One song.
Everything it unlocks.
Every episode, Joe Watson and Toby Brazwell pick one song and refuse to let it go — the production, the lyrics, the history — and somewhere in the middle of all of it, they end up talking about life.
The latest riff
Stella Lefty “Boston”
This week on Riffs on Riffs, Joe and Toby hop aboard Stella Lefty’s “Boston,” a deceptively simple song about what happens when something good shows up and your first instinct is to run the other way.
Show notes →The music show that’s really about everything else.
Deep ears
Craft meets emotional truth. Joe is a lifelong guitarist with the ear of a producer — he hears the doubler on the vocal and the hip-hop DNA under the indie surface. Toby was formed in church and listens for the moment the room changes. Together they can tell you why a song works — and admit they’ve been crying to it in the car.
Real talk
The music is always the door. What’s behind it is grief, faith, getting older, work, fatherhood, what it means to be seen. No score at the end. No tier list. A conversation, not a reaction.
No genre loyalty
Clipse, Bad Bunny, Ella Langley, Sleep Token, Jamiroquai, Daniel Caesar, Chappell Roan, Nat King Cole. Same two hosts, same framework, wildly different worlds. The only rule is the song has to mean something.
Riffs, in 90 seconds
Hendrix: genius? No notes.
“H-bombs were going off, guided missiles were flying.” That’s how guitarist Mike Bloomfield described watching Jimi Hendrix play in a room.
Full episode →MC Hammer, before the pants
The Navy, a $20,000 loan from two Oakland A’s, records sold out of a car trunk, and a $1.75 million advance. Wild arc.
Full episode →The $50 guitar solo nobody can name
A stranger wandered into George Clinton’s studio, asked for cash, and played like he was possessed. He’s uncredited on the record.
Full episode →We do this on stages, too.
Two leadership speakers with 8 years of on-mic chemistry, who use music to talk about resilience, listening, harmony and hope. Keynotes, workshops, and a talk with a band in it.
Four seasons, 116 episodes
Sample sessions
The original premise: a hit song traced back to the song it sampled. 2018–2020.
Themes
Themed conversations — covers, protest songs, the Nickelback effect. 2020.
24-Carat Black
A four-part documentary on 24-Carat Black, the most-sampled band you’ve never heard of. 2022.
One song
One song per episode, and wherever it leads. 2024 – now.