Talkhouse Podcast

Andrew Bird and Jimbo Mathus have known each other for decades, going back to the beginning of Bird's solo career and Mathus' earliest days with Squirrel Nut Zippers. Most of their work together has been assistive—Bird would add his fiddle to the Zippers' records, and Mathus would return the favor with some horns. But a couple of years back, the old friends decided to write some songs together, and the result is These 13, a truly collaborative album featuring just their voices, guitar, and fiddle, for the most part. It's spare and surprising. In this Talkhouse conversation, they chat about the old days and the new, as well as a shared love of Charley Patton. Enjoy.—Josh Modell, Executive EditorThis episode was produced by Kevin O'Connell. The Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range.

Todd Rundgren is a legendary musician and producer whose list of credits is impressive as the man himself is down to earth. He had his own string of pop hits—including the novelty song “Bang on the Drum All Day”—and experimental albums, both as a solo artist and with the Nazz. He produced Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, as well as New York Dolls’ self-titled debut, one of the most influential. This month, he’s been on the “Clearly Human” tour, which—due to obvious reasons—is all virtual. As a tech pioneer, he’s doing things a bit different, as you’ll hear in the podcast.Eric Slick is a fellow Philly boy and longtime fan of Rundgren’s who was excited to chat with him. Slick is best known as the drummer in the excellent Dr. Dog, and he’s also a frequent Talkhouse contributor. If that’s not enough, Slick recently released a magnificent solo record called Wiseacre. The two chat about making records, playing shows, and—of course—a certain former president.This episode was produced by Kevin O’Connell. The Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by The Range.

Mike Ness and Ben Nichols both front bands that blur the already-blurry genre lines between punk, Americana, country, and more—so it's no surprise that the two get along. Nichols' band, Lucero, opened for Ness' band, Social Distortion, on a tour about a decade ago, and the two hit it off. Since then, Lucero returned the favor by taking out Jade Jackson's band—which features Ness' son Julian on guitar. The occasion for this Talkhouse conversation is the release of Lucero's newest album, When You Found Me. The two songwriters talk about their craft, their kids, and how to write a song that makes a statement without getting political. —Josh Modell, Executive EditorThis episode was produced by Kevin O’Connell. The Talkhouse Podcast theme was composed and performed by The Range.

Tamara Lindeman and Julia Jacklin are spending the pandemic thousands of miles away from each other, but you’d never know if from the closeness of this Talkhouse chat. Lindeman, who’s based in Canada, just released her fifth album as The Weather Station—and Ignorance is already making waves. It got the coveted Best New Music designation from Pitchfork, as well as a five-star review in The Guardian, both well deserved. Jacklin, who’s from Australia, finished touring her last album, Crushing, not long before the lockdown hit. Here, they discuss the ins and outs of how much they share in their songs, what they’re looking forward to when normalcy returns, and Joni Mitchell.This episode was produced by Kevin O’Connell. The Talkhouse Podcast theme was composed and performed by The Range.

In the third episode of McIntosh's "for the love of music..." podcast series presented by Talkhouse, Elia Einhorn spoke with one of the most recognizable names in popular jazz and soul: Gregory Porter. Gregory has been using his powerful baritone on both Broadway and concert stages for decades. His smooth take on classic American pop forms has earned him critical accolades, and fans the world over. The multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has long had an intense touring schedule, and while the pandemic has forced him off the road, he’s been staying very busy. Gregory has a podcast of his own—called The Hang—and recently released a new album of original music, All Rise, which was nominated for Best R&B Album at this year’s Grammys. In this episode, Gregory talks about writing songs in the sky, English accents in gospel music, recording in some of the coolest studios in the world, and much more. 

Jenny Lewis—she of Rilo Kiley, The Postal Service, and numerous excellent solo albums—met Chicago rapper Serengeti when they were both performers at the PEOPLE Festival in Berlin, back in 2018. They struck up a fast friendship that led to Serengeti asking Lewis to provide some music—a very specific amount of music—for him to rhyme over. They’ve since released two excellent songs together via Lewis’ Love’s Way label, “Unblu” and “Vroom Vroom,” and there are more on the way, as you’ll hear in their conversation. There’s also a mysterious appearance by Mr. Peanut.This episode was produced by Kevin O’Connell. The Talkhouse theme was composed and performed by The Range.

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, the iconic actor Viggo Mortensen sits down with his longtime friend and fellow filmmaker Alix Lambert. The occasion for their talk is the release of Falling, Mortensen’s debut as writer-director, an intense family drama starring Lance Henriksen, Laura Linney and Mortensen himself. In a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation, Mortensen and Lambert discuss not only Falling and the pandemic, but also Viggo’s musical collaborations with the guitarist Buckethead, the various cinematic exploits of Mortensen’s son Henry, Lambert’s current non-fiction project, the shared love that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Mortensen have for a very surprising TV show, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Sometimes Talkhouse Podcast participants have never met, sometimes they’re acquainted, and on rare occasions, they know each other really well. For this week’s chat, it became clear pretty quickly that Sasha Spielberg—a.k.a. Buzzy Lee—and Alana Haim already spoke the same language. As it turns out, and you’ll hear this in the conversation, they’re close enough to share a Hulu account.The occasion for this conversation is the debut full-length from Buzzy Lee, the excellent Spoiled Love, which is out this week. And of course, it’s not too late to enjoy the latest album from HAIM, Women In Music Pt. III, which came out last year. The two old friends talk about young love, bat mitzvahs, “cozy boys,” and songwriting. It’s charming as hell.

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we bring together a pair of singer-songwriters who share a love of intimate, thoughtful compositions and recordings. Robin Pecknold has been the chief creative mind behind Fleet Foxes since the band’s beginnings back in 2005; the latest Fleet Foxes album was surprise-released in September of 2020, and Shore was met with lots of well-deserved love. Elijah Wolf is just starting out on his career. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter was raised in upstate New York, and was a fan of Fleet Foxes before a chance meeting with Pecknold in a New York guitar shop. Wolf, who was working at Crandall Guitars, was playing music by a band called Holy Hive in the store, and it turned out that both Pecknold and Wolf were friends with that band. They got to know each other and started sharing works-in-progress with each other during the pandemic. Pecknold’s songs would end up on Shore, and Wolf’s would become his first album, Brighter Lighting, which is due out February 26 on Trash Casual Records. Both records, funnily enough, feature drummer Josh Jaeger—it’s a small world after all. The two songwriters get into a great chat about their process, their pandemic work strategies, and the idea of what defines an album. Enjoy the talk, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes. This week’s episode was produced by Kevin O’Connell, and the Talkhouse Podcast theme is composed and performed by The Range.

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, actress Robin Tunney chats with multihyphenate extraordinaire Alexi Pappas, the filmmaker and Olympic athlete whose excellent new memoir, Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain and Other Big Ideas, is out now through Random House. Tunney, most recently seen in ABC’s The Fix and best known for her roles in Empire Records, The Craft and TV’s The Mentalist, is not only one of Pappas’ mentors, but she’s also her cousin by marriage, and their familial ease with each other is evident in a very open, insightful and sometimes funny conversation that takes in such topics as the shadow of mental illness, the challenges of finding the balance between career and family, bonding with others over trauma, how the thing we’re best at may still give us discomfort or pain, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.