David Baerwald

If you’ve been a Popdose reader for any length of time, you probably know that talking with creative people about their art is one of my favorite things to do — I never get tired of it. But because I often tend to interview artists when they’re promoting a new release, our discussions are often constrained in a number of ways; whether it’s time, commerce, or deadlines, something gets in the way of really settling in for an in-depth conversation.

So for awhile now, I’ve been mulling over the idea of a podcast that would try and slow that process down a little — create a space where we can set aside release cycles and talk about an artist’s creative journey and their current relationship with the muse. I was hung up for a long time on a title, but then it struck me that with this show, I was really trying to illustrate the fact that every artist’s approach is unique; that while we see recurring themes in the creative process, there’s no formula to it. It’s a mess, but a fine one.

And that’s when I knew I had to have David Baerwald on as my first guest — not only because he’s been one of my favorite artists for decades, but because he named his stellar (and sadly out of print) 1999 release A Fine Mess.

If you’re a Baerwald fan, this should be a fun listen — we delved into some things about the early songs that he’d never discussed before — but even if you’ve never listened to any of his music, I think you’ll find him an entertaining interview, and if you’re an artist yourself, I think you’ll find that you’ve made at least a few similar steps on your creative path. If you like what you hear here, you can purchase David Baerwald’s music at Amazon and interact with him at his website.

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? I’d love to read them in that Disqus box below. Thanks for listening…

A Fine Mess, Episode 1: David Baerwald

About the Author

Jeff Giles

Jeff Giles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Popdose and Dadnabbit, as well as an entertainment writer whose work can be seen at Rotten Tomatoes and a number of other sites. Hey, why not follow him at Twitter while you're at it?

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