Performance Anxiety

Today’s guest really brings back some memories. Please welcome Sheila Shukla from Magnolia Street String Band. Sheila and I go way back. Like WAAAAAY back, all the way to elementary school. There’s a little bit of catching up in this episode, sprinkled throughout Sheila’s story. She talks about how she used to force her sister, Rita, to help her figure out harmonies she was hearing before they cou...

Today’s guest exemplifies perseverance; and not just with his music but with this podcast. There were a few technical issues which have, hopefully, been overcome with clever editing. Welcome the one and only Robyn Hitchcock. He’s written a memoir about his life in 1967. In fact, it’s called 1967, How I Got There And Why I Never Left. It’s a very unique take on a memoir that works so well. But befo...

Today’s guest has been through it. But he hasn’t let it stop him. Welcome T Bear to the show. Born Richard Gerstein, he grew up spending time in both New York City and the Caribbean. He was playing pretty early on. In fact, he was invited to his first studio session at the age of just 17…by Richie Havens! Soon after, he was discovered by the KISS camp and began writing with the band. That helped h...

This episode of Side Projects sees the return of Steve Dawson and Mark Mallman. They join me to discuss song structure. We go over some basic terms and structures that are typical and atypical. We talk about songs like The Wreck Of The Edmunds Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot, Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey, Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin, and others. Is a successful song necessarily a GOOD son...

Today’s guests made me laugh. A lot. I’d like to welcome Jake Zavracky and Elizabeth LeBaron to the show. Together they make up The Dream Eaters. And this entire episode could have gone off the rails at any moment. From the very beginning things were different than just about any other show. For example, doing the actual podcast took Elizabeth by surprise. And once we got everything going, Jake an...

Today’s guest makes me feel so excited and I just can’t hide it. It’s The Pointer Sisters. No. No it’s not. Please welcome David Hakopyan of Antenna The End. And I have to thank Jamie Park and Teen Cancer America for connecting us.  David grew up in one of the biggest Armenian communities in the world outside of Armenia, itself. He was influenced equally by rock and Armenian folk music. But music...

The Side Projects series of this podcast gives me a lot of latitude regarding subject matter. Occasionally, I like to go down a rabbit hole on a specific band. But I think this is the first time I’ve been able to do that with band members, themselves. Please welcome Robert Poss and Karen Haglof of Band Of Susans. They’ve both been on the podcast. In fact they were very early episodes and we were p...

Today’s guest reminds me that there is some amazing talent out there that needs to be heard. Welcome Jackie Popovec from Youngstown, Ohio’s own The Vindys. She’s a powerhouse vocalist whose voice is a Venn Diagram of some heavy hitters like Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera, & Carrie Underwood. And the rest of the band ain’t so bad either. They rock with an early Chicago sound. Think Terry Kath me...

Today’s guest proves that hard work and patience will pay off. Welcome Tom Kanach of KANAK to the podcast. Tom is from New Jersey, so naturally we start razzing each other almost from the start. Tom talks about manipulating his situation so his brother would get an unwanted plastic drum set in order to start his first band. But he would really get serious about being in a band after a chance meeti...

Today’s guest makes me feel inspired. I welcome Lex Borrero to the program. He’s the very definition of rags-to-riches. Born in Bogota, Colombia, he emigrated with his mother to the US to start a new life from scratch. His first taste of success came after selling candy and burned CD’s to buy a pair of Jordans when he was a kid. But Lex wasn’t (and he’ll admit, still isn’t) a musician. Instead, he...

Today’s guest embodies retro in the most fun ways possible. Welcome Chelsea Nenni of Late Slip to the show. She grew up with music all around. Her dad worked in rock radio since the 70’s. He even gave Carson Daly his first shot. In fact, Carson would often come over to Chelsea’s house for spaghetti. But her lifelong obsession with oldies, Elvis in particular, came from her mom. But Chelsea didn’t...

Today’s guest makes me feel exotic. Welcome David Nagler to the show. David grew up in a very musical house. In fact, his first performance was at age 1 or 2 in a stage production of The King And I. But that was just the beginning. A very early beginning. He began taking piano lessons a few years later.  He began his musical career with the band Stretch. That soon became Nova Social. Same guys, ne...

My guest today is just fun to talk with. It’s Jeff Fielder. I first heard Jeff when researching for Mark Lanegan’s episode. He’s worked with so many people and made so much great music that it’s almost unbelievable. But he started off admiring rock before playing any. He grew up in Alaska with much older brothers. Long haired, Les Paul playing, Barracuda driving brothers. So Jeff got into music ea...

Today’s guest makes me feel grateful in many different ways. One person I’m grateful to is Ryan Smith for introducing me to Mark Mallman. Mark’s story is incredible. But the recurring theme is victory. He’s overcome so much throughout his life and it all boils down to his mother’s message: It’s going to be OK. He grew up with music all around. It was there from his earliest memories. He began stud...

Today’s guest is truly multi-talented. Welcome modern renaissance man Eerie Von to the podcast. Eerie talks about his varied creative talents. Whether it’s drums, bass, singing, photography, painting, or whatever he sets his mind to, Eerie is a force to be reckoned with. He’s also one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever had on the show. He’s an open book about his time in Samhain and Danzig...

Today’s guests make me rethink the saying “Don’t meet your idols”. I’m joined by Tom Flynn and Mia Dean of Antler Family. Tom’s extensive musical career features bands like Fang and Cornelius Asperger and the Bi-Curious Unicorns. Mia is operatically trained and spent time studying opera in Austria and Italy. She was a huge fan of Tom’s music and jumped at the opportunity to play with one of her id...

Today’s guest reminds me that sometimes, I need to shift my focus. Welcome the multitalented Harry Ostrem to the podcast. I met Harry through a project I started two years ago. But I’ll explain that in a minute. Harry is a bassist, actor, singer, songwriter, comedian, writer, and more. The guy is crazy talented. He grew up about as far away from showbusiness as possible, in a small town of 20 in r...

Today’s guest reminds me why I do this podcast. It’s Lance Whalen and we met because all he did was make a nice comment about one of my episodes. That’s it. I thought “Hey, let me check out this guy’s music” and I suggested we record an episode. Lance’s story gets very difficult at times. And he hits me with some straight up sorrow out of the blue. But everything he’s had to endure has gone into s...

Today’s guest reminds me that not everyone is born at the right time. My guest is singer/songwriter Stephen Bluhm. To say he is an old soul is an understatement of the highest degree. I mean, the man put a heckelphone on his latest album. Don’t know what that is? Stephen does! And he explains it on the podcast. His latest release, Out Of The Nowhere. Into The Here, throws it WAAAAAY back. It’s a b...

Today’s guest reminds me to take my time. Please give a Performance Anxiety welcome to singer/songwriter, Lynn Drury. She has made New Orleans her home but she grew up in what sounds like every little girl’s dream, raising and training quarter horses for the rodeo circuit in Mississippi. And she always loved music but never actually considered pursuing it professionally. That is until she was walk...

Today’s guest makes me feel like royalty. It’s drummer Michael Bland and he has worked with some of the best in the business. But before that, he played in school and found out he had perfect pitch! Finding that out helped solidify his decision to be a musician. But his parents weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea and pushed him to have a backup plan. That is, until Prince called the house look...

Today’s guest makes me appreciate life a bit more. Welcome a woman who has lived the blues, Bex Marshall. She talks about how she always had this absolute need to learn how to play guitar and the huge impact karaoke had on starting her career. She was singing in a band called Blue Murder before she had to press pause on her music career and get a “real” job. But it wasn’t all that bad. She travele...

Today’s guest reminds me that not everything is always as it seems. Please welcome Lance Hoppen from the band Orleans. Prior to speaking with Lance, I hadn’t dug very deep into Orleans’ catalog. But when I did I realized that there is a whole lot going on there! The band tends to get lumped into the yacht rock genre but there is so much more to their sound. Lance gives a history lesson on the band...

Today’s guest really makes me want to be more experimental…somehow. It’s Michael Wiener of The Children…(with the ellipses). They have just released what is technically their second album. But good luck finding the first. Michael’s household growing up was not typical. His mother was a pioneering photojournalist and his father was a child Holocaust survivor. And they encouraged his pursuit of the...

Today’s guest makes me wish I had studied more in school. Meet Jason Achilles. This guy’s breadth of talent and interests just blows my mind! He’s not just a talented musician but he’s also an engineer who has recorded the sounds of Mars from a microphone system he was in charge of on the Mars rover. And apparently this kind of professional diversity runs in the family. By the way, he uses one of...