The Other 22 Hours

Chely Wright has sold over 1.5 million records with 90s country anthems like "Single White Female" and "Shut Up and Drive," she released her landmark autobiography, "Like Me" in 2010, becoming the first mainstream country star to come out, and forcing open conversations about LGBTQ identity, after a 10 year absence she returned to The Opry in 2019, released another book 'My Moment' in 2022, and has since pivoted to the corporate world where she is now an SVP. We talk with Chely about this pivot and giving ourselves permission to innovate, consulting your 90 year old self, Ellen's brutally honest advice on losing it all when Chely first came out, manifesting vs reality and a whole lot more.

Max Wanger is an LA-based photographer who has shot the likes of Taylor Swift, Mandy Moore, Blake Mills, Glen Hansard, Madison Cunningham and past guests of ours Lucius, The Watson Twins, and The Milk Carton Kids, as well as Conde Nast Traveler, Virgin Records, Vans, Nike and many many more. We talk to Max about listening to the lull, doing jobs that pay the bills while protecting play and soul in the work, imposter syndrome, admitting what you don’t know, and how vulnerability deepens community, the long arc of following what makes you happy, and so much more.

Kris Delmhorst has released 12+ records independently and via Signature Sounds, has written/performed and recorded with Mary Gauthier, Lori McKenna, Grant Lee Phillips, Peter Wolf (lead singer of J. Geils Band), and more, is critically acclaimed by The Boston Globe, LA Times, Pop Matters, and all your favorite songwriters, and has written for tv & film, as well as countless festivals all over the world. We talk with Kris about creative cycles, retreating, and the necessity of disappearing to make real art, trusting your career through slow seasons, motherhood versus touring, sustaining a two-songwriter household, reframing art as a service rather than ego, and so much more.

Malin Pettersen is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and Spellemannprisen winner (Norwegian Grammy), who has released multiple solo records as well as records with her band, Lucky Lips, has toured extensively throughout Europe and America, and has been acclaimed by Rolling Stone, Forbes, No Depression, Paste and even Iris Dement is a fan. We talk with Malin about the illusion of success, cultural duality between Norway and America, the Norwegian government's support for artists, embracing uncertainty, doubt, and struggle, and so much more.

Flyte are the British duo of songwriters Will Taylor and Nicolas Hill, who started creating together in grade school before signing to a major label (Island Records), leaving that for indie labels (Nettwerk), working with producers such as Glyn Johns, and collaborating with the likes of The Staves, Laura Marling, and Madison Cunningham. We talk with them about a lot of the inner workings of their songwriting practice and approach to record making, classic British emotional repression, coping, creative confusion, commodification, and a whole lot more.

Yancey Strickler is a writer and entrepreneur that co-founded Kickstarter (and was CEO for 3 years), Metalabel, The Creative Independent, and A-Corp (Artist Corporations). Essentially, each of these ventures exist to equip creative people with capabilities, knowledge, and tools that make them more powerful. We cover the different facets of this at length, especially his concept of, and push to create Artist Corporations, the systemic exploitation of artists, how DSPs trade convenience for meaning and depth, platform boycotts, "winning" in it's purest sense, and a whole lot more.

AJR are a multi-platinum trio of brothers who started busking in NYC in 2005, and have gone on to release 10 records/EPs (mostly independently, with only 1 major label release), rack up 8+ platinum singles (some multi) and 1 platinum record, nominations for Billboard, iHeartRadio, and American Music Awards, and tours selling out places such as Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl. We talk with Jack and Ryan about vulnerability as strength, being able to laugh at yourself, failing quickly and moving on, staying fresh and agile creatively, connecting on a human granular level, surviving the comment section, and a whole lot more.