Rock 'n' Roll Grad School

Steve Garvey has had an amazing career. Starting with playing bass for Buzzcocks, Steve toured the world with the band. When they split, he touring with Nico, formed his own band and then even got to see the appreciation for what Buzzcocks wrought when the band reunited in the 1990s.

Lizard Music was an early band for it's four members. However, in the ensuing years, they've gone off and had musical success on their own. The pandemic reunited the group, who started sending around tapes and here we have the first new Lizard Music in almost 25 years. (Mikael is a member of Wilco and Eirk is a member of Cat Power.) We talked with Mikael Jorgenson and Chris Apple.

We talk mix tapes, music, and collaboration. Arizone! is available now in digital and CD and comes out on vinyl on December 10th. For more information, check out their website.

Maybe you're stuck in traffic this Thanksgiving weekend, wishing you were on a boat. What better time to enjoy this bonus episode, our conversation with Yachtley Crew. We talked with Tommy and Baba Bouy, two of the members of this highly successful yacht-rock cover band.

For more information and tour dates, check out their website or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Sheri Miller is a singer/songwriter whose voice is filled with emotion and expression. We talked with Sheri about her writing and recording of new new EP, which included the collaboration with some big names... it just shows the quality of Sheri's work.

For more information, you can check out her website, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Blues Traveler playing the blues... It makes all the sense in the world. So why did they wait until their 14th studio album to record it? We sat down with guitarist Chan Kinchla to talk about recording their new album, touring in a Covid-world and how you needed to have hits in the 90s if you want an ego wall filled with platinum albums.

Traveler's Blues is out now. And if you download the digital version, you can get an extra track. For more information, check out the band's website, as well their pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Avi Wisnia's new album is a long time in coming and the timing is perfect. His ode to loss and sadness seems perfect for this time of year as well as something we can, unfortunately, all relate to. We talked with Avi about the new songs, his favorite fall records and what his childhood xylophone is doing on the album.

For more information, you can check out his website, or follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If JD Wilkes didn't exist, you'd believe someone like William Faulkner invented him. JD has been bringing his melange of southern folk, country, rock, gospel and sea shanties to audiences around the world. On his new album, which reunites him with the Legendary Shack Shakers, (and friend Jello Biafra) Cockadoodledeux is a damn good time, which is exactly how we'd describe JD himself.

Cockadoodledeux is available November 5th on Alternative Tentacles Records.

For more information, check out the Shack Shakers' website, and you can find JD on Facebook and Instagram.

Josh Freese is, hands down, a drumming great. From his work with Guns n Roses, to Nine Inch Nails, to the Offspring, to his continued work with DEVO, Josh has remained busy. And, apparently, a little downtime during the pandemic was just too much, so Josh wrote and recorded two new albums of music. And each song on these albums is only one minute long. Just A Minute Vol. 1 is available this Friday, October 29th. For more information, follow Josh on Instagram, or follow Loosegroove Records on Facebook.

You probably best know Warren Ellis from his violin playing with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, or with The Dirty 3. Well, now Warren has a great new book out about a piece of gum chewed by Nina Simone before a performance.

It's the journey of this gum that is a tour through creativity, inspiration and the magic of performers and of items and how touching something so simple can really be.

You can order Nina Simone's Gum by Warren Ellis wherever you get your books. For more information on his current tour with Nick Cave and his upcoming tour with the Bad Seeds, check out the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds website. You can learn more about Warren's work to rescue animals and about Ellis Park from their website. And you can follow Warren on Twitter.

It's hard to classify Marvin Brooks' music. And that's a good thing.

With elements of R&B, reggae, and even high-life from Ghana, Marvin is a world musician with a fascinating view of it all. His new album, I'll Be Fine is available now from Position Music. You can follow Marvin on Twitter or Instagram.

Meanwhile, someone's kids need an excuse note to go see Kiss.