Cover to Cover with Matt Tarka

Our guest today is one Keith Valcourt. Keith is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp. He is also the co-author of the forthcoming autobiography of 1980's new wave singer Dale Bozzio titled "Life Is So Strange: Missing Persons, Frank Zappa, Prince and more." Previously Keith worked as Global Project Manager for GeneSimmonsVault.com, an Artist Development rep at Capit...

Our guest today is a native of Winston-Salem, NC. He is one Mitch Easter, legendary front man of the acclaimed Let's Active and record producer at the Drive-In and Fidelitorium Recordings . For our listeners who might be unfamiliar with Mitch’s musical career to date … Easter formed Let's Active in 1981 and that same year, produced R.E.M.'s debut single "Radio Free Europe," which was issued on Joh...

Our guest today is one David “Vlad” Urban - Vocalist, Guitarist, and keyboard player in the Shoegaze / Postpunk trio - Waking Lily. He is also a member of the Experimental Electronic Dirge Duo known as Filament Band. For our conversation today, we are going to be discussing Daydream Nation : the 5th studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, which was released on Enigma Records on...

For today's episode we have a return guest, Mr. Derek Evry . Derek is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who has gone on to front several successful rock bands in the D.C. area (1999-2006) before briefly attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA (2006) and returning to D.C. to work on his own music. For our conversation today, we will be placing our focus on American musici...

We sat down to speak with artist Craig Patrick, who performs under the moniker Giants of Diving : a guitar-driven, synth-tinged, multi-hyphenated, indie-pop/rock with all vocals and instrumentation recorded by Patrick using a microphone, three guitars, a synthesizer, a laptop computer, a tangle of wires, and some very powerful audio recording software he barely understands. Craig is also a poet wi...

Our guest today is one Jon Garcia of Harrisburg, PA by way of Havre de Grace, MD. Jon is a musician and front man for the appropriately named pop rock outfit Jon Garcia & The Hopeless Romantics . We caught up with Garcia by telephone and discussed Switchfoot's fourth studio record Beautiful Letdown. There is an unmistakable passion in Garcia's voice when talking about a band that has had one o...

For our conversation today, Julia and I discussed the Dixie Chicks and their seventh studio album Taking the Long Way , which was released back in 2006 on Columbia Nashville. "The Chicks" as they are known today, received quite a back of backlash at this juncture of their career for their beliefs and their refusal to apologize or back down to anyone. This long-form interview with Julia is in the t...

In today's episode, we meet Hannah Garrison, President of Wear Your Music . WYM makes music memorabilia from used and donated materials in an effort to help green the music industry, connect fans to musicians and raise money for charities around the globe. In addition to her current entrepreneurial ventures, Garrison spearheads a success-accelerating consulting practice anchored by a team of entre...

In today's episode, we called up Liverpool, PA's Josh Engle. Josh plays guitar in two different bands, including Illusion of Solace and Elsewhere and owns the recording studio Native Studios . Elsewhere just released their second EP “ A Different Side of Fangs ” which you can find on all streaming platforms. And Illusion of Solace is currently in the middle of tracking vocals with a new vocalist f...

In this week's episode, we spoke with Mike Nealon of Queens, NY and discussed all things Oasis and their debut record "Definitely Maybe." The smash hit "Live Forever" is still Nealon's all-time favorite song and Definitely Maybe captures a hungry and energetic band poised and ready to take the world by storm. Enjoy!

In today's episode, we sat down to chat with guitarist/songwriter Matt Berry ( Classified Frequency ) about The Stereo's last LP titled Rewind + Record, which was released on Fueled by Ramen back in June of 2002. Many themes and musical moves are present on this record, but at its core is the belief in one's art and power of letting go of people or things that weigh you down. Fun Fact: Frontman Ja...

In today's episode, we called up musician and school teacher Brittany Valint ( Wall of Trophies and Brittany Jean) to discuss the debut album from songwriter Ben Kweller in 2002. That of course is Sha Sha, which recorded back in 2002 and released at ATO Records. This album is important to our guest as you will find out, whether it's recalling a memorable show, Kweller's heartfelt and at times off-...

In this week's episode, we speak with Gettysburg, PA's Adam Grabowski. Adam is a freelance drummer/live sound engineer/drum tech/freelance studio and mic engineer/ and host of the podcast, Backseat Playlist - dedicated to breaking down what influenced musicians, producers, engineers, techs, and artists to pursue the craft. Adam and I discussed Thrice and their seventh studio album Beggars, which w...

In this week's episode, we dialed up Jake Joyce from The Jake Joyce Band to talk about Bob Dylan's 1966 record Blonde on Blonde side by side. To paraphrase Barry Judd in High Fidelity: "You don't have Blonde on Blonde? * sigh* It's going to be okay."

Our guest this week is from the Hudson Valley in New York State. He is one James Hearne , formerly of The Way Home and who has recently released a new solo record under the moniker King Pine . We sat down one evening to discuss the late Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip and his 2001 debut solo LP Coke Machine Glow . Learn about the authentic coolness of Gord Downie as a human, his lyrical prowes...

Our guest today is American history teacher and musicologist Anthony Musumeci, as well a co-host of The Music Draft podcast. We discussed a living legend - songwriter Bob Dylan and his landmark album released on May 27, 1963 titled The Freewheelin', which was released on Columbia Records. This would be the first record from Zimmy to feature a generous breadbasket of original material that was prod...

New York City-based performer, songwriter, and theater-maker Angela Sclafani stopped by the program in late 2020 to discuss Fiona Apple and her fourth studio record The Idler Wheel. Idler Wheel was recorded in Los Feliz, CA and released back on June 19, 2012 on Epic/Clean Slate Records, and was produced by Fiona Apple and Charley Drayton. Enjoy! About the Artist Angela has independently recorded a...

Country recording artist Scott Kurt (of Scott Kurt and Memphis 59) stopped by the show to talk about Tom Petty's first solo record from 1989 titled Full Moon Fever! This was a pivotal source of inspiration for Scott as he began to embark on his musical journey during his formative years. Check out SK and Memphis 59's rendition of TP & The Heartbreakers “Christmas All Over Again” at the top of the...

Eric Taft is a producer, engineer and songwriter from Baltimore, MD. He works closely with both local and regional artists, helping them develop their sound and writing style. He has also worked with national artists such as Underoath, The Amity Affliction, Plain White T’s and Less Than Jake. Eric currently operates the Buzzlounge Recording Studio in Baltimore. In addition to studio work, Eric has...

DJ/Writer/Editor/Drum Monkey Sam Snow (of Ill Uma Naughty, Motion Quotient) is our guest on today's podcast. We sat down one morning to discuss in length Frederick, MD's Clutch and their eponymous 2nd album, Clutch. Clutch was recorded at Uncle Punchy Studios, Silver Spring, MD in Dec, 1994 – Jan. 1995. Sam & I dug deep into the lyrics and their allusions to conspiracy theories (JFK, Alien technol...

We dialed up Jim Logrando (Co-Founder of Craft Services and Manager of Punchline) to discuss the debut record from English glam rock band Spacehog - and their landmark released by Sire Records and Elektra. That of course dear listeners is Resident Alien. The album was certified gold on 29 July 1996 and included the hit single "In the Meantime." Jim takes us back to the origins of his love for this...

We recently made contact with Jules Haugen, Cleif Jarvinen, Horst Guomundurson, and Georg Guomundurson, who are members of an obscure and influential prog rock quartet from Scandinavia known as Kasvot Växt. Some say they do not exist, but does this audio recording suggest otherwise, my phriends? Kasvot Växt released one full-length record back in 1981 titled “í rokk” and recently re-surfaced into...

Our guest today is Chris Tondevold from the Ambition Radio podcast! We discussed The Doors compilation The Future Starts Here, which runs the gamut of the very best from Jim, Ray, John and Robby, plus a few surprise selections. What do The Doors represent to Chris? How did he get turned onto the band? Have a listen and enjoy!

Our guest today is Fredericksburg, VA’s EP Jackson from the band EP Jackson and The Last Well and Fill Your Boots Studio, also in Fredericksburg. We spent one morning this past July digging into The White Stripes and their 4th album Elephant. Elephant was released on April 1, 2003 and produced by Jack White through XL V2 and Third Man Records. Enjoy the conversation!

Today we have a guest who paid us a visit back in Episode 17. She is one Kerriann Curtis. Kerriann has created an Instagram series of paintings showcasing her own work titled Art for the Afterlife, which you should most certainly check out @ kerricurtisart . We discussed a piece of music by Mrs. Green Apple , a rock quintet from Tokyo. For our conversation, Kerriann has transcribed lyrics from Jap...