The Volume Knob

So grateful to have as brilliant and unique a voice as Burke was able to bring to the show this week. As he alluded to in his introduction, Burke is a director, a photographer and director of photography. He recently was the DP on a season of Top Chef and his web site includes not only some amazing portraiture but also several of the music videos he has directed. Check it out! 

As I mentioned in the extro of this week's show, Burke brought his own music mix. It's most of the tracks from a mix tape that he and his high school friends exchanged in 1993. It's available here. If you were listening carefully, you might have heard that Burke's high school pal Colin from Helena Montana is actually Colin Meloy of the Decemberists. Small world.

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

It's not too blunt to say that Ed Gavagan is a big reason why I'm fascinated with personal storytelling as a craft. I first heard him telling stories on The Moth years ago and, when he and I were introduced and he indicated that he'd be willing to do a story for the show, I literally bounced up the stairs of my house yelling to my wife "I'm going to do a show with the guy who told Drowning on Sullivan Street."  

When your story is as big and life-changing as Ed's is, you can tell it in many different ways. I think the version he told The Moth is a love letter of sorts to New York. I'm very proud that the version of the story he told here on TVK was a reflection on good fortune and privilege, and on forgiveness. I really can't thank him enough for sharing it with me, and with you.

If you haven't had enough of Ed's fantastic pacing and compelling voice you can check out his Ted Talk and the version of his story he told The New Yorker  for its We Are Witnesses portrait of crime and punishment in America.

As for the music, this week's playlist is called Fairytale of New York and it features not only Elton John (our first ever "two-time-story-inspiring" artist here on the show) but also Tom Waits, LCD Soundsystem, The xx and Johnny Cash. 

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

Has there been a more charming guest on the show than Gastor Almonte? Hard to think of one. His presence, timing, sense of humour and humanity are all larger than life. What a complete and total pleasure to have him share his talent and vulnerability with me this week. Do yourself a favour and watch this (it's one of the Comedy Central appearances Gastor referred to in the story and its hilarious) when you're done watching that check out his story Heavy High & Far which originally introduced me to this guy's talents. Gastor also has his own podcast (The War Report) which he co-hosts with fellow stand up Shalewa Sharpe. You should check it out and follow Gastor on Twitter, Insta and Facebook.  Oh, and don't forget to listen to his record Immigrant Made. 

I have been going down a MAJOR 90s (and related) hip hop rabbit hole since recording my interview with Gastor a couple of months back. As such, it was super fun to put together this week's playlist From Queensbridge to East New York. The list looks a little like the train trip I described in the intro to this week's show (minus the Jay Z. Just not my thing). I hope you enjoy it. 

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

Matt Goldberg isn't only a fantastic, warm and talented person he is also one of Montreal's most established storytelling producers.  Storytelling producers are ESPECIALLY fabulous people! 

Matt founded the Confabulation storytelling series in Montreal in 2010. Since then, Confabulation has not only put on dozens of shows here but they have their own podcast and shows in both Toronto and Victoria.  Whew! For that amount of work dedicated to doing good things in the world, Matt definitely deserves a follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Matt's assumption that In My Life contains a harpsichord is actually a common misconception. The song's bridge is actually a piano solo played by Sir George Martin and then sped up. (The more you know). As always, I'd encourage you to listen to the whole of the song either before or after your listen to the story.  And when you've done THAT feel free to listen to this week's playlist which features In My Life and some of its contemporaries both in pop and (more fun for me) soul along with some more modern stuff for good measure. 

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

If you heard Adam's story and thought "that seems like a really remarkable human being" your instincts are exactly right.  I know I say this a lot, but I feel genuinely privileged to have gotten to know Adam through this process.  The reason he is one of the masters of this art form (he's won 20 Moth Story slams!! 20!!!) is that he is absolutely, completely authentic. 

By that I don't mean authentic in the backhanded complement way (like when you're diplomatically calling someone irascible or weird). The Adam Wade who tells you a story is the genuine article, with a completely honest and emotionally brave interaction with the world. 

You could do much worse than spend some time reading this profile of Adam in the New Yorker, listening to any of his stories which have been recorded for The Moth or watching any one of his Moth slam appearances.   You could also listen to either of his albums Live at the Magnet Theatre (which is now free on Youtube) or You Ought to Know. 

Adam also teaches personal storytelling at the Magnet Theatre. So, if you're looking for another pando project, you might want to consider learning from one of the best. While you're at it, be sure to give him a follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

As for Space Oddity, what more can be said? Wonderful, odd, inspiring, otherworldly and, as familiar as it may be, still a piece of art that reveals itself to me in a different way, every time I hear it (also, how about Myles' review this week? You'll have to believe me when I tell you he hadn't heard Adam's story). In this week's playlist -- Is There Tang On Mars? -- I try to give Adam's Hoboken space walk its own soundtrack.  

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

Brad is more than a fantastic storyteller. He's a multi-talented burlesque performer, and visual artist. If only to put the rest of us to shame, Brad is also an author. 

In 2020 he serialised his novel Maxine and the Planets Unknown as a 20-episode podcast. It's worth a listen. Think of the children.

You can learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. You can also take storytelling classes with Brad at Kevin Allison's Story Studio.

I could go on for a looooooong time about alt-country in general and The Old 97s in particular. Like Brad, the alt-country movement hit me at a musically and personal important time. Bands that he mentioned (like Uncle Tupelo and Southern Culture on the Skids) and dozens he didn't, like Whiskeytown, Lucero, Slobberbone, Fiftymen and others were very very important to me in the late 90s. The idea of "starting a country band because punk rock was too hard to sing" has lost a lot of its charm as the purveyors of the sound have either moved on or transformed into (still loveable) dad rock, but I still occasionally dig out some twang and roll (especially for Kate who loves the sound of a two-step high hat). Check out this playlist of some of my favourite alt-country songs that remind me of Timebomb (including Timebomb) if you want to slide down the rabbit hole with me!  Some other time, I'm sure I'll make a playlist of just songs with Timebomb in the title.

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

Some music fans are storytellers and some storytellers are music fans but it was a rare treat for e to sit down with someone who combines both storytelling talent and music loving passion the way Emily did.  Emily is one of the producers behind Toronto's Replay Storytelling  which recently did a very exciting event along with the CBC's Doc Project (Featuring former TVK guest Nisha Coleman). 

Emily and I also had a fantastic chat about all SORTS of music (from hardcore to Lucy Dacus) when we were preparing to record their story. All in all, Emily is definitely worth a follow on instagram or twitter.  

As for Incendiary, were it not for Emily's story, I'd be drawing a complete blank. I can tell you they're fun as hell if you like 90s hardcore sounds. I can tell you they're responsible for ring entrance music for WWE superstar Aleister Black and also a reasonable cover (check out the distortion on the bass) of the Beastie's Sabotage. As always, I encourage you to sit down and listen to the whole of the song either before or after you listen to Emily's story (am I the only one hearing a little Zack de la Rocha in those vocals?).  And, if you're interested in taking a trip into the pit with me (and some of the hardcore that Emily's story reminded me of) you can check it out here.

Bonus points if, like me, you head banged... just a little.

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

You can't sit in the same room as Sandi Marx (either virtually or in person) and not have a smile on your face. Her energy and unbridled enthusiasm for being herself are contagious. If you're interested in hearing more of Sandi's unique brand of personal storytelling be sure to get to her website which has links to her appearances on Risk! and The Moth and to follow her on Twitter Facebook and Instagram.  While you're on Sandi's web page, be sure to watch the trailer for The Fabulist the 2020 documentary about her storytelling journey.

The 50th Anniversary of the release of Carole King's Tapestry was just a few days ago (February 10th, 1971. Not in "69 or 70" as Sandi guessed).  Unlike a bunch of records released in the early months/years of my life (or, in this case, a little before I was born) I was truly unaware of its impact. Tapestry is not only one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, it was the single-biggest selling record of its era. It's also still one of the biggest-selling records ever recorded by a female artist. It was an interesting lesson on my own musical blind spots that I'd primarily thought of King as a songwriter and not a recording artist before doing this story with Sandi. The more you know… 

As always, I encourage you to sit down and listen to the whole of the song either before or after you listen to Sandi's story. It's a fantastic recording that, if you close your eyes, can really make you a fly on the wall in that room in Queens with Sandi, Rhonda and Strawberry.  Also, if you want to hear not only a bunch of 70s easy listening classics (and more modern stuff inspired by 70s easy listening classics) but also a few examples of the amazing breadth of Carole King's abilities as a songwriter, be sure to check out this playlist I put together inspired by Sandi's story.

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

Madeleine has only recently started in the craft of personal storytelling and I'm so (so!) excited to see where she goes in the medium. I was blown away by not only the vulnerability she showed but also her command of structure, pacing and imagery. Such a wonderful experience working with her. She has no social media, so you'll just have to keep an eye out for your next opportunity to watch her practice her craft.

Listening to Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, I wasn't immediately transported to a pre-school montage like Myles was. It made me think more of the rambling, mid-to-late-70s rock-opera tracks like Jungleland or I Don't Like Mondays.  Also, it turns out that Elton John wrote the instrumental half of the song while actually contemplating the music that would be played at his own funeral. Maybe that's why it's so grandiose. 

I was going to go on a little "only in the 70s" rant/lament until I read that Axl Rose was inspired by Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding when writing November Rain for the Use Your Illusion sessions... The more you know.  (As an aside, am I the only person who is completely gobsmacked that November Rain has over 1.5 BILLION views on Youtube? Dang!)

As always, I encourage you to sit down and listen to the whole of the song either before or after you listen to the storyteller's story. It really brings you closer to the events (especially in Madeleine's case). 

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].

Howard was a very generous and thoughtful guest. Many thanks to him for being on the show. You learn more about his Gateway Music Podcast on Facebook and you can hear the episode with me on it here on February the 12th. 

Though Katie wasn't fond of it I really liked the stark, open spaces in The Other Side of Mt Heart Attack. I'm also convinced that every time I hear it, I'll have an image of a slightly spooked young doctor, shuffling his feet down the hallway of a maternity ward. Such is the power of pairing up human stories with music. As always, I strongly encourage you to listen to the full version of the song before and/or after you listen to this week's episode. You'll be glad you did! 

Make sure you follow The Volume Knob on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or at our website volumeknob.net.

And if you have a story about the song that saved your life be sure to send it to me at [email protected].