Tour Stories/The Check-In with Joe Plummer

Shannon Lay is a singer, guitarist, songwriter and Sub Pop recording artist from southern California. Her newest release Covers, Volume 1, is a 9-song collection of cover songs that celebrate Shannon's influences as an artist and serve as a vehicle to share her artistic perspective with her listeners. In this episode, Joe and Shannon discuss her musical roots and what stemmed the idea to release a...

Noble Rot is the studio project of Alex Edkins (METZ) and Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck). Long time collaborators and friends, the two began working on Noble Rot following the cancelation both of their respective tours. In this episode we hear how the two met, what was behind their drive to document this sonic exploration and what kept them dedicated to the project. They share process of recording Heave...

Along with Keely Martin, Piper Torrison is a singer, guitarist, songwriter and 1/2 of the Boston based rock duo, Mediocre. Their newest effort , To You Know You're Screwed is due out April 7th and is their first release with Dangerbird Records. In this episode, Joe and Piper discuss the bi coastal effort it took to make the new record, how Piper and Keely are artistically joined and the idea behin...

This week we hear from Joe's other voice, his drums. In the winter of 2012 and 2013, Joe found himself on a dreaded break. Mister Heavenly, The Shins and Cold War Kids were either between tours or between records, leaving him in his least favorite position, idle. He was still playing and recording almost daily, but with records rather than bandmates. One day during a "shuffle session" ( he would h...

Ed Rodriquez and John Dieterich are the guitarists for Deerhoof. Though they branch out with other projects, they have both been dedicated to the band for over 20 years and are celebrating the bands 19th album Miracle-Level (out March 31st on Joyful Noise Recordings). As standard with Deerhoof, the new record shimmers with newness and is full of sonic and lyrical surprises, but what stands out mos...

David Dickenson is the founder of Suicide Squeeze Records. Based in Seattle, David's first release was a 7” from indie duo 764-Hero in 1996. Following its success, he used his label to release singles and EPs by local acts like Modest Mouse, Elliott Smith, and Pedro The Lion. Over the past 27 years, David has greatly expanded his roster outside the Northwest with releases from The Black Keys, The...

Cat Clyde is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Ontario, Canada. Her third and beautifully versatile record Down Rounder  was produced by Tony Berg and is out February 17th on Second Prize Records . In this episode Cat shares her musical background, her influences growing up and the music and state of mind she was in at the onset of recording Down Rounder . She explains the multi-...

Fantastic Negrito (Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz) is a singer, song writer and three time Grammy award winner from Oakland, California. His newest record, Grandfather Courage ,  is an acoustic rebirth of his previous record, White Jesus, Black Problems.  In this episode Joe and Xavier discuss this sonic reimagining, the rich familial story behind the record and fresh vibe this new version has created. ...

Joe takes a moment to thank YOU the listeners for all the support in 2022! He also invites you to chime and let him know how he's doing, what's great, what could be better and what you'd like to see or hear from Tour Stories/The Check-In in 2023 and beyond. He also wants to thank all the guests of 2022 and encourages YOU to support them by going to shows and buying their records. And please, check...

Sam Coomes is a singer, songwriter and multi- instrumentalist from Portland, Oregon. He is a founding member of Quasi along with Janet Weiss and has recorded and toured extensively with the likes of Elliott Smith,  Built To Spill, Heatmiser, The Go Betweens and John Spencer and the Hit Makers.  Ten years after their last record,  Quasi is releasing their tenth record, Breaking the Balls Of History...

TOUR STORIES LIVE! with Joe's long time touring comrade and photographer,  Rachel Demy. Rachel's has a vast experience on the road,  (The Shins, St. Vincent, Neko Case) ranging from tour managing, tour booking, driving, merchandise, and everything in between it takes to support and execute a live show on the road, day after day.   Now Rachel has focused on her first love, photography.  Her first b...

To celebrate the holidays, we are replaying Joe's favorite episode of Tour Stories with pal and former bandmate Micheal Cera.  Even more, now is your chance to help him recover his favorite instrument!  Listen, share! Let's get Michael his bass back in time for Christmas.   Use Code Fret10 for a free month of Music Production Suite Pro and a 10% discount on all other software.    visit https://www...

Anna Mieke is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Wicklow, Ireland. Her newest record, the potent, droning folk soundscape, Theatre,  is both a freer and more focused follow up to her well received first release, Idle Mind.  In this episode, Anna shares the process of making Theatre , why the live setting was crucial to the final recording, and what made it such a special experienc...

Nate Mendel is the bass player of the Foo Fighters. He cut his teeth in the Northwest punk rock scene touring and recording with Diddly Squat, Christ On A Crutch and Sunny Day Real Estate, to name a few. In this episode Nate shares the curious history of nudity in his rock n roll career. Music by Nate Mendel, Lieutenant, and Joe Plummer. https://lieutenantmusic.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-kill-this-th...

Adam Halferty is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist living in Los Angeles by way of eastern Colorado. He has toured and recorded extensively with his band American Tomahawk and Nick Thorburn's band Islands.  In this episode, new friends Joe and Adam talk touring recovery,  the important role of humor on the road and what makes a good and bad hotel roommate.  They discuss Adams new reco...

John Mark Lapham is a composer, producer and animator from Abilene Texas.  His newest effort Voids, under the moniker Old Fire, is a collaborative audio collage that illustrates the isolation and the cinematic landscape of his West Texas upbringing.   In this episode Joe and John Mark discuss the dark inspiration behind the record,  why his music tends to celebrate the visual,  and why he  worked...

Adam Luksetich is a musician, DJ and resident "metal head" at  The Numero Group.  He is also the producer of Bound For Hell-On The Sunset Strip , a multi-medium release that explores and celebrates the lesser known bands of the early 80's Los Angeles glam rock scene, just before the ultra popular Poisons and Motley Crue's of the same era.   In this episode, Adam shares what he gleaned from his ext...

In this Tour Stories special,  Ryan Kattner (Man Man, Mister Heavenly, Honus Honus) and Joe recount their recent Man Man tour in the southwest,  where Joe sat in on drums for the first time.  The conversation is supplemented and enhanced with Joe's audio diary, which sheds light on what these rock n rollers do off the stage,  after the show and on the long drives in between.  We hear from the enti...

Scout Gillett is a singer songwriter living in Brooklyn by way of Kansas City.  Her debut LP,  no roof, no floor  (Captured Tracks) is a meditation on loss and vulnerability that’s sonic quality replaces any hopelessness with a sense of openness. In this episode Joe and Scout  discuss the inspiration behind the new record and the experience of tracking the songs in a barn, in the dark. Scout also...

Gustav Ejstes is the singer, multi-instrumentalist and founding member of Dungen. After a six year break, Dungen has released En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog (One is Too Much and a Thousand is Never Enough) on Mexican Summer. In this episode Gustav explains  the process of working with producer/collaborator Mattias Glavå, and the role Mitch Mitchell, Public Enemy and Jungle play on the album...

LOU REED - WORDS & MUSIC, MAY 1965 This Light In The Attic podcast is a companion piece to Words and Music, May 1965, an album of previously unreleased songs recorded by a young Lou Reed with future Velvet Underground bandmate, John Cale. It includes first known recordings of such iconic songs as "I'm Waiting for the Man" and "Heroin." These recordings will be released to the public for the fi...

Sam Quartin is the singer, lyricist and founding member of The Bobby Lee's.  Their newest record and Ipecac Recordings debut Bellevue   will hit the streets October 7th. Bellevue is a ferocious follow up to the well received Skin Suit  and an intense journey of manic metamorphosis that will leave you demanding to see them live.  In this episode, Joe catches up with Sam from New York city, where sh...

Harper Simon is a singer, songwriter, producer and journalist. His most recent effort is an album and accompanying art book entitled Meditations on Crime. . The release is a vast and collaborative multimedia project that incorporates  an eclectic collection of contributors including writers, visual artists and of course, musicians . It is indeed a full circle meditation on crime, expressed through...

Randy Randall is the guitarist, co-producer and founding member of No Age. Their 3rd record on Drag City,  People Helping People,  will be released September 16th  with a full North American tour to follow.   In this episode, Randy shares the head space he and Dean were in at the beginning of the recording and why they were itching to get weird. We hear why they feel they are in a perfect position...

Abraxas is a psych/rock/tropicalia duo of Uruguayan-born/UK-based Carolina  Faruolo (ex-Los Bitchos) and Danny Lee Blackwell (Night Beats). They’re releasing their debut LP Monte Carlo on October 28 on Seattle-based label Suicide Squeeze.  In this episode Joe catches up with Danny on the road in France with his band Night Beats and Carolina at her home in Manchester.   Danny and Carolina share the...