All Your Days

'All Your Days' returns on September 6. Here's a bite of the apple, a sample of the ample, a bit of the wit that's on the way next week, as we get back into the mix and hear from our new season's guests, including Hamell on Trial, Michael McDermott, Andras Jones, and more.

Nine-six-twenty-two: Get yer pod!

It’s the season finale of ‘All Your Days,’ part two of my conversation with Dan Bern. We talk about the ways songs come into being, and sometimes try to slip away, the difference between the big ones and the topical singles, fatherhood, the pandemic, ‘Hunkered in the Bunker,’ and more.

Clips in this episode:

1. Dan Bern: Art On the Run - Joe's Pub, 2011
2. Dan Bern: I Get My Money From the NRA - 2022
3. Dan Bern: Quarantine Me - 2020
4. Dan Bern: Hunkered in the Bunker - Quarantine Me, 2020
5. Dan Bern: Regent Street - Regent Street, 2019
6. Dan Bern and Lulu Bern: Satie - 4 Feet Tall and Rising, 2021
7. Dan Bern: Simple - Smartie Mine, 1999

In the first part of a two-episode conversation with Dan Bern, we get into early days, the lure of the vanishing act and the power of vulnerability, about north stars and big moments, and what to do about following them — both the north stars and the big moments. I offer a (partial) biography of the artist. We talk about time. 

Clips in this episode:

1. Linda Wertheimer interview - NPR, 2001
2. Bob Dylan: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat - Blonde on Blonde, 1966
3. Dan Bern: Freight Train Blues - EricSchreiber.com, 1985
4. Dan Bern: Live Another Day - Dog Boy Van, 1997
5. Dan Bern: Jerusalem - Dan Bern, 1997
6. Dan Bern: One Dance - Fifty Eggs, 1998
7. Dan Bern: Fly Away - Fleeting Days, 2003
8. Dan Bern and Mike Viola: Beautiful Ride (Demo), 2007
9. Dan Bern: New American Language - The Bottom Line, 1998
10. Dan Bern: Rolling Away - The Bottom Line, 1999
11. The Who: Baba O'Riley - Who's Next, 1971
12. Dan Bern: Thanksgiving Day Parade - New American Language, 2001

Lauren Eileen has just published a vital and tender LGBTQIA+ inclusive book for kids, but I met her long before this milestone. Her journey into identity — navigating her college years not yet out of the closet, running away and becoming a club kid in Miami in the roaring ‘90s, life as a not-yet-out suburban wife and mother in the 2000s, and then fully owning her world at age 45 as an out-and-proud lesbian, mom, writer and advocate — is an inspiration. Those stories and more. So pleased and proud to shine a light on her spirit — this is 'All Your Days'.

Clips in this episode:

1. How To Make Friends (James O'Brien, 'All Your Days' - 2022)
2. Whirlpool (James O'Brien, 'Careful in the Future' - 2018)
3. After the Glitter Fades (James O'Brien, 'All Your Days' - 2022)

Take an epic and deep dive into a pair of albums Karaugh Brown created in the early 2000s, one produced by Bill Morrissey (the Grammy-nominated songwriter and genius) and one by Billy Conway (of Morphine, and Dana Colley of that band plays sax on the sessions). What happened then. What happened after. Big life talk.

Clips in this episode:

1. Gone (James O'Brien, 'All Your Days' - 2022)
2. Early to Bed (Morphine, 'Live at the Warfield 1997' - 2017)
3. Upon Leaving (Karaugh Brown, 'Dresses and Dirt' - 2000)
4. Twenty Third Street (Bill Morrissey, 'Something I Saw Or Thought I Saw' - 2001)
5. Contessina (Karaugh Brown, 'One Round Orange' - 2002)
6. Patriot (Karaugh Brown, 'One Round Orange' - 2002)
7. Flame and the Smoulder (Karaugh Brown, 'One Round Orange' - 2002)
8. Ottawa (Karaugh Brown, 'Favorite Daughter' - 2005)
9. Black Out City (Karaugh Brown, 'Favorite Daughter' - 2005)
10. Small Streets (Karaugh Brown, 'Favorite Daughter' - 2005)
11. Geneva (Karaugh Brown, 'Favorite Daughter' - 2005)
12. Depth Charges (Karaugh Brown, 'Favorite Daughter' - 2005)
13. Gone (Karaugh Brown, 'Gone' - 2022)

What if a psychic said you’d never make it in music? In this episode, Jim Infantino — songwriter, Jim’s Big Ego frontman, and novelist — tells us what happened next, along with stories from the early days and the road, the bubble-world of the creative mindset, a very special carriage house located in the Paris of the '90s, surprise studio visits from Aimee Mann, and how knowing your Friends from your 'Friends' can make all the difference.

Clips in this episode:

1. Slow (Jim's Big Ego, 'Noplace Like Nowhere' - 2000)
2. When You're Ready (David Wilcox, 'What You Whispered' - 2000)
3. Stress (Jim Infantino, 'Fast Folk Musical Magazine, Vol. 8' - 1996)
4. Boston Band (Jim's Big Ego, 'Noplace Like Nowhere' - 2000)
5. The Ballad of Barry Allen (Jim's Big Ego, 'They're Everywhere!' - 2003)
6. Cut Off Your Head (Jim's Big Ego, 'They're Everywhere!' - 2003)
7. Wash Hands (Jim Infantino, live, YouTube, 2020)
8. Los Angeles (Jim's Big Ego, 'Noplace Like Nowhere' - 2000)

Jordan Tishler was living a kind of double life, even as he produced my first two albums, ‘Life Underwater’ and ‘Church of the Kitchen Sink’ … truth is, he’s always been a doctor on top of being a music producer. Now, he’s a vibrant voice in the medical cannabis industry. We go deep on the music days (with shout-outs to Mission of Burma, The Neighborhoods, U2, Midnight Oil, The Motion Sick, Vishnu, Dan Bern, and more). We dive into twists of fate, vanishing acts, self-confidence and self-doubt, post-pandemic PTSD, the nature of prescribing THC for people, and how healthcare is working to work with marijuana in the new world. 

Clips in this episode:

1. Roadsong (James O'Brien, 'Life Underwater' - 2000)
2. Big Time at the Iron House (James O'Brien, 'Life Underwater' - 2000)
3. Transmission (James O'Brien, 'Life Underwater' - 2000)
4. Church of the Kitchen Sink (James O'Brien, 'Church of the Kitchen Sink' - 2003)
5. Islands and Phantoms (James O'Brien, 'Life Underwater' - 2000)
6. America, Part Two (James O'Brien, live, unreleased - 1999)

From stumping Cheap Trick to partying with Perry Farrell and gigging with Cherrie Curie of The Runaways, to landing a job with The Guess Who — to wedding bells, finally, at the end — this is the third episode of the three-parter with the first bassist in my first band ... it's the Michael Devin finale.

Clips in this episode:

1. No Time (The Guess Who, 'American Woman' - 1970)
2. Haunted (The Guess Who, 'The Future Is Not What It Used to Be' - 2018)

What if you got to live your teenage rock-and-roll dream? Michael Devin returns to take us into a life of unreal encounters and, well, incredible networking. The pod may never top these namedrops: the Manson ranch, Henry Rollins, Billy Idol, Slash, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Bonham, George Lynch, Mike Love, David Coverdale and more. It's part two of the Michael Devin conversation on 'All Your Days'.

Clips in this episode:

1. American Woman (The Guess Who, 1970)
2. When the Levee Breaks (Live: Zoe Bonham, Brian Tichy, Michael Devin, et.al., 2010)
3. Ramble On (Live: Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience, 2017)
4. Wicked Sensation (Live: Lynch Mob, 2010)
5. Bass solo (Live: Whitesnake, 2016)
6. Is This Love? (Live: Whitesnake, 2015)

A deep dive into adolescence interrupted. James talks with Michael Devin, one of his first musical collaborators, bassist for Whitesnake, The Guess Who, Jon Bonham's Led Zeppelin project (and more) about first bands and escaping from a very difficult situation that almost derailed everything that would follow.

Clips in this episode:

1. Immigrant Song (Live: Nicko McBrain, Michael Devin, et.al., 2013)
2. All the Time (From the Earth, 2018)