A new scripted podcast will follow a female singer-songwriter as she navigates the complex and often dysfunctional country music industry. Make It Up As We Go, starring actor-songwriter Scarlett Burke as the lead character, debuts via IHeartPodcast Networks on October 1st.
Burke co-created the series with Jared Gutstadt, CEO of podcast network Audio Up, and executive produced with Miranda Lambert, who stars in the podcast and contributes music. Lindsay Ell and songwriter Nicolle Galyon join Lambert and Burke in shaping the series’ music, while Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton costar.
A video trailer for Make It Up As We Go plays up the importance of a songwriter’s phone — to record song ideas, take down titles, and capture the color of the writing process — and uses it to frame the podcast’s story.
“I was telling [co-creator Gutstadt] that I send my dad the unedited work tapes from sessions so that he can hear the conversations and the stories that unfold as we write the songs,” Burke says. “Then we realized that maybe more people would want to hear that story.”
Along with Ell and Bobby Bones (both appearing as themselves), The Office alum Craig Robinson stars in the role of Burke’s vocal coach, Apollo.
“The goal of the podcast is breaking a big old song; that’s what I do every day,” says Bones. “This is just another outlet for that.”