Nevermind the Music

What motivates an artist to go beyond performative tweets and truly advocate for a cause they care about? This week, we are joined by Jessica Ilyse Kurn and Michael Stewart Foley, co-hosts of Against the Grain: The Farm Aid Podcast. For over forty years, the Farm Aid music festival has brought legendary artists together to support small family farmers. We talk about what brings them to that stage, what these farmers are up against, and how we’re all united by the same need… to EAT! 

Listen to Against the Grain: The Farm Aid Podcast at farmaid.org/podcast and watch for the 2026 festival lineup at farmaid.org/festival! 

Music heard in this episode: Bad Religion - “Grains of Wrath”, John Mellencamp - “Rain on the Scarecrow”

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Is 47.5 times through a guitar riff enough? This week, we grab a ticket to anywhere with Tracy Chapman’s thoughtful 1988 ballad “Fast Car.” Nichole relates this song to people’s sense of whether they are in control of their lives, and, Here in episode #89, Mark finally starts listening to lyrics, and elaborates on how the song’s repetitiveness is actually the key to its moving storytelling. Just maybe this week it will be Nichole’s turn to secrete salty fluid from her optical sensors!

Other music heard in this episode: Tracy Chapman - “Give Me One Reason”, Tracy Chapman - “Stand By Me”, Tracy Chapman - “Baby Can I Hold You”, Shelly Thunder - “Sorry,” Nicki Minaj - “Sorry (feat. Nas)”, Tracy Chapman - “Behind the Wall”, Tracy Chapman - “For My Love”, Tobtok - “Fast Car”, Luke Combs - “Fast Car”, Bob Dylan - “Hurricane”, Suicidal Tendencies - “Institutionalized”, The Eagles - “Lyin’ Eyes”, Aloe Blacc - “I Need a Dollar” 

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Is that episode title just a joke? Mark definitely wishes it was. In this week’s Sidetrack, our hosts give their lists of songs that get the waterworks flowing. Join us for some really awesome music and some major over-sharing! See you next week for a regular, sob-free episode!

Music heard in this episode: Bonnie Raitt - “I Can’t Make You Love”, Earth, Wind & Fire - “September”, Sarah Bareilles - “She Used to Be Mine”, The King’s Singers - “And So It Goes”, Billie Eilish - “The Thirtieth”, Northside Special - “A Place to Call Home”, Taylor Swift - “marjorie”, Tally Hall - “Be Born”, Beck - “The Golden Age”, Say Anything - “Alive With the Glory of Love”

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Nevermind the Music is part of The Lorehounds Network. Join the Nevermind the Music Discord channel by visiting thelorehounds.com

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When is the right note actually a wrong note? This week, we’re burning down the highway skyline to The Killers’ 2006 anthem “When You Were Young.” Mark shares how this is one of those songs where are the melody seems to almost ignore the chord progression. Nichole connects those broken expectations to the narratives of uniqueness we build in our adolescent minds, and how those might change over time. Join us and dip your feet (every once in a little while).

Other music heard in this episode: Pixies - “Here Comes Your Man”, Aaron Neville - “Tell it Like it Us”, The Beatles - “A Hard Day’s Night”, Green Day - “Nice Guys Finish Last”, Soundgarden - “An Unkind”, Jimmy Eat World - “Clarity”, The Killers - “Somebody Told Me”, The Killers - “Spaceman”, The Killers - “Caution”, Bruce Springsteen - “Born to Run”, The Killers - “Human”, Snow Patrol - “How to Be Dead”, Tears for Fears - “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, Daft Punk - “Lose Yourself to Dance (feat. Pharrell Williams)”, Weezer - “No One Else”, The Killers and Bruce Springsteen - “Born to Run”

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Nevermind the Music is part of The Lorehounds Network. Join the Nevermind the Music Discord channel by visiting thelorehounds.com

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Who better to judge Boomer music than a member of Generation Alpha? In this Sidetrack, Mark’s son makes a surprising and controversial proclamation about the production of the universally-acclaimed 1977 Fleetwood Mac opus, Rumours. Mark takes us through the innovations of multi-track recording that led to the immaculate-sounding albums of the 1970s, and Nichole is left to judge - is the kid right? Check us out next week for another regular episode!

Music heard in this episode: Les Paul and Mary Ford - “How High is the Moon”, Stevie Wonder - “I Call It Pretty Music But the Old People Call it the Blues”, Stevie Wonder - “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”, Stevie Wonder - “Living For the City”, Stevie Wonder - “Sir Duke”, Stevie Wonder - “Master Blaster (Jammin’)”, Fleetwood Mac - “Second Hand News”, Fleetwood Mac - “Dreams”, Fleetwood Mac - “Never Going Back Again”, Fleetwood Mac - “Don’t Stop”, Fleetwood Mac - “Go Your Own Way”

Send us your thoughts at [email protected]

Nevermind the Music is part of The Lorehounds Network. Join the Nevermind the Music Discord channel by visiting thelorehounds.com

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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy