Is AI Killing Real Music? Jared Rogers & John Berry on Faith, Vinyl, Streaming and the New Nashville :: Ep 37 Circling the Drain Podcast

Circling The Drain welcomes artist and storyteller Jared Rogers, with a special guest drop‑in from country legend John Berry. They dive deep into what’s happened to the magic of music: from growing up around Kenny Rogers and Opryland to the harsh reality of streaming payouts, AI “artists,” and the corporatization of radio and Nashville.  Jared shares the story behind his powerful duet with John Berry, “Bridge We All Must Cross,” how faith and real-life struggle shape his writing, and why he’s pushing back against the way DSPs and AI are devaluing human creativity.  If you care about real songs, real musicians, vinyl, radio, and the future of music in an AI world, this one hits home.  2:42 Growing up around the business: Kenny Rogers, Tanya Tucker, Lorrie Morgan, Joe Diffie  3:35 Falling in love with storytelling, songwriting and the stage  3:56 John Berry joins the show from the yard in his work shirt  4:32 How the Jared Rogers & John Berry duet came together  5:41 John on choosing “Bridge We All Must Cross” and first hearing Jared’s songs  7:01 John’s Christmas legacy, “O Holy Night,” and being known for faith-based music  8:18 Jared on running sound for John and why he looks up to him as an artist and believer  9:06 Johnny B’s ’80s Athens, GA story and early John Berry interview  10:13 Life in Athens, UGA fans everywhere, and 38 years of marriage  10:51 Kenny Rogers’ classic weekend: music, sports and a young Jared meeting Michael Jordan  12:56 Studio lessons from John Berry – how legends record vocals  15:08 Kenny Rogers’ “first or second take” magic vs. working the song  16:12 Autism benefit show, calling out a reluctant donor from the stage  17:19 Why charity matters after John’s cancer battle and benefit experience  19:39 Music Health Alliance and the power of community in Nashville  20:31 Robin Berry’s role – harmony, touring and doing life together  22:52 Back to Jared – growing up as Kenny Rogers’ nephew and his dad’s voice  25:27 Inside Jim’s studio: Marvel, Jesus, and the “chop shop” joke  27:04 Jared’s musical influences: BB King, David Gilmour, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Beck, Van Halen  28:47 Meeting Meat Loaf in Vegas and the best advice he gave Jared  30:17 Radio nostalgia: when DJs, records and MTV made music feel magical  31:23 Jared’s favorite part of the business: building songs in the studio  31:57 The spiritual message behind his album “Sinner Man”  33:00 Writing “Bridge We All Must Cross” at 150 mph and finishing in 20 minutes  34:30 Co-writing with Jerry “Papa Bear” Williams and crafting the track  35:00 Why John Berry was the only choice for the duet  37:05 The reality check: streaming platforms are killing songwriters  39:03 Why Jared loves radio and hates what deregulation did to it  40:42 Vinyl vs downloads – what we lost when music left the jacket and liner notes  44:10 The math of streaming: rich platforms, broke creators  45:14 Why Jared wants off DSPs and back to tangible music  46:32 Remembering the needle on vinyl and the drama of dropping the record  47:09 How Broadway and Nashville lost their soul to high-rises and bars  48:31 AmericanaVille in Livingston – intimate listening rooms vs no traffic  50:00 Today’s country: trucks, whiskey, heartbreak and a few standouts  51:18 Social media grind: crowded, loud and hard to convert to real fans  51:49 A better model: direct-to-artist digital sales that actually pay  53:38 The economics of being a working musician in 2020s America  55:00 Life in the shadow of a famous family name and refusing to be a copy  57:46 Hank Jr. as the example of what happens when you finally become yourself  58:19 Why many new artists are still chasing music radio that’s almost out of gas  59:44 Podcasting as the new radio and a path for artists to own their stories  1:03:36 How AI and synthetic “artists” are flooding the market  1:07:15 Entire AI albums, fake singers and charting “artists” that don’t exist  1:09:44 Faith, revelation and what AI disruption might really mean  1:10:14 Terminator, I Robot and why AI isn’t just sci‑fi anymore  1:13:19 Vinyl outsells CDs again and Gen Z brings records back  1:14:26 Why human imperfection and “off” notes are what make records exciting  1:15:00 Old records with energy: Dave Clark Five, Rare Earth and beyond  1:16:47 World premiere spin: “Bridge We All Must Cross” – Jared Rogers & John Berry  1:17:03 First verse – a troubled mind and the path back to the light  1:17:44 Chorus – the bridge we all must cross and the cross we all must bear  1:18:14 John Berry’s vocal enters – voices b