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We Recently Spoke With...  Jesse Valenzuela Jesse was the original lead singer of the Gin Blossoms. He tells the story of their survival through all manner of drama. >>more Keith Reid (Procul Harum) As Procul Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument. >>more Jason Michael Carroll Jason's songs would make great romance novels, and he'd look just fine on the cover. >>more Brad Arnold (3 Doors Down) You hear their hits constantly: "Kryptonite," "Here Without You," "When I'm Gone." Brad tells the stories behind the songs, and explains why he has no interest in being famous. >>more Jake Owen Jake is a young Country star who writes his own tunes. He has an interesting take on the Facebook vs. MySpace debate. >>more Terry Cashman Terry was Jim Croce's producer, and he wrote the classic "Talkin' Baseball." >>more Sandy Chapin Many of Harry Chapin's songs, including "Cat's In The Cradle," started off as poems that Sandy wrote. Learn about Harry's clever marketing ploys, where he took creative liberties, and the story of "Taxi." >>more Nick Van Eede (Cutting Crew) Cutting Crew's debut album produced the first #1 hit for Virgin Records: "(I Just) Died in Your Arms." Their lead singer and primary songwriter Nick Van Eede tells the story. >>more Marc Roberge of O.A.R. O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) is emerging as one of the most popular young bands in America, making a Dave Matthews-like ascent from colleges and bars to MTV and Madison Square Garden. All that's missing are the crazy party girls. >>more Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) One half of Eurythmics, Stewart has written with Jon Bon Jovi, Bono, Gwen Stefani, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Katy Perry and Kara DioGuardi. What famous musician was nothing like what he expected? None of the above. >>more The Broken Family Band (Steve Adams) A wacky and revealing interview with the lead singer of a band you've probably never heard of. And he's OK with that. >>more From the Archives Art Alexakis The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter. >>more The Asteroids Galaxy Tour You know them from the iPod Touch commercial. Lars from TAGT explains why English is the best language to express yourself, and how to make crazy noise using distorted samples. >>more Howard Bellamy The older Bellamy Brother talks about their unlikely hit "Let Your Love Flow," and how a Groucho Marx line led to a song. >>more Bo Bice Bo talks about his high-risk American Idol moment, and how the songs he wrote 8 years before appearing on the show have followed him to solo success. >>more Elvin Bishop Elvin talks about his hit "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" and explains what makes a well-written Blues song. >>more Ken Block (Sister Hazel) Sister Hazel was part of the '90s Southeast scene along with groups like Collective Soul, Hootie and the Blowfish and Better Than Ezra. Ken is their frontman and primary songwriter. >>more Harold Brown A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history. >>more Larry Burnett (Firefall) "The first thing you have to do is know that you're an idiot. And then work on stopping being an idiot." >>more Alex Call (867-5309) Alex came up with the famous phone number and has plenty of stories to go with it. Find out why one famous producer is nicknamed "Basher." >>more Mike Campbell Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter." >>more Anna Canoni (Woody Guthrie) Anna talks about the life and legacy of her grandfather: Woody Guthrie. >>more Emilio Castillo Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis. >>more Roger Clyne Former Freshie frontman finds fame fleeting. Roger went from a major label to independence, and likes it much better that way. >>more Ingrid Croce Ingrid speaks about the life and songs of Jim Croce. >>more Charlie Daniels Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all. >>more Devo Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing. >>more Scotty Emerick (Beer For My Horses) Scotty helps write most of Toby Keith's hit songs. He talks about how they do it, which can involve smoking weed with Willie Nelson. >>more Paul Evans Paul talks about writing songs for Elvis on Tin Pan Alley, life as a teen idol, and why unexpected laughter sells songs. >>more Skip Ewing ("Love, Me," "The Gospel According To Luke") The writer of a staggering 11 #1 Country hits, Skip Ewing is a great communicator. Learn how he worked "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" into a hit, and how horses and songwriting go together. >>more Chris Fehn (Slipknot) A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor. >>more Radney Foster Radney wrote Keith Urban's first hit and a lullaby for his son that the Dixie Chicks recorded. >>more Randy Goodrum (Oh Sherrie) Randy has written an incredible range of hits, including "You Needed Me," "A Lesson In Leaving" and "Oh Sherrie." It's like method acting - you don't have to be Bluer Than Blue to know what it feels like. >>more Jay Graydon He played the guitar solo on "Peg," produced Al Jarreau, and wrote "After The Love Has Gone." Jay tells what it takes to make a song you'll want to hear over and over again. >>more Zac Hanson Zac tells the story of Hanson's massive hit "MMMbop," and talks about how brotherly bonds effect their music. >>more Andy Hersey (The Genuine Article) "Buckle Bunnies" and "Cowboy Attitude." This songwriter is a cowboy, or is it the other way around? >>more Janis Ian One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15. >>more Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper) Before "Rap" was a form of music, it was something guys did to pick up girls in nightclubs. Donnie talks about "The Rapper" and reveals the identity of Leah. >>more Tommy Lee James ("She's My Kind of Rain") Dr. Seuss, Reba, Brooks & Dunn and Conway Twitty all get some time in a chat with this Nashville cat. >>more Will Jennings One of the world's great lyricists, Jennings wrote words for "Tears In Heaven," "My Heart Will Go On" and most of Steve Winwood's hits. >>more Holly Knight Her hits include "Love Is A Battlefield," "Simply The Best" and "Obsession." Find out where the magic dust comes from, and if you can teach this stuff. >>more Lisa Loeb Lisa talks about what makes a song connect (including "Stay"). Other topics: reality TV, "Homework Songs" and when a song is the last thing you need to hear right now. >>more Floyd Marcus (1910 Fruitgum Co.) Floyd was in one of the biggest Bubblegum bands of the '60s. Did they play on their own records? Sort of. >>more Lori McKenna Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has 5 kids. >>more Jo Dee Messina Ever come to a 4 way stop that used to be a 2 way stop and people just sit there? Jo Dee has no sympathy. This Country star shakes up Nashville with a no-nonsense attitude. >>more Billy Montana ("More Than A Memory") A big time Nashville songwriter (Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw), Billy explains why salesmanship and singles are key to his success. >>more Keith Murray of We Are Scientists They make videos that are totally at odds with the songs, including one where they herd Pomeranians. The W.A.S. frontman explains why, sometimes using SAT words - grab your dictionary. >>more Mitch Myers (Shel Silverstein) Mitch talks about Shel Silverstein's songs, including "A Boy Named Sue" and "The Unicorn." >>more Henry Paul (The Outlaws, Blackhawk) After many miles and many songs, Henry shares his insights on the difference between popular and good, and how he kept from peaking too early. >>more Gretchen Peters (Independence Day) The term "women's songs" makes her skin crawl - it doesn't do justice to her work, which has been recorded by Faith Hill, Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood. >>more Gretchen Peters (part 2) She wrote "Independence Day," which is Sean Hannity's theme song. Not exactly what she had in mind. >>more Brenda Russell Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset. >>more Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) Along with Amy Ray, Emily is half of The Indigo Girls. She talks about her relationship with her Methodist minister dad, and inspiration behind songs like "Closer To Fine" and "Galileo." >>more Eddie Schwartz (Hit Me With Your Best Shot) A successful songwriter and producer, Eddie talks about how he made it all fall into place. >>more Randy Sharp (From Glen Campbell to Edgar Winter) His Country hits include "Why Does It have to Be Wrong or Right," "Then What" and "Even Now." Sometimes being a great songwriter means listening to your friends. >>more Jerry Silverman (Baseball Songs) Jerry wrote the book on baseball songs, and "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" isn't the only one. >>more Cevin Soling (Love Kills Theory) Cevin got Jackie Chan and Ani DiFranco to record a duet of "Unforgettable." From there, it gets more bizarre. >>more Speech (Arrested Development) One word from Prince cost him $100,000. You'll also read about what Hip-Hop plays well overseas, and why Speech put a spiritual guru in Arrested Development. >>more Squeeze (Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford) The founders and primary songwriters of Squeeze discuss their craft. Topics include what they think of the New Wave tag, and where they disagree with Bob Dylan. >>more Billy Steinberg How do you write great lyrics? Billy has written a slew of hits, including 5 #1s, so we asked him. >>more Kenny Vance Kenny is an original member of Jay and The Americans, and he talks about opening shows for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. He was also the musical director on Saturday Night Live and supervised the music on many movies, including Animal House. >>more Dave Wakeling (The English Beat) A founding member of The English Beat and General Public, Dave helped lead the Ska revival. You'll never listen to "Save It For Later" the same way after reading this. >>more Bobby Whitlock He and Eric Clapton are the last surviving members of Derek and the Dominos. Forget what you've heard, and hear the real stories about the "Layla" love triangle, working with Phil Spector, and how the band got their name. >>more Jane Wiedlin (Go-Go's) A founding member of The Go-Go's, Jane talks about their transition from Punk Rockers to Pop Priestesses. And what's going on in the "Vacation" video. >>more Paul Williams He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair." >>more Allee Willis Allee Willis wants you to interact with her songs. Welcome to non-linear songwriting, from the woman who brought you "Neutron Dance," "September" and that pesky Friends theme. >>more Toni Wine Toni was both Betty and Veronia in The Archies. She was also part of the New York City songwriting community (don't call it the "Brill Building") responsible for many hits of the '60s. >>more Bill Withers How life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me." Words from a legend. >>more Songfacts | Newsletter | SongFAQ | Artistfacts |
