The Other 22 Hours

In a culture that demands creative output be loud, continuous, and universally relatable, what does it mean to plant your flag in the quiet, specific, and unpolished? Grammy-winning artist and guitarist Madison Cunningham joins us with raw generosity, examining the dissonance between holding music’s highest honors and sitting with everyday feelings of failure. Across an intimate hour, we delve into the discipline of ignoring both praise and venom, how teaching unlocked her own creative permission, and Mary Oliver’s timeless directive to never hesitate when leaning into what gives us joy.
In This Episode:
Madison Cunningham
Remi Wolf
Ep 56 - Guster
Dolly Parton
Mike Viola
Mary Oliver
"Don't Hesitate" (Poem by Mary Oliver)

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The Hosts:
The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).
More about Aaron’s work.
More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 
Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

As the frontman of Grammy-nominated rock band My Morning Jacket, Jim James has spent decades at the center of new alternative. His long list of achievements includes a solo catalog of five studio albums, recording as part of the supergroup Monsters of Folk, and producing artists such as Ray LaMontagne, S.G. Goodman and Basia Bulat. Yet, beneath these accomplishments was an exhausting cycle of perfectionism and self-loathing fueled by the quiet fear that rest equals irrelevance. In this tender and expansive conversation, Jim explores what happened when he stopped trying to outrun his own shadow. He reflects on four years of sobriety, the transformative nature of EMDR and parts work therapy, learning to dance with his creative muse rather than whip the workhorse, and why reclaiming true creative vitality starts by making peace with the human being inside.
In This Episode:
Jim James
My Morning Jacket
Iris DeMent
Grateful Dead
Kurt Cobain
Nina Simone
Wowed Out
Brian Reitzell
Brendan O'Brien
Carl Broemel
Bo Koster
Billie Eilish
Kane Parsons
The Backrooms
Hollywood Bowl
Bob Weir
Ep 80 - John Moreland
ManKind Project
Mister Rogers

Go Deeper:
Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.
The Hosts:
The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).
More about Aaron’s work.
More about Michaela Anne’s work.
Credits: 
Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

We are often sold the myth that success cures insecurity. Brandy Clark joins us to unravel that narrative. Named one of the '"30 Greatest Living Songwriters" earlier this year by the New York Times, she is also a Grammy-winning artist who has placed her songs with Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and Reba McEntire. In addition, she is the co-writer of the Tony Award-winning musical Shucked. In this beautiful conversation, originally aired in November 2024, she opens up about her fifteen-year journey to a breakthrough, the courage it takes to be a gay woman in country music, and the importance of only staying in rooms where you feel like a genius.
In This Episode:
Brandy Clark
Cyndi Forman
Dave Brainard
Shucked Musical
Ep 60 - Lori McKenna
Jessie Jo Dillan
Ep 43 - Gretchen Peters
Ep 46 - Mary Chapin Carpenter
Kieth Urban
Dwight Yokam
Brandi Carlisle
Shangri-La Studio
Shane McAnally
k.d.lang
Ep 126 - Chely Wright
Ep 97 - Fancy Hagood

Go Deeper:
Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.
The Hosts:
The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).
More about Aaron’s work.
More about Michaela Anne’s work.
Credits: 
Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

What if the messiness of life isn’t an obstacle to making art, but the very material itself? In this reissued conversation from our archives, we sit down with New York Times bestselling poet and author Maggie Smith (Good Bones, Dear Writer). Together, we explore what happens when you dismantle the dividing wall between art and everyday life, the discipline of staying in solitude rather than catering to an audience, and how learning to trust your own instincts becomes the ultimate safety net for a sustainable creative life.
In This Episode:
Maggie Smith
“Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life”
“My Thoughts Have Wings”
"For Dear Life" - Maggie's Substack
Lucinda Williams
Joan Didion - The Center Will Not Hold documentary
Jane Goodall
“Good Bones”
Jim Carrey commencement speech
Tara Brach
Stanley Plumly

Go Deeper:
Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.
The Hosts:
The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).
More about Aaron’s work.
More about Michaela Anne’s work.
Credits: 
Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.

With two Grammy Awards, 15 number-one singles, and a songwriting catalog recorded by legends like Emmylou Harris, Bob Seger, and Waylon Jennings, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Rodney Crowell stands as one of Americana's most enduring icons. Yet, after 50 years in Nashville, Rodney’s relationship to his craft is grounded not in recognition, but in the quiet, daily act of showing up.
In this conversation from 2023, Rodney reflects on the early years of roaming Nashville alongside Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt to evolving past the need for applause, the spiritual discipline of 7-day vision quests, and why a song can take 40 years to finally tell you what it wants to be.
In This Episode:
Rodney Crowell
Jedd Hughes
Marty Stuart
JD Miller's Recording Studio
Wilburn Brothers
Emmylou Harris
Guy Clark
Mickey Newbury
Bob Seger

Go Deeper:
Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:
The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).
More about Aaron’s work.
More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 
Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.