The ProgCast With Gregg Bendian

Dave Gregory XTC lightning round

GENTLE GIANT drummer JOHN WEATHERS is back for Part Two of our lovely chat about his studio and live work with one of the all-time greatest bands of progressive music. Our thanks to everyone who has supported The ProgCast in 2021. Lots of cool stuff coming in 2022. Next up: Dave Gregory of XTC!

JOHN "PUGWASH" WEATHERS (Part 1), drummer of progressive rock icons, GENTLE GIANT is my very special guest on this special 50th Episode of The ProgCast. John and I delve into the subtleties of what made Giant tick, and some of their key moments in progressive music history. Such a pleasure and an honor to chat with one of my all-time drumming heroes!

COLIN HODGKINSON is the quintessential pioneering British blues-jazz-rock bassist. He fronted the bass-driven band Back Door, and worked with a 'who's who' of BritRock, including Alexis Korner, Spencer Davis, Whitesnake, and Ten Years After. Particularly fun to talk about his  and my experiences working with the great Jan Hammer. Lots of history to cover with Colin!

Steuart Liebig is an amazing bassist and composer from Los Angeles whom I have recorded with both in Bone Structure and my band Interzone. We get into some deep musical convo and talk about some of Steu's history, his compositions, and our music-making together.

Progressive Bagpipes??? You bet. THE FREESTYLERS OF PIPING are so completely unique, I just had to have them on the program. They hail from SoCal but I caught them live this summer in New York. Their blend of pipes with acoustic bass and percussion, along with their melodic and rhythmic drive is undeniably exciting and enticing. You might even call them a new kind of "power trio!"

TERRY STEWART is the former president of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and of Marvel Comics. That means he's the perfect guest for me to chat with about two of my favorite subjects: music and comic books! Join us as we discuss why it's so hard to get prog acts into the Rock Hall, and Marvel's rise from the ashes to its current movieland glories.

Fans of the band, Dr. Nerve will be quite familiar with the incredible musicality of pianist KATHLEEN SUPOVE. She is a champion of new music and has presented her multimedia series, "The Exploding Piano" as a way of reaching a wider audience with the music of Xenakis, Scelsi, Debussy, Eve Beglarian, and Randall Woolf, plus many others.  www.supove.com

PETER SELLARS is one of the most important and innovative directors in opera, musical, and theatrical performance of the last 50 years, and a dear friend. His work with John Adams on "Nixon In China," "Death of Klinghoffer," and "Doctor Atomic" is rightly considered legendary and Peter's embrace of French musical and visual culture is particularly fascinating. Another fine chat on The ProgCast.

DAVE GREGORY IS BACK! Both big fans of early Genesis, Dave and I revel in the 50th anniversary of "Nursery Cryme" - track by track in detail!