Gabriel Kahane Interview: Heirloom, Songwriting, and Creative Practice

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

01/03/26

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98m

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I’m honoured to bring to you this in-depth conversation with the brilliant musician, writer, composer and storyteller Gabriel Kahane as my first episode of Season 6 of this podcast. You’ll be hearing many short clips from several of his albums including his piano concerto Heirloom, written for his father Jeffrey Kahane. This is a wide-ranging interview and you’ll hear about Gabriel’s upcoming book project, the impact of his early theatre training, how learning to conduct is helping him as a composer, and reflections from his hiatus from the internet and social media. Fans who love Book of Travelers and Magnificent Bird will hear clips and insights from those projects and we also got into his work as an artist-citizen in his large-scale work “emergency shelter intake form” commissioned by the Oregon Symphony about homelessness and the housing crisis. The track and album names are specified in the timestamps and everything is linked in the show notes, including other suggested episodes and ways to support this independent podcast: Complete Show Notes

Gabriel Kahane Website

00:00) Intro

(02:25) Book of Travelers, train trip, American Guide Series, Baedeker with clip from Book of Travelers

(08:19) Book of Travelers, Pattern of the Rail, November with clip

(10:45) Book of Travelers, arranging songs for ensembles, clip of Model Trains

(16:24) train trip, more stories

(19:20) piano concerto Heirloom, decimated press landscape, clip of beginning of first movement “Guitars in the Attic”, Heirloom piano concerto

(22:58) Jeffrey Kahane, Heirloom bringing vernacular music into the concert hall with clip of first movement “Guitars in the Attic”, Heirloom piano concerto which uses Where Are the Arms

(29:24) orchestration of Where Are the Arms and how it relates to the concerto with clip (from Heirloom album, the final track)

(35:14) about the 2nd movement “My Grandmother Knew Alban Berg” and 3rd movement “VERA’S CHICKEN-POWERED TRANSIT MACHINE”, Heirloom piano concerto, with clips of both

(38:52) pandemic move to Portland, living without the internet for a year, Magnificent Bird album

(47:27) To Be American with clip from Magnificent Bird

(50:27) other linked episodes and ways to follow and support this podcast!

(51:15) story of Gabriel’s grandmother’s late life romance, clip of Sit Shiva from Magnificent Bird

(55:24) Gabriel’s writing and upcoming book project, the importance of creativity

(01:08:06) duo with Pekka Kuusisto “Council”

(01:09:52) conducting orchestras

(01:21:23) creative process, storytelling, challenges of internet distraction

(01:28:21) “emergency shelter intake form” with clip XI. A Brief History of The Subprime Mortgage Loan Crisis and housing crisis, clip III. Where Did You Stay Last Night

(01:35:11) Craigslistlieder

Photo: Jason Quigley

Previous Episode

Lena Jonsson Swedish Fiddler on Folk Covers

December 12, 2025

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77m

The Swedish fiddler Lena Jonsson has created a unique style inspired by traditional Swedish music as well as many other influences. Today we’re focusing on the wonderful 3rd album by her trio, “Folk Covers” which celebrates many great folk music composers of today. I think you’ll really enjoy this uplifting conversation which features a lot of music, including Lena giving us some spontaneous house concert experiences, and clips from the new album, with insights into process of curating and interpreting these folk covers; please note the timestamps have the tune names. You’ll also learn about the Swedish folk scene and regional differences, her experiences studying both in Sweden and Boston at Berklee, her love of creative design and how to dance a Polska. I want to let you know that I’m going to be taking a short break for a couple of weeks, but I’m very excited to bring you Season 6 of this podcast at the beginning of January 2026!

Complete Show Notes for this Episode!

Lena Jonsson Website

photo: Klara Granberg

(00:00) Intro

(02:16) album Folk Covers, with clip of Äntligen!

(04:33) childhood musical family in Hälsingland Sweden

(10:28) microtonality and ornamentation in Swedish fiddling with Silkesvalsen

(13:25) fiddling, duo with Brittany Haas

(16:33) Four Minute Love Story with clip “Neljän Minuuttin rakkaus” Johanna Jukola

(18:44) arranging, curating with Erik Ronström and Krydda Sundström with clip of Fortcalquier by Genticorum

(22:29) first Canadian tour, Blue Skies festival

(24:26) teaching folkhögskola, Berklee experience

(30:22) Burdland, cover of Kinnaris with clip, Norwegian hardanger fiddle influence

(34:51) learning from archival recordings

(37:23) other linked episodes and ways to support this series

(38:10) experience studying in Stockholm

(42:00) Bubbles in Central Park with clip, how to dance a Polska

(47:58) how to pronounce Lena and bits of Swedish culture, and clip of Unless/The Tobagganist by Hawktail

(54:58) love of design and fashion, duo with Johanna Juhola

(59:00) Morgenslått with clip, memorizing music

(01:03:01) Erik Rydvall nyckelharpa, Midsummer, great fiddle teachers

(01:07:33) harpist Maeve Gilchrist, clip of Brenda's Abbey, how the trio got started

(01:12:09) composing with performance of Ispolskan

Next Episode

Eliza Marshall on Eternal Birth: Flute Without Borders

January 10

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80m

Eliza Marshall is a British flute player acclaimed for her expressive multi-style playing and in this episode we’re celebrating her new album “Eternal Birth” in which this award-winning flautist and composer channels over two decades of international collaboration into a bold, genre-defying album, with a rich cinematic soundscape, blending classical, folk and world traditions, with haunting flutes, whistles, bansuris, spoken word, percussion and electronics. Recorded in both the UK and Senegal, the album features an extraordinary line-up of world-class andGrammy Award-Winning musicians: Ady Thioune, Ansumana Suso, Drew Morgan , Dónal Rogers, and Lena Jonsson .

Eliza shared her rich musical life: her studies with Michael Cox, her varied career including performing on the long-running West-End show The Lion King in London, touring with Peter Gabriel, and the joys and challenges of using a loop pedal. She shared insights about the importance of the folk band Ranagri in her life, her multi-disciplinary project Freedom to Roam, her love of the Hebrides Islands, the importance of re-wilding, and finding the courage to push boundaries and take risks.This episode is being released a few days before the release of Eternal Birth; you’ll find the pre-order link on Eliza’s website. I was really inspired to exchange ideas with Eliza about living a life rich with connection and creativity.

Show notes take you to linked episodes you'll love, the video, transcript, podcast Newsletter to get access for exclusive information about upcoming guests, and support link for this independent project for which I do all the many jobs! (also podcast merch)

Complete Show Notes

Eliza Marshall Website

Photo: Jason Sheldon

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(03:04) album “Eternal Birth”, Lena Jonsson, with clip of They Listen

(06:29) layering textures, interest and research into music of Africa, percussionist Ady Thioune

(09:13) youth Steiner Education, trip to Buea,Cameroon

(11:13) about Roots Entwined, with clip of track 2

(13:28) many different flutes, collaborating with Joby Talbot

(17:40) about track 3, Our Times Reborn with clip

(19:56) joy in composing, Reich influence, Sarah Jeffery