Bands To Fans

“Sometimes the moment that you think is the worst moment, the worst thing to happen, turns out to be, in hindsight, something that was necessary, maybe even profoundly a gift.”

I spoke with Jim “Soni” Sonefeld of Hootie and The Blowfish. We discussed:

• His autobiography, “Swimming With the Blowfish: Hootie, Healing, And One Hell Of A Ride”.
• Overcoming his addictions.
• Writing about his tumultuous times in a way that did not let himself off the hook, but also did not harm his bandmates, friends, or family.
• The thrill and the pressure that comes with releasing one of the best selling debut albums of all time.
• Hearing the crowd at one of Darius Rucker’s solo concerts sing along to “Hold My Hand,” which Soni wrote.

I interviewed Chris Berardo. We discussed:
- His new album, Wilder All The Time
- Sequencing the song order so it mimics a live show
- "You are cheating yourself if you don't recognize the joy when it happens."
- Writing songs on the piano that are then played on guitar
- And more

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I spoke with Logan Tabor of alltheprettythings. We discussed:

• Their album Prose
• His hodgepodge methodology for collecting potential lyrics
• Creating a song like "New Teeth," heavy rock that you can dance to
• His pre-tour vocal workouts
• The different extremes within the song "Carousel"
• From the song “Teenage Lines” the lyric “How you were reaching for the stars again / and only pulling down the empty things that were sitting in between”
• And more

I interviewed Kyle Pfeiffer of Blacklite District. We discussed:
- Their album You Can Do Better
- How they have adapted their tours to make things easier for their fans
- How getting sober has influenced his music and his lyric writing
- Being influenced by Black Sabbath but sounding very different from them
- And more

Blacklite District website: https://blacklitedistrict.net/

I spoke with Kesly Karter. We discussed:

• The new album by Kelsy Karter and The Heroines, Love Made Me Do It.
• How the opening track, which sets the tone for the whole album, almost wasn't on the album at all.
• Being influenced by Quentin Tarantino.
• "I was in a Metaphorical mosh pit fighting for my place as a woman in rock music."
• The first instrument this rocker learned to play was the flute.
• And more.

I interviewed rock singer / violinist Ginny Luke. We discussed:
- Her new album, Devil At My Heels
- Approaching the violin as another voice
- "I like being a bad bitch on stage."
- Covering Deep Purple's "Burn" with guitarist Nili Brosh
- And more

I interviewed new artist Slaw. We discussed:
- His debut album "Here I Come"
- The art of telling full stories in songs
- How he was influenced by everything from Motown to Bluegrass
- Learning to release your soul into your music
- And more

What Kim Wilson of clients The Fabulous Thunderbirds said about Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top joining the Tbirds on their new song “Payback Time”.

Part 2 of my interview with Matt Scannell of Vertical Horizon. You can find Part 1 at blog.bandstofans.net

Highlights from this conversation: - "There was a way that (Seinfeld) described the art of stand-up comedy that... I felt there were through lines to what we do." - "The tone that we want to set when we start a show is that we're in this together." - "The feeling I get when I walk on stage with Richard (Marx) is what I would imagine the other players on the Chicago Bulls felt like when they walked on the court with Michael Jordan." - We delve into the his lyric "Listen and wait for the echoes of angels that won't return". - "Go listen to 'Subdivisions' from the Signals record (Rush)… and maybe (first) read the lyrics. It's astoundingly great."

Join us for an in-depth interview with Lawrence Gowan of Styx as he shares insights on the band's iconic live performances, the story behind his spinning keyboard mishap, the creative process of song vignettes on albums like 'Crash of the Crown,' advice for his brother upon joining the band, and much more.