Inside MusiCast

For those of you who love music and had hopes of someday performing in front of thousands of screaming fans and touring the world, meet Keith Howland.  His path to the music business began with those very same dreams that eventually became his reality.  In the early 80’s when Keith attended James Madison University, he caught a Chicago concert on campus and it turned out to be one o...

Having studied classical organ at a young age, Bill Meyers thought of himself as a music snob. While his friends were into Led Zeppelin and other rock artists, Bill was focusing on the works of Bach. Bill honed his skills at the University of DePaul where he discovered a love for jazz, blues and R&B and started making his own music. A demo he created landed in the hands of Gino Vannelli and th...

On this episode of Inside MusiCast, we take you to Rio de Janeiro to chat with a multifaceted musician whose music explores many avenues, including jazz, soul, MPB, rock, funk, and a deep love for the West Coast sound – Ed Motta. Since launching his solo career in 1990, Ed has released 13 albums containing these various music elements, but it was his 2013 release “AOR” that caught our attention he...

Stephen Duros, also knows as Astro, is a guitarist, lighting technician for TOTO, and a talented cartoonist.  His approach to lighting for Toto is literally ‘analog’ by today’s standards, as his lightning method includes very little automation.  He relies on his astute sense of Toto’s music in order to trigger lighting effects for their shows. If you’ve ever seen Toto live, you’ll unders...

From his humble beginnings in Nebraska, to working his way into a band as a backing vocalist, to fronting the band that eventually became The Tubes, Fee Waybill was born to entertain. But being the front man in the band wasn’t just about singing the tunes. The Tubes live performances were an extravaganza of bondage, simulated sex, chainsaws, phallic props, smashing televisions, and often partially...

On this episode of Inside MusiCast, we welcome Michelle Willis who hails from Toronto and is quickly gaining attention through her appearances opening and performing with Snarky Puppy, as well as her current tour in support of the legendary David Crosby.  Recently, Michelle released her debut solo album titled “See Us Through”, an album that was six years in the making and as mature a debut a...

When he was only 13 years old, Joe Vana’s life was forever changed through a chance meeting with Survivor’s Jim Peterik. As Joe will tell you, Jim taught him everything he knew about music and the music business. But it wasn’t until he was 28 years old that he discovered his voice, but when he did he became Peterik’s in-house demo singer for many years. Joe and Jim eventually created a band called...

When he was only 13 years old, Joe Vana’s life was forever changed through a chance meeting with Survivor’s Jim Peterik. As Joe will tell you, Jim taught him everything he knew about music and the music business. But it wasn’t until he was 28 years old that he discovered his voice, but when he did he became Peterik’s in-house demo singer for many years. Joe and Jim eventually created a band called...

Amy Holland has been surrounded by music since the day she was born.  Her mother was a singer and performer and her father was also involved in the music industry.  She headed to LA when she was only 15 years old to pursue her own career in music, which is where she met Michael McDonald, who co-produced her first album and eventually became her husband.  Amy was on top of the world...

Six years ago, Inside MusiCast discovered an incredible band out of Minneapolis called Terramara.  When we heard their music, we just knew we needed to invite the band’s front man, Rob Meany, to be a guest on our show.  Since that interview, Rob has focused his efforts on writing songs for a brand new album, but not for Terramara.  This time Rob has created a debut solo album titled...

On this episode of Inside MusiCast, we welcome back Jon Herington to discuss his new album, “Adult Entertainment” that will be released tomorrow - June 14. This is Jon’s first studio release since “Time On My Hands”, which was released four years ago. Since then, Jon has been busy touring with Steely Dan, Madeleine Peyroux, completing his book of arrangements and tablature for guitar, as well an i...

Since 1992, Don Breithaupt has steered his band Monkey House on a path of musical progress.  In 2012 when we first connected with Don, the band had just released their third album “Headquarters,” which caught the attention of all us here at Inside MusiCast – most notably how their songs contained a heavy melodic approach reminiscent of Steely Dan. The band’s latest album “Left,” which will be...

On this episode of Inside MusiCast, we welcome one of the greatest voices in the history of popular music, Jon Anderson. The original voice of Yes, Jon has been creating music for close to five decades and shows no signs of slowing down. He is currently on the road with Jean Luc Ponty and will soon reunite with Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin to create more Yes inspired music. But that’s only the be...

In cooking, there’s always that secret ingredient that make a dish special. In the LA music scene, Lenny Castro has been that secret ingredient for decades.  Lenny has recorded and toured with hundreds of major recording artists throughout his amazing career. His mastery of percussion has made him a first-call studio musician and one of the most recorded in the history of popular music. &nbsp...

Michael Sherwood hails from a deep lineage of musicians, and similar to his family members, Michael has formed a solid career in the music industry. From his early days growing-up in Las Vegas and forming the band Lodgic, Michael eventually befriended the Toto band members, which led to his long-time friendship with Steve Porcaro. In addition to his songwriting collaborations with Steve, Michael h...

While Inside MusiCast has focused on bringing you the legendary musicians who have helped to shape the world music, we’re always keeping our ears peeled for the next generation of musicians who will keep this spirit alive and ongoing. On today’s episode, we turn our attention to the Los Angeles based jazz, funk and soul trio, Organ Freeman. While the band’s name might make you snicker, their music...

Great musicians make great albums, but when you add a world class recording engineer and producer to the mix, you can take your project to another level. For nearly six decades, this is exactly what Al Schmitt has done for the world of music. Since the late 1950’s, Al Schmitt has engineered and produced thousands of album projects for some of the most well-known artists in the world, such as Henry...

When we last spoke to Keiko Matsui in March of 2011, she had just released “The Road”, which featured an incredible lineup of musicians, such as Vinnie Colaiuta, Richard Bona, James Hara and Kirk Whalum. Since then, Keiko has released another solo project titled “Soul Quest”, as well as teaming up with the legendary Bob James for their album “Altair & Vega.” Outside of the studio, Keiko is a p...

The influence of West Coast AOR runs deep in the souls of many career musicians. Ask any studio or touring musician about their inspirations and you’re bound to hear an answer that would include the talented players who laced the liner notes of the great albums from the 70’s and 80’s. Tim Cashion is no exception. For the past 15 years, Tim has provided keyboard and vocal support to the legendary b...

Peter Friestedt is one of Sweden¹s premiere musicians and guitarists. Having studied music at several conservatories in Sweden, Peter eventually landed in Los Angeles to study at the Los Angeles Music Academy. There he studied under Frank Gambale and his guitar staff, but sometimes education will only get you so far.  Peter wanted his music in the hands and ears of Bill Champlin, so he b...

Tom Canning. You know him best for his excellent writing, arranging and for his amazing keyboard touches on most of Al Jarreau’s music. But the native New Yorker’s music career started well before Al, when he performed and recorded with John Klemmer, Freddie King, T-Bone Burnett and others. But as we all know, it was an unsigned Al Jarreau who hired Canning as his music director in 1974 and the re...

Sometimes being an incredibly talented musician is only half the battle when you want to make it into the music industry.  Drummer Tom Brechtlein’s rise to success is the classic tale of hard work, perseverance and self-promotion.  From his  big break of landing a steady gig with Chick Corea in 1978, he has gone on to perform with some heavyweights, such as Wayne Shorter, Al Dimeola...

On this episode of Inside MusiCast, we welcome back Steve Porcaro. When we first interviewed Steve in 2009, he broke the news to us that he was working on his first solo album project. If you heard the interview, you were also treated to two demos that Steve allowed us to share. After a busy six years with touring with Toto, his ongoing scoring project for the TV show “Justified”, along with his i...

Bill Maxwell’s talents stretch far beyond his drumming skills. Over the years, the Oklahoma native has become a first call LA session drummer, arranger, composer, and producer whose career began in a blues band and continued to a producer/drummer role with Andraé Crouch and The Disciples. His career blossomed as he collaborated with artists such as Luther Vandross, Kirk Whalum, the Crusaders, Fred...

Jimmy Haslip is a renaissance man who hasn’t let boundaries define him. As an original band member of the Yellowjackets, his pronounced influence over the past 3 decades is seen in musicians today. He has demonstrated an uncanny ability to deliver a groove in not only fusion, but also Latin, pop and international genres. Haslip today has evolved from musician-composer to an in-demand, producer ext...