With Confetti In Our Hair: Celebrating The Artistry & Music Of Tom Waits

In honor of the 20th Anniversary, the Dream Regime, minus the Fairy Podmother, plus the Very Young and Very Cool Bob, pay tribute to all the souls who left us that tragic day. Feel the Love, Folks.

We start Season 8 with the Dream Machine +1 as Bob, our new regular from Chicago and the creator of Waits Waits Don't Tom Me, joins us for a robust discussion about the discombobulated conundrums that surround Tom Waits. We're talking the Trolley Dilemma, Beat Poets, Anthems, Characters in Danger, Jobs I never thought I'd have as a child, "Jitterbug Boy", "Face To The Highway", Dead Heads, Parrot...

One from the vault during International Women's Day. Full of pirated surprises and unexpected tracks. Enough said. Step right up and feel the Confetti, folks!

Friend of the Podcast from WWDTM, Bob Kearns steps in to fill the big size 10s of Da Scherm who's MIA. Another raucous conversation ensues until Bill surprises the team with a Hank3 song featuring Tom and the classic guest appearance in 1977 on 'Fernwood Tonight'. Feel the love, folks!  

After a 3 month long hiatus, the Dream Team emerges rested and ready to tackle all things quintessentially Tom and leap into the work of Salvador Dalí, Pythagorus, Aristotle, Schrödinger's Cat and what it's like to be Big in Japan. In the end, they discover nobody loves Nighthawks at the Diner more than Cheryl, and play that classic cut to prove it, along with a cover of Come On Up To The House, B...

The Dream Regime celebrates the day of Hearts, Candy and Romance by once again digging into stories of heartbreak and Tom Waits' sad love songs. That's right folks, we're talking Astragalus, Verona, inhaling the world and a black flannel negligee. What else can one hope for? Blind Love!

Happy New Year Folks! The guest list grows in 2021 as WWDTM's Bob Kearns joins the Dream Regime yet again for some madcap mayhem, philosophical patter, and to drag old family skeletons out of the cellar. Digging deep into the ramifications of being raised right and the importance of proper automotive maintenance, Cheryl proves to Da Scherm she ain't no Aunt Evelyn... and that's the end of that. 

Just in time for the Holidays, the Dream Regime gets an unexpected call from Tad Gunn on tour in Belarus with fashion tips during the pandemic. Plus friend of the podcast Bruce Barton calls in to join the chat about childhood camps and some favorite Tom Waits campy songs. Happy Holidays folks!

Once again, Bill forgets to put his phone on silence and then...it all begins. With an amazing new cover of "Make It Rain" by Spinifex Gum and the Blind Boys From Alabama version of "Down In The Hole." Feel the Love!

From Uncle Dang to Auntie Em this episode is full of crazy relative stories from the Dream Regime just in time for Thanksgiving. Cemetery Polka, Pontiac, and a great cover of Come On Up To The House by Willie Nelson and Cheryl Crow are in the mix too. Feel the Love, folks!!

That's right folks, this one takes a peak at the similarities between the career of the late great iconic David Bowie and that of our legendary Tom Waits. Happening upon an article that found similarities in their struggles and transcendence, musical influences and love of all things Burroughs, the dream regime once again celebrates with some unusual covers and Bowie's impersonation of Tom. Feel t...

Hold on to your hats folks. The dream regime and a surprise caller explore a new podcast that's emerged which defies logic and has caused discombobulation with Waits fans from here to Johnsburg Illinois. Claiming to be the one and only but you be the judge. Feel the love!

Ok diehard Waitsians, fasten your seat belts and get ready for a multi referenced ride with the author of the book on Tom Waits' album Swordfishtrombones and Host of the annual Tom Waits LA bus tour "Crawling Down Cahuenga." David Smay joined the dream regime for a jam packed hour+ of mining the WCU (Waits Character Universe). Marvel Schmarvel! This meal is best consumed after reading Smay's stupe...

Welcome to Season 7 where the dream regime find themselves full of wonder and hope, like it's their lucky day. It's the usual fare of parallel realities, odd little known facts, the doppler effect and a great cover of Heart Attack and Vine by Screamin Jay Hawkins. Off to work we go! 

Once again the Dream Regime searches for some light down the path, this time exploring all things Fatherhood. That's right folks, all the way from Catfish and Emperor Penguins to Sins of My Father and Altar Boy, this episode spins wide and deep and dark. Feel the love! 

In tribute to the original dramatist, Bill, James, Cheryl and da Scherm explore Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennans' amazing facility with story; since there are only 25 or 7 or is it 36? It's all boy meets girl, girl meets boy and the rest is Greek to us.  Filled with ample joy, laughter, and celebration, and some insights on immaculate conception. Recorded right after Independence Day this one had t...

Hey Folks, here's one from the archive, an unpublished throwback episode from 2017. It's the 2nd pure improv Bill and James attempted, going up on the wire without a net. Whereas now, improv has become second nature and the way the dream regime rolls, back then it was a different story! Recorded at the same time as the first improv, Bear With Us: The Alien Is On The Spectrum, it's a conversation f...

Diving deep into both of the major career pivots from Swordfishtrombones to Bone Machine, this one's for all you truely die-hard Tom Waits' fans out there. Reveling in the powerful spiritual and musical awakening that took place around these iconic records, we also uncover the creative Genius of David Smay's book from the 33 1/3 series on Swordfishtrombones. The joy and laughter explode out of the...

That's right folks, two months of seclusion with hardly any human contact will bring out the big hunt for neurotransmitters in almost anybody. So this week we went in search of a mega DOSE - dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins, and came up with the oldest trick in the book to stop Fumblin' With The Blues, Hold On and get Satisfied. Come join this natural chemical cocktail dance party ins...

Recorded back at the beginning of May on World Laughter Day, Bill, James and Da Scherm honor this holiday in the usual fashion by having a deep philosophical discussion on the nature of time, reality and of course, cornbread. It's one mind-bending hallucinogenic exploration of Time until The Money Runs Out and Da Scherm can finally say, Lord I've Been Changed. Finishing with some of Tom Waits' mos...

This episode is all about feelin' the love and gratitude, remembering and honoring our mothers, the Divine Mother, and of course our very own Fairy Podmother. Featuring a few select covers of Tom Waits' and Kathleen Brennan's songs by incredible female artists like Joseph, Cibelle and Cat Power. Come On Up To The House and soak in the Sea Of Love, folks! Belated Happy Mothers Day!

Well folks, strategies for slowin the stir crazy is on the menu this week, as we get a glimpse of light at the end of the sheltering. It's time to Hoist That Rag cuz we're gonna get through dark times, we are not gonna end up in Potter's Field. Just a couple of hints at the great Tom Waits tunes featured in this episode. Stay Strong! 

A month of hunkered down sheltering finds Bill and James still whistlin' past the graveyard while Cheryl and da Scherm reminisce about playing Cowboys and Indians.  Along with the usual - Tom Waits iconoclasty, Native American terms of endearment, a mad dream, odd groaner, farewell homage to Bill Withers & John Prine, and the new tribute letter published by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan honoring...

Welcome to the brave new world folks! As Cheryl laments the plight of medical workers we all roll along the pandemic highway, looking for meaning across empty parkways and the quiet American landscape...except for coyotes, penguins and bears oh my! With another apropos song mix for the sheltered, feel the love folks... from at least 6 feet!

Hey Folks, Sheltered and sequestered the Tin Hat Quartet kept their ongoing social distancing by recording as usual, separated by hundreds of miles, to offer everyone some respite in the midst of the fear, chaos and eery silence with what else but a wonderful spontaneous conversation about Tom Waits' music. It's an hour full of stories, absurdity, dark humor, compassion, and tales from the great t...