Dan Auerbach, the Black Keys frontman, had always been a big fan of the late Tony Joe White. The singer-songwriter—some knew him as “The Swamp Fox” had an unmistakably swampy baritone and down-home style. He was best known, of course, for songs like “Poke Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia.” Over his career, White’s songs were recorded by the…

Andrew Browning, a gritty, California-born singer-songwriter whose new album Love is a Beautiful Thing (out 11/22) digs deep into the messy, raw truths of love and human connection. This is a record that stands out for its emotional honesty and layered narratives. The singer-songwriter delves into the complexities of love with a sound that is disti…

Whether on behalf of Dodge trucks, on the show “Animal Kingdom,” on behalf of Monster Energy, ESPN, in the video game Cyberpunk 2077, or just on the radio—you’ve probably heard The Cold Stares. For the past decade, The Cold Stares have toured the world relentlessly as a duo, blowing away audiences across the US and Europe with a fierce, blistering …

Best known for the 2004 hit “Life Less Ordinary,” the indie rock band Carbon Leaf has been at it since the early 1990s. That’s when they got their start in Richmond, Virginia, alongside the likes of the Dave Matthews Band, Cracker, GWAR, Fighting Gravity, the Pat McGee Band, and more. The band just released its much-anticipated new album, “Time is …

If you are a musician and have a stamp of approval from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, and blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa—odds are good things are coming your way. Thus is the case of our latest guest on the Load Out Music Podcast: British-born blues rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor, who released her latest alb…

Welcome back to the Load Out Music Podcast where we most recently caught up with a much-heralded Americana band from my home state of Virginia. They are widely known for their annual Red Wings Roots Music Festival in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in the western part of the state and have an ambitious new album out entitled SIDEWAYS. They are The …

We pick up on episode 11 of season 5 of the Load Out Music Podcast with a unique episode when we welcome in Jake Neuman of Jake Neuman and the Jaybirds, along with producer and former guest Greg Griffith. Greg not only produced the new record by the Jaybirds -- "Little Bitty Town" -- but he also produced the new album by my own band, Atomic Junctio…

Jason Bonham’s name is synonymous with rock royalty. It started, of course, with his father—the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who is considered one of the most transformative rock drummers in rock ‘n’ roll history. But Jason is no lesser emulation of his father. He’s a Grammy winner who has carved a different, yet highly influential path f…

He may not be the tallest musician going, but John Oates casts a immensely large shadow in music. One part of the most successful duo in music history—Daryl Hall & John Oates—he co-wrote a number of the band’s legendary catalogue including "Sara Smile," "She’s Gone,” "Out of Touch,” "You Make My Dreams,” "I Can’t Go for That," "Maneater” and more. …

Coreen Sheehan knows how to sing. It’s how she’s toured all over the world fronting powerhouse rock ‘n’ roll bands and why Sheehan’s been employed by Grammy winners and helped countless singers prepare to compete in both U.S. and international versions of shows like NBC’s The Voice and American Idol. In fact, the vocal technique curricula she devel…

Acclaimed international jazz artist Jose James has a composure about him that one might compare to James Bond. The Minneapolis native claims he was one of the least talented artists in his music circles growing up, yet he ultimately attended The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. His first album, The Dreamer, debuted in 2008. Since then, h…

Earnestness. Authenticity. These are the things Nashville-based guitarist Tobin Dale relates to when he considers his chosen craft as a guitarist and playing the music he loves. A true student of rock‘n’roll guitar, Dale has been at it since discovering the Beatles and subsequently picking up the guitar around age 12, growing up in Orlando. In musi…

Like any other art form, rap music or hip-hop has a defined, ever-evolving legacy. There are names etched in the walls of the greats industry founders ranging from Curtis Blow to Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J to Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, Will Smith, Doug E. Fresh, the Fat Boys and Queen Latifah. As the genre evolved, rap developed more of an edge, …

Some guests need no introduction, especially when they've been a founding member of one of the most lendary rock bands in history, Traffic. But if you need more, Dave Mason has it. He's penned well over 100 songs, has three gold records, worked with the late Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartnery, George Harrison, Eric, Clapton, Rita Coo…

You might recognize Caleb Lee Hutchinson from his short stint on NBC's The Voice, on American Idol, country music radio or your favorite streaming platform. But after dropping an EP and a few popular singles, as well as working with some renowned producers, he emerges with his first full-length album, Southern Galactic, and it's certainly not your …

Despite a rather decorated, 20-year history that includes accolades any band would relish, the GRAMMY-nominated, multi-platinum band NEEDTOBREATHE isn't satisfied. Indeed, the band came into their latest studio album feeling there was much to prove despite living in rare air in the modern genre landscape--having placed five Number One albums all ac…

If there’s anything to be learned from the monumental successes of Beyonce and Taylor Swift, it’s that music artists can do more than simply record and perform music. Certainly, each has established themselves as exceptional artists. But they have also cultivated remarkably strong seemingly interpersonal bonds with their fans ranging from Beyonce’s…

Singer-songwriter Susan Gibson was born in Minnesota but spent most of her formative years in Amarillo, Texas. Growing up, she and her family would often drive between Amarillo and Missoula, Montana, where she drew comfort and inspiration from the wide open spaces along their route. Ultimately, Gibson took to music and the continuum of movement thr…

Singer-songwriters Diane Gentile and Alejandro Escovedo seemingly could not be more different. Gentile grew up as one of eight siblings in Flushing, Queens, and every morsel of her oozes New York City in a manner that evokes memories of the famed all-female band The Runaways. While Gentile cut her teeth in the music business as a club booker in the…

Over the four seasons of The Load Out music podcast, we’ve had a variety of artists on the show that have ranged from Rock-and-Roll Hall-of-Fame inductees like John Oates, Steve Cropper and Chris Hillman; to Grammy winners, alt-country stars, longtime record executives and noted rap producers. On the latest episode, we welcome an up-and-coming band…

Let’s start here. Cody Canada—our latest guest on The Load Out Music Podcast—is many things but he is most certainly not some radio DJ in Canada, in the event you were curious. No, he’s a pioneering figure in red dirt music and one of the more respected musicians in songwriting circles today. But many casual music fans might be unfamiliar with his …

Singer-songwriter Joshua Radin didn’t think he was going to be a musician. Certainly, he loved art and studied drawing and painting at Northwestern. But after college he worked as a teacher, screenwriter and other odd jobs. In his late 20s, Radin’s father bought him a guitar and things slowly came together. In 2004, actor Zach Braff—a friend since …

When he was 12, Joe Bonamassa started his career in blues-rock by opening for the legendary B.B. King. Somehow, things only got better for his career from there. Bonamassa has since been nominated for three Grammy Awards, had the number one position on the Billboard Music Blues Charts 26 times and been noted as one of the pre-eminent modern day blu…

The 1990s saw a host of new rock ‘n’ roll and adult-oriented roots come to the forefront on the American music scene. There was an understated, long-haired kid from Georgia in the mix with bands like the Black Crowes, Wilco, Sheryl Crow and the Counting Crows. His name was Shawn Mullins and his brooding, lyrically-thoughtful style stood out, harken…

In 1994, I moved to New Orleans, where I lived until 1998. I loved my time there and still love the city today. Life in NOLA is hard to explain to those who’ve never been, or maybe only spent time partying in the French Quarter. It’s unique in so many ways, and as my children grew up, we tried to expose them to it as often as we could. Unlike most …

If someone introduced themselves by saying they’d worked with historic music artists such as Neil Young, Robert Plant, the Allman Brothers—you probably think one of two things: Either this person’s “completely full of shit” or “holy shit!” And in welcoming the relatively anonymous Tom Lipsky to the latest episode of The Load Out Music Podcast, we’l…

What do you get when you cross the movie Sister Act 2 and Saddam Hussein? But of course, the Americana band The War and Treaty, led by the married couple, Tanya and Michael Trotter. Tanya (formerly Blount) began building a music and entertainment career at 16, appearing in the 1993 Whoopi Goldberg sequel and then releasing a debut album, Natural Th…

In the fall of 2005, four musicians—Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist, Brian Keen and Colin Brooks—all had residencies at Momo’s, the since-shuttered music club on West 6th Street in Austin, Texas. Ultimately, the four songwriters found themselves jamming each week, sharing a bill in what was lightly called “The Good Time Supper Club” on the Momo’s stage. It b…

We’re back to kickoff Season 4 of The Load Out Music Podcast with Southern California-based up-and-comers Robert Jon & The Wreck, speaking with the band’s understated founder and frontman, Robert Jon Burrison. The Wreck, which has been together since 2011, has a tremendous new record out called “One of a Kind.” It’s the first of a series of singles…

We wrap up what has been a stellar Season 3 with the founding drummer of one of the world's most renowned bands: Ryan Dusick of Maroon 5. In the 1990s, when Dusick and his buddies including some guy named Adam Levine, dreamt of making it big in music---they never imagined Maroon 5 would emerge as one of the biggest bands on the planet. But it happe…

If you’re one of those people who says you like “all kinds of music,” then Drew McManus and his band SatSang just might be for you. The entirety of SatSang’s catalogue spans comparisons to Ben Harper, G-Love and Special Sauce and Jason Mraz among others. However, the band’s new record “Flowers from the Fray” includes performances and arrangements t…

In 1963, Duane Abbajay—the 15th child of Syrian immigrants—took over ownership of a bar in Toledo, Ohio. And with the backing of the Detroit mafia, he would make it one of the legendary homes of music—first for rock artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Chubby Checker and others in the 1960s; and then for a who’s who of country music legends i…

Jam band culture is a thing unto itself that drives passions that are perhaps hotter than any other music fandom. And the the list of legendary jam bands is well known: the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, Phish, Widespread Panic and more. One of the great American jam bands is moe. out of Buffalo which as been praised for its musicality and app…

Welcome back to another episode of the Load Out Music Podcast. We’re thrilled about our guest this week, Steve Forbert, whose first four albums charted on the Billboard 200, and in, 1979 he had a huge hit with “Romeo’s Tune.” A native of Meridian, Mississippi, his 2004 record “Any Old Time” was nominated for a Grammy award for best traditional folk…

Coming down the homestretch of Season Three of The Load Out Music Podcast, we settle into our new digs in one of the great music venues in St. Louis – The Old Rock House. Most important, we welcome yet another Grammy Award winner in Jeff Hanna, founder and longest serving member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In the 1960s, the Detroit-native landed…

The furniture-making country of little Trinity, North Carolina, is not where one generally presumes an ultra-liberal, New York City-living, music-lifer hails from. But there are exceptions to every rule, such as Gregory Dwane, our most recent guest on The Load Out Music Podcast. In the 1990s, Dwayne left small town life and headed to New York where…

In the late 1960s, Lowell George was playing rhythm guitar in Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention when Zappa suggested George leave the band. There are conflicting versions as to why: Zappa believed George was too talented to be a backing player, he did not like the drug references in George’s song “Willin’,” or Zappa didn’t appreciate George’s fond…

Despite being surrounded by the music of countless great female country singers growing up – Lorrie Morgan, Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton and others – Jamie Lin Wilson did not see herself pursuing a career in music. As she noted to me on the latest episode of The Load Out Music Podcast, there were “so many great, strong female artists…

He’s helped shape the hip-hop flavored sounds of Lil Wayne, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper and J. Cole among many others. But it’s likely you’ve never heard his name. That would be S-X, who has already more than proved himself as an artist. And now, for the first time, his voice will truly be heard. Known back home as “The Wolverhampton Wonder…

In 2016, I was driving down the road listening to SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country channel and heard these lyrics playing on my radio: “Eating tater tots and p*ssy Sucking mountain dew and t*ts Kicked my grandpa in his nut sack Then I suck my bosses d*ck” Well, that’s different, I thought to myself. And when I completed the song – and DJ Hillbilly Jim sai…

Perhaps his name is unfamiliar to you, but amongst musicians, Ray Wylie Hubbard is considered one of the greatest songwriters of the past half-century. He is indeed revered for his unique, lyrical style that drips with irony and comes across about as plainspokenly as words can be stated. In truth, however, Hubbard often examines topics that are dee…

Sarah Borges has been at it for more than 20-plus years and built a strong reputation in punk rock and outlaw country circles as a hard-charging, high energy rock-and-roller out of Boston. She's been noted as "walking that fine line between punk and country," having ranging from Dolly Parton, Mahalia Jackson, X, Sid Vicious, Merle Haggard, to bubbl…

Welcome back to The Load Out music podcast presented by Well Being Brewing and Shinesty. On this episode, we are joined by the amazingly talented Suzanne Santo, an accomplished actress and a singer-songwriter who recently released her second solo album – “Yard Sale.” Early in her career, she modeled and then acted on shows like TBS’s “The Guest Boo…

Piano men, or women, often seem to be the outliers in popular music. They are the exception, not rule, ranging from Leon Russell to Billy Joel and Elton John, Marc Cohn, John Legend and more. Over the last few years, singer-songwriter Lucas Jack has built an impressive catalogue of music, and yes, you guessed it – he’s a piano man. A Michigan nativ…

The state of Georgia has long been a hotbed of rock, rhythm and blues that has captured the attention of music lovers worldwide. Indeed, from the Allman Brothers to Gladys Knight & The Pips to Little Feat, from the B-52s to R.E.M., from OutKast to Widespread Panic, Gnarls Barkley to the Black Crowes, the Atlanta Rythym Section, Zac Brown, Drivin N …

The son of country music royalty; check. Shipped off to live with his ultra-religious aunt and uncle who ultimately outcasted him after he came out of the closet in his teens; check. Did drugs for the first time with this father; check. Established himself as a viable country artist with a strong debut record; check. Disappeared like Eddie from “Ed…

Let’s start here: Jon Foreman is not a brand of elegant men’s watches. Far from it, in fact. He’s the frontman of the popular rock band Switchfoot, which reached its peak of commercial chart success in the early 2000s with a pair of mammoth hits. But this not some has-been rock-and-roll outfit looking to hang on. Switchfoot has continued to produce…

Unless you closely follow the Americana music circuit, the name Paul Thorn may sound more like an elegant fashion brand rather than one of the more distinctive singer-songwriters out today. But the Mississippi-raised Thorn – a former championship caliber professional boxer who once fought the great Roberto Duran – has one of the more unique styles …

There is a remarkable intensity that seems to surround B.J. Barham, the frontman for the fast-rising alt-country band American Aquarium, wherever he may be. Whether walking across a parking lot lost in thought, responding to critics on social media, sitting down for an interview after a soundcheck, doing a meet-and-greet with fans, joyfully gliding…

Josh Peyton was a high school homecoming king, wears only sleeveless shirts, is a Kentucky Colonel, an ordained minister, once worked as a hotel desk-clerk, has arms like tree trunks, and leads a band that plays 250 dates-a-year when not locked down during pandemics. A man with all of this girth needs something, well, girthy. He needs something big…