Jonathan Stout Interviewed on "The Track" Podcast

Photo by Ryan Swift (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanswift/)

The Track Podcast showcases some of the most vital conversations about Swing Dancing, Swing Music, and the global Swing Dance Community. Host Ryan Swift is like a Terry Gross or a Marc Maron, but just for our community. Every episode has been compelling, informative, and just great radio. These interviews present both the current issues in the Lindy Hop community, as well as serving as an important document of the history of the Lindy Hop revival. 

Last Novemeber, Ryan published an interview with Jonathan Stout. Here's Ryan's description:

This month I am joined by one of the top bandleaders for swing dancers today, Jonathan Stout.  Jonathan began dancing as a teenager in 1995, and started his first band, the Campus Five, in 2002.  Since that inception, his bands have played regularly throughout his native Los Angeles, and he has grown into a giant of the swing world. He has released 3 albums with the Campus Five, and led bands at the National Jitterbug Championships at Camp Hollywood, theFrankie 95 festival, the International Lindy Hop Championships and repeat engagements at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing.

In our conversation, we discuss what makes a good song for swing dancing, whether DJs are a valuable asset to swing dancers, and his relentless pursuit of ‘the real deal’ - an obsession with the authentic and how that translates to his role as a swing dancer and bandleader. 

We also talk about starting on guitar as a bedroom metalhead, discuss the differences between the Mount Rushmore of band leaders he paid tribute to at the last Lindy Focus (Basie, Shaw, Goodman & Ellington) and uncover what it took for him to get past the cliche and rediscover the joy in Benny Goodman’s "Sing, Sing, Sing."

You can listen at www.thetrackpodcast.com - or perhaps even better, you can listen and subscribe on itunes or wherever you manage your podcasts.

You can also listen to it here (bear in mind, each episode is 90-120 minutes long, we highly recommend downloading or subscribing for an optimal listening experience.)