Crash and Ride

Latest Episodes:

Crash and Ride - Episode 49: James Hall Jan 15, 2020

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For Episode 49 I spoke with James Hall! Legendary frontman for so many great bands: The James Hall Band, Mary My Hope, Pleasure Club, and more! James has long been a fixture on the Atlanta and New Orleans music scenes. We talked about being displaced by Hurricane Katrina, being signed by Geffen and being put through the wringer, being a rock and roll dad, and pushing through adversity no matter how dire or frustrating it gets! Here is the official James Hall website: https://jameshall.com/home Here's the Steady Wicked's bandcamp page: https://jameshallofficial.bandcamp.com/ Here is the Pleasure Club page: https://www.facebook.com/PClubMusic/

Crash and Ride - Episode 48: Quiet Whiskey by Wynonie Harris Jan 10, 2020

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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!

Crash and Ride - Episode 47: Matt Aaron Dec 30, 2019

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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/

Crash and Ride - Episode 46: The NOT Christmas Episode, 2019 Dec 22, 2019

Show notes

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.

Crash and Ride - Episode 45: Clampdown Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

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!

Crash and Ride - Episode 44: Leslie Sokal-Berg Dec 15, 2019

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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

Crash and Ride - Episode 43: Straight Down by The Glands Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

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"!

Crash and Ride - Episode 42: Timi Conley Dec 08, 2019

Show notes

This week's interview is with Timi Conley, guitarist and singer for the band Timi Conley and the Wonderland Rangers, formerly of Kite to the Moon, and Athens band The Fuzzy Sprouts. Timi is also the founder of the annual Athens Halloween Festival, the Wild Rumpus. Timi talks about his father's PTSD and Bi-Polar behavior, as well as the devastation he experienced at the death of his mother. And also, I get a little bent out of shape in the intro, and I'm not sorry. In the episode, Timi references the work of Gabor Maté, which you can learn more about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1bor_M%C3%A1t%C3%A9 We also discussed the book The Fantasy Bond, which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Bond-Structure-Psychological-Defenses/dp/0967668409 And we also discuss the anxiety beavers feel when they hear the sound of running water, which you can read more about here: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67662/sound-running-water-puts-beavers-mood-build

Crash and Ride - Episode 41: 'Born to Run' Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

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!

Crash and Ride - Episode 40: John Howie, Jr Dec 01, 2019

Show notes

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/

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