The True Tunes Podcast

The Choir has been crafting their own unique brand of otherworldly alternative rock for nearly four decades now. While it’s not uncommon for big-time acts to keep at it – playing their hits and cashing in on nostalgia – most artists who have endured the perpetual uphill climb that guitarist/vocalist Derri Daugherty, drummer/lyricist Steve Hindalong, and sax/lyricon/atmosphericist Dan Michaels have faced would have given up long ago. But The Choir has just released an album many fans count among the strongest of their inspired career. Deep Cuts contemplates the journey, the wounds, the healing, and the scars of life with a remarkable amount of humor, joy, and grace. On this episode of the True Tunes Podcast we sit down with The Choir to talk about their roots, their new music, and what keeps them going this far into such a challenging journey. (You'll also hear the debut of a new recording of their 1986 single "Render Love" created especially for the Electric Jesus film.)

PS: We also find out that long-time child sponsor Jimmy Abegg is throwing his wholehearted support behind VisionTrust and offering anyone who sponsors a child a hand-painted, one-of-a-kind print for free!

Full music notes, links, photos, and more on the SHOW NOTES PAGE at TrueTunes.com  If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

Call him a creative polymath or the quintessential Soul Man, but Jimmy Abegg (Rich Mullins' Ragamuffin Band, Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil, The Charlie Peacock Group, Vector, etc) has been a reliable source of musical and visual beauty and coolness for over forty years. And now, with his vision fading, this veteran side-man and accomplished craftsman is settling into his new role as a blind visionary; still painting – still making music – and still offering graceful sketches of beauty in a damaged world. Join us as we visit with him in the brand new East Nashville studio built for him by friends far and wide who have been blessed by his work. You'll hear what a few of them have to say as Amy Grant, Charlie Peacock, and Steve Taylor drop by to offer a few words on Jimmy as well. 

On the Jukebox, we consider the massively successful, and yet still somehow meaningful, 1986 mainstream breakthrough by Peter Gabriel. What secrets might So have for us to unpack 35 years after its release, and what mysteries might indie-folk artists Lowland Hum have uncovered in their recent homage to the classic LP.

Full song list and Show Notes available at TrueTunes.com. 

Produced by John J. Thompson and Bruce A. Brown for Gyroscope Productions. Please consider sponsoring a child through VisionTrust.org. If you do, Jimmy will send you a personally signed, hand-made, one-of-a-kind print (valued at between $100 and $150!) For more info visit VisionTrust.org/JimmyA. If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

 

Through countless slings and arrows, and her own mainstream pop superstardom, Amy Grant has remained the defining face and voice of contemporary Christian music for over forty years. She was the first CCM artist to have a platinum record, (followed by five more platinum albums, three multi-platinum albums, and four gold albums.) She was also the first CCM artist to have a #1 pop single and has placed 17 hits on the Top 40 Adult Contemporary chart. She has earned 6 Grammy Awards and numerous Dove and other statues. With sales in excess of 30 million units, Amy Grant is the best-selling contemporary Christian singer of all time. But beyond all that, she crafted and delivered songs that spoke honestly, and vulnerably, to a generation.

Amy Grant is currently marking the 30^th anniversary of her breakthrough Heart In Motion album as well as a brand new collaborative worship album, Faithful that finds her working alongside a slew of talented young women, including True Tunes Podcast alums Taylor Leonhardt, Christa Wells, and Sandra McCracken. She graced the cover of the original True Tunes News in 1993 and is back with us for this very special episode of the True Tunes Podcast.

 

As the Christian subculture seems to have become defined by that to which it is opposed, its political meanderings, and any number of culture wars and distractions, Grant’s legacy as a person of warmth, generosity, grace, and hospitality only continues to grow. What might young artists, songwriters, and listeners have to learn from someone with such an unlikely story?

 

And on a special extended edition of the True Tunes Jukebox, we welcome two guest commentators to reflect on many of Grant’s most significant songs from very different perspectives. Industry veteran and radio expert Chris Hauser and singer-songwriter (and childhood Amy fan) Michelle Lynn Thompson join host John J. Thompson for a comprehensive dive into the deep cuts and musical watermarks of Grant’s amazing career. Plus guitarist and visual artist Jimmy Abegg (you can hear his whole story on his own episode, including a special contribution from Amy, AND you can hear him on our 2-part special with his former bandmate Rich Mullins,) is offering a hand-made, one-of-a-kind, personally signed painting to ANYONE who sponsors a child through Vision Trust!

It’s our longest, fullest, episode yet.

Click HERE to make a secure donation in support of this show. 

Full Show Notes, including a list of all songs and a special Spotify mix, available at TrueTunes.com. If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

Third Man Records artist Natalie Bergman joins host John J. Thompson to talk about her stirring, vulnerable, and exceptionally cool new album, Mercy, and the heartbreaking tragedy that inspired it. Bergman, who until recently was best known as one-half of the alt-pop band Wild Belle, has crafted a collection of songs that has more in common with the Jesus Music of a half-century ago than anything released since. With that inspiration, we have loaded up the Jukebox with long-lost Jesus Music obscurities and will get a first-person account of what those days were like from our own producer, Bruce A. Brown.

 

Fifty years ago, a generation of young people was reeling with confusion and pain as the American Dream unraveled at the seams. Millions turned to a counter-cultural understanding of the rebel Jesus and found comfort, peace, and community in his words and story. Bergman, who is navigating a devastating loss of her own, reminds us of a time before Christian music became a subculture or industry and offers a new way for us to understand the potential of Gospel music.

 

If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

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SPONSOR A CHILD THROUGH VISION TRUST

 

This episode, which was originally released months ago, has now been RE-MIXED with music from Taylor Leonhardt's latest album, "Hold Me." This young singer-songwriter has been on some big stages lately, playing guitar with Amy Grant, Andrew Peterson, and others, and has a slew of collaborations over the last couple of years. Her “star” is certainly on the rise. But with the release of her third independent solo album, this Texas-born, Carolina-bred, new Nashville resident is leaning into her Americana roots, and her circle of friends, for both her songs and her sound. In this episode, we get to know this engaging artist as we explore the power of community and influences in the pursuit of our voice. We also talk about the difference between taking some classes, and really learning a language, and what Taylor’s adventure in Paris might teach us about listening to understand.

 

On the Jukebox, we survey four of the artists cited as influences by Leonhardt and featured in her specially curated and corresponding playlist. Carole King’s Tapestry, Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball, Patty Griffin’s 1,000 Kisses, and Krauss & Plant’s Raising Sand. We also consider some wisdom about Southern Writers from Flannery O’Connor on our Soapbox feature. It’s a full episode, for sure, but you can handle it. We believe in you. (Full Show Notes available at TrueTunes.com) 

 

If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

 

In Part 2 of this special episode we hear from our late friend, mentor, and guide, Rich Mullins via a long-lost interview conducted at the old True Tunes record store in Wheaton Illinois in 1995. We also check in with Mitch McVicker, Phil Madeira, and Derek Webb, and we listen to Andrew Peterson on the Jukebox. Rich’s Ragamuffin bandmates Jimmy Abegg, Aaron Smith, and Mark Robertson come back to close things out as well. It’s our longest and fullest episode yet and we are excited for everyone to hear it.

 

This newly restored interview is 25 years old, but as we hear host John J. Thompson and Mullins talk about the struggle to pursue honest artistry and personal spiritual growth amidst evangelical fundamentalism and the benefits and beauty of exposing ourselves to challenging ideas and people, it seems like it could have been recorded yesterday.  Visit TrueTunes.com for the full show notes and please spread the word. (And don't miss Part 1, where the Ragamuffins set the stage so beautifully.) 

 

If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

To many, singer and songwriter Rich Mullins was a favorite artist; the man behind songs like “Awesome God,” “Creed,” and “Hold Me Jesus.” To others, he was an enigma—a beautifully inscrutable amalgam of passion, authenticity, vulnerability, and transcendence. To some, he was a friend, a benefactor, or even a brother. On this special two-part episode of the True Tunes Podcast we will revisit the legacy of this unlikely pilgrim through conversations with some of his closest compatriots, and by hearing from the man himself – in the form of a previously unheard, and recently unearthed interview conducted in the old True Tunes record store in 1995.

In Part 1 John J. Thompson visits with Rich’s Ragamuffin Band members, Jimmy Abegg, Aaron Smith, and Mark Robertson to help put it all in perspective. On Part 2 (coming soon) he sits down with Mitch McVicker and Phil Madeira, and talks with singer-songwriter Derek Webb who, though he has moved away from Christian music, recently released a cover of Mullins’ “We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are.” On the Jukebox, we dive into the obviously Mullins-haunted career of Andrew Peterson.

 

24 years since his passing, might we find some guidance from Rich about navigating the complexities of faith, doubt, and mystery by asking better questions and listening more carefully to the sounds around us?

 

If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

 

Host John J. Thompson is back in the living room of writer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and artist Phil Madeira (Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, John Scofield,) to talk about his recent solo projects, Providence, Crickets, Open Heart, and Hornet’s Nest as they wrap up this wide-ranging chat. The conversation gets into pretty deep waters right out of the gate, with Phil sharing some very vulnerable context about personal relationship challenges, the pain that came with the loss of a loved one, his own search for answers, and his commitment to staying true to his calling and how that has shaped his work as an artist. We’ll ruffle some feathers on this one, no doubt, but that’s what art is supposed to do, right?

On the True Tunes Jukebox, we’ll take a deep dive into those recent solo albums, listening closely to some really interesting, and complicated, contemporary jazz-inflected Americana music and how it might help us find resolution in the midst of these complicated times. Full show notes are at TrueTunes.com - and don't miss the special corresponding "mixtape" curated by Madeira for this episode!

Thanks to our sponsors - VisionTrust.org. Please consider sponsoring a child today. 

If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

 

He’s been a go-to side-man for too many A-listers to count and is currently a member of Emmylou Harris’ Red Dirt Boys. When he’s not in the studio or on the road with any number of amazing Americana, country, blues, or rock artists, he’s writing songs and recording his own albums or collaborating and producing amazing compilation projects. In Part 1 of this two-part deep dive into the life and work of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and artist, Phil Madeira, we learn about this musical polymath’s roots, evolution, and determination to shed limitations. Along the way, you’ll hear examples of his music, cuts he wrote for other artists, examples of his production work, and just a handful of the hundreds of tracks made so much cooler by the presence of his B3, lap-steel, or other instruments of soul.

In Part Two, we’ll wrap up this wide-ranging conversation and listen through Madeira’s most recent solo work, including his brand new project, Hornet’s Nest. Born from conflict, pain, and loss, these beautiful songs could only have been crafted by someone who has been there and back and lived to tell about it.

Full Show Notes, including song list, links, and contact info is available at TrueTunes.com or by clicking HERE. Thanks to our sponsors - VisionTrust.org. Please consider sponsoring a child today. 

If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!

 

Kevin Max has been kicking against boundaries for over thirty years, first as one-third of a platinum-selling pop-rap group, (DC Talk,) and then as a poet and genre testing indie artist. Now he’s leaving his solo career behind to launch a new band, Sad Astronauts, right after releasing an acclaimed tribute to Larry Norman’s celebrated Only Visiting This Planet album. What might we be able to glean from an artist like Kevin when it comes to pushing into new territory, redefining success, and becoming more mindful of the boundaries we work within – or allow to define us?

And on the jukebox we crank up the legendary Mark Heard’s tentpole album, Dry Bones Dance, as we anticipate Lo-Fidelity Records’ upcoming super deluxe reissue, by talking with two of the artists who worked with Heard on that album, vocalist Kate Miner and bassist and Chapman Stick maestro, Fergus Marsh. We are also excited to present the late Mark Heard himself in the form of some vintage interview tape-recorded around the time of the album's original release in 1990.

If you would like to support the show, please consider joining our Patreon community or dropping us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!