This particular episode is an important one to me, and if you care about authenticity in music, I think it'll be important to you as well.

Country isn't my genre of choice, but I've been making an effort to listen to more of it over the last few years.  To keep it 100, as the kids say, the sound never spoke to me when I was young, and I couldn't see any value for me in that genre.  As I've gotten older, I've learned that country music is a vehicle for Black stories as well, despite what the music industry…

It's pretty cool to live in a place that has a venue where you can see 50 free concerts a year.  That place for us is Levitt Pavilion Dayton, and my guest of honor is their Executive Director, Lisa Wagner.  How do they make sure the concerts are diverse?  How much work does it take to put on a show at Levitt?  How in the world can they afford to deliver 50 concerts without charging for admission?  You'll learn the answers to these questions in this episode.

Levitt Pavilion Dayton

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…