Vinyl Emergency

From highly-influential albums like 2001's "The Tyranny of Distance" and 2003's "Hearts of Oak" to his collaboration with Aimee Mann in The Both to the charming, seemingly effortless covers he's laid down in salute to Tears For Fears, The Pogues, Split Enz and more, it's abundantly clear that Ted Leo loves the art of songwriting. Through his kinetic guitar work and a voice that reaches for the raf...

Singer/songwriter Austin Lucas' unique, lush voice and DIY ethics have earned him tours with a vast array of artists -- ranging from Frank Turner to Willie Nelson -- and rave reviews from well-known music publications like Q Magazine and No Depression. Today, Austin chats about the influence of fellow Indiana native John Mellencamp, his early attraction to "We Are The World" and the La Bamba sound...

Recorded in front of a live audience at Pinwheel Records in Chicago, we celebrate Vinyl Emergency's first birthday with vocalists/guitarists Chris Broach and Bob Nanna of influential emo quartet Braid! On top of performing three rare acoustic songs, the guys also chat about working with J. Robbins on Braid's iconic 1997 album "Frame & Canvas," what they currently have been purchasing on vinyl, hil...

If you've read an album review, music article or artist interview in print or online in the last fifteen years or so, chances are you've read Steven Hyden's work. Aside from freelancing for Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Slate and more, he's also been a staff writer for both The AV Club and Grantland, and joined UPROXX as their culture critic last summer. He's also host of the Celebration Rock podcast...

A longtime employee of indie record store chain Bull Moose in the US Northeast, Chris Brown is credited with having the original idea for Record Store Day, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this April. Also known for his detailed YouTube videos for RSD fans -- often showcasing the physical releases for the first time each year -- Chris discusses the history of RSD and his annually anticipated...

A seminal power-trio of early-to-mid 90's alternative-rock, Buffalo Tom are fresh off the funding of a brand new album via PledgeMusic, and plotting tour dates this year around the upcoming 25th anniversary reissue of their influential third album, Let Me Come Over. Today, singer/guitarist Bill Janovitz discusses the feeling of having his music on vinyl for the first time, discovering tons of clas...

Instead of a typical Best Of recap episode at year's end, I thought it'd be fun for Cameron Schaefer -- partner and head of music at Vinyl Me, Please -- to return to the show to look back at each of VMP's 12 albums of the month for 2016 and talk about why each record was chosen, the reactions to each release from subscribers and other vinyl fanatics, and what challenges or unexpected awesome surpr...

Pioneer of podcasting and stand-up comedy veteran Jimmy Pardo joins me this week to discuss his memories of vinyl growing up, working in Chicago record stores, his sales career with MCA Records in the mid-80's, warming up audiences for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and TBS' Conan, and possibly his shortest comedy gig ever, "opening" for Elton John! As host of the incredibly popular Never Not...

After a long break, it's the big 4-0 today, and I'm thrilled to have music industry guru Jim McDermott joining us for our fortieth episode! From Warner to PolyGram to Island to Universal to Sony, Jim's three decades of experience in marketing have seen him at the helm of album campaigns for the likes of David Bowie, New Order, Sheryl Crow, U2, Depeche Mode, Guns N' Roses, The Replacements and more...

While we're still taking a break from the regular weekly schedule between now and the end of 2016, you can get up to speed on some upcoming guests, our confirmed date for the LIVE first anniversary episode of Vinyl Emergency and more by checking out this mini-episode!   If you like what you hear on Vinyl Emergency, send us a screenshot of your iTunes review of the show or donate to keep us up and...

Derek Jones and Gene Priest -- hosts of the Sharing Needles With Friends podcast -- return to the show to help me go through this year's list of exclusive releases for the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day, happening November 25th . On top of discussing our own relationships with RSDBF and which releases seem worthwhile this year, we also talk about live albums, jazz favorites, whether addi...

Here's something a little different this week! I recently guested for the second time on The Great Albums podcast -- a fantastic show hosted by Bill Lambusta and Brian Erickson -- that dissects classic records track-by-track, defining what makes them so special. I was ecstatic that they invited me back to talk about 1998's "Yield," recently reissued on vinyl and the fifth album from one of my favo...

It's time for another Collector's Club episode, where we discuss the shopping habits, preferred record stores and unique experiences of your everyday vinyl collector! This time, it's Las Vegas native and current Brooklyn resident Trevor Ingerson from the Record Nerdz Podcast, which you should be subscribing to if you don't already. Today, Trevor talks about how hometown sports began his quest for...

Benmont Tench, founding member of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, has played on nearly every Petty album over the years -- even the ones not credited to the Heartbreakers, such as Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers. His trademark keys are all over classic songs like "Refugee," "The Waiting," "Don't Do Me Like That" and so many more, which you can hear on the recently-reissued Greatest Hits 2LP set, no...

Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, rock cellist Gordon Withers became fixated with the Washington, DC music scene early on, making pilgrimages to cities with killer record stores just to pick up new releases from influential bands like Jawbox. Fast forward to 2016, where Withers is now bandmates with Jawbox frontman J. Robbins in Office Of Future Plans -- not to mention a collaborator with BELLS≥,...

If you heard my recent chat with Rocky Votolato, you may remember us discussing a new 7" he appears on as part of the Live On Lacquer series, where artists cover each other's work and do so without any overdubs or tweaking -- all sounds are directly recorded onto acetate as a lathe machine cuts the record's information in real time, before it's sent off for duplication. Today, Levi Seitz from Live...

  When Seattle-based singer/songwriter Rocky Votolato began releasing solo albums in the late 90's -- at a time when vinyl was all but out of the mainstream consciousness -- it was important to him that every single release of his was pressed to wax. Fast forward to 2016, and he's now celebrating the 10th anniversary reissue of "Makers" on Barsuk Records -- his favorite in his discography, and vie...

Vinyl For A Cause is a Chicago-based record label based around music being a driver for charitable good. Every release features two bands covering each other on both sides of a limited-edition seven-inch record that'll never be repressed. Each band also chooses a charity of their choice, where a large portion of the record sales are donated to. Joining the show today are VFAC co-founder Adam Victo...

Brother O'Brother vocalist/guitarist and Romanus Records founder Chris Banta has been wowing vinyl collectors as of late with incredibly innovative pressings ranging from the world's first four-color, glow-in-the-dark, liquid-filled LP to a recent seven-inch on Fonoflo Records with customized Monopoly money inside. Based out of Indianapolis, the band's creativity when it comes to vinyl -- as well...

Visiting from England, one of my best pals Joe Goodbody stops by to discuss record shopping in the UK, the recent Brexit disaster, the Blur/Oasis feud and his dad's days booking bands for Socialist Workers Party benefit concerts in the 70's. As a stonemason at Westminster Abbey -- regarded as the Queen's church and the final resting place for some of Britain's most respected names  -- Joe also dis...

This year marks the 30th anniversary of alternative guitar-pop hero Matthew Sweet's debut album. His stretch of critically-acclaimed classics from 1991 through 1997 -- Girlfriend, Altered Beast, 100% Fun and Blue Sky On Mars -- delivered some of the most memorable college-radio hits of that decade, mixing sonic ambitiousness with a knack for lovelorn nostalgia and pristine vocal harmonies. Before...

Through his various jobs in music marketing, Tom Mullen has always been and still is a fan, first and foremost. Making a website for one of his favorite groups led to a storied career with punk/indie labels like Equal Vision and Vagrant to larger companies like EMI and Legacy Recordings/Sony Music, where he is currently Senior Director of Creative and Marketing Partnerships. He's had the pleasure...

Through projects like Pedro The Lion, Headphones, Overseas and Lo Tom -- as well as his solo material -- David Bazan is known as one of today's most prolific, affecting songwriters. In recent years with manager Bob Andrews at Undertow, he has explored various ways to bring his music directly and more intimately to his fans, whether through his 7" vinyl subscription series, doing house shows vs. la...

Host of the Record Nerdz podcast Kristian Sorge joins me to discuss his 5,000+ collection of records, his urge to collect only the rarest forms of any particular album, digging at the world's largest record fair in Holland, and his day-job as a casting director, working on films like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist." We also talk about specific rare...

For 13 years, Doug Sohn was the purveyor and head chef of Hot Doug's, one of Chicago's many must-eat establishments before the encased-meat emporium closed in the fall of 2014. During that time, Doug served up to 800 sausages a day -- with each usually being named after a musician, actress or former Cubs player. Lines wrapped around the block no matter the weather, and Hot Doug's gained acclaim fr...