Our guest for episode number 57 is Portland based musician and songwriter Jeffrey Martin; we discuss his most excellent 2023 album, Thank God We Left the Garden. Recorded in an 8 x 10 shed he built in his backyard, these songs explore religious/spiritual/existential questions, contradictions, mysteries and paradoxes. Jeffrey tells us about making the difficult decision to leave his position teaching high school English to pursue music full time, the fascinating way these songs came together as he wrestled lyrics from melodies, and interesting reactions the songs have gotten as he plays them on the road. We also make plans for our spin-off podcast, in which Jeffrey and I will break down the classic song, “That’s the Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”-stay tuned!