Songwriters on Process

08/27/2026

New Episode! "Jim James (My Morning Jacket)"

Jim James needs a bigger head. How else to accommodate all the bursts of creativity he has throughout the day? They happen all the time. The My Morning Jacket frontman finds art galleries to be a particularly rich source of inspiration, but he also loves a good walk. Even the middle of the night is productive for James, though he admits that’s because of his insomnia. Who needs to force the process when your day is filled with ideas?

Jim James’s latest album is Wowed Out

Jim James needs a bigger head. How else to accommodate all the bursts of creativity he has throughout the day? They happen all the time. The My Morning Jacket front…

08/24/2026

New Episode! "Alicia Witt"

You have seen Alicia Witt. Of that I can be sure since she's appeared in so many movies and tv shows. (She starred most recently opposite Nicolas Cage in Longlegs.) But Witt is also an accomplished piano player and singer/songwriter; it's not something she does in her spare time as a hobby. Her upcoming album is her fifth release, and her experience as an actor informs her songwriting process in the attention she pays to her lyrics.

Alicia Witt's latest album is Between Heaven and Earth. The album was inspired by Witt's enduring friendship with David Lynch.

You have seen Alicia Witt. Of that I can be sure since she's appeared in so many movies and tv shows. (She starred most recently opposite Nicolas Cage in Longlegs.)…

08/23/2026

The band "hey, nothing" on what time of day they get their best writing done. Full episode here as we go deep into their songwriting process. https://www.songwritersonpodcast.com/hey-nothing/

08/20/2026

New Episode! "hey, nothing"

Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips of Athens-based hey, nothing have been friends since middle school. And when you've grown up with your songwriting partner, you have a good idea of what makes for an efficient writing process. Both have a clear idea of how to set themselves up for success when they write, down to where and when they're the most productive. This includes the secret to editing: try to do it when you're sick.

hey, nothing's major label debut Hound is out on on Music Soup/Interscope Records.

Discover the songwriting process of Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips from hey, nothing. Learn about efficient writing habits and editing while sick.

08/19/2026

David Shaw of The Revivalists on why a good lyric trumps a good melody. Listen to the full episode! https://bit.ly/45GoqWD

08/18/2026

New Episode! "David Shaw (The Revivalists)"

Took a wonderfully deep dive into the songwriting process with David Shaw of The Revivalists. We discuss middle of the night epiphanies, how mishearing a lyric can make for a better lyric, and how reading great literature makes for better songwriting.

The latest album by The Revivalists is Get It Honest.

Took a wonderfully deep dive into the songwriting process with David Shaw of The Revivalists. We discuss middle of the night epiphanies, how mishearing a lyric can …

08/12/2026

New Episode! "Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Band)"

Lenny Kaye's tenure as Patti Smith's guitarist and collaborator extends from 1971 to the present, but the 79 year old is only now releasing his debut solo album. The punk icon and pioneer is also the author of three books, so this episode is a deep dive into the writing process across a few genres. As you can imagine, Kaye doesn't believe in creating when the mood strikes; instead, it's a constant in his life.

Lenny Kaye's debut solo album is Goin' Local

Lenny Kaye's tenure as Patti Smith's guitarist and collaborator extends from 1971 to the present, but the 79 year old is only now releasing his debut solo album. Th…

05/25/2026

NEW INTERVIEW ALERT! "A great way to write is to overwrite. Write more verses than could be contained in a song. Then take the best of what's there," says Rostam Batmanglij . I cannot agree more: good writers know that the first pass is never the time to decide what to keep and what to leave out. Overwriting will be faster.

Of course, overwriting for Rostam comes easy because when he's not writing, he's thinking about writing. "I'm always collecting building blocks," he says. "Lots of kernels all the time. I've never truly let go of an idea."

Rostam's latest album is "American Stories." Listen to the pod! Link in bio! 📸

05/04/2026

All you need to know about Maya Hawke's dedication to wordcraft is summed up in this memory: "The day I fell in love with my husband was the day we got into a fight about free verse poetry versus formal poetry." (Hawke's husband is singer/songwriter Christian Lee Hutson, whom I interviewed last year.)

Hawke is of course an actor and a visual artist, but she's really a poet, first and foremost. Rarely have I encountered a songwriter with such passion for the literary artistry of the words on the page: how they sound, how they feel, how they look, what they mean. By the way, Hawke was on the side of formal poetry in that argument. Loved having her on the pod, so take a listen!

https://www.songwritersonpodcast.com/maya-hawke/

04/28/2026

Sneak peek at my episode out this week! Love this story about how she fell in love with her husband arguing over free verse vs formal poetry.