Bringin' it Backwards

We had the pleasure of interviewing Aaron Nigel Smith over Zoom video! For the past 15 years Aaron Nigel Smith has worked to educate, empower and entertain youth and families around the world. He teaches chorus & drumming in Oregon & Washington through 1 World Chorus, Young Audiences, and the Right Brain Initiative. His most recent album, In Our America, made it's debut at #1 on the Billboard Reggae Charts. His 2015 release, Celebrating Bob Marley also spent several weeks on charts. In 2012, he and 1 World Chorus released a debut CD, Welcome to the Village, to critical acclaim. People Magazine and USA today recognized the project as one of the best children's releases of the year and the CD received a Parents' Choice Award. His 2010 CD, Everyone Loves to Dance, also received a Parents' Choice Award and recognition in People Magazine. In 2009, he collaborated with Ziggy Marley the Bob Marley children's record, B is for Bob. In 2005, Aaron's debut CD release, Let's Pretend, won the NAPPA & IParenting Media Awards. Aaron Nigel Smith joined the cast of the PBS Kids show, Between the Lions in 2008. In 2009 Aaron and his wife of 19 years Diedre, formed the non-profit 1 World Chorus with the mission of promoting peace internationally through choral singing, drumming and multimedia production. More than 5000 youth in Portland, Los Angeles, New York, Kenya & Jamaica have participated in 1 World Chorus programs. The Rox in Sox Children's Music & Book Festival is a project that Aaron spearheaded. During this free charity event, families in the US & Jamaica enjoy a day a free world class music, authors, family friendly activities and food vendors. Socks, shoes and books are donated at the entrance of the event in the US and distributed to youth in Jamaica & Kenya. Aaron also works with Ben & Jerry's, The Bob Marley Foundation and PYE Global to organize the One Love Youth Camp. This special project brings youth from rural and urban Jamaica together for a week long camp that encourages creativity, empowerment and conflict resolution. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork ​​Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Zoë Nutt over Zoom video! Nashville newcomer Zoë Nutt understands that time is precious. Although struggling with hearing loss from an early age, Zoë (now 27) wrote and recorded her new album, "How Does It Feel?", in the wake of a cochlear implant surgery intended to save her from complete and total deafness. The album rarely addresses her lifelong battle, but is blatantly informed by the maturity, self-awareness and artistic resilience as a result. Produced by celebrated songwriter Tammi Kidd Hutton (LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts) along with Ben Phillips (Chris Janson) and Greg Magers (Umphrey's McGee, Lupe Fiasco), the album was created over a two-year period of losing her hearing as an adult and reteaching herself to hear. While in the studio, Zoë needed to hit pause on the recording process to have surgery. Over the course of the next 12 months following her cochlear implant surgery, Zoë retaught herself how to hear, all while continuing to write this standout project. Despite this unspeakable hardship for a young creative with her entire career in front of her, Zoë persevered. The result was a 10-track collection that uses infectious, gleeful melodies and '90s-era production juxtaposed against lyrics conveying the torrent emotions that accompany heartache, hardship and artistic resilience. It also features a guest vocal appearance by Brandy Clark and by Jaren Johnston and Neil Mason of The Cadillac Three. Elsewhere on the album Zoë brings a "Americana-Folk flair" (American Songwriter) on the album's lead single "Happy," a vibrantly savvy character study about recognizing and cherishing the people and moments that really matter. On the Brandy Clark duet "Too Fast," Zoë finds herself wishing she could be brave and live life on the edge, while battling her internal voices of being stuck and afraid. Overall, How Does It Feel is an utterly captivating collection all about isolation, belonging and growth, proving that Zoë Nutt is not taking a minute for granted. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Roger Day over Zoom video! Now more than ever, kids need to find the power to deal with life's challenges. We may all be looking for a super hero to save the day, but Roger Day (www.rogerday.com) reminds us that our true power lies within. Day, the (normally) nationally touring and multiple award-winning Nashville-based singer-songwriter, recently released an album to help youngsters "solve the problem" and "save the day" using their own imagination and skills – no imaginary super heroes needed. Featuring 10 original songs, Invincible! is available from RogerDay.com, Spotify and your favorite music store. From the rousing beat of the title track, we know we'll be ready to fend off any evil foes. "No need to wait for super heroes anymore. I can save the day through the turning of the page." As Roger says, "every puzzle is solve-able" through creative brainpower and by consulting "the pages of a book." Any kid can discover that they are capable of working through a problem, like "No Ordinary Super Hero." They may even find them-selves declaring to their parents: "I'll Be Your Super Hero" as they soar confidently in their cape and boots. Day explains the unbridled optimism of these songs and how they fit the times. "Life is full of problems. The trick is to open your mind to discover the answers. Humans are clever, and little humans are all too often underestimated. We can help kids recognize that they can be active in finding solutions even in the most difficult situations." New York Times best-selling author Susan Verde co-wrote the rocker "Big Picture" with Day, in which a "citizen scientist" questions, investigates, solves for "x" and looks around to discover the universe, which starts in one's own backyard. The rockin' beat continues with the advice to super heroes to "Get a Robot First" and the shifting perspectives of "Little Ants," and the rousing "Me and My Jet Pack," which has been a hit with the kids at Roger's concerts. Of course, not all heroes fly around in capes and fight bad guys. "The Everyday Super Hero Song" celebrates the ordinary people who keep us educated, safe and healthy. The album ends sweetly with the soft-rock, Beatles-inflected ballad "Love Is My Super Power," in which the whole world can "shine like new." Roger Day is based near Nashville. His appearances have included the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor NY, The Charlotte Chil-dren's Theater and many schools, libraries and festivals. Roger Day's songs have been featured on Radio Disney, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, and public television. His five studio albums – Rock 'n' Roll Rodeo, Ready To Fly, Dream Big!, Why Does Gray Matter? and the CD/DVD release, Marsh Mud Madness– along with two Greatest Hits albums – have all won Parents' Choice Awards and critical acclaim nationwide. During spring 2020, he launched a virtual "Dream Big" and "Virtual Zoo" concert series, draw-ing thousands of fans. Roger and his wife Jodie are proud of their three adult kids who are super heroes to them: Thomas, a soon-to-be pediatrician at Vanderbilt University Medical School (who co-wrote the track "I'll Be Your Super Hero"); Marjory, currently completing two masters in both Business and Engineering at the University of Tennessee; and Jacob, a rising college senior at W&L University who spent last summer in Argentina mastering his Spanish and playing lots of soccer while working with kids at a non-profit in Buenos Aires. Now, as Roger releases a new album called Invincible! and reflects on his role as a children's entertainer, educator and father, he is even more convinced of the power of music in young people's lives. "My favorite line on the entire album is "Life is full of problems. But it's full of answers too." That's a message I'd love for every kid to take to heart." We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #intervi --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Justin Wells over Zoom video! Kentucky-based singer/songwriter Justin Wells recently released his new album, The United State, which was recorded with acclaimed producer Duane Lundy (Ringo Starr, Sturgill Simpson, Joe Pug). The United State is Wells' most ambitious and methodically crafted collection of songs to date. Lead single "The Screaming Song" is a bittersweet meditation on the wonder and the terror that accompanies our entrance into this world. "'The Screaming Song' is about birth, and all that joy and wonder and fear that accompanies it," Wells told Wide Open Country, who featured the video. "Casey Pierce did a fantastic job of conveying all of that in imagery that we, as grown human beings, understand and relate to, while assembling it in a context that seems esoteric: we don't see the why, we see the what. Beauty without context." Each song on The United State is the soundtrack to a different phase of our shared human experience, exploring our innate humanity and everything that comes with it: joy, sorrow, ecstasy, pain, hope, and fear. The album tracks human life from beginning to end, working its way through life chronologically. Its songs are a series of snapshots of formative moments: our entrance into the world, the freedom of youth, learning the difference between lust and love, the responsibility and anxiety of family life, passing peacefully from this life to the next. The United State is the follow-up to Justin's solo debut album Dawn In The Distance, which prompted the best reviews of his career, with Rolling Stone hailing his "gift for melody" and Saving Country Music praising his "stunning insight and honesty." The album reached #3 on Amazon's Alt-Country/Americana chart and racked up over a million streams on Spotify alone. Justin is formally of the cult favorite Southern rock band Fifth on the Floor, whose breakthrough Shooter Jennings-produced album Ashes & Angels debuted on the Billboard Country charts, followed by shows with Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, and Jason Isbell, before they broke up in 2013. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

Together with American Songwriter, we had the pleasure of interviewing Zach Allard and Antonio Metcalf of Discrepancies over Zoom video! Discrepancies is a Rap/Rock band out of St. Louis who have formed an undeniably powerful and innovative sound. Comprised of Garrett Weakley (Bass), Addison Bracher (Guitar/vocals), Zach Allard (Drums), and Antonio Metcalf (Vocals) have formed a unique take on Rap Rock incorporating heavy riffs, soaring choruses, and breakdowns with intense lyricism and hip hop elements. In January 2018, Discrepancies signed to InVogue Records. They released their debut album "The Awakening" in March of 2018 and had over a million streams in the first week. "The Awakening" landed on Billboard charts peaking at #32 Alt New Artist and #108 Top New Artist. The band set out on multiple short-run tours throughout the year with bands such as Ded, Kottonmouth Kings, Memphis May Fire, and even the Final Vans Warped Tour. The band played the final Vans Warped Tour in the summer of 2018. They joined the lineup for Rock USA the following year as well as continued their support for the album. In January of 2020, the band released the first single from their 2nd LP. The single, Control, pushed over 500k views and streams before the album release and continues to grow. The band released 4 more singles, riding the wave through the unfortunate 2020 global pandemic. Discrepancies recently released their second LP "The Rise" on Invogue Records We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Jack Sneddon over Zoom video! Jack Sneddon is a young songwriter/multi instrumentalist out of Orange County, California. Currently. Since 2019, Jack has been involved with SoCal ska veterans Half Past Two, where he plays trombone, as well as new band on the scene, The Re-Adjusters, with focus on guitar/vocals. As a songwriter, Jack has been working closely with both TRA and HP2 to create exciting new music, blending ska, reggae, soul, punk and much more for exciting releases bound for the spring and summer of 2021. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

Together with American Songwriter, we had the pleasure of interviewing Xoe Wise over Zoom video! Xoe Wise is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer originally from a small town in NC, now based in Chicago. Her releases have spanned from folk to rock, to electronic. Her forthcoming (3rd) release Air features Xoe's folk repertoire with lush yet intimate horns by Martin Wenk (Calexico, Nada Surf), string and synth arrangements and production by Wise and Minterm. The record includes love songs like "Park too Close" exploring the difficulties of paralleling parking while finding solace in the kindness of your partner. The first single Cross-Eyed Rose" tells an emotional story of wanderlust and finding out that you are not alone. Her debut record Echo was produced by Ethan Stoller and released in 2010 to critical acclaim. Chicago Innerview recognized Wise as "easily the singer/songwriter and pop counterpart to Columbia native Chaz Bundick's (a.k.a. Toro Y Moi) laconic chill-wave synth ballads." The Chicago Tribune's Redeye described her next single "Dear Sendai" as "spiritual." Wise's sophomore album Archive of Illusions was written on the road with co-producer and friend Matt Ryd in 2011. The record attracted a sold-out crowd to Schubas. TuneCore called the record "new and noteworthy". Xoe has also been seen and heard in Netflix shows such as Sense8, and Showtimes Work in Progress. Wise was also a NPR Newsong finalist. Wise released the Breakfast EP in 2013 and RacecarO in 2015. She was featured on HuffPost for her single "Doctor" and in 2016 101WKQX featured her rock single "Dollhouse" produced by Howie Beno on air. 101 recruited her as a QUED Up Artist to perform for a sold-out Metro show supporting Wild Belle. She has shared the stage with artists Lisa Loeb, Guster, The Verve Pipe, Daley, St. Etienne, Greg Laswell, Andrew Belle, Tyrone Wells, Vera Blue, Verité (as Kinky Love), and Meg Myers. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing B.Miles over Zoom video! Late last year, B.Miles stood on stage at a packed Bowery Ballroom in her adoptive hometown of New York, having already been deemed "a true force in alt-pop" (PAPER) and "poised for a breakthrough" (TIME) and streamed tens of millions of times before releasing her debut LP. Early the next morning, Brenna Miles walked into her 9-to-5 in a Midtown high-rise and - as she puts it on her upcoming album In Order of Appearance - spent "a whole day filing dreams while clicking send." Somewhere in the spaces between her rising profile as a musician, she felt a day-to-day reality setting in that couldn't be anything further away. Where did it all lead? A cookie-cutter house in some mundane suburb, faking smiles to the neighbors while you tell the same stories on repeat? It's the kind of thing that felt lightyears away when Miles' first song "Salt" hit the top of Spotify's Viral 50 just weeks after she moved to New York. And now, somehow, it was a daily fight. Much of Miles' long-awaited debut album takes place in those daily ruminations – those awe-striking moments when you notice someone else's voice slip out of your mouth, or feel like you're in a movie on repeat, or find yourself a little too grown-up for your own good. For Miles, the one thing that's never changed is her need to write it out with a trusted group of longtime collaborators and best friends – co-writer Eric Nizgretsky and the production team of Matias Qualeri, Jackson Firlik and Noise Club. While most of her previous writing had taken place in a cozy makeshift studio above New York's BQE, the new album took her back home to Southern California to record for the first time, and through winter in a hollowed-out Long Island beach town before finally completing the record in a Queens studio she built from the ground up with her tight-knit musical crew. As the band brought the magic back together, it helped her work through all these heavy thoughts in a way she never really thought possible. On top of it all, the new record constantly re-sets the limits of what a B.Miles song can sound like - from the defiant euphoria that radiates through the monstrous chorus of "Worst Enemy" to the barest, most unflinchingly candid slow-burner she's ever written "Collecting Souvenirs." On In Order of Appearance, for the first time, B.Miles lets us in on what it means to simply be Brenna – her deepest battles, most unsettling setbacks and ultimately what motivates her to keep pushing through it all. The collection marks B.Miles' first genuinely complete statement as an artist, a work undoubtedly deserving of its place as her debut. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com​​Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

Together with American Songwriter and Sean Ulbs of The Eiffels, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jutes over Zoom audio! Jutes molds alternative, pop-punk, and hip-hop into anthems bold enough to soundtrack memories you hold on to forever. Often hypnotic, regularly hard-hitting, and always heartfelt, his music has already gathered 20 million-plus global streams and garnered praise and support from Alternative Press, Elevator Magazine, OnesToWatch, Earmilk, and Apple Music's Beats 1, to name a few. He's certainly come a long way from the 100-acre farm in Kars, Ontario he calls home. Beyond countless hours among the solitude of a super-small town and in the company of a bevy of animals, he devoured classics by Red Hot Chili Peppers, OutKast, and Ludacris. In 2015, he introduced himself through packed underground shows and a lo-fi, yet lush hybrid style. Putting numbers on the board, Jutes made waves with the independent breakout "Cocaine Cinderella," amassing nearly 5 million streams and turning heads. Settling in Los Angeles, a prolific string of bangers such as "Devil" and "Too Easy" further amplified his impact. Along the way, he signed to Capitol Records and unveiled the debut Overrated EP in 2020. The project crystallized his sound as Flaunt Magazine dubbed the EP "a genre blending experience." However, he levels up once again with the seven-track A Really Bad Dream EP. On "Backseat (Kiss Me)," he spins the Sixpence None The Richer hit "Kiss Me" around with nimble rhymes and an emotionally charged bounce. Meanwhile, the single "Say It First" skates over a glassy beat and slick guitar towards a swooning R&B refrain. With more music and surprises on the horizon, Jutes turns his diary into your soundtrack. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com www.BringinitBackwards.com ​​Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/

We had the pleasure of interviewing Joey Pollari over Zoom video! Odd Comfort (Joey Pollari) released his debut album "About Men" on October 23rd. "Punisher" Music Video https://youtu.be/RQDL00WNvhw Meaning of The Song: I wrote this song about a man I tried to get close to and be intimate with; but every time that window would open, it would last a day and then he would shut down again. I would get hurt and ask him, "Why are you so far away all of sudden?" He would turn around and tell me I was punishing him. I felt like he was punishing me. We both thought the same thing about the other person. By the end of our relationship, my attempts at closeness backfired and we switched positions; I wouldn't let him any closer. This song starts right as the honeymoon stops and suspicions rise. The song ends where pain sometimes ends: to fight what hurts us, we become what hurt us. Concept: This idea was in my head, spurred by watching the video for Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby." The beginning has that motif of her on a tire swing, singing while clutching the rope; but the innocence of the tire swing is challenged by the close-ups with the rope. The music video came to me then. I saw myself in a wedding dress, swinging like Mariah, dreaming of my man. I saw my friend Erik Adrian Santiago, shirtless and tattooed as the man, as the Punisher. I didn't know his relation to me yet. I just saw myself scrubbing floors in a night gown, sowing jeans with a spool of thread, and waiting for him at the window like a maiden. I only knew I would turn into the Punisher at the end, because that's where the song goes. But when the day of shooting arrived, everything went out the window the moment I woke up. I saw my two 25 pound dumbbells in my bedroom and I suddenly put them in my car, I didn't know why. I told Erik he'd be working out the entire video and I pointed at the weights. I told my cinematographer Mark Stablein that I wanted frames like a horror movie, slow zooms and harsh lighting, the camera as voyeur. I showed him references from Fassbinder's "In a Year of 13 Moons." It wasn't until we were up and shooting that I realized where my impulses were heading: a dream-state limbo of masculinity, thwarted desire, and horny rage.The Shoot: We laughed the entire day of shooting. I would get very coquettish on the bed, then start thrashing like a demon. I would tell Erik to flex his muscles but then start crying. I told Mark to film me in the wedding dress but then pan over to Erik furiously lifting weights. I had no idea why it felt right. I would ask Erik to stand over me and pose with menace and then he'd ask, "Yo, should we order burgers and I eat a burger over your face?" I grabbed my phone and bought a burger immediately. In preparation for the shoot, I had bought 18 feet of rope and I had a tire in my car, my costume designer had bought a yellow night gown, and my production designer had lent her sowing machine; but most of it went out the window because we were on some other bend. When I started editing it, I realized what story the footage was telling. The images were getting crossfaded. The line between me and the Punisher was blurry. I questioned my role as a director, asking my friend to pose shirtless and then start sobbing. I was putting images together to tell a symbolic story. It became a video about how objects of desire are constructed, controlled, and fantasized; how a desire for someone can be very close to them having complete control over you; and how the darker underbelly of fantasies are always waiting in the wings. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com ​​Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bringin-it-backwards--4972373/support. https://bringinitbackwards.com/