Crash and Ride

I interviewed the guy who started the Dudes Helping Dudes Facebook page! His name is Stephen Cramer and he's also the founder of Athens mental health festival Brain Aid! We talked about his struggle with depression, the effect his mother's mental illness had on him, and his multiple projects to try to break the stigma on mental health awareness!

You can check out the Dudes Helping Dudes Facebook Page here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/285985468085333/

You can check out Brain Aid here:

https://www.facebook.com/brainaidfest/

Athens Litter Rescue Challenge here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/811751805886646/

#eternitycanwait !!

Chad Cochran is a photographer from Cleveland, Ohio, who does amazingly intimate portraits of Americana artists. Chad has recently begun a series he calls "I Didn't Want to Tell You" where he asks artists whose photos he has taken how mental health has affected their lives, then shows the photos with the text attached. You can see some examples of this work in the Fall 2019 Wellness Issue of 'No Depression' magazine. I am releasing this episode in mid-week because it's Americana Fest in Nashville and he's there shooting more portraits for I Didn't Want to Tell You. You can catch up with him at Baby Robot Media booth at Americana Fest or check out his social media below!

For Episode 27 I spoke with Christian Lembach, singer and guitarist for the noise rock band Whores. We talked about the death of his father when he was still very young, the debilitating car crash he experienced a few years later, his addiction to IV drugs, and his eventual recovery.

You can hear Whores here:

https://whores.bandcamp.com/

Here is the Andrew WK advice column I referenced towards the end of the interview:

https://dangerousminds.net/comments/andrew_wk_on_the_power_of_dreams

Episode 26 is Part 2 of my interview with Sterling Roig. In this episode. we cover everything that happened to him after being let go from the James Hall Band, including living through 9/11 in NYC, briefly joining and then leaving the band Varispeed, having his first experiences with hospitalization, developing an emotional block against playing drums, and more. Sterling went though a lot, these last few years, and I'm really proud of this talk.

Way back last spring, I interviewed my old friend Sterling Roig in his apartment outside New York City. Sterling and I hadn't been in the same room together in over 20 years, but we were both soldiers in the post-Nirvana wars waged by capitalism vs. art. Sterling struggled with anxiety and sadness through those years, and we talk about that in pt. 1 of this two part interview. The reason I broke this one into two parts is because our original conversation ranged over four hours, and I had to chop it down to get it into reasonable chunks of conversation.

For Episode 24 I interviewed Lincoln Barr, a singer/songwriter originally from Mississippi, formerly from Seattle, now living in South Carolina. Lincoln's work is moody, meditative, and thoughtful. He's done soundtracks and albums of songs about his struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts stemming from the violence he experienced in childhood.

You can check out his album 'Cruel Dream: Music Inspired by the Film The Past is Never Dead' here:

https://lincolnbarr.bandcamp.com/album/cruel-dream-music-from-inspired-by-the-past-is-never-dead

You can hear his album 'Trembling Frames' here:

https://lincolnbarr.bandcamp.com/album/trembling-frames

I've attached a short story he wrote to this episode, AND we talked about his favorite guitar maker, Pin-Up guitars. You can check out their work here:

https://www.pinupcustomguitars.com/

For Episode 23, I interviewed Tim Midyett, bass player from the enormously influential band Silkworm, baritone guitar player for the band Bottomless Pit, and now front person for the band Mint Mile. Tim and I talked about the death of his best friend, Michael Dahlquist, drummer for Silkworm, and the death of his friend Jason Molina.

You can check out the documentary about Silkworm here:

http://buy.couldntyouwait.com/

You can hear Bottomless Pit here:

https://bottomlesspit.bandcamp.com/

You can hear Mint Mile here:

https://mintmile.bandcamp.com/

Here is the Pablo Neruda poem I referenced about the Very Sad Poets:

http://www.naseeb.com/journals/the-invisible-man-by-pablo-neruda-121949

In the intro I talk about the Upcoming Drummers Weekly Groovecast episode where Phil is going to rebroadcast our interview. You can hear that on the DWG page:

https://soundcloud.com/phil-smith-592966725

Bill Mallonee is an extraordinarily gifted singer/songwriter, originally from Athens, now living outside Taos, New Mexico. Bill and I have known each other for almost 30 years and have collaborated a few times, shared many stages, and gone through many of life's tribulations as friends and comrades.

I've always admired Bill's extraordinary talent and his commitment to being a man of faith, even while most of us in his circle of friends were staunchly agnostic. Bill's lyrics are fantastic, his commitment to telling the human story unwavering, and his work ethic is legendary. Check out his Bandcamp page. What is that, eighty albums? Astonishing. Instead of doing a mixed Spotify playlist of songs by different artists, this week is going to be a list of Bandcamp tracks that he selected from his own discography. Keep an eye out for that!

Here's Bill's Bandcamp page: https://billmalloneemusic.bandcamp.com/

Mike Dickinson is the head of Chicken Ranch Records, a label out of Austin, Texas. Chicken Ranch has been a going concern for the better part of two decades, and has artists such as Five Eight, Flat Duo Jets, Thee Idles, Starlings TN, Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5, and more.

Chicken Ranch Records can be found here:

http://chickenranchrecords.com

You can see video from the Chicken Ranch/Five Eight trip to India here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IMTSc6CGTo

Komorebi is here:

https://youtu.be/Aiu5GFiAkLU

The Go Fund Me for Pinky Doodle Poodle is here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-keep-pinky-doodle-poodle-in-america

I sat down with Buick Audra and Jerry Roe from Friendship Commanders in the sunny kitchen of their Nashville home. I first saw Friendship Commanders when our bands played together earlier this summer. I have been a devoted fan ever since. Both Buick and Jerry survived difficult, unusual childhoods and found each other as adults. Together they have created an artistic and romantic partnership of mutual trust and protection. We talked about surviving and thriving, recording with Steve Albini, the travails of touring, and life on the road as a couple.

You can hear Friendship Commanders and see a list of their tour dates here:

https://friendshipcommanders.bandcamp.com/

You can read the Elizabeth Bishop poem, 'One Art', which Buick referenced in the question about loss, here:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47536/one-art