Gaucho Amigos

Singer-songwriter F.J. McMahon joins the podcast to tell the story behind his 1969 folk-rock masterpiece Spirit of the Golden Juice, and shares how his experiences in Vietnam and living in San Francisco during the 60's informed the songs on the only album he's ever released. Also, F.J. discusses his love of Steely Dan and explains why they were his favorite band throughout the 1970's.

Writer Jack Hamilton (author of Just Around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination) joins the podcast to discuss Steely Dan's relationship to R&B and Motown, and how Donald and Walter's reclusiveness and decision to forgo touring helped create a cult following that endures today.

Kenny Vance (singer and founding member of Jay and the Americans) joins the podcast to tell the story of how he discovered two young songwriters named Fagen and Becker at the Brill Building in the late 1960's, and shares what it was like to tour, record, and collaborate with Donald and Walter in the "pre-Steely Dan" era.

Actor and comedian Rob Delaney (author of A Heart That Works) joins the podcast to talk about his newfound Steely Dan obsession, giving particular praise to their "rock band" era, and contrasting Donald's legacy with that of adjacent NYC-area rock legends Bruce Springsteen and Lou Reed.

Samuel Purdey co-leader/songwriter and Steely Dan aficionado Barney Hurley joins the podcast to tell the origin story behind his incredible collection of Dan-related archival photographs and memorabilia. He also recalls his reaction to Two Against Nature's Grammy victory, and shares some of his impressions of life in New York City as a British Dan fan.

Guitarist and friend Tim Good joins the podcast to discuss the various styles of Steely Dan's many guitarists, from founding members Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter to session specialists Elliott Randall and Larry Carlton. Tim also explains why a one-off Steely Dan collaborator is his single favorite guitarist of all-time..

Fievel is Glauque songwriter and co-leader Zach Phillips joins the podcast in-person to discuss his creative process and recording ethos, contrasting his own approach to making music to Becker and Fagen's. We also talk about Walter's solo album 11 Tracks of Whack and share some thoughts on the new "Second Arrangement." Produced with additional commentary by Winston Cook-Wilson.

Cimcie Nichols joins the podcast to discuss her late father Roger Nichols' life, legacy and work as Steely Dan's recording engineer. She also talks about her experience around discovering lost Gaucho track "The Second Arrangement," and shares some never-before-heard clips of Steely Dan recording stories from her father's vault.

Office Culture frontman, music critic, and friend Winston Cook-Wilson joins for the first in-person episode of Gaucho Amigos. We trace some of the roots of our joint interest in Steely Dan, and Winston shares everything from his particular appreciation for The Royal Scam (for which he wrote the Pitchfork review) to the connection between Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell's mid-70's period.

The man behind the "I.G.Y. Azalea" twitter account (@haitiandvorce) joins the podcast to share his thoughts on the online "Danaissance" phenomenon and his role in the Steely Dan twitter community, and talks about why the pandemic era renewed his love of the band and its rich, "meme-able" lore.