The Record Player

Send us Fan Mail Mike Duquette of The Second Disc and Duque's Delights is in the hot seat with Jeff and Matt to discuss The Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears. Matt has been waiting two years and several days to have an in-depth conversation with Mike. But he's also been waiting since the early '90s to find someone to have a similarly long conversation about The Seeds of Love. On this...

Send us Fan Mail The latest episode of The 1974 Project finds Jeff and Matt teaming up with Matthew Wilkening of Ultimate Classic Rock to discuss the self-titled debut album by Kiss, which was released on February 18, 1974. But the conversation covers a lot of territory involved with just being a music fan. Sneaking out of the house to go buy albums. Parents putting their foot down regarding bands...

Send us Fan Mail Van Halen's self-titled debut celebrates its 46th anniversary this month (today in fact, as this is being posted). Jeff and Matt celebrate by welcoming journalist Steve Rosen to discuss this legendary album. Steve brings unique insights to today's discussion as someone who was covering Van Halen from the moment that the album hit the shelves. He became friends with Eddie...

Send us Fan Mail Our second entry in The 1974 Project focuses on Court and Spark , Joni Mitchell's sixth studio album. UCR's Allison Rapp once again joins Jeff and Matt to discuss a number of topics related to the album.  We talk about the impact that Court and Spark had on Joni's career -- and why it stands out when compared to the rest of her discography. How challenging is it to...

Send us Fan Mail The wonderful Bill Lloyd returns to The Record Player nearly two years after he stopped in to discuss Paul and Linda McCartney's RAM with us. This time, we're talking Todd Rundgren with Bill and the conversation spirals in a lot of different directions -- including plenty of record collector nerd chatter. We also discuss Look Into It , Bill's latest solo release, wh...

Send us Fan Mail Kudos to Chris and Stephanie from Ida Mae for helping Matt and Jeff connect the dots when it comes to the music of Richard and Linda Thompson. We loved getting a chance to dig into their Pour Down Like Silver album. There's a new Ida Mae album that demands your ears also, called Thunder Above You . This particular conversation with Chris and Stephanie has been in the producti...

Send us Fan Mail Bob Dylan finally reunited with the Band officially to record the Planet Waves album in 1974. The stories behind the creation of Planet Waves and the events of the subsequent tour will make you wish that time machines were a real thing. Planet Waves is just one of a number of albums marking its 50th anniversary here in 2024. As it happens, Ultimate Classic Rock recently collected...

Send us Fan Mail Our guest today is a longtime friend of the podcast, David Lebovitz. He brought us two album choices and while it's always an enticing idea to discuss Warren Zevon, we tabled that and begged for him to talk about a really weird Johnny Cash album with us instead. Thankfully, he bent to our will. If you've never heard of this particular Johnny Cash album, you're in fo...

Send us Fan Mail Katherine Yeske Taylor is our guest today on The Record Player and boy, this conversation was an absolute joy. We discuss her new book, She's a Badass: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism , which is coming out on January 16, but we also dig deep into a bunch of different topics. Katherine is a fellow music journalist who began her career as a rock critic in Atlanta in the 1990s, i...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to our longest episode to date! Matt and Jeff are joined by Peter Lubin, who returns to the podcast to talk about an important artist in his A&R career, blues guitarist and vocalist John Campbell. But this time, Peter also brought additional ammo: We were thrilled to also welcome British music journalist Harry Shapiro, who recently published a great book about John&apo...

Send us Fan Mail Guess who finally decided to return with a new episode? To be fair, we have no real good excuse...except LIFE! In that vein, what a thrill it is to be alive when you're speaking with someone like Cidny Bullens , and going through selected bits of the incredible adventure that has been his life. His career has seen him sharing the stage with Sir Elton John, Rod Stewart -- and...

Send us Fan Mail The music gods are truly smiling, because Brother Cane is hitting the road for a reunion tour this fall. On top of that, the band has recently put out a 30th anniversary reissue of their debut album on both CD and vinyl -- marking the first time, by the way, that the record has been out on wax! That seemed like a good enough excuse to get Damon Johnson on the horn to talk some mus...

Send us Fan Mail Guitarist Mike Connell of the Connells is our guest on the latest installment of The Record Player.  The North Carolina band has had a busy few years, including the long awaited arrival of a new studio album, 2021's Steadman's Wake . Their entire back catalog went digital , including a few things that had been out of print. Here in 2023, they released their first-ever of...

Send us Fan Mail Jono Manson is one of the godfathers of the NYC jam band scene, an influential presence in the early days when bands like Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors were cutting their teeth. A longtime singer, songwriter and producer, Jono has an impressive list of credits and he's one of those guys who always seems to be working on something. He's released two albums here in 2023,...

Send us Fan Mail Trevor Rabin joins us on the eve of the arrival of Rio , his first vocal album for the rock/progressive audience since 1989's Can't Look Away . The multi-talented guitarist, vocalist and composer will be in Cleveland on Friday, October 6 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to celebrate the release of Rio . He'll converse with the Rock Hall's Jason Hanley about th...

Send us Fan Mail It's a good day, because we get to talk about Satan. Okay, let's clarify that, actually. We're sitting down with singer-songwriter Brennen Leigh to discuss Satan is Real by the Louvin Brothers. Country music is full of fascinating corners and Satan is Real is no exception. You'll hear many artists cite the Louvin Brothers as an important inspiration and we dig...

Send us Fan Mail Richard Patrick is our guest for the latest Bonus Track. We caught up with Richard out on the road where Filter is presently playing shows on the Freaks on Parade tour with Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie and Ministry. He joins Matt to discuss the band's new album, The Algorithm , plus a number of additional topics, including his time working with Robert and Dean Deleo in Army of An...

Send us Fan Mail Bill returns to the podcast to talk about all things Little Feat, including the new reissues for Sailin' Shoes and Dixie Chicken . Bill also digs into some of his past session work, including time spent with Bob Seger and Pink Floyd. He also reveals details regarding the memoir that he currently has in the works. As always, it's a thrill to talk music with Bill. Visit Bi...

Send us Fan Mail It's our 100th episode! We're so thrilled to welcome legendary guitarist Steve Lukather on this occasion. Steve and the members of Toto are hosting an incredible benefit concert on Saturday, September 9th at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The all-star lineup features Ringo Starr, Stone Temple Pilots, Joe Bonamassa, Colin Hay and Hoobastank. Each artist will play a s...

Send us Fan Mail This will go down as another one of our favorite episodes. Singer-songwriter David Wilcox joins us and his music is one seed in the origin story of our friendship. We've both interviewed David separately over the years, but it had been a while, so we were looking forward to this one. David did not disappoint, bringing an hour's worth of insightful thoughts about, yes, so...

Send us Fan Mail It was a thrill to get a chance to chat a bit with longtime comrade (via Twitter and X and whatever we're calling it now) Jude Gold for this latest Bonus Track. Jude is currently out on the road with Jefferson Starship (he's been their guitarist since 2012) as the band tours as part of the inaugural Parti-Gras festival lineup with Bret Michaels and Night Ranger (in addit...

Send us Fan Mail As Tres Hombres turns 50, Jeff and Matt get together to talk about the wild, weird and wonderfully eccentric, rockin' world of ZZ Top. They examine the band's history from the early years to the Eliminator era and beyond (with an occasional argument about certain songs). Along the way, there are stray topics, including listener mail, a discussion of band fan clubs and lo...

Send us Fan Mail Jeff and Matt are alone in the studio this week to discuss Michael Bolton's big breakout album, 1989's Soul Provider . They review the history which led up to this record (including " Fools Game ," which could be one of the best Bolton songs you've never heard) and dig into some of the stories and Michael's own musings from the time period. Is this th...

Send us Fan Mail We’re dipping into the archives for this previously unreleased Bonus Track featuring a conversation with Steve Howe recorded in September 2022. The legendary Yes guitarist joined Matt to discuss the band’s forthcoming (at that time) tour featuring a full album performance of Close to the Edge. Additionally, Steve talks about Lunar Mist, the posthumously released collaboration with...

Send us Fan Mail Today's Bonus Track features the legendary John Lodge of the Moody Blues. John's heading out this week for a special tour starting on July 18 where he'll be playing the entire classic Moody Blues album Days of Future Passed. We dig into a lot of different topics, including Days of Future Passed, of course -- and John also shares some stories regarding the individual...