A "value system" we can all get behind

As I prepared to interview James Petralli—the main creative force behind the rock/funk/country/prog band White Denim—about Stevie Wonder's Music of My Mind, I figured we'd dig deep into the album's artistry. I also expected that we would talk about the unique and important place the album holds in Wonder's extensive and celebrated discography.

We, in fact, did talk about these things at length. What I didn't see coming was that James would refer multiple times to the album's "value system." There is a positive, life-affirming quality to Music of My Mind, and James cited this as the main reason for why the album has been so important to him for decades. This quality manifests itself in many ways—from the kind spirit behind Wonder's lyrics to the joyous feel of the musical performances to the nods to some of the musicians who likely inspired and influenced Wonder's work.

I also appreciated that James was forthright about how listening to the album stirs his emotions, sometimes to the point of crying. My wife Mary Beth and I did an entire episode on songs that make us cry, but this is something that has rarely come up (if ever) on other episodes.

I hope you'll check out my conversation with James, which also touched upon White Denim's recently-released album 13. I decided to do something a little different this time, and I'll likely keep doing this going forward. I published an excerpt from the episode on YouTube. I've been debating whether or not to put the show on that platform for years but had ultimately decided against it due to my use of music clips. It took me this long to realize I could just publish short excerpts that either don't have clips or have the clips taken out! If you don't have time for the full episode, I hope you'll check out the short YouTube version.

Also, since I last checked in here, I released an episode with Amelia Fletcher of Heavenly. She introduced me to Girls at Our Best! and their sole album Pleasure, and we also chatted about the new Heavenly release Highway to Heavenly and her career as an economist (which was definitely a YMAAA first!).

Speaking of new album releases, today is the day that Jesca Hoop's seventh album Long Wave Home hits the shelves. I had the pleasure of talking to Jesca about her fantastic new album and Joni Mitchell's For the Roses, and you'll be able to hear our conversation in a couple of weeks. Next up is an episode with Ryan Sollee of The Builders and The Butchers in which we talk about No Knife's Fire in the City of Automatons, as well his band's latest, No Tomorrow. I'm very excited to get these episodes to you, so keep an eye out for these conversations as they hit your favorite podcast apps (and YouTube).