That Time Hipster Musician Mike Doughty Came To My House

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Music is such a huge part of our family and no one represents that more than Mike Doughty. On any given weekend in our house you will hear music playing and chances are, it’s Mike Doughty. He’s the former lead singer of 90’s indie rock band Soul Coughing, and has been a solo artist for 16 years.

We’ve seen him in concert almost more times than anyone else (Ben Folds I’m looking at you) and own all of his solo albums and Soul Coughing albums.

I know what you’re thinking, why is this self-proclaimed hipster musician on a mom podcast? If you’re thinking that then clearly you don’t listen to my show. My show is basically the rock and roll of podcasts. It’s a hipster magnet and you better be careful or you just might get sucked into it’s fierce gravitational pull.

Whoa. Tangent. I’ve found myself being extra wordy when thinking about describing this show. That’s because I’ve been inspired. Mike is an incredibly accomplished songwriter, poet and author. His book called The Book of Drugs takes us inside his drug-filled days as the lead singer of Soul Coughing. It’s brutally and beautifully honest and worth your time.

I was really curious to get to know more about his song writing process because his songs can go from poppy and catchy, to intricate and melodic all on the same album.  One of my favorite songs is “Wednesday” from his album Golden Delicious.

Chris and I have been fans of Mike’s music since we started dating a million years ago. It’s become part of our Sunday morning routine, our driving music, and a connecting force in our relationship. Not to overstate, but it’s been the soundtrack to our marriage.

So for our anniversary this year, I surprised him by telling him I had invited Mike to be a guest on my podcast. And he agreed! To say Chris was surprised would definitely not be an overstatement.

Mike came over on a Saturday afternoon between stops on his current Living Room tour. He’s been performing in living rooms all over the US for the past 2 years, but they aren’t random shows. He explains the vetting and organizational process that goes into his tour and what he plans to do when this tour wraps up in a few months.

He also has a new album coming out called The Heart Watches While The Brain Burns, a title that came out of a podcast interview he did with Marc Maron.  The first single off this album, “I Can’t Believe I Found You In That Town” has an almost country vibe to it but he says the rest of the album is much different.

In this episode we discuss:

1. How moving from NYC to Memphis has changed his musical perspective
2. Why he wants to teach songwriting
3. Who are the top music producers he’d love to write songs with (Max Martin please get in touch)
4. His goal of making pour-over coffee for a very special Thanksgiving dinner
5. How his faith influences his music and visa versa.

This was truly a special episode for me and Chris, who co-hosted with me this week. I asked Mike to be a guest on my show as an anniversary gift to Chris and he said yes. I’ve been planning this interview for several months and I can tell you it was totally worth the wait. If just one person gets hooked on his music after hearing this episode then I’ll consider this a win.

If you’d like to know more about Mike Doughty, his music or his new tour plans go to MikeDoughty.com.  You can also buy his new album on Spotify, or iTunes when it drops on Oct. 14th.

And while you’re on iTunes don’t forget to subscribe to MIH and leave a review. I’d love to hear from about your thoughts on the show, suggestions for guests or if you just want to tell me I’m pretty.  I’ll take it!