Show Notes
Since releasing his first album independently at just age 15, GRAMMY-nominated singer, songwriter and producer Sean McConnell now has a robust catalogue under his belt, including songs recorded by artists like Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Brothers Osborne, Christina Aguilera and more. Sean earned his first Number 1 single as a writer on the country charts with Brett Young’s “Mercy" in early 2018, and his objective with his most recent album as an artist titled A Horrible Beautiful Dream is to reflect the chaotic time in which it was made, while still striving for timelessness.
Mary Susan McConnell is the host of the popular Mama Bear Podcast, a space she created for fellow women raising children in profound circumstances and author of the ebook, We're Going to Have Fun Damnit: Transparent Tales of Thriving & Struggling in the Extreme Circumstances of Special Needs Parenting. As a former middle school teacher, she holds her Master's in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and a Doctorate in Special Education.
Sean and Mary Susan live in Nashville, TN with their magical daughter Abiella (who happens to have severe cerebral palsy), their amazing dog and two pigs.
CONNECT FURTHER: https://www.seanmcconnell.com IG (Sean): https://www.instagram.com/sean_mcconnell IG (Mary Susan): https://www.instagram.com/marysusanmcconnell Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/42N7nSYb8pRmVpBpkLSHVC Podcast (Mama Bear Podcast): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mama-bear-podcast/id1371634566 Get the book: https://www.marysusanmcconnell.com/shop
NEW album Follow Your Heart: https://orcd.co/followyourheart Keep in touch with Michael online: https://michaelfranti.com The Stay Human podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts: https://stayhumanpodcast.com
PODCAST EPISODE CREDITS: Executive Producers: Michael Franti and Activist Artists Management Producer: Angie Griffith for BPOSITIIV Artist Manager: Caitlin Stone for Activist Artists Management Management Coordinator: Bryce Matthews for Activist Artists Management Social Media Manager: Kaitlyn Parmenter for Alchemy Artist Services Presenting Sponsor: Gibson Brands (https://www.gibson.com) In Partnership with: American Songwriter Podcast Network Instrumental from: “Crazy For You” by Michael Franti Editing by: Al Peterson for Resonate Recordings Additional Editing by: Roger Gowdy for Page Turners Studio
More from Stay Human
Tune in for a personal update from Michael. The Stay Human podcast will be taking a short production break over the holidays. Michael will be back with more episodes in 2023 and is wishing you a joyful holiday season with your family, friends, and loved ones! - TEAM MF
Founded in 2002, Conscious Alliance is a national nonprofit, bringing healthy food into underserved communities and fusing music with opportunities to make a positive impact. Through their Art That Feeds food drives at concerts and festivals nationwide, partnerships with graphic designers to create fundraising posters and merchandise, fan donations, and large-scale grocery donations from various food brands, Conscious Alliance is now delivering over 2 MILLION meals annually, to the families who need it most.
Jay Blakesberg is a San Francisco-based photographer, filmmaker and public speaker whose work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Relix and countless other publications. Since first starting to document life with a camera in 1978 at age 16, he has worked with countless musical artists, including Neil Young, Radiohead, Phish, Joni Mitchell, The Flaming Lips, Tom Waits, the Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, the Grateful Dead, and of course... Michael Franti, to name just a few. This past summer, Jay released his 16th coffee table book called RetroBlakesberg, and in the fall of 2022, his photography will be exhibited over four galleries at the Morris Museum, New Jersey’s only Smithsonian Affiliate.
In just about five years, Michael Ray has built an impressive foundation for his musical career, including four #1 singles, five Gold-certified singles, one billion global streams, over 100 million YouTube views, and he has performed at the Grand Ole Opry 65 times. You probably recognize him by his hit songs like, "Think A Little Less," "One That Got Away," and "Whiskey and Rain," – and his latest single “Holy Water” has been climbing the charts at Country radio.
Blanco Brown’s viral hit “The Git Up” (certified 11x PLATINUM across three countries) took the world by storm, claiming the top spot in charts across the globe and spawning nearly 4 billion views across social platforms. It claimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 12 weeks and was the top-selling digital Country song in the US for 13 weeks, resulting in Billboard naming him as their Top New Country Artist for 2019. His multi-national Platinum-certified collaboration “Just the Way” with Parmalee has garnered more than 300 million on-demand streams, earning him his first No. 1 hit on Country radio (in the US and Canada). No stranger to collaborations, Blanco has worked alongside artists like Fergie, Childish Gambino, Kane Brown and Chris Brown – and he recently collaborated with Nelly and BRELAND for their funky fun “High Horse,” and “Never Gonna Tame You (Original Song from The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses),” written by Diane Warren. In September 2020, Brown was in a life-threatening accident and has been recovering, leaning on creating music to heal — the first taste of that is “Nobody’s More Country,” available now.