Hi, I'm Norah Jones and today I'm playing along with Nate Smith.

I'm just playing long.

We.

Am just playing lone Weezy.

Hey, I'm Nora, and thanks for joining us on the Playing Along podcast with me as always.

Sitting here in front of me in a lovely orange sweater is Sarah Oda.

Thanks, It's actually Cherry Redd.

Oh.

Our guest today is the Grammy nominated drummer, composer, and producer Nate Smith.

His drumming style runs itself to a broad range of music, so he's collaborated with several artists including Brittany Howard, The Fearless Flyers, Childish Gambino, Yeba, Robbie Coltrane, Pat Metheny, and one Miss Norah Jones.

Hi.

He also co wrote and co produced Heaven Can Wait for Michael Jackson's two thousand and one invincible album, Oh Wow.

He's also released two masterful solo drum albums and has a very popular YouTube channel, oh It's very popular with performances, interviews, and more so be sure to check that out.

And his latest album, Live Action, just came out in August of twenty twenty five.

We had a lot of fun.

I love him.

He's a great, great, incredible drummer, fun person to play with.

This was really special.

I hope you enjoy it.

Here we go with Nate Smith.

We just play a little groove, do something that's our sound check.

Nice, nice, nice man, that's good.

Good.

Oh, it's so great to hear you play.

Yay.

Yes, When did we do that recording session?

That was twenty nineteen.

Yeah, I feel like the record came out in twenty twenty.

Yeah it did.

Yeah, right right in the middle of it.

Yep, right in the middle smackdap.

I just moved to Nashville, and I remember receiving a package.

Oh yeah, I was very, very exciting, and you did a little home video for the.

That's right for a video for me.

I remember setting it up at the crib.

I had had the phone set up and I sat.

I had my one snare drum.

I didn't even have a kick drum in the shot.

I had a snare drum.

Yeah, And I set up and just played and I hoped that I wasn't disturbing my neighbors.

Oh man, thanks for doing that.

Oh for sure, for sure.

It was fun.

I will say we couldn't do it together.

I was too.

It would have been fun.

Yeah, yeah, because we had a good time at the session.

Did we do two or three songs?

That we did a few songs, but that's the only one that ever got released that was with Jesse Murphy.

Jesse Murphy, Yeah, and that was the song was to live jam.

Yeah, you want to.

Play it, Let's play it?

Yeah, why not?

We're here, let's kidd it all right.

Then we're gonna dive into some of your music, yes, which I've been practicing, which is much harder.

Okay, okay.

What two threelish.

And fine be free is wather I was after?

Don't change older than me?

Evelove is the answer in front of my face.

I and this morning and find watching the places.

These cracks in my heart can't be filled you smell.

Can't find or use all the time that I spare.

I want laughing color, to breathe outside the line, to believe in this moment.

Vampy Simbama, who said all those things to make you go and hide so stuck an yokey that you came from outside, Please throw down the dumbness as best as you can.

Badly leave this boy.

I'll be jamma.

To ly in this spot and fatly free.

There's what ho was after bat change b evelove is the answer in.

FLNT the merphant hardy name this spy and Finn much.

Is badly in this moment and.

Fat face had loved in this moment and for much.

Nice.

Oh yes, oh, it's so fun to play with you.

No, thank you so much.

That's great.

Take my phones off the time.

Oh, yes, you have such a great groove.

I mean, of course, thank you, thank you so much.

I mean you too.

You know, it's playing time on piano, like rhythmic piano is a thing, and and also the way you comp for yourself too, that's a that's a that's an that's a layer.

You know that.

Not a lot of people who singing play piano have that, so you definitely have it.

Oh, thank you.

I've definitely gotten better at it over the years, you know, like I feel like I'm I feel like I'm right now in the groove of of my thing.

Yes, more than ever.

Yes, you sound like it's so nice.

Isn't it so nice to have a job where you just constantly feel like you're getting better at Yeah?

Yeah, I mean even there there are sometimes when I feel like I'll play a gig and I'll think, you know, man, do that sound good?

Yeah?

And especially now within the internet age where your your gigs are played back to you.

Oh gosh, people are always out with this fan with the phone you listen back to how did I actually sound?

You know?

But you know, overall, I I got to say, you know, I feel kind of in the same way.

I feel like I'm settling into a groove too, like really settling into my thing, which I feel like took me a while to kind of find, you know.

Yeah, I mean I don't think most people are twenty years old knowing what their thing is.

Yeah, for sure, for sure, And I'm still finding it at forty nine.

Yeah, you know, in three days, forty.

Nine, Happy advanced birthday.

Thank you, thank you very much.

I edge in the house.

I feel nice.

Yeah.

I think that's part of that's part of the joy of this sort of era of our lives.

I'm in my forties too.

Yeah.

Yeah, I feel really really alive musically more than ever.

Absolutely.

I feel like in my twenties I was I was scared.

Yeah, I had a lot of things going on, but I was unsure of a lot of it.

You know, I feel like I always was trying to prove or please you know.

That's the other thing.

Like I was in a lot of situations where I was trying to like be good enough, you know, And now I kind of feel like I'm in a place where I kind of know the things that I'm good at.

I know the things that I want to work on for myself.

But I kind of know, you know, if people are calling me for something, I know what they're calling for.

And I feel like can walk into a room with a lot more confidence about it, which you know, it took a while to get that, but but I feel like I'm settling into that kind of swag now, you know, which feels really good, feels really great.

Yeah, you're in town.

You were playing at the Blue Note all week.

I was at the Blue Note with the Fearless Flyers.

Played four nights, two shows a night.

Okay, that's a lot.

I just did the Blue Note with Robert Clasper.

I did five nights.

Yes, doing two shows.

A night is hard.

It's hard, I mean because it's too like full hour fifteen.

Ish, right, yep.

We did we averaged about I mean, the second sets were always longer because we were you know, we're loose, and the crowd is a little more loose.

Everybody has a little you know, they pre gaming with the liquor, so everybody's a little bit more worked up.

So it feels real good.

And so we would play maybe sixty five minutes the first set and they would turn the house over.

And then sometimes the second set would be like, you know, hour fifteen.

Yeah, hour and a half, you know, okay, yeah, yeah, we're going, we were going.

Yeah, you must be exhausted.

I am worn now.

I couldn't believe how exhausting it was because not only well doing two shows.

I mean we're used to playing in clubs back in the day, right where you do two or three sets, but I feel like there's never that much time in between.

Yeah, and at the Blue Note, it's about hour and.

A half and a half.

It's just enough time to get real sleepy, yeah exactly, you know, and then you have to rev back up for the people, you know, and you want to play your best because you know, people pay their money, they made plans, they hired the sitter that you know.

But just to let y'all know, it's not always as easy as it looks it's not as easy.

That's a hard gig, it is, but it's a great audience, I feel like, Yeah.

And really a cool place.

I mean, you know, they're really nice to you.

Yeah, they're nice.

But it's tiny.

It is, it is there's no real like hiding place.

You know, you're kind of like in it with the fans, which I guess is part of the appeal of the club too.

Yeah, it's cool.

Yeah.

Did you ever do the Blue Note Cruise or any of that stuff?

Now?

Have you?

I did it.

I did it twice.

How long was it on a boat?

Because that is that freaks me out.

Yeah, it was like five days.

Okay, I could you get off at all?

They docking?

Yeah, they were docking.

I feel like I don't think I ever got off.

I think I just stayed on.

Really, you know, I got to say it was the best sleep I've had the rock I mean the Rocky I was knocked all the way out.

That's great, way down like, but no, the Blue Note Cruise is kind of similar because people are just there, the artists are just walking at with them.

You're on a boat with them, like there's nowhere to go, you know.

So yeah, you can hang out in your cabin all day, but as soon as you walk out, you're going to see people.

Yeah, you know, that's part of the fun.

People are mistaking me for you know, Hey, man, Kendrick, I love you playing man.

You're great.

I was like, thanks, I'll take it.

People thinking I'm you know whoever?

You know?

Yeah, come on the name, Well.

You know, maybe now, but I definitely got a couple of Hey Brian Man, you did Brian Blade, Little Brian Blade.

It's the glasses, the style.

Yeah, so I don't and I don't mind either one.

I'll take all of All of them are compliments to me because I love him brothers.

So yeah, yeah, that's cool.

Yep.

And you're living in Nashville.

No, well you moved.

I moved.

I just moved in January.

I moved to Virginia back home.

Nice.

So my I'm from Chesapeake originally.

How far is that from DC?

I don't know Virginia at all.

Yeah, So Chesapeake is four hours by car southeast of DC, well three and a half, so not really close, not super close.

Richmond is half that two hours away.

That's where I live from Richmond, Virginia.

Nice.

Yeah, and I lived there for like four years before I moved to New York.

So I was and I went to grad school there.

I'm born and raised in Virginia, so I was there for my whole life until I came to You were to grad school, Yeah, I did.

I started grad.

School, Oh for music or for something else?

No, I was music.

Well I graduated, It's okay, Yeah, I graduated.

In my book, I got the School of Hard Knocks degree, the honorary.

Oh yeah, yeah, No, I started.

So I went to James Madison University undergrad and I wasn't a music major.

I majored in media arts and design.

Yeah.

Back in the day, they used to call it mass communication.

What's media arts and design?

Is that handy?

Now?

With social media?

It kind of is.

Actually, I end up using a lot of the stuff I learned because it was you know, we studied advertising, we studied like branding, we studied all that stuff.

Well, now you got to be your own pr person as a musician, which is a whole other thing.

Whole other it's a whole other brain type.

Yes, right, yes, And you know, I feel like it kind of worked out in my favor because some of the ideas I still kind of go back to that you know, introduction to mass communication class where the guy was talking about how to reach an audience and how to engage in audience.

So it you know, it works, and I've seen it work really great for some other musicians, and I've paid attention to what they've done.

Yeah, and also I've seen it, you know, not work so great for other.

You know, so I'm but you're aware of that whole thing.

I am.

Yeah, And you've done some online videos that are pretty huge.

Yeah, yeah, I mean social media was I mean, I guess like everybody, I joined Facebook, I think two thousand and nine.

That was when you know, it was abroun and then Instagram was a few few years later, like twenty twelve.

I feel like I got my first and so I didn't really start posting videos of myself playing drums until like maybe twenty fifteen, sixteen.

But then once I saw that the videos were resonating, then I was like, okay, well, let me just keep posting stuff and I'll just you know.

And it was around the same time that I started Kenfolk, and I was trying to make the record and trying to sort of build an audience, and I was paying attention to cats who were doing that, building their audience online and hoping that you know, a fraction of that audience would pay tickets, would buy tickets to come see me play.

And it worked.

It worked.

That's amazing.

It's a slow burn, but it did work.

That's I mean, that's how it is now, that's how you have to do it.

I think, yeah, for sure.

I mean music, I think now more than ever, music is almost a visual art form now because we're thinking about, you know, like how the you know, how we're branding our cover art and our promo flyers and all that stuff.

We're thinking about it so much, you know.

And I don't know if that's necessarily a good or bad thing, but I do think that the two way it is, it's just the way it is.

It's just the way it is.

I mean, you know, I don't know how I feel about streaming and streaming good or bad, I don't know, but it is.

It is what it is.

It's how yeah, right, I know, But I don't know.

As someone who sold a lot of records in the early two thousand, I would say it's not great.

I can dig it, but it's just the way it is.

It's just the way it is.

I mean, you can't.

Yeah, the audience has made up its mind about how people want to consume music.

I mean that you definitely can reach so many more people this way and streaming too.

Yeah, and it's crazy though.

It's like, I don't think a record label will even look at anybody who doesn't have an online presence and a lot of followers.

Yeah, and it it It sucks because a lot of great artists who really just want to make great music aren't visible.

And they're not they're not thinking about self promotion all the time.

You have to think about it, even if you're not naturally inclined to or not.

Yeah, it's it's because there's so much stuff and there are so many people.

You know, the idea of like making yourself seen so you can be found, you know what I mean, that's kind of the vibe is like, you know, I want to just just see me do my thing, see me sing or play my instrument or whatever, and hopefully my audience, the people that it really resonates with, will find me.

It's just a new reality for artists.

Well speak in of ken Folk.

So that band started, You started that band around twenty.

Fifteen, twenty fourteen.

Actually we played our no I'm sorry, we played our first gig at Rockwood.

Oh really yeah, twenty thirteen.

Oh cool.

Labor Day weekend twenty thirteen was.

John in the band John Coward.

Yeah.

So initially it was Jalil Shaw and saxophone, Fema Efron on bass, Chris Bowers was playing piano at the time.

Cool.

Jeremy most was playing guitar, and Alma What was singing with us and she wrote all the lyrics to the music too.

Oh nice.

Yeah, so she sings on this song that we're gonna try.

Yeah, this is her song in your song.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's called Morning and Allison.

Is this from the first album?

It is?

Okay, cool, all right, let's give it a go.

Let's give it a go.

Sunday morning, she says to light, waking up, slowly.

Open windows, Sunday night, feeling ay and blow.

Mac tree line you loves me at the center a home in Sinster.

With the day breaks.

Let it sped time.

To len Oud.

Say place spy with change.

Is hi.

Secle Sunday morning, she says to that, why came up?

Slowly open windows?

Suny minds feeling the way blow.

My Trea like you loves where the sydy uh huh ins and style.

What the Dame rates it's.

Time two mm hmmm, said.

Say l.

Expine and say it's my mind.

That's high.

You you killed it, You killed it.

Yes, that was beautiful, Thank you, thank you.

Shout out to Alma Work for those lyrics.

Yes, they're great.

Yeah, and yeah it was cool playing it too.

I never played songs like this right right, Yeah, it's like you know kind of, I mean, I guess the mixed meter sort of it's like, yeah, six four four four thing.

But I didn't think about that at all.

You sent me that chart, which was super helpful for the chords, but I didn't look at the time signatures because I felt like just feeling it was easier.

That's the that to me, that's the greatest sort of I mean, that's kind of the intention is like, even if you're writing in mixed meter stuff, it should feel as none.

Yeah, I don't know, it should just feel natural.

You shouldn't feel like you're counting.

Yes, yeah, it definitely doesn't.

It feels so good.

Yea.

So it was six and then.

Four yeah, one two three four one oh yeah, right right, as soon as you count, it's like oh no, yeah, yeah, it's just.

Yeah the end, and in me is like, okay, I know how it is, but I don't do a lot of mixed meters.

Yeah, no, no, it's kind of a thing.

It's like one of those I kind of have always heard music in that way, either like three bar phrases or mixed meter stuff or maybe odd meter stuff, but in a way that kind of feels like still has a little dance to it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it feels natural.

Yeah, if you can't dance.

To it, I mean, no, that's the vibe I mean.

And I played with you know, New York taught me a lot.

Man.

I played with a lot of musicians who excuse me with overwrite or sort of overthink in my opinion, like it was kind of like, you know, the music was hard just to be hard, you know.

I hate that.

Yeah, and it's just I you know, and there were so many things to remember and so many booby traps written into the music that it was like it was almost impossible to play it.

It was like you know, I mean you if you shed it long enough, everything's hard until you learn it.

Yeah, like a language's a language.

It's like a language, you know.

But I felt sometimes the intention of the writing was to like trip up people, or trip up musicians, or or impress.

Other musicians impressed especially I think, yeah, yeah, and when you can't turn your brain off and just go in the flow state, Yeah, it's not as good.

It's not as good.

It's not as good.

I mean it has to be for some I don't know.

For me, I feel like music should be enjoyable, you know what I mean, I think it should be.

Yeah, I agree, Yeah, I feel like different strokes different.

You know.

Some people want to like show up and like, you know, like kind of solve a math problem.

You know.

It's like, that's true.

I'm not one of those people.

Me neither.

Me neither.

Even though the music has some hiccups in it, I'm not thinking like that.

What did you go up listening to?

Like?

Where does all this come from?

So my dad's record collection is where it starts for me.

Both of my folks were teachers, my mom to our third grade and my dad was a high school principal.

Amazing, Yeah, And so they worked hard all all, you know, all week and the weekend was really the time to sort of hang out and celebrate.

So all their friends would come over and Dad would put on records and at the time, it was sort of like the golden age of like instrumental R and B.

So it was like David Sanborn, Bob James, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock.

You know, those are the records that were in the house, George Duke, that's so cool.

Yeah.

Yeah, and they were, you know, cranking it.

They were playing it, you know, and Off the Earth, Wind to Fire and Michael Jackson, all the big stars too.

But the stuff that was really in the house that he was playing on a regular basis was that he kind of really dug that music.

There was something in it that resonated with him.

So I just, you know, kind of soaked it all up.

And you know, this My journey with the drums sort of began with my brother.

My older brother has had a drum kit and he played a little bit in high school.

He's ten years older than me, so when he went away to college, so there's two older than him.

Oh wow.

So I have a half brother who's fourteen years older than me.

I have a sister who's twelve years old than me.

Then my brother and then your ten years ten years.

Yeah, that's a lot.

Yeah, I was.

I was definitely a surprise.

That was different.

I just showed up.

They thought they were done.

But yeah, my bro he went away to school and he went away to college, and his drums were still in the house.

So I just one day decided to sort of set the drums up and see what I could do with them.

And this was around the time I started playing in school too, like concert band, you know, like middle school middle school, Yeah, like fifth grade, so playing like snare drum and you know, glockenspiel and you know, So that all kind of happened concurrently for me, the drum set and high school band, in middle school band.

Okay, were you on the drum line?

I was.

I was a marching band geek.

I'm obsessed with the drum line.

Oh my god, best feeling in the world.

Yes, to just see it and feel it, Yes, yes, it is incredible.

I was so like drum Court International.

I was like watching those competitions.

I was writing my own drum line stuff here.

Yeah.

Yeah, I was really into it.

I was a complete percussion ensemble.

That's amazing.

Marching band nerd Yeah.

I did marching band for one year and I was all in.

I played saxophone, saxophone, yeah, yes, yeah, I was always looking at the drummers.

It's a vibe, man, because you know, not only the sort of you know, the rudimental and rudimentary dexterity and all the stuff that the gods were doing, but also the visual things that drummers were doing.

Yeah, it's so cool.

It was really cool to watch, and so I just got it way into it, got absorbed by it, shed it all the time, and would try to like play some of that stuff on the drum set too.

And that's kind of the sort of beginning.

So marching band and stuff during the day, and then at night I come home and listen to like Sting or Prince or Peter Gabriel or whatever.

Yeah, and it was like that was my life.

You know, that's so cool.

Yeah, were you into jazz at that time?

Jazz kind of came later.

So my senior year in high school, I discovered an art blaky record called Album of the Year came out, and I think.

It's the best title of any album.

I love it.

I love it, I love it.

The band was I think it was Winton, Bill Pierce, Bobby Watson, and I think Charles from Bro Bass.

But but that was the band and it was like it blew me away.

And this was near the end.

I think this was like Art Blake.

He had kind of lost most of his hearing by this time or he had, you know, so that the time wasn't quite as like rock solid as the older records, but he still had that riot symbol, he still had that press role, you know, and I was just captivated.

But I was just like, what is this sorcery that I've never heard before.

That's the best feeling in the world.

It really was discovered something.

Yeah, yeah, I listened to that album.

I mean hundreds of times.

I wore my poor dad, I know, he was so tied.

Yeah, put on some George Dude, what are you doing?

But that was like the gateway, yeah, you know.

And then then later, you know, I discovered Miles, which you know, by extension, I discovered Jimmy Cobb and Tony Williams and you know, then discovered Train and I discovered Elvin, you know, and Elvin was another one that was like I didn't know you could do that, you know, just watch I saw videos of him playing too, like old videos, and I was just like, what is he doing?

How is he doing it?

So, you know, it was it was like magic, you know.

Yeah, so that was the beginning of So this is like senior year in high school, freshman year in college, sophomore year in college.

Yeah, and you were studying media.

But were you playing in bands already?

All the bands and you're playing in every band.

I just I wanted to play in every band.

It was like I played in the small group of the school small group, the school big band.

So you played in school too, you were doing music in school as well.

Yeah, yeah, I was doing I mean I wasn't a music major, but I was playing in all the bands, you know, And and that was like I started as a music major.

Then I realized that I kind of wanted to learn more about like the studio and more about just a different side of the of the business.

So that's when media.

Yeah, I just wanted to learn a little more of it of just just not like sticking to sort of the rigid like I mean, theory and ear training have definitely come in handy too, but I wanted to learn more about like the outside.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're already playing.

I was already playing.

Yeah, you know, uh yeah, So that was that was the beginning of my journey with jazz, yeah and everything and everything.

Yeah yeah, drum card, drum quote?

Is it?

Yeah?

Drum quote?

Was it?

I?

And also between uh semesters in the summer I was working, I had three jobs that kind of prepared me for So my first two summers I worked at Paramounts Kings Dominion, which is a theme park New Richmond, doing what I played in a motown.

Band, best practice in the world.

It was awesome.

It was awesome.

It was just like we played four shows a day.

It was hot, four shows a day in the sweltering heat, and we played hits from the seventies, eighties, nineties, something like that.

And you know, I had to wear this ugly ass Hawaiian shirt with like these white pants.

It was just terrible.

It's terrible.

There are there are pictures in video somewhere.

Oh god.

But it was a great teacher.

It was a great teacher, a great teacher.

We played a bunch of tunes, a bunch of different styles.

Then my third summer I worked at Disney Did in Florida and also very hot.

Yes, and we did another four show a day, but we had guest artists every week.

Name yeah, yeah, that's so cool.

We had Joe Williams game one year, we had one one week we had Ramsey Lewis there.

We had Diane Reeves.

She was she was the game changer.

Yeah, she was great.

Yeah, and yeah that was the it all kind of was sort of preparing me.

While I was there, I met Andre Hayward, who was a trombonist, and he had just done jazz Ahead with Betty Carter and he was like, you should beat Betty.

So he was how I met her and started playing with her.

Wow, that's amazing.

Yeah.

And did you and Chris Thomas overlap with Betty?

No, I didn't know Chris.

I didn't when I was in the band.

Curtis Lundy was her regular bass player and he'd been with her for a long time.

I love her so much.

Yes, Yes, what a different I've kind of felt that way when I got one of her albums.

I was like, this is different.

She's incredibly different.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I kind of feel like, you know, she said this an interview.

She was like something to the effect of, you know, I'm the last jazz singer or after me, there are no more jazz singers.

And I kind of got what she meant because of the way that she would like stretch form and you know, sort of elongate rhythm and just kind of this this elasticity and her singing and her phrasing.

But she was always aware of where everything was.

No, she wasn't willy nilly.

She was always she always knew.

And I feel like you can kind of look at like, Okay, well here's here's a Cassandra Wilson and maybe even like a Gretchen Parlatto or somebody like that.

There's that kind of a thing.

I can kind of see a thread there, you know.

So she was she was very special.

Yeah, that's so amazing.

Play there, Yeah, not long, I mean the last couple of years of her life.

I played on and off with her, all right, And I did Jazz Ahead with her twice.

I'm sorry, what is jazz Ahead?

Oh right?

So jazz Ahead?

And this is actually a good promo for Jazz Ahead because it's still happening.

So Jazz Ahead was a residency that Betty Carter started at the time, I think it was here in New York and she would bring a dozen or so musicians, maybe a little more together and young musicians, and so she would introduce them to each other and they would all bring in their own compositions and rehearse for a week together and learn each other's tunes, and then they played two concerts at the end of the of the of the week.

That's so cool.

It was incredible.

It was really impressive.

It's more interactive than just like mentoring.

Yes, it's like everybody gets to be themselves.

Yeah, and build community.

You know, I'm still cool with people at jazz I met Jason Ran at Jazz Ahead.

I met Casey Benjamin at Jazz Ahead.

You know, so these are these are all great musicians who are still kind of out here doing amazing things.

You know.

That's amazing.

Yeah, and she started it.

She started it.

Yeah, that's so great, and she so we did.

The first year I did it was nineteen ninety six, and then the second year I did it, it was April of ninety eight, and it had moved to the Kennedy Center where it still is, and that night they announced that they were going to keep doing Jazz Ahead.

You know, we're going to start Jazz Ahead here at the Kennedy Center.

She was so happy and then sadly she passed away like I think four or five months later, like September.

Yeah, but she knew it was going to she knew it was going to keep doing.

Yeah, it's great, it's great.

So Jazz Ahead was really really good to me.

And it also exposed me to musicians my age who were playing at a super high level.

And I hadn't really seen that.

Who are touring you know, Yeah, this is before you moved to New.

York, before I moved way before.

Yeah, so yeah, you weren't in a big hub of that.

No, I wasn't.

I had kind of been sort of in the Virginia kind of bubble, and coming there, I was like, Wow, this number one, it makes you want to get better.

And then number two it's like, you know, you can you actually see that it's possible to do it, you.

Know, And it also makes you better, Yes, playing with musicians who are better.

Yes, it makes you better.

And that's that's the mantra of my life.

Actually, that's why BA makes me better, and Brian Blade makes everybody better.

He's he's just he's the greatest.

He's the greatest.

But Yeah, that was That was jazz ahead and that was my my time with Betty.

That's amazing.

Yeah, yeah, she was so important.

You play with a lot of singers and you play with Brittany Howard.

Brittany Howard who I love she is.

She's like another unique, wonderful voice, one of one of one.

Yeah, She's just so.

She's a very special person.

She's great always.

Yeah, yeah, she really is.

We we before I met her.

The year before I met her, I feel like I played the second Alabama Shake's album, Sound in Color.

I feel like, no, I didn't play on it.

I just played.

I was listening to it for like a year, like every day for a year.

So somewhere in my mind, I feel like I summoned Brittany Howard.

I was like reaching out to her.

I believe that stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I really.

I was just like, you know, she's so special.

The band was great, you know, no, no shaded all to the guys in the band, but but Brittany was definitely the star, you know, of the band and the creative force of it, you know.

So and then out of out of nowhere, I got an email from her manager about playing with her.

So I was was the first thing the album, Yeah, Jamie, Jamie, which is such a great album.

It's a dope, dope record.

And I know how much she loves you too, because I've seen talk about you and it's just such a special connection.

You guys have.

It really is.

She worships you.

Yeah, she loves playing with you.

It's yeah, it definitely goes both ways.

I mean, I think that she's a very special I mean I use that word a lot, but she's just no, she is.

She is you know, she's unique.

She's unique.

There's no one like her, you know, and very few and in historically very few like her.

You know, like a woman of color standing in front of a band with a guitar playing her ass off.

He is a great guitar player.

Yeah, yeah, you know.

And so it's like it's that's She's Hailey's comic.

Man.

She's very special.

She also kind of has this the way she sings.

She's got a really beautiful voice, but she just sings with such conviction of what she's saying, and she's just she's not precious about anything yet she has a beautiful voice.

So that's a really nice combo of like just badass or.

Yeah, the ultimate bad assery.

Yeah, she's fantastic, man, She's fantastic.

And so she did.

She did a song on your kin folk album.

She did on the newer one, Yeah, the one that came out.

It came out twenty twenty one.

Yeah, it's great.

Oh thank you?

Is that John Coward on.

The piano, John Coward on piano.

I could totally hear that.

Yes, our man, our man, love John Johnny c Johnny can do that's what we call him, can do well.

Can we do a version of it?

That's me not trying to be brittany, but yes, but loving her very much.

Gonna do my.

My version of this song is it's beautiful.

Thank you.

Did you guys write this together?

We did.

I'd written the melody.

We've been playing it as an instrumental for a little while, and then I it was written in dedication to my dad, and I'm not a lyricist, so I wanted to reach out to her.

I said, you know, would you consider writing some lyrics?

And she was like sure.

She did send it to me, and I sent it to her and she the text threat is very funny of the ideas that we're going back and forth.

She just kind of turned around super fast, and she's and it's it's brilliant.

That's great.

It's a really beautiful sentiment.

Thank you.

Yeah, yeah, you know for pop yeah.

Mm hmmm.

On a fly away, Fly to a place I have never known.

On the behind me, nothing can bring me down.

When I get off the ground, I have no fee at all.

I forget that I could ever fall.

I want to go.

When no one can keep me bound.

When I get off bread, no more will ouh way.

I have no means in words.

Hmm.

If you could see me fly, its smell.

With you.

I want to fly.

Away where we could all be together.

I want to feel that can.

You get.

Besides no nor.

Will a way?

I have no means and why.

If you could see.

And fly you smile.

Then I want to fly away.

Where we get all me together.

I want to feel that kind of wall you gain besides.

The sun, I'm gonna fly away.

I can see the end of the Runwaydow.

Won't look behind me.

Nothing can keep me down.

Now that I'm on.

Grass, It'll be nothing but blueskin now.

That I'm all.

Gros love it.

Yeah, beaut It's a beautiful song.

Thank you, thank you, very much.

Started crying a little bit.

Thank you.

Yeah, that's that's a that's a special one.

Yeah you day.

Yeah, it's real sweet.

I've been thinking about him a lot as I get a little older, you know, I keep you know, every day since since he's been he passed away in twenty fifteen.

Okay, so since he's been on I've thought a lot of thought about him a lot, I bet.

Yeah.

And I see him now, like I look in the mirror.

I'm like, oh, okay, well, oh man, it's like he's oh, he's right there, right there.

You know.

That's amazing.

With two teacher parents, well, principal and a teacher, did you guys do a lot of vacations on the school breaks or something?

We did.

We didn't go too far.

We would go visit family mostly so my mom is from Salem, Virginia, which is western Virginia, so it's heading toward like the Virginia West Virginia border, so that you know, and so she her people are out there.

We would go visit my grandmother out there, and we would stay for a good chunk of the summer out there.

Those are great summers.

Man.

And my dad, his family was close by to where we lived.

So yeah, Grandma and Grandad and they were right there, so we saw them regularly.

Okay, so going to see Grandma Irene was like a special it was a special trip.

Yeah, yeah, and it was it was cool.

I really really love those those summers.

We had a really good time.

I had a bunch of cousins up there too, so we would all.

You know, it was like those were my uh those were actually like like my my sibling group there, you.

Know, because we were your siblings were so much older.

They were so much older.

Yeah.

Yeah, so it was cool.

Yeah, I kind of had like slightly sort of old only child vibes in the house.

Yeah, it makes sense.

Yeah, you know, well that's why you named your album kin Folk maybe because your family is pretty important.

It's very important.

And always looking for it too, like always finding family, your friend family.

Yeah, it's pretty special.

It is.

It's a nice community being a musician, it is, and it's varied really, and it's all over the world, all over the world.

I mean, yeah, you know, I did this thing in Montreal earlier this year, and it was I did three nights and I got to do three different bands.

So the first night was uh, Leonel Lak and Michael League, both of whom I've known for a while.

And the second night was Keifer of the pianist Keifer and this basis cartoons.

They're more they're younger guys and they're kind of in this this hip hop jazz space, you know.

And the third night was with Corey Wong and Victor Wooten Wo.

So it was just a very rare, very varied, like wide circle, but it felt great.

All three nights were great and just you know, reignited this this idea for me that you know, the musical community, the extended family.

The family is so important.

It's everything.

Yeah, it's like a hu it is.

Yeah, with kin Folk.

The idea was that I came to New York kind of on my own and didn't really know that many people.

I knew a few people, but you know, and so the all the people that are in the band are people that I feel like I had some kind of familial connection with, you know, musically.

Yeah, So that that's why that's part of part of it.

Yeah, that's the best it is with people who feel like family.

Yes, yes, And you know, over the years, as we've you know, endured the slings and arrows of.

Touring, which if you're not out there was someone.

Yes, yeah, it's got to be right, it's gotta you gotta be out there with people that are are good people.

It can be miserable, it really can, it really can.

So shout out to ken Folk when we toured last year, the band that we had been working with, which was Brad Allen Williams on guitar, Johnny c our Man, John Coward and piano, who's always just a groove to be around.

He's a really great guy.

Fema Ephron on bass, Julia shawn saxophone, and Alma.

Of course, Alma was great, amazing, Alma, what was amazing.

So indeed that's great.

And tell me about what about the solo drum thing because not everybody does that.

Yeah.

I was heavily inspired by Max Roach's Drums Unlimited album and I so this is actually the second installment of it.

This is the first one.

Pocket Change came out in twenty eighteen, So this is pocket Change too.

It's coming out Thursday, December four.

You give me a little sample.

Yeah, actually, oh no, no, no.

No, it is what you do.

Oh yeah, this is you know what I'm saying, you know, you can't show up and I won't play.

Yeah, okay, that's it.

The rest you gotta get on band camp or whatever.

That's right.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

It's so funny because the first one I put out, I put it out in four formats.

I did a vinyl, I did streaming, of course, I did a transcription book, and I did a sample pack for producers to use, you know, so I'm kind of pretty much doing the same thing this time.

I'm not sure about vinyl this time around, maybe, But one thing I noticed was that a lot of like choreographers and dance teachers would take the record and teach their whole classes using the record.

That is so cool, which I thought was actually that's kind of perfect, you know, it's perfect for that.

So I've got, you know, I'm looking forward to I saw so many people tagging me in like their dance videos, tap dancers doing incredible stuff.

But yeah, it's really is it a through piece, separate tracks hyperatract so there's like and everything is like three or so minutes.

So I'll start with like a little theme something like that, and then sort of like DEVI eight and kind of play around it.

Yeah, and sometimes I'll come back to the thing.

Sometimes I'll just kind of stop, you know, and it just feels like it's complete, you know.

So is it improviser?

Is it all improvised?

Yeah?

I would just probably like set up.

I would have a tempo in my head, I'd set it up, set up a click, and then I would do maybe one, maybe two takes, but most of the times one take, like start to start to stop to bottom.

That's so cool.

Yeah, yeah, so it.

And I was amazed.

It's like, you know, I put out Kenfolk in twenty seventeen, and it was like, you know, big band, big budget, guest artists, all of that, Yeah, great man, all cool, and it came out, did all the press, and then after that it was like, okay, what I still saw.

The only thing people were sharing were these sixty minute snippets of sixty second snippets of me playing the drums, just sol solo.

So I was like, you know what, I might as well just do that.

You can do both.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I might.

I might as well just just do that too, you know, just give them that.

That was the thing.

So, uh, that was the beginning of the pocket change thing.

That's amazing.

Yes, indeed, it's great.

Yeah, and then I wanted to dance to it.

Yeah, you put it on?

How my kids dance?

Oh, it's going down, it's going down.

I've seen a lot of people have have tagged, you know, their their babies reacting to it.

But you know, or like they're sometimes they'll put it on and like you know, they'll they'll start like do like meditations and stuff to it.

It's it's really incredible.

It's really amazing.

It's really interesting.

Yeah, I've never listened to anything like that.

Yeah, it's really cool.

Yeah, that's it's amazing.

Well, thank you so much.

This has been so fun.

Thank you.

I was wondering if we should play that song, that Leonard Cohen song.

Yes, I would love to you you played on that whole album.

It's a tribute to Leonard Cohen.

Yeah.

Yeah, here it is and produced by Larry Klein.

Yeah, so good.

It's so good.

You know.

He asked me to do it, and I was.

I really loved this song he suggested for me because it was a later written song of Larrence.

Yeah, not something old that's been done Yeah, over and over, and it's an incredible song.

It's a great tune and you, I mean you sang the hell out of it.

Oh.

Thanks.

Well it was crazy because you know, we couldn't get together and I knew that you guys were going to pre record it.

Yeah, and it was an incredible band.

It was.

It was you, Frizelle, Bill Frizzel.

Scott Colly on bass, Kevin Hayes on piano okay, yeah, and Emmanuel Wilkins on saxophone.

Yeah.

It was like, it was a great band.

I was so bummed I couldn't be there in person.

Yeah, it was.

It was really cool.

I think the only person I met who's on the record, I think Nathaniel Ratliff happened to be in LA.

Oh yeah, because you guys did in LA.

Yeah, so, but that was he.

I think he was the only of all the guest artists, the only one who cut in studio with us.

It's beautiful.

I was surprised because the you know, when you when you're not with somebody and they do something and then you had to add your vocals, there's always a sense of this can action and this didn't feel that way, right.

It didn't.

I mean, it felt really great, really great man.

The band, you know, I love Scott Man.

I think Scott is one of the baddest bass players.

Yeah, I think he's great.

I think.

And I never played with Frizelle.

That must have been fun.

He's great and the sweetest person, definitely, just the nicest man.

Yeah, and I hope I get to play with him again.

And I just met Emmanuel that day too, so there.

And I known Kevin Hayes for a while.

Yeah, I'm gonna use my headphones.

Let's get in there.

Yeah you start.

Yeah, Steer your way past the ruins of the altar around the month, Steal your way past the fables of creation in the fall.

Steal your way past the palaces the rise above.

The right here by month by month, day by thought by fall, Steal your heart past the truth you believed in yesterday.

Such is fundamental goodness and the wisdom.

Of the way.

Steer your heart freshes heart past the women who you bought.

Hereby month by month, day by.

Day, thought by fuck, steal your way.

Past the pain that is five more real than you, the smashes, the cosmic.

Model, the blinded every view.

And please don't make me go there, though there be a God or not.

Year by my fine.

Day by day.

Five five f.

Arrius was still ancient stones the blood and mountains week.

As he died, and make them holy.

Let us die and make things cheap, and see the mere coma, which you probably forgot, year by.

Month, by month, day by day, thought by thought, Stay away, my heart, though.

I have no right to ask to the one who's never, never equal to the task, who knows he's been convicted, who knows he will be shot here by.

By month, day by day, thought.

By thought, They wristmas still in the stones the blood and mountains week.

As he died, to make men holy.

Let hus die and make things see.

Let's say the mere couple, which you gradually forgot.

He'll by months by month, day by day, fuck by.

Thought, months by months, day by day, thought by f.

Month by month, day.

By day, thought by Yeah, that's fine, that sounded good.

Thought it sounded good.

Yeah, all right, sweet beautiful.

Yeah, but that's it.

I just got here.

Let's do more.

Wait a minute.

Then.

I could just do this like all day, all day, all day, all day, we make a whole mixtape, the whole mixtape.

We should.

You're still rolling in.

Let's go, man, Thank you so much, Thank you Nora, thank you for having me.

You're the best.

You are the bomb, you are the bomb.

I love you, man.

I am thrilled.

Thank you.

I love you so much.

Thank you for having me.

Thanks for listening.

That was so fun?

Are we too, crafty ladies?

That was so nice?

So fun?

No, that was so fun, so good.

I love impromptu drum jams.

Some of his songs are hard too.

Yeah, he's very, very s but also has a sensitive touch.

Oh so sensitive, and such a specific beat.

You know everybody has the plays back.

As the signature.

Yeah, so he makes it look so easy too.

He's just a cool dude.

If you want to know what we played in this episode, the first song we did was called to Live, which is one of mine from my album pick Me Up Off the Floor in twenty twenty, which Nate played on the track on the recording.

The second song we did I Love This One Morning and Allison from Nate's album Kinfolk Postcards from Everywhere, which came out in twenty seventeen, and the singer on the album is Ama What.

The third song we did was called Fly for Mike from Kinfolk To See the Birds on the album is sung by the Lovely Brittany Howard.

Fourth song we did, Wow, We did a lot of songs.

He did a snippet from which is the track on a Strum's solo album titled pocket Change Too Mad Currency.

We did another song called Steer Your Way, which was a Leonard Cohen song from his album You Want It Darker and also from the tribute album that I sang on and Nate played on.

The Sixth song we did was just some jamming.

Special thanks to Nate Smith for joining us today.

We'll be back next week with John Legend.

Nora Jones is playing along.

Is a production of iHeart Podcasts.

I'm Your Host Norah Jones.

Today's show was recorded by Andy Tobb and assisted by Samuel Wall at Brooklyn.

Recording mixed by Jamie Landry, edited by Sarah Oda.

Additional recording by Matt Marinelli.

Audio post production and mastering by Greg Tobler.

Artwork by Eliza Frye.

Photography by Shervin Lenz.

Coordinating producer Rachel Ward, Executive producers Aaron wan Kaufman and Jordan Runtog.

Marketing Lead Queen and Ake, and produced by Norah Jones and Sarah Odah.

Deuce by nor Jones.

Say, Hey, that's us odio d Odo totally thanks for listening, Bye, listen next time.

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