Performance Anxiety

Welcome photographer and musician Josh Hight to the show. Josh’s story is near and dear to me because it centers around two of my passions: music and photography. And Josh’s story is not a straightforward one, either. Although his parents were both creative (his dad was in advertising and his mom was an interior designer) visual art came later. His first love was music. He’s from Detroit and so it...

Today’s guest is a true family man. Or is it family band? You know what? It’s both. Please welcome Lucas Ward of The Silver Snails to the show. He take a moment from traveling with his family to talk to me about his unusual musical path. It definitely hasn’t been straightforward. But it’s been incredibly fruitful. He discusses growing up and being friends with Elliot Smith, back when he was known...

This isn’t exactly a Christmas episode, although it certainly leans heavily into the season. That’s because my guest today is an 80’s icon who has released a Christmas song. Welcome Limahl to the podcast. You may remember him from the 80’s band Kajagoogoo, and the track playing underneath all this intro stuff. Or you might remember him from the international #1 hit The Neverending Story from the m...

Welcome back, Conan Neutron! Conan’s got a new Secret Friends album out called The Way Of The Neutron. The process and circumstances Conan went through creating this album are the inspiration for this episode. It’s all about integrity and perseverance…and a little bit of artisanal sand. But Conan and I thought that maybe, somewhere out there, one listener of this podcast could use a little bit of...

Today’s guest is a challenge. But I don’t mean that in a negative way. Welcome Arwen Lewis to the podcast. She’s a musician and a podcaster. And this show starts off almost like it’s duelling interviews. And before I go any further, I need to thank Astrid Young for the introduction. Arwen has quite the family tree. Her dad is Peter Lewis of Moby Grape. But going back farther, her grandfather found...

Today’s guest is plural. I’m fortunate to be joined by the entire band The Problem With Kids Today just before they hit the stage. Tate, Silas, and Reena talk about the music that inspired them, some early band experiences, and how the band came together. Tate tells me about their unusual name, their less unusual previous band name, and gelling as a band because of COVID. These guys are self-descr...

This week’s guest is very grounded. That could be because he’s British. Or it could be because his career spans several decades. Welcome the singer and guitarist for Kula Shaker, Crispian Mills. This episode is so interesting. Crispian talks about growing up in a family rooted in entertainment. He started playing gigs in pubs at a pretty young age. In fact, his first gig was with Chris Thompson of...

This episode of Side Projects is a little different. THey’re all different, if I’m being honest. But this one is…unusual. I welcome two members of the National Symphony Orchestra to the show; principal flute player Aaron Goldman and cellist David Teie.  It’s a quick hitter so I’ll have to have them back on. But we discuss how young they were when  classical music grabbed them. They enlighten me on...

Welcome to the third installment of our Spinal Tap series. In this episode we welcome four members of Teen Cancer America' Play It Back Program; Nathan Hooper, Savannah Mason, Juan Razuri, and Elissa Waller as well as the co-founder of the program, Kenli Mattus . They all participated in the Tap project by recording a version of The Majesty Of Rock, from Spinal Tap’s second album, Break Like The W...

Today’s guest is probably the most international guest I’ve ever had. Welcome guitarist Timothy Reid to the show. Timothy comes to us from Japan via North Yorkshire, England. How did he end up in Japan? It’s a really interesting story about obsessions. But that’s not where we begin. We begin with Timothy getting into Northern Soul and the punk band that cemented his musical course. After going to...

Welcome to the second installment of our Spinal Tap series. This time I’m speaking with Abby Travis, Chas West, and David Hakopyan. Due to a personal obligation, I had to record this differently than I normally do. I was in the middle of Amish country in PA and I used Zoom for the entire show. Somehow, it became the busiest place on the planet, but only while I was recording. I also discovered tha...

Today’s guest was a gift and I mean that in a variety of ways. Of course, his music is a gift. This conversation was a gift. But even connecting with him was a gift for which I have to thank Jeremy Toback. Jeremy suggested I listen to Shane’s music. When I did he connected us. Unfortunately, I put the interview date in the wrong month in my calendar and we rescheduled for the next day. That meant...

Today is the first of a few special episodes. We’re talking Spinal Tap with Scott Reeder of Kyuss, Kellii Scott of Failure, Dizzy Reed of Guns N Roses, and Jason Achilles, who’s put microphones on Mars with NASA’s JPL. What brings all of these amazing people together? A charity album for Teen Cancer America that I started three and a half years ago. It’s coming out on Sept 16th and the only way to...

In an unusual turn of events here, this week I have doubleVee on the podcast…the entire band! Welcome both Allan and Barb Vest to the podcast. They are a duo with a very interesting past and a wonderful new EP.  Allan was a musical late bloomer while his wife Barb has it in her blood, literally. Her grandmother was a composer. That led to a really beautiful project, later on, for Barb and Allan. A...

Today’s guest is Chris Stamey. He’s done A LOT! He grew up in North Carolina, playing bass with Mitch Easter and Peter Holsapple. They played in churches and coffee shops because those were the only places at the time that encouraged original music. Around this time he began studying music at the University of North Carolina. He transferred to NYU but because of some weird scheduling issues, his m...

Today’s guest makes me feel blessed because his story illustrates just how fortunate I am. Meet Jon Muq. He’s a singer/songwriter from Austin TX via Uganda. Growing up, music was not a presence in his life. But sound was. He grew up without electricity so music was not a priority. But once he discovered music, it became an obsession; particularly the song We Are The World. Jon learned to play guit...

Today’s guest mellows me out while also thinking about new revenue streams. Welcome David Motamed from The Royal Arctic Institute to the show. Mo, as his friends call him, has a long career in music mixed with a long career as a liver specialist; in medicine, not Silence of the Lambs kinda stuff. He started playing bass with his long-time friend and collaborator Lyle Hysen and wound up with him in...

This episode of Performance Anxiety Side Projects is almost a religious experience. Welcome Morgan Geer of Drunken Prayer and Matt Patton of Drive-By Truckers. Today we’re talking about Gospel music. Morgan and Matt talk about the Gospel music that made the first impact on them and give some great recommendations on where to start your own journey.  Matt and Morgan each give their accounts of how...

Today’s guest is the definition of commitment. Please welcome Lemoyne Alexander to the show. Lemoyne really had no choice BUT to go into show business. His dad was a session drummer for Chess Records and started a family band starring Lemoyne and his siblings, even though he was way more into martial arts. The story of that band is filled with all kinds of changes, including a Peter Brady-like voc...

Today’s guest is a fan of birds. Not really. I don’t know. He’s been in two bands named after birds, so maybe. Welcome guitarist Arad Evans to the podcast. I think Arad may be my first Alaskan on the podcast. Now he wasn’t born there, but he did grow up there. He tells me what got him into music and what kind of music scene there was in 1970’s and early 80’s Anchorage.  Arad moved to New York City...

My guest today is a regular guy who happens to do a lot of creative stuff! Welcome Robert Scheffler to the podcast. Robert started on guitar after finding the one his mom had when she tried to take up the instrument. He played in school, he played in cover bands (because where he was living, no one wanted originals), he played solo gigs. He played supper clubs where you had to compete with food fo...

This guest is the very definition of resilience. Please welcome singer/songwriter Willie Nile. He has a new album out called The Great Yellow Light that shows Willie is still in top form. But he has a long, storied career and that’s where we get started. He reveals that music has run in the family for generations!  He went to college because the school needed people in the dorms. It was in the mid...

Today’s guest hates traffic as much as I do. Plus he helped invent an entire genre of music. Welcome David J. Haskins to the podcast. He has a new album out, but you may also recognize him from his previous bands, Bauhaus and Love And Rockets. His love of music began with reggae and sneaking into clubs when he was a kid. His biggest inspirations were Bowie, Marc Bolan, and Roxy Music. He started o...

This guest just blew me away on every front imaginable. Welcome drummer David Abbruzzese to the show. If the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he was in the biggest band in the world at what I consider their peak. Dave played drums for Pearl Jam from 1991 to 1994. For me, this was when the band could do no wrong. But, as David tells me, there was a lot of crazy stuff going. That includes...

Today’s guest is a family favorite. That means I’m talking with Erika Wennerstrom from Heartless Bastards. There are times when I’m completely blown away that an artist agrees to be a guest on this podcast and this is one of those moments. But Erika was and is incredibly kind and gracious. We start off like we usually do, talking about what got her into music. It turns out that she knew she was go...