140. Joe Steinhardt Discusses Iris DeMent, The Way I Should

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Joe Steinhardt, the co-founder and owner of the Philadelphia-based record label Don Giovanni Records and guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the band Modern Hut, drops by YMAAA to introduce Al to Iris DeMent’s The Way I Should. Joe talks about why this is an important album for him and how it changed the way he thinks about music. He delves into several of his favorite tracks from the album and updates us on what’s new at his record label.

Joe mentioned a live performance of “Wasteland of the Free” that he watches frequently (and recommends that we do too). You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhgb9hYjX3g.

He also discussed DeMent’s performance of “Surely, I Will, Lord”. It’s not the performance he saw, but you can see DeMent play the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUvLDhcrgY.

Follow Don Giovanni Records on Instagram: @dongiovannirecords

…and check out the label's website at https://www.dongiovannirecords.com/.

Al is on Bluesky at @almelchior.bsky.social. This show has accounts on Instagram and Threads at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.

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1:14 Joe joins the show

1:44 Joe talks about his progression for exploring Iris DeMent’s music

9:22 Joe explains why he choose The Way I Should for this episode

11:22 Al understands why Joe went with The Way I Should after initially picking a different album

16:18 Joe mentions the tracks he might skip on The Way I Should

19:24 “Wasteland of the Free” has been a perspective-shifting song for Joe

28:44 Joe relates to DeMent’s songs in a different way as he gets older

32:13 Joe and Al discuss “Letter to Mom”

35:55 Joe talks about some of DeMent’s more recent work

37:48 Joe appreciates how DeMent takes risks with her songs

41:11 Joe has some personal connections to DeMent’s music

51:13 Joe explains what makes the title track a highlight of the album

55:26 “Quality Time” is also a song that resonated with Joe and Al

56:54 The Way I Should helped to clarify for Joe the importance of truth-telling in music

1:00:29 Joe talks about some of the new things happening at Don Giovanni Records

Outro is from “I Don’t Want to Get Adjusted to This World” by Modern Hut.

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