Our guest today is one Rory D’Lasnow. Rory is a singer-songwriter from New Jersey who plays the guitar upside down and backwards. He released his new EP, “Songs From an Empty Room in Fall 2021 and you can catch him playing live throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Rory is also the host of an Instagram Live event once a week titled The Songwriter Showcase, which is an excellent way for those wishing to discover new songwriters and a place that I will recommend you give a follow. For our conversation today, we will be discussing “Where You Want to Be” - the second album from Long Island, NY’s pop-punk outfit Taking Back Sunday. WYWTB was released on Victory Records on back on July 27, 2004 and we took a deep dive into the lyrics, melodies and textures found on this record. Enjoy! 

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Episode 85: Rory D'Lasnow (Musician)

Our guest today is one Jared Saltiel.Jared is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Brooklyn, NY. Always a clever lyricist and imaginative storyteller, Saltiel's rich orchestrations elevate his musical narratives with cinematic overtones.As lead singer and songwriter of Ann Arbor, Michigan pop/rock band The Dirty Birds, he released his debut album How the Cause Became the Cure in 2009. After moving to Brooklyn NY, he launched his solo career, releasing two interconnected full-length albums of lushly orchestrated, "magical realist" story-songs: The Light Within in 2013, and Out of Clay in 2018. His follow-up One More Revelation was a return to more conventional songwriting and contemporary folk-rock aesthetics. With his new EP No Heroes, Saltiel channels the zeitgeist with emotional intelligence and evocative production.As a producer and arranger, he has worked with a variety of musicians, including KAYE, Bell the Band, Cassidy Andrews, Lee Reit, and his brother Jason Saltiel. And as the co-creator of satirical slasher-comedy musical South by South Death, and the composer of Amina Henry’s original play Hunter John & Jane, his theatrical work has been covered in the New York Times, The Village Voice, and TimeOut. For our conversation today, we are going to be discussing In the Wee Small Hours, which is the ninth studio album by “The Chairman of the Board.” Of course, we are referring to Frank Sinatra. In The Wee Small Hours was released on April 25, 1955 by Capitol and produced by Voyle Gilmore with arrangements by Nelson Riddle.Enjoy the conversation! 

Episode 84: Jared Saltiel (Musician)

Our guest today is one Chris Rider of Liverpool, PA. Chris is a photographer and an avid concertgoer. You can find him throughout south Central Pennsylvania and other parts of the Commonwealth behind a camera lens at a wide variety of venues including the Englewood near Hershey, PA and The Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. We spoke in late July of 2021, one week before he was set to snap pictures of one of his all time favorite bands in action at Spy Glass Ridge Winery in Sunbury, PA. So you may be wondering aloud now - what band are we referring to? Well, that would be a fantastic blues rock outfit from Jacksonville, FL known as JJ Grey and Mofro and their 2007 record titled Country Ghetto. Country Ghetto was the band’s third album and released on Alligator Records. Enjoy the conversation! 

Episode 83: Chris Rider (Photographer)

Our guest today is one Matt Wheeler. The terms "troubadour", "poet with a guitar", & "stage banter-conversationalist" all describe Matt Wheeler's music & performance style well. Matt’s songwriting paints pictures with words. Matt has delighted audiences from New England to North Carolina, Ontario to Chicago. His new album "Wonder of it All" - a collection of songs based on classic works of literature like "The Little Prince" & "The Hobbit", was released on 5/21/21.For our conversation today, we are going to be discussing Ongiara “ahn-gee-AR-uh”, with a hard “g - the third studio album by Canadian folk rock band Great Lake Swimmers, released on March 27, 2007. The album was released on Nettwerk and the band recorded most of the album in London, Ontario's historic music venue Aeolian Hall with producer Andy Magoffin.For those wondering, Ongiara is the name of a boat that ferried the band to the site where they recorded the first demo. It’s also the original indigenous name of Niagara Falls. Enjoy and thanks for listening!

Episode 82: Matt Wheeler (Musician)

Our guest today is one Keith Valcourt. Keith is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp. He is also the co-author of the forthcoming autobiography of 1980's new wave singer Dale Bozzio titled "Life Is So Strange: Missing Persons, Frank Zappa, Prince and more."Previously Keith worked as Global Project Manager for GeneSimmonsVault.com, an Artist Development rep at Capitol-EMI Records and as an actor in several TV shows and films including: "The Exes," "Retired At 35," "General Hospital" and his best known role as Ted on an episode of "The Office." You can find everything that Keith is up to online over at: www.KeithValcourt.comFor our conversation today, we are going to be discussing Prince and The Revolution’s monumental record known as Purple Rain. This is Prince Rogers Nelson’s sixth studio album, which was released on June 25, 1984, by Warner Bros. Records. The album also serves as a soundtrack to the 1984 film of the same name. Enjoy!

Episode 81: Keith Valcourt (Actor/Author)

Our guest today is a native of Winston-Salem, NC. He is one Mitch Easter, legendary front man of the acclaimed Let's Active and record producer at the Drive-In and Fidelitorium Recordings. For our listeners who might be unfamiliar with Mitch’s musical career to date … Easter formed Let's Active in 1981 and that same year, produced R.E.M.'s debut single "Radio Free Europe," which was issued on Johnny Hibbert’s label Hibtone Records in Atlanta. Incidentally, Radio Free Europe is celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2021 and a reissue of an exact replica of Hibbert’s 7” mix is now available as of July 23rd, shortly before the time of this interview.Easter went on to produce for R.E.M. their Chronic Town EP in 1982, their first full-length Murmur in 1983, and shortly afterwards, Reckoning. Murmur’s success also drew more attention to Easter, as did the release of Let's Active’s debut EP Afoot, which launched the cult hit "Every Word Means No." Mitch has produced the likes of Pavement, Wilco, Suzanne Vega, Dinosaur, Jr., The Baseball Project, Chris Stamey, The dBs, Alejandro Escovedo, A Fragile Tomorrow – the list goes on and on. He is also part of an ensemble that over the past few years has paid homage to Big Star’s Third record. And I would be remiss if I did not mention that he was also inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2019.Our conversation today will center on British singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy and his second solo offering from 1995 titled “Duffy” where Mitch both produced and contributed electric guitar. Some may know Stephen Duffy as a founding member, vocalist and bassist of Duran Duran and later the front man for the folk rock outfit The Lilac Time.This record is an auditory delight. If you are unfamiliar with it, please go out and get your own copy. Enjoy the conversation!

Episode 80: Mitch Easter (of Let's Active / Record Producer)

Our guest today is one David “Vlad” Urban - Vocalist, Guitarist, and keyboard player in the Shoegaze / Postpunk trio - Waking Lily. He is also a member of the Experimental Electronic Dirge Duo known as Filament Band.For our conversation today, we are going to be discussing Daydream Nation: the 5th studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, which was released on Enigma Records on October 18, 1988.Daydream Nation has since been widely considered to be Sonic Youth's greatest work and was chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry in 2005. Enjoy!

Episode 79: David "Vlad" Urban (Musician / Waking Lily)

For today's episode we have a return guest, Mr. Derek Evry. Derek is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who has gone on to front several successful rock bands in the D.C. area (1999-2006) before briefly attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA (2006) and returning to D.C. to work on his own music.For our conversation today, we will be placing our focus on American musician Mark Mulcahy and his 2019 solo record titled The Gus. For those unfamiliar, he is the front man for the New Haven, CT based band Miracle Legion. He He later formed Polaris: a house band for the mid-1990s alternative TV series The Adventures of Pete & Pete.To quote our guest verbatim about The Gus, “Each song on this album is a double sided coin of both joy and pain. It's the perfect record for almost every occasion. Mark, being an already very accomplished songwriter, really takes this one to a personal yet eccentric place. Do not skip this album." Enjoy!

Episode 78: Derek Evry (Musician)

We sat down to speak with artist Craig Patrick, who performs under the moniker Giants of Diving: a guitar-driven, synth-tinged, multi-hyphenated, indie-pop/rock with all vocals and instrumentation recorded by Patrick using a microphone, three guitars, a synthesizer, a laptop computer, a tangle of wires, and some very powerful audio recording software he barely understands. Craig is also a poet with writing published in Forth Magazine, Door is a Jar, and Algebra of Owls among other places.Our conversation today digs deep into the beauty, rawness and authenticity of Patty Griffin's debut studio from 1996 titled Living With Ghosts. Enjoy!

Episode 77: Craig Patrick (Musician / Giants of Diving)

Our guest today is one Jon Garcia of Harrisburg, PA by way of Havre de Grace, MD. Jon is a musician and front man for the appropriately named pop rock outfit Jon Garcia & The Hopeless Romantics. We caught up with Garcia by telephone and discussed Switchfoot's fourth studio record Beautiful Letdown. There is an unmistakable passion in Garcia's voice when talking about a band that has had one of the most profound influences on his musicianship. Enjoy!

Episode 76: Jon Garcia (of Jon Garcia & The Hopeless Romantics)

For our conversation today, Julia and I discussed the Dixie Chicks and their seventh studio album Taking the Long Way, which was released back in 2006 on Columbia Nashville. "The Chicks" as they are known today, received quite a back of backlash at this juncture of their career for their beliefs and their refusal to apologize or back down to anyone. This long-form interview with Julia is in the truest sense of the word is an examination of a band who continues to put out great music and still "not ready to make nice." Enjoy! 

Episode 75: Julia Cain (Folklorist / College Administrator)

In today's episode, we meet Hannah Garrison, President of Wear Your Music.WYM makes music memorabilia from used and donated materials in an effort to help green the music industry, connect fans to musicians and raise money for charities around the globe.In addition to her current entrepreneurial ventures, Garrison spearheads a success-accelerating consulting practice anchored by a team of entrepreneurs who are changing the world. Via group and private session work, they offer strategy, clarity and organizational help to individuals and businesses.Our conversation centered around Madonna - AKA the “Queen of Pop," and the imprint her career has left on Hannah both personally and professionally. Enjoy!

Episode 74: Hannah Garrison (Wear Your Music)

In today's episode, we called up Liverpool, PA's Josh Engle. Josh plays guitar in two different bands, including Illusion of Solace and Elsewhere and owns the recording studio Native Studios.Elsewhere just released their second EP “A Different Side of Fangs” which you can find on all streaming platforms. And Illusion of Solace is currently in the middle of tracking vocals with a new vocalist for their second EP. For our conversation today, we’ll be discussing a Christian metalcore band known as The Devil Wears Prada and their studio album Plagues. Plagues was recorded at The Foundation Recording Studios, Connersville, Indiana and originally released back on August 21 2007 on Rise Records. Enjoy! 

Episode 73: Josh Engle (Musician/Producer)

In this week's episode, we spoke with Mike Nealon of Queens, NY and discussed all things Oasis and their debut record "Definitely Maybe." The smash hit "Live Forever" is still Nealon's all-time favorite song and Definitely Maybe captures a hungry and energetic band poised and ready to take the world by storm. Enjoy! 

Episode 72: Mike Nealon (Oasis Enthusiast)

In today's episode, we sat down to chat with guitarist/songwriter Matt Berry (Classified Frequency) about The Stereo's last LP titled Rewind + Record, which was released on Fueled by Ramen back in June of 2002. Many themes and musical moves are present on this record, but at its core is the belief in one's art and power of letting go of people or things that weigh you down.Fun Fact: Frontman Jamie Woolford has produced the last few albums by Classified Frequency!Please Note: While this was a 1 v 1 conversation, you may pick up traces of a screaming child being in the early stages of sleep training. It's going much better now.

Episode 71: Matt Berry (Musician/Classified Frequency)

A podcast featuring musical conversations about an album or song which has changed and enhanced someone’s life.

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Cover to Cover with Matt Tarka

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