Artist Friendly with Joel Madden

On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden sits down with Carly Pearce.

Born in Taylor Mill, Kentucky, Carly Pearce left high school at 16 to take a performing job at Dollywood, then moved to Nashville at 19 to chase a solo career full-time — working odd jobs and driving her own van between shows before her big break finally came. Her 2017 debut single, "Every Little Thing," launched a run that's since brought her a Grammy, three CMA Awards, and four ACM Awards, including CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2021. That same year, Dolly Parton personally invited her to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, one of the highest honors in country music. Pearce's most acclaimed work, 2021's 29: Written in Stone, turned the pain of her divorce into a Grammy-winning album, and she's continued that streak of raw, unflinching songwriting on 2024's Hummingbird and this year’s Honest Woman.

While talking with Joel, Carly opens up about the years of grinding it out before anyone was paying attention, learning to trust her own instincts instead of everyone else's opinions, and why she's finally made peace with even the hardest chapters of her story.

(0:00) – High Heels in the Warehouse(1:11) – Dolly Parton Fulfilled a Lifelong Opry Dream(1:59) – Country Grandparents, Southern Rock Parents(6:33) – Quitting School at Age Fourteen(11:25) – Forbes 30 Under 30 & Grand Ole Opry Member(17:10) – Reclaiming Her Artistic Voice(21:14) – Writing Through a Public Divorce(24:53) – Music as a Lifeline(26:46) – Kentucky Bluegrass Roots on Record(35:51) – Six Shows a Day at Dollywood(36:46) – Faith as Her Grounding Center
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On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden sits down with Daryl Palumbo.

Formed in 1993 by a then-teenage Palumbo and guitarist Justin Beck, Glassjaw became one of post-hardcore's most influential acts, known as much for their unpredictable, genre-defying sound as for the loyal following of musicians who cite them as an inspiration. In 2003, Palumbo launched a second project, Head Automatica, pairing his love of Britpop and hip-hop with producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura for a sound entirely different from Glassjaw's — their debut, Decadence, charted on the Billboard 200 the following year. More than three decades after he and Beck first bonded over matching Anthrax and Bad Brains T-shirts at summer camp, Palumbo is still fronting both bands, with new Head Automatica material in the works.

In conversation with Joel, Daryl opens up about the freedom he's always chased in his music, how fatherhood became the most grounding and fulfilling thing he's ever experienced, and the years of self-doubt and restlessness that shaped both his art and his sense of self along the way.
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On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden sits down with 6LACK.Born in Baltimore and raised in Atlanta, 6LACK grew up around music from the start — his father owned a recording studio, and he was already stepping into the booth by age four. After cutting his teeth as a teenage battle rapper, he broke through in 2016 with his debut album Free 6lack, which spawned the Grammy-nominated single "PRBLMS" and established the introspective, emotionally direct sound he's known for. His follow-up, East Atlanta Love Letter, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and his most recent album, Since I Have a Lover, earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album. Along the way, he's collaborated with everyone from J. Cole and Lil Baby to Elton John and Gorillaz.A decade into his career, 6LACK joins Joel in the Artist Friendly studio to open up about how he has spent the last few years simplifying his life — cutting out excess, opportunists, and old habits — confronting the ego he didn't know he had, and learning what it actually means to build a life around what matters most.
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On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden sits down with Dan + Shay.

Dan + Shay met at a house party in Nashville in December 2012 and started writing songs together not long after — an unlikely pairing, given Dan came from an emo band background and Shay had been a solo artist on T-Pain's label. Since then, the duo has become one of the most decorated acts in country music history: three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "Tequila," "Speechless," and "10,000 Hours" with Justin Bieber, alongside dozens of ACM, CMA, and Billboard Music Award wins. Their crossover success has made them global streaming juggernauts, and in 2024 they became the first-ever coaching duo in the history of NBC's The Voice.

Sitting down with Joel, Dan + Shay open up about the highs of over a decade together — the awards, the arenas, the recognition — but also the harder work underneath it: learning to communicate honestly, untangling their self-worth from their results, and figuring out what it actually means to build a lasting partnership, both as a band and as best friends.
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On this week's rerun episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by Benji Madden and M. Shadows.

Good Charlotte recently returned with Motel Du Cap, their first album in seven years, and the pop-punk elder statesmen are ringing it in with their longtime friend M. Shadows on Artist Friendly.

The Madden brothers and Avenged Sevenfold vocalist go back, from meeting on Warped Tour in the 2000s to playing “Bat Country” together on TRL.

In an intimate conversation between like-minded collaborators, the Good Charlotte bandmates sit down with Shadows to celebrate their recent Revolver cover and share untold stories from 25 years in rock.
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