Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Foreigner guitarist Bruce Watson was having a better hair day, finished his crisp white shirt with a black jacket (I’d intended to do in kind with mine, but I was rushing and couldn’t get my cuffs through my sleeves), and surrounded himself with cool guitars and warm lights. Rockstar! I dig the cut of his jib. Almost as much as I appreciate how accessible, down-to-earth, humble, and lovely he is....

It turns out it’s not all about the bass when talking with my hero, iconic legend, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Jack Casady, of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. We did a deep dive into Jack’s family history, which is documented back to 1600s America on one side. There’s Irish, there’s Jewish, smoked whitefish on Sunday mornings whilst being raised Protestant. There are stories aplenty of Jac...

Post-election 2024 started out somber, weepy, and kind of hopeless for many of us. Thank goodness for my old pal, singer/songwriter/producer, Steve Postell. A long-time news junkie, he determined this day he was through. He pulled me and the rest of us out of the muck––back into the music, art, and the land of the living. We processed together a bit first and then shifted gears with Steve singing...

Dan Navarro Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson They say you can never go home- they didn’t have their old pal Dan Navarro on their show––took me right back to shared memories with Chloris Leachman in the living room, the Mets winning a 2015 playoff game at Dodger Stadium (unlike today), seeing Lori Lieberman at The Grammy Museum, Mike Finnegan at The Levitt Pavilion, NAMM hangs, my book laun...

Dee Wallace Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Dee Wallace has been a literal life changer for me, let alone a game changer in the business of show and as a self-creation healer. We signed up for a session as soon as I got off the interweb tonight. I’ve been employing Dee’s techniques since first we met at Women Who Write in 2011. I got refresher courses every time she came back to the livin...

My crush on William Katt began decades ago with the tumbling blonde spirals of Tommy Ross in Carrie, the close-cropped Sundance, to the shorter golden curls of Pippin… it wasn’t just the hair, of course… that face, the smile, his voice… the whole damn package. Like millions of other baby boomers, he had us swooning for years. How lovely to sit down with Bill, these almost 50 years later, to discov...

Narada Michael Walden Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Wow! I’ve seen hundreds of photos, loads of videos - I’ve never seen Narada Michael Walden in an orange bowler. When was the last time I wore orange? InSync! From the first moment to the last, what a glorious, grateful, exuberant lovefest. Narada is as passionate, fun, inviting, and accessible as his music. We talked about his first pa...

Jorma Kaukonen Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Let your fingers do the running to the play button. Please! One of the greatest, funnest, most illuminating conversations I’ve had the privilege to share, Jorma Kaukonen, iconic legend, musical hero, rock god, (I mean, come on!) exceeded all expectations and then some. From early days in Pakistan with one pop 45 to Ricky Nelson, and Buddy Hol...

Rumer Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson It had been too long, too many years, since I’d last seen Rumer, whom I first heard about through our mutual friend, the late, J Marshall Craig a decade ago. As soon as I had my first taste I became obsessed with her and made it my quest to have her sing in my living room. I saw her perform at a benefit concert for Jeff Jones about 10 yrs ago and vowe...

Ritch Shydner Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson - Part Deux Ritch Shydner could come back every week and we’d never run out of things to discuss, it would always be entertaining, and he’d always be funny. Co-host! There are no accidents. Losing his signal last week on the road in Georgia was a blessing. We got a Shydner double dip. This conversation with the standup comedian who holds the d...

Ritch Shydner Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Well, that was a first! On the road with Ronna and Ritch Shydner as they traveled from Florida back home to North Carolina. Literally, in the car, in the fading light, in rural Georgia, with intermittent signal. It was as much a surprise to me as to you! Kinda like doing an interview in a disco with strobe lights. Trooper Ritch didn’t want to...

Will Lee Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Head to head with the DNC, two news junkies didn’t walk into a bar but did get lost in conversation and fun. It’s easy when one of them is Grammy Winner, crazy talented, lovely, humble human, Will Lee. It’s been a few years and a world of changes since last we spoke, this time focusing on the road to sobriety, many moons ago, what led there, the pr...

Josh Sussman on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson What fun, as I expected! What edutainment, that I couldn’t have anticipated! We got the inside scoop on the differences of the pre and post-pandemic biz scene from SAG Award Winner, Josh Sussman. Fascinating, insightful, delightful! Booking his first audition for My Crazy Life, playing Tom Green’s best friend, Derek, who ironically, my wasband worke...

Cathy Moriarty Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Girl Crush! I’ve had one for years on Academy Award Nominee, Cathy Moriarty, now after spending a virtual hour with her, forgetaboutit! I always knew she was an incredible actress, whether making me laugh or cry, but, what an amazing woman… mother, daughter, loyal friend, and pet rescuer. We talked the Bronx, where we both come from, Alexande...

Greg Mullavey on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson When one of my life’s heroes walks off the screen into the reals and supersedes all expectations, that’s a home run. So goes it with Mary Hartman Mary Hartman’s, Greg Mullavey. I got a taste interviewing him on the Zoom a few years ago, but this go ‘round witnessing him honoring his craft onstage at The Garry Marshall Theatre as Jules Feiffer, in T...

Peter Onorati Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson SO FUN! Spending time with Peter Onorati is like going out in the bright sunshine after a month in a dark cave. Such joy! We talked Italy and the wondrous vacation he treated his immediate family to visiting their extended family in towns I’ve never heard of and can’t begin to pronounce. But, I wanna go! Then there was Ravello, Positano, SWAT...

Snuffy Walden Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Lemonade! That’s what you get when you take a brilliantly talented, supportive beau, and the greatest, most fun-loving, and devoted co-commiserators on the planet and mix them together on what could have been a rough one. My gratitude is boundless. What fun this was! It helps when said Beau is Emmy Award-Winning Composer, Snuffy Walden, even t...

Oh, what crazy fun! Melanie Taylor who’s sung with pretty much everybody who’s anybody is such an absolute blast, joy, whip-smart, street-smart, soulful, intuitive, talented, informative, unabashedly opinionated and dare I say… right… at least, right on! We started with traveling the world, and how Mel’s work, touring, has enabled her to do so, more to the point, how to pack, and what… I was schoo...

Tom Bergeron on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson What a blast to sit down again with the just honored inaugural recipient of The Sam Rubin Award from The Critics Choice Association and Emmy-Winner, Tom Bergeron. The humble humanitarian was as funny and feisty as ever regaling us with one show biz gold story after another and commanding us to Google what he deemed unworthy of repeating (why he left...

Thaao Penghlis Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Looking as fit, youthful, and handsome as ever, thrice Emmy nominated, Thaao Penghlis, was a model of class, sophistication, charisma, and information. As has always been the case, the conversation flowed and the time flew. We talked about Thaao’s travels to Egypt and Greece, how to best visit his family’s homeland, The Lost Treasures, his po...

Susan Seidelman Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson I’ve been desperately seeking Susan Seidelman for 14 years… some things, some Susans, are worth waiting for! Loved every second with this film maverick whom I’ve admired since we were both kicking around Greenwich Village, kinda “bad girls,” who looked, good. There’s so much common thread (well, except the whole success thing), as Susan poin...

Toto’s Joseph Williams Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson Hold the line! What a way to reenter this arena - with arena rockstar Joseph Williams of Toto! I had the best time - can’t stop smiling. Joseph could not have been more accessible, personable, humble, willing, thoughtful, informative… entertaining, and warm––like a fuzzy blanket on a cool summer night. Just loved every minute. I watch...

I’m filled to the brim with love, compassion, and inspiration. I so enjoyed every moment in Lydia Cornell’s most excellent company. A strong, talented, generous, capable woman, who knows who she is, where she’s been, and where she wants to be, allowing for godshots that may alter her future at any turn, AFI Best Actress nominee and People’s Choice Award winner Lydia, best known for her starring ro...

Rick Vito Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson What a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon. Grammy-nominated guitarist, singer, and producer, Rick Vito, probably best known as a member of Fleetwood Mac, was a sunny delight, hisself. Coming to us Live from Franklin TN, following the release of his recently dropped latest album, Cadillac Man, we wiled away the hour talking his tastes… The Stone...

Hal Linden Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson Does it get better than this? Someone’s gonna have to prove it to me. Wow, what a time with Hal Linden! As nice, charming, handsome, and tall (well, I’m guessing on the last), as his Barney Miller, Hal was all that and a hefty bag of Cheetos. Absolutely age-defying - I want to see his birth certificate. It’s unfathomable that he’s 93. Still dashi...