In this episode, I sit down with bassist, producer, educator, and longtime Bacon Brothers collaborator Paul Guzzone. Paul and I first met backstage in Atlanta years ago when my band opened for the Bacon Brothers, and we bonded instantly over Aguilar rigs and the first U-Bass I had ever played.

What starts as a fun reconnection becomes a deep exploration of Paul’s multifaceted life in music. We talk about his early years with Tom Rush, his decades-long collaboration with Kevin and Michael Bacon, his extensive composing and jingle work, and his long career teaching Rock and Contemporary Culture at Pace University.

Paul’s warmth, humor, and decades of perspective make this a truly special conversation.

To learn more about Paul, visit his website.

Music from the Episode:
Dance While I Can (Paul Guzzone)
South of the Coconut Line (Paul Guzzone)
All I Ever Wanted to Do (Paul Guzzone)
Extra Innings (Paul Guzzone)

Thank you for listening. If you have questions, feedback, or ideas for the show, please email me at brad@thebandwichtapes.com.

In this episode, I sit down with vocalist, composer, and guitarist Becca Stevens for a conversation that moved me in ways I honestly wasn’t expecting.

We start with life right now for Becca: juggling touring, writing, teaching, and “momming” two little ones. She talks about how becoming a parent has completely reshaped her artistry, forcing a new level of efficiency, deepening her sense of purpose, and shifting her focus from serving herself to serving the song (and her kids). There’s a beautiful thread here about how parenthood strips away the illusion that we are the most important thing, and how that shows up in her singing and writing.

From there, we go back to the North Carolina School of the Arts, where everything really changed for her. Becca shares how she went from being the misunderstood “class clown” to finding her footing in an arts environment, discovering classical guitar almost by accident, and realizing that music alone was more than enough for a lifetime of exploration. We also talk about how jazz became her teenage rebellion, and how a wildly diverse listening palette—Bartók, Steve Reich, Joni Mitchell, Björk, and more still fuels her fearless tendency to never stay in one musical lane for long.

Becca also takes us inside the creative process behind several key projects:

• The string quartet project with Attacca Quartet and the way those arrangements reshaped her own songs
• The intimate, live-tracked world of Maple to Paper, where it had to be one guitar, one voice, and total honesty
• The studio-crafted layers of Wonder Bloom, built from tiny seeds into full sonic collages

We dig into her deep love of collaboration and what it’s like to work with some truly legendary musicians, including Antonio Sánchez, Jacob Collier, Brad Mehldau, Scott Colley, and more. Becca talks about knowing when to serve someone else’s vision and when to step in with her own ideas. Whether that’s bringing original material to Antonio, layering vocals for Edward Simon, building a stop-motion fever dream with Jacob Collier for “Bathtub,” or stepping into Brad Mehldau’s world as both a fan and a collaborator.

One of the most powerful parts of this conversation centers around grief and Maple to Paper. I share how that album helped me process the loss of my dad—how it made me feel seen and validated in a way I hadn’t been able to put into words. Becca opens up about losing her mom, the complicated nature of parent–child relationships, and how those songs began not as “an album” but as a survival mechanism. We talk about what it means to write from that place of raw honesty, to resist tying everything up with a pretty bow, and to allow music to carry both grief and gratitude at the same time.

We close by talking about David Crosby and Becca’s time in the Lighthouse Band with Michael League and Michelle Willis. Becca shares what it was like to work with him so late in his life, to feel both the shock of his passing and the sense that his voice is still very much present in her writing now. As a lifelong Crosby fan, I share my own experience of grieving someone I never met but felt incredibly connected to through his music—and how, watching those performances with the Lighthouse Band, it always looked to me like all the roads in his career led to that chapter.

This is a conversation about artistry, parenthood, grief, joy, and the choice to follow authenticity over marketability—even when the “long, slow simmer” is the more challenging road. I’m so grateful Becca was willing to go this deep with me, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

To stay in touch with Becca, visit her website.

Music from the Episode:
Be Still (Becca Stevens)

Reminder (Becca Stevens & the Attaca Quartet)

Cogs in Cogs, Part II - Song (Becca Stevens & Brad Mehldau)

Maple to Paper (Becca Stevens)

Thank you for listening. If you have questions, feedback, or ideas for the show, please email me at brad@thebandwichtapes.com.

In this episode, I sit down with drummer Jordan Perlson for a deep dive into collaboration, sound, and how we listen to music in 2025. I’ve admired Jordan’s playing for a long time, especially with Becca Stevens, and it was a joy to finally talk with him about his journey and how he thinks about music.

We start with how he first connected with Becca Stevens and her band in New York, and what it means to show up as a collaborator while still protecting your own musical “mission statement.” Jordan talks about the tension between being a supportive hired gun and staying true to his instincts – and how, as he gets older, it’s harder to ignore that inner compass.

Jordan shares some of the drummers who have shaped his ears over the years, from John Bonham and Will Calhoun to Bill Stewart and Jay Bellerose – and why the “magic” of certain players only grows with time. We get into Bellerose’s multi-percussionist approach to the drum set, compensating for supposed “weaknesses,” and how those limitations can actually lead to a more unique sound.

From there, we talk about Jordan’s move from New York to Nashville in 2016: what he was (and wasn’t) seeing in 10-year-old versions of himself on the New York scene, and why he decided to build a life in a place where quality of life and long-term sustainability felt more achievable. I loved hearing how his “wide net” hustle in New York evolved into a more focused, intentional approach in Nashville, where his priority list was: Jeff Coffin, Victor Krauss, Adrian Belew – and then figuring out how to be musically meaningful to them.

Jordan also shares beautiful stories from touring with Adrian Belew, including Adrian’s fearlessness as a guitarist, singer, and composer, and what it’s like to sit inside that kind of energy every night.

We spend a good chunk of time talking about how we listen to music now versus how we listened when we grew up. Jordan reflects on the difference between buying a record or cassette for one song and then slowly falling in love with the deep cuts, versus today’s playlist culture, where it’s easy to skip anything that doesn’t hit instantly. We compare notes on hearing albums at 14 versus revisiting them in our late 40s, and how our relationship with certain songs completely changes over time.

Later in the episode, we get into:

• Growing up outside Philadelphia, going to Berklee, and why classical percussion never really clicked for Jordan, beyond a love of snare drum and books like Portraits in Rhythm
• His experience teaching – from a stint at MTSU to working with already-professional drummers looking to refine specific skills – and why an intermittent, online-friendly lesson model actually fits his students best.
• His work with Guthrie Trapp’s trio (and their weekly gig at the Underdog in Nashville), the expanded Guitar Party project with Guthrie, Tom Bukovac, Jed Hughes, Tim Marks, and Jimmy Wallace
• The trio with Jeff Coffin and Victor Krauss, their first record together, and the almost-finished follow-up featuring guests like Mike Stern, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, and Sam Bush
• Playing on Jessica Simpson’s recent JD McPherson-produced projects and how surprising (in the best way) that music is
• The realities of remote recording from his home studio: the freedom, the creativity, the weird waiting-game around revisions, and why some magic can only happen when a band is in the room together

Jordan is thoughtful, honest, and funny, and this conversation felt like hanging out with a friend who happens to be one of the most musical drummers on the planet. I had a great time talking with him, and I think you’ll really enjoy hearing how he sees the instrument, the industry, and the future of making records.

To learn more about Jordan, please visit his website.

Music from the Episode:
e (The Adrian Belew Power Trio)

Thank you for listening. If you have questions, feedback, or ideas for the show, please email me at brad@thebandwichtapes.com.