Cris Cohen: Joan Jett said at your audition for her band, “Everything you play sounds like a hit record.” 1) Is that the best compliment you have ever received? 2) How does one achieve that?
 
Drummer Sandy Gennaro: That is one of the best compliments I have ever been given by an artist that I have worked for. And Cyndi (Lauper) also said to me – paraphrasing -- “When you are behind me playing drums, I never have to worry about you.” In other words, “I totally trust you in terms of performance.” I think Cyndi said something like, “When you are playing behind me and I am singing, you are totally with me. I never feel any tug tempo-wise in one way or another.” 

And the fact that the word “trust” was used by both of those artists… I think that is really what I strive for when I play behind an artist: For them to trust what I am doing and playing. What Joan said about the hit record and your question, “How do you achieve that?”, it is a feel thing. It is something unspoken. You cannot describe it in words. 

Cris Cohen: One thing I found interesting when I was reading up about the making of “Lagoon” is that it was recorded in multiple cities. You had Memphis. You had Brooklyn. You had Nashville. So first off, does the location influence the feel of a song?

John Brodeur of Bird Streets: You know, I didn't think it would so much until listening back to the collected works here, and you really can sense the individual rooms and players and vibes. Like the first stuff I did was in Nashville with Pat Sansone, and one of the first things we did was call in a pedal steel player, like you do in Nashville. Those songs have a little bit of that country weepiness to them.

And then the stuff we did in Memphis, we did in the home of Big Star at Ardent. So it's got that feel and that sound. I don't know that the Brooklyn stuff has a specific feel, other than it's just some Brooklyn guys. But yeah, I guess it kind of does. At least to me. I know, when I'm listening to it, I'm hearing all the things that went into it and it feels kind of like a travel log to me.

Chris Kimmerer, drummer for Thomas Rhett: Finding ways to sort of glue everyone together is really important. And it's so much easier when you've got guys who are actively listening to take care of their role in that equation. I'm always looking for ways to sort of glue my own body to what's happening rhythmically. Maybe that left foot splash that's going on the upbeats doesn't punch you in the face when you're sitting up front, but you kind of know it's there, you know? And maybe you know it's there because of how it tied into the guy doing the thing on the upbeats on the chorus of the guitar.