Songscapes Podcast: Matthew Nelson

Episode 21: Matthew Nelson – On Transformation in the Grand Canyon and the Great-Grandfather of Percussion

Today, travel with Arizona Trails executive director Matthew Nelson along the Arizona trail, which spans 800 miles from the Mexico/U.S. border to Utah. Matthew helped complete the last 100 miles of the trail in his youth, which he credits as a turning point in his connection with the Southwestern landscape. In his early 20’s, he was launched into a career in Grand Canyon National Park. He tells the story of his transformative first experience with the Grand Canyon, and how that connection led him to create music with his group, Ongtupqa. If you’re curious to learn about clay percussion, ancient flutes and how he and his group invoke Earth, Spirit and Sky, don’t miss this episode of Songscapes!

You can find out more about Matthew on his “about” page at https://www.americantrails.org/presenters-and-authors/matthew-j-nelson, or on his musical group’s page at https://www.ongtupqa.com/media.

Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Lauren Myli

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Featured Music: Rain of Life, Vasey's Paradise, Rolling Thunder

Songscapes Podcast: Mason Runs Through - Wounded Knee

Episode 20: Mason Runs Through – Native Emo Punk and Interpreting Dinosaur National Park

Meet punk musician and park ranger Mason Evan Runs Through III, also known as his stage name, Wounded Knee. Born in Minot, North Dakota, he is of the nearby Fort Peck Reservation in North East Montana and is a member of the Assiniboine (Nakoda) nation. He is currently based in Utah, where he lives and works as an interpretive ranger and environmental educator in Dinosaur National Monument. Mason also shares about his musical project, Wounded Knee, and how he “creates emotionally charged music for a world that’s forgotten how to feel.” Tune in to hear about his journey to working for the National Parks System, as well as how he uses his music for political activism. Mason’s belief in genuine self expression and standing up for what’s right is inspiring and empowering, and his life reflects what he speaks. Don’t miss this striking episode of Songscapes! 

You can find Mason on his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/woundedkneepunk/ or on his Bandcamp at https://woundedkneepunk.bandcamp.com/album/bury-my-heart

Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Featured Music: Holy Fire, Nakoda Calling, Burning Tipis

Songscapes Podcast: Gregg Hill

Episode 19: Gregg Hill - Ancient Beings, Humidity and Moonwalking 

Charles Coplin catches up with his friend Gregg Hill to chat about his latest release, Born Liar.

Gregg has been making music since the 90’s and has spent most of his time focused on live performance and honing his songwriting craft. With a recent move to New Orleans, Gregg is embracing the artistic freedom that he has discovered in his new community.

The latest record is inspired by long road trips to western landscapes- to escape the doldrums of the pandemic, and contemplating what stories from the past can be pulled into the present to hopefully help us all be a bit more empathetic to our fellow neighbor.

You can find Gregg Hill on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/gregghillmusic/ or on his website at https://gregghill.com/

Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Featured Music: Sky of Gold, Clinging to the Wind, Born Liar

Songscapes Podcast: Parsonsfield

Ep. 17: Parsonsfield - Songscape Guinea Pigs and Russian Dolls of Beauty. 

The guinea pigs for Sustain’s first Songscape retreat ever, we hear from Chris Freeman of Parsonsfield and some of the inspiration behind that experience. Charles Coplin and Chris explore the different ways in which inspiration can strike, how nature permeates to other aspects of life and the evolution of the band over the years.

The new album, Happy Hour on the Floor, investigates the “in between moments” and being present in everyday life. Setting music to the ordinary, makes it extraordinary. 2020 brought with it new challenges, and once again, Parsonsfield was forced to evolve and come up with innovative solutions for their live shows. Some of which included taking a more DIY approach to touring during the pandemic.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to review, share and subscribe to the podcast!

You can find Parsonsfield on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/parsonsfield/ or on their website at https://www.parsonsfield.com

Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles 

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Featured music: Till I Die, Ktaadn, Weeds or Wildflowers

Songscapes Podcast: Sean Rowe

Ep. 16: Sean Rowe - Making Music To Connect With People, Foraging To Connect with Nature

Sean Rowe is all about connection, whether that be through his songwriting, foraging, or surviving in the woods for weeks on end. Since he was a child, Sean has been interested in what the natural world has to offer those curious enough to look closely. As he grew older, the interest took him to the Tom Brown Wilderness Survival School and onward to his own survival treks into the woods. Tune in to hear his insight from a three-week journey in the wild, his tips for authentic “Tik-Tokery”, and why songwriters will never hear their own work the way listeners do. Make sure to check out his newest record, The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights, and thanks for listening to Songscapes by Sustain Music and Nature! 

You can find Sean Rowe on his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/seanrowe11/ or on his website at https://www.seanrowe.net/

Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles 

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Featured music: To Make It Real, What Are We Now, and I Won’t Run

Songscapes Podcast: Rozzi

Ep. 13: Rozzi - The Adam Levine Catapult and Climate Change Songs

This week on Songscapes, we are joined by rising pop star Rozzi! Raised in San Francisco and based out of Los Angeles, she’s no stranger to climate change and its manifestations such as raging wildfires and smoke-filled air. True to the artist’s way, she expresses the intimacy of climate change events through her song, “Orange Skies”. Tune in to hear about the many turns her life has taken to make her the musician she is today, from fasting for three days in the desert in Joshua tree, to being picked out personally by Adam Levine to begin her career, to gaining the confidence to write an album based off of her own truth and intuition, rather than anyone else’s. She deeply values the connection brought forth by music, and how it allows us to know each other even if we’ve never met.

You can find Rozzi on her Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thisisrozzi/ or on her website at https://www.thisisrozzi.com/

Songscapes Podcast Season 2! Betsy & Harrison

Ep. 12: Betsy Mortensen and Harrison Goodale - Meet the Co-Founders of Sustain

Welcome back to Songscapes! This week, meet Betsy and Harrison, the husband-and-wife team who co-founded Sustain. Their backgrounds are from opposite ends of the nonprofit’s driving forces -- music and nature -- which allows them to support each other’s strengths to build up Sustain. Listen in to hear about Betsy’s work in Tanzania with chimpanzees, Harrison’s time in the band Parsonsfield, and how that led them to where they are today. They also reveal their favorite public lands moments, and how they’re trying to reframe the common gloomy approach of the environmental movement. Make sure to tune in and meet the duo that is making music a force for nature! 

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

Songscapes Podcast: Daniel Rodriguez

Ep. 10: Daniel Rodriguez - Letting the Moment Create the Music

This week on Songscapes, join host Charles Coplin as he interviews Daniel Rodriguez live from Telluride, CO, after his performance for Sustain’s Trail Session. The former Elephant Revival band member is continuing to learn and grow his musical style and range as an individual as he explores all genres from indie/folk to hip hop. He discusses the change in energy he feels in the return to live shows after a year-plus long pandemic, and how this time has given him more freedom in his creative flow. Rodriguez has an inherent appreciation of the simple act of creating and sharing art, and looks to nature as an inspiration and teacher as he continues to make music. To hear his thoughts on how the natural world affects the human condition, as well as the latest news on his upcoming projects, make sure to tune into this week’s Songscape! 

You can find Daniel at @drodriguezmusic on Instagram and his website, drodriguezmusic.com

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to review, share and subscribe to the podcast!

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Daniel Rodriguez’s Featured Music: “Static Splash”, “Colorado”, and “ Steal the Night Away”

Songscapes Podcast: Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater

Ep. 9: Jonathan Meiburg - Where to Find A Most Remarkable Creature

Jonathan Meiburg’s life is uniquely situated between both the natural world and the music industry. As leader of the band Shearwater, and author of “A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey”, he provides plenty of insight on how to be a “generalist rather than a specialist” in terms of interests. His extensive travels from both touring and researching Striated Caracaras has given him a reverence for otherworldly natural areas and the beings that reside there. Meiburg also speaks on how he collaborated with Brian Eno for his song “Homing”, which Bowie album he can play in full, and his favorite song associated with nature, which turns out to be quite an eerie ballad.

You can find Jonathan at @shearwaterband on Instagram and his website, shearwatermusic.com

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Betsy Mortensen 

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Shearwater's Featured Music: "Xenarthran", "African Night Flight" from David Bowie's Lodger, and "May".

Songscapes Podcast: Scotty Stoughton of Winter Wondergrass

Ep. 8: Scotty Stoughton - Grilled Cheese & The Grateful Dead

Founder of Bonfire Entertainment and the Winter Wondergrass music festival, Scotty Stoughton has tons of insight on the magic that exists in the music community. He moved to Colorado from the east coast while selling grilled cheeses as he followed the Grateful Dead’s “Summer Tour of ‘94”, and recognized a unique quality of the Colorado music scene. Listen in to hear him talk about that quality, as well as the type of live shows that bring together everyone from “bikers to ranchers to yuppies”. Stoughton also discusses what the word ‘failure’ means to him, and how he takes a different approach to his mission as a promoter, both in attitude and in action. If you want to learn about how he connects his love of nature with his passion for music in his career, check out this week’s Songscape! 

You can find Scotty on his website at https://bonfirentertainment.com/scotty-stoughton/ or on his Instagram @scottybonfire

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to review, share and subscribe to the podcast! Learn more about nonprofit Sustain Music and Nature’s work to make music a force for nature at: www.sustainmusicandnature.org

• Host: Charles Coplin

• Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

• Editor: Harrison Goodale

• Media Researcher: Betsy Mortensen 

• Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

• Scotty Stoughton (via his band Bonfire Dub) Featured Music: “Honey”, “Rest”, and “Mountains Beyond Mountains”