Deeper Digs

Deeper Digs returns after clearing out a week to release Episode 17 of sister show Rock N Roll Archaeology

This week Christian sits down with J. Marshall Craig, author of Megalife: The Autobiography of Nick Menza. The uncensored story of one of rock’s greatest drummers who died doing what he loved best.

With Nick Menza behind the kit, Megadeth transitioned from celebrated cult band to international superstars. Rust in Peace, the first album to feature Menza and Marty Friedman, was instantly considered a classic, sold over a million copies, got nominated for a Grammy Award, and established what many consider to be the definitive Megadeth lineup. It was the beginning of a remarkable run in which the band would release three career-defining albums and tour the world many times over.

Success was a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows: sobriety and addiction, peace and tension, laughter and anger. Until one day it all came crashing down. Despite his contributions to the band’s most iconic and enduring work, when Menza was forced to seek treatment for a debilitating tumor in his knee, he awoke from surgery to learn he was being fired from the band by the man he considered a brother and mentor, the ever-enigmatic Dave Mustaine. The devastating news sent him into a spiral of anger and frustration, followed by a dark period of self-medication that nearly killed him.

Megalife: The Autobiography of Nick Menza is an unflinching look at life inside of one of metal’s most successful bands, from the back of the stage to the bunks on the bus, as well as a blow-by-blow account of the tumultuous, complicated relationship between Menza and Mustaine. It is also the singular story of a self-taught musician who achieved his dreams through sheer will and determination, watched it all disintegrate, and then rebuilt himself from scratch.

J. Marshall Craig on Facebook 

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The Rock N Roll Archaeologist sits down with our first returning guest, Randy Bachman and documentary film director John Barnard to discuss the just released music bio-doc, “Bachman” from Filmrise .

In 1974, Bachman Turner Overdrive was one of the biggest bands in the world with classics like Takin’ Care of Business and You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet. This is the story of its founder Randy Bachman, from his early days of The Guess Who and hits like American Woman to today. As one of the few legendary artists to reach #1 in two separate bands, Bachman’s singularly focused goal of music has taken him from spectacular highs to crushing lows and back again, where today he reigns as one of the most prolific and legendary artists in the history of Canadian music. Featuring interviews with Bachman’s friends, family and fans including Neil Young, Alex Lifeson (Rush), Peter Frampton, Buffy Saint-Marie, Paul Shaffer and Chris Jericho. Written and directed by John Barnard (The Sheepdogs Have At It, Menorca) explores his life, from his childhood in Winnipeg, Canada to his conversion to Mormonism to his touring life today at age 75.

Now streaming on iTunes, Prime Video, Google Play and DVD.

https://www.facebook.com/BachmanFilm/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4v5EZA_ns

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The Rock N Roll Archaeologist sits down with the impishly sweet Maria Muldaur! With a new album of traditional blues and a recent Grammy nomination, Christian and the Greenwich Village born Ms. Muldaur discuss her upbringing, THAT song, her forty one solo albums to date and all the great musicians she has had the pleasure to work with in her career.

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The Rock N Roll Archaeologists gets into the wayback machine to talk about original folk artists The Weavers with Jesse Jarnow author of Wasn’t That A Time: The Weavers, The Blacklist and the Battle for the Soul of America.

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Time to stage dive when the Rock N Roll Archaeologist digs deep into guest Ian Winwood’s new book SMASH!: Green Day, The Offspring, Bad Religion, NOFX, and the '90s Punk Explosion. Two decades after the Sex Pistols and the Ramones birthed punk music into the world, their artistic heirs burst onto the scene and changed the genre forever.

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The Rock N Roll Archaeologist digs into the origins of 90’s alt-rock with seminal figure Tyson Meade. Often cited as The Godfather of Alternative Rock, Meade was the vocalist for Norman, OK based 90’s rock band Chainsaw Kittens, and before that with mid 80’s influential band Defenestration

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The Rock N Roll Archaeologists talks doowop with Al Contrera where they dissect his book, 'Hushabye: The Mystics, the Music and the Mob'. An original founding member of the Mystics, author Al Contrera tells the true story of how five Brooklyn teenagers went from singing on street corners to fame in the fifties with their first hit song, “Hushabye.” Contrera, provides vivid and detailed accounts of the trials and adventures of forming a rock-‘n’-roll group in a neighborhood controlled by the mob.

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You can tell a lot about people from the way they live, and rock stars are no exception. From Graceland to Neverland, private planes to island hideaways, Rock Stars at Home takes you inside the houses, pools, planes, music rooms, playgrounds, and more of the biggest names in rock and pop and some of the most extravagant home comforts ever known.

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This week the Rock n Roll Archaeologist sits down with music technologist to the stars, David Frangioni. Known to Steven Tyler of Aerosmith as Gyro Gear-Loose for his magical abilities in all things audio technology, David has worked with too many rockers to count. Along with the bad boys from Boston, he is also widely known for working on “The Osbournes” reality TV show.

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At the Aftermaster studios in Hollywood, The Rock N Roll Archaeologists sits down with ex-outlaw photographer, Julian David Stone.

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