Performance Anxiety

My guest today is just fun to talk with. It’s Jeff Fielder. I first heard Jeff when researching for Mark Lanegan’s episode. He’s worked with so many people and made so much great music that it’s almost unbelievable. But he started off admiring rock before playing any. He grew up in Alaska with much older brothers. Long haired, Les Paul playing, Barracuda driving brothers. So Jeff got into music early. In fact, he started gigging before middle school in a 17 piece jazz band led by his future middle school music teacher and at one point, probably took one guitar lesson from the devil. His family moved to Seattle in the heyday of grunge. He played in a few bands that should have gone farther than they did.

He started hanging out with Dave Abruzzesse and getting into session work. But after a while he put down music completely and became a craft bartender. But working with one artist brought him back. That’s when things started to snowball and they haven’t stopped. He’s played with Mark Lanegan, Amy Ray, Indigo Girls, Satchel, and Painted Shield. And despite his best efforts to the contrary, has made beautiful music with his wife, Tekla Waterfield. Most recently, he’s recorded a wild cover of Megadeth’s Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying with some amazing musicians, including mutual friend, Mike Squires for Couch Riffs. Keep an eye out for Jeff on the road with Duff McKagan and Indigo Girls. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram @jefffieldermusic. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on Instagram & X. Reach out and let us know who you want to hear from. Support us with coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety or merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Now check out the wild story of Jeff Fielder by Jeff Fielder on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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Today’s guest makes me feel grateful in many different ways. One person I’m grateful to is Ryan Smith for introducing me to Mark Mallman. Mark’s story is incredible. But the recurring theme is victory. He’s overcome so much throughout his life and it all boils down to his mother’s message: It’s going to be OK. He grew up with music all around. It was there from his earliest memories. He began studying piano at age three with his mother. But his childhood wasn’t easy. He grew up in, as he calls it, “a house of depression”. His mother was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. But he found positivity through the darkness with music and his mother’s message, which has become his own. He has done it all, musically speaking: band projects, solo albums, video game music, incidental music for General Hospital (which has a universe that is more complex than Star Wars), and music marathons. But these marathons are INTENSE. The last one in 2012 was 8 days and 150 hours of non-stop playing.

When Mark lost his mother, he himself fell into a depression. To break out of it, he created The Happiness Playlist. He talks about what it is and how it’s grown. He recently release a single, Seen My Own Ghost, and is poised to release another in a few weeks, called Cancer. He’s also working on a new album, a tour, and a new book. Follow him on TikTok, X, Instagram, and Facebook all as Mark Mallman. His videos are great and you learn something! You can follow us @PerformanceAnx on X and Instagram. Reach out and let us know what you’d like to see next!You can pick up our merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. You can also send us a coffee through ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Now check out Mark Mallman on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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Today’s guest is truly multi-talented. Welcome modern renaissance man Eerie Von to the podcast. Eerie talks about his varied creative talents. Whether it’s drums, bass, singing, photography, painting, or whatever he sets his mind to, Eerie is a force to be reckoned with. He’s also one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever had on the show. He’s an open book about his time in Samhain and Danzig. He talks about how those bands formed and why he ended up leaving Danzig after the fourth album.He talks about Rick Rubin and the influence he had on Danzig’s image as well as their sound.

But we go all the way back to the beginning, when he was photographing The Misfits and playing in Rosemary’s Babies. His images with The Misfits have become iconic. They even became part of his book, Misery Obscura. Eerie also talks openly about the music he’s made after leaving Danzig. There’s an album that’s a horror soundtrack without the movie. There’s his more punk influenced album. Then there’s his country album. He also talks about the album that bridged the gap there that was unfortunately lost when his hard drive crashed!

His latest album, Not 4 Nuthin’ is out. But don’t try to stream it. It’s only available from Eerie and only as a CD. So reach out to him at [email protected] to get your copy. Follow him @eerievon777 on Instagram or look him up on Facebook. Follow us @PerformanceAnx. Grab merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Or send coffee money at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. And I hope you enjoy my conversation with Eerie Von on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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Today’s guests make me rethink the saying “Don’t meet your idols”. I’m joined by Tom Flynn and Mia Dean of Antler Family. Tom’s extensive musical career features bands like Fang and Cornelius Asperger and the Bi-Curious Unicorns. Mia is operatically trained and spent time studying opera in Austria and Italy. She was a huge fan of Tom’s music and jumped at the opportunity to play with one of her idols. But before all that, Tom reveals an early love of hard rock and prog before starting Fang, his roles with The Melvins, and selling his leftover shirts to a band with the same name. 

Mia tells how she decided to sing opera at the age of eighteen, how she started a punk rock venue/opera house, and meeting her husband/bandmate, Tom Dean.

Antler Family’s debut album came out early this year after a five year delay. It’s like if Crazy Horse played punk rock. There are so many surprises in there! Tom and Mia reveal a few alternate band names and I reveal the Youtube typo that COMPLETELY changes the meaning of one of their songs. Pick up the album wherever you get music, except Amazon. Maybe try Bandcamp or midheaven.com if you like vinyl. Follow their socials @antler_family. Follow the show @PerformanceAnx. Slide us a coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Buy merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. And check out Mia Dean and Tom Flynn of Antler Family on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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Today’s guest reminds me that sometimes, I need to shift my focus. Welcome the multitalented Harry Ostrem to the podcast. I met Harry through a project I started two years ago. But I’ll explain that in a minute. Harry is a bassist, actor, singer, songwriter, comedian, writer, and more. The guy is crazy talented. He grew up about as far away from showbusiness as possible, in a small town of 20 in rural Montana. Yes, I know, that’s redundant. But it’s true. In 5th grade, he was the person in the 5th grade.

But he escaped the wilds of Montana for the bright lights of…Spokane, Washington and Gonzaga University. 

He didn’t go directly into the entertainment industry from college. Instead he was a social worker. This is where things change. Literally. Somehow, my phone connected to the bluetooth in my car and Harry had a nice conversation with my son instead of me. But once we recover, we get into Harry Muff’s Disco, how he almost got divorced collecting props for a music video for one of his songs, and his connection to my project. You’ll learn more about it in the episode, but it’s a Spinal Tap tribute album for The Who’s Teen Cancer America charity. I’ll be releasing more info about it as we inch closer to the release of the Spinal Tap Sequel and the album release.

In the meantime, go to harryostrem.com or Harry Muff’s Disco on Youtube to check out HArry’s music/comedy. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on social media. Support us at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety and performanceanx.threadless.com. And keep watching our accounts and Teen Cancer America for updates on the Spinal Tap Tribute album project. Now enjoy Harry Ostrem on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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Today’s guest reminds me why I do this podcast. It’s Lance Whalen and we met because all he did was make a nice comment about one of my episodes. That’s it. I thought “Hey, let me check out this guy’s music” and I suggested we record an episode. Lance’s story gets very difficult at times. And he hits me with some straight up sorrow out of the blue. But everything he’s had to endure has gone into some tremendous music. It’s also gone into some music that he’s trying to erase from the internet. 

But not everything is sad. In fact, Lance has a great DIY outlook on just about everything! He has recorded upwards of 40 songs using the podcast studio at his local library. That’s brilliant! He also tells me how he had to search to find his own voice, writing and performing. Then Lance turns the tables on me and starts asking some questions about the podcast and photography. 

Recently Lance has changed his philosophy on music; how and when it should be released. He definitely recognizes the shifts in the business and is quickly adapting. That’s part of the beauty of being independent. 

Check out Lance’s music on YouTube and streaming platforms. He may start putting stuff out on Bandcamp. You just never know. Give him a follow @lancewhalen on Instagram. Go to lancewhalen.com for more links, including his Patreon page. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on socials. Our merch is located at performanceanx.threadless.com. Our fuel is coffee, which you can provide at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Now here’s Lance Whalen on Performance Anxiety, part of the Pantheon Podcast Network. Check it out.

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Today’s guest reminds me that not everyone is born at the right time. My guest is singer/songwriter Stephen Bluhm. To say he is an old soul is an understatement of the highest degree. I mean, the man put a heckelphone on his latest album. Don’t know what that is? Stephen does! And he explains it on the podcast. His latest release, Out Of The Nowhere. Into The Here, throws it WAAAAAY back. It’s a brave album in so many ways and once you give it a shot, you’ll know exactly what I mean. But this album was started several years ago. In fact, he began writing this and his debut album at the same time. But Out Of The Nowhere took awhile to come out. You can probably guess why. 

Stephen is influenced by luminaries like Stephen Sondheim and Nick Cave. And they both find a comfortable place in Stephen’s music. And he said he has no plans of writing the same album twice. If you listen to his first two releases, you can tell he means it. But enough bumpin gums! Go grab Out Of The Nowhere. Into The Here wherever you guys and dolls listen on the virtual ether. Pick it up on Bandcamp or check out stephenbluhm.fun! It won’t be a trip for biscuits! And you can be aces by ponying up some shekels for a cuppa giddyup at ko.fi.com/performanceanxiety. You can also get yer boots on and check out threadless.com/performanceanx for some zooted out threads. And don’t forget to follow us @PerformanceAnx on the socials. Enough frisking the whiskers, check out this real clambake with Stephen Bluhm on Performance Anxiety. Part of the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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Today’s guest reminds me to take my time. Please give a Performance Anxiety welcome to singer/songwriter, Lynn Drury. She has made New Orleans her home but she grew up in what sounds like every little girl’s dream, raising and training quarter horses for the rodeo circuit in Mississippi. And she always loved music but never actually considered pursuing it professionally. That is until she was walking around New Orleans and decided she didn’t want to sell computers anymore; she wanted to play guitar and sing! So that’s what she did!

She took lessons, played wherever she could; sometimes gigging until four in the morning and then getting up to be at work by eight. Lynn and I discover we have some things in common, like insurance. And she tells a story she’s never told before about the horrors of studying abroad. Nothing good comes from insurance sales. And she has spawned an idea I may have to implement from now on: a test for each guest at the end of each episode! That way each show will have a bit of actual performance anxiety to it!

Lynn has changed a few things over the years besides her profession. She’s changed her writing process, her location after Katrina (but that was temporary), and styles of music over the course of ten albums. Her latest is High Tide and is out through Nolamericana music. Go pick it up wherever you get music. Check out lynndrury.com. Also check out her socials @lynndruryrocks for up to date info. 

Our socials are @PerformanceAnx and we’d love for you to follow us. You can also slide us a cup of coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. You get wear us via merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Now check out Lynn Drury on Performance Anxiety, part of the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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Today’s guest makes me feel like royalty. It’s drummer Michael Bland and he has worked with some of the best in the business. But before that, he played in school and found out he had perfect pitch! Finding that out helped solidify his decision to be a musician. But his parents weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea and pushed him to have a backup plan. That is, until Prince called the house looking for Michael. This started a trend of Michael being offered jobs on stage in the middle of jams. Michael was the drummer for The New Power Generation during a time where Prince was reinventing himself. But Prince isn’t the only high profile artist Michael has worked with. There’s Paul Westerberg, Chaka Khan, Maxwell, Nick Jonas, & Soul Asylum. 

Michael relays some behind-the-scenes stories about Prince, Paisley Park, and The Paisley Park Power Trio, among other things. And that ties in to a new project he’s working on with long-time collaborator, Sonny Thompson called (Br)others. They have a single coming out and are playing a show with a lot of The New Power Generation. Check Michael out @michaelblandofficial & @brothersmusic2024 on Instagram. Check out Brothers Forlife on Facebook. And look for Soul Asylum on tour this summer with Our Lady Peace, Live, & Stone Temple Pilots. Look for us @PerformanceAnx on socials. Love us with the gift of coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Or buy something with our logo at performanceanx.threadless.com. I had a wonderful time with Michael Bland on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network. Check it out.

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Today’s guest makes me appreciate life a bit more. Welcome a woman who has lived the blues, Bex Marshall. She talks about how she always had this absolute need to learn how to play guitar and the huge impact karaoke had on starting her career. She was singing in a band called Blue Murder before she had to press pause on her music career and get a “real” job. But it wasn’t all that bad. She traveled the globe and it was on a flight home from Jakarta when it hit her that music was her calling.

She describes the great support she received from her family, including being given a Gibson Hummingbird guitar at age 11 that she still uses to this day and how street performers helped her raise her own bar. Since then, Bex has taken her time to grow and hone her craft. That not only includes loads of gigs and touring but also by starting a writer’s retreat that was inspired by her late husband, pirate DJ Barry Everett. She also talks about the history of The House of Mercy, a place of rest for traveling musicians. 

Bex’s latest release, Fortuna, began during COVID lockdowns, which turned out to be a tough time for her including the unexpected passing of her bass player. She’s persevered and released the album that includes some of her best work to date. Pick it up wherever you get music or through bexmarshall.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, Instagram, & TikTok. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on X & Instagram. You can help us out with a coffee donation at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety or by buying merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Here’s Bex Marshall on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.Check it out.

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