Performance Anxiety

Dale Crover joins us. You may remember him from one of his many bands: The Melvins, Altamont, Redd Kross, or maybe The Dale Crover Band, who are releasing a new album. If you’re not familiar with Dale’s solo music, it’s definitely a separate entity from The Melvins. But Dale tells some great stories about Gene Simmons & KISS, meeting Buzz, playing biker sleepover parties as a teen, & Greg Bissonet...

We’re joined by head honcho at Bar None Records & founder of Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help, Glenn Morrow. We talk about his career in music as a musician as well as head of a record label. He’s worked with some great bands & former guests like The Mendoza Line & El Ten Eleven. Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help has just released their second album & we discuss the new difficulties releasing music during th...

Today’s guest may have the hardest last name to pronounce. Christian Kjellvander joins us to discuss his new album, About Love and Loving Again. But first we have to figure out how he got there. His career started as a Swedish slacker. But he soon realized how much he loved creating music. That’s when his sound changed. His bass voice combined with the Americana vibe of the music is familiar but h...

I’d like to welcome Peter Milton Walsh of The Apartments to the show. Peter’s life has been full of triumphs and unimaginable tragedy. He survived the drug fueled 70’s Brisbane music scene and moved on to the form the band The Apartments. He moved to New York for a fresh start and then relocated to England where he signed to Rough Trade. After his first a couple of EP’s and a full length album, he...

Welcome to a very special episode of Performance Anxiety. Today we tackle a very sensitive subject: The defense of hair metal. No other podcast will touch this volatile topic. But we here at Performance Anxiety, a proud member of the Pantheon Podcast Network, are willing to traverse the minefield that is hair metal. We tangle with topics like the best hair metal for the gym; What hair metal band w...

This was such a cool episode. First of all, I’ve got my new mate Spencer Cullum co-hosting with me. But just as exciting is my guest B.J. Cole. B.J. has played on some of the most loved albums of all time. He’s played with Elton John, Sting, T. Rex, Bjork, Gerry Rafferty, Robert Plant, Richard Ashcroft, & The Verve. He & Spencer talk about how the role of pedal steel is changing, even in Nashville...

This is a weird episode. It’s all about music and the paranormal. But the really weird part is the panel I’ve put together. I’m joined by former guest Morgan Geer of Drunken Prayer, first time guest Josh Moss of The Modern Folk, & my daughter Maggie. We discuss Mothman, Bigfoot, ghosts & their loopholes, & the music written about them. I would love you guys to check Drunken Prayer & The Modern Fol...

Welcome Sarah Safaie & Evan Taylor to the show. Together they are Purple Witch of Culver. They’re an experimental, jazz, electro funk duo with an infusion of poetry. Sarah tells me that one of her musical influences is Lisa Simpson and Evan’s parents have an unusual way of showing their support for his choice of career. Oh, and Evan’s mom calls in the middle of the podcast. The duo has three singl...

Happy Holidays from Performance Anxiety, part of the Pantheon Podcast Network. This show is kind of like a stocking stuffer. It’s a short update from Mark Lanegan. Since he came on the podcast last, his book has been a huge success, winning several awards and an updated edition is out with a forward by legendary bassist Peter Hook from Joy Division, New Order, & Peter Hook & The Light. Mark has al...

Don Rauf from Life In A Blender joins us today. They have a new EP out called Satsuma, and it’s kind of special. Not only does it contain 6 great new songs, 5 of which were inspired by the Bushwick Book Club, but there is beautiful artwork, AND a cocktail recipe for each track! But we go a lot deeper than that. Don talks about how his musical journey began in a Poughkeepsie dump. And if you think...

This episode took me by surprise, I have to admit. I’m joined by pedal steel guitarist Spencer Cullum. Not only is he an in demand session player in Nashville (via London), but he’s been playing with Miranda Lambert for the past four years. Not being a huge country music fan, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. But what I got was one of the nicest conversations I’ve had this year. Spencer learned...

Today I’m joined by Justin Young & Tom McCullough from South of Eden. These guys were so much fun to have on the show. I’m going to go ahead and anoint them the newest comedy team in rock. They’ve got an EP out called The Talk and a full length album on the way. They’ve also got some cool covers either out of possibly on the way. Or are they drawing album covers? They’re a little vague on that one...

Today I’m speaking with guitarist & sometimes frontman, Ken Wohlrob. Ken is never one to sit still, as you will find out. During the pandemic, he’s been forced, like most musicians, to take a hiatus from his two bands, Eternal Black & End of Hope. So Ken decided to start another project called Swarm of Flies. It’s a revolving cast of members and a completely new way of creating music for Ken. He’s...

Welcome Blue Oyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard to the show. He gives a great history lesson about the band, including the gig that was so bad they had to change their name. He’s happy to talk (again) about the classic SNL cowbell skit and how he turned off the show just before it aired. He also taught for years and has had some very talented students you might recognize. He has re-recorded the B...

Max Phelps from Exist joins me on this episode. We jump right into a discussion on the the influence of jazz on his music, latest Tool album, cliché Tool fans, and the greatness of Chris Poland. And how the band’s name, Exist, is a problem on Google. Max also explains how the last two albums, So True So Bound & Egoiista, were recorded at around the same time. But after a serious health scare, Egoi...

This episode we speak to a musical legend. Jon Anderson has been singing since the early 60’s and he’s still going strong. In addition to all the albums he’s made with Yes, he’s worked with Vangelis, John Paul Jones, Toto, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe, & more. His voice is one of the most unique in music, but he wasn’t always comfortable with it. And when the sound of Yes changed in the 80...

I’m fortunate enough to have Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty, AKA El Ten Eleven on the podcast. They’ve been a band for 18 years and in addition to finding out how they met and began playing, I learned that Kristian hears music in the strangest places, like hearing the theme to Land of the Lost in his dishwasher. There’s a lot of joking, some at Brian Eno’s expense (I guess he’s never coming on the...

Welcome Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor, & Casey McDonough of The Flat Five. The best way to describe this band’s music is familiar but surprising. They write nostalgic songs with lyrics about big bags of dope, kazoos, hot wheels, & peeing on the side of the road. Kelly, Nora, & Casey were a blast even though we had to fight through some connection problems. They love playing music with each other and...

We welcome Charlie Jones to the podcast. You’ll probably recognize him as Robert Plant’s bassist. But there’s a lot more to him. He went from playing bass in a pop band to session work with Ofra Haza to touring with Robert Plant while on the Work Enterprise Scheme, all in just a handful of years. After playing and writing music with Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Charlie wanted to change things up and...

This show is all about Brian Cullman. Brian is one of those guys who’s been everywhere, met everyone, and done everything. At the age of 15, he played his demos for Danny Fields in his apartment with Edie Sedgwick, Nico, & Jim Morrison. He was also hanging out at Max’s Kansas City & The Scene at that time. He worked with some great artists early in their career, like Lucinda Williams & Vernon Reid...

I’m joined by Ryan Smith & Pony Hixon-Smith of Ryan & Pony on this episode. They tell me about their paths into music. Pony’s in particular is very unique. She also tells me how she got the nickname, Pony. Ryan remembers it well. And Ryan’s been writing music for a long time. From his days in The Melismatics to the new album by Ryan & Pony, his music is crazy catchy. But he’s also been playing gui...

This show expands on my continuing fascination with Swans. I’m joined by Jarboe. She was one of the longest tenured members of Swans outside of founder Michael Gira. But she also has a prolific solo career that extends beyond music. Jarboe shares some truly wild stories of touring with Swans that include getting smuggled into eastern bloc countries by political dissidents, riots in Germany when th...

This show features Garry Pitcairn. He’s a DIY singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist from Italy. His latest release is called The Gospel and was produced by Alain Johannes. Garry tells me why he won’t sing in Italian, how his prior band sabotaged itself, how he came up with the name Garry Pitcairn, and how he was threatened by a dead musician. We get into a pretty deep discussion about alternativ...

We’re thrilled to have Mark Bingham on the show! He’s had quite a career in the music industry. He got his start writing songs for Elektra Records in the 60’s. In fact The Everly Brothers recorded one! He was there while The Doors were putting together The Soft Parade album and worked with Sun Ra. His stories are incredible, like the time Joni Mitchell thwarted a record deal because of a stolen bi...

The idea began as a roundtable of 5 questions each from me and my guests, Jared Artaud & Brian MacFadyan from The Vacant Lots and Leah Shapiro & Peter Hayes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It quickly became less formal than that and more conversational. We recorded for well over three hours and it was a lot of fun. I heard about cleverness in songwriting can backfire. There’s a possible future for...