Badass Records

Brandon and Jesse Rock were kind enough to trek down to K.C. from St. Joe so we could (of course) talk a little bit about some of their favorite records, but also so that we could cover what is currently their lives, Sk8bar.What is Sk8bar, you say?Well, I'm glad you asked.It's a skateboard shop, a bar, and a live music venue at 501 Francis Street in St. Joseph, Missouri.You can find their Facebook page here, their Instagram here, or you can give them a holler after 5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday at 816-609-0507.Please check them out, give them a follow, keep an eye on their live-show calendar, and put it on your own calendar to go see a gig at their joint.Here are Jesse's selections:Little Wheel Spin and Spin (1966), Buffy Saint-MarieTownes Van Zandt, self-titled (1969)The Day the Country Died (1983), SubhumansBabes in Toyland's Fontanelle (1992)And here are Brandon's:VI (1987), Circle JerksSub Society's No Legs to Stand On (1989)13 Songs (1989), FugaziType O Negative's Dead Again (2007)I really enjoyed meeting these two and talking music with them, but there are a few notes about this interview that seem pertinent enough to make.For starters, the sound on their end isn't amazing. My setup is geared for one-on-one interviews, so I had to figure out where to seat two guests, and keep my fingers crossed that their shared mic would be sufficient, which it darn near wasn't. So, I apologize if you have to strain to hear them. The second piece is that we kind of found a window in which to sit and chat late in the game, so my prep for the conversation was not up to par. And perhaps as a result of feeling frazzled about pulling things off, I fumbled during Jesse's list and essentially skipped over her Subhumans record almost entirely. My apologies to both Jesse and Subhumans for that.Nevertheless, a good conversation between a still-somewhat-novice podcast host and a pair of badass-but-soft-spoken business/life partners. What they're doing is rad and I'm grateful they stopped by.copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to either the promo or the intro/outro audio. They are from a track called, "Equinox" by Liquid Soul off of their self-titled 1996 debut (c/o Music from Mars), and from, "You're the Kind of Girl" by Lee Fields & The Expressions from 2012's Faithful Man (c/o Truth & Soul Records), respectively.

Hopefully this week's guest has already forgiven me for butchering both the pronunciation and spelling of his last name, even though I had them written in front of me.His name is Jason Buice and he's a son, a brother, a husband, a musician, a bandmate, and a heck of a nice guy.He was kind enough to drive in from LFK to record Episode #65 with me, and boy was our conversation a fascinating one.We of course talked about a few of Jason's favorite albums, and they are these:Thriller (1982), Michael JacksonU2's The Unforgettable Fire (1984)Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987), The CureNirvana's Nevermind (1991)OK Computer (1997), RadioheadBut we also talked a little bit about Jason's path down the river of musicianship. For starters, you can find his solo EP, Both Sides (2019) on his bandcamp, and he's got a couple of other projects there, too. And we talked about his current project, Chowk, whom you can follow on Instagram, and I encourage you to do so as they have plans to record an album here in the coming weeks. Finally, if you're catching this is some form of real time, you can catch Chowk performing live on the radio on Sunday, May 14th on KKFI, 90.1 FM. They'll be on around 9:00 p.m. Central Standard as part of the Under the Radar program.Anyway, Jason's fantastic, and the vibe around Chowk feels like they're gonna be, too, so check him and them out, and don't forget to visit the Merch' store on the Web site. You should totally hook yourself up with a Fresh Socks t-shirt.Thanks for stopping by.copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the promo or the intro/outro audio. They are clips taken from The String Cheese Incident's "Bigger Isn't Better" off of 1997's Born on the Wrong Planet (c/o SCI Fidelity Records) and "Sundown" off of Gordon Lightfoot's (R.I.P. in Peace) 1974 record of the same name (c/o Reprise Records (marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company)), respectively.

Rob Davis is a son, a sibling, a father, a fiancé, a chef, a baseball aficionado, and a brethren in Phish of the truest kind. I was thrilled and honored that he carved out a slice of time for me so that we could sit down together and record Episode #63 of the podcast.We swapped stories of our partying days and our musical journeys that ultimately led to our discoveries of the greatest band in American rock history.The albums that Rob tabbed for his episode are as follows:Tea for the Tillerman (1970), Cat StevensGeorge Winston's December (1982)The Final Cut (1983), Pink FloydPhish's Junta (1989)One from the Vault (1991), Grateful DeadIf you're in the Kansas City area and have a hankering to sink your teeth into some of Rob's vittles, you can sample his wares at Marina 27 Steak & Seafood out at Lake Lotawana, and if you do, please consider treating him to a round of golf on one of his rare days off.And if you're scouring the Internet, please visit the Merch' store of the podcast's Web site and consider treating yourself to a hoodie or a sticker or -- my personal new favorite -- a custom t-shirt.Give our chat a listen if it sounds intriguing to you. And as always, thank you for stopping by.episode edit: It's not called "Strawberry Letters." Rather: "Strawberry Letter 23."copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio for the show's promo or the show's intro/outro. The former comes from the closing track to Benevento/Russo Duo's 2006 record entitled, Play Pause Stop (c/o Royal Potato Family); the track's name is "Memphis." The latter comes from "Golgi Apparatus" off of Phish's 1989 release, Junta (c/o Elektra Entertainment Company).