That's How I Remember It

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 makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 thanks to Alex for joining me. This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 and subscribe! This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 present and grateful in the music itself. A great talk, huge thanks to Eric for joining me.This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 recent excellent novel The Ghost Theater, milestones from the early days of Suede, his love of London, and so much more. It was a beautiful afternoon at The Moth Club, and great to relive here. This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/craigfinn

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 visited with Michael Hann, a music writer based in the UK who authored The Gospel of The Hold Steady book that came out in 2023. Michael is a longtime friend and fan of the band and we spoke of surprises in the book, favorite THS shows, first meetings, etc. Throughout it all I check in with my bandmates in THS to hear their recollections of 2023, our 20th year as a band. This was a great event, and it’s a lot of fun to revisit it on the eve of the THS Weekender 2024 shows in London this weekend.