Episode 1: Dear Joe… (click arrow for more)
This episode is about a message I received—and what it felt like to sit with it.
If you’re a songwriter, an artist, a writer, anything really where reach out ito the world and you might gor responses you might recognise these reflections. I’ve had national radio play a number of times over the years and when I have people sometimes reach out.
And that can mean all sorts of things. Sometimes it’s just really kind messages from people who’ve connected with a song, and honestly, that means everything. I try to do the same when I hear music I love, because there’s always a person behind it. A life behind it, it’s touching. And then sometimes… it’s offers. People offering promotion, playlisting, ways to “move things forward.” And I don’t say that cynically, it’s just the reality that music is also an industry. There’s always that balance between connection and business.
Over the years, I’ve said “no” quite a lot. Not because it’s wrong, but because something hasn’t quite felt… relational. It’s felt more like a transaction than a meeting. But this was different.
It started with a message from Megan, another musician. She said she’d heard my song “Grenfell” on BBC Introducing, and that she wanted to pass it on to someone she worked with. And there was something in the way she said it, something generous, and specific. She mentioned the arrangement, the way the instruments sat together. And if you make music, you know… when someone notices that level of detail, it lands differently.
That song, Grenfell, means a lot to me. It’s part of my album ‘Warmth of the Ages’, and it came out of a very real place, real conversations, real lives. I spent time travelling with those songs, playing them live in relavent locations around the country. I was also having conversations for a podcast series and for that one i spoke to Emma Louise O’conner, a housing activist and Grenfell survivor. I you’re a part of this EP family – you can listen to the album here Warmth of the Ages Home there’s other recorded conversations there too.
So for it to reach someone, through all the noise… that already felt significant. And then, a few days later, I got a message from James.
Now, I’ve had enough of these moments to know, it’s worth pausing before you respond. Just take a look, get a sense of who’s reaching out.
So I did.
And… I had to take a breath.
This is someone who’s worked with artists like U2, Dido, and Sinéad O’Connor. Huge numbers of records sold, millions, streams, awards.’
And at a certain point, it kind of stops being about the numbers… and just becomes a moment where you sit back and go,
“Okay… what is this?”
And I remember just taking a breath there.
Because alongside all of that, his message was very simple and very kind.
He said he liked the music.
And he asked: what are your plans with it?
No big pitch. No pressure. Just a question.
And that felt… quite rare.
Because yes—music is a business. Of course it is. People build careers, people make money, people invest time and energy and skill.
But it’s also something else.
It’s the thing that sits with people when they’re grieving.
Or falling in love.
Or trying to understand their lives.
It’s something that can hold a moment when nothing else quite can.
And I think, for me, that’s always been the reason to do it.
So to receive a message like that, from someone with that kind of history, with that kind of tone, it felt good.
If you’re listening to this and you’ve supported the project—thank you. Really. It means a lot.
You can hear the demos I’ve sent to James on this page:
Listening Family , if you want to step into that part of the process with me.
And in the next episode, I’ll share more about James, who he is, what he’s offered, and what this might become over the next year.
But for now, I just wanted to stay with this moment.
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Episode 2: Who is James Sanger?
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Episode 3: We need to be fearless…
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Episode 4: Songs
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Joe Holtaway 