiered back in 2019 - featured a conversation with award-winning producer, songwriter, and artist Charlie Peacock. Charlie, one of the artists who inspired the launch of the original True Tunes in the 80s with his progressive, genre-bending, standard-setting music, was later associated with artists like Switchfoot, Civil Wars, and others. He is currently experiencing one of his most prolific phases as both a musical artist and as a visual artist....
Mar 17, 2023•30 min•Ep. 96
This 45RPM episode opens the True Tunes Vault and finds a conversation host John J. Thompson had with friend, fan, and artist manager Nick Barre about U2's initially shocking album, Achtung Baby, 30 years after its original release. With the band back in the news - both for Bono's stunning new memoir Surrender and their corresponding collection of reimagined older songs - and the announcement of their Las Vegas homage to their 30-year-old re-birth - it seemed a good time to revisit this reflecti...
Mar 10, 2023•24 min•Ep. 95
True Tunes host John J. Thompson recently traveled to Cleveland, TN, to speak at a festival in honor of Rev. Howard Finster – the enigmatic painter, pastor, and musician who first came to international prominence when his art was used on album covers by Talking Heads, R.E.M., and Adam Again, and is considered by some to be the father of contemporary folk art. Painter and woodcut printmaker Kreg Yingst, whose art has graced recent album projects by Vigilantes of Love and others, presented at the ...
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 94
It takes some special instruments and a unique perspective to appreciate the frustrating version of "success" that weaves in and through Tonio K.'s long strange trip of a music career. He should have been one of those critical reference points of the heady '70s and '80s, right up there with Warren Zevon and Joe Jackson. He had the wit, the sneer, the shades, and the major label hookups. But even with the odds in his favor, a hall-of-fame roster of supporting band members, and people like T Bone ...
Jan 24, 2023•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 93
Drew Holcomb is one of the most successful – and innovative – independent singer-songwriters working today. His rootsy, unadorned style has filled theaters and halls around the country, driven several singles up the Americana chart, seen some major placements in prominent films, television shows, and ad campaigns, and earned him a devoted fan base. Moon River, the festival he originally founded in Memphis, now draws tens of thousands of fans to Chattanooga, Tennessee, each September and has host...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 92
If you think True Tunes host and founder John J. Thompson is objective about music - merely a dispassionate observer or fact-gathering journalist... think again. "Before I wrote about music," he admits, "before I worked in the industry at all - before I promoted concerts or started True Tunes back in the 80s - I was a kid with a guitar, bad hair, and way more confidence than talent. Inspired by heroes like T Bone Burnett, Steve Taylor, Bob Dylan, Bono, Mark Heard, Bruce Cockburn, The 77s, and al...
Dec 19, 2022•41 min•Ep. 91
We finally scale the misty mountain of PROG ROCK on the True Tunes Podcast - with none other than the venerable Neal Morse as our guide! As a founding member of Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, and his own Neal Morse Band, he has been setting the standard in modern prog rock for decades. He has also developed his own streaming app to deliver his entire catalog (over 80 albums!) and curates his own Morsefest - an annual gathering of progressive rock fans from around the world. His per...
Dec 07, 2022•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 90
We knew that Over The Rhine’s Nowhere Else Festival was going to be something special. We've heard about the meals, the music, the songs being sung under a big tent in their wide Ohio backyard. And yes, we grew up seeing Over The Rhine play show after breathtaking show under a similar tent at the Cornerstone Festival in West Central Illinois. We knew it would be great. But we were still not prepared for just how wonderful two days of understated, organic, family-style music could be. A steady dr...
Nov 21, 2022•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 89
David Bunker, who currently serves as the chaplain of Judson University's Music Business and Entrepreneurship program, and has a long history as both a music industry leader and as an artist and songwriter himself, joins JJT to talk about the idea of "artist care" from the perspective of both creatives and those who wish to serve them. Bunker has been deeply embedded in the True Tunes DNA since John first shared his vision for a store, venue, magazine, and community that would dare to engage mus...
Nov 15, 2022•12 min•Ep. 88
Tyson Motsenbocker is quite an anomaly. He's a young, hip songwriter/artist who crafts alternative, modern-sounding pop (in the tradition of Postal Service or Death Cab) with obvious compositional influences coming from sources much older. He is also willing to tackle difficult, even controversial issues – including racism, hypocrisy, addiction, immaturity, and mental health challenges – with both scathing insight and self-deprecating wit. And as if that is not enough, after spending his formati...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 87
What good is music, anyway? Is there something happening in the arrangement of certain melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and lyrics that might actually have a meaningful impact on hearts and minds in these dark, divided, and confusing days? We decided to talk to someone who would know; a man who is a pastor, an artist, an advocate for social change, and a fan of great music. Chris Williamson is the Pastor of Strong Tower Bible Church in Nashville, TN – a community that has been passionately committe...
Oct 18, 2022•19 min•Ep. 86
Tom Willett's roots go back to the counterculture of the 60s. He played bass in one of the earliest "Gospel Rock" bands (Sons of Thunder) and worked alongside artists such as T Bone Burnett, Tonio K, Mark Heard, The Choir, Sam Phillips, Phil Keaggy, and many others as an A&R rep, marketing man, and career coach. He has also spent decades as a teacher, helping college students as they sought to carve out meaningful careers as songwriters, artists, or future industry leaders. Since his retirem...
Oct 11, 2022•27 min•Ep. 85
Bill Mallonee has been lauded as one of the 100 greatest living songwriters by Paste Magazine and honored by Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Billboard, and more. Before “Americana” was even known as a musical genre, his Athens GA band Vigilantes of Love was helping to define it. Later, with albums produced by Peter Buck of R.E.M., Mark Heard, Jim Scott, and Buddy Miller, it seemed all but inevitable that Bill and his band of outlaws would break through to the big time (whatever that means.) I...
Sep 28, 2022•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 84
