PODCAST

On Season 10 of “American Idol” he was one of the top 12 males, out of a field of more than 115 thousand. He has gone on to tour and perform before thousands of fans, appearing with some of the music industry’s biggest artists, including The Fray, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, The Jonas Brothers, and LeAnn Rimes. He had two songs on MTV’s “The Real World” and had a music video that Jimmy Kimmel tweeted.

A two-time Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year, the Memphis-based singer/songwriter talks about his brand new album, he talks of the recent passing of B.B. King and how the two of them – while playing on the same bills together – shared a love of flying planes, and Wainwright tells of the formula that allows him to play three times as many shows a year. All that plus other insights from this maker of blues, roots music, and boogie woogie.

A Christian singer/songwriter who plays piano, has released two EPs, and performed at World Youth Day in Brazil and a Christian Music Festival in Italy, in addition to numerous youth conferences and parish & youth events across the United States. She gives part of her faith testimony, talks about her publishing deal and a trip to Africa, and comments on making peace with having to acknowledge the business component of her music ministry.

She sang with Paul McCartney less than a month after having opened for Josh Turner. She has also sung backup for Mary J Blige and Josh Groban. A songwriter, she has an EP coming out this year. She performed in Las Vegas a week before this interview and then in Chicago a week after recording this episode. Samantha has been a performer at Busch Gardens theme park and sung in bands that have opened for the likes of Rick Springfield and Brandie Carlisle. She has been singing professionally for almost eleven years and plays guitar and is learning ukulele.

A blues artist and multi-instrumentalist, he has toured with B.B. King and Johnny Winter and released a number of CDs. He talks about performing with Southern Hospitality, who has gone to Norway, Slovakia, and Holland, and that they’ll be going to Canada and Switzerland this year (in addition to U.S. dates). Damon also discusses up-and-comers making a decision of whether or not to go out on the road. Plus he describes the balance between being a husband/father and a touring performer.

She did over 6,000 professional performances from age 15 onward, including performing for Madonna. Among the vast media coverage she has received over the years are features on the Lifetime and ABC television networks and in the New York Times. She wrote a full-length musical and was at one point named the top children’s entertainer in New York. She has done private and semi-private teaching of voice, piano, and songwriting. A workshop designer and leader, artist, and artist in residence, she talks – among other topics – about her CD, “Noisy Joy to the Bonehouse Blues.”

A multi-instrumentalist and producer, some of his notable performances include opening for Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, The Fray, and The Jonas Brothers. He has engineered, edited, and produced four albums for artists that have been released on iTunes. His credits also include film scoring the SXSW 1st place-winning film. He has performed at major venues across the U.S. and counts Jason Castro, of “American Idol” fame, among his clients.

Sisters Gabriela & Bianca LeDuc – singers, songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists – talk about recording, writing, and performing in Nashville, trying out for “America’s Got Talent,” working up to an eventual EP, their new single and its music video, a show later this year in conjunction with a Brad Paisley concert, their experience attending NAMM, their numerous live shows throughout Florida, and working with a live show producer that has worked with, among others, Taylor Swift and The Band Perry.

The Music City-based singer-songwriter is working on a new EP and talks about her successful crowdfunding campaign for it – including the months she spent planning it and two fraudulent donors she encountered along the way. A multi-instrumentalist, she also discusses promoting a CD release party in Nashville, Skype-ing with fans, and more.

A blues singer/songwriter, she talks about her third album, her European and U.S. touring, her record deal, spending time with Johnny Winter, performing her own shows versus at festivals, opening for B.B. King, a brush with the law while filming a music video, and what she feels is “the toughest part about the business.”