Music Makers And Soul Shakers Podcast With Steve Dawson

This week's guest is incredibly creative Telecaster-slinger, Jim Campilongo. I've been trying to get Jim on the show for a while now and it finally worked out. Jim is one of the finest modern players associated with the Telecaster and has worked for decades on playing and composing music around the New York and Bay Areas. While getting to be known as one of the finest musicians in a city full of great musicians, he chose to mostly stick close to home and hone his craft with weekly gigs in New York for almost 20 years! He has released a number of incredible albums with his trio, and lately also with the group Honeyfingers. Jim also had a band with Norah Jones for a while called The Little Willies. Campilongo is also a veteran teacher and has a wide range of amazing material on his site to delve into. Please check out jimcampilongo.com for more on that and what he's up to. Meanwhile, we have a couple of callers at the beginning, including my old friend Fats Kaplin, who called in to talk a bit about John Prine

My guest this week is a keyboard player and a major force in the LA music scene over the past 20 years, Patrick Warren. Patrick is a keyboard player technically, but really is a master of sonics as well. I’ve been seeing his name since the 90’s on amazing records and soundtracks coming out of LA in the scene there that I’ve been drawn to, which was everything Jon Brion was involved with, and then T-Bone Burnett’s and Joe Henry’s worlds. This included artists like Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Fiona Apple, Tom Waits and soundtracks that beautifully marry music to film like Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and Hard 8. Patrick is the ultimate connoisseur and player of the Chamberlin, which is a totally unique tape-based keyboard, much like the British mellotron, but even more finicky and complex. Lately, Patrick has been involved in some amazing TV soundtracks - True Detective with T-Bone, and The Chi, for which he is the principal composer. As with all episodes during the COVID pandemic, I’m going to speak at the top of

Welcome to Season 4! My guest this week is the incredible guitarist Robben Ford. I first got into Robben's music in the 90's when he was rockin' out with his trio The Blue Line. He made a string of cool records around that time, but as I dug a bit more into his past, it wasn't hard to find that he had already toured and recorded with Tom Scott, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison and Miles Davis. (This is the first Miles sideman we’ve had on the show too!) Robben continues to make great guitar records, and after his move to Nashville a couple of years back, has found new players to record and collaborate with. We got to talk about all of his current and past projects including his latest album "Purple House", lots of the great sessions and tours, his Dumble amps, and how he spent 2 months getting a guitar tone! It was a blast having him in the studio, and I hope you enjoy the conversation. In the name of keeping us all entertained with musical nerdiness, the show now goes into weekly mode with episodes coming e

An update on the podcast getting ramped up, what's happening here, and a request for listeners to call in and tell us all a bit about how you're faring out there, some of the challenges you're facing, etc. Leave a message at 615-375-6318 or steve@thehenhousestudio.com - I'll be back with a REAL episode next week!

My guest this month is the phenomenal guitarist, singer and songwriter Trey Hensley. Trey has been burning it up the last few years with dobro maestro Rob Ickes in their aptly-named duo Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley. Hensley grew up in East Tennessee and started singing in a gospel group when he was 6 years old. A few years later, his parents took him to a bluegrass festival where the lineup included back-to-back sets by bluegrass legends Charlie Waller and Jimmy Martin. Hensley decided then and there that he wanted to play guitar. By the time he was 11, he had given the life-changing first performance on the Grand Ole Opry playing guitar with Earl Scruggs and Marty Stuart. Trey had some incredible experiences with Johnny Cash and Tom T Hall making solo records as a youngster, but really came into his own when he teamed up with Ickes and they started making their duo records, which are essentially acoustic, but they veer into electric territory at times too, and I think there’s more electric fun on the horizon w

Mastering engineer Kim Rosen joins me on the show this month. Kim is the owner and operator of Knack Mastering in New Jersey, and I've had the pleasure of working with her on a number of projects. She first came to my attention through the band I play in, Birds of Chicago, when we were mastering an acoustic record that I recorded. Kim had also recently done stellar work on a number of Joe Henry and Ryan Freeland productions that I had been immersed in. I thought it would be interesting to hear a bit about mastering, both conceptually, and technically, as well as how someone's career path led to this somewhat misunderstood, but incredibly important role in the recording process. We also talked about developing equipment under the name Whitestone Audio with her husband. Enjoy my conversation with Kim Rosen and please subscribe to the podcast!

This week's episode is the second part of my conversation with producer/engineer and musician Malcolm Burn. We get down to brass tacks on sessions for Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Chris Whitley and more. Don't forget to check out Part 1 to get the full story!

Happy new year and new decade, music nerds! Malcolm Burn, the wildly creative Canadian producer, engineer and musician joins me on the show this month in a 2-part episode. Malcolm grew up in Ontario and in the 80’s, after trying his hand as an artist in pop bands, turned to producing and engineering in the studio and hooked up with Daniel Lanois through his Hamilton, Ontario connection. Burn, Lanois, and a 3rd Ontarian, Mark Howard, worked as a team on a string of incredibly influential albums including Bob Dylan’s “Oh Mercy”, the Neville Brothers “Yellow Moon”, Lanois’ solo “Acadie”, and Emmylou Harris’ “Wrecking Ball”, an innovative and creative career-changing album for her. Burn went on to produce her next record on his own - “Red Dirt Girl”, as well as classics for Chris Whitley and many others. I’ve always wanted some first-hand info on what that scene was like, recording in non-conventional spaces, the idea of engineering as a team, and many of the unique recording techniques they were working with th

This month's episode comes to you live from the Ellnora Guitar Festival at the Krannert Center in Champaign, Illinois and features the incredible Molly Tuttle. Molly and I were both performing at the festival recently and they asked me to do a live podcast, which I was thrilled to do, and had been trying to get Molly on the show for months anyway! Molly is at the forefront of young songwriters and pickers in Nashville, and I consider her to be one of the great new group of players that are writing and performing at an incredible level at a young age. Molly's songwriting is adventurous and wide-ranging, while her guitar playing is firmly rooted in the bluegrass tradition. The mix is compelling and exciting to hear, and is on display on her incredible new album "When You're Ready". She has been awarded the prestigious IBMA Guitar Player of the Year Award a couple of times already, as well as Instrumentalist of the Year by the Americana Music Association. Molly joined me on stage and we got to talk about her i

Drummer, songwriter and producer Joachim Cooder joins me on the show this month. Joachim is the son of legendary slide guitarist Ry Cooder, and grew up around music in a way that few of us can comprehend. Living in an old firehall in Los Angeles, Joachim was exposed to music from the time he was born. With regular visits to the house/studio from Jim Keltner, Joachim understandably developed an interest in drumming, grew and developed a unique style and went on to play on many of his Dad’s great albums from the 90’s on. Albums like “My Name Is Buddy”, “Election Special”, “Buena Vista Social Club” and the spellbinding “Mambo Sinuendo” all feature Joachim’s incredible percussion and drumming. In more recent years, Joachim has developed a voice on the Array Mbira, a sort of complex, electrified kalimba. He released an album featuring his own original songs last year entitled “Fucshia Machu Pichu” that bears a sonic resemblance to Ry’s album “Prodigal Son”, which displays the importance Joachim’s sounds are to his

And now it’s time for Part 2 with David Lindley! If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, be sure to go back and listen to it first.

Multi-instrumentalist and hero to me, David Lindley, joins me on the podcast this month in another 2-part epic conversation! Lindley is one of the great electric lap steel and Weissenborn players on the planet, and over the last 25 years has also deeply explored African, Arabic, Asian, Celtic, Malagasy, and Turkish music and incorporated it into his own recordings and shows. His early career took him from the psychadelic world-music genre bending band Kaleidoscope over to the UK where he toured and recorded with the incredible Terry Reid (almost the singer for Led Zep). Lindley returned to the US in the seventies to make his indelible mark on rock and pop music with many hit albums with Jackson Browne, before becoming one of rock's most in demand session musicians, lending his skills to the recorded works of Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Crosby and Nash, Warren Zevon, and many others. After toying with success as a sideman, Lindley decided to instead devote himself to his own music and formed the n

Part 2 of the Dennis Crouch interview. Be sure to catch Part 1 from last week first!

This month’s guest is the remarkable bassist and T-Bone Burnett co-conspirator, Dennis Crouch. Originally from Strawberry, Arkansas, Dennis has lived in Nashville for many years. In his early years he struggled to make a living and find enough gigs to support his young family. But it wasn’t long before a fortuitous phone call changed his trajectory and landed him gigs touring with the Down From The Mountain tour, recording with Ralph Stanley, T-Bone Burnett, Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, Gregg Allman, Elvis Costello, Loretta Lynn and so many more. It was incredible to learn about Dennis’ history, his influences on the bass, and his inspiring journey from struggling to find a gig in Nashville to playing some of the biggest shows in the world. Dennis was kind enough to bring along his bass and in the second part of this episode, he demonstrates some of his technique and those of some of his mentors including Ray Brown, Roy Huskey Jr, and Bob Moore. Enjoy my conversation with Dennis Crouch and watch for Part

My guest this month is a Canadian-born, Austin-based guitar player of the highest calibre, Redd Volkaert. Redd grew up not far from where I did, just outside of Vancouver, Canada. He spent years cutting his teeth and learning to play in the seedy country cars of Canada, before packing up and heading south, embarking on adventures in music through California and Nashville, before landing an incredible (and well-deserved) gig as guitar player for Merle Haggard, for whom he played and recorded with for many years. Redd is now a regular fixture around Austin, Texas, playing regularly at The Continental Club, The Saxon Pub and other great venues with his own group, Haybale! and shows with the likes of Cindy Cashdollar and Bill Kirchen. I had a chance to catch up with Redd recently and talk about his fascinating history, influences, playing and recording with Merle, and much more. Enjoy my conversation with Redd Volkaert!

One of the great contemporary blues guitarists, Rick Holmstrom , joins me on the show this month. Rick has spent the last 10 years of his career burning up stages worldwide with the great Mavis Staples, but had a lengthy career as a sideman and solo artist before joining Mavis, playing with amazing artists like Billy Boy Arnold, Booker T, Rod Piazza and many more. Rick has a totally unique voice on the guitar and is one of the few electric blues players who is totally recognizable after just a couple of notes. And folks, that ain't easy! We got to talk about his career, his upbringing in Alaska, some of his early recording experiences and working on records with the great Mavis Staples. Enjoy my conversation with Rick Holmstrom!

Mickey Raphael, Willie Nelson’s famed harmonica player, joins me on the show this month. And while he has graced the stage and recorded with Willie for over 45 years, Mickey has also racked up an incredible list of credits, working with Jason Isbell, Townes Van Zandt, Chris Stapleton, Tom Morello, Paul Simon, Snoop Dogg, Neil Young, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Emmylou Harris, Mötley Crüe, Wynton Marsalis, and many more. Mickey and I spoke over the phone on a Willie Nelson Tour stop, and had a chance to discuss his early days in the Dallas music scene, how he first sat in with Willie, and in his own words “just never left”, recording classic records like “Red Headed Stranger”, “Teatro” and “Stardust”, right up through Willie’s most recent records and his work with Chris Stapleton. Enjoy my conversation with Mickey Raphael!

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, and as always we bring you a shiny new episode! This month’s guest is the phenomenal singer and guitar player, Alvin Youngblood Hart. I’ve known of Alvin since his debut record “Big Mama’s Door” came out in 1996, but got to know, play and tour with him a number of times since playing at a Mississippi Sheiks tribute show with him back in 2010. To me Alvin is totally unique as an interpreter of acoustic and country blues, but is also a killer rock guitarist, an amazing singer, and also gets into Merle Haggard songs like no one else. He has vast knowledge of rock, folk and blues music from the 20’s through the 70’s and plays it all. Alvin has an interesting history with making records, and while not overly interested in recording these days, has made a number of great records throughout his career, and is a Grammy Award winner. Alvin spent some time in the US Coast Guard, where he developed a love of electronics that continues to this day – working on amps, guitars, picku

My guest this month is the stellar guitarist and blues interpreter, Rory Block. Block grew up in Manhattan, immersed in the culture of the folk and blues music that was so prevalent at the time. Her father, Allan Block, ran a sandal shop in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, and the influence of the Greenwich Village folk music scene, including luminaries such as Peter Rowan, Maria Muldaur, and John Sebastian, tempted Block to study classical guitar. At the age of 14, she met guitarist Stefan Grossman, who introduced her to the music of Mississippi Delta blues guitarists - Fred McDowell, John Hurt, and The Reverend Gary Davis were huge for her. Block began listening to old albums, transcribing them, and learning to play the songs. At age 15, she left home to seek out the remaining blues giants and hone her craft in the traditional manner of blues musicians and ended up in Berkeley, California, where she played in clubs and coffeehouses. After retiring temporarily to raise a family, Block returned to the music

In honor of the great Hal Blaine, this is a re-release of my 2016 interview with the legendary studio drummer and key member of the Wrecking Crew