About this podcast
Joe Pug hosts a weekly conversation with one of today's best songwriters.
The Working Songwriter is a part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network. Interested in sponsoring us? Contact: https://bit.ly/sponsorBGSpods
Over 300 catalog episodes available to stream in the Nation of Heat Vault. Visit joepugmusic.com/vault
Episodes
The newest 50 of 366 episodes
- Eric Hutchinson · 59 minOur guest this week originally hails from my neck of the woods, Takoma Park Maryland. Eric Hutchinson got his start in music after moving to Los Angeles after a stint at Emerson…
- Classic Episode - Slaid Cleaves · 52 minThis episode was orginally aired on June 24th, 2016. Originally from South Berwick Maine, the legendary songwriter has lived in Texas for the last couple decades. He reflects on…
- David Shaw of The Revivalists · 52 minOur guest this week is David Shaw, the lead singer and principal songwriter of the rock band The Revivalists. Originally hailing from Hamilton, Ohio, Shaw moved south to New…
- Classic Episode - Steve Cropper · 36 minThis episode was originally aired on August 22nd, 2024. This legendary musician and songwriter was integral to the Staxx Records sound, and has writing credits on "Green Onions"…
- Erin McAnally · 55 minOur guest this week is Erin McAnally, the daughter of legendary songwriter and guitarist Mac McAnally. Born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and raised in Nashville, Erin grew up…
- Classic Episode - Laura Jane Grace · 54 minThis episode originally aired on April 1, 2022. The creative force behind Against Me!, describes founding the band, working with producer Butch Vig, and navigating the waters of…
- Live Episode - John Moreland at the 2026 Working Songwriter Forum · 46 minRecorded live at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Joe Pug interviews beloved songwriter John Moreland. TWS Forum is an annual event that the podcast hosts in June…
- Classic Episode - Dar Williams · 58 minThe iconic singer songwriter reflects on her last few decades at the vanguard of American folk music. This episode was originally aired on June 3rd, 2022.
- Jim James · 52 minOur guest this week is one of Louisville, Kentucky’s favorite sons. Jim James is a native Kentuckian who rose to prominence as the vocalist and creative force behind the…
- Classic Episode - Amy Ray · 59 minThis legendary folk songwriter stops by the show to discuss her techniques for sculpting melody, structuring the bridge of a song, and navigating the ever-shifting sands of the…
- Gary Louris · 52 minOur guest this week is one of the godfathers of modern roots and Americana music. Originally from Toledo, Ohio, Gary Louris moved to Minneapolis as a young man in the 1970s and…
- Classic Episode - Chuck Ragan · 55 minThis episode originally aired on April 15th, 2022 This songwriter has spent the last few decades building a devoted following with Hot Water Music and also with his own solo…
- Fruit Bats return! · 50 minOur guest this week is one of Chicago’s favorite sons. Eric D. Johnson is the songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist behind Fruit Bats, which started in the late 1990s as a…
- Classic Episode - Frank Turner · 55 minThis episode was originally aired on April 8th, 2022. Fresh on the heels of his latest album hitting #1 on the UK Charts, this journeyman songwriter and performer stops by the…
- Jay Buchanan of Rival Sons · 1 h 0 minOur guest this week on the Working Songwriter hails from a small mountain town in California, but his music has now made it across the world. Jay Buchanan got his start in the…
- Classic Episode - Allison Russell · 1 h 1 minThis episode was originally aired on June 18th, 2021. After many years in celebrated roots music groups such as Po' Girl, Birds of Chicago, and Our Native Daughters, this…
- Chicago Farmer · 48 minOur guest this week is Cody Diekhoff, better known as Chicago Farmer. He grew up in the small farming community of Delavan, Illinois, before moving to Chicago in 2003. Over the…
- Classic Episode - They Might Be Giants · 55 minThis episode originally aired on November 5th, 2021. John Flansburgh, one of the founding members of this groundbreaking indie-rock institution, stops by the show to talk about…
- Gabe Dixon and Mike Mattison of the Tedeschi Trucks Band · 41 minOur guests this week are Gabe Dixon and Mike Mattison of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, the Grammy-winning roots ensemble led by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Formed in 2010, their…
- Classic Episode - Robert Finley · 1 h 7 minThis episode was originally published on March 5th, 2021. The renowned troubadour from Louisiana found his commercial success in music later in life; he reflects on the journey…
- Novelist, Stephen Markley · 52 minThis week on The Working Songwriter, we're thrilled to step out of our normal comfort zone by welcoming one of the country's most acclaimed young novelists. Originally from Mount…
- Classic Episode - Dashboard Confessional · 59 minThis episode originally aired on June 25th, 2021. Chris Carrabba, the auteur behind this legendary emo band, discusses the twists and turns of a career that has included Gold…
- Dale Watson · 44 minOur guest this week was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but, just like Davey Crockett, got to Texas as soon as he could. Dale Watson began his musical career playing the clubs of…
- Classic Episode - Marcus King · 43 minThis Greenville, South Carolina native is a Grammy-nominated troubadour known for his tireless touring schedule. Originally aired on December 18th, 2020.
- Joe Pernice · 56 minOur guest on the Working Songwriter this week hails originally from Boston, Massachusetts and now makes his home in Toronto. Joe Pernice got his musical start, though, in…
- Classic Episode - Joan Osborne · 56 minThis episode was originally aired on September 18th, 2020. The celebrated singer and songwriter describes her initial ascent to the top of the charts with her debut album and how…
- Eddie Schwartz · 58 minOur guest this week on the Working Songwriter hails from Canada and has spent over four decades writing hit songs. Eddie Schwartz got his start as a solo artist, but has found…
- Classic Episode - Kevin Morby · 1 h 0 minThe Kansas City bred songwriter tells the story of his journey toward his distinctive brand of indie rock. This episode originally aired on October 9, 2020.
- Mary Chapin Carpenter · 40 minOur guest this week on the Working Songwriter hails from my neck of the woods, Washington, D.C. Mary Chapin Carpenter got her start in the proto-Americana music scene of 1970s…
- Classic Episode - John Craigie · 54 minThis episode was originally aired on August 14th, 2020. This troubadour based in Portland OR has carved out a national audience for his heartfelt, wry folk songs. He speaks about…
- Charles Kelley of Lady A · 38 minOur guest on the Working Songwriter this week hails from Augusta, Georgia, but has made his professional bones in Music City, USA. Charles Kelley was one of the founding members…
- Classic Episode - Courtney Marie Andrews · 1 h 1 minThis episode originally aired on November 30th, 2018. The acclaimed songwriter from Phoenix talks about touring as a backup musician, producing her own breakout album, and her…
- Ricky Montgomery · 47 minOur guest this week on the Working Songwriter resides in Los Angeles, but spent many of his formative years in St. Louis, Missouri. Ricky Montgomery first built an audience on…
- Classic Episode: Lee Ann Womack · 32 minThis episode was originally aired on June 29th, 2018 One of Nashville's favorite daughters, by way of Jacksonville Texas, discusses arriving for writing appointments with…
- Fruition · 54 minOur guests this week got their start busking on the streets of Portland, Oregon, but it wasn't long before their popularity pulled them onto the open road. Jay Cobb Anderson and…
- Classic Episode: Lydia Loveless · 54 minThis episode originally aired on December 29th, 2017. The Ohio native discusses her passion for classic country, capturing the vitality of live performance on a record, and her…
- Jason Boland · 45 minOur guest today on the Working Songwriter hails from Oklahoma and is a foundational contributor to the uniquely American genre of Red Dirt music. Jason Boland released his first…
- Classic Episode: Heartless Bastards · 55 minThis episode originally aired on April 28th, 2017. Erika Wennerstrom, the creative force behind Heartless Bastards, discusses growing up in Dayton Ohio, signing to Fat Possum…
- Yung Lan · 34 minOur guest this week on the Working Songwriter originally hails from Virginia, but made his bones in the bustling hip-hop scene of Atlanta. Yung Lan began producing tracks on his…
- Classic Episode: Elizabeth Cook · 56 minThis episode originally aired November 29, 2019. This native of Wildwood Florida is known for her critically acclaimed albums, her XM radio show, and her frequent appearances at…
- Ray Fulcher · 56 minOur guest this week hails from Harlem, Georgia. Ray Fulcher is one of Nashville's most sought-after modern country songwriters. He first broke through co-writing a string of…
- Classic Episode: John Moreland · 56 minThis episode originally aired on August 31, 2018. The Tulsa troubadour describes his transition from hardcore music to folk, how to put on a compelling live show solo, and…
- Hayes Carll returns again · 40 minOur guest this week on The Working Songwriter hails from The Woodlands, Texas. Hayes Carll is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller whose sharp wit and plainspoken poetry first…
- Classic Episode: Nicole Atkins · 59 minThis episode originally aired on September 27, 2019. The Nashville via New Jersey vocalist and songwriter discusses the turn of the century anti-folk scene in NYC, her major…
- Evan Bartels · 60 minOur guest this week hails from Tobias, Nebraska, a town of about 100 people. Evan Bartels is a singer-songwriter who with his 2017 debut, 'The Devil, God & Me,' burst onto the…
- Remembering Joe Ely · 1 h 2 minThe Texas music icon passed away this week. Ten years ago he was the inaugural guest of this podcast. It was so gracious of him to sit down for a show that was just starting. He…
- Dave Stewart · 1 h 11 minThis legendary British songwriter and producer went multi-platinum with his band Eurythmics before embarking on a career that has included collaborations with Bob Dylan, Mick…
- Remembering Todd Snider · 1 h 1 minThe Bard of East Nashville passed away last week at the age of 59. We are re-airing his episode of the podcast which was originally published in March of 2020.
- Tami Neilson · 51 minThis singer songwriter grew up playing in a family band in Canada before moving to New Zealand and beginning a career of her own. She has since shared the stage with Willie…
- Ron Pope · 1 h 3 minThis songwriter rose to prominence with the viral success of his single, "A Drop in the Ocean", and has navigated a flourishing career for the past two decades.
