Michael's Record Collection

My guest for this episode is Riverside keyboardist Michal Lapaj! The excellent Polish heavy prog rockers toured extensively for the outstanding 2023 album ID.Entity, and that has resulted in the recent release of a new live album, Live ID. Michal talks about the tour, a bit about the making of the live album and ID. Entity, the loss of guitarist Piotr Grudzinski, his musical beginnings, how he end...

My guest for this episode is composer and multi-instrumentalist John Boegehold of Pattern-Seeking Animals! The band is releasing its fifth studio album on Feb. 14 titled Friend of All Creatures. The album features all the prog rock goodness you've come to expect in a melodic and accessible package. In addition to the making of the record, John talks about his musical past, his approach to writing,...

Way back in Episode 67, I had the pleasure of speaking with Maiah Wynne about her involvement with Envy of None, a project featuring Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, on which she sang lead vocals. Maiah is back with her debut solo album, and the talented singer-songwriter has made an exquisite first solo impression with Out of the Dark, a heartbreakingly beautiful collection of songs that span 10 year...

Progressive rock master Neal Morse is a prolific and qualitative force in modern prog and he's back on the show to talk about a brand new band project called Neal Morse & the Resonance. The band will drop its debut album, No Hill for a Climber, Nov. 8 on Inside Out Music. Neal discusses the other band members, making the album and writing the songs, his recent solo acoustic tour, an exciting n...

Galahad guitarist Lee Abraham returns to the show to discuss Origin of the Storm, a brand new solo album (his 10th), which drops Oct. 21 on F2 Music. Lee was kind enough to discuss the making of the new album with me, along with the stories behind the songs. The new record should appeal to fans of melodic progressive rock with Steve Rothery-esque guitar work. Follow Lee Abraham Music on Facebook f...

Progressive rockers Frost* return with the band's first official concept album, Life in the Wires, which is set to drop Oct. 18 on Inside Out Music. Founder, keyboardist, vocalist, producer, and primary songwriter Jem Godfrey was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to discuss the new album with me, as well as such topics as his musical beginnings, how he became a producer, producing...

Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess joins me to discuss his upcoming solo album, Permission to Fly. Unlike many keyboard player solo albums, which focus on the keys and often use multiple singers and musicians, this one was put together like a band album, using a consistent lineup across the record. It's a cohesive album that has its moments of keyboard pyrote...

Jon Courtney is the founder, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist who drives modern prog rock outfit Pure Reason Revolution. The band is set to release its sixth album on Sept. 6, Coming Up to Consciousness. The themes on the record are lyrically personal ones to Jon, who was kind enough to discuss the album, getting the legendary Guy Pratt to play on it, his influences, and the band's career with...

Four members of the New York-based progressive rock band IZZ are my guests on this episode as we discuss their first new album in five years, Collapse the Wave. The new record is a fresh and energetic take on their signature sound that should please their longtime fans and impress newcomers. It was a blast learning about the making of the album. Be sure to check out their website at izzmusic.com ....

Andy Tillison from The Tangent returns to talk to me about the new album To Follow Polaris, which is a unique record in the band's catalog. The primary reason for this is because it's all Andy this time. With his bandmates' busy schedules, Andy decided to have a go at a Tangent album himself, playing all the parts and trying to get into the headspace of his bandmates. The result is another solid r...

My guest, Ian Crichton, has long been an underrated yet exciting guitarist primarily known for his work in the Canadian progressive pop/rock band Saga. Ian's still a member of that band, but he's also in an exciting trio called Six By Six with vocalist/bassist/keyboardist Robert Berry and Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler. Six By Six dropped its sophomore album, Beyond Shadowland, today, and like the d...

Canadian power pop-infused party rockers The Kings are my guests for this episode. Well, at least bassist/vocalist David Diamond and guitarist Mister Zero, anyway. We discuss the band's 2023 release, The Longest Story Ever Told, the band's first release in 20 years. We also dove into their musical backgrounds, how they got Bob Ezrin to produce their debut album, the writing of their hit "This Beat...

Big Big Train has been building momentum in the progressive rock world for years with their brand of quintessentially English, pastoral prog, but the sudden and tragic death of lead vocalist David Longdon dealt the band a huge blow. The band is about to release its first album without David on March 1 through Inside Out Music. New vocalist Alberto Bravin isn't Longdon, but his voice is well suited...

Independent progressive rockers Shadow Circus are back after a long hiatus with a brand new album, From the Shadows. The band released its fourth album on Halloween digitally and started shipping out CDs just recently. This latest release sees the band going heavier, darker, and much more introspective and personal than their previous albums, and it's given more punch with the contributions of for...

After a 10-year absence, Swedish melodic progressive rock masters Moon Safari are back with their soaring five-part harmonies, melodic hooks, and fantastic musicianship on Himlabacken Vol. 2, the long-awaited follow-up to Himlabacken Vol. 1. Don't let the title fool you, the lyrics are in English (except for one short song). As good as the band's previous albums have been, this fifth studio album...

Ryan Murphy and Jim Benner from the Rushfans community on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter are my guests as we celebrate the recent 30th anniversary of Counterparts by Rush. It's hard to believe that "newer" Rush album is three decades old, but here we are. Ryan, Jim, and I go track by track, discussing the songs that make up this fantastic album and we give our song rankings from the record at the...

My guest for this episode is composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Robert Reed, who is best known for his work with the outstanding modern progressive rock band Magenta. However, before there was Magenta, there was Cyan. Rob has put together a new incarnation of Cyan featuring standout musicians and the band has just released Pictures from the Other Side. These new Cyan albums are the same...

Dave Kerzner returns for the first time since way back in Episode 24, when he and I discussed the Genesis classic, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, along with his music career up to that point. Dave's newest solo album dropped in mid-October. Heart Land Mines Vol. 1 is an outstanding mixture of classic rock, Americana, and progressive rock with diverse influences, standout playing, and (above all)...

My guest this week is multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist Nick D'Virgilio, who is perhaps best known as the drummer for progressive rock greats Spock's Beard and Big Big Train. Nick joined me to talk about the upcoming release of Sophomore, the appropriately titled second album by D'Virgilio, Morse & Jennings, a trio of talented vocalists who build accessible songs based on gloriou...

Stuart Nicholson and Dean Baker from Galahad kindly returned to the show for this episode to discuss the band's brand new release, The Long Goodbye. This album was written at the same time as the songs from the band's 2022 release, The Last Great Adventurer, and Stu and Dean were generous with their time in discussing the making of the record and some of the stories behind the songs. It was great...

Just when you think you know Glass Hammer, everything changes...the lineup, the vocalist, the style. Arise is another concept album from the Tennessee-based progressive rock project headed by Steve Babb (and, usually, Fred Schendel), but it's the band's first space opera. It's also a much heavier album than what longtime Glass Hammer fans are used to hearing. Steve was kind enough to talk to me ab...

I'm delighted to bring you this interview with Spock's Beard and Pattern-Seeking Animals bassist Dave Meros. Dave was kind enough to spend some time telling me about the upcoming Pattern-Seeking Animals album Spooky Action at a Distance, along with the upcoming 20th-anniversary release of Spock's Beard's Feel Euphoria album on vinyl. He also spoke about the making of that Spock's record and that p...

Australian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sean Timms has had a charmed 2023 as part of four progressive rock releases this year. His new albums with Unitopia and Southern Empire came out a few weeks apart and have captured a lot of attention among prog rock fans this year. Both albums could end up on several "best of 2023" lists by the end of December. Sean was kind enough to tell me about b...

Greetings, dear listeners. This episode could not be more different than the others. Rather than having an interview or an album discussion, I wanted to talk about how to choose an album to listen to when you're indecisive, like me, or simply aren't in the mood for any one particular thing. Many of us have sizable music collections and it can be difficult to make a decision when looking at your sh...

Swedish progressive rock masters The Flower Kings are back with a new album, Look At You Now, which drops here in the U.S. on Sept. 8. I was fortunate enough to catch up with Roine Stolt to discuss the new album, his songwriting process, the band's current lineup, his musical background, how he ended up in Kaipa and Transatlantic, and much more. To keep up with Roine and his band, visit roinestolt...