Inside MusiCast

Tony Levin’s love of the bass guitar began when he was just ten years old, when his focus was classical music and performing on a double bass - and he never looked back.  His classical training transitioned to rock and jazz, and his reputation as an A-list session bassist filtered throughout the music industry.  Of course, one of Tony’s primary gigs has been holding down the bass chair for Peter Gabriel since the late ‘70s, performing on nearly all of Peter’s recordings and tours.  However, his resume is extensive, having performed with John Lennon, Stevie Nicks, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Buddy Rich, David Bowie, and many other icons in the music industry, along with being a member of Stick Men and Liquid Tension Experiment.  Tony has a brand new album set to release on September 13 titled "Bringing it Down to the Bass". He's currently rehearsing for the upcoming BEAT tour: A supergroup that also includes Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, and Tool drummer Danny Carey, who will perform music from the three King Crimson albums that were released in the '80s.  Here to talk to us about these new projects and his extensive career is none other than Tony Levin.

Madeleine Peyroux’s musical journey has been an adventure; a pilgrimage that has spanned to both coasts in the States, to the streets of Paris and other European cities, and back to the States where she currently resides in New York City.  Along the way, music has always been right by her side as a travel companion, with her sound and lyrics shaped by the places she visited, and the people and musicians she met.  One particular musician she sought after was  guitarist Jon Herington.  When she first heard Jon play, she developed a deep appreciation for his style and set out to collaborate with him.  A decade and a half later, they’re still working together, and for the first time have collaborated on writing Madeleine’s latest album “Let’s Walk.”

On this episode of Inside MusiCast, we’re joined by three amazing musicians whose pedigrees in the music industry speak for themselves.  Former Inside MusiCast guests, Gregg Bissonette and Andy Timmons, along with Matt Bissonette are here to discuss The Reddcoats, a band that was formed in 2019 and also includes Wally Minko and Ron Pedley on keys, and Mike Medina on percussion.  The Reddcoats sound explores a lot of musical territory, with a mix of power pop, jazz, rock, and even a little funk.  While the approach to their music is free-spirited, the performances are air tight, with a great blend of instrumental compositions, along with songs that deliver great vocals and vocal harmonies. The band recently released a brand new album titled The Reddcoats 2, and we’re honored to have Gregg, Matt and Andy here to chat about it.  Hey guys, welcome to Inside MusiCast.

You know his work with Steely Dan, the incredible guitar solo on Fame, along with session work with The Doobie Brothers, Carly Simon, The Blues Brothers, Carl Wilson, Peter Wolf, Peter Frampton, and many others.  However, there's so much more to Elliott Randall's career, from his early gigs in Greenwich Village, to joining Seatrain, forming his band Randall’s Island, to jingle writing, and so much more.  On this episode of Inside MusiCast, we’ll explore the diverse musical path of guitarist Elliott Randall, who joins us from his home in the UK. 

On our 300th episode of Inside MusiCast, we’re pleased to welcome Pages and Mr. Mister founding member, Steve George. For those of you who have followed Steve's career in music, you'll understand the uniqueness of this interview. We're beyond honored to have the opportunity to chat with Steve about his career as a studio musician, having worked with Al Jarreau, Cher, Amy Grant, Barry Manilow, Kenny Loggins, Toto, Marc Jordan, Richard Marx, Peter Allen, and many others. Of course, his collaborations with Richard Page in Pages, Mr. Mister, and Richard’s solo projects are legendary amongst fans of West Coast AOR.  There’s so much to talk about, and we’re excited to welcome Steve George to Inside MusiCast. 

On our 299th episode of Inside MusiCast, we welcome a prominent member of The Immediate Family, Steve Postell.  Steve grew-up in New York City and studied classical guitar, which afforded him the opportunity to take on a variety of musical experiences from performing on Broadway, to writing jingles for advertising, scores for film and documentaries, played in bands and hired as a studio musician, produced, arranged, written songs…he’s done it all.  Now, he’s a member of The Immediate Family, with legendary bandmates Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, and Elliot Easton.  The band has been on tour and recently released their new album “Skin In The Game”.  Inside MusiCast is pleased to welcome Steve Postell.

On this special edition of Inside MusiCast, we’re celebrating Mardi Gras by taking you to New Orleans for a chat with the city's Cultural Ambassador, John Papa Gros. John is here to talk about this unique, American tradition, including its roots, music, atmosphere, and of course the amazing food! We'll also discuss his own music career and how it was shaped by the culture and traditions of the Crescent City.  Inside MusiCast is pleased to welcome John “Papa” Gros. 

On this episode of Inside MusiCast we’re taking you to Stockholm, Sweden for a chat with drummer Jonathan Lundberg.  We met Jonathan in 2020 at the Pages tribute concert at the Stockholm club Fasching, and while we already knew about his incredible talent, seeing him perform live was an eye (and ear) opening experience.  His new album "Fragments" was released a few months ago and it enlists some of the best musicians in Scandinavia, including Erik Linder, Henrik Linder, Kristian Kraftling, Carl Mörner Ringström, Oskar Nilsson, Sara Nordenberg and many others.  He also reaches out to his friend, and past IMC guest, David Garfield who performed on two of the tracks.  "Fragments" is a genre-bending project that explores a variety of musical territory, and we're pleased to welcome Jonathan Lundberg to Inside MusiCast to talk more about this incredible new album.

Huey Lewis and the News rose to monumental stardom in 1984 with their album "Sports", but this was not an overnight success, as some would believe.  On this episode of Inside MusiCast, Huey Lewis is here to share stories about his path through the music business - a journey that took him from New York, to the Bay area, to Europe, North Africa, and back to the States.  We’ll also discuss Ménière's disease, a condition he was diagnosed with in 2018 that put a halt to his music career, but not his creative spirit, as Huey is using his talents to produce “The Heart Of Rock and Roll”, a new Broadway musical comedy that’s set to open in April in New York City.  To kick off 2024, Inside MusiCast is pleased to welcome none other than Huey Lewis.

Lukather.  The name has been synonymous with incredible musicianship for nearly five decades, and the legacy continues with Trev Lukather.  Similar to his father, the guitarist, producer, songwriter, and band leader has been carving a path through the music industry, but doing so in his own, unique way.  Trev’s current focus is The Effect, a band project that recently formed and includes another legacy musician, drummer Nic Collins, the son of legendary Genesis band member, Phil Collins.  Steve Maggiora, who also tours with Toto, provides keyboards and backing vocals, with incredible lead vocals from Emmett Stang.  So far, The Effect has only released two songs from their forthcoming album, but if “Unwanted” and “Something Wrong” are an indication of what we’ll hear on the rest of the album, there’s no question that we’re about to experience a fantastic rock album. Here to discuss The Effect is Trev Lukather.