Nicki Bluhm hails from Lafayette, California. The singer/songwriter released her first album in 2008. She also was a a part of Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. Her latest project, Avondale Drive, deals a lot with making a fresh start in life – after a divorce and a relocation to Nashville, Bluhm is ready to make music on her own terms.

The new album was produced by Jesse Noah Wilson and features guest appearances from folks like AJ Croce, Oliver Wood, Eric Slick and Jay Bellerose. After listening to her previous work, we think it’s her strongest album to date.

Note: the chirping you hear throughout the interview is a baby duck that decided to make friends while Bluhm was talking!

Sass Jordan hit pay dirt in the early 90’s with rock radio hit albums like Racine and Rats, and songs like “Make You a Believer” and “You Don’t Have to Remind Me.” But, she also garnered a Juno award in 1989, and even portrayed Janis Joplin in an off-Broadway musical.

While Covid was raging, Sass issued her first all-blues album called Rebel Moon Blues to critical acclaim. Now, she’s put together another collection, some originals, some covers, called Bitches Blues from Stony Plain Records.

We chat with Sass about playing live in a post-Covid world – how both musicians and the audience both need to relearn how to have fun. Plus, how she dug back to her childhood to pick some of the songs on her new record.

They were the first Queen tribute band: Killer Queen was formed in 1993, just a year after Freddie Mercury’s passing, and they’ve been celebrating the legacy of Queen ever since.

We chat with frontman Patrick Myers about what got him to form the band in the first place, plus admiring Freddie’s moves, and how timeless Queen’s music really is. Amazingly, Killer Queen has managed to play some of the very same places that Queen did back in the day.

Killer Queen is making a stop at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering on Wednesday, June 29th.

Seth Walker has been issuing music for almost a quarter century. His albums have charted on the blues, Americana and folk charts, showing his diversity as an artist. His latest release, I Hope I Know, is his 11th album, once again produced by longtime collaborator, Jano Rix.

We discuss why he chose to relocate from Nashville to Asheville, NC, how an end to a relationship mixed with the worldwide pandemic caused him to look inward, and his excitement of playing overseas.

Michigan born singer/songwriter May Erlewine has been putting out her own music for almost 20 years. She’s also issued albums with the Sweet Water Warblers.

Her music has been covered by many artists, including Sawyer Fredericks, who performed her song, “Shine On,” on NBC’s The Voice.

Her brand new album, Tiny Beautiful Things, deals a lot with the connections between people – something sorely missing during the worldwide pandemic. In her own words, she says “this album is an invitation to connect with the many ways that love appears in our lives.”

We chat with Erlewine about the challenges around having to record the new album remotely. She also reveals the inspiration behind many of the songs on the new record.

Black Swan, a hard rock supergroup featuring Robin McAuley of MSG, Jeff Pilson of Dokken, Reb Beach of Winger and Matt Starr of Mr. Big.

The band issued their debut album in 2020 called Shake the World to critical acclaim. Now they’re back with their sophomore release, Generation Mind, once again recorded at Pilson’s home studio in L.A.

McAuley talks about how Jeff Wayne’s musical of War of the Worlds inspired one song, while Jack the Ripper inspired another. He also discusses the difficulty of getting all four (busy) members together to make music.

Australia’s Hoodoo Gurus have spent the last 40 years blending Troggs’-inspired garage rock with Beatles’ soaked melodies done with a New York Dolls’ sneer.  The band were darlings of college radio during the eighties, and even scored a #1 Modern Rock hit with “Come Anytime.,” in 1989.

During the pandemic, the guys found themselves on a creative streak and the result is their 10th-long player, Chariot of the Gods, and it’s some of the best work they’ve ever done. 

We chat with frontman, Dave Faulkner, about why there was such a large gap between recording albums, how a drunken night inspired one of the new songs, and the difficulty in scheduling a tour during the pandemic.

King, Sun, Motown & Stax – all independent record companies that helped shape the course of popular music. Another such label, 415 Records, emerged in the late Seventies out of San Francisco. Originally, the company just covered the burgeoning punk movement that was happening there, but eventually they expanded, releasing an album by psychedelic pioneer Roky Erickson, then landing videos on MTV with Romeo Void, Translator and the Red Rockers.

All of this is documented in Disturbing the Peace – 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave written by Bill Kopp from HoZac Books. Kopp is a lifelong collector, musician and journalist who’s first book was called Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to the Dark Side of the Moon.

We chat about how he tracked down almost 100 interviews for the book, how he obtained much of the photos, band posters, etc, that help flesh out the story, and the relationship 415 had with Columbia Records that had mixed results at best.

Matt North spent his 20’s living and working in LA, writing screenplays, starring opposite James Woods in 2000’s Dirty Pictures, and was a guest on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He also became a in-demand session drummer, working with Maria McKee, Peter Case, Blondie Chaplin of the Beach Boys, and others. Eventually, North relocated to Nashville and began working on his own songs.

We first talked back in 2017 for his debut solo record, Above Ground Fools. Now comes Bullies in the Backyard, again recorded in his home studio with help from some of his Nashville friends.

The album was recorded during a seven-year court battle with his local school system in Nashville over the treatment of his son, who has special needs. North seems to get inspiration for his songs from just about anywhere – from hiding things on the “Top of the Fridge,” to lamenting the high cost of sporting events in “Burial Grounds.” He also tells us how the pandemic actually helped him record his new album.

Marshall Crenshaw’s 40 plus-year career has included ten studio albums, a US top 40 hit in 1982 with “Someday, Someway,” some collaborations, and some movie appearances. 

Crenshaw recently regained the rights to several albums he released originally on the Razor & Tie label.  We talked to him in 2020 for the first in that series, Miracle of Science. 

Now comes the reissue of #447.  The eleven-song album is arguably one of his most adventurous, and is augmented by two newly-recorded tracks, issued on his own Shiny Tone label.

He talks about his struggles with major labels and how being on a smaller one gave him the freedom to do the things he really wanted to do. He also gives us a preview of Deluxe Editions of his first two albums, coming later in the fall.