Well, well! Back from the dead! This is one of the Crash and Ride song explications, and this week's is "Revolution Blues" by Neil Young. Seemed apropos! Hopefully it won't be so long before we speak again!
Maurice Rickard is one of the most prolific musicians and composers I have ever met. He is constantly creating. He's also one of the calmest people I know, so I was shocked when he told me that he had battled anxiety his entire life. We talked about how drone music and staying constantly creatively engaged has helped him to focus his mind and stay on top of his periodic bouts of anxiety. You can check out his absolutely voluminous body of work at the following links: Drone/semi-generative work w...
My good friend Faiz Razi was my guest for last year's April Fool's episode of Crash and Ride. I interviewed him about his feelings of Imposter Syndrome. This year he wanted to interview me, and so that's what we did. We talked about the genesis if this show, the absurdity and uncertainty of the times we're living in, and we talked about the tragedy of losing our sweet, funny friend Jake Nelson.
Boy, is it good to be back on the air. I'm locked-in to avoid catching Corona virus, but I was able to focus on getting an episode out, finally. Back before the world went sideways, I talked to Ryan Monahan, a guitarist, bassist, recording engineer, and composer about his struggles with childhood trauma and chronic thyroid malfunction. You can check out Easter Island here: https://easterisland.bandcamp.com/ You can watch their Kickstarter video here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ethanpay...
Dave Mead and I have known each other since back when the Earth was still cooling. He owned the first drum set I ever got to play and when he dropped out of school to play in the heavy metal band Ambush, he became the first professional rock musician I had ever known. He grew up in a terribly turbulent home and learned every lesson the hard way. We talk about his journey through a childhood with a charismatic Christian mom, a pugilistic step-father, rock and roll excess and motel life before his...
Zack Hembree is the singer of Hembree and the Satan Sisters and the former guitar player in a zillion bands, including the infamous Music Hates You, a band I was also in. We have slept on a thousand floors together and we were as close as brothers for many years. Zack talks about being the son of an abusive drug addict, surviving his own battles with booze and substances, finding redemption in the arms of his beautiful wife, and how we almost started a riot at a VFW Hall in Selma, Alabama. You c...
his is a good one: this week I spoke with my friend John MacBeth and he told a whole hell of a lot of truth. We talked about childhood trauma, trying heroin for the first time at 16, a stolen shotgun, and how crack saved his life. You can check out his band Husk here: https://www.facebook.com/huskbandofficial/ You can listen to Dr. Nadine Burk Harris talk about childhood trauma here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ovIJ3dsNk...
This will be one of my favorite episodes for a very long time. Doug Grean is an audio engineer, producer, guitar player, and filmmaker with a resume that is truly stunning: Sheryl Crow, Ricki Lee Jones, Corey Glover, Glen Campbell, Cyndi Lauper, Tim McGraw, John Taylor from Duran Duran, Annabella Lwin from Bow Wow Wow, and on and on and on. Most prominently, though, he was music director, production partner, and lead guitar player for Scott Weiland of the Stone Temple Pilots. Doug is also a depr...
This week I spoke with Lemuel Hayes, Nashville session drummer and one of my favorite people in the world. Lemuel has played with Cindy Wilson from the B-52s, Nicki Bluhm, Jaime Wyatt, Reed Turchi, and so much more. He's also a great photographer. We talked about surviving rejection, handling anxiety when you live a life of complete uncertainty, and causing his therapist to have a car accident. You can hear Lemuel's playing and see his art on his website, here: http://www.lemuelhayes.com/
This week's episode is an interview with bassist and vocalist Jeff Rapier. Jeff was a member of Athens, GA punk band American Cheeseburger, as well as Donkey Punch and the Dumps. Jeff is the survivor of a deeply chaotic childhood and also the death of his younger brother. We talked about trying to find the balance between meds, self-medication, and surviving.
For Episode 49 I spoke with James Hall! Legendary frontman for so many great bands: The James Hall Band, Mary My Hope, Pleasure Club, and more! James has long been a fixture on the Atlanta and New Orleans music scenes. We talked about being displaced by Hurricane Katrina, being signed by Geffen and being put through the wringer, being a rock and roll dad, and pushing through adversity no matter how dire or frustrating it gets! Here is the official James Hall website: https://jameshall.com/home H...
Oh, dang! I'm back from vacation! This week's song explication is one of my favorite tunes ever! Tonight I explored "Quiet Whiskey" by Wynonie Harris, a jump blues classic from 1953! I talk about the evolution from jazz to rock and roll! I talk about saxophones! AND you get to hear my great-grandfather's clock chime 10pm! Check it out!
Matt Aaron is the guitar player, singer/songwriter for the band Endiana. He's also a phenomenal graffiti artist and fine art painter. I sat down with Matt in his house in Indianapolis on the day after Christmas and we talked about military school, Bruce Springsteen, serial killers, and falling off of a mountain. You can check out Endiana's music here: https://endiana.bandcamp.com/ You can hear the song "God Save Rock and Roll" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODUSf1aO8Mo You can read more a...
This is not a Christmas Episode. It's an episode about kindness. At the end of every interview, I ask my guest ten (or so) questions, the fourth of which is "Tell about a time you received an act of kindness from a stranger." I treasure their answers. Tonight's episode is a compilation of some of my favorites. I know the holidays are tough for a lot of us. Keep each other close. Ask for help if you need it. Be with people you like and don't be afraid to tell toxic people you'll catch up with the...
This is the third in the Crash and Ride Song Explication series! Tonight I did an episode on "Clampdown" by the Clash! It's my favorite song on one of my favorite albums of all time! My day kind of sucked and this was what I needed to feel better about the world! Check it out!
Leslie Sokal Berg is an extraordinarily gifted singer. She's also a music educator, a mother, and a survivor of suicide. She attended the Jazz program at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, until she fell into a deep depression and attempted to end her life. Since then, she has bounced back, become a music educator, and a mom. She talked frankly and honestly with me about the events that led up to her suicide attempt and the long road back. Leslie is also the mother of Parker D...
Hey, it's my second episode in the new song explication series! This week I'm doing "Straight Down" by the Athens band The Glands. The Glands are one of those power pop phenomenons that somehow got overlooked by history, and yet are a FANTASTIC band. This song is one of their strongest. Recorded in 1999 by Ross Shapiro, Joe Rowe, and Craig McQuiston, engineered by Andy Baker, Straight Down is 3:18 of pure joy. You get a little background on The Glands, some thoughts on Shapiro's pathological avo...
This week's interview is with Timi Conley, guitarist and singer for the band Timi Conley and the Wonderland Rangers, formerly of Kite to the Moon, and Athens band The Fuzzy Sprouts. Timi is also the founder of the annual Athens Halloween Festival, the Wild Rumpus. Timi talks about his father's PTSD and Bi-Polar behavior, as well as the devastation he experienced at the death of his mother. And also, I get a little bent out of shape in the intro, and I'm not sorry. In the episode, Timi references...
I have a new thing I want to do every week: I'm going to do a song explication of a song that I absolutely love. I'm going to go through the song from beginning to end and talk about the arrangement, the personnel on the track, and all of the details that I think make the song special. The first few of these will be free and available to the public, but in the future it'll be a feature only available to my $10 per month subscribers on the Patreon page! I don't want to put any of the features of ...
John Howie, Jr is a fantastic singer/songwriter from Wake County, NC, now living in The Triangle, and writing incredibly stark, gorgeous, sad songs that tell the truth about love and loss. I interviewed him via phone from his home and we talked about his childhood, the death of his father, the loss of several love affairs, the resulting anxiety and sadness, and how all of these things have informed his work. I really like John and I kind of secretly wish I'll get to play some music with him some...
This week is a very special episode of Crash and Ride! I have compiled my favorite answers to the question "What is the fondest memory you have of a meal that you've had?" I know the holidays are tough for a lot of folks, so I wanted to make a special episode of past guests and maybe help some of my friends find the strength to make it through. Next week will be a regular interview! The essay I talk about concerning the Waffle House video of Sean Brock and Anthony Bourdain can be found here: htt...
For Episode 38, I interviewed Sam Scholten from the Louisville band Bon Air. Sam lost his wife Lisa to cancer just a few years ago. We talk about that loss, his recovery from it, and getting on with life without disrespecting the memory of those we've loved and lost. You can hear Bon Air here: https://bonair.bandcamp.com/ This is the company that makes Sam's aluminum baritone guitar: https://www.electricalguitarcompany.com/ This is the phenomenal West Virginia writer Breece D'J Pancake, a young ...
This week's episode is an interview I've been wanting to do for a long time! I spoke with Patterson Hood, singer/guitar player/songwriter from the band Drive-By Truckers! We talked about the wear and tear that touring puts on your brain, your relationships, your gear, and everything else! We talked about love and loss, and regrets. We talked about how amazing Nuci Space is! It's a good talk and I'm super proud of it! You can check out Drive-By Truckers here: https://www.drivebytruckers.com/ You ...
For Episode 36 I spoke with Josh Hensley, the lead singer of the band The Rutabega! The Rutabega is from South Bend, Indiana, and makes music that is cerebral, beautiful, and incredibly honest. Josh talked about his surprisingly perfect childhood, the experience of having his best friend and bandmate struggle with social anxiety and depression until he just completely withdrew from life, and about becoming a father at 19 years old! You can check out the Rutabega's music here: https://theseknotty...
Last week was Part 1 of my interview with Erika Rickson. It was a really good talk, but Part 2 is, in my opinion, even better. There's even a little twist at the end that made Erika insist I call it "A Very Special Episode of Crash and Ride." Erika is the drummer for the amazing noise rock band Motherfucker, among a handful of other vital side projects. You can check out Motherfucker here: https://motherfuckermotherfucker.bandcamp.com/ You can hear Incendiaries here: https://thisisincendiaries.b...
I'm super excited about this interview. I got to interview one of my favorite people, Erika Rickson from the band Motherfucker. Erika is one of the best drummers in Athens, and she's a stellar human being. Pt. 1 of our interview is great, Pt. 2 will be even better! Erika is not afraid of the truth and she tells a lot of it here. I'm so so so proud of this interview. You can check out Motherfucker here: https://motherfuckermotherfucker.bandcamp.com/ You can hear Incendiaries here: https://thisisi...
Mike Mantione is the guitar player, singer, and principle songwriter of the band Five Eight. I've played music with Mike since 1989! We've been through everything imaginable that two musicians could go through- breakups, divorces, record deals, losing record deals, van madness, international flights, anxiety attacks, and gallons of blood, sweat, and tears. Mike has struggled long and hard to overcome his mental illness and sometimes he dragged the rest of us along with him, and yet we all still ...
This week I spoke with Riley Kirkpatrick, a peer counselor from Alliance Recovery Center, a medically assisted treatment facility here in my town. After speaking with Dave from the Dopey Podcast (Episode 30) and Christian Lembach (Episode 27), I thought it might be good to have a guest who could fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of treatment options for people coming off of opiate addiction. We talked about Harm Reduction, how opiate receptors in the brain affect recovery, and Riley's own...
For Episode 31 I spoke with Chris Ballew! Chris was formerly the front man for The Presidents of the United States of America, a band who had a handful of huge hits in the '90s. Then, pretty much at the top of their game, they stepped back and walked away from the fame machine. Years later, I discovered, almost by accident, that Chris was writing and performing children's music under the pseudonym Caspar Babypants. My curiosity about his journey was absolutely piqued. It turns out that we have a...
How much do I love the Dopey Podcast? So much. So, so much. Today I talked to Dave from Dopey, and we talked about drugs, drug stories, and dumb shit! Dave is brilliant. When you hear someone described as "all heart," well, this is the guy who broke the mold. You can hear the This American Life episode about Dave and the deaths of his friends Chris and Todd here (Episode 667, Neighbor of the Beast): https://www.thisamericanlife.org/667/wartime-radio The Dopey Podcast is here: https://www.dopeypo...
