The Load Out Music Podcast

Neil Salsich didn't set out to become a St. Louis music icon — he just never stopped loving music long enough to do anything else. The founding member of The Mighty Pines, a soul-inspired roots rock band shaped by the wide rivers and red-brick streets of their hometown, Salsich turned a lifelong obsession into a full-time career in 2014 and hasn't looked back. His Season 23 appearance on The Voice...

He's a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, one of  Rolling Stone's  "100 Greatest Guitarists," and at 85 years old, he's still riding motorcycles, producing his own CBD oil, and regularly has more gigs on the books than most musicians half his age. We sat down with the great Jorma Kaukonen for the latest episode of  The Load Out Music Podcast , covering the entire span of his unbelievable career—from his f...

Rising singer-songwriter Amelia Day joined host Aaron Perlut on The Load Out Music Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about her journey from Sumner, Washington — the self-proclaimed "Rhubarb Pie Capital of the World" — to Nashville, where she's been building a reputation as one of indie folk-rock's most compelling rising voices. Day discussed her musical evolution, her refusal to be boxed int...

In the 1980s, popular music in Georgia started to once again find its footing. There was a burgeoning hip-hop scene, an exceptionally talented group of up-and-coming R&B artists, and a collection of rock 'n' roll bands that included the B-52s and R.E.M. out of Athens, as well as the Black Crowes and Drivin' N' Cryin' in Atlanta, among others.  While the success of the B-52s, R.E.M. and Black Crowe...

We kick off Season 7 of The Load Out Music Podcast with the GRAMMY-nominated, multi-instrumentalist and PLATINUM-selling artist—Hunter Hayes. He's an embodiment of a musician that embraces evolution and redefines boundaries who burst onto the scene with his PLATINUM-certified debut album and charted a unique course through the genre-bending course he was destined to explore. His latest album Everg...

The Load Out Music Podcast returns for our final show of Season 6! We finish up a tremendous season strong, as we are joined by Lee Henke and Vinnie Donatelle of The Last Revel. The highly acclaimed band was formed in Minneapolis in 2011 and has a tightly harmonized sound that's one part folk, one part bluegrass, and a little alt-country. The band's sound harkens to the trials, tribulations, and t...

Singer-songwriter Kai Crowe-Getty has spent more than a decade fronting the rock 'n' roll band Lord Nelson. But in recent years, he's been quietly crafting a more thoughtful style—very much along the lines of the exceptional James McMurtry—that stands in stark contrast to his rowdier rock catalogue. His new foray is on full display throughout his strong debut solo LP, The Wreckage . "I've played i...

Pop. Funk. Soul. Rock. Blues. Call him whatever you want, but Andy Frasco is an exceptionally talented and exciting independent singer-songwriter and performer from Los Angeles who has built a solid career through relentless touring and an energetic performance style. After teaching himself piano at 17, he used his bar mitzvah savings to buy a van and started touring independently, picking up musi...

Experimentation sparks creativity. When Colorado-based country music band  The Barlow  buckled down to write and record the new album  High Spirits —the band's follow-up to 2022's  New Year, Old Me —there were no constraints, no boundaries, and freedom to explore and create songs that endeavor to connect with people in a meaningful way. "We tossed the rule book out on this record," according to Sh...

Whether you know his music or not, Sam Morrow is one of the truly great, under-appreciated southern rock artists making music today.  That's why the likes of Blackberry Smoke, Whitey Morgan and others have called upon him and his immensely talented band to tour with them, and why once people witness Morrow's talents live -- they are generally hooked for good. We welcome Sam back to the show to tal...

Some know our latest guest on the Load Out music podcast—the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Tony Kamel, from his days fronting the acclaimed bluegrass outfit Wood & Wire, while some might be familiar with his solo work, including the hit song "Amen." But on his latest studio album,  We're All Gonna Live   (2025),   Kamel  captures a no frills live-to-tape energy, perfectly complimenting the we...

Talk about a good year. St. Louis singer-songwriter Mattie Schell has certainly had one, touring with the Allman-Betts band, playing at Merlefest, signing with Nashville-based Compass Records and releasing a promising new album. At times evoking memories of the late Janis Joplin —particularly live— she's forging ahead in new directions. In April, she dropped her first solo album—the rollicking Eve...

Success in popular music—yesterday and today—is often defined by a simple word: Perseverance. Indeed, it's an endurance game steeped in paying dues, playing shows in front of minimal crowds over and again, gradually building a name and a sound, and finding an audience. Most successful musicians are lifers, and perhaps no one exemplifies that quite like John Corabi. He's fronted or played in bands...

Throughout his career in rock 'n' roll, the great Jon Foreman of the band Switchfoot has soared to immense heights. A few years back he joined us to talk about his career and today he returns to discuss an exciting new project he's embarked on with Blues legend Buddy Guy. Produced by Tom Hambridge—Buddy's longtime collaborator and acclaimed Blues music producer—the new single "Last Man Standing" f...

They say that true country music is dead these days. Well, that is with the exception of a select few artists, old souls, who remain dedicated to the craft. Anna Wescoat is one of those artists and her first studio album, WORLD FAMOUS, is a testament to that spirit. With a style reminiscent of country greats like Patsy Cline and George Jones, Wescoat bean playing piano and singing with her family...

Today we diverge from The Load's Out's typical menu of Americana and roots fare into something much more complex.     The band 2Lot is not your typical collection of musicians. Indeed, creating its own unique brand of electronic jam music—fusing electronic elements with inspiration from classic jam bands, hip hop, soul, funk, jazz and rock—2Lot teems with intellectual prowess. After all, the band'...

There has never been more high-quality music being made than there is today. However, unless you're looking for sugar-coated, synth-driven pop sounds—the discovery of that music is often left to the mercy of streaming algorithms. Take, for example, punk-infused Americana (think The Clash meets Loretta Lynn). There's a torrent of it, particularly a number of very good female artists such as past-gu...

S ome modern bands—ones like Jack White, Larkin Poe, Greta Van Fleet and Marcus King among others—they are beginning to standout for their exceptional musical talents while still holding onto what has become somewhat of a lost art form.  "It's not uncommon that young people are making music that nods to the past," according to the lead guitarist of one of those bands, Tyler Armstrong of The Band F...

Jovin Webb was first introduced to America through American Idol in 2020, but the Louisiana-native is much more than a reality show contestant. His gritty vocals and dynamic style promise to make him one of the world's most exciting new blues and roots artists.   His recent debut release album  Drifter is a stunning 12-track collection that blends blues, soul, and Southern rock, showcasing his raw...

Dan Auerbach, the Black Keys frontman, had always been a big fan of the late Tony Joe White. The singer-songwriter—some knew him as "The Swamp Fox" had an unmistakably swampy baritone and down-home style. He was best known, of course, for songs like "Poke Salad Annie" and "Rainy Night in Georgia." Over his career, White's songs were recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Ray Char...

Andrew Browning, a gritty, California-born singer-songwriter whose new album   Love is a Beautiful Thing   (out 11/22) digs deep into the messy, raw truths of love and human connection. This is a record that stands out for its emotional honesty and layered narratives. The singer-songwriter delves into the complexities of love with a sound that is distinctly Californian—dark, irreverent, and pulsin...

Whether on behalf of Dodge trucks, on the show "Animal Kingdom," on behalf of Monster Energy, ESPN, in the video game Cyberpunk 2077, or just on the radio—you've probably heard The Cold Stares.   For the past decade, The Cold Stares have toured the world relentlessly as a duo, blowing away audiences across the US and Europe with a fierce, blistering live show that belied their bare bones, guitar-a...

Best known for the 2004 hit "Life Less Ordinary," the indie rock band Carbon Leaf has been at it since the early 1990s. That's when they got their start in Richmond, Virginia, alongside the likes of the Dave Matthe ws Band, Cracker, GWAR, Fighting Gravity, the Pat McGee Band, and more. The band just released its much-anticipated new album, "Time is the Playground," Carbon Leaf's first full-length...

If you are a musician and have a stamp of approval from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, and blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa—odds are good things are coming your way. Thus is the case of our latest guest on the Load Out Music Podcast: British-born blues rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor, who released her latest album, Heavy Soul, this past June. Taylor's new recor...

Welcome back to the Load Out Music Podcast where we most recently caught up with a much-heralded Americana band from my home state of Virginia. They are widely known for their annual Red Wings Roots Music Festival in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in the western part of the state and have an ambitious new album out entitled SIDEWAYS. They are The Steel Wheels and we learned they are NOT named aft...