Hey there and welcome to the working songwriter, the show where today's best songwriters come to Talk Shop. I'm your host, Joe Pug.

Each episode here, we host a distinguished guest,

and we ask them to go deep on their inspiration,

on their process, on the general ups and downs of making a life and music.

So, whether you're a grizzled veteran living off the residuals from a successful dog food

jingle in the early 90s, or a scrappy upstart with a garage band demo of your own

visions of Johanna-esque masterpiece, just waiting to be discovered.

This is your show.

Because ultimately, it is what every writer seeks most.

An ironclad excuse to put off actually writing.

Hey, everybody.

I hope this episode finds you well.

First of all, I'd like to thank everybody who came out to our California shows this month. What a blast those shows, particularly San Francisco, were for me. Also, thanks to Josh Ritter and his crew for those shows I got to open for them in the Midwest and in Colorado, particularly Boulder, which was a special night. Although I got to say,

you guys in Boulder, I'm all for the legal weed, and I partook, but right now you guys have a

serious decorum problem. You can't be smoking it in the middle of the street like that, like a pack of

animals. You've got to be cool about it, at least until the rest of us get it,

because right now you're blowing up the spot.

So just relax with that.

A good friend of mine who listens to the show recently suggested that I try a new segment

next month where I field a question or two at the top of the show.

And I'd like to at least try it, although I'm not sure if it'll work or not.

So if you're a songwriter yourself who's starting out and wants to pick my brain,

...