The Midlife Critics Podcast

A tribute to David Lynch, our Songs Of The Week you’ve never heard, our 50 greatest yacht rock songs, and songs about dick and pussy are the topics of a fun episode. Nathan Ferrell and I discuss yacht rock, and Wellington Davis and Bryan Mosby join me to discuss dick and pussy songs. Find The Midlife Critics on Facebook groups.  Enjoy yourselves and check out the songs at the links below, Burke #F...

Nathan Ferrell and Burke Wasson mine the depths of yacht rock - a retroactively named genre that we grew up with. Even if you don't like yacht rock, you'll appreciate this episode and the HBO Max documentary Yacht Rock. We dive into that documentary, the music itself with plenty of talk about Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Toto, Ambrosia, and more, and get into Tuesday's yacht ro...

In a surprisingly scholarly talk, Bryan Mosby, Steve Strait, and Burke Wasson talk about all facets of our Songs of Destruction, from our love and hate of Metallica to social commentary. This was a deep talk. Do it up. And Riverside generated show chapters, so check it out! 3:06: Introspection vs. Destruction in Songs 6:00: The Role of Social Commentary in Songs 9:00: Diverse Interpretations of De...

After a long break, Bryan Mosby, Travis Boots, and Burke dive back into the podcast arena, discussing our rankings for greatest solo debut albums and getting into the diminishing legacies of Eric Clapton and John Lennon. We also make our picks for Monday Nov. 11's polls of our favorite songs by artists we dislike, or guilty pleasures.

Travis Boots, Bryan Mosby, and Burke Wasson dive into the group's picks for best current artists with a few detours along the way. We get into the inevitable Black Keys/White Stripes comparison, lick our chops at the prospective group arguments on Chappell Roan vs. Billy Strings, lament that we have to choose between Marcus King and Sturgill Simpson, and reveal what midlife critics whine about...

Travis, Mosby & Burke are back on their bullshit with discussions, jokes, debates, and predictions for our best current artists. This is a real one, so strap in.

We talk about #FreshCuts Vol. 26 and the first 2 days of our polls for best current artists.

Travis and I get into a wide ranging discussion on nominations for #FreshCuts Vol. 25 as well as this week's 1st round of polls to decide our best current artists. And we get criticize the lazy criticism of Oasis.

Bryan Mosby, Travis Boots, and I dive into ours and Wes Dorris' picks for greatest current artists. We also ponder what the music world would have looked like if Kurt Cobain hadn't died.

Jennifer and I break down all 27 of this week's #FreshCuts (songs that most of us haven't heard, picked and voted on by the Live Wire private Facebook group). We ponder if you can appreciate a song without understanding its language, the king of daddy-daughter dance songs, Waylon Jennings at a rave, metal songs that Jennifer actually likes, buying a bug zapper, new songs that stoke nostalg...

Travis Boots, Bryan Mosby, and I discuss the 1st day of polls for the Live Wire private Facebook group's top 32 feel-good songs of all time. But before that, we get into a discussion on #FreshCuts and what we can do to increase engagement with songs that most of the group has never heard. It's always a great talk with Mosby and Travis, and this episode is no exception.

Does a song have to be longer than 6 minutes to be considered a jam band song? The group has some psychedelic song tendencies this week in our #FreshCuts Vol. 22 nominations, and Jennifer and Burke discuss it.  If a song is #FreshCuts-caliber, that means it’s enough to tell your friends about it. There are some strong ones this week. We also ponder the current situation of the underboob woman on W...

It's Sunday. So Jennifer and I are picking apart all of the #FreshCuts for this week. These are songs so new or so rare, most of us in the Live Wire private Facebook group haven't heard them. We get into songs by Elbow, Goldfrapp, Thou, Bukka White, Ken Pomeroy, Jack White, Simon Stokes & The Nighthawks, ODIE, Chromatics, The Wildwoods, EquallyOpposite, Phantogram, moe., Widespread Pan...

It's time for our weekly Saturday reveal of our top 12 new and unheard songs of the week. This week's #FreshCuts are mostly roots-based. But they also have a sense of adventure, veering into electronic pop and hip-hop. Each song has meaning, and we get into that in this episode. I'm joined by Mosby, Jennifer, Jeremy, Jimmi, Wes, Zach, and Travis to discuss our reasons for picking these...

Jennifer and I dive into the Live Wire Facebook group's 24 #FreshCuts for Vol. 20. These are songs that most of the group hasn't heard, and we have a great time pondering word pronunciations, song meanings, and what Charley Crockett would sound like with a British accent. This is a strong collection. You can hear #FreshCuts Vol. 20 on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4SkdhNPpFE...

I'm joined by Travis Boots and Bryan Mosby to discuss and give our picks on feel-good songs for the polls in the Live Wire Facebook private group for Sunday, July 28. Each set of polls, I look at songs that had more votes in a trailing poll than others in a leading poll. Then I pit them against each other as a way of quality control to ensure that we advance the songs that we really want. Travis a...

Steve Strait and I discuss all of Thursday July 25's polls for our feel-good songs in the Live Wire private Facebook group. This was two friends talking about music for an hour, and it sounds just like that. We get into some great discussion on songs by The Police, Tina Turner, Gary Jules, The Rascals, Amos Lee, The Grateful Dead, Juanes, Living Colour, New Order, My Morning Jacket, The Stooge...

Travis Boots and Bryan Mosby join me to discuss polls on feel-good songs picked by the Live Wire private Facebook group. Starting with 200 feel-good songs, we’re now trying to see which songs make the group collectively feel good. On the surface, it seems light. But we still have a great discussion, debating the merits of Van Halen, sharing our personal experiences with some of these songs, and br...

Jennifer and I walk through all 25 of this week’s #FreshCuts in provocatively spirited fashion within the best sound quality we’ve had…and probably the silliest episode we’ve done. But the songs are great. There are deep discussions, impromptu comedy bits, and even a false start with our new microphone. Download the #FreshCuts Vol. 19 playlist on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, and YouTube. This wee...

This week’s #FreshCuts feature epic production, masterful songwriting, and a lot of fun. Ranging from blues, metal, vibe rock, bluegrass, hip-hop, and even a little bit of reggae beats, these songs have lots of life and you’ll enjoy them. I’m joined this week by Nathan Ferrell, Travis Boots, Bryan Mosby, Jeremy Cook, Matt Lehman, and Franky Fairway. This week’s #FreshCuts feature songs by Johnny B...

Find Live Wire on Facebook private groups. Travis Boots, Bryan Mosby, and I get into Live Wire’s top 100 R&B/funk songs of all time. But we begin the episode talking about ways to make our group more individual. We also get into our reasoning and methods on the upcoming “feel good song” polls. We discuss Steve Wonder’s “Superstition” being our group’s #1 R&B/funk song. We agree that our #2 song -...

Jennifer and I dive into all 24 of this week’s #FreshCuts picked by the Live Wire private Facebook group. Most of these are songs we haven’t heard before, and that’s the point - to expand our musical repertoire. We discuss songs from Sturgill Simpson’s new album under his alter ego Johnny Blue Skies (and I think we may have stumbled upon its real pronunciation). We also get into deep discussions a...

I reveal our top 12 #FreshCuts of the week, picked and voted on by the Live Wire group. This week’s #FreshCuts feature majestic acoustic folk harmonies, bass-slapping funk metal, electronica, and songs ranging from fuzzed-out hipster rock to acoustic ditties. I’m joined by Bryan Mosby, Wellington Davis, and Steve Strait to discuss these songs. This week’s #FreshCuts feature songs by Fleet Foxes, L...

One of my oldest friends left this life at age 43 last week on July 6, 2024. Bryant Bartok was a unique, goofy, intelligent, and emotional person with a dedicated passion for music. In this episode, some friends and I share our memories of Bryant and try to process our grief. I’m joined by Joe Burtis, Scott Deuel, Shariff Shakir, Wes Dorris, Joel Graves, and my brother - Grant Wasson. This episode...

This was the most informationally entertaining episode we’ve done and probably the first time that anyone has enjoyed discussing cancel culture. It was a lot of fun. Travis Boots and Bryan Mosby bring their A game, breaking down 16 more R&B/funk songs. And Travis says how he would have separated these songs into two different tournaments. Look for the Live Wire private group on Facebook. This epis...