The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 3: Midge Ure

The Art of Longevity Season 13, Episode 3: Midge Ure

Author: The Song Sommelier April 18, 2026 Duration: 49:08
From his early days with proto-punk pop band Slik, through his tenure with ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock’s Rich Kids, the creation of Visage, and touring with Thin Lizzy, to his major league success with Ultravox, and then his pivotal musical role in Band Aid and Live Aid, Midge Ure was a constant and significant force in the evolving music scene of the late seventies and eighties. 2026 sees his first release of new material in twelve years, a double album entitled A Man Of Two Worlds. In ...

The Art of Longevity, hosted by The Song Sommelier, sits at the crossroads of music, history, and the often-unseen business behind it. This isn't a typical interview podcast; it's a series of candid, in-depth dialogues with artists who have built careers spanning decades. Each conversation explores the real journey-how these musicians have weathered the industry's constant shifts, creative droughts, and commercial pressures to not just survive, but to continue evolving and connecting with audiences. We get into the specifics: the collaboration that saved a career, the business decision that changed everything, the fanbase that grew quietly over years. The discussions move fluidly between past triumphs, current projects, and future ambitions, always grounded in the artist's personal definition of success. It's about the resilience required to make art for a lifetime. Tune in for these uniquely honest reflections on what it truly means to last.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 93

The Art of Longevity
Podcast Episodes
The Art of Longevity Season 5, Episode 1: Everything Everything [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:59
The music journalist Paul Lester described Everything Everything as “a riot in a melody factory”, a perfect description for a band positively clattering with ideas, yet on the new album Raw Data Feel, I get the sense tha…
The Art of Longevity Season 4, Episode 7: Nerina Pallot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:25
After her second album Fires (2005) Nerina Pallot was hot property. She kissed the frog that is ‘fame’ in the music industry, with a BRIT nomination, Ivors nomination and even an appearance on Top Of The Pops. Never quit…
The Art of Longevity Season 4, Episode 6: Bruce Hornsby [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:36
Inspired by recent collaborations with some of America's coolest indie A-listers (Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Danielle Haim, Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver, James Mercer, Jamila Woods) Bruce Hornsby has been prolific in r…
The Art of Longevity Season 4, Episode 5: Calexico, with Joey Burns [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:16
We spoke to Joey Burns on the eve of Calexico's recent European shows in Brussels and London. Calexico play bigger venues in Europe than they do on their home turf, despite inventing a sound that conveys that land so evo…
The Art of Longevity Season 4, Episode 4: The Divine Comedy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:51
When your host purchased The Divine Comedy's Fin De Siècle in 1998, I couldn’t quite penetrate it at the time. Listening again to the record in preparation for this conversation with Neil Hannon I have to say, I missed o…
The Art of Longevity Season 4, Episode 3: Norah Jones [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:22
After her fourth album The Fall in 2009 proved to be a departure from the well known blend of blues-jazz-country-pop, Norah Jones received a fan letter: “After I made The Fall, I received the sweetest letter from a fan i…
The Art of Longevity Season 4, Episode 1: Teenage Fanclub [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:23
When Teenage Fanclub formed in 1989, times were unusual in music, and not in a good way. It was pre-grunge, pre-Britpop and the charts were still in the grip of mass-produced pop (much of it naff) as many 80s bands were…
The Art of Longevity Season 3, Episode 7: Steve Mason [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:10
Steve Mason first made his name as one quarter (and the frontman of) the Beta Band, one of the most critically lauded acts of the late 1990s. They mixed disparate genres like hip-hop, folk, dub, house, psychedelia to cre…