The Record Player

Send us Fan Mail Today's Bonus Track is one for fans of progressive music. The band VOLA formed in Copenhagen in 2006 and they blend their love of electronic music with progressive pop metal to create their own unique thing, drawing on influences including Opeth, Meshuggah, Soilwork, Porcupine Tree and many others. I spoke with Asger of Vola as the band was getting ready to launch their first...

Send us Fan Mail Daniel Lanois is our guest for this latest Bonus Track. The legendary producer, artist and songwriter joins Matt to discuss his newest solo album, Player, Piano , which is available now. The album features a series of exotic instrumental piano performances and was recorded at Lanois’ studio in Toronto with the help of co-producer Dangerous Wayne Lorenz. “Making this record transpo...

Send us Fan Mail Author Grady Hendrix dropped in on The Record Player for what became one of our favorite chats to date. Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson is the album that Grady brought along to discuss with Jeff and Matt. Released in 1990, Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye features an all-star cast including R.E.M., the Jesus and Mary Chain, Poi Dog Pondering, John Wesley...

Send us Fan Mail Our latest Bonus Track features a conversation with author David Leaf who joins Matt to discuss  God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys and the California Myth , his newest book. Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California Myth , this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilso...

Send us Fan Mail Nashville songwriter Fred Wilhelm (Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, Little Big Town) is with us to discuss Bruce Springsteen's classic Tunnel of Love album.  As his Instagram bio says, "I'm a songwriter. I make stuff up." We think he's being modest. Fred shares his personal connection with Tunnel of Love and tells us why he still maintains such a strong connecti...

Send us Fan Mail Grammy-nominated producer Andrew Sandoval is our guest for the latest Bonus Track. He joins Matt to discuss the new Kinks box set devoted to their Muswell Hillbillies / Everybody's in Show-Biz   albums. The new reissue is available in a variety of formats and features bonus materials which include fresh remixes of 11 tracks by Ray Davies. Andrew digs deep into the history beh...

Send us Fan Mail Jeff and Matt are flying solo for today's musical expedition, diving deep into the world of smooth jazz to take a listen to the first official collaboration between Bob James and David Sanborn . Double Vision features liner notes stacked with players you know and a cameo appearance by Al Jarreau. We're not going to spoil it, you're just going to have to listen. Alon...

Send us Fan Mail Producer Spencer Proffer arguably became a household name with his work on Quiet Riot's Metal Health , which became the first heavy metal album to hit number one. But that's just one sliver of his fascinating career. Spencer joins Matt for a special Bonus Track to discuss his career, including The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's "American Pie,&quo...

Send us Fan Mail Singer-songwriter Cory Branan is our guest to chatter about Mule Variations , the 1999 album from Tom Waits. We've been looking forward to being able to share this conversation with you all. Cory has a fantastic new album, When I Go I Ghost , which is being released this week (10/14/22). The album features guests Jason Isbell, Brian Fallon and Garrison Starr and is hands down...

Send us Fan Mail Former Chicago vocalist Jason Scheff joins Jeff and Matt to discuss Generation Radio, his new band with Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts (and a wealth of other players that fellow liner notes nerds will appreciate). We dig into a few of the less familiar corners of his career and Jason shares his love and appreciation for Elton John's classic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. Fin...

Send us Fan Mail Matt chats with David Libert who was on the road with the original Alice Cooper Group in their prime. But that's just one chapter of David's amazing career, which has now been immortalized in his new book. Rock and Roll Warrior: My Misadventures with Alice Cooper, Prince, George Clinton, Living Colour, The Runaways, and More... is exactly the wild ride you'd expect...

Send us Fan Mail On today's podcast, Jeff and Matt are taking a look at the brief, but very prolific career of Wes Montgomery. Austin guitar legend Eric Johnson joins us to share how Montgomery's work, particularly 1968's  Down Here On The Ground, influenced his own career. Eric is celebrating the release of two new albums, The Book of Making and Yesterday Meets Today . The new rele...

Send us Fan Mail Dennis Diken of the Smithereens is our guest to discuss 1965's The Beach Boys Today! album. In addition to his longtime role as drummer for the legendary New Jersey group, you'll find Dennis' words in a variety of places, including his liner notes for the 2000 reissue of 15 Big Ones by the Beach Boys. He went solo in 2009 with the release of Late Music, the debut al...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're digging into Ben Kweller's amazing Sha Sha album from 2000. Our guest Annie Dressner joins us to share some of her favorite moments regarding the record and how it connects back to her own personal history as a songwriter. Annie also plays a couple of songs live for Jeff and Matt during this conversation, which happened just a few days before she went back ou...

Send us Fan Mail Legendary producer and Talking Heads guitarist Jerry Harrison joins Matt to discuss his current reunion with Adrian Belew. The pair are celebrating the Remain in Light album with a special performance in Los Angeles on September 29 at the Wiltern. He digs deep into his time with both Talking Heads and the Modern Lovers and how his time working with Jonathan Richman informed his ev...

Send us Fan Mail For more than a decade now, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have been building up an incredible body of work with Tedeschi Trucks Band .  "America's best rock 'n' roll big band" is how Trucks himself described the touring and recording behemoth that has developed organically across the past decade. The pair detail I Am the Moon , the group's newest pr...

Send us Fan Mail Little Feat's Bill Payne joins Matt and Jeff to discuss the band's legendary live album, which has recently been expanded into a super deluxe box set . He also details new music that the band is currently working on, plus stories about the group's legendary past, writing with Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke, his memories of legendary Warner Brothers record man Mo...

Send us Fan Mail Legendary record executive Mo Ostin passed away at the age of 95, leaving behind an incredible legacy of work. For more than 30 years, Ostin was one of the key industry figures associated with Warner Brothers and Reprise, first joining the latter in 1960 when he was recruited by Frank Sinatra. He became chairman and CEO of Warner/Reprise in 1972  and held that title until his depa...

Send us Fan Mail Collective Soul will release Vibrating , their 11th studio album together, at the end of this week (August 12). Ed Roland is always a fun chat and we dug through a number of topics, including stories about Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen, performing at Woodstock '94 and a signature moment in "Shine" that came from a unique place. Matt and Ed also discuss the incredibly...

Send us Fan Mail Robert Palmer's Riptide made the English singer-songwriter a household name worldwide, selling millions of copies on the strength of mega-hits like "Addicted to Love" and "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On." But what was the rest of the album like? Jeff and Matt share their recollections of buying Palmer's eighth studio album, the doors that purchase...

Send us Fan Mail Jeff and Matt are flying solo today as they explore Spin This , the 1998 album which found Danny Wilde briefly splitting away from his longtime songwriting partner Phil Solem. Billed as Danny Wilde + The Rembrandts, the record is an interesting entry in the group's overall discography and one which deserves a second look more than 20 years after its release. We examine the hi...

Send us Fan Mail Kurt Neumann, the songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer behind the BoDeans , is our guest this week. He shares his love for the music of Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio. But beyond that, talks about how music has had a positive impact on his own mental health and how he seeks to spread that to others with his own songwriting. We discuss 4 The Last Time , the newest...

Send us Fan Mail We're thrilled to welcome Niko Stratis to the podcast. She joins Jeff and Matt to discuss Grandaddy's 2003 album, Sumday . We also talk about record stores, her articles about various '90s alt-rock bands (including Counting Crows ), grocery stores and retail customers in general. If you enjoy the podcast, consider supporting our Patreon and becoming a member of our...

Send us Fan Mail Steph Trivison joins Jeff and Matt to discuss her career as well as her latest album, Little Thrills . We dig into the work she's been doing as well with music placement, plus songwriting, production and there's even a bit of stray ukulele discussion. We also discuss Butch Walker's 2004 solo release, Letters . Steph talks about how formative Butch's work as as...

Send us Fan Mail On July 15th and 16th, Jim Messina will reunite with his old collaborative partner, Kenny Loggins , for two special shows at the Hollywood Bowl. The concerts are marking the 50th anniversary of the initial show that the duo played at that same venue in 1972. Messina got on the phone to chat briefly about the upcoming gigs and how the pair are preparing for them. He also shares som...