Talk About the Passion

In this filler episode I'm stuck indoors during the Coronavirus pandemic letting you know I'm old and like to tell stories, I tell you how many times you've heard Bungle in the Jungle by Jethro Tull, argue that Stairway to Heaven is not the most overplayed Zeppelin song, recall the last time I was stuck indoors during a snowstorm in 2015. Also tacked on the end of this is the track "Jennifer Lopez" from my old band Presley. This song is occasionally featured at the end of episodes and faded. I figured since it's just me talking I'd leave the whole song. Enjoy. 

Episode 52  & 53 is a two part long, free form conversation with Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee about the late Neil Peart. Rush is a big band for the three of us and with the news of Neil passing in January of 2020 we gathered to hang out and talk about all things Neil from our first impressions of him to fascinating detail about some of his drum sets through the years. This is a long conversation and it get's silly and/or salty on occasion but the ship is always steered back to Rush and Neil Peart. 

Episode 52  & 53 is a two part long, free form conversation with Brian Smith and Guy Wetherbee about the late Neil Peart. Rush is a big band for the three of us and with the news of Neil passing in January of 2020 we gathered to hang out and talk about all things Neil from our first impressions of him to fascinating detail about some of his drum sets through the years. This is a long conversation and it get's silly and/or salty on occasion but the ship is always steered back to Rush and Neil Peart. 

Episode 51 is a short episode where I talk about an upcoming project happening with the Boston Hardcore aspects of this podcast, my introduction to hardcore music in Boston in the early 80's and I start off on a sad note and talk about the death of Reed Mullin who I learned died a couple hours before I recorded this. 

Episode 50 is a great conversation with Glen Stilphen. Glen plays bass in the band Northern Skulls, and got his start playing bass for Gang Green as a teenager during their Another Wasted Night era along with his brother Chuck. We talk quite a bit about his time in that band as well as the time that lead up to that and what he's been up to since. His new band Northern Skulls are great and I'm glad we talked a bit about their formation and song writing process. Glen is a great story teller, funny and down to earth guy that was a great guest. 

Episode 49 is a dive into guitar players, and not the same ones you always hear talked about. We talk about the more unheralded guitar players from Jim Babjak of The Smithereens to Geordie Walker from Killing Joke. There are a few more well known names on here but we wanted to shine a light on less-household names. As with other episodes I've recorded with Brian and Guy this one was a lot of fun and the passion the two of them have for everything they talk about here is always front and center. 

Episode 48 is a conversation with James Koury of Boston based metal band Meliah Rage. James is one of the original members of the band and in this episode we talk about the long history of the band, from the formation in the 80's to what the band is up to now. James is a great storyteller and has some cool stories about growing up outside of Boston and how he found music and the journey it took him on including a great story about showing up at Boston singer Brad Delp's house as a teenager, becoming friends with Brad Whitford's of Aerosmith's mother and some great touring stories. James is extremely passionate about music, and made the perfect guest. 

Episode 47 is a conversation with my friend Jeff Morris, Jeff was a founding member of The Bruisers. We talk about his time in that band as well as how a couple of upcoming reunion shows came to be. Jeff grew up north of Boston and talks about getting into music at an early age, his first time at a hardcore show and everything else that happened in between. Like all of my guests, Jeff's story takes a similar path (Although I don't think Kiss was mentioned once!) and he is a great story teller so his memories and thoughts on music are all worth hearing. This was a great episode to record and it was great catching up with an old friend. 

Episode 46 is a deep and long dive with my co-hosts Brian Smith and Guy Weatherbee about live records. More than just a discussion of our specific favorite live records, we get pretty loose and open about the live album as an archive of a band at a certain point in time, infamous "fake" live recordings, and we somehow manage to cover everyone from the usual suspects like Rush and Kiss to artists like Dave Brubeck and Sammy Davis Jr. This was a lot of fun to record and there will most likely be a volume two to this one 

Episode 45 is a conversation with Chris Giguere. Chris plays guitar in the band Conclave, he has also done time in Tenebrae and Panzerbastard. In this episode we talk about growing up in Blackstone, MA which borders Woonsocket, RI. As the title indicates and as a good amount of these episodes go, Kiss is an early influence on Chris so we of course talk a bit about them, as well as other heavy music, classic rock music and everything in between. Chris made a great guest, he and I have a lot of the same ideas and opinions on music and life so this conversations is natural and sounds like I'm talking with an old friend, when in fact we had just met.