Performance Anxiety

Chris Olley of six by seven was kind enough to take a break from writing to join us on the podcast. We jump right into it with how difficult it is for artists to remain true to themselves. Chris also discusses how he transformed from a guitar shredder to a Neil Young disciple. His band, six by seven, was the band that should have broken here in the US but didn’t. Chris posits that it could be the...

Poet Joseph Massey was kind enough to spend a little time with me. He discovered poetry after a particularly troublesome childhood which included neglectful parents and spending one school year by himself in an auditorium. He spent his time after that reading and writing poetry; corresponding with some of the most influential poets alive, like Cid Corman, Robert Bly, and Allen Ginsburg (who gave h...

This episode is another Performance Anxiety first. I heard about my guest Suzie Stapleton through a listener, Sandy Olivia. We got to chatting through social media (and I am always open to that) and Sandy was so enthusiastic about Suzie that I had to check her music out. It’s moody, atmospheric, and heavy without getting bogged down. After listening to her debut, I reached out and Suzie agreed to...

Richard X Heyman and Nate Wilcox join me to discuss the songwriting of Ray Davies. Is he underappreciated or not? Richard and Nate discuss how they discovered and obsessed over The Kinks. They share some wild stories and favorite songs. Ray has been a big influence on Richard’s writing. He has a new album out and we discuss where Ray’s presence might be felt. Nate talks about how he started his wo...

Anne Husick is our guest. She talks about growing up in New York but missing the entire early NYC punk scene because she went to Miami for college. She joined Band of Susans after being VERY persistent and almost immediately went on a European tour for six weeks with people she didn’t know. She reminisces about playing in an incredibly loud band with 4 guitars! She eventually left Band Of Susans t...

This is a very loose episode of Side Projects. After talking with my panel, which consists of Jimmy Gnecco from OURS, Chef Celina Tio of The Belfry in Kansas City & several Food Network competitions, and Astrid Young, Astrid suggested the three stages of drinking. It sounded like a fun challenge. We defined each stage for ourselves, chose a drink and a song, and attempted to explain them while dri...

Jimmy Gnecco joins me for this one. His voice is one of the most powerful instruments I’ve ever heard. But he didn’t start off singing. He started as a BMX racer. He got a sponsorship from TNT bikes but he also got hit by a car. Jimmy describes seeing the power of music as a kid and discovering his own voice in the studio with a Black Sabbath tribute band playing a Motley Crue song. The story of t...

Joe Cardamone joins us on this episode. Even as a kid, Joe was creative (his dad WAS a child actor). He started singing by humming the star wars theme during long car trips as a kid. And he found that art was very therapeutic for him; it’s been a driving force that has gotten him through some tragic times, including the deaths of two friends and band members. He started off as a punk kid in Kanker...

This episode is one of those that came about due to a prior guest. Scarlett Sabet introduced me to the band Modern Guilt. I listened to the singles and reached out to drummer Scott, Bassist Andreas, & singer/guitarist Jaz about doing the podcast. I’m so glad I did. The guys were so much fun to speak with. We discuss why it took a year to decide on a name, Andreas’ love of Kenny G, and how the one...

Jay Reifel returns with a menu based on a playlist sent by yours truly. There were no parameters other than to use a minimum of three songs. Jay reached into his historical bag of tricks and came up with a menu based on an event hosted by Roman Emperor Domitian, called The Black Dinner or alternately, The Dinner From Hell. Every course he served was black. In addition, the Senators in attendance d...

This week we take a left turn. I invited a chef to be my guest this week. His name is Jay Reifel and he just beat Bobby Flay! With a mincemeat pie. And that’s why I reached out. His supper club, Edible History, takes recipes from ancient manuscripts and recreates them to give diners a literal taste of history. But he didn’t start out as a chef. We talk about his early life, somehow dual enrolling...

Steve Dawson grew up listening to a transistor radio instead of satellite radio and streaming platforms. And that informs the music he writes today. After playing in Dolly Varden for years and releasing albums as a solo artist, Steve stepped away from music. But after taking a class with Richard Thompson and Patty Griffin, he felt the time was right to come back. Some of the work he created in tha...

Lizzie Edwards of Lizzie and The Makers is my guest. And we were having a really fun talk when we were interrupted by an uninvited guest. We were talking about music literally being in her DNA, how she had created and booked a blues festival, featuring her band, when everyone but Lizzie decided to quit two weeks before the show. That led to meeting Greg McMullen and the formation of Lizzie and The...

I am joined by singer, Kate Clark. She’s an up and coming country music star but she’s not exactly new to singing. Prior to her move to Nashville to concentrate on her music, she lived in LA, trying to learn everything she could about the entertainment business. She wound up being a body double for Scarlett Johansson and singing in the Pitch Perfect movies. And before that, she was a girl from Tex...

We chat with Alan Hewitt this week. Alan’s list of credits is too extensive to mention in a short podcast intro. But they include Earth, Wind, & Fire, The Moody Blues, Warrant, & The Grand Tour. He has written music that has appeared in critically acclaimed movies and TV series, played with Hall of Fame musicians, and released several solo albums. His new band is called One Nation and leans more o...

This episode I am honored to be joined by a great guitarist as well as an all-around great guy, Dave Weiner. Dave has been Steve Vai’s rhythm guitarist for many years. He shares how he met Steve and how Steve has helped him grow by keeping him out of his comfort zones. He also tells us the most important lessons he’s learned from Steve. Dave has released three solo albums (and already remastered o...

This is a Performance Anxiety Podcast first. We welcome Livio Ercoli of the punk band Round Eye. Round Eye is based in Shanghai China. But the band is not Chinese. It’s full of ex-pats. Livio talks about how he got to China from Italy and how he started playing music there. He talks about how things are changing there and not for the better. Livio tells a story about having a meeting with the Mini...

Mark Farner, formerly of Grand Funk Railroad, and currently part of Mark Farner’s American Band is hanging out with us this episode. His extensive career began after a football injury. He has a great technique for conditioning your brain to sing and play guitar at the same time.  After his time in other bands was over, Mark co-founded Grand Funk Railroad and had a harrowing trip to their first gig...

Welcome Scarlett Sabet to the podcast. She’s not a photographer, but she’s on the podcast because of one. When I had photographer Scarlet Page on the show, I mentioned that I loved this photo she had taken of a red headed young woman with the sun shining in the space between her arm and her face, partially obscuring her. It’s an incredible shot. She said, “That’s Scarlett Sabet. She’s an incredibl...

This episode I have put together a panel of creative people to discuss the effects of literature on popular music. I’m joined by artist Christa De Mayo, author Robert Duncan, and musicians Morgan Geer and Jordon Zadorozny. The ground rules were to pick two musicians who were influenced by literature and used it in their songwriting. The discussion quickly goes off on all kinds of tangents and ends...

I’m joined by the entirety of the band Kataan. That means I have two people on the show this time. Nick Thornbury of Vattnet Viskar and Brett Boland of Astronoid have joined forces to create a death metal EP. And it’s been a long time coming. It’s a great talk about their history, the band name, and the effect of context on our perception of people and music. And maybe doing a Def Leppard covers a...

Henry Frayne is a laid back guy! This is reflected in his music. It’s relaxed, thoughtful, and purposefully made. From Ack Ack, to Area, The Moon Seven Times to Lanterna, his guitar playing is clean and beautiful. He focuses on instrumentals that let your imagination work. He talks about his career, his trouble with Apple algorithms, and recreating songs from fragments on old cassettes. He also sh...

Post Punk legend and founder of The Membranes and Goldblade, John Robb. Before we go any further, the connection John and I had was not great. A million thanks to Jordon Zadorozny of Blinker The Star for helping to fix it as much as humanly possible. I’m releasing it, even with less than perfect audio because the conversation was great with some killer stories. John has been everywhere, done every...

We are joined by Pablo Alvarez of Good Bison. His story begins with his emigration from Colombia to Miami as a kid. He went from not speaking any English to freestyle rapping for 26 hours to set the Guinness World Record! Good Bison formed after Pablo’s original band, Dinosaurs ‘N Disasters fizzled out after moving from Miami to LA. After recording a Point Break themed album, they have a new EP co...

If you’re a fan of shoegaze, this show was meant for you. My guest is Moose McKillop of the shoegaze pioneers, Moose; but more recently of the non-supergroup, Piroshka. Moose is the band that spawned the term shoegaze. Or rather, the term was spawned during one of their first live performances. Moose talks about how the band changed their sound pretty early on, his longtime connection with Miki Be...