The Strangest Gig

Ward Richmond was a member of the Dallas staple (dare I say 'infamous') bands, Slick 57 and Boys Named Sue. Slick 57 toured extensively throughout the country as well as overseas in Europe and Australia. He has since gone on to release 4 solo albums, two as The Warden and two under his own name. His 5th and newest album, "Big Addict Energy" drops this November. His latest single, "The Non-alcoholi...

Our guest this episode is Isaac Sloane. Isaac fronts the band Isaac Sloane & The Sound Brigade, a blues/rock/psychedelic/jazz/fusion band based out of Denton. A relative newcomer to the scene Isaac and band have already logged countless shows all across the metroplex and have even earned nominations for Best Blues Band and Best Guitarist by the Dallas Entertainment Awards. Isaac tells some ins...

Our guest this episode is 4x Grammy award winning audio engineer, mixer, and record producer, Tre Nagella. He has worked with such artists as Kirk Franklin, Ed Sheeran, Blake Shelton, Lady Gaga, and Travis Scott to name a few. Tre describes himself as a Music Entrepreneur. In addition to his career as an engineer/mixer/producer, Tre is also a co-owner of the world class recording studio Luminous S...

Our guest this episode is Rob Garner. In addition to being a supremely talented bass player, Rob is also the Editor and Publisher of Buddy Magazine, The Original Texas Music Magazine. Rob also holds the esteemed designation of being a "Texas Tornado". We get into what print music journalism and physical media look like in today's digital age, as well as how important it is and what it means to the...

Happy New Year! Our guests this month are Corey Pond from Spune Productions and Joe Morrison from Mullen & Mullen Law Firm. They stop by to talk about the first annual Jambaloo; a free, week-long live music event in the DFW area from February 2-8, 2025. 4 venues, 8 days, 25 showcases, and100+ bands. We also hear their prospective, as avid music fans, on the importance of a vibrant local origin...

6x Grammy award winning producer, Charlie Peacock has had an almost 50 year career in the music industry. His new memoir, "Charlie Peacock Roots and Rhythm: A life in music" comes out February 4, 2025. On this episode of The Strangest Gig, we get into just a few slices from that storied career. Including his time as an artist in the early years of CCM, before it was even called CCM; his work as a...

The Rev. Shawn Amos has had an extraordinary life and career in the music business. His father Wally Amos, best known as the delicious genius behind the Famous Amos cookie brand, was also a successful talent scout (the first black talent scout in the country to be exact) working with the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Simon & Garfunkel and many more. So you could say that the music bus...

Our guest this episode is comedian Paul Varghese. Paul has been making people laugh all across the country for over 20 years, but got his start Dallas and still calls Dallas home. He's opened for such comedic luminaries as the late great Joan Rivers and Dave Chapelle as well as many others. We talk about how Paul got his start in the business, what it was like to work with those legends, the effec...

My guest this episode is Jason Hays. Jason is the SVP of Brand Experience for The Great State Fair Of Texas, which means (among his many responsibilities) he is in charge of booking the music acts; of which there are 80+ local and regional. We talk about the rich musical heritage as well as the current and future stellar musical acts that the fair has to offer. The State Fair Of Texas starts Fri....

The Strangest Gig is back from summer hiatus with our wonderful guest, keys player extraordinaire Chad Stockslager. Chad has been a member of a number of prominent DFW bands, most notably the last ten years with Hard Night's Day (DFW's preeminent Beatles tribute act), as well as with the rowdy county group The King Bucks, and most recently with The Bastards of Soul. We get into the differences bet...

Our guest this episode comes from the other side of the business. Diana Cox is the Vice President of Kessler Presents, the managing company behind The Kessler Theater, The Heights Theater, and the newly reopened Longhorn Ballroom. We had a fascinating conversation and Diana had some really great insight and advice for younger musicians trying to get booked at these storied venues. She also had a f...

Ken Bethea, lead guitarist for the rock band (don't call them a country band) Old 97's , is our esteemed guest this episode. We get into the early days of the Deep Ellum scene as well as the early days of the so-called "alt-country" scene. We also discuss the veracity behind the long held rumor of the Old 97's vs. Whiskeytown beef. And finally we hear the true story of when Ken and the guys finall...

This episode's guest comes to you from the other side of the globe. Originally from Dallas, singer/songwriter Vanessa Peters has released several highly acclaimed albums and has done some extensive touring stateside using what she calls, "accidental chutzpah" to book her own shows. Now she makes Italy her home. We talk about her new album, "Flying On Instruments", what the transition to overseas l...

This episode's guest is one, Sean Russell, lead singer and songwriter for the Fort Worth bands Cut Throat Finches and The Nancys. We have a really fascinating conversation about the state of the local scene and the state of the local music fandom. Sean had some really great insights on the topic. We also hear the insane story of one of Sean's early bands playing during a puppet show in a pirate ba...

Musician/songwriter/producer extraordinaire John Pedigo is a busy man! If you've been around the DFW scene for any length of time, you know his work. Beginning with his early bands Slick 57 and the Boys Named Sue, later on to touring the country and Europe as one half of the country/folk duo The O's, and also as his solo project Pedigo's Magic Pilsner. John has also produced legendary bands like t...

Marc Solomon and Amy Curnow have been running the music school Zounds Sounds in the DFW metroplex for 18 years. We hear about enormous impact they've made on the music community through their teaching and the anniversary party/concert they're throwing showcasing new an old students and teachers at The Granada Theater on November 21. We also hear about the origins of their band Charming Gardeners a...

Our guest this episode is Kelsey Rae. Kelsey and I reminisce about our time together in Vocal Trash playing fairs and festivals across the country. Including performing during a riot, chain-smoking clowns, and dismissing requests for NSYNC from Justin Timberlake's mom. Kelsey has been performing on stages since she was 5 years old. First in the musical theaters off-Broadway, then as a member of th...

The man with a million bands, John Dufilho, is this episode's guest! You may know him from The Deathray Davies, or you may know him from The Apples in stereo, or you may know him from Motorcade, or you may know him from Clifffs, or you may know him from Corner Suns, or any other of the amazing bands John has been a part of. An insanely talented musician, singer, songwriter, and producer, John also...

The Strangest Gig podcast is back from summer hiatus! This month's guest is local DFW music luminary Jeff Liles. Jeff currently works as the artistic director for Kessler Presents. He was also a member of legendary Dallas bands Cottonmouth, TX and Decadent Dub Team, the later of which was featured on the famed "The Sound of Deep Ellum" compilation put out by Island records in the late 80s. If ther...

Denton musician Spencer Wharton, a.k.a. The Wharbaby, stops by to talk about his band The Infamists and how keeping a band together for 10+ years, especially in Denton, is pretty damn impressive. We also hear the story of how he saved his best friend from a couple of swingers at a biker bar. Check out his bands The Infamists and Spencer Wharton & The Static Creatures.

DJ/Producer Jay Sustain stops by to fill us in on what the gigging scene is like as a DJ. To use vinyl or not to use vinyl. How to pump up a crowd. And how the wrong song choice at a wedding can really ruin someone's day!  www. JaySustain.com  

Mason Adams didn't even pick up the guitar until 7 years ago. When he did, he immediately started writing songs and put a band together. In their relatively short existence, folk/rock americana band, The Mason Adams Project has already garnered quite a lot of success. But even relative new comers are subject to a strange gig or two!  www.masonadamsproject.com

This one's a doozy! DFW based concert photographer, Andrew Sherman, joins us to tell the tale of his past life as a musician living in Los Angeles and playing in a band for the sometimes highly controversial comedian Andy Dick. Hear how Andy Dick's shocking humor almost got him arrested at a gig in Florida. And hear from Andrew what it was like getting to play at the infamous Woodstock 99 Festival...

Noted singer/songwriter and producer, Salim Nourallah stops by the podcast to tell the gig story of getting drowned out by Journey playing over the PA at a soccer stadium. We also hear about his time as producer for alt-country pioneers, the Old 97's. And finally, Salim talks about his current projects, including his most recent album "A Nuclear Winter", out May 2023, which he co-produced along wi...

We continue our conversation with Derek Webb and hear the story of his early time in Caedmon's Call and facing a sea of ska kids.  We also hear about the gig that changed the course of Derek's career.  It's fascinating stuff!  Please check out Derek's new album "The Jesus Hypothesis", as well as the newly re-recorded Caedmon's Call self-titled album, out now. www.derekwebb.com