Buzz Knight and Lukas Graham Discuss Music History, Personal Stories, and the Exciting Ed Sheeran Tour Experience

Summary

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Podcast Summary: “Buzz Knight and Lukas Graham Discuss Music History, Personal Stories, and the Exciting Ed Sheeran Tour Experience”

Takin’ A Walk – Music History with Buzz Knight | July 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this in-depth and heartfelt episode, host Buzz Knight welcomes Grammy-nominated artist Lukas Graham to “Takin’ A Walk.” The two dive deep into Lukas’s formative years in Copenhagen, the creative and nostalgic inspiration behind his new album “Good Times,” the experiences and soul behind standout tracks, and his anticipation for touring with Ed Sheeran. Lukas shares moving personal anecdotes, including stories of his unique musical upbringing in Christiania, emotional connections to friends and family, and what it feels like to truly “be in the zone” musically. The episode concludes with the signature “Dream Walk” question, closing on a note of reflection and gratitude.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Childhood Roots and Christiania

• [03:49] Lukas Graham: Lukas describes stepping outside for the interview, having left his house full of daughters and his mother. He strolls the historic defense embankments in Copenhagen, reflecting on nature in his otherwise urban life.
• [04:30] Unique Upbringing: Raised in Christiania, a self-governing, car-free neighborhood squatted by hippies and artists in 1971. The place provided rich cultural and musical exposure: “We have kindergartens, multiple concert halls… a legendary jazz club, a gay theater, a cinema called Light of the City where my dad used to put on concerts as well.”
• The creative environment and frequent live music profoundly shaped Lukas’s artistic identity.

2. First Encounters with Music & Family Influence

• [05:41] Early Music Memories: Lukas’s mother recalls his perfect pitch and correcting teachers’ off-key singing, while Lukas himself fondly remembers attending landmark concerts as a child (e.g., Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Patti Smith).
• Worked venue doors to gain access to performances, soaking in a wide musical range, from punk to American, Irish, and Scottish folk: “My whole childhood was just full of really, really high quality music in all sorts of genres.”

3. “Destined” for Music—Or Law?

• [07:05] At age 12, Lukas decided he’d be a lawyer or a rock star and pursued both—studying law until he landed his record deal.
• [07:22] His mother initially worried about dropping law for music: “You can’t trust these record label people.”
• [07:45] That experience gave him a better handle on the business: “There were some little tweaks done to various contracts I signed that definitely made my life a little easier.”

4. Creative Independence and Early Songwriting

• [08:02] Although always on major labels, Lukas claims his independence lay in being “quite proud” and choosing his creative direction.
• Choir and theater background, songwriting at age 20: “I wasn’t really in doubt whether I was gonna at least be able to pay the bills. And then I made it a little better than that, I guess.”

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5. The Making of “Good Times”: Folk Roots, Community, and Flow

• [08:53] Genesis of the Album:
  • Project rooted in his childhood folk exposures. Initial inspiration was a push from longtime collaborator Stefan: “It’s about time you do that folk album you always talked about doing.”
  • Called up musician friends—some not seen in a decade— and recorded across New York and Nashville to harness a cultural “bridge” effect.
• [10:14] Creative Flow:
  • “I don't think I've ever had such an easy flowing creative process around an album.”
  • Clear vision: folk sound, big hooks, autobiographical lyrics, and “palette cleansers”—shorter tracks like “Freetown Road,” “Carry Me Home,” and “Nights I Won't Forget.”
• [11:22] Athletes’ “Zone”:
  • Lukas likens the creative energy to athletic flow or Zen: “When we were done with this album, there was a sort of a grief… With this album, it was like, are we done already? This was so fun.”

6. Standout Tracks and Stories Behind Them

• [11:58] “Before You Go”:
  • Written for a terminally ill friend who traveled and lived fully with Lukas despite health struggles:

    “He scorned pity… He wanted to be, like, on a fair footing with everybody else. In 2019… after the next surgery, he never got out of bed again. And that's when I wrote ‘Before You Go.’”

    • The friend’s initial feedback: “That's not a very good song. Please don't release it or perform it live before I'm dead.” Later, he changed his mind, requesting it for his own funeral. Lukas first performed it live in the church where his father is buried: “It is probably my favorite song on the album, and I really, really love singing it live.”
• [14:11] Emotional Performance:
  • Lukas closes his eyes onstage to avoid being overwhelmed by audience emotion:

    “If I get eye contact with someone who's getting emotional on the first row, I kind of can't really stop myself getting emotional.”

  • Thousands sing the chorus back at festivals, making for an “odd and unique” connection: “It is a very odd feeling to have an emotional connection to thousands of people you don't know yet, just because of words I wrote down eight years ago.”
• [15:01] On Channeling Music:
  • Friend Magnus: “I don't even think it's you. I think you're like the antenna. And then you're channeling something from the universe.”
• [15:37] Other Favorite Songs:
  • “Freetown Road”—about Christiania; “Smells like incense and weed or tear gas reminds me of my childhood and growing up… There ain’t no place that hurts like home.”
  • “Falling”—about reciprocal vulnerability: “What are you so afraid of? It's not like you're falling on your own. I'm right there with you.”
  • Album opener "Good Times": mid-tempo nostalgia, not longing but grateful reflection.

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7. Musicians, Folk Connections, and Recording Stories

• [17:21] Folk Sounds:
  • Inclusion of Irish Ilim pipes (elbow-inflated bagpipes) on “Good Times” transformed the vibe:

    “When the o-bridge comes in and the bagpipe kicks in, it takes me… out of American folk and into Irish folk, which I really, really enjoy.”

• [18:09] Guest Musicians:
  • Irish legends Alan Daugherty, Michael McGoldrick (flute, whistles, pipes); American folk artists Mike & Ruthy (the Mammals) and their children on background vocals; Gregory List (banjo), Rashad Eggleston (cello), Tim O’Brien (mandolin), Sam Grisman, Brian Sutton (guitar), and Stuart Duncan (fiddle).
  • Emotional joy in collaborating with childhood idols who told Lukas: “Now they're recording on my album, telling me how proud my dad would be of the body of work I put together.”
  • [19:55] Taking a Literal Walk:
    • As Lukas’s phone battery finishes, he laughs,“You’re fulfilling the name of the podcast. You’re taking a walk.”

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8. The Ed Sheeran Tour and Artistic Continuity

• [20:12] Touring with Ed Sheeran:
  • Excited to weave new and old material for Ed Sheeran crowds:

    “I think all these old songs tell a story… I think songs like ‘Mama Said,’ ‘Seven Years,’ ‘Love Someone’ tell a similar story to a lot of the stuff from the new album… I think they’ll fit fine with ‘Good Times’ and ‘Before You Go.’”

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9. The Dream Walk: Fathers, Heroes, and The Beatles

• [21:19] “Dream Walk” Question:
  • Who would Lukas take a walk with?
    • His late father: “I would love to take a walk with him… and talk about all the fun stuff we used to do.”
    • John Lennon: “I’d also like to take a walk with John Lennon and talk about songwriting.”
    • Childhood kitchen memories: a “rule” that whoever did chores could blast their music, cycling through and “probably used the word violated by my sister and myself” his dad’s record collection.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Christiania’s Impact:

  “No cars, no street lights… police came in riot gear shooting tear gas… now it’s a little more chilled… multiple concert halls, jazz clubs, theaters… all sorts of venues.”
  — Lukas Graham [04:30]

• On Songwriting as Channeling:

  “I think you’re like the antenna. And then you’re channeling something from the universe.”
  — Magnus (friend, as quoted by Lukas Graham) [15:01]

• On Performing “Before You Go” at a Funeral:

  “He texted me back, that's not a very good song. Please don't release it… before I'm dead. And a few years ago… he was like, will you please play it at my funeral?”
  — Lukas Graham [13:17]

• On Nostalgia and “Good Times”:

  “It’s not looking back, being like, oh, life was good. Now it’s not. It’s more just an acknowledgment of how good it actually was.”
  — Lukas Graham [17:07]

• On Family and The Beatles:

  “In my mom and dad’s kitchen… who was cooking or cleaning the house could listen to any music you wanted as loud as you wanted.”
  — Lukas Graham [21:34]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:25 — Lukas sets the scene in Copenhagen
• 04:30 — Childhood in Christiania and its impact
• 05:41 — Early musical memories, live concerts, and family influence
• 07:05 — Balancing law and music; mother’s reaction to his decision
• 08:53 — The genesis and creative process of “Good Times”
• 11:58 — Story behind “Before You Go” and its moving performance
• 14:11 — Emotionality in live shows, audience connection
• 17:21 — Use of folk instruments & the Irish connection in sound
• 18:09 — Guest musicians and recording experiences; family ties
• 20:12 — Joining Ed Sheeran’s tour, integrating new and classic material
• 21:19 — “Dream Walk” answer: his father and John Lennon

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Tone & Style

The conversation is warm, open, and reflective, with heart and humor throughout. Lukas’s candidness about his past, creative process, and emotional connections bring both nostalgia and hope, while Buzz’s gentle but insightful questions prompt deep and sincere storytelling. The mutual respect and relaxed exchange make the episode both intimate and broadly inspiring—inviting listeners behind the curtain of personality, history, and artistry.

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A must-listen for fans of music history, creative process, or anyone interested in authenticity, resilience, and the power of musical community.

Transcript

[Lucas Graham]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Jake Brennan]

Hey, Portlandia fans.

[Fred Armisen]

Kerry Brownstein and Fred Armisen here.

[Jake Brennan]

The dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form.

[Fred Armisen]

We're launching Podlandia AO Rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made.

[Lucas Graham]

And we'll also be joined by the

[Jake Brennan]

people who helped bring it all to

[Lucas Graham]

life, guest stars, collaborators and friends, including director Jonathan Krisel, the mayor himself, Kyle

[Jake Brennan]

McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more.

[Fred Armisen]

Kyle is going for it. Here you fully improvised not just words, but a song about.

[Lucas Graham]

Well, I thought you were all going

[Buzz Knight]

to write a song.

[Fred Armisen]

I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia AO rewatch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Sam J]

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'?

[Fred Armisen]

All?

[Sam J]

It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports. We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka showing out shout outs to you, Naomi. The viral moments I've been obsessed with Chrisean Rock's boxing journey. She looks good, her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to Everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Turturro]

I'm Nick Turturro. You probably know me from NYPD Blue, the Longest Yard, or Spike Lee's blackkklansman. And on my new podcast, Delivering Happiness with Nick Turturro, I deliver pizza to a new I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins.

[Lucas Graham]

What are you doing?

[Nick Turturro]

My belt. To Bill Burr. I don't think I've ever met somebody

[Lucas Graham]

so exactly out of their mind as I am.

[Nick Turturro]

And now we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Turturro. It's called Happiness, Delivering Happiness and many, many more. Open your free iHeartradio app search delivering Happiness with Nick Turturro. And listen now.

[Jake Brennan]

I'm Jake Brennan, and on the Disgraceland podcast, I explore the wild lives of rock stars and unbelievable true crime stories from music history. These are the stories you haven't heard, the kind you'll end up telling someone else. Like the time Paul McCartney spent in a notorious prison or the bizarre crime Lady Gaga is accused of or that time Blondie's Debbie Harry escaped Ted Bundy. Listen to Disgraceland on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buzz Knight]

Taking a Walk I'm Buzz Knight and welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast. Now, as you know, we love stories about hall of famers. We love breakout artists on the independent side of music. We love them all. Lucas Graham is back with something that feels genuinely different now. He is the Grammy nominated artist behind the global smash seven Years. He's just released To Know a Girl and it's stripped down and story driven and it's got a different feel for sure. It's intimate, it's timeless and it's the first taste of a new summer album. And if that's not enough, he's going to be joining Ed Sheeran as a special guest on select North American dates of the Loop tour and that starts August 15th. Lucas Graham is next on the Taking a Walk podcast. Lucas Graham, welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Lucas Graham]

Thank you very much, Buzz, and thank you for taking the time.

[Buzz Knight]

So describe the setting, first of all, where you are because obviously people will be listening to the audio of this podcast, but some people will be watching the video of the podcast as well. So talk about the beautiful setting here that you're making me so captivated by. It's wonderful.

[Lucas Graham]

I mean, I just stepped outside and took a walk in the neighborhood because I have three daughters at home and a mom that probably would be annoyed if I was asking everyone to be quiet. So not too far away from my house is these old defense embankments, like a part of the Renaissance city, Copenhagen defense embankments. And they didn't demolish them. So now I can just enjoy a little bit of greenery in my otherwise urbane life.

[Buzz Knight]

It's fabulous. So can you talk about the incredibly unique place that you grew up that was really such an inspiration to, to your career?

[Lucas Graham]

Yeah, I mean, if I continue down that way, we'll get to the gates of a place called Christiania, which was up until the late 60s and an army base. It was basically where the German high command were in denmark under the Second World War. And in 1971 it got squatted by hippies and youngsters and homeless people and students and the government deemed it a social experiment. And so we have a called Freetown Christiania. It's a self governing neighborhood of around 700 residents now, maybe about a thousand when I was a kid. And no cars, no street lights. When I was a kid, the police came in riot Gear shooting tear gas all over the place. Now it's a little more chilled. We have kindergarten's stable, where the local kids ride horses, and multiple concert halls. The Gray hall, the Flea Lobbin. There's a legendary jazz club, there's the gay theater. There's a cinema called the Light of the City, where my dad used to put on concerts as well. So a myriad of different venues and various sizes, which contributed to you having

[Buzz Knight]

a myriad of influences that shaped your music. When was the first moment you personally were connected with music? Do you recall it?

[Lucas Graham]

I don't recall it at all, no. My mom said I always sang in pitch and would even correct, like kindergarten teachers starting the second verse like a half note higher or lower than the first verse had been started. And I remember going to loads of concerts. I remember seeing Rage against the Machine when they warmed up for the Stone Temple Pilots in the Gray hall when I was, I think, seven years old. I saw, like, the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their stadium Arcadium tour. I used to work the door in the Grey Hall. And then when bands came by I wanted to see, I would choose one of the fire exit shifts. So I saw Patti Smith two nights in a row guarding the fire door. And like. Or the fire escape, but even like a lot of the. Yeah, cool. The Fugees warming up for Das Effects and the Gray hall as well. And then all the folk music my dad brought through. American, Irish, Scottish folk bands. So just my whole childhood was just full of really, really high quality music in all sorts of genres.

[Buzz Knight]

So somehow it seems like it was bound to be a career around music, whether it was directly as a creative force or whether it was in some other mode. It seemed destiny.

[Lucas Graham]

I remember when I was 12, I basically said I wanted to either become a lawyer or a rock star. And I studied law until I got my record deal. So. Yeah.

[Buzz Knight]

Did anyone say, lucas, lawyer, we have to talk you out of this. Come on.

[Lucas Graham]

I think it was more my mom who cried when I dropped out of law school and be like, you can't trust these record label people. And I guess she's right. But. But I made it okay.

[Buzz Knight]

So that must have served you as you sort of then mapped a career out, obviously knowing the ropes on how to not be, you know, taken advantage of and pushed down the wrong business path. Right.

[Lucas Graham]

I think there were some little tweaks done to various contracts I signed that definitely made my life a little easier.

[Buzz Knight]

But it's really a path that you determined and you said, I'm going to Be independent and quite proud. Is that fair to say?

[Lucas Graham]

Yeah. I mean, I've always been signed to major labels, so in that case, like, not so independent, but in terms of choosing what I wanted to do. Yeah. I remember singing songs when I was a boy. I switched to a school that had a choir in the third grade, and performing was always a part of what I liked to do. I did some theater when I was a teenager, and you could say when I started writing songs when I was 20 years old, I wasn't really in doubt whether I was gonna at least be able to pay the bills. And then I. I made it a little. A little better than that, I guess.

[Buzz Knight]

So take us behind the scenes to the creation of the new album. Congratulations on really is a departure from your earlier work, and it's a great progression in that work. Take us really behind the scenes to the genesis of that.

[Lucas Graham]

The genesis of that album. The Good Times album is found all the way back in my childhood and early youth with all the folk bands that toured through Copenhagen that my dad booked. And you could say the first band I ever dreamt of making was a folk band. And I even performed at the. The Glasgow Celtic Connection Festival with the. Just me and a piano player. I borrowed my friend Caleb, Caleb Clowder's country band at the Shetland Folk Festival. And I used to put together these little makeshift bands to perform at the Turner Festival as well and sing a cappella backstage and stuff like that. And you could say I ended up accidentally pop. And then I think it was March last year, I had a phone call with Stefan that I wrote most of my songs with throughout my career. And he said, you know, it's. It's about time you do that folk album you always talked about doing and you always dreamt about doing. I always dreamt of doing. And then we just get. We just got to work, started writing songs, and I started contacting various musicians that I've met over the years through my father. Some of them I hadn't seen in a decade. And. And, yeah, went to New York and Nashville a week in each city and had a bunch of my old friends come by and record their instruments and their vocals to kind of establish that cultural connection, so to speak.

[Buzz Knight]

So it sounds like it came together with incredible flow and ease.

[Lucas Graham]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever had such an easy flowing creative process around an album. I think also because the vision from the onset was so clear. It was like, we want that folky sound from my childhood. We want those big hooks from my earlier work, we wanted the autobiographical, like, very personal lyrics from my universe. And then it was just about, you know, killing your darlings. Taking a few songs off the album and adding a little bit of what, like, I feel as. There's three songs on the album that serve sort of as musical palette cleansers. Freetown Road, Carry Me Home, and Nights I Won't forget, which are just shorter songs that just allow you to breathe a little in between all the. All the bigger stuff that's on. On the record.

[Buzz Knight]

When something comes together with this great flow, it reminds me of what athletes talk about in terms of when they're in the zone. Is that true of a musician that when that process goes together so nicely that you are in a zone of sorts?

[Lucas Graham]

Definitely in some sort of zone. Like, we've often described it as. As Zen. And the weird thing was that when we were done with this album, there was a sort of a grief. Like, normally, I'm finished with an album and I'm like, God, good riddance. Like, wow. Like, give me a little break from this before we start touring. And with this album, it was like, are we done already? This was so fun. So it was almost like being back and being a younger version of myself in terms of how great it felt being creative and how great it felt recording these songs.

[Buzz Knight]

Talk about some of your other favorites. I know one in particular has to be before you go.

[Lucas Graham]

Oh, before you go was the first song I wrote for this album. I wrote it in 2019 without knowing what album it would ever be on. I wrote it to a friend of mine who basically has been dying since the day I got to know him, but also one of these men that he scorned. Pity any person who pitied him. He cut out of his life. Like, he wanted to live, and he wanted to be, like, on a fair footing with everybody else. And in 2019, I took him. The last time he flew out with me, I used to give him my touring schedule and say, thomas, this is where we're going this year. Anywhere you want to go. In 2017, he said Korea and Japan, because the next surgery he was going to have was going to take away his sense of taste and smell. And so I flew him to Korea, Japan. We ate all the food. We came back, he had the surgery, and he didn't lose his sense of taste and smell. So I belittled him for tricking me. But in 2019, he flew with me for the last time. He flew to Madrid and met me on tour with my family, drove in the Tour bus with us to Paris. And after the next surgery, he never got out of bed again. And that's when I wrote before you go. I remember I sent it to him and he. He texted me back, that's not a very good song. Please don't release it or perform it live before I'm dead.

[Buzz Knight]

Oh, man.

[Lucas Graham]

And a few years ago, out of the blue, he texted me and he was like, I actually really like the song. And he was like, will you please play it at my funeral? So the very first time I sing this song live, I'm in the church where I buried my dad. Here, anyone who's watching this, I can show you. That's the church. And he basically, yeah, first place I sang it live was in the church, and then we performed it live ever since. Yeah, he was a. He was a really good friend, and it is probably my favorite song on the album, and I. I really, really love singing it live.

[Buzz Knight]

When you're perform in a song like that and, you know, you're connecting, you know, deeply with an audience and you're connecting with somebody's spirit that was so close to you, can you describe that feeling?

[Nick Turturro]

I.

[Lucas Graham]

Often when I sing this song, I, like, just close my eyes, because if I get, like, eye contact with someone who's getting emotional on the first row, I kind of can't really stop myself getting emotional.

[Fred Armisen]

And that's just.

[Lucas Graham]

That's just bad news. And the weird thing about this song buzz is that when we play it live, especially in, like, bigger stadium, like, not stadiums, bigger festivals. I mean, people start singing the chorus from the second chorus on, and on the last chorus out, like, they're actually really singing it fairly loud. And it is a very odd feeling to have an emotional connection to thousands of people you don't know yet, like, just because of words I wrote down eight years ago, you know, that's an

[Buzz Knight]

incredible, incredible spirit that it really must. Must give you, and it must fuel you even further with your. With your writing and the way you contemplate the world.

[Lucas Graham]

Yeah, a friend of mine called Magnus, he played the bass in. In my band for 10 years. We were sitting in the sauna, Very Scandinavian thing to do. And we started talking about performance. And he said, you know what? I don't even think it's you. I think. I think you're like the antenna. And then you're channeling something from the universe. And I think that's. That hits a little closer to home. And it is a pretty amazing, like, especially, like, a song like, before you go to Feel that channeling happening in real time is. Is pretty, pretty unique.

[Buzz Knight]

Can you highlight a couple of other songs that you're really proud of off of the record?

[Lucas Graham]

There's a song called Freetown Road, which is a song about Christiania, the. The unique neighborhood you talked about. A song about how smells like incense and weed or tear gas reminds me of, like, my childhood and growing up. It's a little dark. It's like. It also ends with the line, there ain't no place that hurts like home. And. And I think that's like a blessing that I've stayed. I live so close to where I grew up. But when you stay living where you were born, you're also gonna see all the tragedies, like, unfold in real time. But, yeah, that's also an amazing song to perform live. It has this powerful vibe to it. And on the album it's like the original vocal recording from the day I wrote the song. Sometimes vibe just beats expensive gear. And I mean, there's a big. That's like a. There's a ballad called Falling, which is basically about. I'm not even sure if it's about falling in love or falling out of love, but it's this idea that you don't do it on your own. Like, we're going to be at least two people falling at the same time. And it's. The tagline is like, what are you so afraid of? It's not like you're falling on your own. Like, I'm right there with you. And of course, the album opener, Good Times, a more uptempo, well, mid tempo nostalgia look. Of all the incredibly good times I've been lucky enough to have throughout my career. And it's not looking back, being like, oh, life was good. Now it's not. It's. It's more just an acknowledgment of how good it actually was.

[Buzz Knight]

I feel like that one in particular as I closed my eyes and listened to it for the first time and then the second time and then the third time. It really, visually took me to some fantastic places.

[Lucas Graham]

It's also one of the songs that has a traditional Irish instrument on it, the Ilim pipe, which is like a bagpipe that you inflate by using your elbow, pushing in and out. And I don't think everybody on my team any. I don't think anybody understood what I meant when I said we need a bagpipe on this song. But when the O bridge comes in and the bagpipe kicks in, it's like. It takes me Very much out of American folk and into Irish folk, which I really, really enjoy.

[Buzz Knight]

And ultimately, as you were saying, with the creation of the project and bringing the musicians together, you obviously thought heavily about bringing musicians that fit the Irish folk vibe. Can you talk about some of those musicians that came on board?

[Lucas Graham]

Yeah, I mean, I got Alan Daugherty and Michael McGoldrick to play flutes, whistles, and Michael put on the Ilan pipe, the bagpipe as well. For Good Times, I went to New York and had some very good friends of mine, Mike and Ruth, from a band called the Mammals. They drove down from upstate New York to record instruments, and their two kids, Will and Opal, came into town on the last recording day, and we did background vocals for Good Times, Rich man and Days Like These, and it was pretty amazing. I used to look up to Mike and Ruthie on stage before they had kids when I was a kid, and now we were there doing BVs for my album with their kids. And then a banjo player called Gregory List from. From Boston came down. He was in a band called Crooked still, an amazing, amazing bluegrass band. And the cellist from that band as well, Rashad Eggleston, came by and recorded some stuff. And then in Nashville, I had legendary Tim O' Brien come and do BVs and. And mandolin was pretty amazing. I'm being visited here by. Well, he. He flew away. Yeah, Tim came and recorded BV's and octave mandolin. My friend Sam Grisman came and played the double bass and put together a team of players that I didn't know. Amongst others, Brian Sutton on flat pick guitar and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. And it all just together brought me that. Yeah, the cultural connection, so to speak. Like recording with musicians I used to look up to. Now they're recording on my album, telling me how proud my dad would be of the body of work I put together. Yeah, I think I might try and hurry down. My. My phone is dying off battery. This is a little. This is a little unprofessional, but I'm going to try and get to a charger.

[Buzz Knight]

Well, you're actually. You're filling. You're fulfilling the name of the podcast. You're taking a walk.

[Lucas Graham]

I'm actually taking a walk. And if we're lucky, I'll make it to a. If we're lucky, I'll make it to a charger before I have to say goodbye. Goodbye.

[Buzz Knight]

Well, we're going to keep talking as if we're going to make it. You're joining Ed Sheeran on the the Loop tour this summer. Ed's an artist who also wears his influences on his sleeve. What does it mean to be out there on those stages at that moment where you're clearly on this fantastic new creative chapter?

[Lucas Graham]

I think it's going to be amazing playing some of my older songs but also weaving in a lot of the new stuff at the very same time. Just because I think all these old songs tell a story and everyone. Yeah, I think once give. Getting that chance to stand in front of so many people is going to be absolutely amazing. And then I'm very happy that these new songs aren't such a large like or it's not such a big departure from my old stuff. It's not like it can't be played together. And I think songs like Mama Said Seven Years Love Someone tell a similar story to a lot of the stuff from the new album. I think they'll fit fine with the good times. And before you go, well, since we

[Buzz Knight]

call this podcast Taking a Walk, Lucas Graham, I do have to ask you our dream walk question in closing. Who would you like to take a walk with, living or dead? Where would you like to take a walk with them and what would you talk about?

[Lucas Graham]

I think because my father died, I would love to take a walk with him and just walk around the neighborhood and talk about all the fun stuff we used to do. But I think a lot of people probably have that answer. I'd also like to take a walk with John Lennon and talk about songwriting just because I remember as a boy, hearing the Beatles was a big thing in my. In my mom and dad's kitchen. There was. There was a rule that you could hear if you were washing up, like doing the dishes, if you were cooking or if you were cleaning the house. You could listen to any music you wanted as loud as you wanted. So my dad's record collection got. Probably used the word violated by my sister and myself.

[Buzz Knight]

Violated. I love that.

[Lucas Graham]

You know when you listen to a vinyl so much that it cuts through and.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah, yeah, that means it's. That means it's a success.

[Lucas Graham]

It definitely means it's a success.

[Fred Armisen]

Yes.

[Sam J]

Yeah.

[Buzz Knight]

Oh, Lucas Graham, congratulations on the new music, good times and the tour coming up and all your successes. Good health to you and your family on the road. And Buzz, I hope.

[Lucas Graham]

I hope you make it out to Copenhagen. And sorry for the unprofessional non existent battery here.

[Buzz Knight]

We made it work. Lucas, thanks for being on Taking a Walk very much.

[Lucas Graham]

Thank you very much, Buzz. Take care.

[Buzz Knight]

I'm Buzz Knight and thanks for listening to the Taking a Walk Podcast now, please, please check out our companion podcasts produced by Buzz Night Media Productions with your host, Lynn Hoffman. Music Save Me Showcasing the healing power of music and comedy. Save Me Shining a light on how laughter is the best medicine. All shows are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and are part of the I Heart Podcast.

[Fred Armisen]

Hey, Portlandia fans, Kerry Brownstein and Fred Armisen here the dream of the 90s

[Jake Brennan]

is alive in podcast form.

[Fred Armisen]

We're launching Podlandia AO Rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made.

[Lucas Graham]

And we'll also be joined by the

[Jake Brennan]

people who helped bring it all to life.

[Lucas Graham]

Guest stars, collaborators and friends, including director Jonathan Krisel, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin,

[Jake Brennan]

legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more.

[Fred Armisen]

Kyle is going for it. Here you fully improvised, not just words, but a song.

[Lucas Graham]

Well, I thought you were all going

[Buzz Knight]

to write a song.

[Fred Armisen]

I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia AO rewatch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Sam J]

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'?

[Buzz Knight]

All?

[Sam J]

It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports. We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka showing out shout outs to you, Naomi. The viral moments I've been obsessed with Chrisean Rock's boxing journey.

[Buzz Knight]

She looks good.

[Sam J]

Her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to Everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jake Brennan]

I'm Jake Brennan, and on the Disgraceland podcast, I explore the wild lies of rock stars and unbelievable true crime stories from music history. These are the stories you haven't heard, the kind you'll end up telling someone else. Like the time Paul McCartney spent in a notorious prison. Or the bizarre crime Lady Gaga is accused of. Or that time Blondie's Debbie Harry escaped. Ted Bunny. Listen to Disgraceland on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Turturro]

I'm Nick Turturro. You probably know me from NYPD Blue, the Longest Yard or Spike Lee's Black Klansman. And on my new podcast, Delivering Happiness with Nick Turturro, I deliver pizza to a new guest. I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins.

[Buzz Knight]

What are you doing?

[Nick Turturro]

My belt. To Bill Burr. I don't think I've ever met somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am. And now we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Turturro. It's called Happiness, Delivering Happiness, and many, many more. Open your free iHeartradio app search delivering Happiness with Nick Turturro and listen now.