Witness Tempchin\u2019s two new albums, \u201cThe Magic Mirror\u201d and \u201cAll Kinds of Love,\u201d which both came out last month and feature nine and eight songs, respectively, all written by him. Asked how many of those 17 numbers he performs on, the 78-year-old troubadour offered a startling response: \u201cZero.\u201d<\/p>\n
Come again?<\/p>\n
The man who has played countless concerts since the late 1960s \u2014 and who has written such classics as the Eagles\u2019 \u201cPeaceful Easy Feeling\u201d and Johnny Rivers\u2019 \u201cSwayin\u2019 to the Music (Slow Dancin\u2019)\u201d \u2014 is a willing virtual bystander on his two new albums.<\/p>\n
How is that possible?<\/p>\n
In a word: Suno.<\/p>\n
That is the AI music creation platform app Tempchin used to make everything on his two new albums. Everything that is, except for the lyrics, all of which he wrote himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I really like to do is to write the songs,\u201d said the bearded troubadour, who lives in Encinitas with his wife of 54 years, Sheryl. \u201cAnd if you write a song, you want to make a record, so either you have to get some other artists to perform it or you have to go in and do the whole record-making process yourself, which takes a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut with Suno\u2019s AI, that\u2019s my band. And I\u2019d like to make it very clear that Suno \u2014 and AI in general \u2014 can write songs. You can have it write a song about anything and it can do a good job. But I don\u2019t do that. I write the whole song, 100 percent by myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, I put it into Suno and the AI sings, plays, arranges the music and makes the record of the song, just as if it was a band recording my song. The only difference is the people in \u2018the band\u2019 are not real. With Suno. Within two minutes, it pops out a finished record that\u2019s well-produced and sung, with vocal harmonies and all the instruments. It\u2019s mixed, it\u2019s mastered, it\u2019s ready to go, because that\u2019s the miracle of this technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sut-l-music-jack-tempchin-0322-01.jpg\")
In addition to having released several new albums, acclaimed singer-songwriter Jack Tempchin co-produced and wrote seven songs for the new movie, \u201cSwami\u2019s Vibe.\u201d The film is a valentine to Swami\u2019s beach, a northern San Diego County landmark that longtime Encinitas native Tempchin visits nearly every day. (Jack Tempchin)
\nHigh-tech and \u2018Ancient\u2019<\/p>\n
Tempchin is not alone in embracing Suno.<\/p>\n
But he is surely the first established musician of his generation \u2014 late alone the first Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee \u2014 to release not one, but two Suno-generated albums. And he is the first to do so concurrently with the release of a half-century-old archival solo acoustic live album, his utterly charming \u201cAncient Artifacts.\u201d<\/p>\n
It features such wonderfully earthy Tempchin songs as \u201cStingaree,\u201d \u201cTurn Up Texas Street Baby,\u201d \u201cFifteen Days Under The Hood\u201d and \u201cOne More Song.\u201d The \u201cAncient Artifacts\u201d album also includes the timeless \u201cPeaceful Easy Feeling,\u201d which Tempchin famously completed writing while waiting for his order at the now-defunct Der Wienerschitzel in Hillcrest. Sounding almost as fresh as yesterday, \u201cAncient Artifacts\u201d was recorded largely at the San Diego Folk Festival in 1973.<\/p>\n
That was 53 years ago.<\/p>\n
Richard Nixon was still president. Gas cost 36 cents a gallon. The first karaoke machine debuted in Japan. It would not be until 1997 that the world\u2019s first commercially available mobile app, which was created by Nokia, was introduced \u2014 nearly 20 years before Suno was unveiled in 2023.<\/p>\n
In the three years since its inception, Suno has grown so quickly that its users now churn out an estimated 7 million Suno-generated songs a day. That\u2019s the equivalent of an entire Spotify catalog\u2019s worth of music every two weeks.<\/p>\n
A growing number of professional musicians use AI as a songwriting tool that enhances and complements their work, although only a few have been as forthcoming about it as Tempchin. But the Massachusetts-based Suno\u2019s target demographic appears to be people who have never written songs before and who may have no musical abilities or background.<\/p>\n
Or, as a recent online ad put it:<\/p>\n
With Suno, anyone with an idea can turn it into a song \u2014 no instruments, no training, just imagination. Whether it\u2019s a vibe, a memory, or a random thought, Suno brings it to life in seconds. It\u2019s never been easier \u2014 or more fun \u2014 to make music that feels like you.<\/p>\n
Whether anyone can make music that \u201cfeels like\u201d them when they have no idea how to make music is subject to debate. But that sonic democratization is a large part of Suno\u2019s allure for neophytes, who welcome the opportunity to have AI do most \u2014 or all \u2014 of the work for them, almost instantaneously.<\/p>\n
One of Suno\u2019s online ads trumpets the elimination of gatekeepers, stating:\u00a0iPhone made everyone a photographer. Now Suno (@SunoMusic) is doing the same for music. Wave goodbye to production barriers \u2014 anyone can be a musician.<\/p>\n
But does enabling anyone and virtually everyone to make songs help music and the way it\u2019s made and consumed? Or do Suno and other AI music-generating companies dramatically diminish the value of music by creating a monsoon of AI-produced songs that favor computer-generated technical polish over emotion, human creativity and the \u201chappy accidents\u201d that can make a good song even better?<\/p>\n
That conundrum is concisely captured in the headline to a March cover story in the leading record-industry magazine Billboard: \u201cIs Suno the Music Industry\u2019s Biggest Nightmare \u2014 Or Greatest Hope?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tempchin is optimistic about the prognosis, at least for now. He regards Suno as a new vehicle to make his music available on a platform that, for better or worse, dramatically levels the playing field for the makers and consumers of music.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time, people who don\u2019t play and don\u2019t sing, but love music, can make their own records,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they can take my songs, or any songs, and redo it in their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n
If all this sounds too easy to be true, guess again.<\/p>\n
![\"Mikey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SUT-L-MUSIC-JACKTEMPCHIN-0322-2.jpg\")
Mikey Shulman, at right, is one of the founders of the AI music generator company Suno. He is shown with research scientist Christian Steinmetz as the two collaborate on creating a song at Suno\u2019s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo \/ Robert F. Bukaty)
\n\u2018Artists you enjoy\u2019 prompts<\/p>\n
All Suno users have to do to create a song is to click on a series of prompts. The prompts they choose indicate the genres of music they have in mind and the moods of the songs they want Suno to make for them.<\/p>\n
Up until late last year, Suno users couldn\u2019t use prompts to sound like a specific artist. The platform instead offered a \u201cprompt list\u201d \u2014 which Suno still offers \u2014 of \u201cfamous artists and their associated music styles. Use this as a guide to help inspire your own music-related prompt based on artists you enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those prompt options include Bruno Mars (Funk, Dance Pop, Groovy, male vocals), Taylor Swift (Pop, Alternative Folk, Emotional, female vocals), Flying Lotus (Electronic, Experimental HipHop, Fusion, male vocals), Shakira (Latin, Dance Pop, Festive, female vocals), San Diego\u2019s blink-182 (Emo pop rock, male vocals) and a good number more.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no surprise, then, that several of the biggest record companies in the world \u2014 Sony, UMG and Warner Music Group \u2014 each sued Suno and a similar AI music company, Udio, for $550 million in 2024 for copyright infringement.<\/p>\n
The lawsuits accused Suno and Udio of unlawfully copying the three companies\u2019 sound recordings as training models for their AI models. These models, the suits charged, generate music that could \u201csaturate the market with machine-generated content that will directly compete with\u201d human artists.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the French online music streaming service Deezer last year issued a report that nearly 40 percent of the music downloaded each day to streaming services was AI-generated.<\/p>\n
And last November saw the iHeartRadio network launch its \u201cGuaranteed Human\u201d initiative, which guarantees iHeart will not \u201cplay AI music that features synthetic vocalists pretending to be human.\u201d (The intriguing issue of human vocalists who sound synthetic will have to be explored another day in another article.)<\/p>\n
Last November also saw Warner Music Group settle its suit against Suno. The two companies then signed off on a partnership that will let users create AI-generated music on Suno using the voices, names and likeness of any Warner artists who agree to participate.<\/p>\n
One month earlier, in October, Universal Music Group settled part of its lawsuit against Udio and agreed to create a new licensed AI music creation platform. As a result, Udio will this year begin enabling its users to make remixes and mash-ups of fully licensed, pre-existing songs. It remains to be seen if Universal and Suno will reach a similar agreement.<\/p>\n
Yet, even if Suno users opt not to use a prompt to emulate a specific artist, they can still choose 11 examples of song styles, which range from \u201chip-hop and urban\u201d to \u201cclassical and orchestral\u201d and from \u201cjazz and lounge\u201d to \u201crock and metal.\u201d The options provided by those song style prompts are quite detailed, as demonstrated by Suno\u2019s \u201cDance and Electronic\u201d suggestions, which include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cEnergetic tropical house, vibrant melodies, calypso percussions, relaxed vocal styles, and a chill tempo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cDynamic Balkan electro swing, spirited brass sounds, syncopated beats, ethnic tunes, and dance-inviting tempo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u201cUnderground minimal techno, looped beats, slow evolutions, trance-inducing rhythms, and a deep bass presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u00a0\u201cDrum and bass with rapid breakbeats, heavy bass, and complex, choppy drum tracks, Synthwave, evoking 1980s nostalgia with lush synthesizer melodies and retro-futuristic vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The variety of options on Suno appeals to Tempchin, who in the mid-1970s led the highly regarded country-rock band Funky Kings and released his self-titled debut solo album in 1978. However, he often prefers not to use any of Suno\u2019s prompts, the better to hear what the app devises on its own.<\/p>\n
\u201cSong for J.D.,\u201d the melancholic, country-tinged opening track on Tempchin\u2019s new album, \u201cThe Magic Mirror,\u201d stylistically sounds the most like the songs on his dozen-plus, pre-Suno solo albums. (It\u2019s a heartfelt tribute to his longtime songwriting pal, J.D. Souther, who died in 2024.)<\/p>\n
The vocal harmonies on \u201cGreat Big Heart\u201d \u2014 none of which are done by Tempchin\u2014 have a 1950s doo-wop flavor. The singing on the jaunty \u201cBalancing Act\u201d sounds like an AI-generated synthesis of James Taylor and Jason Mraz.<\/p>\n
The wah-wah guitar-tinged \u201cBack in the Sixties,\u201d set to a percolating beat, evokes Bill Withers, while the sly \u201cI\u2019m in Good Shape for the Shape I\u2019m In\u201d suggests Tim McGraw, by way of Garth Brooks. And on \u201cSunset in My Heart,\u201d a lilting song Tempchin wrote for the \u201cSwami\u2019s Vibe\u201d movie, the female vocals provided by Suno bring to mind an AI iteration of Emmylou Harris.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does a bit, but I didn\u2019t ask for it to sound like Emmylou,\u201d said Tempchin, who wrote the title track for Harris\u2019 1983 album, \u201cWhite Shoes,\u201d and was her opening act on a tour several decades ago.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most unlikely and surprising of his new Suno songs is \u201cOnly Love Knows.\u201d It\u2019s a swinging, big-band ditty with a sleek lead vocal that should draw in fans of Michael Bubl\u00e9 and Harry Connick, Jr.<\/p>\n
![\"Jade](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LDN-L-PALOMINO-1010-25-SR.jpg\")
Jack Tempchin\u2019s live performances are completely AI-free. (Sarah Reingewirtz \/ Pasadena Star-News \/ SCNG)
\nNo string beans!<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking with AI is kind of like working with a person; you don\u2019t always get what you want! It\u2019s like if Suno is making your dinner and you ask it not to put in string beans, it might put them in any way!\u201d Tempchin said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to do a folky version of \u2018Only Love Knows\u2019 and I asked Suno to do in the style of my song \u2018The Swing\u2019 from my (2025) album \u2018More Is Less.\u2019 All Suno heard was \u2018swing,\u2019 so it made this big-band version. It misinterpreted what I asked for. But when I heard it, I thought: \u2018Hey, this is great!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the musical arrangements Suno does are terrific and are not things I would come up with myself. It\u2019s a thrill for any songwriter, even if you just use prompts (to make the song).\u201d<\/p>\n
To make his two new studio albums, which are now available for purchase on all major streaming platforms, Tempchin sang his lyrics and played acoustic guitar on fewer than half of the 17 songs as reference points for Suno.<\/p>\n
For the other numbers he wrote, he simply sang the lyrics into his Suno app and let AI do the rest. The end result showcases his lovingly crafted lyrics on sleek, uniformly tasteful songs that contain none of his vocals or guitar work<\/p>\n
\u201cTheoretically,\u201d Tempchin said, \u201cI could take the Suno voice off and add my voice on. But I tried that and it just didn\u2019t feel right to have me singing with those Suno arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is a key reason why Tempchin won\u2019t include any selections from his two new Suno albums when he performs a three- or four-song mini concert prior to each of Saturday\u2019s \u201cSwami\u2019s Vibe\u201d screenings at La Paloma Theater in Encinitas.<\/p>\n
![\"Songwriters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SUT-L-MUSIC-TEMPCHIN-03.jpg\")
Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Jack Tempchin embraces AI on his two new studio albums. (Jim Shea)
\nRustic vocals<\/p>\n
Suno\u2019s homepage bills it as \u201cthe creative platform built for musicians. Generate infinite stem variations \u2014 vocals, drums, synths that flow with your audio. Upload your own samples or start from scratch. Edit in a multitrack timeline with full control\u2026 Amplify your creative process with Suno.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are, of course, few or no expectations for Suno-users who are dabbling in songwriting \u2014 or some other AI-generated derivation of songwriting.<\/p>\n
But veteran fans of Tempchin\u2019s music savor his rustic, conversational vocals and well-honed acoustic guitar playing almost as much as they do his heartfelt songs. And apart from his lyrics, his Suno albums are, well, Tempchin-free.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople wouldn\u2019t recognize these are my songs and it doesn\u2019t sound anything like me singing,\u201d he agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m in the songs because I wrote them. I wrote \u2018Peaceful Easy Feeling,\u2019 but I didn\u2019t make the record of it \u2014 the Eagles did. I struggled really hard to figure out how to present myself through these Suno songs. I don\u2019t want to hide myself through AI. So, I am making sure everyone knows I wrote these songs, but that the recordings are sung, played and produced by AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel there\u2019s a common thread if I keep making Suno records, and the thread is they are my songs. They\u2019re me talking. That\u2019s where the human person is in this.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what if a Suno-user is not a songwriter, let alone an accomplished music veteran? What should their song, or songs, be about, especially if they\u2019ve never written any lyrics before?<\/p>\n
Suno\u2019s website offers several helpful possibilities. They include: \u201cMake a jazz song about watering my plants\u201d; \u201cMake a house song about quitting your job\u201d; and: \u201cMake a country song about Jess being late.\u201d (As yet, there is no prompt suggesting users create songs on Suno using lyrics created with ChatGPT.)<\/p>\n
Tempchin also used Suno for the songs he contributed to the new film, \u201cSwami\u2019s Vibe,\u201d which he co-produced with its director and photographer, J. Stuart Edmondson. It\u2019s a valentine to Swami\u2019s beach and its adjacent Self Realization Fellowship, both of which Tempchin visits almost daily to write songs and paint.<\/p>\n
Edmondson, who befriended Tempchin after they met at Swami\u2019s, credits the singer-songwriter as the influence and inspiration for the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a documentary about the community of people who show up at that beach every day and about who they are and why they come,\u201d said Tempchin, who became a Swami\u2019s regular during the pandemic shutdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may do a sequel to the movie. As for my other future plans, there\u2019s no money at the end of the music rainbow. All I\u2019m trying to do is write the songs and I just want people to hear them. So, I\u2019ll probably keep making Suno records and that\u2019s all I have planned for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m still alive when I\u2019m 90, I\u2019ll probably be bigger than ever! I always figured I was a slow learner and would peak later. As long as I can keep singing and playing, I\u2019ll keep on doing it and whatever happens happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Swami\u2019s Vibe\u2019 movie premiere, with a live mini-performance by Jack Tempchin<\/p>\n
When: 6 and 9 p.m. Saturday, March 28<\/p>\n
Where: La Paloma Theater, 471 South Coast Highway 101, Encinitas<\/p>\n
Tickets: $23.18<\/p>\n