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Michigan born singer/songwriter May Erlewine has been putting out her own music for almost 20 years. She's also released music with the Sweet Water Warblers.

Her music has been covered by many artists, including Sawyer Fredericks, who performed her song, “Shine On,” on NBC’s The Voice.

Her brand new album, Tiny Beautiful Things, deals a lot with the connections between people - something sorely missing during the worldwide Pandemic. In her own words, she says “this album is an invitation to connect with the many ways that love appears in our lives."

We talk with Erlewine about the challenges of recording the album remotely. She also gives us the inspiration behind many of the songs on the new record.

Black Swan, a hard rock supergroup featuring Robin McAuley of MSG, Jeff Pilson of Dokken, Reb Beach of Winger and Matt Starr of Mr. Big. The band issued their debut album in 2020 called Shake the World, now they’re back with their sophomore release, Generation Mind, once again recorded at Pilson’s home studio in L.A.

McAuley talks about how Jeff Wayne's musical of War of the Worlds inspired one song, while Jack the Ripper inspired another.

Australia’s Hoodoo Gurus have spent the last 40 years blending Troggs’-inspired garage rock with Beatles’ soaked melodies done with a New York Dolls’ sneer. The band were darlings of college radio during the eighties, and even scored a #1 Modern Rock hit with “Come Anytime,” in 1989.

During the pandemic, the guys found themselves on a creative streak and the result is their 10th-long player, Chariot of the Gods, and it’s some of the best work they’ve ever done.

We chat with frontman Dave Faulkner about why the large gap between albums, how a drunken night inspired one of the new songs, and the difficulty scheduling a tour during the pandemic.

King, Sun, Motown & Stax - all independent record companies that helped shape the course of popular music. Another such label, 415 Records, emerged in the late Seventies out of San Francisco. Originally, the company just covered the burgeoning punk movement that was happening there, but eventually they expanded, releasing an album by psychedelic pioneer Roky Erickson, then landing videos on MTV with Romeo Void, Translator and the Red Rockers.

All of this is documented in Disturbing the Peace - 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave written by Bill Kopp from HoZac Books. Kopp is a lifelong collector, musician and journalist who’s first book was called Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to the Dark Side of the Moon.

We chat about how he tracked down almost 100 interviews for the book, how he obtained much of the photos, band posters, etc, that help flesh out the story, and the relationship 415 had with Columbia Records that had mixed results at best.

Matt North spent his 20's living and working in LA, writing screenplays, starring opposite James Woods in 2000’s Dirty Pictures, and was a guest on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He also became a in-demand session drummer, working with Maria McKee, Peter Case, Blondie Chaplin of the Beach Boys, and others. Eventually, North relocated to Nashville and began working on his own songs.

We first talked back in 2017 for his debut solo record, Above Ground Fools. Now comes Bullies in the Backyard, again recorded in his home studio with help from some of his Nashville friends.

The album was recorded during a seven-year court battle with his local school system in Nashville over the treatment of his son, who has special needs. North seems to get inspiration for his songs from just about anywhere - from hiding things on the “Top of the Fridge,” to lamenting the high cost of sporting events in “Burial Grounds.” He also tells us how the pandemic actually helped him record his new album.

Marshall Crenshaw’s 40 plus year career has included ten studio albums, a US top 40 hit in 1982 with “Someday, Someway,” some collaborations, and some movie appearances.

Crenshaw recently regained the rights to several albums he released originally on the Razor & Tie label. We talked to him in 2020 for the first in that series, Miracle of Science.

Now comes the reissue of #447. The eleven song album is arguably one of his most adventurous, and is augmented by two newly recorded tracks issued on his own Shiny Tone label.

He talks about his struggles with major labels and how being on a smaller one gave him the freedom to do the things he really wanted to do. He also gives us a preview of Deluxe Editions of his first two albums, coming later in the fall.

The Memphis duo of Loveland Duren is made up of singer/songwriter Vicki Loveland and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Van Duren. Both are veterans of the Memphis scene, with Loveland playing with the likes of Albert Collins and Isaac Hayes, while Duren played with Big Star alum Chris Bell & Jody Stephens before releasing solo material, and with his group, Good Question.

The pair teamed up for their debut, Bloody Cupid in 2013, followed by Next in 2016. Now, after literally traveling the world, then not being able to travel due to the pandemic, the pair is back with their most-focused album to date, Any Such Thing.

We chat with the duo about what is was like to visit Australia, while on a promo tour for Duren’s documentary, and how they managed to keep the album cohesive, despite having to record at several locations.

Orleans, formed in Woodstock, New York in the early Seventies, found success in the middle part of the decade with “Dance with Me” and “Still the One.” Founding member John Hall left in the late Seventies, scoring a Rock Radio hit with “Crazy (Keep on Falling)“ with his John Hall Band in 1981, while the rest of Orleans hit with “Love Takes Time” in 1979.

Hall became a US Representative for New York’s 19th Congressional District from 2007 to 2011. He documented all of this in Still the One: a Rock n’ Roll Journey to Congress and Back.

Now, Hall and his band mates in Orleans have put together their first-ever holiday album, called New Star Shining, which even features former lead vocalist Larry Hoppen on a couple of tracks.

We chat with John Hall about piecing the album together over email while COVID was raging, and the origins of the songs, some of which date back over 20 years. He also talks about the story behind "Half Moon," a song he and his ex-wife, Johanna wrote for Janis Joplin.

Sue Foley has been putting out music for the last 30 years, issuing a remarkable 16 albums in that time. She hails from Canada, but spent her formative years in Austin, soaking up the scene and playing with a host of legendary artists. She’s won a Juno Award, many Maple Blues Awards, and most recently, A Blues Music Award in 2020, garnering the Koko Taylor award in the Traditional Blues Female category. When the pandemic hit, she grabbed her musicians and hunkered down in a Texas recording studio. The result is Pinky’s Blues, named after her pink paisley Fender Telecaster, it’s some of the rawest, most immediate music she’s ever laid down. She’s also hitting the road to play the album for the people.

She talks about working again with her friend, Jimmie Vaughan, on her song "Hurricane Girl," plus recording several interesting music videos for the new record, and how she's put together some basic, "how to" guitar playing videos on YouTube.

Back in 2013, photographer Lisa S. Johnson released 108 Rock Star Guitars, and it was a unique book. She photographed some of the most hallowed guitars in history from the likes of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards. But, she went a step further, often zooming in on a worn fretboard, or flipping the guitar over to see sweat stains on the back of the body. By focusing on each guitar as a piece of art, it gave us a deeper appreciation for both the instrument, and the artist who played it.

Now, Johnson is back with another one, Immortal Axes, Guitars That Rock, and she’s captured some great ones, among them, the guitar Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock, Duane Allman’s Les Paul, Kurt Cobain’s smashed but repaired Strat, even John Lennon’s acoustic that he played during his “Bed In For Peace.” The 388, full color, hardback book is out from Princeton Architectural Press and would make a great gift for any guitar enthusiast.

We talked how Johnson tracked down many of these guitars, including one of her idols, Joan Jett. Plus, we talk Peter Frampton, who wrote the foreword, and Suzi Quatro, who penned the Afterword, and how the two are related.