Mitten Backstage

I'm joined today by Joshua Dreyer! He is a percussionist and drummer in Grand Rapids that has a variety of roles: instructor, the GM of the new School of Rock location in Grand Rapids, and a freelance performer with groups like the West Michigan New Music Collective and the Grand Rapids Symphony. We met years ago at GVSU and we're both alumni of the GVSU New Music Ensemble, which led to the creation of the WMNMC. If you enjoy reflective career talks and discussions around music education and percussion, this one is perfect for you!

I'm joined today by bassist Matt Ryan! We've known each other for years since sharing a cabin as Blue Lake Fine Arts campers, and it was great catching up with him since we last saw each other at NAMM 2020. We talk about his shows with Alex Isley, his new album, and what it feels like to go into a busy gigging season after the past two years!

We're back baby! After a trip that took up a large chunk of March rolling right into an important tribute show event, I'm joined today by drummer Joe Phillion! We chat about our lives as gigging musicians, and he goes into great detail about the years he spent touring with Ultraviolet Hippopotamus (UV Hippo). If you enjoy touring talk, great stories, and a burst of positive energy, this is for you!

Hello folks! Good to be back from my two month hiatus, and I'm feeling refreshed and ready for a great year of conversations! We've known each other for years and both attended Grand Valley State University for our music undergrads, even being members of the same piano studio for part of it!

I take some time to reflect on the first year of Mitten Backstage! So many great memories, conversations, and I learned a ton. I also announce my 2 months off of socials to kick off 2022, which also includes a break from publishing episodes of the podcast until March 2022.

Fresh off of her 3 month tour as a monitor engineer with Blue October, I catch up with my friend Emily Pearce! She talks about stories from the road, what it's like going on that long of a stretch of shows (and tips for your own longer tour stretch), and what we're looking forward to for 2022! This was a great episode, and it was fun to both catch up with her and see her Instagram updates from tour!

So glad that I got to chat with Kris Johnson this week for the podcast! Those of you who follow Michigan jazz scene know of Kris Johnson's passionate work as a trumpet player, educator, arranger, and creator of online coursework in everything from jazz vocabulary to audio/video recording through his Office Hours with Kris Johnson website! We chat about his time in the Count Basie Orchestra, how he wears and manages his many hats, and his recent position at the Community Music School in Detroit, an MSU initiative that focuses on music education for all ages!  

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Fresh off of his return to the stage opening for Desmond Jones at Elevation, Zack Volkers joins us today for the podcast! We chat about passion projects, our background and history with video games, and what we're looking to focus on in 2022! Keep an eye out for future shows with his project, Zack Volkers & Friends, alongside a soon-to-be-named new band!

Matthew Finch and I worked on a ton of projects together while we were at GVSU, from jazz combo to the composition studio to gigs in GR, and it was so great to catch up with him for the podcast! He now lives in Brooklyn, where he is merging his love of technology with his passion for ambient, spacious music. We chat about a ton of subjects from culture and politics to trends in music to the various mergers of art and technology. Time flew by in this episode!

After an insanely busy wedding gig season, culminating in me playing his wedding reception, I catch up with guitarist/singer Chris Cranick! We touch base and chat about our creative projects, including his recent new solo album (that I tracked keys on) and some updates around his band, Overdrive Orchestra.