Austin's Pocket Sounds is the solo project of singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and arranger Mike St Clair. Listen as he describes how hearing Dionne Warwick's version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"  at a kiddie pool party inspired him to meld the classical, jazz, pop and rock parts of himself, and influenced his new song "Radio Song."

Austin rapper The Teeta breaks down all the reasons he loves "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen and how it influenced the direction he took on "Rain" from his latest record  Teeta World. 

Writer and entrepreneur Thea Wood describes how hearing Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" while watching the documentary of the same name  reignited her passion for music and inspired her to create the "Backstage Chats With Women in Music" podcast as well as the the Backstage Chats Foundation.

Our May Artist of the Month- The Bishops explain that hearing "Soundtrack to My Life" by Kid Cudi for the first time as middle schoolers changed what they thought hip-hop music could be.

Timothy Showalter, who leads the folk-rock band Strand of Oaks describes how hearing David Bowie's "Lazarus" at the end of the recording process helped him see how powerful documenting dark times could be.

Musician, writer, and frontman for Old 97’s Rhett Miller launched his own podcast “Wheel’s Off With Rhett Miller” earlier this year.  In it, he talks to artists about what it’s really like to live a creative life. In this 2017 episode, he describes how hearing the Jewish Lesbian Folk singer Phranc perform ‘The Lonesome Death […]

Austin based sisters Tori, Tiffany and Sofia Baltierra have been playing as the Tiarra Girls since they were in elementary and middle school. Listen as they describe how seeing the video for No Doubt's "Just a Girl" influenced them all stylistically and helped them find their voices as young women in music.

On this episode of This Song, Elizabeth McQueen sits down with Eric Burton, the lead singer of Black Pumas to talk about what he learned about honesty an connection from Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" and how went  from busking on the Santa Monica Pier to fronting the Black Pumas in Austin Texas.

On the last episode of This Song until the fall, Krissy Teegerstrom, a self-made artist, creative consultant, podcaster, and designer at Featherweight Studio talks about how listening to "Mojo Pin" by Jeff Buckley transported her to a place beyond the real and showed her how to follow her creative intuition.

Ezra Koenig, lead singer and songwriter for the band Vampire Weekend, explains why he recently became obsessed with  "I Don't Think Much About Her No More" by country singer and songwriter Mickey Newbury and explores what it was like to apply country music's direct approach to songwriting to some of the the songs on Father of the Bride.

Carrie Brownstein explains how "Stay" by Rhianna inspired her to write the last track on Sleater-Kinney's latest record,"Broken." 

Singer, songwriter and producer Finneas O'Connell not only writes and produces music with his sister Billie Eilish, but also makes his own music under the name FINNEAS. Listen as he explains why he loved "Holy Sh*t" by Father John Misty from the moment he heard it and how the song helped him expand his ideas of what he could say in his own songs.

This Song host Elizabeth McQueen has been helping produce a new podcast called The Breaks.  Every Saturday from 10pm-1am, Confucius and Fresh host a hip-hop show on KUTX called The Breaks. And now every Monday at 2pm the world can hear highlights from their wide ranging conversations about all things hip-hop, Austin’s hip-hop and R&B scenes […]

British singer, songwriter and producer Shura explains why My Bloody Valentine terrified her and intrigued her she she heard it for the first time, what it's like to write an entire album of love songs and why she felt like now was the right time to use female-gendered pronouns in her work.

La Marisoul, lead singer and songwriter for the band La Santa Cecilia explains how  Mercedes Sosa's version of "Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazon" by Fito Páez helped her understand what a powerful tool music could be for connection and healing.

Indie electronic duo Matt and Kim talk about how "The Mullet Burden" by The Dillinger Escape Plan showed them how intense music could be.

King Princess describes how  listening to "Cosmic Dancer" by T. Rex as a kid made her feel seen, helped her understand her gender and  showed her how music could transport the listener to another place and time.

Devendra Bahnart talks about how hearing "Just Another Diamond Day" by Vashti Bunyan  when he was busking on the streets of Paris comforted him  with a feeling of motherly love that he still turns to today and how themes of motherhood, love, fear and compassion show up on his latest record "Ma."

Come to Waterloo Records Thursday, November 21st at 4pm for a live taping of the This Song podcast. Singer, songwriter and author Allison Moorer will talk about a song that changed her life, and talk about her new book and companion album, Blood. The event is FREE and open to the public.

This week we have a special treat for you! A full episode of the new Song Confessional Podcast! In  this episode you'll hear a tale of family, weed and secrets, the song it inspired written by Brooklyn based Vlad Holiday, and an interview with Holiday about his boozy creative process.

This Week on The Breaks Fresh wonders why Nick Cannon decided to go after Eminem on the diss track "The Invitation," he defends Lizzo's right to twerk at the Lakers Game and he implores artists to prioritize their mental health after the recent death of Juice Wrld. Plus Confucius & Fresh interview Alesia Lani's manager Reno Dudley.

In this episode of This Song, originally published last February, Jackie Venson talks about how "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita changed the way she listened to music and thought about herself.

Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw from  Metric talk about  hearing "Teardrop" by Massive Attack early in their musical partnership and how it inspired them, terrified them and helped them find a collaborative way of making music that still works for them today.

In this episode, St. Vincent explores how music from early Disney films helped her lay the foundation for beauty and wonder in her life and work. She also explains why she approached the songs on Masseduction with a Disney-esque lack of irony.

Kathy Valentine, bass player in the seminal 80s all-girl rock group the Go-Go's, recently wrote a memoir titled All I Ever Wanted. In this episode of, Kathy explains what "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream taught her about herself when she was 9 years old,  describes how she found her creative process as an author and details how music and storytelling intersected in her new book.

Thao Nguyen from Thao and the Get Down Stay Down talks to host Elizabeth McQueen about the inspiration behind her new song "Temple," and about what it was like to release music during a pandemic. She also shares how making the new album helped prepare her to address her sexuality publicly and to create a safe space in her life where she could exist as her full self.

John Prine explains how Bob Dylan's "The Lonsesome Death of Hattie Carroll" changed his life and goes in depth about his own songwriting process for his album "The Tree of Forgiveness."

In this rerun from 2018, Liz Phair talks about hearing The Soft Boys "I Wanna Destroy You," revisiting her 1991 Girly-Sound Tapes and 1993 debut album, and parenting realities.

In this rerun from 2018, Beth Ditto, former lead singer of the band Gossip, talks about how Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam" helped her grapple with complex feelings about her home state, Arkansas. She also talks about returning home after heartbreak and explores making her first record "Fake Sugar."

In the first half of this edition of In Perspective host Rebecca McInroy of KUT Radio talks with: Dr. Amelia Weinreb, lecturer at the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Texas; Dr. Yoav Di-Capua, History Professor at UT and author of Arab Existentialism: A lost chapter in the intellectual history of decolonization;...

This month on In Perspective, our roundtable participants discuss public memory in relation to grief, war, and memorials such as the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Two of our guests represent that museum, which commemorates the September 11 attacks of 2001 and the World Trade Center bombing of 1993. Also joining us are two...

In this edition of In Perspective we teamed up with KUT’s Views and Brews for a discussion on various elements of and debates over Artificial Intelligence. What does it actually mean to think? How does understanding how computers work inform what we understand about the brain? And what is on the horizon for us in...

Race in America This month’s episode recognizes Black History Month by bringing together several scholars for a discussion of race in contemporary America. As we look back on 2014, we celebrate the achievements of African-Americans, but we also find racial inequality and abuses of power and privilege that continue to endanger and oppress non-white Americans....

This episode recognizes women, gender, and sexuality with a discussion of the complexities of gender and sexuality from contemporary and historical perspectives. Our discussants share what they’ve learned from their respective research projects, while exploring how privilege and power function in constructions of gender and sexuality. Ultimately, they agree that listening with empathy to each...

This episode explores historical and contemporary attitudes about the food industry and our food traditions. Our discussants share the major topics that affects the food industry today. The Discussion Tom Philpott is a Food and Agriculture Correspondent for Mother Jones.  While studying food and cooking traditions around the world, Tom noticed that American food traditions...

On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Shemekiah Copeland, and Wyclef Jean at The Summit on Race in America: Liberty and Justice for All, held this Spring at the LBJ Presidential Library, on the campus of the University of Texas...

On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes a discussion with James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Shemekiah Copeland, and Wyclef Jean at The Summit on Race in America: Liberty and Justice for All, held this Spring at the LBJ Presidential Library, on the campus of the University of Texas...

On this week’s In Black America program, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with Valerie Jarrett, former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, moderated by Brittany Packett this past spring at the Summit on Race in America: Liberty and Justice for All.

This week on In Black America, producer and host Joh L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Federal Judge Damon J. Keith, with Peter J. Hammer, Wayne State University Law professor and author of Crusader for Justice: Federal Judge Damon J. Keith.

This week, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson presents a conversation with actor, singer-songwriter and film producer Leon Robinson, known for his portrayals of David Ruffin and Little Richard, and as leader of reggae-soul band Leon and The Peoples.

On this week’s In Black America program, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and prostate cancer survivor Mike Haynes, about his 14 year NFL career, his cancer recovery, and his Know Your Stats campaign.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a 2018 interview with Dr. Patrice A. Harris, MD, a psychiatrist and president of the American Medical Association. She’ll serve for a year as president-elect and become the first African-American woman to lead the organization in 2019.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents highlights from the 20th Anniversary commemoration of the 1963 March On Washington, featuring Dr. Maya Angelou, Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Honorable Andrew Young, and the late Congressman Mickey Leland.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Claudette A. Robinson, a founding member of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and a recent participant in The Summit On Race In America, at the LBJ Presidential Library at the University of Texas at Austin.

On this week’s edition of In Black America, John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Motown legends Abdul “Duke” Fakir, a founding member of The Four Tops, and Mary Wilson, a founding member of the Supremes. Both were participants in The Summit on Race in America this Spring, at the University of Texas at Austin.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Corey Minor Smith, attorney, transformational speaker, former Canton, Ohio at-large city council member, and author of #Driven, which chronicles her experiences with a family member’s mental illness.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Jasmine Allen, owner and Director of Events at Destination Birmingham, an event and meeting liaison agency specializing in event production, meeting management, and tours showcasing Birmingham, Alabama.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with Dr. Aldon D. Morris, the Leon Forrest professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University and author of The Scholar Denied: W.E.B. Dubois: The Birth of Modern Sociology.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents the conclusion of a conversation with Dr. Aldon D. Morris, the Leon Forrest professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University, author of The Scholar Denied: W.E.B. Dubois: The Birth of Modern Sociology, and president-elect of the American Sociological...