The Load Out Music Podcast

In 1963, Duane Abbajay—the 15 th child of Syrian immigrants—took over ownership of a bar in Toledo, Ohio. And with the backing of the Detroit mafia, he would make it one of the legendary homes of music—first for rock artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Chubby Checker and others in the 1960s; and then for a who's who of country music legends in the 1970s. We recently welcomed our authors Ste...

Jam band culture is a thing unto itself that drives passions that are perhaps hotter than any other music fandom. And the the list of legendary jam bands is well known: the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, Phish, Widespread Panic and more. One of the great American jam bands is moe. out of Buffalo which as been praised for its musicality and appeared at Woodstock '99 , opened for Allmans  and ...

Welcome back to another episode of the Load Out Music Podcast. We're thrilled about our guest this week, Steve Forbert, whose first four albums charted on the Billboard 200, and in, 1979 he had a huge hit with "Romeo's Tune." A native of Meridian, Mississippi, his 2004 record "Any Old Time" was nominated for a Grammy award for best traditional folk and his songs have been recorded by Marty Stuart,...

Coming down the homestretch of Season Three of The Load Out Music Podcast , we settle into our new digs in one of the great music venues in St. Louis – The Old Rock House. Most important, we welcome yet another Grammy Award winner in Jeff Hanna, founder and longest serving member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In the 1960s, the Detroit-native landed in Long Beach, California, where music was being...

The furniture-making country of little Trinity, North Carolina, is not where one generally presumes an ultra-liberal, New York City-living, music-lifer hails from. But there are exceptions to every rule, such as Gregory Dwane, our most recent guest on The Load Out Music Podcast . In the 1990s, Dwayne left small town life and headed to New York where he began playing in punk bands and ultimately pr...

In the late 1960s, Lowell George was playing rhythm guitar in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention when Zappa suggested George leave the band. There are conflicting versions as to why: Zappa believed George was too talented to be a backing player, he did not like the drug references in George's song "Willin'," or Zappa didn't appreciate George's fondness for pot. Regardless, George left. He connecte...

Despite being surrounded by the music of countless great female country singers growing up – Lorrie Morgan, Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton and others – Jamie Lin Wilson did not see herself pursuing a career in music. As she noted to me on the latest episode of The Load Out Music Podcast , there were "so many great, strong female artists that I really latched onto." Yet, the fame that...

He's helped shape the hip-hop flavored sounds of Lil Wayne, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper and J. Cole among many others. But it's likely you've never heard his name. That would be S-X, who has already more than proved himself as an artist. And now, for the first time, his voice will truly be heard. Known back home as "The Wolverhampton Wonderkid," he has spent years making a name for himself...

In 2016, I was driving down the road listening to SiriusXM's Outlaw Country channel and heard these lyrics playing on my radio: "Eating tater tots and p*ssy Sucking mountain dew and t*ts Kicked my grandpa in his nut sack Then I suck my bosses d*ck" Well, that's different, I thought to myself. And when I completed the song – and DJ Hillbilly Jim said it was someone named Wheeler Walker, Jr. and the...

Perhaps his name is unfamiliar to you, but amongst musicians, Ray Wylie Hubbard is considered one of the greatest songwriters of the past half-century. He is indeed revered for his unique, lyrical style that drips with irony and comes across about as plainspokenly as words can be stated. In truth, however, Hubbard often examines topics that are deeply intellectual and supported by a remarkable, ro...

Sarah Borges has been at it for more than 20-plus years and built a strong reputation in punk rock and outlaw country circles as a hard-charging, high energy rock-and-roller out of Boston. She's been noted as "walking that fine line between punk and country," having ranging from Dolly Parton, Mahalia Jackson, X, Sid Vicious, Merle Haggard, to bubblegum pop. Sarah joins us for an entertaining start...

Welcome back to The Load Out music podcast presented by Well Being Brewing and Shinesty. On this episode, we are joined by the amazingly talented Suzanne Santo, an accomplished actress and a singer-songwriter who recently released her second solo album – "Yard Sale." Early in her career, she modeled and then acted on shows like TBS's "The Guest Book," "Imaginary Heroes," NBC's "Medium" and "Withou...

Piano men, or women, often seem to be the outliers in popular music. They are the exception, not rule, ranging from Leon Russell to Billy Joel and Elton John, Marc Cohn, John Legend and more. Over the last few years, singer-songwriter Lucas Jack has built an impressive catalogue of music, and yes, you guessed it – he's a piano man. A Michigan native, Jack bowed out of life as a Chicago lawyer and...

The state of Georgia has long been a hotbed of rock, rhythm and blues that has captured the attention of music lovers worldwide. Indeed, from the Allman Brothers to Gladys Knight & The Pips to Little Feat, from the B-52s to R.E.M., from OutKast to Widespread Panic, Gnarls Barkley to the Black Crowes, the Atlanta Rythym Section, Zac Brown, Drivin N Cryin and Dan Baird and his Georgia Satellites and...

The son of country music royalty; check. Shipped off to live with his ultra-religious aunt and uncle who ultimately outcasted him after he came out of the closet in his teens; check. Did drugs for the first time with this father; check. Established himself as a viable country artist with a strong debut record; check. Disappeared like Eddie from "Eddie & the Cruisers" for the better part of 15 year...

Let's start here: Jon Foreman is not a brand of elegant men's watches. Far from it, in fact. He's the frontman of the popular rock band Switchfoot, which reached its peak of commercial chart success in the early 2000s with a pair of mammoth hits. But this not some has-been rock-and-roll outfit looking to hang on. Switchfoot has continued to produce a string of strong records, while Foreman has led...

Unless you closely follow the Americana music circuit, the name Paul Thorn may sound more like an elegant fashion brand rather than one of the more distinctive singer-songwriters out today. But the Mississippi-raised Thorn – a former championship caliber professional boxer who once fought the great Roberto Duran – has one of the more unique styles today blending blues, folk, funk, gospel, country...

There is a remarkable intensity that seems to surround B.J. Barham, the frontman for the fast-rising alt-country band American Aquarium, wherever he may be. Whether walking across a parking lot lost in thought, responding to critics on social media, sitting down for an interview after a soundcheck, doing a meet-and-greet with fans, joyfully gliding across the stage with his acoustic guitar, or thr...

Josh Peyton was a high school homecoming king, wears only sleeveless shirts, is a Kentucky Colonel, an ordained minister, once worked as a hotel desk-clerk, has arms like tree trunks, and leads a band that plays 250 dates-a-year when not locked down during pandemics. A man with all of this girth needs something, well, girthy. He needs something big. So that's what Peyton did in forming and driving...

When Devon Allman was 20 years old, he was playing a gig at one of the largest outdoor venues in St. Louis, his hometown, and the reception was not what he had hoped. The son of Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Gregg Allman – a principle architect of American Classic Rock – Devon discussed his frustrations and fears with his mother, Shelley Jefts. She calmly reminded him that, "not everyone is going to...

Last time out we had Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chris Hillman of The Byrds visit. For episode 3 of season 2, we pivot to one of the most talented emerging artists going -- Sam Morrow. He's part of the LA outlaw country scene and delivers a uniquely funk-drenched blend of rock, country and funk. We explore his story -- from growing up in Houston singing in churches to escaping drug addiction in Ne...

"The man who invented country rock." Those are the words of the late Tom Petty about the most recent guest on The Load Out Music Podcast . One would guess that if you co-founded a band once called the "British Beatles;" if you started another band named for delicious burritos that can fly and is considered the first ever country-rock band; and if you had a string of hit songs stretching from the 1...

Steve Cropper. If you know music, you know Steve Cropper. A foundational component of the Stax Studios sound, writer of legendary songs like Otis Redding's "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" and Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" among other hits, member of Booker T. & The MGs, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, original Blues Brothers band member, producer extraordinaire and more. Recorded liv...

Beyond being the final guest of season 1 of The Load Out music podcast, who is John McEuen ? He's one of the founding fathers of the alt-country movement, which largely stemmed from a collection of immensely talented southern California musicians in the mid-1960s such as Merle Haggard, David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Roger McGuinn, Gram Parsons, Jackson Browne and many others. As co-founder of the Gra...

Sex, drugs and rock and roll. It's not just a euphemism. Steve Gorman, founding drummer of legendary rock band The Black Crowes should know. But there's more than the string of hits and electric live shows in the case of a band that perhaps could have been the most influential rock act since U2 or The Rolling Stones. That would be, of course, had co-founders Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson not bl...