The Jay Franze Show: Music - News | Reviews | Interviews

A former detective walks into a recording studio for the first time and cries when the band starts playing his song. That’s the kind of real, lived-in moment that makes this conversation with South Carolina country artist Kyle stick with you long after the credits roll.

We talk through Kyle’s winding career path from dispatcher to police officer to detective, then into ministry as a pastor, and later into EMS as an EMT and paramedic. Along the way, he shares how a rough childhood shaped his drive to serve, why the physical demands of the ambu...

Atlanta’s music identity is bigger than most headlines, and Heydreamer is proof. We’re joined by Melody and Dustin from the Atlanta-based alternative rock band to get a grounded look at what the local scene really feels like for working musicians, from open mics and jam culture to the web of relationships that quietly powers the best shows. If you’ve ever searched for the Atlanta rock scene, live music venues in Atlanta, or how indie bands actually get booked, their stories land with the kind of detail you only get from people doing the work week after week. ...

A street sign becomes a chorus. A waltz meter turns a sad scene into something haunting. A concept album clicks into place because one image won’t let go. That’s the kind of creative thinking we chase with actor and musician James Woods, and it’s why this conversation stays with you after the final note. 

We talk through what James learned from decades in film that directly applies to music: interpreting great writing, using improvisation without disrespecting the work, and showing up with discipline even when inspiration feels effortless. Then we flip the lens to his lyr...

A forgotten Indianapolis sound helped shape the blues, and Christopher Wise is determined to prove it with receipts. We sit down with the Indiana blues recording artist to talk about Knaptown Blues, his deep dive into the music of Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell, and why recording close to home can feel just as alive as cutting tracks in Memphis or Mississippi. If you’ve ever wondered how much a room, a neighborhood, or a local history can change a performance, this conversation keeps it real.

We also get nerdy about recording without turning it into a fo...

Sun Studio has a reputation that borders on myth, but Coyle Girelli breaks down what the “magic” actually feels like when you’re alone in the room with a guitar, a vocal mic, and the original RCA microphones. We talk about recording in Memphis through Sun Records, why a room mic can tell the whole story, and how hearing the space itself can change the way you understand sound, performance, and even songwriting.

We also zoom out to the real day-to-day of being a touring singer-songwriter. Coyle compares crowd culture across cities and countries, shares how he deals...

A “made it overnight” story can still take decades to understand. We talk with Texas folk rock and Americana artist Ezra Vancil about the twists that shaped his career: early bands with a drummer-driven groove, a development deal that arrived fast and fell apart even faster, and years of chasing the next break without ever getting the album release he thought would change everything.

Ezra doesn’t dodge the hard parts. He walks us through the dark decade of addiction, the legal fallout, and what probation life really looks like when a device is literally beeping for you to...

Cincinnati is full of rooms where a band can level up fast, but only if you know where to look. We talk with hard rock artist Mark Frye from Asayda about the Cincinnati live music scene as a real map of neighborhoods, venues, and crowds, and why the city feels like a “big small town” for musicians. From Bogarts to Annie’s Music Center to Ludlow Garage and Riverbend, we compare what each space rewards, what it costs to be close to the stage, and what makes a show feel electric when the band is still on the rise. 

A debut single is never just a song. It’s ten years of drafts, late-night voice memos, and learning how to trust your own taste long enough to hit release.

We sit down with Tennessee pop rock recording artist Ivy Leighton to unpack the real work behind her first official drop, “Good Girl,” out September 1st, 2026. Ivy shares the moment she got serious about songwriting at 14, the mix of influences that shaped her sound (Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Paramore, Wet Leg, Radiohead), and why she keeps coming back to angry, dramatic lyrics even when she tries to write someth...

Three songs. That’s the window most concert photographers get to capture an entire night of energy, emotion, and chaos and somehow deliver photos that look like they belong on a tour poster. We sit down with Ohio concert photographer Tom Rentz to talk about what really creates a signature look in live music photography, from tight portrait framing to the decisions you make before you ever lift the camera.

Tom breaks down the craft behind the “lucky” shots: studying performances ahead of time, reading choreography, using burst shooting to catch micro-expressions, and choosing where to stand so the...

A heavy song doesn’t start as a finished riff and a perfect hook. It starts as a feeling, a voice memo, a half-built demo, and a band willing to tear it down and rebuild it until it finally hits. We sit down with Ohio rock band Archer’s Gate for a deep, practical talk about collaboration, vocal harmonies, and the real behind-the-scenes work that turns an idea into a release you can blast in the car.

We get specific about their songwriting process, from who brings the first spark to how they pressure-test arrangements in pre-production with...

A great heavy band does two jobs at once: it punches you in the chest with sound, then pulls you closer with truth. Jay Franze sits down with Ohio recording artist Matthew Fritsch, vocalist for Life After This, to talk about the moments that shaped his approach to modern metal and hard rock, starting with the impact of Papa Roach. We get into what “stage energy” really means, how crowds become one unit, and why the most powerful lyrics are often the most direct ones.

Matthew breaks down his songwriting process as a vocalist who doesn’t play i...

One scoop of vanilla ice cream after dinner sounds harmless until it turns into a band tradition, and it’s the perfect opener for a conversation that quickly gets real about what a working musician’s life actually looks like. We’re joined by Les Janssen, a New York bassist with deep roots in rock, a love for great feel, and the kind of touring experience that forces you to think about everything from stage sound to airport baggage claims.

We talk about playing at Daryl’s House and why consistent production changes the entire night for both mus...

You can hear it in Trey Calloway’s voice: the grind is still there, but something has shifted. The work feels more focused, the circle is tighter, and the next steps look a lot more like a real Nashville plan than a hopeful guess. Jay Franze sits down with Trey to talk through the behind-the-scenes moves that actually change a country artist’s trajectory: signing with manager Jerry Hines, learning how to lead with confidence, and building a team that believes in you when you are tempted to doubt yourself.

We dig into the advice Trey is gett...

Streaming promised unlimited music, but it also trained us to treat songs like disposable wallpaper. We sit down with Harmony Records founder and CEO David Chatfield to talk about what that shift costs artists and listeners, and why he thinks the next wave is about bringing music back to being an experience you choose, not noise that happens to you. 

David walks us through building a record label from the ground up, from the early 1980s world of $125,000 recording budgets and indie distribution to today’s reality of home studios, cheaper lockouts, and the brutal competition of con...

A band that adopts a highway, cleans it with fans, then goes straight back to building a tightly synced live show is the kind of story we can’t stop talking about. I’m joined by Rex Larkman, drummer for Tropidelic, for a conversation that moves from Cleveland pride to the real mechanics of modern touring, with plenty of laughs and hard-earned lessons in between. 

We get into the Cleveland music scene and how a “Lake Erie ocean” mindset can fuel a band whose sound blends reggae rock, funk, hip-hop, and high-energy drumming. Rex breaks down the drummers...

One email, a few MIDI files, and a shared obsession with atmosphere can turn into a finished single that sounds huge. We sit down with Ohio singer-songwriter Kate Stanton to talk about “Rise,” a track inspired by the Greek idea of mania, the kind of love that looks a lot like limerence and fixation. Kate walks us through how the song came together, from early synth sketches to deep vocal layering, and why making music that feels immersive sometimes matters more than showing off flashy parts.

A big thread running through our chat is remote collaboration done righ...

Empty seats can cancel a tour faster than bad reviews, yet rock touring is still printing money. We start with a rapid-fire rundown of newly announced rock and metal tours and quickly end up doing what real fans do: clicking past the headline to check official artist sites, compare dates, and figure out whether these runs are truly “fall tours” or just a handful of shows with a catchy label.

From there, we dig into the live music economy: major tour earners, the reality of Ticketmaster seat maps packed with available seats, and why some artists overbook venu...

You can learn signal flow in a classroom, but you only learn touring when the bus doors close and the clock never stops. We sit down with Jerry Hines, a Tennessee-based tour manager turned artist manager, to unpack the behind-the-scenes reality of building a career in live music production and artist development. Jerry shares how a single phone call in 2004 launched him from side jobs into the deep end as a monitor engineer, then into production, front of house, and eventually the high-accountability world of tour management.

We talk about what makes monitors such a brutal seat...

Rock mythology is fun, but what does a real working career look like after the posters come down? We’re joined by guitarist Paul Sidoti for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with the exact moment KISS flipped a switch in his five-year-old brain and stretches all the way to the day he can email his heroes and actually get a reply. Along the way, Paul shares what those early influences gave him: the drive to learn parts by ear, the hunger for great sound, and the patience to keep getting better even when nobody’s watching. 

We dig i...

Nashville during CMA Fest is a choose-your-own-adventure where every decision has a cost: stand in a line, catch a set, make a meeting, or follow a last-minute invite that turns into the best story of the week. We take you with us from the “question of the day” energy to the real CMA Fest play-by-play, including what it’s like navigating Broadway crowds, building a schedule with the CMA Fest app, and still getting surprised by who walks into the room.

We start strong with a private party at Third and Lindsley, where Daryl Worley brings the kind o...

You can feel it when a band isn’t just playing songs, they’re building a world. Johnny from The Dreamboats joins us to explain how a modern rock and roll revival band takes 1950s and 1960s oldies covers and turns them into a full-throttle live performance people cannot stop filming. We talk about the real difference between touring Canada versus the United States, from endless drives between small markets to packed schedules across dense regions, and what it means to uproot your life and land in the California desert near Palm Springs to chase bigger stages.

John...

Three hours. That’s the kind of clock Nashville can put on a recording session, and it forces you to learn fast or get left behind. We sit down with country music recording artist Stephen Quinn to unpack what it really felt like to walk into a Nashville studio for the first time to cut “Get It Girl” with seasoned session musicians and a producer who actually cared about getting it right. If you’ve ever wondered how professionals can hear a song once, chart it, and deliver a finished track at speed, this conversation puts you in the room.

A leaky heart valve. A brand-new piece of medical tech called a Harmony valve. And a country singer who’s back on Broadway faster than most of us would return to the gym. We’re joined by Tennessee recording artist Stephanie Rabus, and she tells the full story, from being born with a serious heart murmur and having open-heart surgery at 11 to facing pulmonary regurgitation decades later and choosing a transcatheter pulmonic valve replacement instead of another long recovery.

From there, we zoom out to the working-musician reality in Nashville. Stephanie breaks down what it’s like to gig...

Ella Langley didn’t just have a good ACM Awards night, she turned it into a full-on statement. We’re breaking down the 61st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards from Las Vegas with Shania Twain hosting, Cody Johnson grabbing Entertainer of the Year, and a wave of winners that makes you ask what country music is rewarding right now. We talk through the biggest moments, the funniest bits, and the kinds of wins that feel like the format finally caught up to the fans.

Then we zoom out into the bigger music industry trends behind the head...

One great co-write can change a career, but only if you understand what actually happened in the room. We sit down with Louisiana country music recording artist Karen Waldrop to get specific about the songwriting process behind “Me Again,” including what it was like writing with hit writer Danny Wells, how the melody and structure came together, and why the best collaborators know when to lead and when to get out of the way. If you’re a songwriter, an indie artist, or just a listener who loves the story behind the song, this conversation is packed with real craft...

You know that feeling when the “opening act” walks onstage and suddenly the headliner has a problem? We chase that exact moment from every angle, starting with a listener question that turns into a pile of concert stories, strong opinions, and a few names that surprised us. If you’ve ever left a show talking more about the first band than the main one, you’re going to have a list by the time we’re done.

We also rewind the genre clock with a fun argument about 1970s rock albums that used to be considered metal. Led Zeppel...

Nearly perfect albums are a trap and we walked straight into it. We go down a punchy list of 1980s rock staples and actually argue the hard part: what makes a classic rock record feel flawless from top to bottom, and what makes it feel “too polished” even when the songs are huge. From Back In Black to Appetite For Destruction to Purple Rain, we swap favorites, call out the moments where bands start chasing the mainstream, and talk about how producers and the 80s studio sound shaped what we still hear today.

Then we hit the head...

The ACM Awards are coming, and we’re not treating it like background noise. We lay out what to expect from the show in Las Vegas, how to watch on Amazon Prime, and what it means that Shania Twain is hosting for the first time. Then we make our ACM predictions with zero fluff, debating what “Entertainer of the Year” should actually reward, and why the new-vs-established “rivalry” narrative feels more like marketing than reality. 

From there we hit the week’s music news with an eye for what matters: Morgan Wallen teasing a new era, Luke Combs setting...

You know that moment when you realize the thing you’ve worshipped as a fan is now your actual job? That’s where this conversation with guitarist and recording artist Kieran Robinson begins, and it only gets wilder from there. We talk through how a young musician goes from growing up on Queensrÿche and classic rock to performing alongside Geoff Tate, learning songs with serious technical weight, and walking the tightrope between confidence and imposter syndrome.

We get into the real mechanics of making a legacy project work. Kieran explains how he approaches writing and demo-building for M...

Broadway looks like a dream from the sidewalk, but the reality is closer to a high-speed stress test. We sit down with Nashville performer and “View From Nashville” creator Jay Bragg to get honest about what’s happening on Lower Broadway right now, why tourism shifts are rattling working players, and how new entertainment districts could stretch an already thin scene even further. Jay breaks down why Broadway can be an elite boot camp for stagecraft while still becoming a trap that quietly rewires artists into tip-driven cover machines.

We also zoom out to the country music indust...

Some artists sound dangerous onstage and turn out to be the kindest people you’ll ever meet, and that contrast kicks off a wide-ranging music conversation we can’t stop thinking about. We dig into a list of rock musicians known for having genuinely good reputations, then swap stories about what “nice” looks like when the lights are off and the backstage pass is real. Along the way we talk about why fans remember small moments forever and how an artist’s character becomes part of their long-term legacy.

Then we hit the week’s music news across count...

She’s 14, she’s already cutting records in Nashville, and she’s learning the music business in real time. We sit down with country recording artist Josie Sal to talk about the jump from “posting covers” to building a true career with a team, a release plan, and the kind of relationships that open doors fast.

We get into how she connected with producer Brandon Hood, what it’s like walking into a serious studio session with elite Nashville musicians, and why recording full-song takes helps her keep the emotion of a live performance. Josie also shares how she’s di...

A great song can start as a joke, a brand name, or a bad travel day then turn into something listeners wear like a memory. RJ Preston joins us from Florida to explain how his country rock style took shape, why he leans toward edge and storytelling over pop-country trends, and how “Tropically Impaired” came from the very real feeling of being stuck up north wishing you were back in the sun.

We get into the nuts and bolts of modern Nashville recording, including what it’s like working with producer and engineer Jacob Garner, how studio musici...

Twenty-three seasons of American Idol later, a weird question still cuts through the noise: how many winners do we actually remember? We put “most memorable” on trial and rank every champion from the names that vanish the second the confetti falls to the artists who still feel like cultural landmarks. Along the way, we talk about why “winning” and “lasting” are two different skills, how contracts can shape careers, and why the audience sometimes loves the competition more than the artist’s post-show music.

Then we shift into a packed country music news rundown with the stories we can’t stop...

The “started from nothing” story is a great hook, but country music history is full of artists who started with money, famous parents, or industry access. We dig into nine country stars who grew up rich, from Kid Rock’s comfortable Detroit-area upbringing to Taylor Swift’s early ties to Big Machine, plus other names where songwriting families and serious resources shaped the path. The point isn’t to cancel anybody, it’s to understand how runway and risk change when your first steps are funded.

Then we jump into country music news and industry chatter: the iHeartRadio...

The fastest way to get your feelings wrecked is to dance to a song you never actually listened to. We kick things off by pulling apart “sad country songs that sound happy,” where bright melodies hide breakups, regret, loneliness, and all the little bad decisions that country music turns into a hook you can’t stop singing. It’s part comedy, part lyric therapy, and it might permanently change how you hear a few classics.

Then we rip through the country music news cycle with the kind of stuff fans actually talk about: Kacey Musgraves surprising a room wit...

Traditional country is “gone” until you actually look around. We go artist by artist through a list of modern performers proving the classic country sound still works, from boots-and-buckle traditionalists to cleaner-cut storytellers who keep the twang but update the edges. Along the way, we argue (lovingly) about what makes music feel traditional in the first place: the writing, the instruments, the stage look, or the attitude behind it all. 

Then we pivot into fast-moving country music news: new album buzz, touring milestones, and a serious reminder that concert culture can get ugly when fans treat the stage...

He graduated at 16, jumped into the chaos of touring, and learned the music business the hard way, by selling CDs in parking lots, sleeping in cars, and betting on himself when nobody else would. We talk with hard rock artist and manager Jesse Barton about the real mechanics behind building a band from the ground up: booking shows through MySpace, getting onto bigger bills by promising ticket sales, and turning face-to-face fan connection into a lasting audience.

Then we get into the stuff artists usually learn too late. Jesse breaks down record deal basics like advances, recoupment...

Country music can feel like it’s changing every week, but the best nights are when the stories all connect. We kick things off with a surprisingly fun rabbit hole: country singers who rode into Western movies and TV, from Kenny Rogers and Glen Campbell to the Yellowstone universe and “1883.” It’s not just nostalgia, it’s proof that country has always been built for characters, scenes, and big emotions.

Then we hit a tight country music news rundown with the stuff you actually want to know: Jelly Roll reaching a new milestone at the Grand Ole Opry, tour...

She reached out to the people she admired most and they actually wrote back. Country music recording artist Lee Newton joins us to share the real story behind her latest release “Silver Thread And Golden Needles,” including how she teamed up with Georgette Jones and Heidi Parton and why that classic song still lands like a punchline and a warning at the same time. Along the way, Lee reflects on the late Joe Bonsall and what true generosity looks like in the studio when a legend shows up, lifts you up, and expects nothing in return. 

We talk...