‘Song Diving’: A New Podcast From American Songwriter

American Songwriter is proud to announce the launch of Song Diving, a new podcast where songwriters go deep into the songs they wrote and the songs that wrote them. Each conversation plays like a mixtape of the music we love and the songs we’re about to discover.

Videos by American Songwriter

Hosted by songwriter and producer Dean Fields, Song Diving features open, candid conversations with songwriters about their lives and their work. Through the songs they have written and the music that shaped them, each episode explores creative process, influence, instinct, failure, breakthroughs, and the long arc of a songwriting life.

Listen everywhere you enjoy your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, and Amazon.

Featured Guests

Song Diving brings together thoughtful, revealing conversations with some of the most respected songwriters of their generation, spanning genres, styles, and eras.

Adam Duritz of Counting Crows explored creative breakthroughs behind songs like Round Here, A Long December, and Butterfly In Reverse. He also shared the influences listeners might recognize, like The Beach Boys and R.E.M., alongside deeper, less obvious influences, from Earth, Wind & Fire to The Commodores, that shape his instincts as a writer.

Ray LaMontagne went track by track through his remarkable debut album, Trouble. He shared the background, inspiration, and stories behind each song. LaMontagne recalled writing the title track late at night in the small cabin he built for his family after his kids had gone to sleep. He also spoke openly about the music that shaped him, from Nat King Cole and Paul Simon to Metallica and beyond.

Rufus Wainwright shared a spiritual, formative memory of discovering a Nina Simone record in his mother’s collection on a dark, rainy afternoon. He talked about writing at the intersection of classical music, American standards, and pop songwriting, pointing to songs like Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk and Going To A Town as examples of how those influences continue to converge in his work.

Rhett Miller of Old 97s traced the winding path behind some of the band’s most beloved songs, including “Our Love”, written during a formative moment in his life when travel, literature, opera, and a new love collided. He also reflected on the songs that continue to shape him as a writer, from Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks to Adrianne Lenker’s Sadness as a Gift, whose emotional honesty influences the way he approaches language and melody.

Marc Roberge of O.A.R. looked back on more than 30 years of writing and inspiration, from starting the band in eighth grade to eventually selling out Madison Square Garden. He geeked out about “Stir It Up” by Bob Marley and The Wailers, a song he listens to on repeat and wants playing at his funeral, and spoke about a more recent obsession with Jeff Buckley, whose emotional depth continues to inspire him.

This season of Song Diving features exciting guests from across genres and generations of songwriting greats. Listen everywhere you enjoy your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, and Amazon.

Featured Image via American Songwriter