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He has been referred to by Billboard Magazine as "One of Music Row's greatest veteran tunesmiths.” A multi-award-winning songwriter, he has had over 580 different songs recorded and his songs have sold in excess of 19 million records worldwide. He was a co-writer on a song that Chris Stapleton won a GRAMMY for last year for “Best Country Performance of the Year.” This past Friday he released a new album that is a gospel-bluegrass project, plus he has a GRAMMY nomination on his résumé as a producer in the Gospel Roots category. Internationally, he has written no less than nine Number 1 Country hits in Australia! He is even an eight-time Dove Award nominee in the country, bluegrass, and southern gospel categories. As an artist, he has performed worldwide and has had the honor of performing as a soloist many times on the world-famous Grand Ole Opry. Plus, he has sung as background vocalist for Linda Ronstadt on Late Night with David Letterman and NBC’s Today Show.

An award-winning composer and acclaimed jazz pianist, as well as a producer and bandleader. A voting member of the Recording Academy, she has 31 albums released in the United States as well as two in Asia. She has performed at venues of all sizes, including Carnegie Hall, The Smithsonian, and UCLA Royce Theater, among others. At the end of November, she released an album that the London Times called one of “The Best Jazz Albums of 2025.” Her albums regularly sit at the top of the Jazz Week and other radio/streaming charts, for the last two decades drawing millions of plays on streaming services and appearing regularly as an Amazon Number 1 New Jazz Release.

Pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and music director whose work has earned two GRAMMY Awards, 14 nominations, two Latin GRAMMY nods, and an Edison Award. Plus, his musical direction for the Jazz at the White House broadcast earned an Emmy nomination. He performed with Miles Davis, has collaborated with Chaka Khan, Stanley Clarke, and more, plus he has been musical director with Steely Dan, Queen Latifah, and others. In addition, he spent a decade as Lead Arranger for American Idol and The Tonight Show. He currently tours with Dianne Reeves and various European orchestras, all while preparing three releases for this year, supported by global tours.

A number 1 Billboard charting flutist, a composer, recording and touring artist, educator, and radio show host who just released a new single early last month. She was named BEATS Magazine’s “Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year” for 2024 and has performed at notable venues and events from here in the U.S. to Portugal to London and even on the Dave Koz Cruise. She is also a member of the all-female jazz supergroup Jazz in Pink. She is the radio host of a nationally syndicated, two-hour jazz program. She has more than 69 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where her top five songs alone have a combined total of nine-and-a-half million streams, plus, her official YouTube channel has had over 1.8 million combined video views. This interview was recorded on location in Anaheim, California, where she was performing at the NAMM Show.

Recorded on-location at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California with a Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who put out four singles last year. In 2025, she opened the NAMM She Rocks Awards and performed at PRS Guitars’ 40th Anniversary Party alongside legends like John Mayer. In 2022 she scored her first Top 40 Canadian country single, which passed one million streams, and landed on multiple “Best Songs of the Year” lists. She has performed at notable events such as Americana Fest, Key West Songwriters Festival, and Whiskey Jam, and she has approximately 26 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where her top five songs have a combined total of well over 1.9 million streams.

Singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player who released two singles last year and has a brand-new song coming out this Friday, February 13th. She was on season 14 of “America’s Got Talent” and won the golden buzzer, plus in 2021 she won the grand prize of the Unsigned Only Music Competition out of ten thousand entries from 120 countries. She has put up amazing numbers: two million followers on TikTok alone, more than 24 million combined video views on her official YouTube channel, and over 68 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where her top five songs have combined for an astounding 28 million-plus streams.

Singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who released three singles last year and is also a part of Climate Music, which she talks about in this conversation, recorded on-location in Anaheim, California, at the NAMM Show. She was a contestant on season 20 of “The Voice,” has been featured on PBS’s 30 Minute Music Hour, and was featured on NPR for their Tiny Desk Contest feature, “Top Shelf.” The videos on her official YouTube channel have a combined total of well over half-a-million views and she has more than 27 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where her top five songs alone have a combined total of more than a million and a half streams.

Singer, songwriter, guitar player, producer, and publisher whose songs have sold over twenty million records worldwide and garnered over sixty million digital streams, several number ones, and Billboard songs yielding gold and platinum albums. He also created more than two hundred commercials for TV and radio, and his library of recorded soundtracks includes the co-scoring of nineteen films. He has had over 250 cuts, including artists such as Tiffany, Andy Williams, Juice Newton, and The Nelsons. He has sung background vocals with Phil Collins and numerous others, and he opened with Victoria Shaw at the historic Garth Brooks Central Park concert that drew over a million fans and was broadcast live on HBO.

Mexico-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, former attorney, and a best-selling author who is the founder of an app called SongwritersdB, having written over two thousand songs himself over the years. He has lived in the major music meccas of New York and Nashville, and in 2018 he completed the construction of a pro recording studio on the premises of his own home and went on to record a number of local jazz and rock bands in his 32-channel studio.

Composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic artist recording and performing under the artist name Tone Ranger. Last month he released a full-length handcrafted fantasy film paired with his most expansive and immersive album to date. The 14-song album had come out last August and he also released two singles in 2025. Since releasing his debut in 2018, he has not only performed at Burning Man, but – beyond his solo work – has scored for film and produces across genres ranging from indie folk to RandB. For his own artist project, he has put up big streaming numbers, with approximately 24 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where he has over four million streams on his top five songs alone. He also talks about his studio, plus getting a couple songs licensed for a film that’s coming out this year.

He fronts the indie pop band Manuel The Band, a group that has earned rave reviews from the likes of Music Connection Magazine, Coachella Valley Weekly, and OC Weekly. They have a new song coming next month, having released four singles throughout 2025, and continued performing regularly throughout southern California, including the fabled Hotel Café in Hollywood – among numerous other venues and events – and they performed up in northern California at the Mountain Vibe Music Festival. The band has well over 57 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where their top five songs alone have a combined total of more than a million-and-a-half streams.

Two-time GRAMMY-nominated composer and artist who is up for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album at the February 1st ceremony in Los Angeles for the 68th annual GRAMMY Awards. Her story includes having successfully transitioned from being a pop artist and along the way she and her music have been featured in People magazine, South By Southwest, ABC Family, FORBES, Harper’s Bazaar, and more. Her first new age album hit number 1 on global Amazon, iTunes, and Bandcamp sales charts for weeks on end. She has even sung on stage with Sting and Pentatonix, and her Spotify profile has well over 43 thousand monthly listeners and her top five songs there have a combined total of more than 4.1 million streams.

Singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player who has been nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording for her memoir, “Elvis, Rocky, & Me,” and next year it will come out on film as a documentary. She is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist on the Teddy Bears’ single, “To Know Him Is To Love Him,” which was written by her bandmate, the legendary producer Phil Spector. Her best-known contribution as a songwriter is co-writing the song “Gonna Fly Now” for the 1976 movie Rocky, for which she shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Also among her songwriting credits is the 1980 Billy Preston & Syreeta duet, “With You I’m Born Again,” which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. She also wrote and performed songs for several films and has a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

Singer, songwriter, guitar player who is wrapping up a very busy year being out on the road, having performed in 2025 in 23 states, plus Mexico and Belize. Along the way she released a new single, back in July, and now she is making an album from 2020 available in vinyl format. Last year she was the Americana / Folk / Female Vocalist of the Year at the Josie Awards, which came two months after releasing a ten-song album. Her top five songs on Spotify alone are approaching a combined total of 135 thousand streams.

Singer, songwriter, guitar player who, in early October, released his third single of 2025. His music has drawn praise from American Songwriter and his top five songs on Spotify alone have a combined total of more than 300 thousand streams. He has gained attention on YouTube as well, with more than one-and-a-half million combined video views on that platform. Plus, he has more than 235 thousand followers on TikTok. He comes from significant music lineage, being the son of GRAMMY-winning country artist Travis Tritt. He also talks here about plans for new music in 2026.

Nashville-based singer, songwriter, Americana Music Association “Instrumentalist of the Year,” and GRAMMY-nominated producer. He has gold records, and cuts on big albums from luminaries like Jimmy Buffett, Little Feet, Todd Snider, and Radney Foster. He is a member of Willie Sugarcapps, DADDY, and Emmylou Harris’ Red Dirt Boys. He works regularly with combat veterans and first responders as part of the Songwriting with Soldiers team, including having released a single with them back in May. He has more than ten thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where his top five songs alone have a combined total of streams that is closing in on three quarters of a million.

Nashville-based singer/songwriter interviewed on-location in Alabama at the 41st Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival. Her song, “The Fool,” was recorded by Lee Ann Womack and reached number 1 on the country charts. She has had cuts by everyone from Sammy Kershaw to Billy Currington to Blake Shelton to Eric Church, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, and many others. She reached number 1 status two more times, with “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo” by Tracy Byrd and “Cleaning This Gun” by Rodney Atkins. Her song “Same Devil,” which was recorded by Brandy Clark (and features Brandi Carlisle) was nominated for 2022 GRAMMY Performance American Roots Performance of the Year, and her name is also on the Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard duet album, “Django and Jimmie.”

Recording artist who just released a new single last Friday, which follows the release of another song seven weeks earlier. She is a busy performer, as evidenced by having done twenty shows last month alone. Highlights from the stage include having opened for the likes of Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes, Diamond Rio, Maddie & Tae, and more, plus having done two international tours throughout Poland. She has been featured on national TV and radio, and is a Celebrity Ambassador for the Scott Foundation and the Red Note Foundation. Her top four songs on Spotify alone are approaching a combined total of one hundred thousand streams.

Pianist, composer, producer, and arranger who last month released three full Christmas albums and has a fourth coming next month in the form of an audiobook. Under the banner of Studio 55, he also offers music production services, songwriting workshops, and record label services for aspiring musicians. He is a Hammond and Steinway Certified Artist and has also founded a non-profit called The Lighthouse Project, which he talks about here. His top five songs on Spotify alone have a combined total of almost 6.7 million streams and he was previously a guest on this show two years ago on Episode 510.

GRAMMY-nominated and Juno Award-winning producer and composer with a diverse career spanning various genres. He has worked with renowned artists such as Kris Kristofferson, Billy Joel, Michael McDonald, Vince Gill, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, B.B. King, Gloria Estefan, Johnny Mathis, Dan Hill, and many more. In celebration of his 60th anniversary as a musician and nearly 50th anniversary in the music industry, he has just released a book titled, “Unplugged: Stories and Secrets from a Life Making Records, Scoring Film, and Working with the Legends of Music,” which is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and, of course, as an audiobook, with him doing the narration. His Disney album work as producer/artist in the children's music realm has reached sales of over three million units and he is Disney's most successful instrumental lullaby album artist. He was the guest on this show on both Episode 412 and 474.