Milling About

Marty Balin: singer/songwriter, founding member of Jefferson Airplane and hit maker of Jefferson Starship joins host Robin Milling to share 50 years of musical memories with his new CD, Good Memories. Spanning five decades, whether you grew up in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s or 2000s you'll always remember such songs as It's No Secret, Count on Me, With Your Love, and Miracles; to name a few. Marty tells Robin how they came up with the name 'Jefferson Airplane,' along with his fond memories of Grace Slick, and not so fond memories of playing Woodstock! He says the behind-the-scenes goings on at the festival were much more memorable. When Marty isn't making music he is making art. His art gallery in St. Augustine, Florida features his paintings and lots of memorabilia for sale. As a follow up to Good Memories, Balin – who is known as “The King of Love Songs” – will release The Greatest Love; a new album of original music. For more information visit: http://martybalinmusic.com/

Steven Beer, author of Your Child's Career in Music and Entertainment joins host Robin Milling. If your child is contemplating a career in showbusiness; this is the book for you. A former artist manager and currently an entertainment attorney, Steven was inspired by his personal journey as a stage parent when his 13 year-old son got his first role. He tells Robin, 'I realized how a prudent parent needs to approach the business. When it happened to my son it made me take a step back because I realized if I had all these questions I could imagine what other parents with kids interested in pursuing a career in music and entertainment might have.' In the book Steven provides answers to the questions a prudent parent may have; as he says there is no real guide or structure available to teach them the best way to go. Steven has felt like a parent in many ways with his extensive experience mentoring and representing multi-platinum music artists, such as Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Jon Batiste and Stay Human; but nothing could prepare him for the hurdles his own child faced getting into the business. Of course he says with success comes a buffet of seductions so it's important for the parent and child to partner with each other and set boundaries. He talks about the challenges of maintaining objectivity when it comes to your own child's career and remaining vigilant every step of the way, along with keeping a sense of humor. He jokes, 'Justin Bieber's parents could probably write their own book from what they've learned! But You Tube has become the launching pad, the new audition room. And because it's so easy to get discovered it's really important for the parents to understand what goes along with that today.' For more information visit: www.stevenbeer.com

Broadway veteran and entertainer Tovah Feldshuh joins host Robin Milling to talk about her new one-woman show Aging Is Optional, inspired by her beloved mother Lillian after passing away at 'over 103.' She tells Robin, “In honor of that event I wrote the show because she was really a beacon of light and died well over a century old without dementia so it was just a miracle.” Her show deals with quantum time with what she calls the memory box. Tovah is happy to still be in the game of showbusiness where most women of a certain age are put to pasture. Her last role on Broadway was a trapeze swinging grandma in Pippin and she was ready for that! “I wasn't scared because I had a swing-set as a three year old child in Scarsdale in the backyard with two swings and a metal bar with two chains which was like a little trapeze and I would hang upside down!” She's kept her Pippin figure swimming a half mile every day, biking and hiking; most recently up Mt. Kilimanjaro! Sunday is a double-header for Tovah who not only performs at 54 Below, but continues her role as Deanna Monroe, the head of Alexandria, in the premiere episode of season six of AMC'sThe Walking Dead.

Patrick Wilson and Paul Wilson join host Robin Milling to talk about their film Big Stone Gap. It was a labor of love for the Wilson brothers who's family roots are steeped in the small Virginian town. As children they recall spending summers with their grandparents who lived in Big Stone Gap. They tell Robin it was bittersweet to return to the place of their fondest childhood memories to shoot the movie, even staying in the house where they summered. Patrick says, 'It's really been the most personal project I've ever been a part of.' Paul tells Robin the story of how the Wilson family has been immortalized in the town with 'Wilson Road,' and the 'Paul J. Wilson' bridge named for their grandfather. In fact their grandparents were friends with the parents of writer/director Adrianna Trigiani who waited until Patrick was old enough to play the part, to make the film of her book. Patrick and Paul's collaboration goes beyond movies, as they also have a band called The Wilson Van along with their brother Mark playing renditions of Van Halen songs. Big Stone Gap also stars Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg, Jane Krakowski, Jenna Elfman, and John Benjamin Hickey.

Grayson Hugh is Back To The Soul with a new album, returning to his blue-eyed southern soul sound, country and rock roots. Grayson tells host Robin Milling the inspiration for the album and stories behind such songs as the title cut, Rock 'n Roll Man, Getting On With My Life and Already In Love With You; a tribute to his marriage of seven years to wife and collaborator in life and music, Polly Messer. Grayson says the album is a return to his soul both musically and spiritually. He explains, 'A song like Thank You Lord; I'm very grateful to be alive, be sober 11 years and my gratitude also being happily married finally after many dysfunctional relationships I'm very grateful to my higher power.' For more information and to buy Back To The Soul visit: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/graysonhugh8 http://graysonhugh.net/

Host Robin Milling is joined by Valerie Smaldone to celebrate the unveiling of the Something Rotten portrait at Tony's di Napoli in New York City. The event, created by Tony's Bruce Dimpflmaier celebrates the best of Broadway with a one-of-a-kind portrait by artist Dan May. Stars Brian D'Arcy James, John Cariani, Christian Borle and Book, Music and lyricist Karey Kirkpatrick were on hand to unveil the portrait. Poster copies signed by the stars will be auctioned off at a future event to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Brooklyn is in the house as consummate entertainer Ben Vereen joins host Robin Milling to talk about his new film, Time Out of Mind, his upcoming stage show From Brooklyn to Broadway and much more. Ben tells Robin what it was like to portray a homeless man opposite Richard Gere, and how the film affected his personal relationship to homelessness. He also reveals plans for an upcoming stage show and his long overdue memoirs.

Writer/director horror master Wes Craven spoke with host Robin Milling for the film The Serpent and The Rainbow starring Bill Pullman. In this interview from 1988, Wes revealed to Robin his inspiration for Freddie Kruger, the star of Nightmare on Elm Street and how some of his films came straight out of his personal nightmares. He tells Robin about his own intrigue, fears and curiosities about death and the macabre, 'there's an age old fascination with death. It's one of those truly unsolved mysteries. Since it's something we're all moving towards and know in the back of our minds that we're going to face; I think that even at the level of a child you're fascinated by it and the ultimate finality of it. When you see a scary movie you're somehow relieved that you survived it. But ultimately it brings everybody down; even the most powerful and the weakest.' Surprisingly, Wes told Robin he would like to do a comedy, even a love story. No matter the genre, Wes will live on in the movies; always to be remembered for his uncanny abilities to frighten the old and the very young. ** This was recorded on cassette so please excuse the old-fashioned noise in the background.

Patrick Stewart stars as Walter Blunt in the Starz series Blunt Talk; a straight talking newsman who brings his English wit and wisdom to American broadcast news. This is not your Star Trek or Shakespeare Stewart. Blunt is much more politically incorrect; a bawdier, mischievous scalliwag who spoons his female manager, snorts cocaine, suckles prostitutes and makes no apologies for his behavior. And that's just the first four episodes! Patrick tells host Robin Milling the character is closer to him personally than any other in that he shared his deepest secrets with writer Jonathan Ames (HBO Bored To Death) which made their way fictiously into the series. He even named the character based on his pseudonym. Patrick talks about his first on-camera sex scene with Elisabeth Shue, guest stars from the Enterprise including Brent Spiner, and  throws down a rap about salmon, charmingly revealing there are many hidden talents we have yet to discover about him.

The Bacon Brothers,Kevin and Michael join host Robin Milling backstage at City Winery in New York City to talk about their new album 36 Cents. A blend of folk, rock, soul and country; this band of brothers debuted in 1995 and are still going strong 20 years later. Their songs have always had a sense of humor, but not always, such as Hookers & Blow which Kevin says has a much darker side. 'With the kind of straight ahead lives that both of us live; being married for a long time we lead pretty normal sort of lives. So when somebody said, 'well how was your weekend my joke is, oh you know it's just the usual, hookers and blow! It's kind of a walk in the shoes of this guy who is messed up.' Currently on tour, Kevin tells Robin they've played everywhere from The Roxy in Los Angeles to even a pork festival at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana. Michael says, 'I think we have a really hardcore group of fans that really appreciate the band's music.' The show featured a young musician from WHEELS (Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School) who jammed with The Bacon Brothers on stage using a donated guitar from WQXR's instrument drive. Kevin says, 'Alot of the schools and kids throughout the five boroughs in the New York City school system don't have access to instruments. And they don't get lessons. Music as you know is a really peaceful, healing, brain-making pleasure. We're trying to raise money now on six degrees.org to refurbish some of these instruments that they have.' For more information visit: http://baconbros.com/ http://www.sixdegrees.org/