Finding Freedom in a Flip Phone: John Moreland's Quest for a Simple Life, ep. 263

from Basic Folk · host The Bluegrass Situation

I hate surprises. However, Oklahoma's pride and joy John Moreland surprised us with his latest album Visitor and I guess I'm okay with it. Moreland's gone back to a sparse acoustic instrumentation, unlike the electronic sound (which I also loved) on his previous release, 2022's Birds in the Ceiling. Recently, he took a page from his wife Pearl Rachinsky and musician (and recent tour buddy) Chris Staples' book, and quit his smartphone, took a social media break and stopped all touring for six months. What ensued was an incredible psychic change discovered through living electronically off the grid. Another thing that came about during experiencing this simplicity in life: an album full of songs. He would take long drives at night, bringing along his guitar and making field recordings of his new writing. All this culminated into his beautiful new record.Moreland talks about the process of unraveling himself from the smartphone, reconnecting with the acoustic guitar and getting to know himself again during this period of quiet. He talks about how playing live is very vulnerable for him to the point where he started taking (and loving) beta-blockers to stave off anxiety and adrenaline. He is very candid with his current thoughts on body image, he has been known to experience body shaming online after performing live. We also get into something that's been on my mind all year: is climbing the professional songwriter ladder worth it? Pretty sure we figured out the answer. LoL.Follow Basic Folk on social media: https://basicfolk.bio.link/ Sign up for Basic Folk's newsletter: https://bit.ly/basicfolknews Help produce Basic Folk by contributing: https://basicfolk.com/donate/ Interested in sponsoring us? Contact BGS: https://bit.ly/sponsorBGSpods Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 30, 2024

Embed this episode

Attribution link and audio player

Ready to play

Finding Freedom in a Flip Phone: John Moreland's Quest for a Simple Life, ep. 263

0:00 59:05

1×

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

No similar episodes found.

Similar Podcasts

Life - Musings, Reflections and Stories Joanne Beaudry-Larocque Life - Musings, Reflections and Stories - just regular folk sharing our stories, experiences, careers and life’s reflections. Explicit Practical Pandemic Podcast - DR. SEBASTIAN - GERMAN MEDICAL PRACTITIONER AND NATUROPATH In this Practical Pandemic Podcast, I want to give you PRACTICAL INFORMATION on how to SUPPORT YOU during the coronavirus pandemic. MY ULTIMATE GOAL is to ENPOWER YOU to STAY PROACTIVE. In times many people feel passive and desperate YOU CAN STAY AT HOME and STAY PROACTIVE!LOCKDOWN SITUATIONWe are in a situation NO-ONE has ever experienced before. MANY LESSONS can be learned from this situation on different levels, like the economic level, the society level, the scientific and medical level, the psychologic level, and most importantly, the individual level. LOCKDOWN has helped to FLATTEN THE CURVE of infection rates in various countries. This was MAINLY achieved by PHYSICAL DISTANCING and PEOPLE STAYING AT HOME. However, we are still at the BEGINNING of the coronavirus pandemic.WHAT LOCKDOWN MEANSBecause of the LOCKDOWN our EVERZ-DAY-LIFE has CHANGED tremendously. Basic rights are largely restricted, for example your personal freedom of working, assembly, or practicing religion. Sc Explicit All Ears with Abigail Disney Abigail Disney Abigail has a new documentary, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, in which she examines the inequality crisis through the lens of the company her grandfather helped found, The Walt Disney Company. In the film, she asks how it is possible that so many workers at Disneyland, aka “the happiest place on earth,” can’t afford life's basic necessities, even when they work full time. For the fourth season of All Ears, Abigail poses that question to people who are doing the most Disney thing of all–using their imaginations–in this case to rethink capitalism. She talks with business leaders, union organizers, and economists to learn how they would fix our broken economy. Explicit LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE - Science Fiction and Fantasy Story Podcast (Sci-Fi | Audiobook | Short Stories) Adamant Press Edited by bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams, LIGHTSPEED is a Hugo Award-winning, critically-acclaimed digital magazine. In its pages, you'll find science fiction from near-future stories and sociological SF to far-future, star-spanning SF. Plus there's fantasy from epic sword-and-sorcery and contemporary urban tales to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folk tales. Each month, LIGHTSPEED brings you a mix of original short stories and flash fiction featuring a variety of authors, from the bestsellers and award-winners you already know to the best new voices you haven't heard yet. When you read LIGHTSPEED, you'll see where science fiction and fantasy have come from, where they are now, and where they're going. The LIGHTSPEED podcast, produced by Grammy Award-winning narrator and producer Stefan Rudnicki of Skyboat Media, features original audio short stories 6-8 times a month. Explicit

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Basic Folk?

This episode is 59 minutes long.

When was this Basic Folk episode published?

This episode was published on May 30, 2024.

Can I download this Basic Folk episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.

URL copied to clipboard!