There’s a kind of artist who gets better the more they get broken open. Who wears the hard stuff — the heartbreak, the hangups, the spiritual confusion — like a second layer of skin. Liam St. John is one of those artists.

You may have come across him recently via his viral single Dipped in Bleach, or maybe from his powerhouse audition on The Voice a few years back. But if you’re just tuning in now, you’re catching Liam right as things are starting to click. His sound has always been somewhere between blues and gospel and folk — but in the last year, it feels like he’s finally tapped the root system. There’s clarity now. Depth.

In one of the most candid conversations we’ve ever had on the pod, Liam and I talk about the long road to that kind of creative honesty — how he clawed his way through church trauma and a brutal divorce, how he almost walked away from music entirely, and how it wasn’t until he let go of “trying” that things actually started to move. It’s a story about surrender, but also about staying in the game long enough to make something real. And for anyone who’s in that weird in-between space — unsure of the path, but unwilling to settle — I think this one will resonate.

Near the end of the episode, Liam plays a stripped-down version of his song “Stick to Your Guns” — and I promise, it’s worth sticking around for. No frills, no edits — just a man, a voice, and a crazy story behind it.

~Korby

Big announcement coming Sunday. 👤

🎵 Watch Liam’s live performance of “Stick to Your Guns” 👇

There’s something I love about artists who don’t wait for permission. The ones who carry a crowbar so they can pry the tiny crack into a opening big enough to strut though. Judy Blank is one of those crowbar carryin types.

Her latest ablum, “Big Mood” came out on tastemaker label Rounder Records this September.

She grew up in the Netherlands, obsessed with American music — gospel, folk, Laurel Canyon, Springsteen. Instead of treating that dream like a fantasy, she followed it. First a trip to the States. Then a show. Then another. One small door opened, she walked through, and another one opened after that. Eventually, she found herself signed to Rounder Records and living in Nashville — not because someone chose her, but because she kept showing up.

This week on The Morse Code Podcast, Judy and I talk about the slow-building path to a creative life. No big break, no silver bullet — just persistence, a willingness to reinvent, and a deep love for the craft itself. We talk about self-doubt, staying honest in a culture obsessed with branding, and what happens when you follow the thread of your own taste, even if it takes years.

It’s a conversation about saying yes — not to a label or a gatekeeper — but to yourself.

At the end of the episode, Judy performs a stripped-down version of her haunting, beautiful song Fading Star — which you can also watch as a stand-alone video. The song is a gut-punch, and I think you’ll be glad you stuck around to hear it.

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Next week’s guest is one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever taped, Liam St John. Do not miss it. And if you didn’t catch our last episode with walking controversy Sloe Jack, find a short clip below.

In personal musical news I’ve been spending my free time working on piano version of Gillian Welch’s “Hashtag”. There are a couple great non-diatonic chords in there that sound perfect on guitar but getting them to not land janky in a piano setting, is tricky. Results forthcoming.

~k

This week on The Morse Code Podcast, I sat down with Nashville artist Paul McDonald — someone I’ve known in the periphery for years, but never really talked with until now. We cover a lot of ground in this one, but the big arc is this: what happens after everything falls apart… and how you find your way back.

Paul had it all — record deals, red carpets, the kind of fast success most musicians only hope for. But after his marriage ended and the spotlight faded, he found himself broke, aimless, and bummed out on the whole machine. The hustle stopped making sense. So he did something not a lot of people have the guts to do: he burned it down and started over.

We talk about that unraveling and the slow rebuild that followed — how sobriety, stillness, and solo songwriting helped him reconnect to music as something sacred again. It feels like he’s not chasing anymore. He’s just… doing the work.

There’s a lot here for anyone trying to walk the line between ambition and authenticity — especially those of us who’ve been at it a while. Paul’s story is a reminder that sometimes the best thing that can happen is to lose the script you were trying to follow.

The Morse Code with Korby Lenker is a reader-supported deal. If you get something out of my writing, music or episodes of the Morse Code Podcast, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Also in this episode: Paul performs “Rosemarie” live in the studio, accompanied by Mike Miz on guitar and Joel Parks on keys. Don’t miss it. Any of it.

🎧 Listen to or the watch full episode on the official curated Spotify’s Morse Code Podcast Playlist (And give us a follow!)

If you’ve followed Lera’s career over the last decade — through True Detective (she both cowrote the Season 2 theme song with T Bone Burnette and Roseanne Cash, and acted in the show), through motherhood, through a handful of sonic evolutions — you know she’s not afraid to change.

But in this latest season of her life, she didn’t just evolve; she let go. Gave her old self a funeral, as she puts it.

And in doing that, she found a deeper connection to music — one that didn’t have to justify itself with relevance or approval. It just had to be real.

The Morse Code with Korby Lenker is a listener-supported publication. If you are encouraged or inspired by my writing, my songs or these episodes of the Morse Code Podecast, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

We got into the weeds on her new album Comic Book Cowboy (see below) — why it almost didn’t happen, and why she had to make it anyway. Produced with creative and life partner Todd Lombardo, it’s a record that asks hard questions about ego and self-worth, and it does it without flinching.

We also touched on the things that scare artists right now: AI impersonation, shrinking royalties, an increasingly passive culture around art. But Lera brings a clarity to these challenges that I found empowering — not because she had easy answers, but because she’s learned to live with the tension. To stay curious, and to keep making the thing.

If you’re navigating your own version of reinvention — creatively, professionally, personally — I think this episode will speak to you. Sometimes letting go is the bravest part of beginning again.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify📀 Lera’s new album Comic Book Cowboy is out now 👇

Nashville artist Jake Etheridge shares how “Happy Ever After You,” written with wife Mackenzie Porter, went viral overnight—leading to a record deal, praise from John Mayer & Brandi Carlile, and a whole new chapter for Thelma and James. Plus, live music & Nashville stories.

Korby talks with Clark Beckham about the highs and lows of American Idol, faith and expression, and what it means to stay the course as an artist.

There’s a moment in this week’s episode where folksinger and creative lifer Anna Vogelzang says, “I needed someone to look at me and say: you’re still doing this.” I’ve been thinking about that. Because it’s not always easy to tell, is it? Whether we’re still in it. Whether it still matters. Whether we still matter.

Anna’s someone I’ve admired for years — not just because she writes these beautiful, poignant songs, but because she’s a true creative lifer. She’s kept showing up through multiple records, two kids, three cities, and a shifting music industry that’s made persistence its own kind of poetry. In this episode, we talk about the transition from ambition to authenticity, how her creative process evolved after becoming a mother, and what it really means to build a sustainable life in the arts.

There’s a lot of honesty here. About burnout. About the identity crisis that comes when the thing you’ve wrapped your whole life around starts to feel… different. And about the ways we come back to ourselves, not in spite of change, but because of it. Anna also shares what it was like to write 144 songs for her new album Afterglow — and how the very act of writing became a lifeline when she wasn’t sure she could still call herself a musician.

As always, this show is for anyone trying to make art a part of their everyday lives — or for anyone who believes in the power of supporting those who do. If you're in a season where the dream feels far away, or you're wondering if it's worth continuing, I think you'll find something in Anna’s story that keeps you tethered.

P.S. — Be sure to check out the gorgeous live performance of “Small Dreams,” recorded in-studio with Packy Lundholm. It’s the kind of song that meets you where you are, especially if where you are is somewhere in-between.

Check it out and then listen to Anna’s brand new record “Afterglow”. It drops tomorrow, everywhere.