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

And they're off...but you already know that, folks! Season 4 begins and finally reveals the 2nd in a Special Series on men with the middle name Allan or Alan: Dr. Timothy Scherman waxes Poetic as he schools Bill & James on how to mash-up Thomas Alan Waits & Edgar Allan Poe. Candles are lit and the cognac is open at midnight at the end of Poe's birthday, so drink up and bury the confetti!

After careful review we were shocked to discover that once again, we were not foolproof in Season 3 and mistakes were made, some harmless and others (well you'll have to listen for yourself). So here's our end of the year bonus mini-episode with the retractions and corrections from Season 3. Enjoy and Happy New Year! 

The Season 3 finale finds Bill and James ruminating on the yuletide season, commercialism, elves, good deeds and a hooker from Minneapolis. With a surprise guest and a holiday play list you won't forget, come join the anti-holiday party and ring in the new year right folks! 

For all you folks that were waiting for an episode on curved space, warped time, twisted DNA and the wonkiness of being: this is your Lucky Day!  Bill & James doggedly explore these topics along with: chattering minds, canines, bliss, and time collapsing. You may have to wait 'til 'Yesterday Is Here' to get it, but trust us, it's worth it. Let's celebrate December 7th 1949: hail, hail…The Eyeball...

Okay, folks...hold onto your sombreros! Bill & James dare to assert that Dia de Muertos is not just another day at the office. They attempt to squeeze the life out of this heavy subject and bring it into the light. Make sure your Ipanema Insurance hasn't lapsed, strap in, and keep your arms and legs in the vehicle at all times as we careen down this very dark rabbit hole...aaaaaaaaiiiiiiiihhhh!

Bill & James catch up with our very own Human Guinea Pig Brad Smith who's had the entire season to ruminate on Rain Dogs. His verdict? You'll have to listen to find out, folks. We can disclose however that Brad extracted an essential plumbing tip, if all you have is lower brass horns laying around the house. Our Guinea Pig may never get into Esquire Magazine, but we believe Tom Waits is slowly gna...

Inspired by a quote from the late great Jonathan Winters, Bill and James ponder the meaning of life, the denial of death, and important tips on refrigerator care and maintenance. That's right, folks...it's another hour of fun for the entire family. Featured songs include: Cold Cold Ground, Time, I Don't Wanna Grow Up, and Whistle Down The Wind. Feel the Love!

This week, we bid a fond farewell to one of the guys we owe it all to folks, that 70s icon who shed his mortal coil last week: Burt Reynolds. Plus Bob Frost and his hilarious quips, courtesy of American Lit prof and almost centerfold...The Scherm! To his wife's horror, we dragged him into our dark web again, where thrush music called us to play songs that are not, in our inestimable opinions, list...

It's ironic, folks. Bill & James record this episode 6 miles apart in Tennessee via Zencastr. Smoky Mountain rain drives this drenched discussion right off the road...we learn about Tom Waits' first accident caused by James Brown, and how Bill's worst accident ends upside-down. Feel the soaked confetti!

Well, folks...it's another historic episode where Bill & James reunite at the river in the Tennessee mountains. This time, in a Smoky Mountain cabin with the lights dimmed to put them in the mood to riff on a Big-3-B episode. Along the way, as you've come to expect, they discuss spiders, hospital clowns, bears, condors, eagles, rainbow trout, and golf. Also, things get so deep, they call up Dr. Ti...

A major early influence as noted by Tom, who placed transcriptions of Bob Dylan's lyrics on his bedroom walls, James & Bill pay tribute to the Nobel Prize Winning Master and uncover the secret connection, that's right folks, the first in a special series dedicated to two men with the middle name Allen. Plus condors, herons and bears, oh my, and billions and billions of passenger pigeons blotting o...

Bill and James double down and celebrate America's Birthday in true Waitsian fashion by talking about Day of The Dead, special steaks, and jail breaks. They run their playlists up the flagpole to see who salutes, then shoot off all their fireworks just for you, folks.    

Bill & James once again rev up the Zencastr dual-cam microphones and walk the wi-fi wire without a net for your amusement. The Flying Walendas they ain't. As you've come to expect, their discombobulated conversation eventually shakes out Bill's story of committing a mortal sin with Pope John Paul II and a bunch of nuns in Washington, D.C. with good ol' Charlie Brown as his trusty sidekick. Along t...

Memorial Day returns and we open Season 3 by commemorating with former Assault Helicopter Platoon Leader, Paratrooper, School Teacher and now Hospital Clown, Ron Anglin as he regales us with all stories military, historically and rhetorically. Featuring Tom's soldier songs with a special version on the ukulele. Salute the confetti folks!

Completely chambered with nothing but Swordfishtrombones, water, and chocolate confetti for all of Season 2, our one and only Human Guinea Pig, Brad Smith, professional singer and raconteur, finally emerges to share his unexpected findings, and boy was it worth the wait! Plus, Grand Recantations for the entire Season 2. Feel the Bonus!

Ladies and gentlemen...direct from Sunshine City Studios: Welcome to our Season 2 Finale'! From Ethel Merman's disco album to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Liberace to tidying up behind elephants to Johnny Eck and ladies' night, Bill & James have a ne'er-do-well-rounded discussion about Tom Waits and his songs and commentary about Showbiz. There's no business like it, folks!

WTF?! Bill & James really lose it this time. It's up to you to find it, folks. Enough said...except: feel the love.

Bill and James go way down the rabbit hole into the obscure subject of Tom Waits' sad songs about broken hearts. It's a big dig episode, dealing with two degrees of separation, The Wee People, parking in Ireland, kissing The Blarney Stone, crows, ravens, Edgar Allen Poe, Denny Crane, psychotic poetry, and Paterson's curse. Feel the love!

March 8th is a special day around the world, folks, so we devoted this episode to honoring and celebrating International Womyn's Day with Cheryl, who takes the reins and lists her demands, echoing those of women around the world. Featuring some of Tom's most cherished songs about women. Start the party!

From his tours with Jazz master Toots Thielemans to his groundbreaking book, 'Effortless Mastery' taught at the Berklee School of Music, Kenny Werner brings complexity and the street to composing and creativity. This hour long musical deep dive also showcases 2 exclusives - Kenny's arrangement of Tom's 'Take It With Me' for Broadway Legend Betty Buckley, live with the Seattle Symphony and a song f...

Move over, Bill Murray...Whistle Pigs are the new Wood Chucks. Punxsutawney Phil ain't got nothin' on me! This is our homage to a classic holiday movie. We know what you're thinking, folks! What's this got to do with Tom Waits? It's the same. It's the same. Start the Party! Again.

In celebration of Dr. King's birthday we paid tribute by reflecting on many of his great sayings and his final message - to serve with "a heart full of grace, and a soul generated by love." With a few of Tom's great songs dealing with the devil, love and houses to bless our journey on this great day.​ RIP Ralph Carney.   

From Frank Sinatra & Captain Beefheart to Little Richard, Harry Partch, & The Texas Czech Bohemian-Moravian Bands, Tom's musical influences are wondrous, wild, wide...and deep. We're talking a virtual beyond-the-chromatic-scale smorgasbord including GATMO, The Rolling Stones, & Altar Boy. Folks, your table is ready!

Our bonus mini-episode brings you the must-have final retractions and corrections of the year, and that's the end of that. Enjoy, feel the love, and Happy New Year! 

Bill, James and Cheryl continue Eluding the Authorities, this time with the distinguished author Dr. Tim Scherman who penned that brilliant essay. What's he building in there ain't just literature, folks. Not only has Tim used his mind to deconstruct the culture surrounding Tom Waits word by word, he's also used his hands to reconstruct his entire house board by board. Elizabeth Oakes Smith, P.T....