The Friday Thing #842

Another work week comes to a close. Another weekend peeks over the horizon from behind Mount Rainier on this sunny day in Seattle.?

?

The Friday Thing #842 makes me very happy as it’s the result of feedback from a reader on last week’s edition. Thanks, Mark ??

I’ve been a bit on and off with podcasts over the last year or so, even taking a pause on The Daily from the New York Times to turn back to listening to music on my commute to and from work. But I’m starting to find some new ones I like and last week, courtesy of my old pal, Mark, I’ve been introduced to a real gem. When he sent me a link to a podcast titled Sodajerker?I wondered who these Nordic podcasters were. It turns out, I should have looked closer to home.?

British musicians Simon Barber and Brian O’Connor are as Mark put it my “homies”, hailing from Liverpool. Described by Esquire magazine as ‘the Frost/Nixon of tunesmithery’, their podcast has?published over 250 episodes featuring interviews with songwriters such as Alicia Keys, Burt Bacharach, Paul Simon, Beck, Elvis Costello, Tori Amos, Nile Rodgers, and Jon Bon Jovi.

I began my journey last week with Lindsey Buckingham who is not unfamiliar?to me as I have listened to numerous interviews with him. But Simon and Brian have a unique style of interviewing that is both friendly and conversational but also deeply researched and rooted in a real understanding of the craft of music. There is none of the normal "what is your favourite song, favourite gig, favourite artist" type of stuff. Suffice it to say, I learned a lot of new things about Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac. Then I listened to David Gray and his rawness took me by surprise, mixed with great stories and I learned that he lived in Liverpool for quite some time. Next up for me was Noel Gallagher and as always, he did not disappoint. Full of bravado, ego and swagger mixed with a piercing assessment of songwriting from UK music artists and the inevitable jab at “our kid” (aka, Liam Gallagher). And then Sting….who, I will be honest I was not sure I was going to enjoy listening to. I love his music,?but I didn’t know what to expect from this podcast. WOW….what a treat he was. Full of stories, down to earth and some remarkable anecdotes. I loved how he described his routine of picking up his guitar every day "to see what it will teach him". And his anecdote about Paul McCartney and Blackbird alone made it worth a listen.?

The next episodes on my list to enjoy this weekend are Trevor Horn and Seal and last night, I finally found the episode I had been looking for. As far as I can tell, it's not on the Spotify playlist so you'll need to head over to the Sodajerker website to enjoy Episode 122 – Sir Paul McCartney. Wonderful.?

That’s it for this week. I hope you get a chance to listen to the podcast and share your thoughts. And if you can, please donate to support Simon and Brian's work which is totally independent and ad free.

Music?is of course Blackbird by The Beatles.

Cheers & Happy Friday.?

?

-Steve