ALL Interviews Episodes

I first heard about Ida Mae, when I actually heard them open for the Marcus King Band here in Toronto back in November. I was impressed by the duo, who combine an acoustic rock sound with a gentler country blues thing. The couple's chemistry is something to be hold, and before any rumours start, Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean are in fact married. They have received critical acclaim already from Rolling Stone magazine and other media outlets. Their debut record Chasing Lights isn't out until June, but in the interim, they are on the road opening for Blackberry Smoke. You definitely will want to check them out on the road, and check out their album when it comes out. It's best if you follow Ida Mae or social media or check their website at idamaemusic.com for more information.

Greg Loiacono of The Mother Hips, has a new solo album in the works, and recently released its first single San Felipe a song which he sings with Jamie Drake. It's very removed from anything he'd do with the Mother Hips, and having an additional outlet for creativity is probably what every artist needs. We've posted the video for San Felipe on our facebook page, so check it out. Aside from working on solo material, Greg is also a member of the Green Leaf Rustlers who begin a short tour tonight, and yes, he is already gearing up for plans with Tim Bluhm on a new Mother Hips records. Luckily, we were able to catch up with Greg before he hit the road, and our conversation started when I asked about his new record due out soon on Blue Rose music. For more, visit GregLoiacono.com.

Cris Jacobs has been on our radar since his 2016 record Dust to Gold, because, well, it was awesome. Cris is as eclectic as he talented. That is to say, both are diverse and interesting. It's hard to peg this singer-songwriter down, because although his music is true to an Americana, country tradition, the dude has soul and is equally adept at writing love songs as he is at writing beautiful stories of the human condition. Certainly the latter is of great concern these days, given the socio political climate. He paints his words with an eloquent brush full of meaning, and his musical chops, and those of his band, enhance his works real charm. His new record Color Where You Are is due out April 12, and we were excited to get in touch.

For the uninitiated, Electric Beethoven is a project initiated by Reed Mathis, a west coast bass playing legend, who thought it would be interesting to improvise over Beethoven’s work. While Mathis has been involved in several projects the last few years, I get the impression, this one, is the most meaningful to him. So it’s with that sentiment that I was intrigued to hear that Electric Beethoven was releasing new material on a new label Color Red. In fact the plan is to release new songs once a month until an entire new record is ready. So it’s with that renewed interest in the project, that I caught up with the fascinating and talented Reed Mathis. It’s all very exciting, and we’re pretty excited for this month’s new release on March 12th. You can get all the details on this ongoing project at reedmathis.com or at color-red.co.

We go back to 1968 in today’s episode with a central figure in Grateful Dead mythology, a member of the groups road crew, Big Steve Parish. Of course, if you’re any sort of historian on the Grateful Dead you are very aware of Steve’s place and role within the band. As you’ll soon hear, he not only was on the crew, but served as Jerry Garcia’s road tech, bodyguard, and eventual manager of the Jerry Garcia Band. Steve has a regular show on SiriusXM’s Grateful Dead channel, “Big Steve Hour”, and he is taking that storytelling format on the road, for more fun and frivolity. This guy loves the road. For dates and more visit bigstevehour.com.

Gnomes and Badgers is the forthcoming record from Karl Denson due out March 8th. This record, is a significant departure for Denson in that it has very strong political overtones, something he truly has stayed away from until now. Aside from the usual Tiny Universe players, Chuck Leavell, Anders Osborne, Ivan Neville and Lukas Nelson also contributed in parts to the making of Gnomes and Badgers. It’s a powerful record both sonically and thematically, one that we were excited to talk to Karl about. Gnomes and Badgers is a poignant turning point perhaps for him, one that may see him sing more in the future, and one that may inspire more great writing. For tour dates, and more visit karldenson.com.

Guitarist Steve Kimock has long toiled in the jamband scene, with bands like Zero, KVHW, Ratdog, and as hired gun playing with virtually a who’s who of this scene and others. His son, John Morgan though a drummer is following in Dad’s footsteps now, playing mostly with Mike Gordon but also dabbling in a few other bands like Oteil & Friends and of course with dad in Kimock. The Kimocks will be playing a series of shows in Alaska this week, but before they left, we caught up with the pair to talk about releasing new music, playing with several different people and more. For more on what Steve et al are up to, visit kimock.com.

You no doubt have heard the buzz not just in the larger community for Ghost Light, but from us here at The Sound Podcast. The quintet, made up of Tom Hamilton Jr., Raina Mullen, Holly Bowling, Steve Lyons and Scotty Zwang is exciting to all our ears, because it offers up something completely different than anything currently in our consciousness. So when we hear something fresh and exciting, well, yeah, we’re psyched. Up until now, Ghost Light’s music, in one form another has only been available through live performance. So this is a band, who’s fandom is totally built on word of mouth, and the reputation of its members. Frankly, they probably didn’t need to put out a record in a world of singles, and streaming services, but we are so glad that they have. I caught up with Tom Hamilton Jr. in Madison, WI, on tour with that other monster band he’s in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, to talk about Best Kept Secrets, Ghost Light and a bunch more. You’ll definitely want to pre-order Best Kept Sec…

What’s so remarkable about our scene is how many musicians are part of it, that we don’t unfortunately readily know. Like other genres or other scenes, or indeed in life, there are those that toil in near obscurity, honing their craft, and occasionally making “big league” appearances. Such is the case for Marcus Rezak who has played with a list of jamband scene types that is too long to list here. In fact because Marcus is such a phenomenal player, who’s style is hard to define much like his hero’s Frank Zappa, we thought it might be interesting to catch up with him and learn more about his record Gateway to the Galaxy and all the various projects he is in.To learn more about Marcus Rezak, all his gigs, and news from the various bands he plays in, visit marcusrezak.com.

Back in September of last year we sat down with Mike and Dave from Aqueous on Episode 134 to talk about their album Color Wheel. It was their first in many years, and they were both really excited about their work on the record and were eager to go out and play their new material. Some 6 months later they released a compendium of live versions of Color Wheel songs, as part of the Element compilation series. While live shows have been available through nugs.net, this third volume of Elements showcases their favorite live versions of Color Wheel tracks. We caught up with Mike Gantzer on the road, to talk about the release of Element 3, the Color Wheel tour and more. For more on Element III, Color Wheel, tour dates and more, visit aqueousband.com.

We’ve been big fans of Galactic dating back to 1998 and Crazy Horse Mongoose. They’ve always been a band that’s hard to describe blending New Orleans funk with R&B, soul, rock and several other sounds. In fact it’s almost impossible. What we appreciate most, aside from the music though, is the ambassadorship for New Orleans this band has taken on, no matter where they go, or what they do. They not only share the passion for the music from that town, but they’ve put their name behind the notion of curating music from all around North America with their recent acquisition of the famed Tipitina’s. With Already Ready Already Galactic continues to push both music boundaries while maintaining a very authentic funk sound. Stanton Moore the drummer of the band, who himself comes with a great degree of pedigree and prowess has always been one of our favorite personalities in the scene. Luckily we had the opportunity to chat with him about Already Ready Already, and way more. You can check out…

When I heard Tim Bluhm was releasing a “country” solo record, his seventh if you count his Ball Point Birds stuff, we were eager to get him on. It’s true, Sorta Surviving, has a country feel, which made us even more curious about the project. While the album isn’t out until March 29th, we were eager to unpack the record with Tim, since we’ve been playing it quite a bit in the studio. You should definitely refer to timbluhm.com for tour dates, news about the record’s release, and more.

I’ve had a chance to listen to the forthcoming Signs from the Tedeschi Trucks Band, multiple times, and it’s definitely eclectic and very strong. Their fourth album might be their finest collection of tunes to date. It’s a deeply personal album, and this band, has been through quite a bit the last few years…. The album is dedicated to Col. Bruce Hampton, and when our conversation started with Derek Trucks, I asked if tragedy, loss, and change, ultimately fuels the fire to make inspired music, full of hope, celebration and love. You can pre-order Signs in various configurations with cool swag at tedeschitrucksband.com where you will also find upcoming tour dates.

When I first met Phil Tessis at a Jam Labs event here in Toronto at a local bar, he was a quiet, unassuming, gifted guitar player. What I didn’t know at the time, or rather immediately is that Phil is indeed part of an amazing Funk quartet that although local to Toronto has found some success across Canada and indeed the United States. So when we heard After Funk was releasing a new record, we had to get him on the show to talk about the band, their success to date, and where they are headed, figuratively and literally. For more on After Funk including tour dates all over North America and to pre-order Santa Barbara visit afterfunk.ca.

When we were first were notified that Hayes Carll was releasing a new record, we needed to get in touch with him. He’s absolutely one of our favorite songwriters because he paints such vivid pictures and blends excellent words-smithing with a very dry sense of humor. That isn’t to say though that he doesn’t have a lot to say about the human condition, socio-political issues or love, what is true though, is that he does it in a very genuine and authentic way without ramming his perspective down your ears. “What It Is” is out February 15th, and when you do get a chance to hear the record, pay particular attention to his carefully crafted phrasing, tremendous use of language and indeed the vivid way he paints a picture. You can learn more about Hayes’ other recordings and his upcoming tour at HayesCarll.com.

Truthfully until The Higgs reached out We had no idea about them, or their sound. Since then we’ve listened to whatever music we could find, and have been impressed with what we’ve heard. Their jams have purpose and their more slightly less goofy songs are well written. We recently caught up with The Higgs frontman John Lovero and our conversation started when I asked him to take us back to how it all started. You can learn more about The Higgs by visiting thehiggsmusic.com, or following them on social media where they are quite active.

The Michigan Rattlers are a four piece, originally as the band name would suggest, from Michigan. They are currently on tour opening for the Lil’ Smokies, and that’s a pretty big break for them, this early on. Rather than telling you about their sound and story, we caught up with Graham Young the band’s primary song writer, vocalist and guitar player. You really need to hear all of their debut Evergreen to get the full scope of Graham’s songwriting ability. For more visit michiganrattlers.com.

In late 2018, The Infamous Stringdusters released “Live from Telluride”. The 20 song album was indeed taken from an entire performance at that famed festival, and the set spans the bands 12 year and 8 album career. A Hard Life Makes a Good Song was a track off their 2017 Grammy award winning record Laws of Gravity. Though the album was released back in November, the boys have been on the road, you know, doing what they do, so up until recently we haven’t had a chance to catch up with anyone to talk about the live release, or their winter tour plans. Finally, we tracked down Dobro magician Andy Hall to talk about the live release and all the other things they have going on. Of course, you can also catch The Dusters on the road and you can check thestringdusters.com for all the relevant details and more.

We’ve all been listening to the Disco Biscuits forever. We always keep an eye out for Marc Brownstein’s work, since we appreciate his work on bass, and he has similar taste in music. So when we read that he started this new project called Star Kitchen, a Funk type thing, we were jonesing to hear exactly what was going on. Luckily there is some music floating around, and we’re fortunate that tapers like Eric McRoberts who make awesome live recordings was at Stageone in Fairfield, Connecticut to catch Star Kitchen last week. Once we heard the music, we had to get Brownie on the line, to ask what was going on with Star Kitchen.

The Lil Smokies are a progressive bluegrass band has been around since 2009 and has gone some personal changes but have pretty much solidified their lineup since 2015. One of the newest members of the band is Matt “Rev” Rieger, a strapping grizzled guitar player who’s stellar picking and strumming certainly adds to the band’s sound. We caught up with Rev chillin’ ahead of a gruelling tour schedule that sees the band on the road for most of January through March.

It would be nearly impossible for me or the rest of the team to be aware of every band out there that somehow in some way fits into the community of music we bring you. So it’s nice when a band reaches out to us to tell about their project and what they are up to. We can’t feature all of them on the show, but there was something about The Alpine Camp that really intrigued us. Probably the blend of musicianship, song writing and fun, that caught our attention.

Welcome in to our very last show of 2018. It has been an incredible year, and this will mark our 95 episode of the year. We thanked a whole bunch of people for their contributions for our year in Episode 163 so listen back to that show at thesoundpodcast.com or on your favourite podcast platform to hear all about the wonderful people that we can’t thank enough for 2018.

These are the top 5 most listened to episodes of 2018. It’s an intriguing list of musicians and genres, and music and includes some heavy weights in the scene, both past and present.

By the end of 2018, we will have produced 95 episodes of the Sound Podcast. We thought it would be awesome to look back at the year that was and share with you the top 10 episodes based on downloads of the show. This is the first of our two part series. Here is the first part from that top ten list…