On the day that Bad Company's Rock Hall induction was announced, Matt spoke with Johnny Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company's Simon Kirke. Johnny shared his memories of not only touring with the band, but also, seeing Bad Company as a young music fan in the '70s. He also tells UCR about Lynyrd Skynyrd's upcoming live album and their plans for this year. In our conversation with Simon, he shares what he hopes will happen this fall when the band is officially inducted. He also spends some t...
May 11, 2025•38 min
Bob Seger turned 80 earlier this week. Gary Graff has been covering Seger's career from Detroit for over four decades. He joins Matt to talk about some of the important milestones, including the Stranger in Town album, which was released this month in 1978. They also discuss Bob's early catalog and whether or not fans might someday be able to get reissues of those records -- and hopefully, some of the unreleased material that's currently in the vault.
May 08, 2025•31 min
When Pink Floyd released A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987, it was the first step in proving the rock legends could exist without Roger Waters. Paul Rappaport worked with both the band and separately, Waters, in that time period. It's just one of the many moments in his legendary career at Columbia Records that found him representing titans like Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Journey, Bruce Springsteen and many others. He's sharing the stories of how he helped to break some of rock's biggest r...
May 04, 2025•1 hr 13 min
Sammy Hagar tells Matt about his new single, "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight" and why he won't be doing a farewell tour. They also discuss dreams, aliens and what fans can expect from his Best of All Worlds residency in Las Vegas which begins April 30.
Apr 26, 2025•18 min
Steven Wilson, world-renowned producer, remixer, originator and songwriter, joins Matt to discuss his new album, The Overview. They also dig into the work that he did helping to remix and restore the audio for the 2025 theatrical version of Pink Floyd at Pompeii, which begins screening this week.
Apr 23, 2025•27 min
Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult joins Matt for an entertaining look back at some colorful moments from the band's history, including their experience playing with Kiss and the ill-fated Black and Blue tour with Black Sabbath. He also shares what it was like revisiting the group's first three albums for their 50th anniversary and whether we might hear further new music on the heels of 2024's Ghost Notes.
Apr 20, 2025•22 min
If you ever felt like the music of Raspberries deserved more appreciation, the good news is that you're not alone. The better news is that they've finally gotten the respect that they deserve and then some. Author Ken Sharp joins Matt to discuss his new book, Overnight Sensation: The Story of Raspberries. Together, they dig into some of the fascinating stories about the history of the power pop legends. Ken details his own experiences as a fan, while also talking about what it was like to put to...
Apr 14, 2025•54 min
Mark Wilson and Nic Cester of Jet join Matt to look back at their 2003 album Get Born, which is being celebrated this week with a special Record Store Day release of rarities and b-sides. They dig through stories behind the making of the record, opening for the Rolling Stones, Nic's audition for AC/DC and more!
Apr 09, 2025•26 min
The legendary wizard and true star, Todd Rundgren, is with Matt for our latest podcast. Todd tells us about the current tour. What the World Needs Now: The Burt Bacharach Songbook. He discusses how Bacharach impacted his own songwriting. He digs into other topics as well, including working with Bob Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman and his experience collaborating with Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman on Bat Out of Hell.
Mar 31, 2025•23 min
What happens when a band starts to find an audience with multiple generations of music fans? Amy Lee talks about that with Matt, while detailing her experience covering Led Zeppelin and working with classic rock heavyweight Steve Lillywhite. But there's also new Evanescence music to talk about. Amy shares the story of how their newest song, "Afterlife," was created.
Mar 29, 2025•16 min
Motley Crue guitarist John 5 joins Matthew Wilkening and Matt Wardlaw to talk about his lifelong love of all things Kiss. Fans will have an opportunity to see his collection of over 2,500 items starting in May as he opens his Knights in Satan's Service museum to the public. He previews what fans can expect and also shares some Motley Crue stories.
Mar 28, 2025•27 min
Kansas vocalist Ronnie Platt joins Matt to share the story behind his recent battle with thyroid cancer. We also discuss several musical topics and this summer's upcoming tour dates with .38 Special.
Mar 27, 2025•56 min
Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith checks in with Matt to discuss the new Smith / Kotzen album. He also tells tales about his early days playing music and some of his influences. Plus, he shares his favorite Iron Maiden album cover and offers a look inside their songwriting process.
Mar 21, 2025•27 min
Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, Rush, Journey) joins Matt to discuss the incredible collaboration between Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes. The pair teamed up in 1999 to revisit Jimmy's past with Led Zeppelin and thankfully, Kevin was there to record some of their performances, though as he tells us, it wasn't easy. Live at the Greek: Excess All Areas was recently expanded with 16 previously unreleased tracks, with all of the songs freshly remixed by Kevin. It's available now wherever you get your mu...
Mar 19, 2025•31 min
Legendary Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson is back with Stygian Wavs, the second album from his band Envy of None. He joins UCR to take us behind the scenes of the creation of Stygian Wavs. Plus, we discuss his '90s work with Victor, the shoegaze genre, playing guitar solos and of course, there's some Rush talk as well.
Mar 14, 2025•29 min
Drummer Jason Bonham joins Matt to share why Physical Graffiti is his favorite Led Zeppelin album. He details the role that his father, late Zeppelin drum legend John Bonham, played in the creation of the album and he also shares how he's planning to approach performing the whole record with his band. Jason covers numerous subjects in today's conversation including his experience working with Phil Collins, his thoughts on the recent Becoming Led Zeppelin film and more.
Mar 12, 2025•55 min
Billy Idol joins Matt to share the exciting news about his forthcoming album, Dream Into It, which will be released on April 25. He also talks about his overall history with concept albums including 1993's Cyberpunk and looks back on his early days in America.
Feb 27, 2025•13 min
It's been a classic rock favorite for decades, but it also became known as the unofficial theme throughout the 15 seasons of the television show Supernatural and was featured on the contemporary western crime Walker. It's even been used by the AEW wrestling team, the Elite -- and maybe you've heard the parody on Instagram of what it could sound like if "Cartman" from South Park was singing the lead vocals. The latest unexpected pop culture moment for "Carry on Wayward Son" happened recently when...
Feb 21, 2025•41 min
John McDermott has been the guy overseeing the Jimi Hendrix catalog archives for more than three decades now. He joins Matt to talk about some of the recent archive releases and also, this year's Experience Hendrix tour. They also discuss the amazing all-star tribute to Jimi's music, 1993's Stone Free and John's adventures working on the album, which featured Eric Clapton and the members of Chic, plus contributions from the Cure, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy and many others.
Feb 18, 2025•31 min
Rick joins Matt to discuss his career and a number of topics, including a new version of "Jessie's Girl." The track is part of a brand new compilation, Big Hits: Rick Springfield's Greatest Hits, Volume 2. Rick delves into the history behind the song and also looks back at the incredible chapter of work that's being documented by the Big Hits release. Rick's longtime photographer Jay Gilbert also checks in to tell Matt about his experience putting together a new book, Burning Film: Rick Springfi...
Feb 14, 2025•53 min
Guitarist John Petrucci joins Matt to discuss their four decades as a group and how they are embracing that legacy with their newest album, Parasomnia. He takes us behind the scenes to talk about how the new record came together and a number of other topics.
Feb 11, 2025•26 min
Joe Satriani stops by to chat with Matt about an idea he had for Eddie Van Halen. He discusses the 1996 birth of the groundbreaking G3 tour nearly 30 years later and shares memories of some of his early touring experiences that led up to G3. He also tells us why Joe Walsh is a special guitar player.
Feb 04, 2025•24 min
Steve Vai joins Matt for a conversation regarding his ongoing participation in Beat, the touring all-star '80s King Crimson celebration with Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Danny Carey. He digs into numerous other topics including his experience jamming with Chicago. He also offers an update on the album he's working on with Joe Satriani, while discussing last year's G3 Reunion which led to their current band, SatchVai. Will Beat make music together? Steve has some thoughts about that.
Jan 31, 2025•57 min
Garth Hudson, the talented multi-instrumentalist and careful archivist for the Band, passed away this week at the age of 87. Matt Wardlaw and Nick DeRiso discuss Hudson's remarkable career and the many things that made him special.
Jan 24, 2025•31 min
Dickey Betts opened an important door for Warren Haynes when he hired the guitarist to play in his solo band in the late '80s. When the Allman Brothers Band reformed in 1989, Haynes found himself in the lineup, thanks to another invitation from Betts. During a pair of 2024 conversations with Matt, Haynes discussed what made Betts special and how the late guitarist -- and others, including his mentor, Gregg Allman -- helped to influence his latest album, Million Voices Whisper. Haynes and the sur...
Jan 17, 2025•32 min
Chicago's Lee Loughnane joins Matt to look back at the band's debut album more than 55 years later. Separately, Matt, Nick DeRiso and Jeff Giles begin the podcast with a discussion about the complex history of the group.
Jan 10, 2025•54 min
In the second half of our conversation with punk legend Henry Rollins, we dig deeper into the collecting that helped inspire his Stay Fanatic! series of books. We also get into more musical topics, including Henry's experience at Woodstock '94, meeting Tom Petty and the day that he found out that David Bowie was a fan.
Jan 03, 2025•51 min
In the first part of a lengthy conversation, punk legend Henry Rollins discusses numerous topics, including his ongoing passion for music collecting and how that led to his latest series of Stay Fanatic! books. Rollins also tells Matt how his listening habits have changed over the years and why he now hears music by bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin with fresh ears.
Jan 03, 2025•54 min
The UCR gang have reunited to discuss what's ahead in the new year that we're looking forward to, including AC/DC and Guns N' Roses returning to the road. Plus, we're thinking about what could happen in 2025. Will we see Ozzy Osbourne back on stage? Is a reunion possible between Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and Neil Young? Who will be the next bands to play the Sphere in Las Vegas? Allison Rapp, Bryan Rolli, Corey Irwin and Matt dig through a lot of different topics!
Dec 23, 2024•51 min
REO Speedwagon co-founder Neal Doughty and longtime bassist Bruce Hall share with UCR their side of the complicated series of events that led to the announcement that the band would cease touring at the end of 2024.
Dec 20, 2024•46 min
