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Ben Wakeman

  • Catch & Release
  • about
  • music
    • I'm Just the Same As I Was
    • Waiting for the Light to Change
    • Greener
    • The Overall Distance
    • Demos
    • A Quiet Place to Sit
  • Fiction
    • Rewind, Playback
    • The Memory of My Shadow
    • Harmony House
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Episode 4: Glen Phillips Makes Lemonade

February 24, 2007

Glenn's music career started in 1986 with his band Toad the Wet Sprocket at the tender age of 14. Their first LP, Bread and Circus, was recorded in 1988 and got them signed to Columbia Records. The band went on to great success, garnering lots of attention and heavy radio play with songs like "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean." 

“I want to feel grateful every time I step on the stage... I want to feel overwhelmed with how lucky I am to be doing that.”
— Glen Phillips

The group disbanded in 1998 and Glen began a solo career.  He has recorded three studio records and one live album, the latest of which is the critically acclaimed "Mr. Lemons." He lives in Santa Barbara, California with his wife and three daughters when he is not out on the road.
In this interview Glen talks candidly about his music career and "paying his dues on the other end" as he puts it. He talks in depth about his influences and early musical experience as well as his growth as a person and a songwriter on his quest to find his voice.

Two tracks from his latest CD, Mr. Lemons are featured in this episode: "Thank You" and "Blindsight".


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SHORT STORIES

LONGER THAN A SONG, SHORTER THAN A NOVEL...

I've always been enamored by the short story. It is probably the most difficult form to master. How can you possibly transport someone into a fully realized world in just a few pages? Songs can cheat because the music does the heavy lifting. Novels have acres of open land to plant the seeds and allow them to grow, produce fruit and even die. But short stories must be dense, concentrated and focused with an engine powerful enough to tow a freight train but small enough to fit in a pocket watch.

This collection of stories represents my meager attempt to learn how the form works. There are moments I hope where I get close, but you can be the judge of that, dear reader.