This Song

March 17, 2016

This Song: SXSW Extra! Butch Vig

Butch Vig talks about how seeing the Who perform “My Generation” on the Smothers Brothers made him want to be become a drummer, and showed him the kind of energy he would later help others capture in the studio. Along the way talks about what it means to be a producer and about his new documentary “The Smart Studios Story.”

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March 15, 2016

This Song: Mark Mothersbaugh // Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen

Mark Mothersbaugh describes in vivid detail what is was like to see the Beatles for the first time on Ed Sullivan. Then Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen from A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit talk about the the riffs and raw power of Iggy Pop, the songwriting of Regina Spektor how they came to write songs together.

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March 8, 2016

This Song: Josh Ritter // John Carter Cash

Josh Ritter explains how delving into the catalogue of Roger Miller helped him let go of the rules and find his voice for his new record. Then John Carter Cash explains why the music of his grandmother, Mother Maybelle Carter, influenced his musical path even more than the work of his father, Johnny Cash.

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March 1, 2016

This Song: Delbert McClinton // Carrie Rodriguez

Delbert McClinton tells the story of the first time he heard Big Joe Turner’s “Honey Hush” wafting out of a window. From that moment on, he was driven to give everything he had to the blues. And Carrie Rodriguez tells the story of the first time she heard Bill Frisell and explains how it opened her up to the idea that traditional music need not be played in a traditional way.

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February 25, 2016

This Song Extra! Jonathan Meiburg talks Aeilli, Bowie, Caracaras and more

What do John Aielli, David Bowie and Caracaras all have in common? Jonathan Meiburg from Shearwater has learned something from all of them. Hear about his many and varied interests in this first ever “This Song” extra!

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February 23, 2016

This Song: Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater // Cross Record

Jonathan Meiburg explains how Vic Chesnutt’s “Big Huge Valley” helped him realize there was a whole world of music bubbling beneath the mainstream. Plus, he makes the case that Nina Simone is the “best popular musician of the 20th century, and maybe the 21st century too.”
Then Emily Cross of Cross Record describes the effect Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” had on her while her partner Dan Duszynski explains how King Tubby expanded his ideas of what music could be.

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February 16, 2016

This Song: Ian Astbury of the Cult // P.T. Banks

Ian Astbury of The Cult explains the powerful effect that David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” had on him when he was 10 years old and P.T. Banks talks about how Paul Simon’s “Everything Put Together Falls Apart,” helped him understand life, substance abuse and death.

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February 9, 2016

This Song: Jose Gonzalez // Daniel James and Trevor Wiggins of Leopold and his Fiction

Jose Gonzalez talks about the many ways Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon” inspired his musical style as does drummer Trevor Wiggins of Leopold and his Fiction. Then Daniel James, lead singer and guitar player for Leopold and his Fiction, talks about how the Motown sound helped him find his own sound.

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