Rock 'n' Roll Grad School

The music of Van Dyke Parks has always taken you on a journey, replete with exquisite sounds and thoughtful concepts. 

His most recent collaboration is no different- he never met Veronica Valerio, but the resulting album is no less compelling. We talked with Van Dyke about the new album, finger foods in Berlin, the Twentieth Century Fox theme music and the various books of the bible in this wide-ranging conversation. "Only In America," Van Dyke Parks orchestrates Veronica Valerio is available everywhere on June 11th.

We're giving away a copy of the EP... Listen to the very end of the show to learn how to enter!

This week, we switch it up, and move over to jazz and standards with Aubrey Logan. Aubrey is a trombone player and singer, who just released her new album of standards, titled, Standard. We talked with Aubrey about her musical education and the joys of jazz.

For more information, check out Aubrey's website.

This week we sat down with musician and songwriter Roger Starr and drummer D'Mar. Roger has written with music greats like John Ellison and D'Mar spent over a decade playing with Little Richard.

We talked about their new single "Bridges of Faith (One World" and their personal history with soul music. 

Alan Hewitt is a fascinating musician with a fascinating career.

He started out co-producing with Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire and in 1990 had a hit record when he co-wrote and played on Warrant's Cherry Pie. These days, Alan writes scores for TV and film. He also tours with The Moody Blues, where he's been involved with them since 2010. He also has his own band, Alan Hewitt & One Nation, who have released two singles in the past year and are gearing up for a new album.

For more information on Alan, check out his website.

You may not know the name, but you will definitely know the voice.

Dolette McDonald has toured the world, singing on stage and on record with musicians like Talking Heads, The Police, Don Henley, the Rolling Stones, Sting and Juan Gabriel.

Her role as a back up singer gave her an interesting look at the behind the scenes of a large-scale tour as she continued to grow and learn about herself and her music. Dolette was great fun to talk with.

For more information, check out her website.

This week we talked with the legendary Steve Cropper.

"Hey, hold on a minute Slappy(s)," we hear you say. "'Legendary' is strong words." You're right, it is. But when you're talking about someone who co-wrote "Green Onions," and "Soul Man" and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay," forgive us for throwing around the 'L' word.

Steve has a new record out called "Fire It Up," and  it does what he has done his entire career; it rocks. We talked with Steve about the new album, but we also talked about what it was like at Stax Records (!) during their heyday. We also talked about his friend (!!) Otis Redding.

What else can we tell you? Steve was great fun and very kind (it's that southern gentleman thing) AND told us what a bush hog is. What more do you want to know?

Just listen to the thing.

You may know Greg Gilmore from his work in the influential band Mother Love Bone. But, before he joined them, he played in a punk band called The Living with a young bassist & songwriter named Duff McKagan. (Recognize that name?) They were considered an incredibly influential Seattle punk band. Now, one or two years or so after they broke up, the studio recording by this early group is being released.The Living 1982, is a record of several young artists finding their voice before the rest of us got the chance to listen in.

Suzi Quatro is a rock legend and an inspiration to musicians everywhere. We talked with Suzi in the spring of 2019, about her then new documentary, Suzy Q. She also just released her most recent album.

On top of that, we also talked about a rejection letter to the members of Roxy Music, which led us down a rabbit hole, learning about the music of James Last. It's something to behold.

If you're looking for an American band, you can do no wrong in pulling up Grand Funk Railroad. Mark Farner was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the band, and he's still out there, writing new music and touring with his new group, Mark Farner's American Band. He has a new live DVD, Live From Chile, With Love.

To order a copy of the DVD (and it'll be signed by Mark!) and for more information, check out Mark's website.

You may not know the name, but you know the voice.

Martha Wash has played a key role in the evolution of dance music over the decades. From her work with Sylvester, to the Weather Girls' classic, 'It's Raining Men,' to her work with C&C Music Factory, Martha has her fingerprints over popular music.

We talked with Martha about her past work, and her current endeavors, including a new album and, hopefully, a tour!