Performance Anxiety

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...

Steve Hackett joins us today. He’s got a great live album coming out. But before we get into that, he tells me all about how he got started in music; it wasn’t the guitar either. His time in Genesis is well documented (including in his own book, A Genesis In My Bed). Steve tells us his initial thoughts upon hearing Trespass and From Genesis To Revelation. But Steve’s also recorded 28 solo albums,...

In this episode, we welcome Lucy Kruger of Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys and Medicine Boy into the Performance Anxiety family. Lucy tells us about growing up and becoming a musician in South Africa and why she and bandmate Andre Leo moved to Berlin. She talks about how her music has changed over the years and what she’s been doing during the never-ending pandemic. But what is incredible is that her...

We are lucky enough to spend an evening with producer and chef, Ted Niceley. Ted talks about issues flying, working with artists like Tommy Keene, Fugazi, Shudder To Think, Girls Against Boys, The Dead Milkmen, & so many more. He also tells us about some lesser known bands that you should know about like New Rising Sons, Future Kings of Spain, & Backbone Party. He’s recorded in David Gilmour’s man...

Our guest this episode is Autumn Hawk Percival. Her band, The Hawk Percival and Friends is navigating some strange times for unsigned artists. We talk about the pandemic and how being in lockdown has helped her. We also discuss our mutual love of Neil Young, dealing with depression, Jethro Tull (both the band and her dog). We dive into the lost art of listening to an entire album, front to back. Y...

We have to thank former guest John Agnello for this show. He introduced us to our guest, Jackie McLean of Roan Yellowthorn. She tells us about her road to becoming a recording artist. It’s a little different from most and a lot of it is Jackie’s pure determination. Their first album was a total DIY affair. But it was so good it got the band signed to Blue Elan Records. After a stunning album of co...

This show is a reunion of sorts. I’m joined by Pete Hoffman & Shannon McCardle of The Mendoza Line. The band is reissuing their album We’re All In This Alone. Pete & Shannon hadn’t spoken for 12 years, until the day before we recorded. They tell me about missed opportunities, some regrets, Stratomatic baseball, & saying “tit” as many times as possible. The reissue of We’re All In This Alone includ...

Our guest this week had quite an extraordinary life. After growing up inside the Detroit Pistons organization, he moved to Alaska to pursue a passion for hard work and his music. He has done both, including lumber-jacking and a 6 year world tour. His new album will be out in September on Blue Arrow Records and in the words of Bob Cratchett, it’s a triumph, mixing folk and blues with noise rock and...