Badass Records

I'm very excited to share that Dr. Alberto Villamandos joined me for Episode No. 129, and we talked a little bit about life as Associate Chair and Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of World Languages & Cultures at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Go, Roos! We also talked about him being the recipient of the 2024 Chancellor's Award for Community Engagement. Dr. Villamandos...

Jeremy Clark of Tracer Heights was in the house for Episode No. 128, and dang it if it isn't always refreshing to chat with a fellow Phishhead. Trust me: I'm not trying to pigeonhole Jeremy or say that that's all there is to say about him. There's a ton more. Rare is the opportunity, though. Anyway...Jeremy's a son and a brother and a bandmate and one heck of a sharp dude; I really enjoyed getting...

Lauren Textor was my guest for Episode No. 127, and my mind is still reeling from everything that she has accomplished at such a young age. I have no real direct reason to be as proud of her as I am, but I am, nonetheless. And I truly feel that she is just getting started. There're a number of ways in which one could keep tabs on this daughter, sibling, writer, producer, girlfriend, lover of Irela...

Myla McCune, in all of her loveliness, graced me with her presence for Episode No. 126. She's a daughter and a sibling and a sculptor and a gal that's not afraid to take on challenges. You can find her on Instagram or at mylalamar.com , if you're interested in checking out her work or commissioning her to do a piece for you. Myla and I talked about school and art and family and growing up and gend...

Philip Clark is a son, a brother, a husband, a vinyl collector, and a music lover. He has hosted a radio show and a podcast, and has been a vocalist for B.A.T.S., The Dead Laughter, and Johnny Switchblade. He was also kind enough to be my guest for Episode No. 125 of Badass Records . Philip and I covered a decent amount of ground in just under two hours, and a good portion of that was centered on...

When Rich Wheeler shows up, shit gets weird. I'm kidding. I stole a version of that verbiage from a Facebook post from a few months back. A musician that had just gigged with Rich wrote it with high-praise-worthy intentions, and I loved the heck out of it. So, Mr. Wheeler was kind enough to lend me a portion of one of his Saturday afternoons not too long ago, and I was clumsy enough to screw up th...

As the beat goes on, I found myself lucky enough to sit down with Brian McCarty, and visit with him about his life and his journey as a musician. It's Episode No. 123, and this one was a treat. Please join me and Brian as we talk about his roles in The Matchsellers, Greg Blake & Hometown, plus his duo setup. We also poked around at family and growing up, the pursuit of dreams, happiness, and t...

Maura Dayton. Awesome human being. Maura -- in all of Maura's awesomeness -- is a daughter, a sister, a student, a bandmate, an expert in a good many things, and Maura's also my guest for Episode No. 122. Maura might've had the greatest set of parents in all of American rock 'n' roll parenting history. Who knows. Either way, Maura's a person that knows a thing or two about music, has passion for m...

I hate to sound repetitive with my gushing, but man was Episode No. 121 a treat. FK Menace came through and pulled no punches; we could've gabbed all evening. I can't describe how fun this was. What an amazing journey for an awesome dude that is legitimately living the dream. FK's a son, a brother, an artist, an activist, a DJ, a producer, and he's a guy you'd really struggle not to respect and ad...

Jackie Myers! Very excited to have met this lovely lady who's a highly educated human being, a professional pianist, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a dog lover, and a fantastic conversationalist. Mrs. Myers stopped by for Episode No. 120, and we talked family, the road, recording, writing, experimenting, gigging, and more. We also talked a little bit about a few of Jackie's favorite albums, and tho...

Damon Arredondo is a son, a brother, a father, an entrepreneur, a dreamer, a brewer, and -- based on the four hours I spent with him in my basement studio -- an amazing human being. He's the owner and founder of Rizoma Liquid Creations, and he's my guest for Episode No. 119. Damon and I talked about growing up, family, heritage and culture, parenthood, collaborations, mental health, and beer, to j...

Kathryn Hunter is a daughter, a sibling, a wife, and the proprietor of both Voodoo Hippie Girl's Free Spirited Threads and Wasted Land Apparel . She's a dye artist/designer, a brilliant mind, a lover of books and music, and she's my guest for Episode No. 118. Meeting Kathryn was a treat and sitting down with her to talk family, upbringing, and her passions was both enlightening and entertaining. A...

Mark Verbeck is a son, a brother, a husband, and a father. He's also a classically trained musician. He's one-half of Scotch Hollow, and he's my guest for Episode No. 117. Mark and I talked about that band life, how music's taken him from central PA to Nashville to Chicago, and finally to KC. We talked about gigging, recording, and how parenthood challenges each of those things. We also talked a l...

Chris Kinsley joined me for Episode #116, and our coming together for this conversation resulted via collaboration with Chris's band, Arson Class, Sid Sowder's toomuchrock.com , and myself. Sid's Too Much Rock project has a number of intriguing aspects to it, i.e. concert reviews, stills, and footage. It also has a weekly podcast that is rapidly approaching the 700-episode mark. More pertinent to...

When Tisha Cash told me she was on board to do an installment of Becoming a Swifty , I thought, Well, how cool is that ?! This is the third episode of this series and I've now done talks with someone from my personal life, a complete stranger, and now -- thanks to Tisha -- someone from the professional world. And what a fun chat it was. Tisha and I go back roughly a decade ago to the time when I w...

David Regnier was kind enough to share a portion of his Saturday with me, and together we recorded Episode #114, in which we talked a little bit about life, a little bit about doin' that live-music thang, and a little bit about a few of David's favorite records. Those were these: Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol II (1971) Exile on Main Street (1972), The Rolling Stones Ozzy Osbourne's Diary of a Mad...

I'm very pleased to welcome Sammy Sanchez back to the program for a record-setting fourth appearance on the Badass Records podcast. And none of our chats have been brief ones. Sammy initially came around for Episode No. 44, in which we discussed a few of his favorite records: Pink Floyd's Animals (1977), Rain Dogs (1985) by Tom Waits, and LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening (2010). For his second...

Zach Bauman joins me for Episode No. 112 of Badass Records , and we discussed a number of things in the world of photography. Please check out his Web site here , and consider giving him a follow on Instagram and/or Twitter . It was a pleasure meeting Zach and getting to learn a little bit about him, and -- while we were at it -- we talked about a few of Zach's favorite albums. They were these: Th...

Pleased to've met Brooke Kakfa as we sat down for Episode No. 111. Brooke is a daughter, a sibling, a friend to many, a lifelong musician, and a member of many bands. Find either her personal or her professional page on Facebook, give her a follow on Instagram , and be sure to check out her primary outfit's Web page , which -- if you happen to be reading this on the day it drops -- includes a Dame...

Mark Manning is a son, a brother, a partner, and -- based on the chunk of an evening I spent with him for Episode No. 110 -- one heck of a fine human being. He's also the host of the Wednesday MidDay Medley on KKFI, 90.1 FM here in Kansas City, so please consider tuning in to his progrum. This came up in our conversation and bears repeating here: Mark gets it. He understands what good content shou...

It's Episode #109 and -- as is often the case -- I'm very excited to have a return guest join me for a conversation. Not only was this time no exception, this time was a visit I was really thrilled about, in that it was MABkc back to chew the fat with me about his new release, 90's Baby . If you missed the first go-'round with MAB, please consider checking out Episode #49, and if you like(d) what...

Brad Smith stopped by to record Episode No. 108 with me, and it was an absolute treat to meet/get to know him. I'm excited for you to get to know him a bit, too, but before you dive in to our lovely conversation, please know that you can catch his band, Eggs on Mars, tomorrow (Friday, March 8th, 2024) at Hillsiders in KCK. That's in Strawberry Hill, specifically at 403 N. 5th Street. And if you ca...

Thirty episodes ago, that week's guest discussed with me the notion of this podcast being a one-man weekly endeavor. "That's a grind, man," he said. "That's a grind." He was right when he made that comment, and it made me realize that that was a good summation of what the thing had been to that point. And it hasn't changed. It really is a grind to do the outreach and the scheduling, the interviewi...

Pleased as punch to have had Kirstie Lynn join me for Episode No. 106 of Badass Records , and I'm just as excited to have you check out our conversation. I ran into Kirstie in the ol' downtownage, and -- before I knew it -- we were swapping e-mail messages in order to get this chat on the books. She's a classically trained opera singer, a songwriter, a musician, a live-music performer, a veteran o...

Sid Sowder! Episode No. 105! Too Much Rock! Wow! So much coolness. I was honored to meet and visit with Mr. Sowder, who has been doing his Kansas City music-community thing for a quarter of a century! Insane! Too Much Rock is his Web site , and I would really appreciate it if you would check it out. Even if just for a moment. He shoots concerts and curates his footage and images from numerous loca...