The UCR Podcast

Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is here with us to talk about his current tour with the Chophouse Band, a run of concerts including dates with his friends Blackberry Smoke as well as longer headlining shows. Fans can expect an evening of music that touches on Jason's entire career -- and as he tells us, our shared musical heroes, as well. We dig through a lot of topics with Jason, including...

Rob LoVerde and Jim Davis of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab join Matt today for separate conversations to discuss their approach to audiophile reissues of classic albums. They talk about some of their recent releases, including the Van Halen reissues from the David Lee Roth era, Stone Temple Pilots' Vol. 4 and the upcoming project that will find them tackling albums by Rush. Jim addresses how they've d...

Director Wes Orshoski is with Matt today to talk about Di'Anno: Iron Maiden's Lost Singer, his new film about late Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di'Anno. We discuss the movie and also, the previous films that Wes has done about the Damned and Lemmy of Motorhead, plus his upcoming documentary about the Bar-Kays. We go deep into a number of topics, including Paul's history, the interview that Wes did wi...

Adria Petty and longtime producer/archivist Ryan Ulyate join Matt to discuss the latest Petty Legacy release, Live at the Paradise Rock Club 1978, which bottles a great performance from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded live in Boston in July of 1978. They discuss how the album came about and what was required to get it ready for release. Adria also shares a bit of insight regarding what fa...

Kim joins Matt to talk about his new memoir, A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond. We go deep into the history of Soundgarden, including talking about some of their very first recordings. Kim revisits the glory years and the sound of some of their key records. We also discuss hanging out with the Ramones, getting Brian May on one of their songs and how classic rock h...

We've got a TON of coverage including lots of photos and videos of the first Rush reunion concert which happened last night (June 7) in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum. For today's podcast episode, Matt welcomes the person who was not only at the L.A. concert, but he's also responsible for hooking Matt up with tickets to the very first Rush concert he ever saw back in the '90s. Matt Surrena, a longti...

Legendary Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock joins us today to talk about his new documentary, I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol. Glen tells Matt about the formative days for the group, how things fell apart and how he's lived out some of his greatest dreams, quite unexpectedly, with some of his own musical heroes. He also shares his thoughts on the latest Sex Pistols chapter with Frank Carter.

Today, we're heading back to the '80s with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, who reflects on the work that the band did during that decade, including 1984's Under Wraps. There's a new "Unwrapped Edition" box set for the album that brings together new mixes, plus additional rarities and live material. He also tells Matt what's ahead for Jethro Tull

Billy Corgan is with us today to talk about the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins "Rats in a Cage" tour happening this fall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their landmark double LP, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. We go into the history of the album with Billy, plus his experience working with Flood, saying goodbye (recently) to Zero, the effect of success on his songwriting in that era and...

April Wine guitarist Brian Greenway joins Matt to discuss his nearly 50-year history with the group. He takes us through his memories of recording many of the Canadian band's most popular singles, including the rocky road to finishing their beloved power ballad, "Just Between You and Me." He also talks about the group's current tour with Triumph, a particular concert bill back in the day that didn...

Guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore gives a rare interview to the UCR Podcast to discuss his history with both Rainbow and Deep Purple. He looks back at how Rainbow came to be and how the group progressed as they made their first two albums. He also gives Matt an update on his current health, how he hopes to return to the stage -- and he revisits the famous night that Christopher Cross stepped in for...

Joe Satriani is with Matt for the second installment of our two-part look at the upcoming SatchVai album. You can hear an interview with Steve Vai that was posted as our previous episode as well. Joe shares his view on the challenges and fun he's had working with his longtime collaborator and friend on songs for their first album together. He also talks about the most recent Las Vegas residency wi...

We've got conversations on tap featuring both Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. In our first episode, Steve joins Matt to talk about the current SatchVai tour as well as the album that's been taking shape. They also discuss other topics, including getting to revisit Van Halen's Jump for FIFA World Cup, his past work with John Lydon and Public Image Limited (an album which also featured Cream's Ginger Ba...

Mark Menghi of Metal Allegiance and Brann Dailor of Mastodon are with Matt today to talk about the latest release from King Ultramega, the all-star collective that’s been honoring the music of Chris Cornell, including his solo work, plus bands like Soundgarden and Audioslave. King Ultramega just released a new cover of “Dead Wishes” from Cornell’s 2015 solo release, Higher Truth. They talk about t...

Metal maniacs and hard rock fanatics, this one's for you. We've got two separate conversations today. Former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland joins Matt to talk about his current project, Nuclear Messiah and their new album, Black Flame and his experience working with Sebastian Bach on a new Uriah Heep cover. They also discuss the early years of Megadeth and a number of other topics. Gary Holt of E...

Episode 100 finds Matt and UCR's Gary Graff teaming up to look at this year's class of inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (announced on Monday evening during American Idol). What can we expect from Iron Maiden and Oasis? What about New Order and Peter Hook? Who are we happy to see get in? Who got left out of this year's nominees? We break it all down for your listening pleasure. See this...

Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Vitale joins us today to talk about his upcoming reunion with members of Dan Fogelberg's touring band. He shares his memories of playing and recording with Dan and we also get into his long career, including stories about playing with Buffalo Springfield for their short run of reunion shows, recording "Long May You Run" with Neil Young, Joe Walsh's "Rocky Moun...

Eric Mills of the Fogelberg Foundation is the guy you want to speak with if you want to learn more about the fascinating career of Dan Fogelberg. Eric joined Matt for a conversation about Dan's life and career and how he and his team are working to introduce Fogelberg's music to new generations. They also discussed Friends and Legends, the upcoming weekend of events that will celebrate the opening...

The legendary Graham Nash is with us today to talk about his amazing career and the shows he's currently playing with his solo band -- and there's a lot of them! He shares a lot of stories as well as information on what's coming up, including the upcoming CSN documentary and the unreleased CSN music that he's been working to get ready to be released at the time the film comes out. He also tells us...

Woody and Pepper of Corrosion of Conformity are in the house to talk about the new C.O.C. album Good God / Baad Man...or as album producer Warren Riker called it, Dark Side of the Doom. Here's the straight facts: It's been eight long years since the last C.O.C. studio album and the guys have come roaring back with more than an hour's worth of new music. Long overdue and very welcome. They share th...

Blackie Lawless joins Matt to discuss the upcoming 1984 to Headless tour that W.A.S.P. will embark on this fall. They also dig into Blackie's memoir, which he's been working on for five years -- and the guitarist/vocalist shares the title that he's planning to use for the book. As a bonus, we're including our previous conversation with Blackie from June 2024, which goes deep into the early years o...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee Melissa Etheridge is with us today to talk about her new album, Rise! She tells Matt how the record came together and they also dig into other topics including songwriting, her collaboration with Chris Stapleton, jamming with Chuck Berry at the Rock Hall's grand opening concert in 1995, playing "Thunder Road" with Bruce Springsteen on MTV Unplugged and many other...

Former Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate and his guitarist/collaborator Kieran Robertson are with us today to discuss the making of Operation: Mindcrime III. In two separate interviews, the pair take us through the process of working on the music for the upcoming record, which arrives May 3. Geoff also digs deep into the original Mindcrime album and other topics, including Ronnie James Dio! You can...

Legendary P-Funk guitarist Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton joins us to talk about his early days learning to play music, the important nuances that are buried within the grooves of "Maggot Brain" and how he got his head around the song --- and we also talk about his new music, which you can find at michaelhampton.bandcamp.com. It was a real pleasure to get some hang time with Michael and we hope...

Author Daniel Bukszpan is with Matt on today's episode to talk about his new book, Rush & 2112: 50 Years, which landed in stores this week as you're hearing this. We dig into the history of 2112 (50 years later!) and also discuss some of the things that make Rush fans upset (a hint: "Roll the Bones!"), his thoughts on the upcoming remix of Grace Under Pressure and how 2112 has often been tradition...