Into the Van with Mike West

Subterranean Street Society have just released their phenomenal new record "Bleep" and will be hitting the UK for the first tour since 2019! Mike chats to frontman Louis about their new album and tour, writing hooks and politically charged anthems, smart phones, classic films. getting a song on a Netflix show and so much more! Listen now and catch Subterranean Street Society at a venue near you! https://subterraneanstreetsociety.com/

Join Mike for episode 72 as he sits down with Kevin and Matt from Rhino, A Story Company to talk about their work on the upcoming documentary "Where Ya Been?" - The Odyssey and Elegy of Luke Bell. Fans of Country music and Luke Bell, this film that is being funded on Kickstarter documents Luke's incredible rise from WY ranch hand to promising singer/songwriter to national headlines of his tragic disappearance & death.   https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kevinromeo/where-ya-been-the-luke-bell-film

Mike and Josh sat down to talk the Rogue shows that have happened this year, favourite releases of 2023 and the future of Rogue Country in 2024!

Join Mike for episode 70 of the podcast with Texan Honky Tonk Trailblazer Summer Dean!   Coming over to the UK for her first tour, Summer talks about her creative process, writing a song a week, the future, her brilliant new album The Biggest Life, Western Swing and so much more!   Listen now and don't miss out Summer's first ever UK tour from November 16th to 20th 2023!

Mike chatted to California native Jesse Daniel about his incredible live album "My Kind of Country. Live at The Catalyst", upcoming UK tour, fishing, The Sopranos, starting your own record label, the Punk DIY mentality and so much more!   https://www.jessedanielmusic.com/

Roseanne kindly returns to the podcast to talk with Mike about her brand new album "Lawside", her tour with Steve Earle, being a mother and balancing being a musician and so much more!   Listen now! https://www.roseannereid.com/

We sat down with Luke the day before he flew home after a whirlwind tour of the UK. We break down the shows, the touring, the ins and outs of being an independent musician, hopping a fence to see history and so much more!

We chatted to James Hodder about his recent record Wilderness Road, Spotify and Bandcamp, vinyl and record collecting, songwriting and so much more!   Listen now! https://jameshodder.bandcamp.com/

We sat down with Mike Harmeier from Mike and the Moonpies to talk their upcoming UK tour, songwriting, concept records, touring with Vandoliers and Joshua Ray Walker and so much more! Listen now and see them live in a city near you! https://www.themoonpies.com/

Join Mike for a new episode of the Rogue Country Podcast with the brilliant Pete Bernhard from The Devil Makes Three.   We talk songwriting, his upcoming European tour with Clyde McGee of the Bridge City Sinners, stage fright and so much more!

Mike sat down with the Laid Back Country Picker himself to talk bluegrass bands, seeing Randy Rhoads live, the Kentucky music scene and what they would give to have seen a Motorhead and Waylon Jennings joint tour! And so much more!   Laid Back's album "Go West" is now streaming everywhere!   Listen now! https://linktr.ee/roguecountrypodcast

Mike sits down with Folk Punk troubadour, Frank Turner on his current tour that is selling out across the UK!   Frank and Mike talk playing the Houses of Parliament, stand up comedy, support acts, producing records and so much more!   Listen now

Joining Mike for a brand new episode of the Rogue Country Podcast is Oxfordshire based songwriter My Crooked Teeth!   Mike and Jack discuss songwriting, Country music in the UK, getting that classic Country sound, his latest single "You're Gunna Break My Heart", telecaster playing and so much more!   https://www.facebook.com/MyCrookedTeeth https://mycrookedteeth.bandcamp.com/  

Mike sat down with Buffalo Ghost aka Joe Armitage,  a singer songwriter and producer from Sheffield about building and creating the perfect home studio, recording in your kitchen, songwriting and so much more.   https://buffaloghost.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/buffaloghost  

Mike and Josh sat down to talk the Rogue shows that have happened this year, favourite releases of 2022 and the future of Rogue Country in 2023!

Mike sits down with the mighty, mighty Pierce Edens to talk his new album and Kickstarter campaign, composting, touring smart, building your own recording studio and so much more!   Back Pierce's new record now at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pierceedens/pierce-edens-a-life-in-trade-new-album and visit https://linktr.ee/PierceEdens for all his socials   https://linktr.ee/roguecountrypodcast

Joining Mike on the Rogue Country Podcast today is UK Western legend Clint Bradley. Clint recently released his single "Everything I Hold Dear" and we get in to physical media, Spotify, UK Country Radio, Festivals, Marty Robbins, Westerns and so much more!   https://clintbradley.co.uk/  

Join Mike for a very special episode of the Roge Country Podcast as he sits down with Chris Dover, Josh Beddis and Jody Davies in the middle of their Rogues Round weekend! Talking just before their Sheffield show, we talk about songwriting, playing pub gigs, their shows the night before and so much more! Listen now!

Today, I sit down with Gothic Country band Pawns or Kings front man and TikTok Country Music Influencer Ed Stengel.   We talk about the Indie Folk revival, writing dark music, Ed's journey in the music industry and how he grew his social media and music as well as teaching in Indonesia. https://www.pawnsorkings.com/

Today we are joined by Bradford based singer songwriter Chris Dover! A fierce songwriter in the vein of Texan troubadours Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark while keeping his feet and his heart firmly planted in his Bradford home.  Confidently weaving Delta Blues, British Folk and Country storytelling together to create a unique style that is a breath of fresh air in the UK scene.   We get in to social media culture, positive outlooks on life, writing sincerely and honestly, his brand new record It's A Difficult World and upcoming songwriter round tour and so much more!   https://www.facebook.com/ChrisDovermusician/ https://chrisdovermusician.bandcamp.com/  

This week, we have THE Ags Connolly on the Rogue Country Podcast! We get in to his brand new record "Siempre" and his Kickstarter campaign, influences and origins and of course, what is happening in UK Country Music. Tune in for a great episode and make sure you back Ag's project over on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agsconnolly/ags-connollys-new-album-siempre   https://agsconnolly.com/

Join Mike for a brand new episode of the Rogue Country Podcast (formerly known as Into the Van) as we chat to Americana rocker Brittany Collins about her new album "Things I tell my Therapist" which is out 2nd September! Talking about the music scene in the Pacific Northwest, songs inspired by unsolved mysteries and so much more! https://linktr.ee/BrittanyCollins

Into the Van we go with the wonderful Josh Beddis! Hailing from West Wales and bringing a Neo-traditional sound to Country music here in the UK, we talk about opening Sierra Ferrell's sold out show, writing music, building a community, Rogue Country and so much more! There is an extra bonus recording at the end of the episode from last year where we started to record an episode and the battery died.   https://www.facebook.com/joshbeddismusic https://joshbeddis.bandcamp.com/

Today we go Into the Van with the brilliant Tan Sanders and Warren Davies! A country artist with genuine punk roots from a small town in North Carolina. His new album "When Am I Going To Have My Day?" is out everywhere now and is going to be your new favourite record!   We talk skateboarding, Reddit, touring and so much more! Listen now https://www.facebook.com/tansandersmusic/ https://tansanders.com/

Into the Van we go with Sheffield based Americana legend, Banjo Jen!   With the release of her latest single "Fine Line" and upcoming album, I talked to Jen about moving to Sheffield, watching the UK scene grow, life, songwriting and all else in between!   https://www.facebook.com/banjojenmusic https://www.banjojen.com/

Into the Van we go with the talented David Quinn! I sit down with David to talk his new album "Country Fresh" that was inspired by an ash tray in the recording studio, songwriting, building a local following, Midwestern Country and Black Dirt Country, sock puppets and so much more!   Country Fresh is out right now and you really should listen to it! https://www.davidquinnmusic.net/ https://open.spotify.com/album/5sXo43wrmeZpXx1RgS7bQE  

I sat down with the legendary, award winning artist JH Williams III to talk about his new book Echolands, meeting Blondie and creating album artwork for them as well as for artists like The Sword, music, creativity, art and so much more! This was an absolute joy of a talk and you're going to love it! https://www.jhwilliams3.com/

Into the van we go with the hardworking and talented Tom Saenen. From organising Picking Bones, his epic festival in Belgium, to Black Metal and watching the roots scene grow in Europe to the most important things you need to know to start live events, this is definitely one to listen to!   https://www.facebook.com/Pickingbonesfest https://pickingbonesfest.com/tickets/  

I sat down with Alexis May to talk about songwriting, George Jones, Nashville and so much more! This Honky Tonk songwriter released a great EP last year, "Killing Pain, Memories and Time" and May is definitely one to watch!   Listen now! https://alexismaymusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/alexismaymusic  

Go Into the Van with me and James Green from The Broken Binding! A brilliant songwriter from Missouri who fuses Country, Folk and Rock to create amazing music!   We talk parenting, songwriting, marketing and so much more! The Broken Binding have just released their debut album Through The Night which I urge you to listen to!   https://thebrokenbinding.hearnow.com/through-the-night https://linktr.ee/IntotheVanPodcast 

Ahead of his first UK tour, I sit down with Baker aka Gravedancer to talk about Christmas, viral videos, songwriting, American vs British sitcoms and so much more! Gravedancer wears his heart on his sleeve and is a phenomenal songwriter so give this episode a listen, go listen to his record Every Kind of Dog and then go see him on tour!   https://gravedancermusic.com/

I took a bit of a hiatus from Into the Van from October to rest, recharge and get married and now we're back!    Looking forward to sitting down with some incredibly talented people this year and sharing it with you all! Stay tuned!

Join me for episode 41 of Into the Van with the brilliant Cam Cole. I joined him on his first UK tour to talk about the transition from busking to playing venues, his songwriting process, herd mentality and so much more! This is a great talk, recorded face to face in Edinburgh!   https://www.facebook.com/mrcamcole https://www.camcole.com/  

Welcome to episode 40 of Into the Van with the brilliant Brandon Ridley! Brandon is a Country artist from North Wales who recently released his new E.P "Senoritas and Sangria". The first face to face interview in over a year we talk about preparing for shows, songwriting, campervans and so much more!   https://www.facebook.com/brandonridleymusic/ https://brandonridley.bandcamp.com/releases  

Join me as we go Into the Van with the mighty Lance Rogers from Kentucky! We talking the long drives between shows, motivation, songwriting, Kickstarter campaigns and so much more ahead of Lance's debut album released on September 10th!    https://www.lancerogersmusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/lancerogersmusic

I sat down with the insanely talented Casey Noel to talk songwriting, Floydfest and American festivals, social media, being a woman in music and so much more! Casey is a Singer-Songwriter from North Carolina with Costa Rican roots and this was an absolute joy to sit down and talk with her!   https://www.facebook.com/caseynoelmusic https://caseynoelmusic.com/

I was lucky enough to sit down with Jaime Wyatt to talk skateboarding, songwriting, style and so much more! Jaime is a phenomenal songwriter and we got in to the ins and outs of lyrics, melody, gardening, missed shows, Kristofferson singing in Cash's Jamaican home and some other great stories. Check out her incredible album "Neon Cross" and support her here! https://www.jaimewyatt.com/ https://www.facebook.com/jaimewyattmusic/  

Podcasting and Songwriting duo Simon Barber and Brian O'Connor get Into the Van to talk songwriting, preparing for incredible guests such as Jon Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney and Jason Isbell, how long they have gone without listening to music and so much more!   https://www.sodajerker.com/ https://www.sodajerker.com/podcast/  

Join me for Episode 35 of Into the Van with the awesome Hippies and Cowboy Podcast! We talk about Country music (of course!) preparing for podcasts and interviews, time travel and so much more!   https://www.thehippiesandcowboys.com/

Join me and Alison Self for episode 34 of Into the Van! With the phenomenal record "Honky Tonk Haze", we talk songwriting, sincerity and paying your dues as well as train hopping, musicals and sneaking geeky references into songs!   https://www.facebook.com/AlisonSelfmusic https://alisonself.com/  

Into the Van we go with the mighty James Reed! A Kentucky songwriter with an undeniable groove, we chat about his E.P "The Future Ain't What It Used To Be", why 100s of songwriters just up and quit, the drive it takes to be a full time musician and so much more!   https://www.facebook.com/jamesreedmusicky

This week, we go Into the Van with Seth and Adrienne of the brilliant documentary film makers Small Town Monsters! We talk comic books, the process behind creating documentaries, trekking through the wilds of America and so much more!     https://www.facebook.com/smltownmonsters/ https://www.smalltownmonsters.com/

This week I go Into the Van with Matt from the Hardcore Country pioneers Silo! We talk their brand new record Glitter and Gold, the value of seizing opportunities when they happen, the value of memes, marketing and so much more! https://silo.band/ https://www.facebook.com/silocountry

Into the Van we go with the awesome Catherine the Great! The solo project of East-Tennessean, Catherine Backus, we talk songwriting, Bluegrass, politics in music, staying motivated and so much more! https://www.facebook.com/catherinethegreatmusic https://catherinethegreatmusic.com/

For episode 29 of Into the Van, I got to sit down with the incredible talented Roseanne Reid! A phenomenal songwriter from Scotland, we talk her creative and songwriting process, songwriting camps with Steve Earle, recording in Brooklyn NYC and so much more!   https://www.roseannereid.com/ https://www.facebook.com/RoseanneReidMusic

This week we go Into the Van with Zach King! A pillar of the Pennsylvania Roots community, we talk starting a label, booking and promoting shows and Zach's own brilliant music, releasing it on cassette, rap music and more! Let's do this!    https://linktr.ee/kingfishandfriends

Step Into the Van with Minnestota based Eli Gardiner! After just releasing the brilliant The Fire and The Medicine, we talk about the writing and recording process, staying true to your art and so much more. Go listen.    https://www.facebook.com/eliandthewolves/ https://eligardiner.com/

We go Into the Van with Austin Stirling! Austin is a Dark Roots songwriter who has toured around the world! I chat to Austin about songwriting, writers block, productivity, touring and so much more!   https://www.austinstirling.com/ https://www.facebook.com/austinstirling77/

Join me for episode 25 of Into the Van with the mighty Tate McLane! Tate is a Roots musician playing down and dirty Country Blues and we sit down to talk songwriting, touring, the war on science and so much more! https://www.facebook.com/tatemclanemusic https://tatemclane.bandcamp.com  

Joining me for Into the Van for this episode is the great Charlie Marie! A Country singer from Rhode Island, we talk her latest E.P, upcoming record, songwriting and so much more!   http://charliemariemusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CharlieMarie401