Trading Fours

Singer/songwriter, guitarist and all-around good egg Lincoln Barr is this week's guest.  He's going to be in Kansas City playing live at the Mini-Bar on March 9. Buy your tickets here: https://www.minibarkc.com/tickets Lincoln grew up in Cape Girardeu, Missouri, Cameron, MO,  Arkansas and in Mississippi, but called Seattle home for a number of years, leading his band Red Jacket Mine, but...

Did you ever want to be a singer? Not just singing in the shower, or karoke, but on a stage with people watching? It's daunting, right? For many people, it involves getting voice lessons, and for today's guest, she even studied opera.  But she's not singing opera these days, she's singing her own music with her musical partner Galen Clark here in Kansas City.  Kirstie reached out d...

"Folk February" rolls on as I chat with the super fun and talented Henry Girls! They traveled all the way to Kansas City from Donegal, Ireland to be part of the Folk Alliance Conference.  We chat all about that, what it's like to play in a band with your siblings, what preconceived notions they had about Kansas City, and how to find vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants while you're on th...

Week 2 of the Folk Alliance rolls on as I interview the Scottish trio, Talisk. They traveled all the way from Glasgow to Kansas City to be a part of this year's Folk Alliance.  We chat all about the conference, what to call their music, travel tips and much more.  Lots of laughter during this one.  Do it up! https://www.taliskmusic.com/ Talisk live at BBC: https://www.youtube.com/wa...

We start off 2023 with a bang with the amazing Jaimee Harris! She's got a brand new album out, called Boomerang Town - which is beautiful, haunting and a very emotional record.  Jaimee is here in Kansas City as part of the Folk Alliance International Conference.  We discuss the new album, how she got in shape during covid, what it was really like growing up in Waco, Texas and much much m...

Episode 129 has us heading to Nashville to chat with the glam rock band, Royal Sugar!  Singer Tyler Cohenour and bassist/vocalist Garrett Carr zoomed in to chat about their new music, their musical influences, Bowie (natch), and their father's record collections.  These guys were a ton of fun to chat with and bring a ton of energy to their music.  DO it up! Royal Sugar Website: http...

The super talented and always entertaining Casi Joy literally zoomed in from the road to discuss her new Christmas single "The Tree and Me" - we discuss that, what she has to have to eat and drink to be merry, her favorite Christmas crooner - and much more - do it up!  Casi's website:    https://www.casijoy.com/ Casi's new Christmas single: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9aTzygqal...

Episode 127 kicks off the holiday season right, as Kelley Hunt returns to talk all about her new album, 'Winter Soulstice' and her upcoming concert at the Folly Theater in downtown Kansas City. Kelley is an amazing vocalist, pianist and peformer! She's delighted crowds around the KC metro and the world for decades! We delve into the new album, what Christmas albums she listened to as a kid, why Ni...

Episode 126 takes us to Georgia to visit with Collective Soul's bassist Will Turpin.  Collective Soul released their 11th studio alum this summer named Vibrating and hit the road for a major tour.  Will and I discuss this, what it's like to have brothers in the band, what he likes to do for fun when he tours, why Kings X is kick ass, and why our fathers had such an impact on our lives mu...

Episode 125 is a fun one has we head back home to Kansas City to talk to Ha Ha Tonka's Brett Anderson! H H T is back in KC this Wednesday at the Record Bar for their 12th annual Thanksgiving Eve show!  We discuss that, the new upcoming album, whether I should try to learn the mandolin, and how it was hanging out with the late, great Anthony Bourdain for an entire day. Great chat, do it up! Ha...

Join me on this subscriber only episode as we discuss how a surface asphalt parking lot in downtown Kansas City played a huge part of jazz history.  We start our journey in July 1935 in Kansas City and end it in Harlem in March 1937.   Here's what today's empty parking lot looked like in the 1930s. Let me know if you enjoyed the episode, email me at: tradingfourskc@gmail.com 

While most of us were laying around on our couches watching Tiger King and making sourdough bread during the Covid lockdown, the members of the Scottish Band 'Dancing on Tables' were collaborating daily to write a song a day.  That lead to 70 complete songs ,which were paired down to 10 for the album 'Colour in the Grey'. Co-Lead Singer and guitarist Cal Thomas zoomed in from Scotland to talk...

The Byrds famously said "So you want to be a Rock 'n Roll star" and today's guest David Fishof is helping people do just that! David is a premier sports and music agent who created Rock n Roll Fantasy camp back in 1997.  David zoomed in from New York City to discuss the very enjoyable documentary "Rock Camp The Movie" - which you can find just about everywhere.   We discuss the movie, th...

We're back in Kansas City today to chat with the super talented singer/songwriter Amanda Hughey! A native of California, Amanda has called Kansas City home for the past 15 years. We discuss her new single, "Flowers in Hell", how writing music can be intensely personal, the current live music scene in Kansas City, why it's ok to play in and be a fan of cover bands, and her own mental health journey...

The super talented John Brodeur zoomed in from London to talk about his project Bird Streets, which has a new album coming out in November. The new album, entitled "Lagoon" explores divorce, addiction and sobriety and much more.  A beautiful, wistful, heartbreaking album with heavyweights such as Michael Lockwood (previous guest on the podcast) Aimee Mann,Zach Jones, Buddy Judge, Ed Harcourt...

Have you ever wanted to write a great song, but thought "there's no way I can"? Me too! But today's guest, Dar Williams, says you in fact can write a song that matters. Dar's new book, called "How to Write a Song That Matters" is an extensive overview of how tap into your creative side and be your true authentic self while writing a song.  Dar has hosted writing workshops in person for years,...

The brothers Jesse and Luke Miller zoomed in from Denver and Philadelphia to discuss their bands new album "Bloom & Recede".  We discuss the new album, the power of improvisation during live shows, how they collaborate as brothers, and much more! Great chat, do it up! Lotus Website: https://lotusvibes.com/ Trading Fours Podcast Website: https://tradingfourskc.com/ Be to like and subscribe...

What do you have lying around in storage? Well, if you're the Smithereens guitarist Jim Babjak, you have an entire album recorded back in 1992.  The "Lost Album" is being released this month and that's really good news for Smithereens fans! Jim zoomed in from his home in New Jersey to talk all about the album, what CBGB's was REALLY like in the 1970's, how life is for the living, and what mak...

Where were you in 1987?  If you were the guitarist/producer extraordinaire Michael Lockwood, you were in a really cool band called Lions & Ghosts! That band put out a great album called "Velvet Kiss, Lick of the Lime." - he's never been released digitally, UNTIL NOW! And not only that, they've recorded a new tune called "Girl I Luv You."  We talk all about that -we talk about being p...

How did you pivot when the lockdown started back in 2020? For today's guest, Corey Heuvel, he made the most of his time by switching from performing in bars and clubs to performing on YouTube.  He learned hundreds of new tunes and built a huge following with his weekly livestreams on YouTube. Corey zoomed in from Canada to talk all about that, Jeff Buckley, Stevie Ray - which Canadian bands y...

I learn something every time I chat with musicians on the podcast, and today's episode is no exception! The great jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel quickly disabuses me of utilizing the term "gypsy jazz" and he's got a great reason why.  Stephane's new album is "The Django Experiment VI" and it is another great album in the style of the incomparable Django Reinhardt.  Join me on this wide...

It's Gemini Parks day on the podcast! The creation of Kansas City musician Josh Berwanger, this new band is a genre bending funk punk musical project. Josh zoomed in from his home in Lawrence to talk all about the new album, whether its ok to use backing tracks while playing live, why you shouldn't ask your musician friends to be on their guest list and our shared mutual obsession with our vinyl c...

What do you get when you mix together classical music with hiphop ? You get today's guest, BLKBOK.  Born and raised in Detroit to a musical family, BLKBOK's new album "Black Book DLUX" - is a thought provoking and beautiful album that features his piano work along with the poet Lauren Delapenha- 25 tracks in all.  BLKBOK zoomed in from the road in New York City to talk all about the albu...

The guitarist Russell Javors -zoomed in from his home in Florida to talk all about his time with Billy Joel, writing and recording with Karen Carpenter, the producer Phil Ramone and much much more!  Russell's current project is 'The Lords of 52nd Street', where is 1/3 of the classic combination of himself, Liberty DeVitto (drums) and Richie Cannata (saxophone and flute).  They, along wit...

One of the guitarists on my Mount Rushmore of Guitarists stopped by to chat about his TWO new albums.  The phenomenal Eric Johnson zoomed in from his home in Austin Texas to discuss 'The Book of Making' and 'Yesterday Meets Today'.  These 2 new albums feature 9 tracks each and will be released on July 29.  Johnson utilized his Covid quarantine time wisely to go back into the vault a...