Pickathon Podcast

This week on the Pickathon podcast, at the top Zale talks about the mental aftermath of putting on an independent music festival, and delves deep into the necessity for honest feedback in order to hedge on and improve in just about every aspect of life. Zale then sits down with Michael Ruth, virtuoso and founding member of the band Rich Ruth, where they discuss the value of culture through the art...

On this week's episode of the Pickathon Podcast, at the top it's our first interview since the last day of the festival and Zale is blown away, and very thankful. Zale then sits down with Jared, Kristen and Eric of The Shivas to discuss the merits of growing up in a band, finding your voice, and what it takes to continue to respect and appreciate one another after working together for so long. Che...

On this week's episode of the Pickathon Podcast, at the top Zale taps into the elements of traditional genres such as bluegrass, Irish folk, American blues, etc... Then Zale sits down with founding member and lead guitarist of GA-20, Matthew Stubbs, to discuss the raw nature and soul behind Chicago blues, as well as give some shoutouts to contemporary blues musicians touring the US today.

In this episode of the Pickathon Podcast, at the top Zale discusses the history, arc, and malleability of the genre that we know today as indie rock. Zale is then joined by Karly Hartzman of Wednesday to discuss the misconceptions of how to break into the industry, and what it means to harness your sound, and how to maintain authenticity and not let external forces determine what your music "shoul...

In this week's episode of the Pickathon Podcast, at the top Zale talks about getting ready for Pickathon, and the impact of being in the moment of it all. Zale then sits down with the immensely talented harpist and singer-songwriter, Mikaela Davis, to discuss the importance of grinding away at your passion, playing with the best bandmates in the world, touring the world at a young age, and all the...

In this week's episode of the Pickathon Podcast, Zale talks about the eclectic tastes of Pickathon throughout the years. For our guest, Zale is joined by Bass Wizard McPluckerton, Andrew Randazzo, of Butcher Brown, who graciously slaps a funky little ditty on his way in, and discusses the merits of musical influences, how those inspirations can span in all directions, and what it means to bring th...

This week on the Pickathon Podcast, at the top Zale gives all sorts of shoutouts to the massive amount of talent that has graced the stages of Pickathon over the years, and the impact their success has had on the festival as a whole. Then, Zale sits down (across the ether) with the founding memeber of Hooveriii, Burt Hoover, to discuss the importance of your local library (aka record shops), and t...

In this episode of the Pickathon Podcast, at the top Zale talks about how generating work from what you love can be more rewarding than it sounds. And today we have Ryan Kaiser from the sensational band, Yot Club, to discuss how he also was thrusted into fame, awkward industry lunches, turning your hobby into a job, and how he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Tune in, young artists. Th...

In this episode of the Pickathon podcast, at the top Zale talks us through the leaps and bounds that the Pickathon team have made to curate THE BEST Pickathon ever this year. Zale then sits down with the ever-inspiring, vivacious, and one the most creative spirits of their generation, Brittany Davis. Brittany saddles us up for the story of a lifetime, and gives us a good lesson in the power of a t...

In this episode of the Pickathon Podcast, Zale talks about Pickathon's survival during the COVID pandemic, and the impact it had on the world of live music. For our esteemed guests, Zale sat down with Kevin Murphy, Chris King, and Seth McDonald of the super group Small Paul to discuss how the pandemic inspired them to combine their musical strengths, how teamwork makes the dream work, and the valu...

In a much anticipated interview, Zale talks to Courtney Marie Andrews, one of the finest musical voices of her generation. Andrews discusses her early stint with Jimmy Eat World

This week on the Pickathon Podcast, Zale is joined by the legendary soul artist, Lee Fields, who with a career spanning nearly five decades, continues to bring the soul of the '60s and '70s to the 21st century. As Zale delves into the power of a musical voice, Fields regails us with his astounding brushes with titans of the industry, and how connecting with your audience often requires both a know...

WITCH, one of the seminal forces behind the Zamrock genre, has held a career in rock music that dates back over fifty years. In this epic episode of the Pickathon podcast, Zale is joined by WITCH's legendary founding member Emmanuel "Jagari" Chanda, and WITCH's newest bassist, and synth rock wizard, Jacco Gardner, to talk about overcoming adversity, and standing up for yourself to realize your dre...

Zale discusses why collaboration is a magic ingredient in making an immersive music festival special, scalable, and sustainable.  The incredible story of the PSU School of Architecture is given as an example, where graduate students utilized diversion architecture to build the award-winning Treeline and Cherry Hill stages at Pickathon.  WHIMZ joins the conversation and explains how collaboration w...

Zale discusses the ins and outs of why Pickathon is often called the anti-festival.  The Kernel joins the conversation and we dive deep into what it was like growing up around the grand old Opry with his dad and how he became one of the greatest modern country songwriters alive. 

Zale discusses how time and learning from mistakes are the essential ingredients in building vibrant festival volunteer communities. Pachy Garcia joins the conversation to talk about how Pachyman is bringing the sounds of classic Dub music to a new generation of music lovers.

Zale tells a brief overview of the history of the Pickathon festival. Isabel Dammann, from Sprig of That, joins the conversation and shares stories about watching Lake Street Dive bring down the house at Pickathon 2014, her "Portland Famous" dad, and why a violin, guitar, and Tabla drum is the perfect ensemble to explore Northern European fiddle styles, modern American string music, and the "indie...

Zale discusses how Pickathon became the first American music festival to eliminate all plastic and single-use dishware.  Nick Shoulders joins the conversation to talk about growing up in Arkansas, sustainability in music, fireworks naval battles, and how he learned to be the best yodeling country singer alive.  The show finishes with Zale and Nick playing a song together.

Zale discusses the design principles behind how Pickathon reimagines the music festival experience and how it relates to the birth of the Pickathon Podcast.  MØTRIK joins the conversation and we dive deep into the world of Krautrock.