A-Sides

Recapping albums from May 2020, including American Aquarium, Butch Walker, and Jason Isbell's Reunions, Brent and Andy have a reunion of their own. Possibly fueled by too much caffeine, not only do they touch on the albums, but other topics are Taylor Swift's ABC Special, guitar tones, coffee beer, just how judgemental Andy really is, and how many times they've seen Jason Isbell in concert. Grab y...

Following up on conversations about record collecting and the creation of vinyl, I wanted to chat with Denny Smith, of Co-Op Records in Central Illinois. Denny takes a trip down memory lane and shares some stories from behind-the-counter, covering everything from 'midnight releases' to 'in-store appearances.' We even touch on the state of collecting and the decline of brick and mortar record shops...

Episode 24 features special guest, Daniel Dekay, host of Banger TV and guitarist for Exciter and Diemonds. Grab a cold one and hear some stories from him about his love for KISS and Megadeth, find out who controls the stereo in the tour van, and what he's been up to recently. You can find Daniel on all forms of social media, @daniel_dekay; watch him on BangerTV ; and stay up-to-date with his band...

Brent and Andy return to recap the month that was April 2020. This episode dives into new music from Soul Asylum, The Strokes, Incubus, Fiona Apple, and Danzig's Elvis cover album, while they also determine if Last Action Hero has one of the best rock n roll-centered movie soundtracks. Thanks for coming back for another round of A-Sides. You can find us and follow us on Instagram @asidespodcast an...

After diving into the hobby of collecting records, it seemed like a natural step forward to look at the overall design and production of what goes into making a vinyl record. Joining the show straight from "Detroit Rock City" is Scotty Hagen of Bellyache Records. Not only do we dive into the sweet origins of Bellyache Records, we ponder the probability of having Record Store Day in 2020, and discu...

Joining the show this week for a special interview is Nashville native and guitar great, Tony Higbee. He currently plays with Tom Keifer, Damon Johnson, and leads the band- The East Side Gamblers. We chat his Illinois roots, his extensive record collection, and new music on the horizon. You can find The East Side Gamblers' recent EP, The Big Machine, here or stream them on your favorite app. You c...

Back with another selection of new music, as we cover releases from Brian Fallon, Pearl Jam, In This Moment, and Testament. Along the way we question the need for so many musical sub-genres, ask ourselves if Pearl Jam is the biggest 'cult' band in rock music, and Andy realizes he needs more Testament in his life. Pop open your favorite beverage and join us for another round of A-Sides. You can als...

Since we can't escape discussing heavy metal on this show, we put ourselves to the task of ranking every Black Sabbath album featuring Ozzy Osbourne and listing our favorite songs of that era. Over the duration of this discussion we discovered some of Brent's parenting skills, Andy apologized to a coworker, a new phrase was created, and more self-discoveries were made. One thing's for sure is that...

A-Sides is back to basics as we are covering several new releases from the month of March, including Sin Shake Sin, Mandy Moore, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, The Rumours, and Lucifer. There's also a discussion on the recent Beasto Blanco show we attended, the current state of the world, and heavy metal. It wouldn't be a proper episode without some heavy metal talk, as we dabbled in Dio albu...

Let's rip!! A-Sides is back with another special guest, as we had the pleasure of sitting down with Brother Latham of Beasto Blanco ahead of their show in Moline, IL. We dipped into a little of Latham's background and what he's currently listening to, while the background music in the bar also played into our conversation. The band is currently out on the road and you can stay up to date on their...

We sat down with friends and musicians, John Massaglia, Brock Massaglia, and Jason McMichael, who comprise the new musical trio, The Truth Council. On the heels of their debut EP, 13 Degrees released on March 5, we gained some insight into their new songs, discussed the ongoing threat of the Coronavirus, a great venue called the Arcada Theater, what defines a millennial, and why musicians continue...

Attention Rock N Roll Rebels! A-Sides has crossed over the mountain and traveled to the centre of eternity to pay tribute to the Prince of Darkness in our latest episode. With the release of his new studio album, Ordinary Man, we thought it best to use this as an opportunity to discuss his entire solo catalog, as we ranked his albums and discussed our favorite songs, although Andy tried his best t...

Ahead of KISS rocking the Peoria Civic Center, we sat down to discuss several releases from the first half of February 2019- Green Day, John Moreland, The Cadillac Three, Stone Temple Pilots, Richard Marx, and Huey Lewis. We had our usual distractions along the way, including the non-make up era of KISS and vinyl vs CD collections. Pour yourself a glass of cold gin and enjoy this episode of A-Side...

Unlucky or not, A-Sides is back for Episode 13 with a discussion on new releases from Breaking Benjamin, Theory Of A Deadman, The Drive-By Truckers, and Lordi. Special thanks to Pier Lorenzo for the Lordi recommendation. Thanks for listening and you can find us on Instagram at @asidespodcast, Twitter, and Facebook . As always, A-Sides is shaken, not stirred. 

Fresh off our conversation with Damon Johnson, Brent and Andy are back to business... and business is good. On tap for this round are albums from Halsey, Sons of Apollo, Marcus King, Beach Slang, and a gem that Brent unearthed from Argentina- a band called Motorbooze. Thanks for listening and giving feedback. You can find us on Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter.

Hot off a show that melted the ice and snow when Damon Johnson and his power trio played Peoria, we sat down with the singer-songwriter to chat about his recent solo album Memoirs Of An Uprising. He gave us some insight on his song-writing process and also made some interesting parallels with Beyonce and David Bowie. Check out his website for tour dates and merch; also a big thank you to Damon, an...

Backtracking a little to cover some late-2019 releases, Brent and Andy discuss music from The Who and Harry Styles. There's also a few detours ranging from A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody to sharing our 'New Year Resolutions.' Raise your glasses to more great music in 2020 and thanks for coming back for more A-Sides. Find us on Facebook , Instagram @asidespodcast, and leave feedback.

Not only does this episode welcome a special guest to A-Sides, we also spent too much time pondering the question of how hard it is to motivate a motivational speaker. Friend and musician Denny Smith joins Brent and Andy in wrapping up the year that was 2019 with our favorite songs and albums, also listing our personal albums of the decade, while drawing a parallel between Sturgill Simpson and Pet...

Seasons Greetings from A-Sides as we dive into a few soon-to-be Holiday classics from Rob Halford and Kacey Musgraves. Along the way, we discuss the rising cost of concert t-shirts, our recent Record Store Day purchases, and what lengths our co-workers will go to in order to shut off music. Thanks for coming back, and as always, leave feedback on  Facebook  or find us on Instagram at @asidespodcas...

Before we feast on turkey, A-Sides has a feast of heavy metal discussion. We touch on Slayer's Final Campaign tour stop in Moline, the return of Motley Crue, new music from Ozzy, and which rock album was the top seller of this decade. And probably a couple albums from the bottom half of November 2019, Coldplay's Everyday Life and Beck's Hyperspace. Thanks for coming back, and as always, leave feed...

This 6th episode not only features a discussion on albums released in the first half of November 2019, but Andy brings more visual aids to a podcast, our imaginary band refuses to die, the documentary Echo in the Canyon gets mentioned, reminiscing on Black Sabbath's 2013 tour, and our ongoing search for sponsorship continues. Kick back as we run through new music from Highly Suspect, Jeff Lynne's...

Brent and Andy return for their fifth recording, this time discussing the bottom half of October 2019, which includes albums from Alter Bridge, Jimmy Eat World, Bad Wolves, and Neil Young. Andy's ideal heavy metal band gets name-dropped again, as well as which Stone Temple Pilots album is our favorite, and we discover Andy's sanity is dependent on the quality of the next Jimmy Eat World album. Gra...

The fourth episode brings us four more albums, with new releases from The Darkness, The Wildhearts, The Menzingers, and City and Colour. Besides that, we also dove into a discussion on Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and misleading band names, so give this episode a listen and see what the first half of October 2019 has to offer in the way of new music.

Third time might be a charm or we could have bit off more than we could chew with this batch of albums. We hit the last half of September 2019, discussing albums from Blink 1-82, Zac Brown Band, Steel Panther, Hell Yeah, and Sturgill Simpson, while also making connections to Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, and Chris Gaines. 

Brent and Andy are back with their second episode of "A Sides". This time they discuss albums from the first half of September 2019, which include releases from The Highwomen, Black Star Riders, Iggy Pop, Tom Keifer, Korn, and a re-issue of The Cult's Sonic Temple for it's 30th anniversary. Thanks for listening to the first outing and we hope you enjoy round two! Cheers!