In this podcast episode, Mark interviews Daniel Wolff, a Grammy-nominated author, about his work in music history and his collaboration with Dave Marsh on the book "Kick Out The Jams." (Daniel was nominated for a Grammy for his liner notes for the box set of Sam Cooke's gospel recordings.)

Mark and Daniel discuss the evolution of music criticism, the role of protest songs, and the importance of collaboration in the creative process.

Wolff also offers advice for aspiring creators, emphasizing the need to not take oneself too seriously and to focus on getting the work out into the world.

Specific topics include:

- Daniel's work with Dave Marsh and their new book "Kick Out The Jams"

- The organization and content of the book

- The role of music in social issues and protest

- The importance of collaboration in creativity

- Advice for aspiring creators: don't take yourself too seriously and get your work out there

1.   "I think protest music is going all the time now. I mean, Kendrick Lamar, the hip hop artist, I think writes protest music and or pop music and or hip hop, however you want to define it. But it's music that says, wait a second, here's the world I'm living in. Isn't the way I want it. How do I talk about this?"

2.   "I think for me, the key to collaboration is to kind of give up authorship in a way and say, okay, well we'll change this because it doesn't work here, even though I think that's the best part of the writing. It's not working with you. And so we'll go on. I don't think it's much different from a marriage or a friendship. You're trying to figure out how to get along."

3.   "[Dave] always loved contemporary music. He still loves contemporary music. It's not like, oh, it never got any better than fill in the blank, whoever your favorite is. It was as you point out him going, well, okay, but we've got this ideal of what it ought to be, which was a communal ideal that we were all in it together and it was more democratic than it was capitalistic, if you will."

The advice given by Daniel is to not take yourself too seriously and not get too caught up in the importance of hitting the send button or publishing your work. He emphasizes that there will always be more opportunities to create and that it's important to avoid self-importance. Collaboration is also encouraged as it can help to diminish feelings of self-importance and bring a fresh perspective to your work. Overall, the advice is to have fun with your creativity and not put too much pressure on yourself.

Co-editor of Kick Out the Jams, a selection of essays by Dave Marsh that cover 35 years of music writing. Worked with Dave on Rock & Rap Confidential, co-wrote with him, and appeared on his various Sirius radio shows. Grammy-nominated author Daniel Wolff has published six books of award-winning non-fiction, from You Send Me, a biography of singer Sam Cooke, to How To Become an American: A History if Immigration, Assimilation, and Loneliness. He worked with Dave Marsh on Rock & Rap Confidential, has published four volumes of poetry, produced a number of documentary films, and written collaboratively with musicians, choreographers, sculptors, and scientists.

@dwolff6 on Instagram

Copyright 2026 Mark Stinson