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Sometimes you need to make a bit of a trek (14 hours by car, in this case) to get that special interview. And it’s usually worth it. Case in point: I recently attended a retreat with a few fellow songwriters up in northern Idaho. Larry Diehl was part of that group. Larry and I have been *almost* hanging out for years. We have lots of friends in common and have formed a sort of mutual admiration society. We were also supposed to share a bill up in Roseville (where Larry lives) at the beginning of this year. The zombie flu took me, down, however, and we I had to cancel. We hope to reschedule that one. That week in Idaho was a wonderful opportunity to finally hang and get the opportunity to hear each other in person.
Larry’s a fantastic songwriter and player, so we took some time at the retreat to record this special episode of “Songs and Stories”. Being that Larry and I were in the midst of a weeklong writing excursion during this interview, we talked a lot about the writing process, how some songs are written just to gracefully clear the decks for others, and how long it can take some ideas to make their way into a finished piece.
You’ll hear about his lifelong interest in music and learn about how James Taylor was a huge early influence. By request, Larry plays “Box of This and That” in the podcast. This tune was written about his late father. (Being that my own dad passed just about a year ago, this song really hit me. I was fortunate to hear it a few times that week at the retreat.) The episode also features the CD track “Edge of the Outskirts” from Larry’s 2013 release, “Close to the Soul,”, which was recorded locally at Keith Greeninger’s Wind River Studios in Santa Cruz CA. (Fun fact: “Close to the Soul” was the FIRST project recorded at Keith’s studio.)
You can learn more about Larry on his Reverbnation page. And you can buy his music at CD Baby and from iTunes.