Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Crash and Ride

Tierney Tough was the second guest ever on Crash and Ride and she has released a new solo EP. Normally the phenomenally talented bassist, vocalist, and keyboardist for the band The Pauses, Tierney was inspired by the isolation and uncertainty of the Pandemic to create a new EP of haunting and powerful tunes, A Farce to Reckon With. In our most recent conversation, we talk about the Pandemic, her new music, and an absolutely infuriating encounter with an obstreperous soundman.

You can hear A Farce to Reckon With here: https://tierneytough.bandcamp.com/

You can hear The Pauses here:
https://thepauses.bandcamp.com/

You can find out more about Nuci's Space here: https://www.nuci.org/

You can donate to Access Point GA here: https://www.accesspointga.org/donate

Episode 88 is Part 2 of my conversation with Jes Skolnik. As I mentioned last week, Jes writes for Bandcamp Daily, the music journalism arm of the Greatest Music Distribution Platform of all time. Besides being an incredibly gifted music journalist, they are also a musician, a trauma survivor, former addict, and a sexual assault survivor. This week we talk about toxic jobs, the journey from freelancer to senior editor, their struggle with drugs and depression, and what they do for self-care!

CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains frank and difficult discussions about sexual assault, drug use, and suicidal ideation.

You can read Jes' work by going to their Bandcamp contributor profile here:
https://daily.bandcamp.com/contributors/jes-skolnik

Episode 87 is my interview with Jes Skolnik! Jes writes for Bandcamp Daily, the music journalism arm of the Greatest Music Distribution Platform of all time. Besides being an incredibly gifted music journalist, they are also a musician, a trauma survivor, former addict, and a sexual assault survivor. Together, Jes and I talk about the pandemic, surviving in isolation, overcoming trauma, and how it all relates to playing, loving, and writing about music.

CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains frank and difficult discussions about sexual assault, drug use, and suicidal ideation.

You can read Jes' work by going to their Bandcamp contributor profile here:
https://daily.bandcamp.com/contributors/jes-skolnik

photo: Jeff Shipman

Adam Klein is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Athens, GA, though he currently lives in Atlanta. Adam has released seven albums, but has also traveled the world doing volunteer work and lived in West Africa for several years. In Mali, he had a radio show that was broadcast over a large swath of remote villages at the edge of the Sahara. He also has a budding acting career in the Atlanta film industry and an album on the way this Spring.

We talk about growing up Orthodox in Athens, GA, living and working in Mali, and making records with his heroes.

You can see portions of a documentary about making Adam's record of West African songs here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkJiJR7uz4I

You can hear more of Adam's music here:

https://adam-klein.com/

and finally, as I mentioned in the intro to the episode, you can donate to Access Point GA here:

https://www.accesspointga.org/donate

Jolie Holland is an extraordinarily gifted singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist living in Los Angeles, California. She's possessed of an incredible insight and lyricism and she writes gorgeous and vivid songs that have been praised by luminaries such as Tom Waits. She escaped an abusive and toxic upbringing in a devout family of Jehovah's Witnesses and spent many years on the road, only to eventually settle down and create an enormous and stunning body of work.

Jolie is currently collaborating with a group of activists and families to produce a benefit called "Abolition 2021," which will create a living space and activist space near the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. In her words, "I’ve been helping produce this benefit to create a free hospitality house for family and lawyers of incarcerated people near Angola aka Louisiana State Penitentiary. It’s out in the middle of nowhere like an ugly secret, difficult to get to, even for people with money. Reallocating city budgets from violence to community support, ending slave labor and abolishing the death penalty are the big goals. Creating this hospitality house is one important step we can take to improve people’s lives. The house will serve as a hub for activists."

The show will be online April 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th, and you can buy your tickets here:

https://noonchorus.com/abolition-2021/

You can hear more of Jolie's music here:

https://joliehollandmusic.com/

Also, as I mentioned in the intro, I've been working for a Harm Reduction organization here in Athens, and you can help us out here:

https://www.accesspointga.org/donate

Pete Krebs has played guitar in so many influential Portland bands that it's hard to list them all: Hazel, Golden Delicious, The Stolen Sweets, The Portland Playboys, and Thee Catnip Brothers. He started his journey playing in punk bands and now he plays Western Swing at the rodeo every year in Pendleton, Oregon. He's a two-time inductee into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, and he's survived cancer twice.

I met Pete for the first time in 1992 when our bands played together in Virginia at a club called The Insect Club. It was his band, Hazel, my band, Five Eight, and the Spinanes. Someone got naked onstage and we almost got beat up and very nearly didn't get paid. The next time we played together was in Portland and that night I heard Pete play a song that has haunted me for 30 years. In this interview, I finally find out the name of it and the original artist. Wild.

You can find the infamous photo that brought all of this together on the Crash and Ride Facebook page.

You can read more about Pete and hear a bunch of his music here:

https://www.heypetekrebs.com/

As promised, here's the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:

 https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

And also here's a link to the Athens area musician's Covid 19 relief fund set up by Nuci's space here:

https://www.nuci.org/get-help/

Che Arthur is a multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer, and tour manager based out of Chicago, IL. I've known Che for 30 years! I touched base to see how 2020 had gone for him, living alone in a pandemic and experiencing America as a Black man during the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd and during the latter days of the Trump Administration.

Che is an INCREDIBLY prolific musician and you can find links to much of his work here:

http://www.chearthur.com/music/

Here is a link to his 7 hour New Years Day playlist!

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/nye-2021/pl.u-XkD0YYpIeBoyD

As promised, here's the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:

 https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

And also here's a link to the Athens area musician's Covid 19 relief fund set up by Nuci's space here:

https://www.nuci.org/get-help/

Lindsay Powell is a Brooklyn-based singer and multi-instrumentalist who performs under the name Fielded. Her music defies genre classification and nimbly draws influences from trance, hip-hop, Neo-Soul, and new psychedelia. I have been a fan for many years, and after overcoming some shyness about reaching out to someone so accomplished, I made contact and we did one of my favorite interviews ever. Lindsay was very forthcoming about her struggles with mood issues and her restlessness with a "normal" life. Also, she just got a puppy.

You can hear all of Fielded's music on Bandcamp here:

https://fielded.bandcamp.com/

You can see the captivating and gorgeous video for "I Choose You" here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gBVyTo91bQ

This is Backwoodz Studioz, the label with whom she collaborates:

https://backwoodzstudioz.com/artists/fielded/

As promised, here's the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:

https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

And also here's a link to the Athens area musician's Covid 19 relief fund set up by Nuci's space here:

https://www.nuci.org/get-help/

Heather Smith is the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist behind the band Bone and Bell. She's absurdly talented and is an incredibly generous person to interview. We talk about her brief and doomed attempt to become a playwright, her battles with anxiety and depression, her move from Chicago to Portland, and her five year journey of healing from breaking her wrist.

You can hear Bone and Bell here:
https://boneandbell.bandcamp.com/

You can see the famous ferris wheel video here:
https://vimeo.com/27485961

Here's the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:
https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

And also here's a link to the Athens area musician's Covid 19 relief fund set up by Nuci's space here:
https://www.nuci.org/get-help/

Lindsey Charles is the dynamic and powerful singer of the Chicago band The Cell Phones and also one of the creators of Dagger Cast, a podcast "a horror based podcast dedicated to the LGBTQ, Black, LatinX, female experience." She is also a talented illustrator, actress, and a new mother. We talked about all of that and more while sitting on the porch of her new home in Indianapolis, masked and bundled up against the grey autumn chill. The Cell Phones have a new record out that you can check out on their bandcamp page and you can check out her podcast at the link below. What a great talk! Check it out!

The Cell Phones!
https://cellphonesband.bandcamp.com/

Daggercast!
https://www.facebook.com/daggercast/

Here's the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:
https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

And also here's a link to the Athens area musician's Covid 19 relief fund set up by Nuci's space here:
https://www.nuci.org/get-help/

photo: Rod Manning

Sorry for the delay! This episode is extra long and extra epic! I spoke with Jem Moloney, the incredibly talented drummer from the Australian band Dead. They've collaborated with members of Harvey Milk and the Melvins- a truly crushing, heavy band. Jem is also one half of the label We Empty Rooms Records in AUS, and works for a suicide prevention charity called HALT. They focus on the well-being of working class men and women who do tradeswork. (We really should start something like that here.)

This took an extra couple of days to get out because I've been hiding out in a different city and Jem wanted some time to have a listen to the episode, all that life stuff got in the way.

So instead of breaking this up into two episodes, here's the whole thing! Listen at your leisure!

Check out HALT here:
https://thehaltbrekky.com/
Watch the video on the homepage. It's incredible.

Here's the band DEAD:
https://deadsounds.bandcamp.com/

Here's We Empty Rooms, Jem's label:
https://weemptyrooms.bandcamp.com/

As promised, here's the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:
https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

And also here's a link to the Athens area musician's Covid 19 relief fund set up by Nuci's space here:
https://www.nuci.org/get-help/

photo: Morten Fog

There is one globally influential magazine that focuses on Americana and I was fortunate enough to speak with its editor. Hilary Saunders is the human tornado who wrestles No Depression to the presses every quarter, and she is a phenomenal human being. For Episode 75, we had an wide-ranging conversation about her journey to the editorship of No Depression, about life in New York City during these strange times we're living in, and about using guava jelly in hamantaschen. I enjoyed every minute of it.

During the course of our conversation, she recommended the email newsletters of a couple of music journalists. You can find Gary Suarez on Substack here:
https://cabbages.substack.com/people/1989736-gary-suarez

You can find out more about Marissa Moss and Natalie Weiner's newsletter here:
https://marissarmoss.substack.com/p/coming-soon?r=5wdr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

You can sign up for Zachary Lipez's newsletter here:
https://zacharylipez.substack.com/

And you can find Sara Benincasa's essay about the aftermath of the suicide of Anthony Bourdain here:
https://humanparts.medium.com/when-they-leave-8eb15cc2ee1f

I mentioned in the intro that I was going to include a link to the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:
https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

And also here's a link to the Athens area musician's Covid 19 relief fund set up by Nuci's space here:
https://www.nuci.org/get-help/

This is the second half of my interview with the wondrously talented Jodi Shapiro: drone composer, card sharp, photographer, and archivist. She's just an astonishingly talented human being. In the second half, we talk about her experience of being run down by an automobile, how that experience affected her outlook on life, her experiences with meditation, and her undying love of Neil Young.

Here is Jodi's photography site:
http://samuraiphotog.com/

Also, I mentioned in the intro that I was going to include a link to the Corona Virus Relief Fund set up by MusiCares:

https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief

Good luck, folks.

Jodi Shapiro is a drone composer, competition poker player, world class photographer, and the best rock and roll tour guide of the Lower East Side of Manhattan that you could ever ask for. She's one of the most accomplished people I've ever met, and yet, surprisingly, she struggles with a sense that her work isn't worthy. We talk about that and so much more in this week's episode of Crash and Ride. This is part 1 and part 2 will be out in just a few days!

Here is her photography site:
http://samuraiphotog.com/

Lilly Hiatt is an absolutely fantastic singer/songwriter from Nashville, TN. We talked about her early life, how much more she enjoys recording in home studios vs. big commercial facilities, and how quarantine has made a whole bunch of wandering, nomadic musicians appreciate things like new mattresses and headphones.

You can hear more of Lilly's music on her website:

https://www.lillyhiatt.com/

Episode 71 is the second half of my interview with Conan Neutron! Conan is a guitar player and singer from Modesto, CA, now living in Milwaukee! He was in the great band Replicator and went on to be in Mt Vicious and the band Victory and Associates. Now he works with a rotating cast of brilliant musicians as Conan Neutron and the Secret Friends! In the second half of our talk we get into the lessons he learned from the breakup of Mt Vicious, the formation of Conan Neutron and the Secret Friends and the deaths of Lauren K Newman and Vern Rumsey, Conan's bandmates in Household Gods.

You can hear more of Conan's music here:

https://www.neutronfriends.com/

This week is the first half of my conversation with Conan Neutron! Conan is a guitar player and singer from Modesto, CA, now living in Milwaukee! He was in the great band Replicator and went on to be in Mt Vicious and the band Victory and Associates. Now he works with a rotating cast of brilliant musicians as Conant Neutron and the Secret Friends! He's played with Dale Crover and David Pajo! And more!  In part one we talk about growing up in the Central Valley of California, the wild days of pre-techboom San Francisco and Oakland, and we talk about the loss of his best friend.

You can hear his music on his website here:

https://www.neutronfriends.com/

J Christopher Arrison is a guitar player, songwriter, singer, writer for Adult Swim, and a friend I have known for 30 years (!!). His band Trinket had one of the most star-crossed record deals of all time, and the story is all here. Even with that bit of bleakness, this is one of the funniest episodes of Crash and Ride ever, and I'm super proud of it.

You can see and hear his work for Fish Center on his Bandcamp: https://murderwizard.bandcamp.com/album/fish-cuts-vol-4

If we ever get to go see live music again, you can see Saved By The Band at Venkman's:

https://venkmans.com/event/saved-by-the-band/

You can read his essay about his former wife's journey through cancer surgery here:

https://www.salon.com/2012/07/20/my_wifes_brain_surgery/

This is the second half of my interview with Brad Wood, engineer and producer from Rockford, Illinois, now living in Los Angeles. We talk more about trying to make a living in music these days, MORE about bikes, and we get into the Crash and Ride 10 Questions. If you haven't heard pt 1, check out Episode 67 on the Patreon Page, or just search for Crash and Ride, Episode 67 on your favorite podcast app!

You can hear Brad's work here:

http://www.bradwoodmusic.com/

Brad Wood is an engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Rockford, Illinois. He was the producer of the groundbreaking Liz Phair 'Exile in Guyville' and went on produce records by Red Red Meat, Veruca Salt, Ben Lee, and dozens of others. We talk about the year on the road where he played drums behind a deeply ambivalent Liz Phair, we talk about the role that anxiety, depression, and mania can play in the life of a musician, we talk about what he perceives his role to be in the studio, and lord god do we go off on a tangent about bikes. We both love bikes a lot. We talked so much I decided to split this episode in two! You can hear the rest later this week!

You can hear samples of his work at his website here:

http://www.bradwoodmusic.com/

In a good year, Hannah Aldridge is one of the hardest working musicians in the business. She tours constantly, is always writing, recording, and releasing new work. In the past four years, she's spent more time in Europe than any performer I know. She never stops.

That is to say, she never stops *in a good year*. 2020 is not a good year. I caught up with Hannah by calling her apartment in Murfreesboro and we talked for HOURS; Two salty workhorse musicians who found themselves unexpectedly sidelined by a global health crisis. We talked about the relentless nature of hand-to-mouth touring. We talked about never being satisfied with how far we've come, and trying to feel worthy of the work. We talked about trying to tour and parent at the same time. It felt like we'd known each other for decades.

You can hear her music here, including her live album that just came out in 2020:

https://hannahaldridge.bandcamp.com/

For Episode 65 I finally got to talk to David Pajo. David was, of course, the incredibly influential guitar player in the band Slint,. David later went on to play with Will Oldham, The For Carnation, Tortoise, Stereolab, Royal Trux, King Kong, Bush League, Zwan, Peggy Honeywell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, most recently, Interpol. Despite his incredibly prolific musical career, he still struggled with depression. In the winter of 2015, he attempted to take his own life.

As a survivor he has made it his mission to talk frankly and openly about his depression and how grateful he is that he survived. I am so happy that we had this conversation.

We talked about how Slint's record 'Spiderland' absolutely spun out a generation of indie rock nerds like me, about our mutual friend Lance Bangs, about his life since his suicide attempt, and about espresso for maybe longer than anyone could possible care about.

Edward Burch is a singer/songwriter who lives in St Louis. He was a longtime collaborator of Jay Bennett of Titanic Love Affair and Wilco, right up to the end of Jay's life. They had a long and fruitful creative partnership that weathered years of struggle, depression and frustration, drugs, and thousands of miles of touring. We talk about the record that they made together, The Palace at 4AM, and the documentary that was made about Jay's life. It's an extraordinary story.

Mary-Eleanor Joyce is a guitar player and drummer who has played in Maximum Busy Muscle, Shitty Candy and the Circus Peanuts, the incredibly influential Athens band Incindiaries, and her new project, Sewer Kitty. She's also a mother and a devoted daughter, which is why I wanted to talk to her: A lot of Gen X musicians have waited late in life to start families, only to find themselves raising young children while balancing caring for aging parents. Her father was in managed care for years before we sat down to talk. Then he passed away the morning of the day of our interview. Mary Eleanor still wanted to talk, though, so I went to her house with a very long mic cable and we sat on the back porch while the cicadas and the crickets sang all around us, and she told me all about what she was feeling and what it meant, and it was just amazing.

You can hear Incidiaries here: https://thisisincendiaries.bandcamp.com/album/give-me-a-reason

You can hear Maximum Busy Muscle here: https://maximumbusymuscle.bandcamp.com/

Episode 62 is a very satisfyingly long interview with Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Monks of Doom, The Third Mind, his incredible solo work). Victor and I met when my band opened for Monks of Doom back when the Earth was still cooling, and he impressed me then as an incredibly talented and genuinely insightful guy. We talk about the stress of having success sort of thrust upon you, fighting to have boundaries in an industry whose default model is to chew up artists and spit them into ditches, and the importance of dogs.

You can check out Victor's solo work and Monks of Doom on his website here:

http://www.victorkrummenacher.com/

I have been waiting for this interview since the very beginning. I absolutely love the work of Will Johnson, from the very beginning with his band Centro-Matic right up through his most recent solo release 'Wire Mountain,' and the million-and-a-half collaborations and releases in between, Will does absolutely tremendous work. We talk about how he's holding up under quarantine, the years he had in Centro-Matic, the decision to take that band off the road, and the work he's done since.

You can check out Will's work here:
http://will-johnson.com/

[photo: Sean Dunn]

Spencer Thomas is an egregiously talented singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist from Jackson, Mississippi. His new album 'Hangin' Tough' is an 10-song meditation on depression and love. He was formerly the drummer for the band Young Valley and is currently packing up to relocate to Athens, GA. We talked about his new album, his workaholism, battling imposter syndrome, and Betty Lou, the Greatest Dog Ever.

photo: Drew McKercher

Well, well! Back from the dead! This is one of the Crash and Ride song explications, and this week's is "Revolution Blues" by Neil Young. Seemed apropos! Hopefully it won't be so long before we speak again!

Maurice Rickard is one of the most prolific musicians and composers I have ever met. He is constantly creating. He's also one of the calmest people I know, so I was shocked when he told me that he had battled anxiety his entire life. We talked about how drone music and staying constantly creatively engaged has helped him to focus his mind and stay on top of his periodic bouts of anxiety.

You can check out his absolutely voluminous body of work at the following links:

Drone/semi-generative work with software he's been writing in Max/MSP: https://snwv.bandcamp.com

(of that project, one of his favorite compositions is here: https://snwv.bandcamp.com/album/live-november-5-2015 )

Streaming drone concerts are here every Monday night 8-9PM EDT:
http://onezeromusic.com:8000/

Weekly tracks (2014-2020, even years): https://weeklybeats.com/onezero

Weekly tracks (2017 and 2019): https://streak.club/u/onezero

2015's on his Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tags/weekly%20beats%202015

My good friend Faiz Razi was my guest for last year's April Fool's episode of Crash and Ride. I interviewed him about his feelings of Imposter Syndrome. This year he wanted to interview me, and so that's what we did. We talked about the genesis if this show, the absurdity and uncertainty of the times we're living in, and we talked about the tragedy of losing our sweet, funny friend Jake Nelson.

Boy, is it good to be back on the air. I'm locked-in to avoid catching Corona virus, but I was able to focus on getting an episode out, finally. Back before the world went sideways, I talked to Ryan Monahan, a guitarist, bassist, recording engineer, and composer about his struggles with childhood trauma and chronic thyroid malfunction.

You can check out Easter Island here:
https://easterisland.bandcamp.com/

You can watch their Kickstarter video here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ethanpayne/help-easter-island-finally-release-lp-number-2?ref=creator_nav

I promised in the episode to post a before and after photo of Ryan from when he got his diagnosis about his bunged up thyroid. Here it is:

Zack Hembree is the singer of Hembree and the Satan Sisters and the former guitar player in a zillion bands, including the infamous Music Hates You, a band I was also in. We have slept on a thousand floors together and we were as close as brothers for many years. Zack talks about being the son of an abusive drug addict, surviving his own battles with booze and substances, finding redemption in the arms of his beautiful wife, and how we almost started a riot at a VFW Hall in Selma, Alabama.

You can hear HSS here:

https://rustyknuckles.bandcamp.com/track/whos-launghin-now

You can hear Music Hates You here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6VQZx3jNxc

his is a good one: this week I spoke with my friend John MacBeth and he told a whole hell of a lot of truth. We talked about childhood trauma, trying heroin for the first time at 16, a stolen shotgun, and how crack saved his life.

You can check out his band Husk here:

https://www.facebook.com/huskbandofficial/

You can listen to Dr. Nadine Burk Harris talk about childhood trauma here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ovIJ3dsNk

This will be one of my favorite episodes for a very long time. Doug Grean is an audio engineer, producer, guitar player, and filmmaker with a resume that is truly stunning: Sheryl Crow, Ricki Lee Jones, Corey Glover, Glen Campbell, Cyndi Lauper, Tim McGraw, John Taylor from Duran Duran, Annabella Lwin from Bow Wow Wow, and on and on and on. Most prominently, though, he was music director, production partner, and lead guitar player for Scott Weiland of the Stone Temple Pilots.

Doug is also a depression survivor and recovering addict. This interview goes really, REALLY DEEP. It's long, but I think it's totally worth it.

This week's episode is an interview with bassist and vocalist Jeff Rapier. Jeff was a member of Athens, GA punk band American Cheeseburger, as well as Donkey Punch and the Dumps. Jeff is the survivor of a deeply chaotic childhood and also the death of his younger brother. We talked about trying to find the balance between meds, self-medication, and surviving.

Oh, dang! I'm back from vacation! This week's song explication is one of my favorite tunes ever! Tonight I explored "Quiet Whiskey" by Wynonie Harris, a jump blues classic from 1953! I talk about the evolution from jazz to rock and roll! I talk about saxophones! AND you get to hear my great-grandfather's clock chime 10pm! Check it out!

Matt Aaron is the guitar player, singer/songwriter for the band Endiana. He's also a phenomenal graffiti artist and fine art painter. I sat down with Matt in his house in Indianapolis on the day after Christmas and we talked about military school, Bruce Springsteen, serial killers, and falling off of a mountain.

You can check out Endiana's music here:
https://endiana.bandcamp.com/

You can hear the song "God Save Rock and Roll" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODUSf1aO8Mo

You can read more about Matt's work here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chaddscott/2019/10/08/from-rembrandt-and-van-gogh-to-kusama-and-graffiti-indianapolis-makes-for-a-surprise-arts-destination/#77a2b8d03cd3

And here's our mutual friend Jilly Ballistic:

https://www.streetmuseumofart.org/jilly-ballistic/

This is not a Christmas Episode. It's an episode about kindness. At the end of every interview, I ask my guest ten (or so) questions, the fourth of which is "Tell about a time you received an act of kindness from a stranger." I treasure their answers.

Tonight's episode is a compilation of some of my favorites.

I know the holidays are tough for a lot of us. Keep each other close. Ask for help if you need it. Be with people you like and don't be afraid to tell toxic people you'll catch up with them in 2020. Eat some good food. Go see some bands. Pet every dog you see.

Be well.

This is the third in the Crash and Ride Song Explication series! Tonight I did an episode on "Clampdown" by the Clash! It's my favorite song on one of my favorite albums of all time! My day kind of sucked and this was what I needed to feel better about the world! Check it out!

Leslie Sokal Berg is an extraordinarily gifted singer. She's also a music educator, a mother, and a survivor of suicide. She attended the Jazz program at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, until she fell into a deep depression and attempted to end her life. Since then, she has bounced back, become a music educator, and a mom. She talked frankly and honestly with me about the events that led up to her suicide attempt and the long road back.

Leslie is also the mother of Parker Dillard, the bassist for the ridiculously talented Athens band Fishbug. We talk about Fishbug a good bit in this interview, too! You can hear Fishbug here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH305Kwe9Xs

Hey, it's my second episode in the new song explication series! This week I'm doing "Straight Down" by the Athens band The Glands. The Glands are one of those power pop phenomenons that somehow got overlooked by history, and yet are a FANTASTIC band. This song is one of their strongest. Recorded in 1999 by Ross Shapiro, Joe Rowe, and Craig McQuiston, engineered by Andy Baker, Straight Down is 3:18 of pure joy.

You get a little background on The Glands, some thoughts on Shapiro's pathological avoidance of the spotlight from Athens photographer Jason Thrasher, and more of my terrible guitaring and thoughts on the origins of "angular" guitar.

Future episodes of the song explication series will be available only to $10 patrons! But your first taste is free! Check out Episode 41 if you're interested in hearing my thoughts on the song "Born to Run"!

I have a new thing I want to do every week: I'm going to do a song explication of a song that I absolutely love. I'm going to go through the song from beginning to end and talk about the arrangement, the personnel on the track, and all of the details that I think make the song special.

The first few of these will be free and available to the public, but in the future it'll be a feature only available to my $10 per month subscribers on the Patreon page! I don't want to put any of the features of the mental health stuff behind a paywall because I want that to be free and available to everyone, but I think this is something fun and a way for folks to show their support for the podcast.

This week's song is "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen. In 1974, Bruce was enjoying moderate success on the heels of releasing his first two albums, 'Greetings from Asbury Park' and 'The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle.' He went into the studio with a band that would eventually evolve into the E Street Band, and cut two songs that summer, "Born to Run" and "Jungleland." "Born to Run" would go on to catapult Springsteen into the rock mainstream and land him on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines in the same week.

On this episode, I talk about who played on the track, the power of Springsteen's lyrics on "Born to Run," and some musical arrangement innovations that made the track so special. (All from the perspective of a drummer who can't play guitar!)

Enjoy!

John Howie, Jr is a fantastic singer/songwriter from Wake County, NC, now living in The Triangle, and writing incredibly stark, gorgeous, sad songs that tell the truth about love and loss. I interviewed him via phone from his home and we talked about his childhood, the death of his father, the loss of several love affairs, the resulting anxiety and sadness, and how all of these things have informed his work.

I really like John and I kind of secretly wish I'll get to play some music with him some time.

You can hear John Howie, Jr and The Rosewood Bluff here:

http://www.johnhowiejr.com/

Not Tonight can be heard here:

https://johnhowiejr.bandcamp.com/