Music Talks

My guest in this episode is Matt Lambert, a lifelong George Harrison fan hence the reference to "Dark Horse" in the episode title.     Matt's story, like so many of us, contains real highs and some challenging, painful lows. As Matt and I  talked three important themes emerged for me which were the importance of focusing on people's strengths, the need to push yourself out of y...

My guest in this episode is Richmond Stace, a leader and pioneer on pain management, a fellow Podcaster and a soon to be published author.   Richmond is uniquely qualified in pain science, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, sport science, nursing and coaching and in his own words his goal is to "help people understand their pain and move on to shape a positive future”.   Getting to that point has...

My guest in this episode of Music Talks is Gary Burt who I describe in my intro as “Innovative, creative, not short of opinion, and someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously”.  Born and bred in Blackpool he now lives in the Ribble Valley with his wife and two children. Gary has built a successful career in the I.T industry but, at the title of the episode suggests, the road to that career...

As was the case in part 1 the second part of this episode  is full of great music choices and fantastic stories from John's 40 years as a musician, producer and sound guy.  John titled his bio "My Bizarre Life of Happy Accidents and Near Misses" and given the stories he tells here you can see why .  Spanning a Top 40 album with Loop , being supported by Nirvana , The Dance of the Se...

My guest in this episode is John Wills who has been involved in the underground music scene  in the UK for almost 40 years. During that time has made a lot of music, played in many bands, seen a lot of the world and collected a raft of great, fascinating, and funny stories. So many in fact that this episode is a two-parter and it’s  a great way to kick off the new year.   The bio John  sent throug...

This is the second of this year's Christmas B-Sides and it’s the BIG one , the Best Albums of 2020.     I'm joined again by fellow music nerd Steven Routledge and whilst our combined choices aren't totally all encompassing, they do cover a wide range of musical genres and I hope that there is something in hear which is new to you and appeals. Who knows there might even be the odd co...

This is the first of two special "Christmas B-Side" editions. Yes, its that time of year where my good friend Steven Routledge and I choose our Top 10 Songs and Albums of the year and tell you why they made the cut.  In this first edition we get to review our Top 10 (or 11?) songs.  You the listener will of course be the final arbiter but I think this is a nicely varied set of choices an...

I got to know my guest Ellyn Foltz during my time in Seattle.  Ellyn brings energy, enthusiasm, and total commitment to everything she does but that is combined with the natural ability to not take herself and her work too seriously and to make fun a priority.  Those talents are now being applied to probably the most important role she has ever had which is VP of nannying to her 5-month-old grandd...

My guest in this episode is Will Lulofs. The observant amongst you will notice that there is a connection to my previous guest Tim Lulofs, as Will is his son.  Dad would be the first to say that what is more significant  than Will's parentage is that over the past 13 years he has released six critically acclaimed albums (with a seventh on the way) under the name of Will Stratton.  Born in Cal...

Today’s guest is Tim Lulofs.  Born in Fresno California in 1951 Tim is Husband to Cheri (since 1973) , Father to two sons Matt & Will , English Scholar, Writer, Teacher , Musician , Song Writer , Singer , Fly Fisherman,  all round lovely bloke and as you will hear one heck of a storyteller.  He has amassed a wealth of stories in his 69 years only matched by the rich and varied musical journey...

As well as doing Music Talks every two weeks , each month or so I catch up with my friend Jesse Jackson,  who is the host of the Set Lusting Bruce Podcast, and we review the latest release in the Springsteen Archive Series of live concerts.     We talked two days after the release of Letter to You and needless to say that's where the conversation started. Given several people have pinged me a...

My guest in this episode is Sanaz Namdar who was born in Tehran in 1979. She rightly points out that 1979 was a great year for music but, if you lived in Iran, it was also the year the music died due to the Iranian Revolution.     Sanaz grew up in a world where music was not just difficult to get hold of but was actually illegal. Just as Covid has made me realise how many things I take for granted...

My guest on this episode of Music Talks is one of my very favourite conversationalists, Brian Painting .  Brian is never short of a story to tell , an observation to make or an insight to give. A talented writer and a fellow Podcaster he is also a passionate music lover with varied and wide ranging tastes. In our chat we cover a raft of artists from all areas of the musical palette but one band we...

My guest in this episode is one of my ACL Festival Buddy's , a delightful, charming man called Michael Sullivan    Born in Sacremento, California in 1971 Michael has cornered the market in only living in places that begin with the letter "S" having subsequently moved to Santa Barbara , San Francisco and in 2001 Seattle. In that journey music has been a constant companion starting in...

Named after the Elton John song “Daniel” it was inevitable that music would play a big part in Dan’s life as it has and in a very positive way   I met Dan in the early noughties when I was running Public Sector for Microsoft UK. Dan was a young, fresh faced contractor with lots of energy and commitment and with a real desire to join Microsoft as a full-time employee. I am proud that I was able to...

My guest in this episode is Irishman Stephen McNulty.     Stephen grew up near Dungannon where his piano teacher Victor was an early musical influence introducing him to the delights of Marc Bolan, T.Rex and Electric Warrior at a tender age . That early interest in music was cemented on June 22nd, 1992 when Stephen's first real gig involved a trip to Belfast to see Nirvana supported by Teenag...

When Ewan Dalton was my guest on Episode 16 he said "You HAVE to get Dave Stewart on to the show" and I'm really glad I took his advice.   Dave was the Librarian at Microsoft UK and that's where we first met, but in Dave's own words he enjoyed work, but it was never a priority. What is and always has been a priority and a passion, from an early age, is music : listening to...

My guest in this episode is Peter Tubb another dear friend, ex-colleague and amateur musician. Peter and his wife Stella are celebrating 40 years of marriage this year and, together with their three children James, George & Vanessa, its clear this is a family that loves their music.     Peter was born and raised in Bristol but at the age of 6 his family spent 3 years in Zambia where his father...

At the start of this episode Lucy Boulter describes herself as: “a perfectly average middle-aged woman who has achieved relative success in a reasonably ordinary life” For the next hour or so she then regales us with a series of fascinating stories (and great musical choices) that clearly show there is nothing average or ordinary about Lucy.  From being a child roadie at the age of 7, having her f...

This episode is entitled The Anniversary Edition because 12 months to the day I published the first edition of Music Talks, with my guest Steve Clayton.  As I have stated several times most Podcasts don’t get past Episode 7. This is a very important milestone for me and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has listened over the past year and for the great support I have had.  Downloads are now...

My guest in this episode is a gentleman called Mike Pegg, who has been a mentor and friend for almost 25 years.  Mike has been a big influence on me, and  is a man full of ideas, insights, and words. So many words in fact that our discussion ran just over two hours.  I do edit these episodes, but I wasn’t about to cut out almost a half of this conversation, and so, we have our first two-part episo...

My guest in this episode is a gentleman called Mike Pegg, who has been a mentor and friend for almost 25 years.  As you will hear Mike has been a big influence on me, and he is a man full of ideas, insights, and words. So many words in fact that our discussion ran just over two hours.  Now I do edit these episodes, but I wasn’t about to cut out almost a half of this conversation, and so, we have o...

In this episode my guest Nigel Kirkham takes us on a fascinating musical journey from his early years growing up in Streatham & Morden in London , via Liverpool, Chennai, Abu Dhabi and New York , to his current life in the leafy lanes of Mapledurwell in Hampshire , where he lives with his partner Daisy and their wire haired dachshund Mabel.  Nigel’s musical tastes are as wide ranging as his tr...

Egbert Schroer was born in the small but historic town of Dorsten in Westphalia, Germany , in 1958 . He grew up with a love of water that has stayed with him all his life as has his love for music, both listening and playing his beloved guitars. Egbert's musical choices cover a wide range but his real love is the big , powerful challenging Rock music (and lyrics) of the 60's, 70's a...

My guest in this episode is the well-known and much-loved Seattle musician Kim Virant.  In her own words she is “an Air Force brat” who arrived in Washington state in 1980 after a four-year stint in the UK where the music scene had been transformed by Punk and Thatcher’s Britain was kicking off.   After college and 3 months back packing trip around Europe Kim decided to follow her passion and beco...