Not Listening to Music
What do music fans do when they're not listening to music? They listen to other stuff that's all about music!
Let’s kick things off with the amazing ‘playing along’ podcast hosted by Norah Jones. In the episode below she chats to Margo Price, and I have a reason for selecting this one. Margo is not all that well-known in the UK, and I spent last summer following her release sequence for Hard Headed Woman, which has since picked up a Grammy nomination.
This makes Price the only female to be nominated in the category of Best Traditional Country Album, which speaks volumes about the industry and the structure of the awards but also (and most importantly of all) speaks to Margo’s stand-out brilliance. BTW Norah Jones’ brilliance is so obvious I won’t mention it.
Also strongly recommended is the audiobook, not the actual book, of Margo’s 2022 memoir (Maybe) We’ll Make It. The reason for singling out the audiobook is that Margo reads it herself and includes songs from through the years. This is an example of what audiobooks should be, taking them far beyond the printed word. Margo has had some severe knocks in life and hearing her talk about those in her own voice is very powerful. She is also based in Tennessee and tends to record her albums at Southern Grooves in Memphis. I will be reviewing the book in a future post.
Substack itself has sprung to life for music fans in the last twelve months. In addition to Cyrena Wages, of which more below, you can find Margo Price, Anna Vaus, Lola Kirke, Bre Kennedy, Zoee… the list is growing by the week. Sticking with our Margo theme, she recently spoke to Lola Kirke right here.
And finally for Lola fans (who isn’t?) she has her own audiobook which you can sample below. The paperback is out in March. I partially reviewed the hardback last year, see below. If you prefer Jemima then she features heavily in the anecdotes. Lola had a pivotal role in the record-breaking movie Sinners and will appear soon in a siege drama based on a true story, Eleven Days.
Wild West Village & Trailblazer by Lola Kirke
I am writing this with Zeppelin III on close to full max. Do you know if I mean the Led Zeppelin album or the song by Lola Kirke? No you don’t. You might have seen me write something similar to this before but in the last month or two I have really come to appreciate Lola. She is a quadruple threat: she acts, sings, writes songs, she's hilarious and Eng…
Needless to say, the very best music podcast is actually Tennessee Vibes. Everyone says so, even people who don’t know us. Our most popular episode, by a Memphis mile, is from the day Ellie Norris accidentally staggered into our studio to tell us about her memoir/novel type book thing. The best news I have to share is that this is only the first half. More news soon!
Writer Ellie Norris (pt. 1)
On the show this week, our first ever guest! The writer Ellie Norris from Memphis, Tennessee talks about her year on Substack. We have some TV recs, the usual shadowy darkness in the background, poetry by Mary Oliver, and life as a woman in Tennessee.
Back in the summer Cyrena suggested we record one of our mad chats. This is the result, and you can listen to all the episodes from here on in. All of the Tennessee Vibes chats are on Spotify, Apple and YouTube as well as here on Substack.
Cyrena Wages @ Home: Episode 1
I wrote a totally out of the blue profile of Cyrena Wages on 19th April 2025. I hoped she would read it, but I had no idea how much she would love it. You can read my original profile below.
Coming soon on the Vibes we have a new song from Queen Anne on February 20, and before that a single that can only be described as ‘Catchy AF’ from Zoee on February 6. Bre Kennedy’s new album is out next Friday, January 30. The links will take you to the presave pages.
You’re the best, Paul!