Badass Records

It's kinda wild for me to think about the fact that -- two years ago -- I was publishing Episode #40 (w/Tomaski), and here we are...turning the final-chapter pages of 2024. I think that they call it, "Q2" in the corporate world, but it's the final period of our calendar year, here in Humansville.

And what a fun ride it's been.

David Kaufman joined me for Episode #140, and he did not disappoint.

David's over on the 'Gram with the @davesthename handle. He's a camera operator and an editor. There's a great piece about him over on boldjourney.com, if you wanna check that out, and -- perhaps of greater importance...his stuff's also at theoutriders.com.

David and I talked about family, education, careers, music, and a ton more, but we also had a brief look at a few of his favorite albums, which were these:

How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2001), The Bouncing Souls

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' By the Way (2002)

Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City (2012), Kendrick Lamar

Pleased, then, to be consuming the content.

You guys are great.

Cheers.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from the Peggy Gou single, "Nab," which was released in 2021 c/o Gudu Records.

Very pleased to share that Bob Walkenhorst joined me for Episode No. 139, and it was a privilege to get to know him a little bit.

I really enjoyed gaining a little bit of insight into Bob's perspective of the live-music scene in 1980s Kansas City as he and The Rainmakers really found their writing and gigging groove.

As a 71-years-young rock star, Bob's still gigging twice a month at Mike Kelly's Westsider, and you can glean more details about those shows if you give his Facebook page a follow.

His Web site, bobwalkenhorst.com is absolutely full of treats, including 12 LPs, unique prints, a book, and the means for you to hire him to do music for your private events.

Bob and I of course chatted up a few of his favorite records, and those were these:

Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends (1968)

A Tramp Shining (1968), Richard Harris

Joni Mitchell's Blue (1971)

Warren Zevon's self-titled album (1976)

Early Days (1994), The Watersons

Find all of Bob's music on Apple or Spotify and don't forget to check out his book, Whirlybird Day, whilst perusing his Web site.

Thank you for your support of the progrum.

Note: I flubbed an author/title situation during my conversation with Bob: Stephen King's book is called On Writing Well; Writing Down the Bones is by Natalie Goldberg.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a tune called, "Pick Me Up," by The Deadbeats from their 1999 album, Lounging, c/o Space Hopper.

Forrest Saucier joined me for Episode No. 138, and it was an absolute treat to get to know him a little bit.

Forrest is a son, a sibling, a partner, a man of numerous hats, and he's an important figure over at Tyler's House, which is a youth-oriented, non-profit organization over on the Kansas side that -- for my money -- is an amazing concept that needs more eyeballs on it and more of the community's dollars in its bank account.

In the world of interviewing, it's always refreshing to have a quick, sharp, eloquent guest on the other side of the table from me, as I tend to offer plenty of "Um"s and "you know"s and generally fumble for the words I seek, so thank you to Forrest for being who he is and what he is.

I enjoyed learning a little bit about his journey, and -- as per youzsh -- we managed to have a quick look at a few of Forrest's favorite albums over the years. Those were these:

Morning View (2001), Incubus

Motion City Soundtrack's Commit This to Memory (2005)

Camp (2011), Childish Gambino

Watsky's x Infinity (2016)

You can follow Forrest on Facebook and Instagram, and you can find most of the Tyler's House deets at either their Web site, on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. They've got a great program going over there, and they could use some funds and some grassroots word spread, in case you happen to be a person that can help in either (or both) of those directions.

Many thanks to Mr. Saucier for the time and the flexibility and the conversation. And many thanks to all of you whom support the show.

Note: Snorg Tees, not College Humor

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio clips contained within this episode. They are snippets from a track called, "I Like It," by The Brand New Heavies. I lifted it from their 1997 release, Shelter, c/o The Bicycle Music Company.

Hooray for Episode No. 137 being out and available to all of you fine listeners and viewers!

I'm stoked to share that Carley Martin Verbeck and I were able to sit down together and chat about all things Carley and her band, Scotch Hollow. Her husband Mark and I perused portions of his journey that led to the two of them meeting/ultimately forming the band back in Episode No. 116, so to have the other half of the duo join me was a blast.

Carley -- beyond being a wife and Scotch Hollow's frontwoman -- is also a daughter and a sister and a mom. We talked about growing up, family, education, careers, gigging, recording, ebbing and flowing with Scotch Hollow's pulse, and plenty more. We also had a peek at a few of Carley's favorite albums over the years, and those were these:

Lullabies of Birdland (1955), Ella Fitzgerald

Big Mama Thornton's In Europe (1966)

Wide Open Spaces (1998), Dixie Chicks

Clutch's The Elephant Riders (1998)

Please join us and please check out Scotch Hollow over on their Web site, or on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Apple Music, and/or Spotify.

Thank you to both of the Verbecks, and thank you for your support of both the podcast as well as local music, however it is that you choose to express said supports.

Cheers.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a single by Parcels called, "Tideuprightnow," which they released in 2018 c/o Because.

I have the utmost gratitude for Bill Brownlee gracing me with an appearance for Episode No. 136.

Bill is so many things, and I confidently say that barely knowing him.

What he is above all -- at least at this moment -- is generous for taking time out of his life to come sit with a perfect stranger, and I couldn't be happier about the conversation that resulted from his decision to do so.

Bill and I talked about his careers in the record-label industry and as a writer for The Kansas City Star. We discussed his fine, fine work over at Plastic Sax as well as There Stands the Glass, both of which I encourage you to make regular visits to, as the writings are keen and important to the Kansas City music scene. We also talked about a few of Bill's favorite records, which were these:

Stevie Wonder's Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974)

Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978), Bruce Springsteen

Alison Krauss' Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995)

The College Dropout (2004), Kanye West

Moor Mother's Jazz Codes (2022)

Bill's a great Instagram follow if your feed's missing a little something, but beyond you checking out his written work on the aforementioned Web sites, I'm excited for folks to dig in to this conversation. It was a great one.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a tune called, "Hale to the Man," by Brian Hyland. I lifted it from his 1977 release, In a State of Bayou, c/o Private Stock Records Ltd.

DJ Prodigy is a son, a brother, a partner, a father, and he's armed with an artillery of skills that would impress most any artist. He's also my guest for Episode No. 135.

Prodigy splits his time between Kansas City and Arizona, and while in town, he squeezed a chat with me in in between a handful of gigs. For that I am grateful.

We talked about growing up, finding one's way, producing, making records, dancing, beatboxing, and a bunch more. We also talked about a few of his favorite records, which were these:

Parliament's Mothership Connection (1975)

Strikes Again (1978), Rose Royce

Zapp & Roger's Zapp (1980)

Dangerous (1991), Micheal Jackson

Many thanks to Prodigy for stopping by and chewing the industry fat with me. You can (and should) follow him on Instagram. His Facebook stuff and his SoundCloud stuff is under Prodigy Productions. So check him out and make sure to see him live whenever you get the chance. No tellin' which of his many toys he may bust out.

Thanks, as always, to those that support the show. Much appreciated.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a tune by Stavros called, "Should've Brought an Umbrella" from the 2015 EP, Silent Spring, c/o Moodfamily.

Marty Wall is a son, a sibling, a husband, a long-time former Kansas City-radio D.J., and a voice-over artist. He fronts three different live-music acts, has some rich K.C. knowledge, and he's my guest for Episode No. 134.

Marty and I talked about music collections, radio formats and programming, gigging, family, and more. We also had a peek at two of his favorite albums, which were these:

Elton John's Honky Chateau (1972)

Spilt Milk (1993), Jellyfish

It was a great joy to meet Marty and learn a little bit about him. I continue to have tremendous gratitude for the folks that say "yes" to joining me for some conversation. I spent some time listening to Marty on the Kansas City airwaves as a younger person, and I dug hearing about both his educational and professional trajectories. Many thanks, Mr. Wall.

You can poke around at Marty's professional digs (and/or hire him) here, and you can keep tabs on at least two of his current live-music situations here and here.

Cheers, y'all.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio clips contained within this episode. They are snippets from a single called, "Handbrake," that an outfit called Micatone put out in 2012, c/o Sonar Kollektiv.

James Harmon is a son, a partner, a father, and a good-vibes kind of human being. He co-owns and co-operates Jammin' Nuggets Music with his lady friend, and you can find their spot at 115 S. Ohio in Sedalia, MO.

James and I talked family, growing up, passion projects becoming real-life projects, record-store shopping, making connections through music, and more. We also talked a little bit about a few of James' favorite albums, which were these:

Kind of Blue (1959), Miles Davis

Kiss' Animalize (1984)

Prison Bound (1988), Social Distortion

I'm grateful for James taking some time away from the store to come and shoot the breeze with me on a Saturday. It was a pleasure to meet him, learn a little bit about him, and learn about what getting a brick-and-mortar record store open in the fuzz of pandemic was like.

You can follow Jammin' Nuggets Music on Facebook and Instagram, and if you have any questions for them you can give them a shout at 660-951-1070.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a tune called, "LoCKeDoWN2" by Meute (MOY-tuh), an 11-piece, techno marching band out of Hamburg, whom have been a super-fun discovery for me this year. They've got four records out, including Empor from this year, and they are a really rad YouTube rabbit hole, if you're so incline. This tune, though, comes from Empor, and that record exists c/o TUMULT serviced by NEUBAU Music.

Josh King is a sibling, a husband, a father, and an insanely intelligent human being. He mans the six-string, the vocals, and the mixing for the band, Low Forest, and he's my guest for Episode No. 132.

Josh and I talked growing up and education, Missouri-style. We touched on Low Forest's fascinating collection of releases on Bandcamp, where to follow them (Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, and we had a peek at a few of Josh's favorite albums, which were these:

Hum's You'd Prefer an Astronaut (1995)

Fantastic Planet (1996), Failure

Portishead's Roseland NYC Live (1998)

Small Explosions That Are Yours to Keep (2005), Mitchell Akiyama

Elder's Reflections of a Floating World (2017)

The fact that Josh has a super-sharp mind, a warm-and-open heart, and might very well be a vessel for delivering space rock to Kansas City may or may not be related to the fact that he is a pretty soft-spoken fellow. One would think that I'd be able to recognize that early enough in the conversation to adjust the levels at this point, but...it's not easy being the 2024 version of Al Franken's Mobile One-Man Uplink Unit. So, apologies if he's tough to hear at times.

It was a true pleasure meeting Josh, and knowing that his presence is out there adds to my occasionally stout belief that there's good in the world moving things in the right direction.

Thanks for tuning in.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are cuts from a tune called, "Witchoo," by Durand Jones & The Indications. I lifted it from their 2021 release, Private Space, which exists for us c/o Dead Oceans.

L. Ron Drunkard, bassist for Red Kate, joined me for Episode No. 131, and it was a hoot.

We talked about band life, making records, supporting local music, news, politics, the awesomeness of Bob Mould, the lameness of touring acts frequently skipping Kansas City, and a ton more.

We also talked a bit about a few of Mr. Drunkard's favorite albums. Those were these:

Devo's Are We Not Men (1978)

Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978), The Clash

AC/DC's Highway to Hell (1979)

Throb Throb (1984), Naked Raygun

Hüsker Dü's Candy Apple Gray (1986)

Wrong (1989), NoMeansNo

You can follow Red Kate on Instagram and/or Facebook, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Spotify. For sure check out black-site.org for a look at the really cool record-label cooperative they've created. And you certainly wanna give Exit Strategy, their 2023 release, a listen.

I'm grateful for the time and energy L. Ron brought to the table. He knows how to make good conversations great ones.

Note: I mistakenly called Frank Zappa's narrator character on Joe's Garage, L. Ron Hoover, which I'm embarrassed to admit. He's obviously The Central Scrutinizer and makes reference to someone spending too much time at The First Church of Appliantology with L. Ron Hoover. Sheesh, Rook'.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this clip. They are cuts from a single called, "Always Remember Us This Way," by Linear Phase. They released this number in 2021, c/o revised.studio.