Living On Music with Steve Houk

“My music can range from dark to happy, from Indie to singer-songwriter to straight-up pop, it just depends on what is happening in my life at the time...I usually gear toward the darker side, because it helps me process my feelings and emotions and I hope helps others too, but I do like to write some heartwarming songs as well, and sometimes some extremely happy upbeat songs!” A lifetime resident...

As only one of his many talents, ARLEN SCHUMER creates award-winning comic book-styled illustrations for the advertising and editorial markets, and is one of the foremost historians of comic book art -- Comic Book Artist magazine named him "one of the more articulate and enthusiastic advocates of comic book art in America.” His coffeetable art book 'The Silver Age of Comic Book Art' ( https://bit....

Melissa Manchester’s career is remarkable not only for its longevity and accomplishments, but for its versatility. Following her time as a 'Harlette' behind Bette Midler thanks to her teen pal Barry Manilow, Melissa’s tremendously successful solo career brought her critical and commercial acclaim. The “Midnight Blue” singer received her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance...

DC-area singer/songwriter Ryan Wright has developed into a stellar musician as she has reached her twenties; with a unique, moving and sultry sense of composition and singing, she has made a name for herself already and is ascending all along with a recent new EP and extensive touring. And having a father like revered DC regional musician Todd Wright has been nothing but a godsend and a supportive...

Lawrence Gowan is a Scottish born Canadian singer and keyboardist born in Glasgow and raised in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario, who has been both an esteemed solo artist his entire career, as well as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the longtime prog-rockesque band Styx since May 1999. His musical style is usually classified in the categories of pop and progressive rock. Join Livin...

John McEuen is an American folk musician and a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, he has played over 10,000 concerts and 300 television shows throughout more than 3 million miles - with the band and as a solo performer, has made over 40 albums (7 solo) that have earned four platinum and five gold recognition awards, Grammy nominations, CMA and ACM awards, an Emmy nomination, IBMA recor...

Susan Pilchard Oelze married the late and legendary Birchmere owner Gary Oelze in 2013, and in the ten years they spent together, they grew closer and bonded like they had hoped they would with someone their whole lives, all while he was running one of the country's most revered venues. Learn what it was like to be married to this seminal man of the music world, who we lost this year at 80. Join L...

Frank Stefanko fell in love with photography and music at a very young age, and as a result, one of the highlights of his lengthy career was to have photographed Bruce Springsteen in numerous ways over a 40 year time span. From meeting up and walking around Stefanko's house taking pictures that would eventually grace the covers of "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" and "The River," to Bruce using a St...

Four of the five members of INDIGO THURSDAY started playing together through the ROCK OF AGES MUSIC music school in 2021, and after their drummer joined the band later that year, things have really elevated for this 5-piece rock pop alt molded band. They recorded three singles that were released via popular music platforms as an EP in February, the single “Bad Man” is on Spotify now and has a simi...

Recent three-time Wammie award winner Melissa Quinn Fox joins Steve Houk for her second ride on Living On Music, this time to catch up and update about her many wonderful current highlights like those Wammie wins, her fervent and solid songwriting, her burgeoning video production, and more of her current surge as an ascending Country/Americana singer/songwriter. Join Living On Music on Facebook at...

Jim Babjak is a founding member, songwriter, singer, and lead guitarist for the internationally-acclaimed rock band The Smithereens from 1980 until today. He is also the founder of his musical side projects, Buzzed Meg and The BAR, and proprietor of Babjax Coffee. The Smithereens are a loud and proud New Jersey band, whose renowned live shows and radio hits channel the essence of joy and heartbrea...

The Go-Go’s are rooted in music history as not just a pop phenomenon but true groundbreakers as well, and dynamically stellar drummer/songwriter Gina Schock was a key presence right behind their skins from the outset of their success. These were genuine punk rockers who sprinkled in rock pop and their 1981 debut album Beauty and the Beat, featuring the hits “Our Lips Are Sealed” (one of Rolling St...

DC-area music staple Patty Reese makes her third appearance on Living On Music to talk about her new album "Life Us Up" that's coming out soon, her recent stellar live gigs at legendary Saxon Pub in Austin and also down in Florida with a longtime former bandmate who leads Mr. Nice Guy, one of southern Florida's most well-known bands, and other elements of her current musical surge. Go to pattyrees...

A Loudon-county based singer-songwriter who began her musical life at the age of 5, this now 16 year-old phenomenon has been playing dozens of gigs in her early teens, has been mentored by some of the region's best local musicians and music teachers and it is paying off bigtime, is nominated for a 2023 Best Of Loudon County VA award, and just wrote her first song "One Track Mind" which she debuts...

Jim Babjak is a founding member, songwriter, singer, and lead guitarist for the internationally-acclaimed rock band The Smithereens from 1980 until today. He is also the founder of his musical side projects, Buzzed Meg and The BAR, and proprietor of Babjax Coffee. The Smithereens are a loud and proud New Jersey band, whose renowned live shows and radio hits channel the essence of joy and heartbrea...

A Scottish-born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, AL STEWART developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of characters and events from history. Stewart has released 16 studio and three live albums since his debut record "Bedsitter Images" in 1967, and is best known for hi...

From blues to rock to country to Buffett, Dave Mininberg covers a lot of ground as he keeps expanding his repertoire of originals and covers. Along with working regularly with professional songwriters and music licensing agencies in Nashville, he has been featured on Nashville radio shows such as WFMC jams and his single “Jimmy Buffett Didn’t Write This Song” spent over 4 months on the top 40 on A...

TAKE A RIDE WITH ME AT ONE OF BRUCE' SPRINGSTEEN'S MOST EMOTIONALLY POWERFUL SHOWS EVER. This week I found a long e-mail concert review I did for a variety of people of Bruce's summer 2002 show in DC, it was his first tour since 9-11, and this story took me back to easily one of the most emotionally unforgettable shows I have ever seen of his or anyone else. And hey, I also got to meet one of the...

I interviewed David Crosby in 2019, a good bit shorter than my first one with him in 2015, yet it was still an unforgettable, upbeat, fun chat with this music legend. Here's the unedited 10 or so minute talk we had. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/living-on-music-with-steve-houk--5376946/support .

Supremely talented Country/Americana songstress Melissa Quinn Fox is known best for her story-driven songs, her unique vocal tone, and her captivating live performances, reviews have described Melissa’s vocals as “gritty, gorgeous, and a sound all her own.” Since 2021, the hard-working musician has released NINE well-received singles, has been featured on the radio in her homeland of Pittsburgh an...

It's a special LIVING ON MUSIC EXCERPT from my memorable 2019 interview with Little Feat mainstay PAUL BARRERE -- not long before he and I met in person a few weeks after the interview, and also not long before Paul's passing -- where he talks about why he feels Little Feat has lasted so long with both its fan base and new fans, and he also touches on how the band felt regrouping after Lowell Geor...

While American singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff has released a number of excellent albums and performed often as a solo artist, she is also well-known for her outstanding songwriting, Bonoff's songs include "Home," covered by Bonnie Raitt, "Tell Me Why" by Wynonna Judd, and "Isn't It Always Love" by Lynn Anderson. Most notably, Linda Ronstadt recorded several Bonoff songs, including three tracks on...

Livingston Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, born in Boston and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he is the brother of singer-songwriter James Taylor, singer-songwriter Kate Taylor, singer Alex Taylor, and innkeeper and singer Hugh Taylor who died in 1993. Taylor is most notable for his Billboard hits "I Will Be In Love With You", "First Time Love", and "I'll Come Run...

Peter Noone has been lauded as a world-renowned multi-talented entertainer for decades, as a singer/songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor who has been delighting audiences nearly all his life. At the age of fifteen, Peter achieved international fame as lead singer of the legendary 60's pop band Herman’s Hermits, who ultimately sold over sixty million recordings, and had fourteen singles and sev...

In this second of two excerpts with the legendary keyboardist of Yes, Rick Wakeman reveals details about one of his most iconic albums; 'The Myths & Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'. He tells the story of how its full live production ON ICE came together, and his desire to perform it again one day. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/l...