Above all else, Bruce Wawrzyniak is a music fan. Someone who enjoys the intricacies and the art. This passion led to Wawrzyniak starting an all-encompassing music company to better service musicians and venues. But it wasn’t until hearing from (one of the self-proclaimed) Podfathers, Steve Cherubino, that Wawrzyniak decided the company should start a podcast. Now Hear This Entertainment was born — a long-form music podcast with genuine interviews with excellent musicians.

The goal for Now Hear This Entertainment is multi-part: to entertain music fans, to help mentor current and aspiring artists, and to help shine a light on some deserving musicians. Wawrzyniak interviews the guests himself and after over 200 episodes, has become an accomplished interviewer getting the guests to open up and have an authentic conversation.

Now Hear This Entertainment publishes episodes with the persistence of a metronome. New episodes have been released weekly for over four years. Discover Pods was fortunate to meet Wawryzniak and discuss the podcast, some of his favorite musicians, and his dream music guest. See below for our full Q&A.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Discover Pods: How’d you get into podcasting?

WAWRZYNIAK: A recording studio that I had a relationship with is where I first got introduced to podcasting, but then a presentation at an eMarketing Group that I attended each month pushed me over the edge. That night, Steve Cherubino (known as The Podfather) showed how easy podcasting is to get into and all the success that he was having with it as well as the many benefits, and I knew it was for me. I have a broadcasting background so that made it a great fit for me.

DP: In your own words, why should listeners tune in to Now Hear This Entertainment?

WAWRZYNIAK: Listeners should tune in because (a) they can be entertained if they’re fans of my guests or just of good music interviews in general (or heck, even if they are just looking to discover new music), but (b) they should also tune in if they are aspiring performers. I do the show to entertain and to educate. I pride myself on not asking the same predictable questions that these guests are being asked on other interviews. Since it’s long form (not 5-7 minutes like on radio), the guest and I can really dig into multiple topics. I also encourage listeners to check out Now Hear This Entertainment because of who these guests are. I’m not getting the Bruce Springsteens and the Katy Perrys and the Ed Sheerans of the world because I’m not sure if those superstars would be able (and/or would want) to talk all about the challenges that today’s aspiring performers are facing every day. But, still, I have gotten guests who are having success in entertainment (primarily music), ranging from Roy Orbison, Jr., to the keyboard player for Aerosmith to the lead guitar player for Garth Brooks to the drummer for Joe Walsh to the trumpet player for Billy Joel, plus, two Grammy Award winners, a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, a Las Vegas headliner, two Emmy Award winners, and even participants from “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent,” and “The X Factor.”

DP: With a music background, who are some current under-appreciated artists?

WAWRZYNIAK: There are some guests that I’ve had on Now Hear This Entertainment who are under-appreciated. They are having tremendous success, yet aren’t the household names that I feel they should be. Karen Waldrup is a country artist from New Orleans who lives in Nashville but is always on the road somewhere (domestically or internationally) and also does a weekly live webstream that gets HUGE viewership. Mike Delguidice was on Episode 150 of my podcast and plays guitar on tour with Billy Joel, yet has a successful Billy Joel tribute band called Big Shot, which plays in cities around the country in addition to Mike himself doing some great original music, including the theme song for “Kevin Can Wait,” a CBS sitcom starring Kevin James. Then there’s a girl that I had interviewed out of Austin, Texas, named Jackie Venson who is an amazing guitar player, a great blues talent, who is playing great venues, performing with notable names, creating original music that is being heard by international audiences, and is going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. She’s always outdoing herself in terms of new accomplishments each time there’s an announcement about her latest project. This list could go on. There is some really (really) good music being made by so many of my guests that more people need to hear.

DP: Which musicians — alive or dead — would you love to have come on your podcast?

WAWRZYNIAK: No question I would love to get one or more of the guys from Rush on my podcast. Even though they are looking like they’re hanging it up, they have a 40-plus year career that is very rare in terms of success by the same small group (just three members) that were there when it all started (save for a different drummer having played on their first album). And despite what I said above about not going after the international megastars, I would love to have Mariah Carey on as a guest or Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears or Bruce Springsteen or, say, even Sammy Hagar or Jon Bon Jovi. Heck, even one of my personal favorites, George Benson. These people all have stories and I feel I could be the one to ask the question or questions that they haven’t gotten, despite all their years in the business. I was told that that’s the biggest compliment that recurs for my podcast – that the guests are often heard saying, “Wow, that’s a really good question,” or signing off by saying, “Thanks for having me on, Bruce. You ask really good questions.”

DP: You’ve interviewed over 200 musicians. Have you noticed similarities for what separates successful musicians?

WAWRZYNIAK: The desire to help aspiring musicians stands out as a recurring theme among those that are having success. They know where they came from. They want to pay it back. They know that the same people you see on the way up are the ones you might see on the way down. They’re grateful for the opportunities that they get. They’re also not complacent, meaning that they realize that they always need to be looking for more. In this economy, no one is doing just one thing, so the successful musicians are all involved in other endeavors, whether that’s producing other artists and/or even some entrepreneurial business endeavor.

DP: What’s the biggest challenge you face as an indie podcaster?

WAWRZYNIAK: Too many people still think that podcasting is new or that it’s emerging media. It has been around so long now that I am challenged regularly with getting listeners to come to Now Hear This Entertainment since so many folks already listen to so many different podcasts each week. I know that once they get to my show they’ll love it and stick around (subscribe). It’s getting them over to NHTE in the first place that’s the real challenge. Once they arrive, there’s great content week in and week out.

DP: Where do you want to take your podcast?

WAWRZYNIAK: I am blessed to have gotten listeners from 134 countries around the world, but I want NHTE to become the go-to podcast for music fans (including, as mentioned earlier, those looking to discover artists they weren’t aware of) as well as for the aspiring entertainers who want to learn from me and my guests each week. It would be great to have the big stars come to me asking to be on Now Hear This Entertainment, but even then still only doing such, say, once a month or so, to stay true to what the show was when it launched in February 2014. All that being said, my desire is for this to – while still keeping NHTE on the air – be a launch pad to a gig akin to doing what the Ryan Seacrests and the Carson Dalys of the world are doing.

DP: What other podcasts are you listening to now?

WAWRZYNIAK: There are four podcasters who are my go-to (in no particular order): Jay Mohr, Jim Florentine (who was the guest on Episode 200 of NHTE), Chris Jericho, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

DP: Anything else you’d like to add?

WAWRZYNIAK: Just that people can find all-things-Now-Hear-This-Entertainment at www.NHTE.net, and (a) that there are icons there to get it on iTunes, Google Play Music, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, and TuneIn Radio, (b) that there is a Patreon for NHTE (see button on that same webpage), and (c) that there is a ‘NHTE Listeners’ Facebook group (button/link to that at NHTE.net as well).

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