We're celebrating our Fabulous First. Happy Anniversary Growin' Up Rock Listeners!! Remember the first time you heard one of your all-time favorite bands? How about the first time you saw them in concert? Growin' Up Rock is turning one, so we have an epic first year celebration in store for you all. Sonny and I reflect back on our first year of episodes, while discussing our fabulous first associated with some of our favorite bands we grew up loving in high school. Sonny and I have a ton of band...
Aug 05, 2018•1 hr 55 min
It’s been a long time coming but we are finally doing a Dokken Top 5 List. On this episode we spin the Dial O’ Destiny and pick our top 5 favorite Dokken tunes. At least at this minute. Sonny and I are such huge Dokken fans, we found it impossible to pick just 5 of our favorite Dokken songs, so for the sake of time, as in we don’t have enough, we decided to capture a moment in time and record our favorites at this minute. Rockin' with Dokken is definitely a Growing Up Rock pasttime for Hollywood...
Jul 29, 2018•1 hr 57 min
On this episode of Growin' Up Rock, we talk with Podchaser co-founder Cole Raven. Podcasts are booming. There's a podcast for everything, and Podchaser’s database and discovery engine has quickly become a go-to resource for podcast devotees. Officially beta-launched in July 2017, Podchaser is often called the IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes of podcasting, allowing listeners to rate and review shows, as well as individual episodes. In addition to Podchaser’s awesome review and rating system that is SUPER...
Jul 22, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Hollywood's nite out on the town results in an impromptu coming together for the Growin' Up Rock Co-host In this bonus episode. Sonny, Steven, and Steven's wife Jen meet up in a undisclosed location to have dinner and take in a Kip Winger acoustic set. While hanging out the 3 of them decide to talk about the Kip Winger set and discuss a world of possibilities surrounding the Monster's Of Rock Cruise in which Sonny and Steven announce they are both embarking on in 2019. They figure the Growin' Up...
Jul 20, 2018•49 min
In this episode we get down and dirty with a closer look at the infamous Filthy 15 list of rock and pop songs, put out by the PMRC in 1985. What happens in 1985 when politicians' wives, with way too much time on their hands, catch their children walking around the house singing songs they find objectionable? Find out in this episode of Growin’ Up Rock, as Sonny and Steven explore the PMRC and the so-called list of Filthy 15 songs that were put on this earth to destroy the youth of America. We di...
Jul 16, 2018•1 hr 47 min
Typically on Growin' Up Rock, we are all about the music and the artists who create it, but in this episode we take our show on the road and head to Nashville for Summer NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) industry event to learn more about what's happening in the business of music. At the show, we have quick chats with producer/engineer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Halestorm, Foo Fighters) and Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish. Then marketing manager Matt Brown at EVH guitars gives us th...
Jul 13, 2018•56 min
In this episode, we talk with Bob Nalbandian, director of the docuseries “Inside Metal: The Pioneers Of Hard Rock And Metal.” Bob shares his growing up rock stories and some amazing stories about making these documentaries and growing up in LA during this glorious time for hard rock and metal music. In the not-too-distant future, the awesome bands of the 70’s and 80’s that we grew up loving and seeing live in concert be just a memory. Time stops for no man. That’s why it’s increasingly important...
Jul 08, 2018•1 hr 56 min
Jacob Cade represents the young rock rising in music today. The young 19 year old up and coming singer / guitar player from Denver sits down with Growin’ Up Rock to share his experiences working with famed hard rock producer Michael Wagner, and co-writing songs from his upcoming EP release “Hunger” with Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger from Halestorm, Rachel Bolan from Skid Row, and Paul Taylor from Winger. We discuss the state of the music business today through the eyes of a young artist. We play s...
Jul 02, 2018•1 hr 29 min
We talk to Christian Swain, host of the Rock N Roll Archaeology Project Podcast about his Growin’ Up Rock story and his goal with this massive project he has taken on. Why he feels there is an obligation to educate today’s youth about rock music. I like to refer to Christian as the Indiana Jones of Rock n Roll Podcasting. He spends a great deal of time putting together his shows and now he has a whole network of shows that tie into the Mother ship Podcast that is the Rock n Roll Archaeology Proj...
Jun 24, 2018•1 hr 25 min
It's all in the numbers, or at least that's what a numbers guy like Hollywood would have us all believe. It's really simple, there is a ton of great rock bands and great rock songs that revolve around numbers. Lets face it, music itself is all about beats and time signatures, aka Numbers!! In this episode Sonny takes the even numbers and Steven embraces the fact that he is the odd man out, and begrudgingly takes the odd numbers. We discuss some of Steven's latest concert adventures and play some...
Jun 18, 2018•1 hr 22 min
It's Graduation Day at Growin' Up Rock, and our friend Bakko from the Cobras and Fire Podcast is here to help us figure out where our lives went horribly wrong. Do you remember your Senior Year? Your Graduation Day? What was your life like at that time? What rock bands and concerts impacted you during this pivotal time in your life? Sonny goes missing, and we are sure he is completely trying to avoid Bakko like the plague. Tune in to find out the truth of Hollywood's disappearance. Growin' Up Ro...
Jun 11, 2018•2 hr 7 min
Stryper has been a Growin' Up Rock part of my life since they released the Yellow and Black Attack back in 1984. Singer and lead guitarist Michael Sweet is an amazing singer and we feel criminally underrated as a guitar player, so it is an honor to have him sit in with us on today's podcast. We talk to Michael about some of his earliest memories and influences, and we get into Stryper's latest release "God Damn Evil." Check out GUR co-host Sonny Pooni's album review right here. Michael is the dr...
Jun 04, 2018•51 min
The Indy Kiss Konfessionals Day Two. - We're halfway there people!! Find out what happens when you have the Expo to end all Expos dedicated to the greatest Rock n Roll band on earth KISS. The 20th anniversary Indy Kiss Expo was celebrated in rock star fashion this month with a special guest list that was 2nd to none in Kiss World. In fact it seemed like just about everyone except Gene and Paul were in attendance. You had appearances by: Ace Frehley, Michael James Jackson, Todd Kerns, Bill Starke...
May 25, 2018•2 hr 23 min
The Indy Kiss Konfessionals Day One. - It's gonna be a long weekend people!! Find out what happens when you have the Expo to end all Expos dedicated to the greatest Rock n Roll band on earth - KISS. The 20th anniversary Indy Kiss Expo was celebrated in rock star fashion this month, with a special guest list that was 2nd to none in Kiss World. In fact it seemed like just about everyone except Gene and Paul were in attendance. You had appearances by: Ace Frehley, Michael James Jackson, Todd Kerns,...
May 20, 2018•2 hr 25 min
What's it all about? It's about Life, Love, & Rock n Roll. At least that's what Sonny and I think. On this episode we find out how a band called Granny 4 Barrel made so much noise and a lasting impression after I showed up late and completely missed their live set. We discuss the upcoming summer concert series. I tell you all about playing hooky on a school night in order to rock n roll my way through the mean streets of Atlanta, while Sonny travels from city to city, selling his companies c...
May 18, 2018•1 hr 41 min
Whitesnake's guitarist, Joel Hoekstra is the perfect portrait of what today’s guitar god looks like. The man comes across as humble with true personal values, but on stage just enough attitude and swagger that draws you in, and has you standing on your chair with your fist raised high above your head. Oh, and we can’t forget the most important trait in a guitar hero. You must be able to wield your guitar like a sword in an all out musical war, which Joel does without a doubt. In this episode we ...
May 13, 2018•1 hr 26 min
It’s time for another episode of This Ain’t No Disco, and this year we are talking and rocking all things happening in 1989. Rock n Pod 2 VIP contributor Jason Kearney joins Steven and Hollywood for another episode of "This Ain’t No Disco". Jason picked the year 1989 to feature some great albums released and pick several great tracks to play. We talk to Jason about why ‘89 meant so much to him when he was growing up, and Sonny and Steven try to search their failing memories to figure out exactly...
May 06, 2018•1 hr 50 min
The Indy Kiss Expo is coming up fast and furious and the Growin' Up Rock Podcast will be on site and recording all the festivities. This will be the Kiss Expo to end all Kiss Expos with this crazy lineup of guest. Pretty much everyone except Paul and Gene will be in attendance and we got you covered. Hollywood and I decided to put together a little bonus episode of the Podcast to run down all the people appearing at the expo as well as take the time to play a handful of tunes related to some of ...
May 04, 2018•1 hr
The amazing and super talented Grammy award winning guitarist Steve Stevens is interviewed on this episode of the Growin' Up Rock Podcast. Long time Billy Idol guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens was gracious enough to spend time with me and tell me some of his rock n roll story. In this interview we cover a massive amount of ground in Steve's career starting with his youth and growing up in NY to currently planning a summer tour with Billy Idol. We discuss his long time partnership with Bill...
Apr 29, 2018•1 hr 28 min
We Love Prince and we like it heavy, so we want to celebrate the rock n roll side of his music on this 2nd anniversary of his passing. Legends never die. “I never meant to cause use any sorrow, I never meant to cause you any pain…” Whether Prince was preaching to the crowd, telling a personal story or encouraging everyone to get funky, the messages were loud and clear. Although he is no longer physically present, he lives with us through his incredible music. On We like it heavy: Prince we discu...
Apr 22, 2018•1 hr 28 min
Loverboy lead guitarist Paul Dean is a rare breed in a rock band. He’s loyal to almost a fault, and in a world dominated by Guitar Gods, his ego is checked at the door while focusing on writing music not to suit his own stature, but rather put his lead singer Mike Reno in the best possible situation to use what Paul says is “one of the best rock voices in history” Formed in Calgary in 1979, Loverboy ruled the rock airwaves and MTV from 80 -85 with an amazing string of hits and platinum albums. T...
Apr 15, 2018•1 hr 50 min
Texas Hippie Coalition. Formed in Denison, Texas by vocalist Big Dad Ritch and former bass player John Exall, the band plays a brand of music they they call "Red Dirt Metal". Imagine if you will, that bands could get together and have a Rock n Roll Love Child. Figuratively speaking if ZZ Top, and Pantera were to get together they would have for sure bred something sounding a lot like Texas Hippie Coalition. Texas Hippie Coalition has been on a consistent run of putting out an album every two yea...
Apr 10, 2018•52 min
What Cha' Listening to right now? We love to hear from the listeners about what music is floating their boat currently old or new. We encourage you to go to our Facebook page and share it. Sonny and Steven went the extra mile for people and decided to give the listeners a bonus episode, We sit down, drink a little wine, and share some music that is new and a little that is older that has them pressing replay on their phones right now. They talk a little about some of the new and older stuff they...
Apr 06, 2018•50 min
Ever wanted a good girl gone bad? A wild woman? A sexy temptress? The girl next door, who is much more than you fantasized about? A girl gone bad is what every red blooded male secretly wants. We ALL love a bad girl.......at least for a little while. We here at Growin' Up Rock, are not a whole lot different. In our youth, we were drawn to rock n roll and hard rock in particular because it was a little dangerous, rebellious, and most importantly the chicks flocked to it. Make no mistake about it,...
Apr 02, 2018•1 hr 12 min
On this Episode of Growin' Up Rock, Sonny and Steven are Talking Rock with Talking Metal's main man Mark Strigl. You think you know a few things about Talking Metal and about Mark Strigl, but you have no idea. The fellas have a great time digging into Mark's Growin' Up Rock past and talking all things music. Mark has been doing a rock podcast since 2005, and In fact when Mark started, you could count the amount of Podcast dedicated to rock music on one hand. Now a days the market is flooded with...
Mar 25, 2018•1 hr 33 min
Hey Ma!!, I'm going solo. In what could very well become a on-going series for Growin' Up Rock down the road, Steven, Hollywood, along with very special guest Joe Polo from Podcast Rock City join forces to discuss several artist who have left or taken a break from the Mothership bands that helped create their famous status in the first place, to go solo or join forces with other artist in a new venture to create kick ass rock n roll. One never knows what drives an artist to leave one creative fo...
Mar 18, 2018•1 hr 49 min
It's time to spin the Growin' Up Rock cell phone roulette wheel of rock n roll. Steve and Hollywood, pull out their personal cell phones and let the shuffle button dictate exactly what music is going to be played on the show this evening. Have no fear, they have made sure specific for this episode that their massive and diverse libraries have been segregated to only include killer rock n roll music, so we don't unwillingly play some of that Hall & Oates, or Flock Of Seagulls that Hollywood l...
Mar 11, 2018•1 hr 12 min
Klassik ‘78 is a sonic trip back to your bedroom circa 1978, with your Kiss records on the turntable cranked up , distorting the cheap speakers ever so slightly in order to shake the walls while your parental units were away. Steve and Sonny are back with another interview with Klassik ‘78 (Steve interviewed K78 mastermind Tom in EP 2 - Listen to it Here). This time around the guys interview Joe (Aka The Voice Of Paul Stanley) from Klassik ‘78. Joe talks about the recording of the new EP “Side T...
Mar 04, 2018•1 hr 2 min
Enuff Z' Nuff is a band from the late 80s formed in Chicago by current bass player and vocalist Chip Z' Nuff and former vocalist Donnie Vie, that in my opinion never got a fair shake. They may or may not have contributed to their own trials and tribulations through sex, drugs, alcohol, and bad decisions, but no matter the issues and who was to blame, the bottom line was they wrote freaking great songs. Enuff Z' Nuff had a great mixture of fantastic melodies, huge hooks, lush harmonies, and hard ...
Feb 25, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Super group Sons Of Apollo vocalist Jeff Scott Soto has embraced his artistry and explored many genres of music that make him happy. Being able to be creative in so many different genres of music has not only made Jeff a go to singer by many artist and producers, but it shows just how well rounded a musician Jeff Scott Soto has become. He might of gone on to be the permanent replacement singer for Steve Perry in Journey or perhaps even the new singer in Queen replacing the legendary Freddie Merc...
Feb 21, 2018•1 hr 16 min
