Ten Years of The Co-Write, By the Numbers

Somehow, The Co-Write is ten years old.

What started in May 2016 as Bobby Duncan and Donovan Dodd turning on microphones and talking about music has now stretched across 169 numbered episodes, more than 170 total feed entries and somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 hours of conversation.

That is a lot of talking.

And a lot of wandering off topic.

Over ten years, the show has interviewed songwriters, argued about records, broken down the Grammys and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, recapped festivals, talked sports, movies, touring, songwriting and the strange little ecosystem that surrounds Texas Music.

But when you look back across the episode descriptions, a few patterns emerge.

The most common subject isn’t just Texas Music. It is the life around the music …how songs get written, how records get made, what happens on the road, how careers survive and why certain albums or artists stick with us long after their moment has passed.

John Baumann holds the title of most frequent traditional guest, with five appearances.

I occupy a slightly stranger category.

Somewhere along the way I went from occasional guest to frequent third mic to what the show now jokingly calls “host emeritus.”

One of the funniest discoveries is that the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame may be the show’s longest running recurring obsession. Bobby and Donovan were talking about it in Episode 2 in May 2016. They were still doing it in Episode 164, almost exactly ten years later.

The show itself has changed too.

There were the early interview years, when episodes regularly centered around conversations with people like Walt Wilkins, Susan Gibson, Josh Grider and Josh Weathers.

Then came the COVID quarantine shows, with guests including John Baumann, Wade Bowen, Kyle Nix, Drew Kennedy and Adam Odor joining remotely while everybody tried to figure out what happened to live music overnight.

Eventually The Co-Write became less of an interview show and more of what it probably always wanted to be: a hang.

What are we listening to? What record deserves another look? What ridiculous thing happened in music this week? What did we see at a festival? What forgotten album still sounds great?

And lately, there has been another shift.

The show has been running in sync with Galleywinter’s written content. Looking back at old records from the 25 in 16 and Relisten features.

Pat Green’s Live at Billy Bob’s. Stoney LaRue’s The Red Dirt Album. Wade Bowen’s The Blue Light Live. Bleu Edmondson’s Southland. Charlie Robison’s Life of the Party. Cross Canadian Ragweed’s Highway 377.

Records that were once simply part of our lives are now part of the history of this scene. That may be the coolest thing about reaching ten years. The Co-Write started out talking about Texas Music. It lasted long enough to become part of the story itself.

The Co-Write by the Numbers

• 10 years

• 169 numbered episodes

• 170+ total releases

• Roughly 200 hours of audio

• Most frequent guest: John Baumann (5)

• Most frequent third chair: Brad Beheler

• Most common lane: Texas/Red Dirt/Americana

• Most persistent theme: songwriting and the working life of musicians

• Longest-running recurring obsession: the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame

  
  

Not bad for two guys who mostly just wanted an excuse to sit around and talk about records.