Badass Records

Jackie Myers!

Very excited to have met this lovely lady who's a highly educated human being, a professional pianist, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a dog lover, and a fantastic conversationalist.

Mrs. Myers stopped by for Episode No. 120, and we talked family, the road, recording, writing, experimenting, gigging, and more.

We also talked a little bit about a few of Jackie's favorite albums, and those were these:

Ella & Louis (1956), Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

Miles Davis' Four & More (1966)

Tapestry (1971), Carole King

Joni Mitchell's Mingus (1979)

Skol (1979), Oscar Peterson & Stéphane Grappelli

Steve Lehman Octet's Travail, Transformation, & Flow (2009)

Give Jackie Myers Music a follow on Facebook and/or Instagram. You can find her stuff on Bandcamp or where you stream/download your music, and her Web site is jackiemyersmusic.com.

You can catch her live this evening (or Saturday) at Chaz on the Plaza, and be sure to keep your ears peeled for an upcoming studio release. I know it's going to be an exciting listen.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a Phish tune called, "Magilla," which can be found on the badass record, A Picture of Nectar (1992), c/o Elektra Entertainment.

Damon Arredondo is a son, a brother, a father, an entrepreneur, a dreamer, a brewer, and -- based on the four hours I spent with him in my basement studio -- an amazing human being. He's the owner and founder of Rizoma Liquid Creations, and he's my guest for Episode No. 119.

Damon and I talked about growing up, family, heritage and culture, parenthood, collaborations, mental health, and beer, to just mention a few topics.

We also talked about a few of Damon's favorite records, which were these:

Sunrise over the Sea (2004), The John Butler Trio

Balmorhea's Stranger (2012)

Pedestrian Verse (2013), Frightened Rabbit

Dirty Heads' Sound of Change (2014)

Origin (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2023), Kris Bowers*

Rizoma continues to search for a location to call home here in Kansas City, and -- while that search continues -- Damon has been selected to participate in the Crafted for Action Conference in Atlanta next month. And if I may speak on behalf of Damon, he needs your contribution to see this important step in the process through. If you trust me when I say that Damon is good people, or if you enjoyed our conversation here on the podcast, or if you're just a kind/giving person at your core, please take a moment to learn a little bit more about this portion of Damon's journey to seeing his dream through. You can do so here.

It was a privilege to meet Damon and an honor to share some time with him. I appreciate you being here and supporting the podcast, and if you are able to support Damon, well I appreciate you for that, too. Thank you.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are samples from a tune called, "Bassackwards" by Kurt Vile. The track is from his 2018 release, Bottle It In (c/o Matador Records), and I'm not going to tell you that the album is a badass record, but I will tell you that Mr. Vile is a lifetime member on the Board of Badassery. So take those tidbits and decide for yourself.

*Damon loves the Stan Walker tune, "I AM" from this soundtrack, not necessarily the entire collection. I chose to list the soundtrack as part of his list just because I'm a dork like that and couldn't have a lone track listed all by its lonesome.

Kathryn Hunter is a daughter, a sibling, a wife, and the proprietor of both Voodoo Hippie Girl's Free Spirited Threads and Wasted Land Apparel. She's a dye artist/designer, a brilliant mind, a lover of books and music, and she's my guest for Episode No. 118.

Meeting Kathryn was a treat and sitting down with her to talk family, upbringing, and her passions was both enlightening and entertaining. And it wouldn't be an installment of Badass Records if we didn't examine a few of her favorite records.

Those were these:

Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light (2012), Woods of Ypres

Mr. Blotto's Thread (2013)

Blue Mountain (2016), Bob Weir

Starset's Divisions (2019)

Please consider giving Kathryn a follow on Instagram for one or both of her outfits, and definitely consider giving that Bob Weir record a spin if you aren't already familiar with it. Thank you to Kathryn and thank you to all who support the show.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a tune called, "Reba," which I lifted from the 1990 Phish album, Lawn Boy (c/o of Phish Inc.). It's historically been something of a polarizing track, but one detail remains undebatable, and that is this: Phish is the greatest rock band in American music history, and this release -- their sophomore effort -- is, without question, a badass record.

Mark Verbeck is a son, a brother, a husband, and a father. He's also a classically trained musician. He's one-half of Scotch Hollow, and he's my guest for Episode No. 117.

Mark and I talked about that band life, how music's taken him from central PA to Nashville to Chicago, and finally to KC. We talked about gigging, recording, and how parenthood challenges each of those things.

We also talked a little bit about a few of Mark's favorite records.

Those were these:

Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961)

Doc Watson* (1964)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) Far Beyond Driven (1994), Pantera

Check out Scotch Hollow on bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Apple Music, and at scotchhollowmusic.com. Many thanks to Mark for his time, and to you for pausing your day to check out our conversation.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a track called, "Up & Out," by the amazing Slide Five. The tune comes from their 1996 release, Rhode Trip, c/o Ubiquity Recordings, Inc.

*It's important to me to own gaffes, and I gaffed the eff outta talking Doc Watson by saying multiple times that this was the first episode of Badass Records to have a Doc Watson record appear on it. It wasn't; Brooke Kafka had one on her list just a handful of episodes ago. My apologies to both Brooke and to the late Mr. Watson. I musta been running on fumes.

Chris Kinsley joined me for Episode #116, and our coming together for this conversation resulted via collaboration with Chris's band, Arson Class, Sid Sowder's toomuchrock.com, and myself.

Sid's Too Much Rock project has a number of intriguing aspects to it, i.e. concert reviews, stills, and footage. It also has a weekly podcast that is rapidly approaching the 700-episode mark. More pertinent to today, however, is the revitalization of his Too Much Rock Single Series, which -- with the release of Arson Class's new single, "Junior" -- celebrates its 11th installment.

Tomorrow, then, Friday, May 3rd, Chris and Arson Class will be celebrating "Junior"'s release with a live set at Sister Anne's Records & Coffee, at 901 E. 31st Street, here in Kansas City.

"Junior" will be available for purchase at area record stores, via a few online retailers, as well as directly from the band. It is only available as a limited-edition 7" vinyl pressing, and features an Arson Class cover of John Cougar's "American Dream" as its B-side.

Chris sat down with me to discuss family, band life, serving in the military, and -- of course -- a few of his favorite records.

Those were these:

Horse Bites Dog Cries (1986), D.I.

The Cramps' Flamejob (1994)

Do or Die (1998), Dropkick Murphys

Arson Class has an EP, an LP, and a pair of singles you can purchase or access from their bandcamp page. You can also find their stuff where you stream your music. You can give them a follow on Facebook or Instagram, or catch them live on either May 18th at Centennial Skate Park in Lawrence, KS, June 1st at miniBar in Kansas City, or on July 20th at Scene of the Crash in Sioux City, Nebraska.

Too Much Rock can be followed on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Bluesky, and you can tune in to my conversation with Sid in Episode #105 of Badass Records.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are portions of a track called, "Your Friendly Neighborhood Sugar Man" by The Sugarman 3. The tune comes from their 2012 release, What the World Needs Now, c/o Daptone Records.

When Tisha Cash told me she was on board to do an installment of Becoming a Swifty, I thought, Well, how cool is that?!

This is the third episode of this series and I've now done talks with someone from my personal life, a complete stranger, and now -- thanks to Tisha -- someone from the professional world.

And what a fun chat it was.

Tisha and I go back roughly a decade ago to the time when I was about to become a parent for the second time, but we hadn't seen each other for a good little bit, so it was great to catch up with her and find out what's been happening in her world.

We talked about a number of things and eventually made our way to talking the one and only, Taylor Swift. And while we recorded this before Miss Swift's new record dropped, we were able to talk not only about the anticipation of said drop, but also what Tisha's favorite T-Swift albums are. Those were these:

Red (2012)

1989 (2014)

Folklore (2020)

Evermore (2020)

So, many thanks to Tisha for making the trek down to the studio and doing an episode with me. Many thanks to the Swifties that have checked out the previous installments of the series (Episode #95, featuring Sophia Reade and Episode #98, featuring Christie Smerchek).

If you'd like to share a little bit about your journey to Swiftydom, drop me a line at badassrecordspodcast over on the Gmails. We'll see if we can't get you in the chair.

Cheers.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a tune called, "Time to Move On," by the late, great Tom Petty. The track comes from his 1994 release, Wildflowers, which is an all-time, undisputed record of badassery. It exists c/o 1994 Warner Records Inc.

David Regnier was kind enough to share a portion of his Saturday with me, and together we recorded Episode #114, in which we talked a little bit about life, a little bit about doin' that live-music thang, and a little bit about a few of David's favorite records.

Those were these:

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol II (1971)

Exile on Main Street (1972), The Rolling Stones

Ozzy Osbourne's Diary of a Madman (1981)

EP 7 (1988), Fugazi

Lhasa de Sela's La Llorona (1997)

It was great getting to meet David and learn about his previous projects, i.e. Dead Voices (searchable on bandcamp), and know that he may have upcoming gigs with either one musician, a handful of musicians, or with David Regnier's Optimist Club.

Thank you for checking out the show.

copyright disclaimer: In the interim between recording and release of this episode, the greatest band in American rock history quietly dropped a new single as part of a forthcoming July 12 album release. Phish's "Evolve" is that single, and it is the title track of said forthcoming album, which will be their 16th. The samples contained, then, within this episode are from that tune, and I do not own the rights to it. It appears c/o 2024 Phish Inc.

I'm very pleased to welcome Sammy Sanchez back to the program for a record-setting fourth appearance on the Badass Records podcast. And none of our chats have been brief ones.

Sammy initially came around for Episode No. 44, in which we discussed a few of his favorite records: Pink Floyd's Animals (1977), Rain Dogs (1985) by Tom Waits, and LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening (2010).

For his second appearance, we tackled the Tom Waits discography, and that was super-fun and very educational. On his last go-round, we unearthed all of the Beck albums, and I think we're both glad we did that.

This time, though, Sammy took the suggestion lead, and we decided we'd examine the studio albums by one of his all-time-favorite bands, Radiohead. If you're keeping score at home, those'er these:

Pablo Honey (1993)

The Bends (1995)

OK Computer (1997)

Kid A (2000)

Amnesiac (2001)

Hail to the Thief (2003)

In Rainbows (2007)

The King of Limbs (2011)

A Moon-Shaped Pool (2016)

Sammy's one of the most intelligent guys I've ever met, and this rich conversation we had was full of gems, i.e. the reminder (for me) that he longs to one day be a contestant on Jeopardy!.

In the meantime, he's continuing to launch a new career, set aside a little nest egg, prepare for some quasi-upcoming travels, and possibly start a podcast of his own.

Anyway, thanks to Sammy for his time and energy. And thanks to you for checking out the show.

p.s. I meant Yo, Flaco, not Yo la Tengo.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained in this episode. They are clips from a Gramatik track called, "Bright Day," which can be found on their 2009 release, Sb2 (c/o P&C 2014 Lowtemp).

Zach Bauman joins me for Episode No. 112 of Badass Records, and we discussed a number of things in the world of photography.

Please check out his Web site here, and consider giving him a follow on Instagram and/or Twitter.

It was a pleasure meeting Zach and getting to learn a little bit about him, and -- while we were at it -- we talked about a few of Zach's favorite albums. They were these:

The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

The Rolling Stones's Sticky Fingers (1971)

Siamese Dream (1993), Smashing Pumpkins

The Strokes's Is This It (2001)

Whether you're a return visitor or a first-timer to the program, thank you for checking it out.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained in this episode. They are clips from a track called, "Bertha Butt Boogie," by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. This tune appears on their 1974 release, Butt of Course...(c/o Atlantic Recording Corp., marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company

Pleased to've met Brooke Kakfa as we sat down for Episode No. 111.

Brooke is a daughter, a sibling, a friend to many, a lifelong musician, and a member of many bands. Find either her personal or her professional page on Facebook, give her a follow on Instagram, and be sure to check out her primary outfit's Web page, which -- if you happen to be reading this on the day it drops -- includes a Dames of the Dead show tonight at Mike Kelly's Westsider, here in Kansas City, from 7:00-10:00 p.m., CDT.

Not to worry, though, if you catch this late; the Dames have a number of gigs listed through early June, the most recently announced being a spot at the one and only Boulevardia on Friday, 6/14, so hats off to them for that.

Brooke and I talked a little bit about growing up, family life, education, working in the hospitality industry, and the juggling of roles in the numerous musical outfits in which she either leads or participates.

We also talked about a few of her favorite albums (or in some cases, tunes from them) over the years. Those were these:

Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan's Two of a Mind (1962)

The Electrifying Eddie Harris (1968), Eddie Harris

Les McCann and Eddie Harris' Swiss Movement (1969)

Europe '72 (1972), Grateful Dead

Doc Watson, The Essential Doc Watson (1973)

Mingus (1979), Joni Mitchell

Mingus Big Band's Nostalgia in Times Square (1993)

Under the Table and Dreaming (1994), Dave Matthews Band

Michael Brecker's Two Blocks from the Edge (1998)

Wake Up to Find Out: Live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, 3/29/90, (2014), Grateful Dead

So, please check out all things Brooke Kafka online, and make sure to catch one of her live gigs. She is successfully managing a very full plate, and her projects are worth a peek. Thanks, Brooke, for your generous time and energy. The podcast has been made richer by way of your appearance.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a Daft Punk track called, "Something About Us," which can be found on their 2001 release, Discovery (c/o Warner Music France/ADA France, 2001, Daft Life Ltd.).