Troubled Men Podcast

The Grammy-nominated Big Chief of the Golden Eagles recorded with the Wild Magnolias on their landmark records, electrifying Mardi Gras Indian chants with Willie Tee and Snooks Eaglin’s funk and creating a mind-blowing hybrid of New Orleans music. From neighborhood barrooms to Carnegie Hall, Monk has spent a lifetime masking and performing around the world with his group and in collaboration with...

The costume designer, stylist, figure skater, and activist has been the coordinator for New Orleans Rock the Vote since its establishment. Her new Acushla Local Art organization is shining a spotlight on local artists. Bridget initially plays coy, but ultimately gets into the swing of things with the Troubled Men. Topics include a cooling-off period, an illegal Airbnb, juvenile offenders, a new fa...

The Grammy-nominated drummer has worked with artists including Neil Young, Beck, Daniel Lanois, Sam Morrow, and Manny’s Hollywood party band, Too Free Stooges. He was also the house drummer for the “Echo in the Canyon” film and tour revisiting the heyday of the Laurel Canyon music scene with Jakob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Cat Power, and Fiona Apple. Matt hasn’t spoken to Manny in 25 years, but he know...

The visionary performance artist, musician, filmmaker, visual artist, and author behind the legendary Unapproachable Panther Burns founded with Alex Chilton in 1979 just completed the whirlwind “Rouge Male” U.S. tour. He joins René inside the Feral Zone to discuss the trip, his relocation to Bangkok, his current recording and film projects, and Rene’s early tenure in the band. Tav shares pearls of...

The Memphis multi-instrumentalist, composer, and leader of the Rolling Head Orchestra is a veteran of the Reigning Sound, Alex Chilton, and Tav Falco’s Panther Burns. He’s created and performed original scores for a number of classic silent films including a recent commission for the Indie Memphis Film Festival of the 1921 Swedish witch documentary “Haxan.” Alex also has a PhD in anthropology, so...

The Grammy-winning guitarist, singer, and producer with the New Orleans Suspects is also a Dirty Dozen Brass Band alum and owner/engineer of Rhythm Shack Studio where he’s recorded blues legend Bobby Rush and hoodoo slide guitar master John Mooney. Jake spent years playing the mountain music of Doc Watson and making L.A. sessions with studio giants like Larry Carlton before landing in the Crescent...

The now 93-year-old author and conservationist returns to the Feral Zone with his lifelong friend and drinking buddy Eddie Young to reminisce about the French Quarter in the ‘50s, the march to Selma with M.L.K., a kinky D.A., and other highlights of their 65-year friendship. Night nurse Nicole Pavy assists with the delivery. Topics include a 19th-century cottage, a birthday party, a smart ass, a c...

The modern jazz saxophone player, composer, and bandleader has recorded with his own trio as well as the Klezmer Allstars and Iris May Tango. His latest project with Anthony Cuccia, Klaas Hubner, and Kate Becker combines music, meditation, and breathwork. Tonight Rob joins the Troubled Men as they drag a few skeletons out of the closet. Topics include a recall effort, another speed camera ticket,...

Her tenure dates back to the earliest days of the Circle Bar. In fact, she likes to say that she came with the building. The former tennis pro and dentist-turned-bartender encountered everyone from Lee Circle winos and touring hipsters to counterculture royalty like Keith Richards and Hunter Thompson. After her time in Austin hanging out with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bill Hicks, and Sam Kinison and her...

The Americana-noir recording artist comes in on a wave of stellar reviews for her latest, “Wallowing In The Night,” the follow-up to 2020’s acclaimed “Fear of Living, Fear of Loving” recorded entirely on her phone. No stranger to adversity, she’s endured a carjacking, RV breakdowns, and the collapse of her touring band, and that’s just this summer. Undeterred, Shawn enters the Feral Zone to tell t...

The multi-instrumentalist behind the Night Janitor and the Other Planets has also played with Rotary Downs, the Iguanas, and Glyn Styler Presents the Clergy. Having survived his own season in hell, he now counsels other troubled souls as a mental health professional by day, while producing new music on the night shift. Anthony’s been there and back again, and he’s here to tell the story. Topics in...

The screenwriter (“Sid and Nancy”) and director (“Roadside Prophets”) started her career in the hotbed of the L.A. indy scene making “Repo Man” with Alex Cox. She’s known Manny since his earliest days in the movie biz and Too Free Stooges. Abbe has survived both independent filmmaking and a near-fatal fall. Tonight she tests her luck with the Troubled Men. Topics include a jury deliberation, local...

The versatile guitarist with fiddle dynamo Amanda Shaw has had his orchestral compositions performed by symphonies around the country. All this is in addition to his day job as one of the hardest working guys playing Bourbon Street. Tim’s work ethic, forged as a high school track star, serves him well as a musician and tonight as he stays a step ahead of the Troubled Men. Topics include a world on...

The award-winning commercial photographer and drummer with acclaimed alt-rock band Rotary Downs shot his first music festival as a teen at the Festivals Acadiens in his hometown of Lafayette, La. His current exhibition, “Exit Stage Right,” at the N.O. Jazz Museum is a collection of stage-side portraits taken everywhere from Bonnaroo to Chaz Fest. His two decades playing with the sublime Rotary Dow...

The powerhouse guitarist from the Wild Magnolias and Papa Grows Funk spent 20 years as a star of the Japanese blues and soul music world before finding a new home in New Orleans. A longtime devotee of Mardi Gras Indian music and the Meters, he quickly found his way into the very bands he’d studied from afar. After nearly three decades at the apex of the funk scene in his adopted city, June tips in...

King James and the Special Men’s hold on the Monday night old-school r&b scene at BJ’s, Sidney’s Saloon, and the Saturn Bar lasted over a decade, leaving behind an LP and a handful of singles featuring the Lost Bayou Ramblers’ Louis Michot, Layla McCalla, and Alynda Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff. Now mastermind Jimmy Horn heads Special Man Industries, producing perfumes, incense, and oth...

The writer, translator, and WWOZ DJ discusses his new book of poetry, “Far Flung,” his early life in New Jersey, and the ocean trek that sparked his love of Brazil and its culture. Dean’s years of on-air radio experience and easygoing nature serve him well as he mixes it up with the Troubled Men on the eve of another epic trip abroad. Topics include illegible handwriting, hobosexuals, the heat, a...

The virtuoso guitarist and composer with Woodenhead and the New Orleans Guitar Masters has spent a lifetime exploring the possibilities of the instrument. He’s scaled the heights of instrumental jazz/rock with Woodenhead and luxuriated in the introspection of his solo acoustic work, all while swimming against the pop music tide. Tonight Jimmy paddles as fast as he can to keep his head above the tu...

Saxophone great Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr. joins the Iguanas and Emmy-winning Hawaiian filmmaker and festival producer Kenny Martinez-Burgmaier to reflect on the triumphant return of the Big Island Jazz and Blues Festival after a 2-year hiatus. Donald discusses his mentoring a teenage Notorious B.I.G. and hanging out at home with Miles Davis. Kenny recounts his rise from child cook to impresari...

The 92-year-old author, college professor, and former French Quarter denizen mingled with luminaries like Tennessee Williams and Clay Shaw and counted superstar historian Stephan Ambrose among his closest friends. Born in Victorian Brooklyn, he arrived in New Orleans in 1950 and spent the ensuing years haunting the recesses of the region from the mansions of the Garden District to the backwoods of...

The conga player and Vietnam veteran has led a life of service both in and out of the military. As a door gunner with the 1st Air Cavalry, he joined those throughout the ages willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. The Troubled Men are awed as Rosie recounts his mythic life. Topics include the Norfolk Bayou Boogaloo, a D.C. gig, Hawaii, cousins, smoking Kools, a George Porter encounter, local stup...

The Emmy Award-winning writer, musician, actor, and creator of Disney TV’s “Imagination Movers” series discusses the band’s 20-year history, his formative years, and his solo career. Rich is a relentlessly positive guy with a cheerful demeanor and a smile on his face. Tonight his good nature gets put to the test as he sits down with the Troubled Men. Topics include a 200th episode party recap, a p...

He’s known for his work scoring music for hit TV shows “That 70s Show” and “3rd Rock from the Sun,” his records with Alan Vega, Alex Chilton, Charlie Feathers, and Nancy Sinatra, his long-running syndicated radio show, “The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn,” and a 40-year career as a solo artist. With a new solo record, “The World of Ben Vaughn,” coming out, Ben drops in to catch up with the Troubled Men...

The Troubled Nation gathers at Snake & Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge to celebrate the milestone, as guests and supporters join Manny and René to reminisce about the first 200 episodes and look forward to the future. The Struggle Continues! Topics include a French Quarter Fest recap, Earth Day, the Soul Bowl, Jude Acers, Sidney Smith, the Youngbloods, ‘60s music festivals, Bill Graham, chess wit...

The musician and owner of More Fun Comics, DC Harbold teamed up with artist/animator Carlos Mendieta to create a “Clerks” meets “American Splendor”-style comic book series, “Counter Culture,” based on hilarious customer interactions and goings-on in the store. DC’s been collecting the exchanges on social media for years, and now Carlos has brought them to 2D life, with the first issue soon to be r...