Booked On Rock

This episode’s guests are rock n roll photographer John Rowlands and author Bob Klanac. They have a new book called Shooting Stars, Telling Tales: Behind the Lens of John Rowlands. John is a legendary rock and roll photographer. As a teen, he toured with the Dave Clark Five, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. He’s photographed David Bowie, the Who, Rush, Kiss, Sam Cooke, Linda Ronstadt, Jimi Hen...

Author Alan Byrne is a first-time guest. He has a new book on the late great Phil Lynott called  Philip Lynott: Renegade . This is a brand new edition of the book originally released in 2012. It’s the story of the pioneering Irish musician, from his early days on his beloved Dublin music scene through the adventurous days of Thin Lizzy, the band he led for thirteen years. Once mainstream success c...

It’s another chapter in The Dialogue Series - A chill ‘n chat with authors, fellow podcasters, musicians, and more. My guest is Jeff Goebel. Jeff is an accomplished guitarist who performs about 200 gigs a year with multiple bands, including Retro Rock Revival, Plan B, and the Huntstville-Alabama based Van Halen tribute band Forever Unchained. Jeff is a huge Van Halen fan. He hosts the show Van Hal...

This episode’s guest is Cary Baker. He is the author of the new book  Down On The Corner: Adventures In Busking & Street Music. This is the story of music performed on the streets, in subways, in parks, in schoolyards, on the back of flatbed trucks, and beyond, from the 1920s to the present day. Anyone who has lived in or traveled through a city will have encountered street musicians of one ki...

A first-time guest on the podcast, Chris Kocher is here to talk about his new book Thank You For The Days: Fans Of The Kinks Share 60 Years Of Stories. In Thank You for the Days, fans from around the world share how The Kinks have inspired and shaped their lives. From unforgettable concerts and offstage encounters to enduring friendships forged through a shared love of the music. Whether you're a...

Ross Warner is making his first appearance on the podcast. Ross is the author of the brand new book  American Standard: Cheap Trick from the Bars to the Budokan and Beyond. Warner tells the unlikely story of the band’s path to greatness, from their origins in Rockford, Illinois to their massively successful live album At Budokan to the many, many ups and downs that followed. This is a rollicking t...

Back with another chapter in The Dialogue Series - A chill ‘n chat with authors, fellow podcasters, musicians, and more. Our guest is musician and music journalist Tom Guerra. Since the late 1970s, Guerra has been a popular guitarist on the New England club circuit, playing with a host of leading blues, rock n’ roll, and R&B acts. Influenced by Rory Gallagher, Paul Kossoff, Jimmy Page, Keith R...

Author Peter Ames Carlin is a first-time guest. Peter’s latest book is  The Name of This Band Is R.E.M.: A Biography . In the spring of 1980, a unique group of musical eccentrics performed for the first time at a college party in Athens, Georgia. Within a few years, R.E.M. achieved global success with records like Document , Green ,  Out of Time , Automatic for the People , and Monster . The band'...

Author Robert Boyd is this episode’s guest. He is the author of Before the Storm: The Formative Years of America's Last Great Band . Late in the last century, deep in the Pacific Northwest amongst the economic and psychological hardships of one town, America's last great band was born - Nirvana. The band's leader, a young introvert with superior songwriting talents, slowly molded a style inspired...

My guest is Allan Kozinn. He and Adrian Sinclair are the authors of The McCartney Legacy Volume 2: 1974-80 . This is the follow-up to the first volume covering 1969 to 1973. The second volume continues to paint the portrait of one of the world’s greatest musicians, his work post-Beatles, and his life from 1974 to 1980.  By 1974 the Beatles were a distant memory, and Paul McCartney had already gone...

Fifty years ago, in the fall of 1974, Bon Scott and AC/DC joined forces. They began building the foundation for what would go on to become one of the world’s biggest rock and roll bands. With Bon, they reached the height of their commercial success thanks to the multi-platinum-selling 1979 album Highway To Hell. After Bon’s untimely death, Brian Johnson stepped in as lead singer, and with 1980’s B...

Don't care all that much for new music these days? You're not alone and our guest is going to explain why. On the podcast is author David Rowell. His book is titled  The Endless Refrain: Memory, Nostalgia, and the Threat to New Music. The veteran music journalist argues that the rise of music streaming and the consolidation of digital platforms is decimating the musical landscape, with dire conseq...

Author Tim Durling is back, this time to talk about his new book  Red On Black: A Listener’s Guide to Sammy Hagar . Tim tackles the discography of the Red Rocker from his 1976 solo debut  Nine on a Ten Scale through 2022’s  Crazy Times. A ll of Sammy’s solo albums are extensively reviewed. He also has sections on Montrose, Van Halen, and Sammy's supergroup Chickenfoot. Whether it’s Sammy and the W...

Returning to the podcast is Greg Prato. He’s just released his latest book titled  Led Clones: The Led Zeppelin Imitator Craze of the '80s...and Beyond . Few bands in rock history have proven to be as enduring and influential as Led Zeppelin. And during the '80s, there was an overabundance of "Zeppelin disciples," or, as guitar great Gary Moore once put it, Led Clones. This is the first-ever book...

Author Jeff Apter is back for his third appearance on the podcast. He’s just released the book Carl Perkins: The King of Rockabilly . The definitive and fascinating biography of the musical trailblazer who wrote the classic “Blue Suede Shoes” and was the influence behind countless other legendary hits, a rock and roll legend in his own right, and the original rockabilly cat—Carl Perkins. The artis...

This episode’s guest is Eric Drooker, the author of the new graphic novel titled Naked City . On the edge of the city, three bohemians struggle to answer the question:  “Is it possible to survive as an artist in the 21st-century?” A young singer with no family hitchhikes to the city and sings her heart out. Late one night she encounters a street dancer who inspires her to have faith in her music n...

Martin Popoff returns! His latest book is Judas Priest: Album By Album . Martin pays tribute to Judas Priest’s discography through a series of in-depth and fascinating conversations about all 19 of the legendary British heavy metal band’s studio albums. He gathers together musicians and metal journalists who offer insights, opinions, and anecdotes about each release. The interviewees include names...

Gary Graff is a returning guest. He’s the author of the new book 501 Essential Albums of the '90s: The Music Fan's Definitive Guide. Graff leads a cast of fellow music journalists in presenting the music of everyone’s favorite decade…the last decade before the proliferation of social media and digital downloads. With lively descriptions of the releases and over 600 images, this hefty 448-page volu...

Author Chris Sutton returns to the podcast. He’s here to talk about his latest book Sparks 1969 to 1979: Every Album, Every Song . It’s part of Sonicbond’s On Track series. Beginning as a five-man band, the duo of Ron and Russell Mael retained the name and spent much of the seventies working with a succession of sidemen and collaborators. They ended the seventies on a high note with the collaborat...

Author Suzanne Mattaboni is this episode’s guest. She recently released the second edition of her novel,  Once In a Lifetime , a coming-of-age story set in the mid-1980s against a backdrop of vibrant music and art. The main character, an ambitious, new wave-influenced art student from Long Island who’s dying to kick-start her career—and her love life for that matter. She’s saving to get overseas t...

Pete Prown is the author of  The Ultimate Book of Blues Guitar Legends: The Players and Guitars That Shaped the Music . It features over 150 of the genre’s greatest players and performers from the prewar era to present. From blues pioneers like Robert Johnson, Son House, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Memphis Minnie to today’s hottest guitar slingers like Derek Trucks, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., a...

Robert Lawson is the author of the brand-new book  Solidarity Forever: The Art and Soul of Stevie Van Zandt . As soon as he heard Van Zandt's debut solo album Men Without Women in early 1983, Robert was completely devoted to every note. He first met Van Zandt backstage on his Voice Of America solo tour in 1984, and has kept in touch with him ever since. He's now doing a serious deep dive to defini...

Back in June, I had author David Cain on to tell us about his book Infinite Dead: A Daily Guide to Grateful Dead Concert Performances Volume 2: July . I wanted to have him back on to talk about the first volume, which covers all the Dead shows during October. David made some time to come back on and I’m so glad he did. Very few bands deserve an in-depth look at a band’s live show, the Grateful Dea...

James Romag is the author of  J. Geils Band: Every Album, Every Song . Part of Sonicbond’s On Track... series of books, it's a comprehensive overview of every track on Geils' 11 studio albums, with a look at their official live releases and a rundown of the musicians' projects beyond the band. Jim and I talk about the book and get into the classic albums including Full House , Bloodshot , Love Sti...

Chris MacDonald is a first-time guest to the podcast. He’s the author of the new book Days and Days: A Story about Sunderland's Leatherface and the Ties That Bind . Days and Days weaves together two stories. One is a tale of friendship and self-discovery that occurs during a backpacking adventure through England, Scotland, and Ireland. The other celebrates the highly influential yet underestimated...