Grammy winning musician Clay Ross joins Rhett to discuss his powerful new project, American Patchwork Quartet and their mission to celebrate the immigrant soul of American music. Clay explains how the group of acclaimed musicians came together, the creative process behind the making of the record, and how the project reflects his own “patchwork” journey into music. The two discuss the challenges of being an independent artist, the power of collaboration, and Clay explains why being a DIY musician provides the fuel to keep going.

Clay Ross is a multi-Grammy winning artist and the founder of the band Ranky Tanky. He has collaborated with artists as diverse as Gregory Porter, Snarky Puppy, and Bobby McFerrin. He is a teaching artist and the co-founder of Compose Your Career, an online course that teaches musicians how to create a sustainable career in the performing arts. 

American Patchwork Quartet

Clay Ross website

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Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. 

This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it.  Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Jon Dee Graham is a guitarist and songwriter best known for his critically acclaimed solo records. He joins Rhett to talk about his latest album, what it means to get a major label deal on the cusp of turning 65, and shares stories about his upbringing that led to his decision to become a musician. 

Jon Dee Graham is a three-time inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame as a member of the Skunks, the True Believers, and a solo artist. He has played guitar with acts such as John Doe (X, The Knitters), Exene Cervenka (X), Michelle Shocked, Alejandro Escovedo, Kelly Willis, and The Gourds and has had his songs covered by many artists, including Patty Smythe, Patty Griffin and James McMurtry. 

His latest record, Only Dead For A Little While, is available now.

Rhett Miller website

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Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. 

Alejandro Escovedo, one of the most critically acclaimed artists in contemporary music,  joins Rhett to talk about his musical evolution, from his early days in punk band The Nuns to Austin-based rock band The True Believers, to the making of his new album, Echo Dancing. He tells Rhett about the creative process behind the song selection on the new record and the decision to revisit and reshape some of his earlier work. The two discuss the moment when Alejandro committed to being a songwriter, and he explains why each phase of life brings an opportunity to discover new ways to tell a story.

Echo Dancing is available now.

Follow Alejando Escovedo and @alejandro_escovedo

Follow Rhett Miller and @rhettmiller

Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. 

This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it.  

Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Tim DeLaughter, the creative force behind The Polyphonic Spree, joins Rhett to discuss his journey as an artist and the challenges he faced that led to the creation of their latest record “Salvage Enterprise”. Tim tells the story behind the album’s title, discusses the importance of visuals in performance, and shares the epiphany moment he had when his teacher played an Emerson, Lake, and Palmer album in music class.

Tim DeLaughter is an Emmy-nominated singer, songwriter, performer, and producer of The Polyphonic Spree. Their latest release is 2023’s Salvage Enterprise.

The Polyphonic Spree

Follow @polyspree

Rhett Miller website

Follow Rhett @rhettmiller

Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. 

This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it.  Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Singer-songwriter, musician, and indie rock icon Juliana Hatfield joins Rhett to discuss her creative process, the music she’s working on, and the balance between work and artistry. The two talk about trusting your instincts, allowing songs to develop naturally, and Juliana reflects on what her dream day job would be if she decided to do something other than music.

Juliana Hatfield’s inimitable 35-year career has seen her an underground darling, a cultural emblem and a time-tested veteran whose tender singing and exemplary guitar playing is an iconic and enduring pinnacle of indie and alternative rock. In 1986, she co-founded beloved Boston indie-rock trio the Blake Babies with Freda Love and John Strohm. Since then, she has released 16 solo albums of stirring originals and imaginative covers, delving further into her love of melodic pop and rock frameworks, and fine-tuning her unmatched vision. Juliana Hatfield sings ELO was released in 2023, and the vinyl re-release of her album Bed is available for pre-order now.

Juliana Hatfield website

Follow @julianahatfield

Rhett Miller website

Follow Rhett @rhettmiller

Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Rhett welcomes Adam Weiner, the driving force behind Low Cut Connie, for a conversation about the creative projects he’s been working on, the early days of his career, and what prompted him to start his own record label. Adam tells Rhett about the lessons he learned from having a theater background, emphasizes the need for artists to create their own opportunities, and explains why honing one’s craft is essential for success.

Low Cut Connie has become the alter ego for frontman, pianist, and songwriter Adam Weiner, the band's only constant member since its formation. Beginning as an impromptu recording session in 2010, Low Cut Connie gradually evolved into a vehicle for Weiner's songwriting and his distinctive onstage persona. The band has earned praise for its high-energy live performances, which Los Angeles Weekly described as "unmatched in all of rock right now." NPR Music describes Weiner as “masterfully fluent in the foundational languages of Western pop.” 

Low Cut Connie website

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Rhett Miller website

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Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever 

you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Singer-songwriter Dar Williams joins Rhett to talk about the process of writing songs that matter, the importance of finding a supportive community, and tells Rhett about the music she’s currently writing. The two discuss prioritizing authenticity over algorithmic success in today’s creative environment, and Dar offers sage advice for aspiring musicians. 

Dar Williams was always in the right place at the right time for the success she’s had over a 25+-year career. She rose out of the vibrant mid-90’s Boston scene, inspired by the eclectic influences of alt-rockers, Berklee jazz musicians, slam poets, and folk artists, like Patty Griffith, Melissa Ferrick, the Throwing Muses, Vance Gilbert, and Jonatha Brooke. After a year of touring non-stop with her first album, The Honesty Room, in 1994, she was invited by Joan Baez to tour in Europe and The United States. Her most recent album is 2021’s I’ll Meet You Here.

Her book, How To Write A Song That Matters is available now.

Dar Williams website

Follow Dar @darwilliamstour

Rhett Miller website

Follow Rhett @rhettmiller

Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it.  Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Singer-songwriter Jaime Wyatt joins Rhett to talk about her latest album “Feel Good”, working with Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada, and the process of exploring new sounds during the making of the record. Jaime talks about her growth as an artist, why she practices radical self care, and the two discuss the concept of authenticity in music.

Hailed by Pitchfork as one of the “most exciting and skillful storytellers” working today, Jaime Wyatt is the kind of generational talent whose raw, honest lyricism is matched only by the power of her huge, unmistakable voice. Her album, Feel Good, takes Wyatt to new heights. Feel Good is bold and ecstatic, built on tight, intoxicating grooves that belie the songs’ substantial emotional stakes. 

Listen to Feel Good

Jaime Wyatt website

Follow Jaime @jaimewyatt

Rhett Miller website

Follow Rhett @rhettmiller

Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Gavin Rossdale, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter of the legendary rock band Bush, joins Rhett to talk about his writing process, the new music that he’s working on, and what he's learned from working with some of music’s most talented producers. Gavin tells Rhett about the moment when he discovered punk rock, and explains why authenticity and individuality are the secret to living a creative life.

After three decades, well over 20 million records sold, a GRAMMY® Award nomination, 1 billion streams, and a procession of #1 hits, Bush stand tall as rock outliers whose imprint only widens as the years pass. Their catalog spans the platinum The Science of Things [1999] through Black and White Rainbows [2017]. Thus far, they have notched 25 straight Top 40 hits on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts, earning seven #1 entries - most recently, 2022's "More Than Machines" off 2022’s The Art of Survival. 

Their latest release is Loaded: The Greatest Hits 1994-2023.

Bush Official website

Follow Gavin @gavinrossdale

Rhett Miller website

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Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it.  Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

M.C. Taylor, singer-songwriter and frontman for Hiss Golden Messenger, joins Rhett from Durham to talk about the latest record, “Jump For Joy”. M.C. tells Rhett about finding his musical voice, the importance of having a creative practice, and the two discuss why it's important to maintain some mystery around the meaning of a song.

Describing the Durham-based Hiss Golden Messenger is like trying to grasp a forgotten word: It’s always on the tip of your tongue, but hard to speak. Songwriter and bandleader M.C. Taylor’s music is at once familiar, yet impossible to categorize: Elements from the American songbook—the steady, churning acoustic guitar and mandolin, the gospel emotion, the eerie steel guitar tracings, the bobbing and weaving organ and electric piano—provide the bedrock for Taylor’s existential ruminations about parenthood, joy, hope, and loneliness—our delicate, tightrope balance of dark and light—that offer fully engaged contemporary commentary on the present. And then there’s an indescribable spirit and movement: Hiss Golden Messenger’s music grooves. There’s nothing else quite like it.

Hiss Golden Messenger website

Follow @hissgoldenmessenger

Rhett Miller website

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Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.

Lucinda Williams, one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters of her generation, joins Rhett to talk about writing her memoir, the moment she realized she wanted to write music, and learning to understand the difference between songwriting and poetry. Lucinda recalls some of the first songs she wrote and goes into depth about her songwriting process, using a song that she’s currently working on as an example. She shares an important piece of advice that her dad gave her, and explains why digging deep is the key to songwriting.

Lucinda Williams’ music has gotten her through her darkest days. It’s been that way since growing up amid family chaos in the Deep South, as she recounts in her candid new memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You (a NY Times Top 5 Best Seller). Over the past two years, it’s been the force driving her recovery from a debilitating stroke she suffered on November 17, 2020, at age 67. Her masterful, multi-Grammy-winning songwriting has never deserted her. To wit, her stunning, sixteenth studio album, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart, brims over with some of the best work of her career. And though Williams can no longer play her beloved guitar – a constant companion since age 12 – her distinctive vocals sound better than ever. The past year has seen Williams honored by BMI for her songwriting, her induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Week tribute at the Troubadour, with her songs performed by a diversity of Americana artists. Lucinda will be touring the U.S. in January - February 2024.

Listen to Stories From A Rock n Roll Heart

Order her memoir Don’t Tell Anybody The Stories I Told You 

Lucinda Williams website

Follow @lucinda_williams

Rhett Miller website

Follow Rhett @rhettmiller

Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by OLD 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review.