Talkin‘ the Talk With Don

In my 12 years as a music writer, I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting and talking with someone of my musical heroes and in some rare cases becoming great friends with them.  Rock journalist Katherine Turman wrote for RIP Magazine when I was in high school and to now get to call her a friend and a mentor has been a life highlight for me. 

Katherine has had features in Rolling Stone, the LA Times, The Village Voice, Billboard, and Spin magazine just to name a few.  She is the co-author of the book Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal and has also been a featured expert in several of VH1’s “Behind the Music” episodes.

Katherine has just about seen it all from the heyday of the Sunset Strip 80's metal scene to the arrival of grunge and back around full circle to where we are now.  I hope you'll dig this one as it was a real treat to pick the brain of my good friend and journalist Katherine Turman. 

Dorian Sorriaux has been an artist that I have admired for quite some time.  Since his work in modern psychedelic soul icons Blues Pills, Dorian has been a favorite of mine and I loved hearing and watching his dynamic guitar presence.  In 2018, Dorian and Blues Pills parted ways which opened the door for him to pursue his true musical passion: folk music.  Dorian released his stellar and critically acclaimed debut folk EP, Hungry Ghost and in 2022 is planning on releasing his long awaited full-length follow-up.  

Dorian is always a great guy to chat with and this time around was no different as we bonded over our love of folk music and, well, folk music.  

Enjoy this one!

Rebecca Martin is an artist that I have been a fan of for nearly 30 years.  From her time in the cult NYC jazz rock band Once Blue to her 2022 release After Midnight (featuring Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos and husband/bassist Larry Grenadier), I have been a fan.  I have watched her grow and set the path to becoming what I would consider to be a jazz legend.  She has all the makings to do so and I really do believe that she will be name that will spread amongst the people long after we are gone.  

Rebecca has always been a great conversationalist and this time proved no different.  We covered all kinds of ground.  We bonded over being in weird bands in our youths (Rebecca sang metal and punk at one point!), the influence of social media, the excitement and privilege of growing older, and her philanthropy work as a director for Riverkeeper, which protects and restores the Hudson River from source to sea and safeguards drinking water supplies, through advocacy rooted in community partnerships, science and law.

Enjoy this interview with the great Rebecca Martin and spread the word!  

Lawrence Gowan of Styx has become a favorite of mine to interview.  When I first interviewed him back in 2017 about the release of The Mission, we hit it off immediately and since then he's been on the show three times.  As always, Lawrence cracked me as we talked about life during Covid, touring in a bubble, the new Styx album Crash of the Crown, and a bunch of other random crap that had us entertaining each other.  Hopefully, you will be entertained as well!!!!

Interview Date: October 27, 2021 

Jordan is no stranger to this podcast.  Close to holding the record for appearing a whopping 3 times (maybe 4?), Jordan always is gracious to make a return visit.  This time around we dorked out about his new music apps, life during the Covid Pandemic, and all kinds of other silly crap!

Singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler has been a favorite of mine since I first heard her 2016 release Strangers.  Since 2004, Marissa has released 10 studio albums as well as 11 self-released albums.  That is no small feat for any musician of any caliber and Marissa has maintained a level of consistent greatness throughout here career.  If I had to describe the sound of Marissa Nadler, I would say it's a beautiful horror.  Her voice makes me think that "the other side" just may be a thing of horrifying beauty. 

Her latest album, The Path of the Clouds is a leap forward for Marissa as she incorporates more instrumentation than on previous releases.  This doesn't take away from the sparse beauty that she has come to be known for but it adds another layer of depth to the songs making them that much darker. 

Talking to Marissa once again was a real treat and she is ALWAYS such a gracious and open person to talk to.  I hope you enjoy this one.  

To check out The Path of the Clouds, Check it out HERE

One of the things I love more than anything is re-discovering music that I hadn't listened to in a long time.  Recently I was making a playlist of hard rock/metal songs that I remember loving from my high school years (88-92) and I was really digging as deep as I could.  One of the bands that I remembered really loving was New Jersey hard rock band Saraya. 

Saraya released two album: the self-titled debut album and the stellar follow up album When the Blackbird Sings.  I loved that album so much but '91 was a huge year for new releases.  For some reason, the album and band got buried and after 30 years I unearthed them from the depths of my memories. 

I was so surprised to hear just how amazingly well the songs held up after all these years and I couldn't stop listening to these albums.  2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the Saraya album When the Blackbird Sings and I decided I wanted to reach out to vocalist/songwriter Sandi Saraya to talk about it.  It turns out that Sandi had pretty much disappeared off the face of the musical earth.  After a lot of persistence, I finally tracked Sandi down and I was fortunate to have her agree to talk with me. 

Sandi is such an awesome person and to hear her talk about her extremely tough bout with the record industry, reminiscing on the older songs and what inspired them, and there was even talk about recording a new song this year in 2021 with long-time guitarist and collaborator Tony Rey.  This interview is hands down one of the highlights of my interviewing years and I am so excited to share this with everyone!

The best way I can describe John Corabi is as a true rock n' roll gentleman/journeyman.  John is hilarious, intelligent, and an absolute blast to talk to.  John has had a 40+ year journey in rock n' roll and at 62 years old he's not even close to being done.  We talked about his fantastic new single "Cosi Bella (So Beautiful), his forthcoming book, we bonded over our love for 90s pop legends Jellyfish, and, well, just give this one a listen.  It was a great time talking with John and I hope you'll enjoy listening and learning about this great dude. 

Be sure to pop in and visit his YouTube Page: https://tinyurl.com/bmwywh94

Jason McMaster is one of my all time favorite people both as a musician and as a person.  Jason has been a great buddy of mine now for a few years and we always have the best phone calls.  It was really fun to have him on the podcast once again (I think for the third time maybe?) but this time we were talking about the 30th anniversary of Dangerous Toys' sophomore album, Hellacious Acres.  We talked in great length about the album song by song and, like the dorks we do, strayed away from the topic more times than none which, for me, is always a blast.  I hope y'all will dig this one and after listening to this one, go crank Hellacious Acres which you can find on Spotify and all other streaming platforms.

Twisted Sister is the band that started it all for me.  From a fat, bullied kid who just longed to be understood to a 47 year old musician, writer, and dreamer, Twisted Sister has been there for me through it all.  There are a lot of bands that I love but Twisted Sister will forever be "the" band that started me on a path that I took and never looked back.  From seeing the Grateful Dead 27 times and being a pot dealer to being a Glam Metal icon, Jay Jay French saw it all and lived to tell the stories.  Talking to Jay Jay was like talking to a longtime friend.  Hell, we dorked out on music history and shit more so than talking about Twisted Sister.  It's my honor to be able to share this interview and I hope you all will enjoy it. 

Be sure to check out Jay Jay's Podcast, The Jay Jay French Connection!