The Double Stop

Joey Tafolla discusses his life and career. From his early days learning guitar (and his highly musical family), to the record label he co-founded at 19, on again/off again (and now currently on again!) history with Jag Panzer, his solo shredder career with Shrapnel Records (and work with Tony MacAlpine), giving guitar lessons to Buckethead, his tour with the Michael Sweet solo band, and his upcom...

Wyn Davis walks us through his career, from his early days in production, to working with Dokken, Dio and Foreigner. We learn how he became Ronnie James Dio's favorite recording engineer, and shares his experiences working with Heaven & Hell.

Jonathan Mover (GTR, Joe Satriani, Fuel, Saigon Kick) discusses his life and career. From his training a first bands to his work with GTR, Joe Satriani, Aretha Franklin, Fuel and Matt Kramer. He also covers how he started playing with Saigon Kick and also discusses his magazine - Drumhead Magazine.

Mike Fraser discusses his career, from how he got his start with Bob Rock and Bruce Fairbairn, to his first big break with Aerosmith, working with Jimmy Page on the Coverdale - Page cd, AC/DC on The Razors Edge (and iconic guitar parts on Thunderstruck), Blue Murder, The Power Station, Joe Satriani, Chickenfoot, and the new AC/DC cd Rock or Bust.

In Part 2 with Eric Martin (Mr Big) he discusses the first Mr. Big tour with Rush, the success of Lean Into It, the refomation in the 90's with Richie Kotzen, the reunion with all original members, the Mr. Vocalist series of cds in Japan, and he announces his new project with Warren DeMartini (Ratt).

In Part 1 of my 2 part interview with Eric Martin (Mr. Big), he shares how he got his start in music, and discusses his early solo albums "Sucker For A Pretty Face", "Eric Martin" and "I'm Only Fooling Myself". Eric also covers his contribution to the Teachers soundtrack (a song he wrote with Neal Schon from Journey), as well as his near miss in Toto. We discuss the formation of Mr. Big (and the r...

Sean McNabb walks us through his entire career - from his early days to his first big break in Quiet Riot, he explains it all. He covers his time in House of Lords, Great White, Dokken, Burning Rain and now Lynch Mob. He also discusses his solo single "Fresh Air" where he is in singer/songwriter mode, and reveals Burning Rain's plan to hit the studio and record a new cd for Frontiers Records.

Andrew McNeice discusses the history of MelodicRock.com - one of the first hard rock/melodic rock news sites on the net. He discusses how and why he started the site, its growth, his music festivals, his record label and the current state of the music business.

Ken Mary (House of Lords, Alice Cooper, Impellitteri, Kip Winger) walks us through his career, starting with his early days, his first band (Fifth Angel), his time with Alice Cooper in the 80's, recording early demos with Kip Winger and Paul Taylor, the formation of House of Lords (and why he left after the Sahara tour), his first solo project - Soul Shock Remedy and the House of Lords reunion alb...

Tom Werman walks us through his legendary producing career, from Cheap Trick to Motley Crue, and Twisted Sister to Dokken. He talks about his early days in music, and his rise to famed music Producer multiple hit records under his belt. He also addresses criticism by Cheap Trick, Twisted Sister and Motley Crue over his production style, and discusses his challenges working with George Lynch on the...

Spencer Proffer discusses his early days, and how he went from law school to record producer. From his early works with Billy Thorpe and Tina Turner to his number one smash "Metal Health" with Quiet Riot, Spencer covers it all. We also discuss working with WASP on their "The Last Command" album as well as his transition into film, and his current projects with Meteor 17.

Mark Slaughter (Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent Invasion) discusses his career - from starting in Xcursion, to joining Vinnie Vincent Invasion - to striking out (and finding huge success) with Slaughter. He goes into detail on the first two Slaughter records and discusses his new solo record - Reflections In A Rear View Mirror.

Carmine Appice walks us through his entire career - from early days learning drums (and helping his brother Vinnie) to early success with Vanilla Fudge and Cactus. He also covers working with Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart and Ozzy Osbourne. We also take a look at his 80/90's bands King Cobra, Blue Murder (and clears up the details of his involvement with the 2nd album Nothin' But Trouble) and supergroup...

Rowan Robertson (Dio, DC4, Bang Tango) walks us through his career – from joining Dio at only 17 years old, to having his album with Oni Logan (Violets Demise) shelved – all the way up to current projects such as DC4 and Bang Tango. From the writing sessions for “Lock Up The Wolves” to preparing for his years Monsters of Rock cruise, it’s all covered. Buy Rowan Robertson music on iTunes    

Jeff LaBar (Cinderella) tells us about his early days and early bands. He explains how he got the gig in Cinderella, and the recording of Night Songs, Long Cold Winter, Heartbreak Station – and how the changing musical climate affected Still Climbing. He also discusses Tom Keifer’s vocal problems and their failed recording contract with Sony in the late 90’s. He also talks about his new solo EP On...

Joey Allen (Warrant) gives us a full overview of his career. He discusses the early days of Warrant, and their heyday in the late 80’s. He also shares why he left the band after Dog Eat Dog, what he did in the years before his return, reflects on Jani Lane, and looks forward to the next cd, and when that will be recorded.

Jeff Watson (Night Ranger, Mother's Army, Solo) comes out of hiding (he's a self-proclaimed hermit!) and discusses his life and career in this special 50th episode of The Double Stop. He explains his early days, and learning guitar. He covers the formation of Night Ranger and walks us through their early albums and eventual break-up. He discusses his first solo album, Lone Ranger, as well as Mothe...

Richie Kotzen returns for another episode of The Double Stop. He discusses his new cd "Cannibals", along with everything that went into making it. He also discusses his creative process, the recent Grammy awards - and his frustration with the current state of music.  

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal joins us to discuss his history, and how he went from dropout to professor. He discusses his early records on Shrapnel (at the height of grunge), learning to play fretless guitar, and how he started his DYI approach. He talks about his 911 charity album, his experiment releasing a single a month over the course of a year, a little bit of Guns N' Roses, plus Art of Anarchy and...

Dave Rude (Tesla, Dave Rude Band) discusses how he got started as a guitarist and singer, and we learn how he got his big break with Tesla (it's really rather remarkable luck!). He discusses the making of Tesla's Real to Reel, Forever More and Simplicity. As well as the Dave Rude Band self-titled release, plus "Carry Me Home" and "The Key". He also gives his thoughts on Spotify, discusses a possib...

In this final episode from NAMM 2015, Jordan Rudess (Dream Theatre) demos his Jordantron iPad app through an Xkey mini keyboard, Michael Tobias explains what's new at Michael Tobias Design for 2015, Gerald Marleaux tells us about Marleaux Bass Guitars, Brian tells us about Sterling by Music Man and Zach discusses Italia Guitars.

David Ellefson ( Megadeth ), Rudy Sarzo ( Quiet Riot, Whitesnake ), Jason Hook ( Five Finger Death Punch, Mandy Moore ), Phil X ( Triumph, Bon Jovi, The Drills ), Nita Strauss ( Alice Cooper ) and Director Fran Strine talk about the in-production documentary Hired Gun, and what it means to be a hired gun musician. Plus, Phil X gives tribute to bassist Randy Coven.

Day 1 of my NAMM report with interviews with: - Carvin Guitars - Vigier - EarthQuaker Devices - Tascam - Yorkville Sound - Kurzweil - Artizan Bass Works Plus: coverage of the Peavey 50th Anniversary celebration, and new music by Blasted To Static featuring Jeff Martin (Racer X, Badlands)

Robert Sarzo (Hurricane, Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche, Solo) talks about his life and career. He discusses his early days in Cuba, and coming to America when he was 6, his early bands with his brother Rudy, his early recordings and tours (and working with Jimmy Iovine and Bob Seger), his experience working with Ozzy Osbourne right after the death of Randy Rhoads, the formation of Hurricane and the mak...

Chris Collier (Engineer, Mixer, Mastering Engineer - KXM, Lynch Mob, Prong) joins us to discuss his career to date. He covers how he got into the business, how he ended up drumming on a Lita Ford cd, Working with Lynch Mob on the "Sound Mountain Sessions" and "Sun Red Sun", and working with Travers & Appice, Prong ("Ruining Lives" and the upcomming covers cd "Songs From The Black Hole", KXM, and L...