The public may best know Phil Madeira as an ace-in-the-hole sideman for high-profile Americana artists like Emmylou Harris, while Nashville insiders know him as a songwriter's writer and a go-to studio musician as well. While his career goes back well over 50 years, over the last decade or so, Madeira has released a series of superb, highly-focused solo albums and creative collaborations that have focused on various aspects of his musical, lyrical, and overall artistic skillsets. On his latest project, Falcon, (releasing July 18), Madeira combines all of these elements seamlessly. It presents as a sort of "Best Of Phil Madeira" project, that happens to be comprised of all new tunes.

On this episode we catch up with Madeira to hear about Falcon in detail, and how it fits into his larger body of work. We will also peek behind the curtain a bit, into the deeper personal work this music reflects in the life and heart of the artist.

For more info visit the full show notes page at TrueTunes.com/Falcon and to learn more about Phil Madeira find his website at PhilMadeira.net.

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The Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown is a fantastic retelling of the myths of Orpheus’ journey to the Underworld to rescue Eurydice alongside the marriage of Hades and Persephone, set amidst the visual and musical elements of New Orleans during the 1920s and 1930s. On this episode, we visit with guitarist, songwriter, and producer Sam Wade, who has been on the road with the traveling version of this stunning musical for most of the last year and will continue in that role again next year.

Wade has been a friend and collaborator of ours for a few years. He has produced a few songs for my wife, Michelle Lynn Thompson, including her song “Riptide.” (Listen closely for an instrumental snippet in the background of this episode.) He will also be joining me (JJT) for my set at the Audiofeed festival this summer and backing up Michelle for hers as well. We jumped at the chance to see him and the rest of the company in action with Hadestown when they came through Chattanooga recently, and to catch up with him to see what it’s been like to travel with a production like this.

For more information, including a list of all of the songs used in this episode, visit the show notes page at TrueTunes.com/Hadestown

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King's X, the band formed by bassist, songwriter, and vocalist Dug Pinnick, guitarist Ty Tabor, and drummer Jerry Gaskill roughly 40 years ago, has pushed musical, lyrical, and even technological boundaries since its debut. Before that, these musical adventurers brushed up against the Christian music subculture as members of Phil Keaggy's band and others. But despite their early connection to the Jesus Movement - or perhaps because of it - they decided to specifically avoid any connection to the Christian music market when they formed King's X. Thousands of Christian rock fans nonetheless embraced them, parsing the imagery in their lyrics and wondering where they were coming from.

35 years into their journey, King's X continues to innovate in the studio and rock on the stage. Listen in as Dug reflects on a long and - at times heartbreaking life in hard rock.

Find the full show notes (including a list of all songs used on this episode) at TrueTunes.com/KingsX .