That's How I Remember It

Amanda Shires is my guest on this week’s That's How I Remember It. Amanda is an incredible songwriter and musician. She’s an accomplished solo artist, a member of The Highwomen, and has played fiddle with The Texas Playboys, Billy Joe Shaver, Justin Townes Earle, The 400 Unit, and much more. Amanda’s incredible last record Take It Like a Man was one of the best of 2022. Here we talk about details in songs, Tom Petty, getting an MFA, the role of nature in her songs, and deliberately making songs that are present and rooted in the now. This was a fantastic talk, huge thanks to Amanda for coming on the show. Please listen and subscribe! 

Ben Gibbard is my guest on this episode of That's How I Remember It. Ben is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service, and has written an absolute ton of great songs since DCFC formed in 1997. Most recently, the band released Asphalt Meadows, another great record and also announced a joint Death Cab/Postal Service tour for fall 2023. We had a great talk about van touring before cell phones, going pro as a musician, always finishing writing songs, Scott Hutchison, art living forever, and so much more. A huge thanks to Ben for joining me and for being so thoughtful. I loved this talk, and hope you do too. Please keep listening and subscribe! 

Eric Bachmann is my guest this week on That’s How I Remember It. Eric is the lead singer of classic indie rock band Archers of Loaf and has also made music as Crooked Fingers, as well as under his own name. Recently, Archers of Loaf put out the great Reason in Decline, 24 years after the release of their last record. I distinctly remember my first time hearing Archers of Loaf, as well as the first show of theirs I ever saw. We talk about both here, as well as Web in Front, first records, band reunions, legacy, expectations, and so much more. Big thanks to Eric for joining me, this was a ton of fun. Please listen and subscribe, and keep tuning in to That’s How I Remember It.

Welcome back for season two of That’s How I Remember It. I’m thrilled to kick off this season with a conversation with the incredible George Saunders. George has written some of my favorite recent fiction, and his 2022 book Liberation Day is a fascinating story collection that we get into deeply here. We talk about Johnny Tremain, humor in stories, drawing on memories of old jobs, late stage capitalism, gentle revolution, and so much more. We even spoke a bit about songwriting at the end of the episode. I was honored to have such an amazing mind join me here, and I’m so excited to be back with another season of the podcast. Listen, subscribe, and stay tuned for more upcoming episodes.

Katy Kirby will be joining myself and The Uptown Controllers on tour starting next week so I caught up with her on this special flash episode of That’s How I Remember It. Katy was in the parking lot of the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach CA when she dialed in, so there’s a little ambient noise, but that’s life on the road. And perhaps it added to our discussion about learning to sing harmonies, quality of light as a memory trigger, the making of her amazing record Cool Dry Place, the oranges that show up in her songs, and the tour we are embarking on. So cool to speak to one of my favorite songwriters, looking forward to seeing her set each night. Season 2 of THIRI coming up before too long, listen and subscribe.

Today I fly out to start the Uptown Controllers tour this weekend in Odense, Denmark. To celebrate, we’re releasing this flash episode where I have a small chat with Scott Lavene, who will be supporting on most of the dates. Scott is a brilliant songwriter who released one of my favorite records in recent memory, “Milk City Sweethearts”. We talked about the record and the upcoming tour. Check out craigfinn.net for all upcoming tour dates and I hope to see you on the road!

Adam Duritz is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It and I am quite psyched about it. Adam is obviously the singer and songwriter of platinum selling band Counting Crows, and has been making thoughtful and great music for decades now. I met Adam when Counting Crows took THS on tour in Europe/UK in 2009 and was so excited he agreed to do this. We talked about how the details matter so much in songs, each of our first trips to Asbury Park, loving Christmas music, that dog., last year's fantastic Counting Crows EP, bootlegs, and the way that light attaches to a girl. That’s a wrap on season one of That’s How I Remember It; we’ll be back with season two before long. Listen, subscribe, and keep your eye on this space for tour updates, etc. Stay Positive!

Maggie Smith is my guest on this week’s That’s How I Remember It. Maggie is the author of four full length poetry collections, the most recent being Goldenrod from 2021. She also wrote Keep Moving, an essay collection about loss, creativity, and change. Maggie is the author of "Good Bones," a poem that went viral in 2016 and reached a massive audience across the globe; the last line of that poem “You could make this place beautiful” is the title of her forthcoming memoir in 2023. We spoke about writing for yourself first, '80s music, nostalgia as a medical diagnosis, writing as springtime, memorials, saying things out loud when you see them, and a memoir being more of a “tell-some” than a “tell-all.” Great talk, huge thanks to Maggie for joining me. Listen and subscribe to hear even more fascinating guests on That’s How I Remember It.

Tom Perrotta is my guest on this week’s That's How I Remember It. Tom is a fantastic author of at least eight novels, many of which have been made into films and TV series. This includes Election, Little Children, Mrs. Fletcher, and The Leftovers. On this episode we talk about his decision to revisit the Election character Tracy Flick in his new novel Tracy Flick Can’t Win, and his approach. We also spoke about high school reunions, nostalgia, personal narratives, how he uses smaller stories to connect to national conversations, and how TV and film adaptations affect his own relationship with his work. This was such a cool talk; I hope you’ll check it out and subscribe.

That’s How I Remember It is taking a break from hosting guests this week as we gear up for the final few episodes of Season 1. Instead, we are featuring this "Flash Episode," where I talk about the upcoming tour I’m doing with The Uptown Controllers in UK/Europe and North America. Listen up to hear some thoughts on all the dates, the support, the band, and the origin of the band name. Check out craigfinn.net for all the dates and tickets. We will return with an amazing guest next week as we push towards the end of Season 1 in the next few weeks. Listen and subscribe!