James R. Wilson, Jr. is a son, a sibling, a husband, a father, an artist, and -- amongst many other things -- he's my guest for Episode No. 153.

James and I sat down to talk about family, growing up in KCK, fatherhood, the world of creating and making art, skating, and his creations on both YouTube and Instagram.

We also talked a little bit about a few of James' favorite albums, which were these..

Ladies and Gentlemen --

Please put your hands together for...Jason Adams!

Hey, hey, hey...It's the second freaking week of January in 2025, and -- to quote my future ex-wife, Gwen Stefani, "this shit is bananas."

Stoked, nonetheless, to have Jason in the studio.

It was lovely to meet him, and I'm jazzed to tell you that, together, we made Episode #152 happen.

Jason is the brains behind Supplemental Sound, and you should not only check his work out on his site, but you should also consider giving him a follow on Instagram.

It was fantastic meeting Jason, and learning a little bit about him, such as what a few of his favorite records are, which're these…

Robert Bearce is a son, a sibling, a husband, and a father. He's the brains behind The Free Rent Band, and he's my guest for Episode No. 151.

In addition to his numerous other talents, Robert is also an app developer, a music lover, and he's the founder of Briar Fest (briarfestkc.com). It was a pleasure to meet him, and chat with him about his journey so far. We touched on writing, recording, the longevity of the band, his seemingly fearless knack for birthing ideas and launching them into the world.

We, of course, also talked about a few of Robert's favorite albums, which were these:

The list of descriptors to accurately depict Luke Harbur, a.k.a. musicbyskippy, would rival Santa's gift list, so I'm only touching on a few here. He's a son, a brother, a transplant survivor, an artist, a producer, a beatboxing specialist, an entrepreneur, a wonderful human being, and he's my guest for Episode No. 150.

Luke's stuff all lives at musicbyskippy.com, but you can also find him on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.

Luke and I talked about family, life experiences, career visions and dreams, the creative process, and a bunch more. Somewhere in that mix was a short list of a few of his favorite albums. Those were these…

"And the man on the cuts! Twice as nice with the slice...his name ain't Tommy...but he's my boy!"

Yes, that's right. A little apropos-of-nothing (Chicago's own) Liquid Soul quote to celebrate the fact that Dylan Johnson joined me for Episode No. 149.

Very pleased that Dylan joined me for this conversation, and I feel it's important to let you know that his stuff is as follows: dylanjohnsonlive.com; humbledpride.com;, and dylan_johnson_music on Instagram. You can find stuff to listen to on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon, Pandora, and Deezer, and -- while you're pokin' around -- make sure to give 2022's Suburbs a listen.

I was pleased as all get-out one day this summer when Dr. Erika C. Martin messaged me on a thread I'd started a few weeks prior. She mentioned she'd be coming through town the following day and -- were I available to schedule something last-minute -- she'd be happy to slightly alter her travel plans to come sit and chat with me for a few.

She is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Emporia State University. She's a biostatistician and a science correspondent for the Fish Nerds podcast, and she's the Editor of Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. She's also a daughter, a sibling, a wife, a mom, a collector of stringed instruments and vinyl records, one heck of a singer/songwriter/guitarist, and she's my guest for Episode No. 148.

When Facebook suggested Lisa Alpert as a person I might know, I peeped her profile, and thought, this lady seems pretty cool. And oftentimes, that hunch is accurate. Not always, but often. This one was no exception.

Lisa Alpert is cool, rad, awesome, and good vibes, and that's precisely the sort of thing I'm seeking when looking for guests. 

Lisa's a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mom, a business owner, and a muthaf***in' hustle. Ya' betta' ax somebody. For those reasons and more, she's my guests for Episode #147, and I couldn't be happier that we made this conversation happen.

Hey!

This is so fun.

I'm so happy to've been afforded the opportunity to record a small handful of on-location conversations, but none of those have been as exhilarating as my conversation with Ella Gantz (for Episode #146) of Perry Farm to Fork.

Ella and her sisters own and run the lovely co-op of sorts that offers local produce and proteins and other goodies to the fine folks of their Perry/LeCompton community. They are fifth-generation farmers and you can find out more about their operation on their Facebook page. You can give the shop a buzz at 785-379-3650 or shoot them a message at perryfarmtofork@gmail.com. 

Brock Wilbur is a son, a brother, a husband, and an author. He's my guest for Episode No. 146, and he's also the Editor-in-Chief of The Pitch, Kansas City's independent source for news and culture.

It was a pleasure to meet Brock and learn about the different stops his life journey have taken him to, and I'm grateful for both the time and the conversation.

We talked about family, being a stand-up comic, a published author, a podcaster, a supporter of different walks of life, and a proponent of mental health. We also talked about his love of music, live shows, vinyl records, and living in Los Angeles for a spell. Naturally, we touched on a few of his favorite albums, which were these…

In late July, I was honored to have Tracy Hoth back in my home again, and it took both time and convincing to get her here.

Nearly a decade ago, I hired her for some professional-organization help, and she was fantastic. Our package was broken into tiers, and -- due to some critical life changes -- we had a little bit of a gap in between tiers one and two. Many moons later, she appeared in the people-you-might-know section of one of my social-media platforms. I reached out and pitched her on the idea of doing a podcast episode with me. She declined, saying that she wasn't much of a music person.

I rolled up my sleeves and explained why I thought we could have a good conversation, and -- to my delight -- she accepted.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Whatcha' got to say?!"

I don't have any "Hollywood Swingers" action to share with you, but I do have some equally exciting news, and that's that Robert Flynn finally made it by the studio and we sat down together for what wound up being Episode No. 143 of this here podcast.

Robert was on my initial-initial outreach list while I was trying to get this thing live and off the ground, and some three years later, here we are.

Robert's a son, a sibling, a husband, a father, an Eagle Scout, a scout leader, a former attorney, a high-school government teacher, and a good many other things. We once went through the CRHP program together and have two kids in the same grades together. He's also something of a Deadhead, and when we first talked about trying to make this happen, I think I was asking folks about their all-time-favorite album (singular) as opposed to the current iteration that typically involves several.

"Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle o' Brass Monkey," it's another new-episode Thursday, and I'm geeking out to share with you that Bill Belzer joined me for a fantastic conversation.

So great catching up with Bill, and learning about our mutual love of the greatest band in American rock 'n' roll history, and it was equally fun learning a little bit about Bill's band, Miss Boating.

Bill's over on the 'Gram as @billzer, and  Miss Boating deets can gleaned from YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Apple Music, and/or Bandcamp.

Such good people, this Belzer kid, and he's got a Substack, here. 

Greetings!

It's new-episode Thursday, and I'm pleased to say that Dan Perez was my guest for Episode No. 141. Dan is in four bands: 1) a smallish trio outfit with his brother; 2) Whiskey Mash Band; 3) Helping Phriendly Bluegrass Band; and 4) The Kaw Valley Hop Pickers.

Dan's silky bass notes in each of those conglomerations don't entirely comprise him, though; he's a son, a sibling, a Phishhead, and a husband (I think he said).

I had Dan's Whiskey Mash bandmate, Billy Brady, on for Episode No. 65, so check that one out if you missed it (but not before you get into Dan's episode).

It's kinda wild for me to think about the fact that -- two years ago -- I was publishing Episode #40 (w/Tomaski), and here we are...turning the final-chapter pages of 2024. I think that they call it, "Q2" in the corporate world, but it's the final period of our calendar year, here in Humansville.

And what a fun ride it's been.

David Kaufman joined me for Episode #140, and he did not disappoint.

David's over on the 'Gram with the @davesthename handle. He's a camera operator and an editor. There's a great piece about him over on boldjourney.com, if you wanna check that out, and -- perhaps of greater importance...his stuff's also at theoutriders.com. 

Very pleased to share that Bob Walkenhorst joined me for Episode No. 139, and it was a privilege to get to know him a little bit.

I really enjoyed gaining a little bit of insight into Bob's perspective of the live-music scene in 1980s Kansas City as he and The Rainmakers really found their writing and gigging groove.

As a 71-years-young rock star, Bob's still gigging twice a month at Mike Kelly's Westsider, and you can glean more details about those shows if you give his Facebook page a follow.

Forrest Saucier joined me for Episode No. 138, and it was an absolute treat to get to know him a little bit.

Forrest is a son, a sibling, a partner, a man of numerous hats, and he's an important figure over at Tyler's House, which is a youth-oriented, non-profit organization over on the Kansas side that -- for my money -- is an amazing concept that needs more eyeballs on it and more of the community's dollars in its bank account.

In the world of interviewing, it's always refreshing to have a quick, sharp, eloquent guest on the other side of the table from me, as I tend to offer plenty of "Um"s and "you know"s and generally fumble for the words I seek, so thank you to Forrest for being who he is and what he is.

Hooray for Episode No. 137 being out and available to all of you fine listeners and viewers!

I'm stoked to share that Carley Martin Verbeck and I were able to sit down together and chat about all things Carley and her band, Scotch Hollow. Her husband Mark and I perused portions of his journey that led to the two of them meeting/ultimately forming the band back in Episode No. 116, so to have the other half of the duo join me was a blast.

Carley -- beyond being a wife and Scotch Hollow's frontwoman -- is also a daughter and a sister and a mom. We talked about growing up, family, education, careers, gigging, recording, ebbing and flowing with Scotch Hollow's pulse, and plenty more. We also had a peek at a few of Carley's favorite albums over the years, and those were these...

I have the utmost gratitude for Bill Brownlee gracing me with an appearance for Episode No. 136.

Bill is so many things, and I confidently say that barely knowing him.

What he is above all -- at least at this moment -- is generous for taking time out of his life to come sit with a perfect stranger, and I couldn't be happier about the conversation that resulted from his decision to do so.

Bill and I talked about his careers in the record-label industry and as a writer for The Kansas City Star. We discussed his fine, fine work over at Plastic Sax as well as There Stands the Glass, both of which I encourage you to make regular visits to, as the writings are keen and important to the Kansas City music scene. We also talked about a few of Bill's favorite records, which were these...

DJ Prodigy is a son, a brother, a partner, a father, and he's armed with an artillery of skills that would impress most any artist. He's also my guest for Episode No. 135.

Prodigy splits his time between Kansas City and Arizona, and while in town, he squeezed a chat with me in in between a handful of gigs. For that I am grateful.

We talked about growing up, finding one's way, producing, making records, dancing, beatboxing, and a bunch more. We also talked about a few of his favorite records, which were these...

Marty Wall is a son, a sibling, a husband, a long-time former Kansas City-radio D.J., and a voice-over artist. He fronts three different live-music acts, has some rich K.C. knowledge, and he's my guest for Episode No. 134.

Marty and I talked about music collections, radio formats and programming, gigging, family, and more. We also had a peek at two of his favorite albums, which were these:

• Elton John's Honky Chateau (1972)

• Spilt Milk (1993), Jellyfish