The Music Makers Andy Kushner

Kurt Howell has been a keyboardist, lead vocalist, songwriter, recording artist, and producer. As you’re about to hear, I first met Kurt back in the mid ’70’s when we played in our high school stage band together. I played trumpet and he played piano and he really influenced me in terms of improvising and playing with emotion and feel. I also hired his amazing teenage cover band to perform for a couple events I was involved with. I later learned that he went on to perform with Southern Pacific, the country rock group that put out five albums and had a series of hits. They were even named New Country Group of the Year at the CMA’s. Kurt then put out a solo pop album produced by the well-known Michael Omartian and then formed the group, Burnin’ Daylight with Marc Beeson and Sony LeMaire releasing one album that had three singles on the Billboard Country Music Charts including a top 40 hit. We recently reconnected and I got the whole story! I found Kurt to be extremely inspiring being a musician and artist who has truly enjoyed the ride.  
 

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This is the 3rd part in a series of interviews, done every couple of years, with Brent Birckhead, an award-winning artist who writes, composes, and performs on a variety of woodwinds, mostly alto saxophone. Educated at Howard University, Brent was named best blues/pop/rock soloist and outstanding instrumental jazz soloist by Downbeat Magazine as part of the annual Student Music Awards. Since then, he’s received various other awards. He’s also had the honor of performing and touring with legendary artists including Lauryn Hill, Wale, Eric Benet, Larry Graham, George Duke and many more. Brent was also the professor of saxophone at Morgan State University. If you haven’t checked it out, listen to his debut album, Birckhead, and be on the lookout for his followup release.  And be sure to listen to parts 1 and 2, episodes 5 and 6, on The Music Makers.

Mentioned:
Toni Menage 
Nathan East 
Steve Ferrone 

Episode 5 Brent Birckhead/Saxophonist: A Musician's Journey Part 1
Episode 6 Brent Birckhead/Saxophonist: A Musician's Journey Part 2
Follow The Music Makers: 
The Music Makers on Instagram
The Music Makers podcast theme song was written and produced by Andy Kushner with help from the rhythm section and horn players of the band, SoundConnection: Elliot Jefferson, Lamonte Silver, Keith Hammond, Roy Lambert, Joe Herrera, and Craig Alston.
Sponsor: Kushner Entertainment
Check out Andy's Other Podcast: The Wedding Biz

I first interviewed Ina Forsman in September of 2020, the year after she had released an absolutely stellar album, Been Meaning To Tell You. We were five and a half months into the pandemic and public performances had temporarily come to a halt. We went through her journey including her process as a singer, songwriter, and performer as well as some of the songs on her last album. I highly recommend listening to that episode, which was #25. In today’s episode, we talk about what Ina’s been doing since then and get into the recording process and the behind-the-scenes of some of the songs of her upcoming new album release, All There Is. 
LINKS & RESOURCES
Ina Forsman:
Ina’s Website: https://www.inaforsman.com/ 
Ina on Facebook
Ina on Instagram
Ina on YouTube
 
Mentioned:
Episode 19 Scottie Baldwin: Award-Winning FOH Sound Engineer for Prince And Other Superstars
 
Songs discussed during the interview:
Be My Home:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y1gXGsnJzQ
Get Mine:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BpP-Rzud8o 
Hanging Loose:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yRtxc3G3O8 
 
 
 
Follow The Music Makers: 
The Music Makers on Instagram
The Music Makers podcast theme song was written and produced by Andy Kushner with help from the rhythm section and horn players of the band, SoundConnection: Elliot Jefferson, Lamonte Silver, Keith Hammond, Roy Lambert, Joe Herrera, and Craig Alston.
Sponsor: Kushner Entertainment
Check out Andy's Other Podcast: The Wedding Biz

Bruce Watson is a lead guitarist best known for playing in the band Foreigner which had multiple hits in the 70’s and 80’s including Hot Blooded, Feels Like The First Time, Urgent, and I Want To Know What Love Is. He also sings, plays mandolin, bass guitar, and slide guitar. Bruce has toured and/or recorded with the likes of Elton John, Rod Stewart, Patti Smyth, B.B. King, and more.

LINKS:
WEBSITE          foreigneronline.com
INSTA                brewswotsin
FACEBOOK       https://www.facebook.com/bruce.watson.14

Sean Miles, also known as "Smiles," is one of my favorite musicians who I’ve personally worked with for many years. He is a keyboardist, composer, producer, arranger, and music director. Hailing from the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, Smiles has landed on stages with amazing artists including David Foster, Kenny G, Ginuwine, Estelle, Mya, Angie Stone, Rachelle Ferrell, Biz Markie, Phil Lassiter, and many more. 

Music link:
https://koji.to/smileslife
 
Social Media handle:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CV27TZeMq92/?utm_medium=copy_link

Benny Pough, CEO of D. Verse Media, is one of today’s successful and innovative business leaders and has helped shape the sound and culture of music worldwide, having been instrumental in delivering radio hits for superstar artists such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West, Travis Scott, DJ Khaled, Future, and 21 Savage. He held executive positions at powerhouse labels from Motown Records and Def Jam to Epic Records and Roc Nation Music. He has since formed D. Verse Media, a full service global music distribution and publishing company. Some of the awards, he’s received, are In 2019, he was awarded Record Executive of the Year by Power of Influence Awards. In 2018, he was awarded Record Exec of the Year by Urban One Honors. And the title Hitmaker, in 2017, by Variety Magazine. We go deep in this conversation and be sure to look out for his Book, On Impact, which will be published in the middle of 2022.  
 
Links:
Instagram: @bennypough (https://www.instagram.com/bennypough/) 
Website: www.bennypough.com
Website: www.dversemedia.com