Strung Out

Send us Fan Mail Cathey Castro is a tour de force.  Animated, with a great laugh, she comes across as confident, friendly and compassionate.  Her artistic life began at an early age when she saw the artistry taking place at a local Tucson salon.  Impressed with beehives hairdo's, she grew up wielding a scissors and an attitude, much to the dismay of her parents, who saw law school in her futu...

Send us Fan Mail When I was a young kid, I would sit at home in Woodstock and play over and over Harry Chapin Live.  He had a song called Martin Tanner.  And in the song, Chapin told a story about a man who loved to sing.  He ends up being cajoled by well meaning friends to rent a hall and sing opera and make a big entrance into the world of art song.  The critics came (imagine that) and panned th...

Send us Fan Mail James Talley is an Oklahoma born folk-country-blues singer/songwriter, whose career now spans over forty years. His name has been mentioned alongside Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard and Bob Dylan, and praised for the quality of his songwriting and his wise, expressive voice. Noted author and music critic, Peter Guralnick has said of James’ work, “There are few singer-songwriters who...

Send us Fan Mail We talk about the Beatles today and in particular, how and if they could fit into today's musical world.  To help us navigate this episode, we  have author and musician Stuart Shea.  Stuart researches popular music, baseball, and sports media. He has written nine books, including Fab Four FAQ; Pink Floyd FAQ; Wrigley Field: The Long Life and Contentious Times of the Friendly...

Send us Fan Mail We welcome back Councilperson David Heuvelman of the Norwalk, Connecticut, City Council for a candid discussion about guns.  Gun control is the sort of subject that people tend to feel their eyes start to glaze over due to the rhetoric that surrounds the issue. It's only when mass shootings occur (and we have had an amazing spate in the last month) do people start to actively...

Send us Fan Mail It has been 100 days into the Biden Presidency.   Already some major changes have taken place, starting with vaccinations across the country.  A stimulus project that put more money into Americans pockets.  A proposed 3 trillion dollar infrastructure project that has proponents claiming "not enough" and opponents claiming "too much and not about infrastructure.&quot...

Send us Fan Mail Vicki and Joe Price have been the blues power couple of the Midwest.  From their home in Decorah, Iowa, they have created a traveling music show that has been to almost every corner of the country.  While Joe has been known for his style of music, it has been Vicki who has upped the ante by bringing her no-nonsense guitar play and excellent vocals to the stage.  As writer Chad Tay...

Send us Fan Mail Marty spends a little time talking about songwriting with special guest, Aine McCormack.  He also plays several songs from the upcoming album "Love In the Pandemic."  Enjoy! Support the show We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links: SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK MARTIN'S WEBSITE: http:/...

Send us Fan Mail Not many of us have had the opportunity to view the Rio Grande in Texas.  Few of us have even been to the southern border of the US and Mexico.  Having had the opportunity to perform at border towns in Arizona, I have had a chance in the past to look not only at the inhospitable desert that makes up a vast amount of our border, but also the complex security apparatus that is maint...

Send us Fan Mail When I was in grade school, I remember one of my teachers, Miss Cavers talking about her grandfather being an ambassador to some exotic country.  The name of where he was slips my mind.  But the one thing she said he had to do was eat with some dignitaries some local dish that consisted of some plant that was premasticated by the people preparing it.  Naturally all of us thought t...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Strung Out we interview two great Chicago Irish musicians, Jackie Moran on bodhran (the Irish drum) and Seán Cleland (fiddle) both of whom teach at The Irish Music School of Chicago (irishmusicschool.org) and were part of the legendary band The Drovers during the mid-late 1980's, when Chicago was at the forefront of a renaissance of Irish music, dance and c...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of Strung Out centers on our spiritual wellbeing during the pandemic.  To help us we welcome Drew Jacques.  Drew is a Presbyterian Minister, as well as  spending years counseling in mental health as well as child services in the province of Ontario, Canada.  Drew became pastor of St. David's of Campbellsville, Ontario, right before the outbreak of the pandemic. ...

Send us Fan Mail [00:00:00] [00:00:00] Martin McCormack: [00:00:00] I'd like to welcome John and Patricia Kennedy to Strung Out.  It's great to have you on the program.  [00:00:06] Patricia Kennedy: [00:00:06] Thank you, Marty.  [00:00:07] John Kennedy: [00:00:07] Thank you, Marty. Good to be here.  [00:00:08] Martin McCormack: [00:00:08] This is an  important topic that we are talking a...

Send us Fan Mail A lot of people are wondering if the dynamic duo has met its final end.  Does Batman and Robin, Green Hornet and Kato, David and Goliath, Gilbert and Sullivan, Sonny and Cher...well you get the drift.  None of these folks.  But Switchback!  Brian FitzGerald is our guest today on the podcast.  Marty interviews Brian so we can see just what sort of Covformation he has gone through. ...

Send us Fan Mail George Washington wrote his farewell address in 1796, when he finally served a second term in office.  Weary and wary of politics and politicians, Washington (with the help of Alexander Hamiliton) crafted what could be considered a "how to survive as a republic" guide.  One of the main warnings he had was about the factionalism of political parties and how those politica...

Send us Fan Mail If history is to be our guide, we have to look at the Republican Party as something that has gone through a great deal of transformation.  More so, in many ways, than the Democratic Party.   Rising from the ruins of the Whig Party in the 1850's, the Republican Party has undergone attempts at schisms in the past--most notably the 1912 creation of the Progressive, or Bull Moose...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode is about a friend of mine, the late, great Dave Lyon.  I had the privilege to help produce his last album, called  Black Pearl,  that was named in honor of his beautiful Creole, Louisiana-born and bred, wife, Evelyn.   Dave passed away on September 19, 2020 from stage four liver cancer.  Unbeknownst to him at the time of the recording and producing, the al...

Send us Fan Mail A huge snowstorm is coming.  You have done everything to prepare for it.  The logs are stacked for the fireplace, the shovel is handy by the front door.  Salt for the sidewalk.  There's really nothing more to do than hunker down and watch the flakes fall.  But wait!  What about making sure you get the right materials to create some fantastic comfort food?  The first of our fo...

Send us Fan Mail Marty brings in his political analyst, Sandeep Gopal, to comment about the pre-inaugural state of the nation.  The last two weeks have seen seismic changes since the attempted coup took place on January 6.  Sandeep references Isabel Wilkerson, the author of the Oprah Book of the Month selection Caste   and how America has been suffering under a system that was brutally re-establis...

Send us Fan Mail Two significant occurrences in the past 12 months has caused a seismic shift for a lot of people around the United States.   The first is the tumultuous campaign for the 46th presidency of the US.  The second, being the arrival of Covid 19.  Many people in the arts as well as other walks of life, have had to transform and redefine themselves in the wake of no employment, lower wag...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year! This podcast has two parts. Part One Marty talks about the New Year and the history behind New Year's Resolutions.  Why they are different from goals.  How setting goals helps one achieve a balanced life.  And how one should avoid any resolution unless it is a resolve to make some goals. Part Two What are Marty's goals with music for 2021?  Give a listen...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year!  Or is it more like "Happy to see this year go?"  Marty and Annie take a look at 2020 from the perspective of what good things happened this year.   They also talk about some good websites that have helped them during the pandemic.  Also, there are resolutions, right? Well tune in to hear what they have in mind.  All this and three full songs for you to e...

Send us Fan Mail We have a special two part special for you, all on one podcast episode. Part One.  We talk about the Winter Solstice.  Anne de Courtenay, our resident "witch" helps us unravel the dark mysteries that surround the darkest (and longest) night of the year. Part Two.  What is your favorite Christmas television special?  Was it Rudolph, Frosty or was it something adapted from...

Send us Fan Mail On this podcast, Marty talks about how difficult it is to find middle ground.  After introducing one of his brothers to the writings of historian Heather Cox Richardson, he is in turn told by that brother that "in the eyes of Jon Haidt" such a writer would not be worth her weight in salt.  Intrigued by his brothers objection over a fairly objective writer, Marty decided...

Send us Fan Mail Part  1 "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."   We take a look at the contemporary historian Heather Cox-Richardson. Martin may refer to her at Cathleen Richardson, who is hotwired in  his brain as a great Chicago area rocker.  Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.  Heather Cox Richardson is an expert in nineteenth-century America, specializing in polit...