Talkin‘ the Talk With Don

Since being strong armed into finally giving them a listen, Walking Papers very quickly became one of my favorite bands.  In 2018, the band released one of my top albums of 2018 with WP2 and the band has since had a successful opening slot with Alice in Chains, a successful European headlining tour, and now […]

It’s amazing what you can find when just digging for new music.  One day I was listening to Hope Sandoval and I decided to click on the “Related Artists” link.  As I perused through the list, I saw Marissa Nadler.  For some reason, she just looked really interesting so I clicked it and the first […]

As anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time would know, I have been a Blues Pills fan since first hearing their debut EP, Bliss.  After 7 years in Blues Pills, guitarist Doria Sorriaux has stepped into the light, pulled up a stool, and released one of my favorite releases of 2018, […]

  Icarus Witch is considered to be one of the forefathers of the NWOTHM movement.  After numerous lineup changes, the creative core of Lukas and bassist Jason Myers still stands strong.  The Witch returned in 2018 with a brand new album and a new line up featuring new vocalist Andrew D’Cagna, formerly of Brimstone Coven.  […]

For this first installment of On The Record, I had the pleasure of speaking with Randy Jackson of Zebra about their iconic 1983 Debut Self-Titled Album. Randy recounted some great stories and memories from the making of this album so I hope you all will enjoy this.

Thrash metal guitar legend, blogger, jazz master, and cat lover. These are all things that pretty much encompass the man you are about to hear me talking to. Better known for his work as Testsament’s lead guitarist, Alex Skolnick has done everything from jazz albums to playing with Ozzy and his currnet project Metal Allegiance. […]

It was such an awesome time talking to Craig Goldy. The guy is pretty much an unsung legend in my opinion. He played and co-wrote Dream Evil, my fave Dio album. He was also Ronnie’s longest running guitarist and was a great friend of his for many years. While Craig and I did have a […]

Johnny Gioeli is a true veteran metal vocalist.  Why this guy isn’t a household name I will never understand but in my opinion he sits up there with best of them.  From this early days (and current days) in Hardline to his long running stint as lead vocalist for legendary German guitar god Axel Rudi […]

Welcome to Episode 20 of Blowin’ Wind with The Great Southern Brainfart.  This episode is going to be quite a surprise for y’all because it’s not a hard rock or heavy metal episode.  Today we’re going to be talk to, what I consider to be, a modern jazz icon. 22 years ago a friend of […]

It’s hard to believe that 27 years ago, a little band out of Florida would release a song that would catch my ear and make me a life long fan.  The band was Saigon Kick and the song was “What You Say.”  With their spot on two part harmonies and the versatile arrangements of their […]

For nearly 3 decades, Thomas o’ Keefe was known in the NC Triangle area as the bassist for punk rock legends Antiseen.  When Thomas decided to put the bass down for just a bit, his life took him in a totally different direction. Currently out on the road as the tour manager for Weezer, Thomas […]

Welcome to Episode 17!  This time around I had a great time talking to guitarist Scott Moughton.  You may know Scott for his role as Geoff Tate’s right hand man for the past few years.  From his debut on Geoff Tate’s first solo album through the Trilogy of albums released under the Operation: Mindcrime moniker, […]

From The Oath to the latest chapter of her band Lucifer, Johanna Sadonis has been on a personal and artistic roller coaster for the past 5 years or so.  Rising from the ashes like the phoenix she is, Johanna Sadonis returned unscathed turning all of that pain and suffering into what we now have has […]

37 years.  That’s how long vocalist/singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Geoff Tate has been in the game.  From his 31 years as leader of Queensryche to his six years releasing an amazing solo album and a trilogy of albums under the Operation Mindcrime moniker, Geoff Tate is a man that stays artistically busy. The Operation Mindcrime album is celebrating […]

Having been doing interviews now for nearly 10 years, it’s always awesome for me when a connection is made.  Sometimes, and interview is just an interview.  It’s a Q&A, it’s fun, but it’s very much a “thanks for talking, see ya later” kind of thing.  I’ve been lucky enough to have some pretty amazing moments […]

Gods bumble bees, Stryper, are back and in 2018 they have delivered their strongest, hard hitting album to date, God Damn Evil.  I had yet another opportunity to talk with lead singer/guitarist Michael Sweet which is always a treat.  Michael is a fan of the blog and so even though he’s used to my “f” […]

Welcome to Episode 11 of Blowin’ Wind with the Great Southern Brainfart.  This time around we are featuring legendary shock rocker Lizzy Borden.  Inspired by such psychodrama acts as Alice Cooper and KISS, Lizzy Borden hit the LA scene delivering an over the top stage show that made W.A.S.P look like Warrant at times.  Many […]

Welcome to Episode 11 of Blowin’ Wind with the Great Southern Brainfart.  This time around we are featuring lead guitarist of Swedish psych/roots rock masters, Graveyard.  If you have been a fan of my blog for any time now you will know that, in my opinion, nobody does it like Graveyard.  They are a band […]

Welcome to Episode 10 of Blowin’ Wind with the Great Southern Brainfart.  This time around we are featuring Roger Joseph Manning Jr, former whizkid/singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist for the legendary 90’s power pop rock band, Jellyfish.  These days, Roger can be found out on the road and on albums as Beck’s right hand man.   This was a really […]

Known primarily by one name, and one name only , Jess is the lead vocalist for Finnish psych rock masters Jess and the Ancient Ones.  She is also a songwriter, musician, mother, and all around bad ass.  Jess took time out to talk to me even though she had the flu and it was a […]

Whether you like them or not, Styx has been a strong musical force for nearly 40 years.  Styx has a lot of cred in the hard rock/metal community and rightfully so.  While known for their ballads such as “Lady” and “Babe”, Styx can also rock with the best of them with songs such as “The […]

When most people hear the name Randy Jackson, they think of that dude from American Idol.  When I hear the name Randy Jackson, I immediately think of the legendary classic rock band, Zebra.  Responsible for songs like “Who’s Behind The Door”, “Tell Me What You Want”, and “Bears” which have all been spun on classic […]

With 29 years and 10 albums under their belt, Monster Magnet have truly earned the status of legends in their own right. Dave Wyndorf was a pioneer of that style of retro psychedelic hard rock before there was even a term for it and is still going strong to this day. Monster Magnet just released […]

Jordan Rudess has without a doubt achieved legendary status. Known primarily as the keyboardist for progressive metal masters Dream Theater, Jordan has been featured on 16 Dream Theater albums as well as projects with Rod Mogenstein, tony Levin, and Marco Minnemann. Jordan has also released 15 solo albums, developed countless music based apps for mobile […]

The late 80’s early 90’s saw a whole new style of hard rock emerging that rose to the top like curdled cream in coffee. Bands like Dangerous Toys, Circus of Power, Tora Tora, and Junkyard just to name a few made quite a huge statement to a young kid like me. While bands like Poison, […]