Supernova Support

In season five’s second episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown dig into the subject of friendships that go deep enough to provide real support and how to ask the hard questions. They address the challenges of inevitable conflicts and the delicate balance of real talk, radical acceptance, and healthy boundaries.

Features their original songs, If I Were You and Forgive Yourself in relation to the topic.

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In season five’s first episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown ask the important question on all of our minds at this low point of disillusionment in our world. They highlight the ongoing challenge to create art as a way of both bringing about personal and system-wide change and for the radical joy of it.

Features their original songs, Good Times! and Breakfast at the End of the World, in relation to the topic.

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A quick scoop on what Supernova Support is and who it’s for….. maybe you!

In season four’s eighth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown talk with Caroline Milby of Caroline in the Garden, the imaginative pop project of singer-songwriter/producer. She shares the joy of producing a song from its paired-down state to a full-blown piece of art, richly layered, nuanced, and masterfully expressed. The conversations traces her songwriting and musician journey through internal and external obstacles, shining the light on the path towards realizing her aspirations with the help of all the support of the universe and synchronistic connections.

Features her original song, Push Through, in relation to...

In season four’s seventh episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown talk with Crystal McDougall-Purdy, an award-winning vocalist, instructor, program director of multiple choirs, and co-founder of the Norcal Vocal Arts Community. The conversation traces her path of discovering and developing her exceptional talent with excellent mentors and the cut-throat world of voice competitions. She shares the challenges of choosing a creative trajectory that defies others expectations.

Features her original song, Sister Song, in relation to the topic.

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In season four, episode 6, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown talk with Grammy award winning singer-songwriter and voice actress, Grey DeLisle Griffin who’s performed over 1500 cartoon voices including Daphne from Scooby Doo. They discuss the challenges of parenthood and making time to perform, write, and nurture your songwriting craft whether through songwriting retreats, committing to your own craft, and developing supportive relationships with other women songwriters.

Features her original song, Hello I’m Lonesome in relation to the topic.

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In season four’s fifth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown speak with Natalie Lucie, a quietly fierce, Britain-based songwriter and producer who champions women’s rightful role as creators and producers of their own music. She traces the arc of her call to songwriting including the harrowing experience of recording and producing a full album during Covid while laid out from back surgery and caring for two small children. Persevering against the odds of misogyny and motherhood to continue to create, she inspires us all to chase the spark and sun of our musical aspirations.

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In season four’s fourth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown talk with Chelsea Coleman, a courageous and vulnerable storyteller of a songwriter who fearlessly shines the light of her songs in dark places. The interview reveals her inspiring work with YG2D (Your’re Going to Die), an San Francisco-based nonprofit that brings opportunities for self-expression around grief to open mics and workshops including prisons and hospice rooms. Chelsea shares the challenges of music and motherhood and her secret to keeping an open connection with the muse.

Features her original song, Come Shine Your Ligh...

In season four’s third episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown interview Brittany Aquamarine, a Sonoma County-based singer-songwriter who combines pop and jazz influences in her deeply poetic “mystic soulfolk and ethereal grooves” on piano and guitar. She traces the long arc of music in her life starting on piano at five years old with a long hiatus until discovering songwriting on guitar in her twenties. Bridging the divide between reading and writing music, Brittany exemplifies a lifelong exploration of the beauty of sound and the human inner landscape through awareness and surrender to creativity.

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In season four’s second episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown talk with Jaimee Harris, the Texas-born, powerhouse troubadour rightfully forging herself into a shining star of the folk-country scene. Jaime shares her call into songwriting at a young age and how the miracle of sobriety found her at just the right time, making way for the emergence of her authentic writing voice. Hear about the reckoning of playing solo onstage, open mics, challenges for women in the industry, and more in a delightful heart-to-heart with this bad-ass, yet refreshingly vulnerable role model for singer-songwriters everywhere.

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In season four’s first episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown launch the season with the call to listen and respond to the challenge the “creative gauntlet” is throwing down in our individual lives. The two unpack their personal experiences doubling down on creativity’s dare by attending one of Mary Gauthier’s songwriting retreats and the Gateless Writing Academy and Teacher Training.

Features original songs, Tony’s Train Song, and Pleiades’ Secret in relation to the topic.

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Enjoy the video or the transcript below of a little chat that explores the “simple but not easy” answer.

KAREN: Hi, I’m Karen Joy Brown.

KATIE: And I’m Katie Phillips of Supernova Support, a program that supports songwriters in making their best songs.

KAREN: That’s right, damn right. Damn straight. I wanted to have a little conversation with you to just get that beautiful bouncing-off of a community about a concept that I was thinking about. I wrote a little email thing about it to our people, and I realized...

In season three’s eighth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown talk with Briget Boyle, a sought-after vocal coach, creative director, and a pillar of the Bay Area’s world and indie music scene. The dynamic relationship between inner work and songwriting shines through as they follow her winding musical journey starting to write at 12 years old, to a surprising turn to performing in professional Balkan folk music groups. Bridget models what it means to commit to our songwriting selves.

Features her original song, Magic Trick in relation to the topic.

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In season three’s seventh episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown speak with Kim Ketner, Karen’s twin sister. Katie wrangles the two sisters to tease out the story of Kim’s solitary journey into singing and songwriting from obsessing over Chris Cornell’s voice over the car stereo to working at Guitar Showcase and playing in the Cactus Club’s house band. They highlight the miraculous power of developing peer songwriting friendships through Song Salons and songs’ ability to help us evolve as human beings.

Features her original song, Falling Apart in relation to the topic.<...

In season three’s sixth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown connect with Cassidy Frost, self-declared writer of sad songs with sugary pop hooks who NPR’s Robin Hilton once called “gloriously gritty.” They share their strange and surprisingly early entry into the music industry and how their songwriting and relationship to music has evolved over time. Stay for the whole delightful conversation on emotional and literal sobriety, continual music growth, and the joy of a supportive songwriting community.

Features her original song, Nobody’s Invited to My Birthday in relation to the topic.

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In season three’s fifth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown reflect on critically acclaimed songwriter Todd Snider’s recent passing. The discussion highlights Snider’s undeniable songwriting craft and incorrigible scoundrel personality that endeared him and his music to so many adoring fans. They unpack his strong influence on Katie’s writing, and she plays a beloved cover and newly crafted original tribute song dedicated to his memory.

Features her original song, Skeleton Key, and Just Like Old Times (Todd Snider cover) in relation to the topic.

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In season three’s second episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown interview Little Door, a.k.a., Kate Ellen, a creative powerhouse with a vibrant, must-read, music-focused Substack. They delve into her obstacle-laden path towards singing, writing, and expressing her creativity and fortuitous involvement with Supernova Support’s vocal coaching, song salons– and shares the secret to dealing with crying while performing!

Features her original song, Lover in relation to the topic.

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In season three’s second episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown interview Lena, a self-described nomad who’s come into her own as a singer-songwriter over the last five years. The three discuss her unmistakable and enchanting voice that took its time to find the courage to take the stage. Hint- karaoke had a role to play!

Features her original song, Little Voice in relation to the topic.

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In season three’s second episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown host their first guest, Lizzy Larson, who found the podcast and open mic through a work colleague. They discuss her history with creativity and songwriting and the thirty year hiatus related to addiction and recovery before returning to her gift through Supernova’s song salons and open mic.

Features original song, Western Sky in relation to the topic.

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In season three’s first episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown unpack the idea of “spontaneous” creative growth. They review and celebrate the one year anniversary of launching their podcast and open mic for women and femmes, identifying how participation in a supportive community creates optimal conditions for artistic expansion, turning competition into companionship and inspiration.

Features original songs, The Ringer and I Need a Song in relation to the topic.

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What better time of year to explore the scary, dark corners of grief in our psyches than Halloween?

Whether you’ve ever attempted to share any of your creative work, or never found the time, energy, or courage to do so, you’ve experienced loss. Our culture doesn’t know what to do about capital G grief around death, let alone the myriad losses we all encounter that don’t register on official charts.

When we take the risk to share songs and writing from the depth of our souls and things don’t turn out like w...

In season two’s last episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown demonstrate the obvious connection between the “sixth stage” of grief and songwriting. Carefully separating the false platitude of attributing meaning to a horrible or tragic event, they support the perspective of discovering a new way of living with the loss and creating new purpose from the ashes.

Features original songs, Paper Mothers and Believer in relation to the topic.

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In season two’s seventh episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown discuss the complexities of the concept of acceptance. They highlight what acceptance is/is not, and explore living with the residual pain of loss while moving forward in an unfamiliar and new future.

Features original songs, Oleander and I Know What Heaven Is in relation to the topic.

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In season two’s sixth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown dive into the depression stage of grief and unreasonable societal expectations to snap back to normal. The discuss losses both experienced and perpetrated and how they weigh us down personally and as a collective when we don’t feel the feelings completely, and how songs aid in that process.

Features original songs, Send Me a Sign and Sleepwalking in relation to the topic.

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In season two’s fifth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown discuss bargaining as a stage of grief and the subtle ways we spin our energetic wheels in a vain attempt to alter the past. They highlight self-awareness and kindness as we understandably try to avoid the pain of the present by bargaining for a better past or future.

Features original songs, Save the Day and End of the World in relation to the topic.

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In season two’s fourth episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown discuss anger as a stage of grief. Leaning into and allowing the often rejected emotion as an important part of the grieving process is explored as a particular challenge for women in the patriarchy. The two demonstrate the usefulness of songs as a vehicle for healthy expression of rage and conduit for healing.

Features original songs, Mother and Line of Fire in relation to the topic.

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In season two’s third episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown discuss denial, the extended play version of shock. Tell-tale behavioral signs of denial are highlighted, and the two share how songwriting can help break the spell and move us forward without leaving the love for what and who we lost behind.

Features original songs, De Rien and 321(Summer’s Gone, So Are You) in relation to the topic.

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In season two’s second episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown delve into the “shock” stage of grief, sharing personal stories of their fathers’ deaths, and the waves of numbness and overwhelm that continue to ebb and flow throughout the grieving process. They demonstrate how songs and songwriting create a safe space to hold our disorientation and disbelief.

Features original songs, Got To Be and We Gotta Stop Meeting Like This (Funeral Reunion) in relation to creative recovery.

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In season two’s first episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown introduce the theme of grief and how songs bridge the gap left by culture’s unwillingness and inability to allow grieving its full depth and breadth.

They discuss the current conceptions of the stages of grief and the wide range of losses besides death which are made harder through society’s lack of recognition. Personal experience through the loss of their fathers, friends, and break up of their band provide examples of creativity's power to transform loss.

Features original songs, Forever and Lovely...

In episode eight, podcast hosts and singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown look into the other side of listening; paying close sonic and emotional attention to what we hear in our own songs and those we love. They address classic pitfalls like self-doubt and judgement and offer the benefits of objectivity and discernment while identifying what makes a song work without falling for the fool’s gold of cookie-cutter hits.

They perform and discuss original songs, Real Time and Last Year’s Christmas Tree in relation to the topic.

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In episode seven, podcast hosts and singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown unpack the fifth and final element of the Supernova Support program: inspiration. They uncover the highly powerful and practical nature of the seemingly fluffy concept, and how cultivating it keeps our creativity flowing in a beautiful cycle that enriches the creators of art as much as those who appreciate it.

They perform and discuss original songs, Joy Yet to Come and Ophelia in relation to the topic.

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In episode six, podcast hosts and singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown unpack the fourth of five elements that support a joyful, sustainable creative life: support. They explore what happens without it, and the ways we can powerfully combine nurturing ourselves, participating in a creative community, and actively supporting other artists for a more joyful and fulfilling creative life.

They perform and discuss original songs, Thinking of You and I Know Why People Die of a Broken Heart in relation to the topic.

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In episode five, podcast hosts and singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown unpack the third element of the Supernova Support program, craft, breaking it into its three parts: song content, technique, and song components. They address how fear and doubt get in the way of attending to growth areas and share a few craft secret weapons.

They perform and discuss original songs, Mary and the Juniper Tree and Grand Canyon in relation to the topic.

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In episode four, podcast hosts and singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown unpack the second of five elements that support a joyful, sustainable creative life: doing the work. They explore the “do the work” list of practices that attend to the work of songwriting craft as well as personal care/growth strategies that free us to access available learning tools and resources. They perform and discuss original songs, Meditate on the Sun and Teenage Angel of the Morning in relation to the topic.

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In episode three, podcast hosts and singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown unpack the first of five elements that support a joyful, sustainable creative life: listening. Practices like morning pages and the artist’s date from Julia Cameron’s widely popular book The Artist’s Way are investigated and clarified by personal examples of how to get past the clutter and listen to the soul. They perform and discuss original songs, Oh, Mama and Bones in relation to the topic.

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In episode two, podcast hosts and singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown address the insidious influence of imposter syndrome and perfectionism on creativity. Basic definitions and origins of the term are uncovered and held to the light of scrutiny in the context of sexism, racism, and white supremacy.

They explore concrete ways of confronting its debilitating effects both personally and within the context of a supportive creative community and why the practice is central to a sustainable creative life.

Two original songs, Amateur and Try offer inspiration from personal struggles with the...

In this pilot episode, singer-songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown share the origin and inspiration for their podcast and program Supernova Support including times they lost their creative identities and how they began to recover them together. 

They discuss the meaning of creative recovery and trace the course of their friendship’s power to revive their love for songwriting in the face of internal and external obstacles, leading them to create opportunities to share the process with others through the podcast, coaching, and creative community building. 

They perform and discuss original songs, Sold...

Songwriters Katie Phillips and Karen Joy Brown introduce their new podcast exploring where creativity and recovery collide. Find out what inspired them and what to expect in the episodes to come, f-bombs and lots of laughter included.

IN THE NORTH BAY/SAN FRANCISCO AREA?

Join Katie and Karen at Coffee & Moore in Sebastopol for the Not So Open Mic for women performers (and yeah, that means, all women, and femme trans and nonbinary folks who feel comfy being in “women’s spaces”) of original music and covers from 1:30-3:30pm on the 1st and 3rd Sunday...