Listening to better music and listening to music better - with music industry veteran, author, artist, and producer John J. Thompson and a diverse panel of artists, songwriters, producers, and industry innovators who seek the deeper resonances in music and culture. Knowing that all music is spiritual, can we sing along with the good, the true, and the beautiful in ways that make us better neighbors, more compelling artists, and richer reflectors of the light by which we live and move and have our being? Let’s try.
Episodes
Saturday Aug 17, 2024
Saturday Aug 17, 2024
There’s nothing like a relaxed, sit-down conversation – especially when discussing complicated things like faith, love, and art. True Tunes is committed to long-form dialogue in a world that is increasingly (and tragically) defined and governed by social media metrics and pithy one-liners. This conversation with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp may be our longest yet – but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Knapp has come a long way since her debut LP, Kansas, was certified Gold 25 years ago. She followed that with two more critically acclaimed and commercially successful LPs in the Christian music market and earned increased respect and opportunities to share her craft on mainstream stages. She gathered two Grammy nominations and sold a million albums in three years, but things were not well behind the scenes. In 2002, after fulfilling her contractual obligations, Jennifer dropped out of the scene, disconnected from the industry, and moved to Australia. After an eight-year hiatus and coming out as gay, Knapp returned in 2010.
Jennifer recently revisited her debut, re-recording Kansas with producer Steve Hindalong to celebrate its 25th anniversary. On this episode of the podcast, Knapp visits John and Michelle Thompson in their East Nashville home to talk about her journey, her faith, and what it has been like to go back to Kansas. We’ll also hear a bit from Hindalong about how the project came together.
Find the full song list and more at TrueTunes.com/Knapp
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Aug 06, 2024
Tuesday Aug 06, 2024
On this “Extended Play” 45RPM episode of the show, our good friend Chris White, writer and director of the romantic comedy/road picture Electric Jesus, takes us to the set where he recently directed a short film for the song “Come And Save Me” starring actor and musician Fred Armisen (SNL, Portlandia) and our favorite outsider folk-pop band, Danielson. The song started as an unpublished lyric originally composed by the late Jesus Rock icon Larry Norman. It was then set to music, with the blessing of Larry’s estate, by Daniel Smith (of Danielson.) The resulting song is a complete departure from the tongue-in-cheek hair-metal Smith composed for the fictional metal band 316 in Electric Jesus. While “Come and Save Me” was not used in the film, it did appear on the soundtrack. Now, however, White has written and directed a special short film for the song, with Fred Armisen as the starring actor.
So, come with us to a film studio in Greenville, South Carolina, and hear from Chris White, Daniel Smith, Fred Armisen, and Mike Norman (Larry Norman's son) about how this fantastic project came together and how each of them approaches and interprets the meaning of “Come And Save Me.”
If you missed these previous episodes, be sure to go back and find our conversation with Daniel Smith on the topic of outsider art, join us on the set of Electric Jesus (which includes our conversation with actor Brian Baumgartner of The Office), and find our conversation with Chris White and Andy Erwin about the different ways faith is approached in film. We also released a very special “From The Vault” episode that included a previously unheard conversation with Larry Norman and a then-recent conversation with Michael about their complicated relationship. And if you would like more info on the Electric Jesus story, seek out and devour BOTH seasons of their excellent podcast. (You’ll find us all over them.)
We could not have presented this episode to you without the help of Chris and Emily White. Electric Jesus is available to stream now. If you have not seen it – please do!
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with the pioneering LA-based alternative rock band The Prayer Chain back in 2018.
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with the Berlin-based American ex-pat indie artist Roemer.
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with the prolific and acclaimed Americana singer-songwriter Bill Mallonee (of Vigilantes of Love.)
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with artist and songwriter Tonio K.
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with Drew Holcomb when he visited a class at Lipscomb University's School of Music.
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with Steve Taylor, Dave Perkins, Lynn Nichols, and Mike Mead of the most amazing and unlucky band of all time: Chagall Guevara!
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with Kevin Max.
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
Tuesday Jul 16, 2024
On this "impossibly short version of the ongoing conversation you'll find at TrueTunes.com" we revisit our conversation with Michael Gungor.
About The True Tunes Microdose Episodes: As we look back on our first 100 episodes we have gathered some of these "greatest hits" - never more than 5 minutes long - to remind long-time listeners of where we've been and give new folks a chance to check us out.
If you want to support the show, please join our Patreon community or drop us a one-time tip and check out our NEW MERCH!