When you are a small community, coming together and having shared experiences is a big part of how that exists and how that persists over time...

Matthew Kirk has already shown love to his community by resurrecting a long time ice cream business that had closed.  He continues to show love to his community by being host to musicians at two different locations for Yellow Springs Porchfest this upcoming weekend.  I have the honor of playing at O and E's Corner Cone at 4:00 PM.  What other musicians is…

Gretchen Kelly is a well-known face in Dayton night life.  If you enjoy delicious OE pizza, heading out for occasional drinks, or local music, chances are you've run into Gretchen out there in our city.  She talks with me on this episode about her new business venture, Mercenary Bartenders.  What kind of niche are they filling in our community?  What's Gretchen's favorite Dayton band?  What was the first music she can remember hearing?  What in the world is liquor liability insurance?  You'll learn…

It's emotion, right?  That's music. We're connecting with people on an emotional level...that's ultimately at the end of the day what it's all about, just connecting with other people.

Sometimes things happen in life that seem like an implausible story from a movie.  I have one of those to tell, and the stars of this story are Brittany Bliss and Reid Givens of Brittany and the Blisstones.  Brittany and the Blisstones is an indie band from Chico, California. Their sound draws from influences as diverse as…

I love rock and roll and I love writing rock and roll songs

Brandon Semler lives in Austin, but originally hails from Greene County, right here in Ohio.  We met in 2019 at the CD Baby DIY Musician Conference.  We'll be headed back there again this weekend, and in fact, this episode is being posted on the morning of the conference's first day.  What kind of things is Brandon up to musically with his band, Westerly Station?  What's his new business all about?  What's the first song he can remember ever…

We have the rule of no rules

This past Friday, I shared my conversation with Icho Van in Spanish.  Icho also speaks English, so here is the second part of our chat. That's him in the above picture taken in Mexico City, the handsome gentleman second from the left.  What are some of Icho's favorite foods from being on tour? What was his experience playing Tiny Desk like?  What would Icho like to teach Americans about September 15th?  (Pronounced "quince de septiembre" in this conversation.)  What did his…

A veces los músicos pecamos de no darnos cuenta de que es mucho trabajo...

Tengo el honor de dar la bienvenida a Icho Van, bajista para Jenny and the Mexicats.  Su grupo consiste de dos mexicanos, un español, y  una inglesa.  Viajan por todo el mundo traendo gozo músical a la gente. Van a descubrir que Icho es un caballero interesante y pensativo, quién trabaja duro y no da por sentado sus logros. ¿Cómo comenzó ser músico?  ¿Cómo está aguantando el grupo su fama?  ¿Que fue la primiera canción que…

Don't ask somebody how they are unless you really want to know

My guest for Episode 50 is a tastefully named gentleman who hosts a podcast called Detoxicity.  I had the honor of appearing on his podcast back in September 2021.  You'll get to hear him explain what his podcast is about in our conversation.  You'll get to hear me use the word "perfunctory" in a sentence more than once.  What's a basic tagline for life?  What did Mike's childhood smell like?  

Detoxicity Podcast

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Photo by Harish Pathak

I definitely was not thinking about writing a book for people who teach music lessons, but it's funny how these weird little intentions... if we keep following the thread, we can get to it...

Lesley Barth is a singer, songwriter, recording artist, musician, author, teacher, and mom who is currently based in Nashville. She released her second full-length album, called Big Time Baby, in May 2020. We talk about the album and some of the songs on it.  (Many of them have music…

I want people to think about their own life and how rich each of our individual lives can be...

John Henry Sheridan joins me for this episode.  He's a musician and author from Brooklyn, New York.  I was a guest on his podcast Music Philosophy & More in 2021, so here he is reciprocating on my podcast.  We talk about podcasting and writing songs in our conversation, as well has getting into how he got started making music.  John also inadvertently helps me to find a new question that I plan to ask every…

Mike Thome is still tastefully named, and becomes my first three time guest with this episode.  Why is he here?  Well, we're a bit past halfway through the baseball season.  We talk about his beloved Minnesota Twins.  Will they be able to win the AL Central?  We talk about my beloved Atlanta National League Baseball Club.  Will they be able to win the NL East?  Will the Mets continue to make us all say "lolMets"?  (#lolmets)   Mike brings up the bigger gap between the elite power hitters and everyone…