THE PODS & SODS NETWORK

Discussing the MSG 2015/2016 New Years Run with Rob Grabill.

Terry Bozzio joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his early days growing up and discovering drumming and composing, also some of his early days of creating various drums. He shares details about his audition with Frank Zappa and talks quite a bit about his influence and friendship. We also cover his work with Dweezil, Missing Persons, Jeff Beck and so much more! Plus his approach to composing, drumming and his current projects.

Adam J. Smith joins Craig for a chat about the Ween discography.

Billy Sherwood of Yes joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his early days growing up with his musical family. His early bands including World Trade, how he connected initially with Chris Squire, being initially offered the lead singer spot in Yes and passing. We talk about his varied production efforts including his tons of tribute albums features the world's top talent. Billy shares memories of Chris Squire and how Chris hand-picked him to be his successor to help carry the Yes flag forward. In addition to all that, we talk about his latest fantastic concept album Citizen.

Spread your wings and fly away with Pods & Sods to take a track by track look at News Of The World, Queen's 1977 LP.

Steve Hackett joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his early days with his musical family and connecting with Genesis. What was it like during the recording of Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and what are some of the inspirations behind some of those classic Genesis songs? We cover stories of his early and continued solo records and touring including Wolflightand Genesis Revisited. We talk about some of his musical brothers outside of Genesis – Brian May, Chris Squire, Steven Wilson & more. His classical influences, what's it like being the flag-bearer of Genesis in terms of live performance in 2015 and so much more.

Hey hey! Your friends Megan and Craig share their Monkees thoughts and rank every original-era album and pick some key tracks from each. Added bonus: Monkees memories from when they were sprites! This podcast is presented by THE PODS & SODS NETWORK: http://podsodcast.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/podssods https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pods-sods/id713066884 SamePageCast Theme performed by Craig and Megan cassette tape graphic used courtesy of Liz Aragon/sweetclipart.com All musical clips used are the property of Rhino Records and are for educational use only.

Mary Fahl formerly of October Project joins Eric in conversation. We talk about her earliest days in joining October Project and through their successes. We talk about her embarking on her solo career, overcoming moments of stage fright, crossing paths with Jeff Buckley, connecting with Warner Classical, her band, the inspirations behind many of her songs, her songwriting collaborations and her version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon album. Also her recent live CD, PBS special, performing with orchestras and what's next.

In the conclusion of our look at 1985, Jeff Harris joins in for a discussion about the top five Billboard albums of the year, some honorable mentions, and a round of trivia.

Chapter I: 1965-1967

Gary Wright joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his earliest days discovering music and forming Spooky Tooth. We talk quite a bit about his Spooky Tooth days, including working with Mick Jones and the origin of perhaps the best album title of all time – You Broke My Heart, So I Busted Your Jaw! Of course we cover his friendship with George Harrison, George as a friend, mentor and influence musically. Also the songs he wrote with George – are there more to be uncovered? Above all we talk about his wonderful music from Dream Weaver and beyond, including his career-spanning autobiography and his current and upcoming releases including a new EP, Wonderwheel and the Spooky Tooth boxed set.

Meet your hosts Craig and Megan in the introductory episode of SamePageCast - a podcast about media and fandom! This podcast is presented by THE PODS & SODS NETWORK: http://podsodcast.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/podssods https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pods-sods/id713066884 SamePageCast Theme performed by Craig and Megan cassette tape graphic used courtesy of Liz Aragon/sweetclipart.com

Rudolf Schenker of Scorpions joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his earliest years of playing guitar, growing up in Germany, forming Scorpions, and connecting with Klaus Meine. Rudolf shares what he learned when the Scorpions were invited to support KISS on their 1976 German tour. We cover his writing process and some specific songs including Wind of Change and the fan favorite Hey You. And also lots of talk about 50 years in the business and their latest record, Return To Forever.

Conversing about Phish with Rob Grabill.

Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his earliest years of singing in church, memories of his father's band. We talk about working with the guys from Twisted Sister early on. We chat about Living Colour as an influence and his recent meeting/performance with them. Also we cover some of the origins of some classic Sevendust songs, their career and we pay particular focus to the new Sevendust record, Kill The Flaw.

Jeff Harris joins us for an in depth look at the year 1985 in our continuing series of 80s-centric episodes. In this episode, we look at the top ten Billboard singles of the year and follow up with some favorites from the year as honorable mentions.

Mike Portnoy of The Winery Dogs joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his earliest years of playing drums and his early influences. We talk about his many, many, many projects including Dream Theater, Metal Allegiance and of course The Winery Dogs. Also we cover his Hello Kitty drum kit, the band Jellyfish, Steven Wilson and prog rock in general. Will he do a straight up solo album? An autobiography? Would he collaborate with the DT guys again? Check out the episode to find out…

Billy Sheehan of The Winery Dogs joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his earliest years of playing bass and his influences. We talk about his offer to join Van Halen in the very early 80s, his years with David Lee Roth, the successes and pressures with Mr Big, and his relationships with his Winery Dogs bandmates, Richie Kotzen and Mike Portnoy. And we focus quite a bit on their new record, Hot Streak.

Alex Skolnick of Testament joins Eric in conversation. We talk about the early years of playing and his influences including Ozzy and KISS – does he like The Elder? We talk about Testament, performing with Ozzy and Geezer Butler, his friendship with Living Colour, his prolific jazz trio, his world music projects and finally his connecting with Mike Portnoy, Dave Ellefson to work on his latest project, Metal Allegiance.

Martin Barre formerly of Jethro Tull joins Eric in conversation. We talk about the early years of Jethro Tull, the band's final days, his early days in the British music scene, his relationship with Ian Anderson, his first steps into solo work in terms of songwriting, lyric writing and touring, his friend Willy Porter (another recent guest) and finally his latest solo album, Back To Steel.

Michael Sweet of Stryper joins Eric in conversation. We talk about the early days of Stryper, some of his childhood guitar heroes and influences, the classic days of To Hell With The Devil, his solo career, songwriting and the unique spot that Stryper inhabits in the music world in terms of music and message. We also learn about the next Sweet & Lynch album and hear stories behind some of the songs on the new Stryper record, Fallen.

Garland Jeffreys joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his long and storied career from the early days through his most recent critically lauded releases. We talk about his inspirations, the social messages often contained in his work and his legendary hit Wild In The Streets. He shares stories about his friendships with Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon and so many more.

Ed Roland of Collective Soul joins Eric in conversation. We talk about the Collective Soul early days and hits – Shine, December, Gel, all the biggies. We explore Ed's positive approach to songwriting, influences, family and the inspirations behind some personal songs. We also talk quite a bit about his fantastic side project, Sweet Tea Project and how it fueled his approach to the latest Collective Soul album, See What You Started By Continuing.

Willy Porter joins Eric in conversation. Willy has an incredible and unique style – he mixes lightning fast finger picking guitar virtuosity, soulful and thoughtful lyrics, humor, brilliant arrangements, and a wide variety of genres. He's had a storied 20+ year career and 10+ albums, if you don't know Willy, you really, really should. In this conversation we trace his career from the early days to his latest album, Human Kindness and beyond.

Kasim Sulton joins Eric in conversation. You may know Kasim as a member of Utopia. You may know Kasim from his work on Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell records and tours. You may know Kasim from The New Cars. You may know Kasim from Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. You may know Kasim from Blue Oyster Cult. Or you may know Kasim as a fantastic singer/songwriter in his own right. Suffice it to say, Kasim has a long, successful and storied career and we talk about it all including his new solo album, 3.

Violinist David Ragsdale of Kansas joins Eric in conversation. We talk about how he connected with Kansas, how he initially picked up the violin, the departure of Steve Walsh and the addition of Ronnie Platt, what it's like working with the various members of Kansas and we go track by track on the 1995 Kansas album, Freaks of Nature in celebrating it's 20th anniversary. Also, we get some insight on the new Kansas album in the works!

Jim Peterik of Survivor, Ides of March and Pride of Lions joins Eric in conversation. Specifically, we talk about his work with Jimi Jamison in honor of the one year anniversary of Jimi's passing. We discuss their initial meeting, stories behind the songs and the recording of the three Survivor records featuring Jimi – Vital Signs, When Seconds Count, and Too Hot To Sleep. We also talk about their reconnecting for Jimi's solo record, Crossroads Moment and so much more. Jim shares some sweet, funny and wonderful memories and honors his musical partner gone too soon, Mr Jimi Jamison.

Stuart Matthewman of Sade joins Eric in conversation. Stuart has been with Sade since before they were signed – playing guitar, playing sax and co-writing many of the biggest hits in their 50+ million album selling career. We talk about the earliest days, go record by record through the Sade catalog, Live Aid, hit some of the key songs and stories behind them, talk about what's next for Sade and get a taste of his new project, Twin Danger.

Rock legend Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his upcoming Jethro Tull Rock Opera, maintaining a busy touring schedule, agri-business, Pavarotti, the art of songwriting, Spinal Tap, his relationship with Martin Barre and some funny, horror stories from the road.

Electronic music pioneer and 80s icon, Howard Jones joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his two break-out albums of the 1980s, Human's Lib and Dream Into Action, his performance at Live Aid, the origins of a few specific songs, about technology in music (including his position on auto-tuning,) about his new interactive project Engage and so much more.

Legendary guitarist Andy Summers of The Police joins Eric in conversation. We talk about his time before forming the band, about his new documentary Can't Stand Losing You, international touring, the failed follow-up to Synchronicity, his latest CD Metal Dog and basically all things Police and beyond.

There is a world of endless resources. There is a mind full of outrageous dreams. There is a place where the two meet. Anything is possible as Pods & Sods take a look at Debbie Gibson's epic third album. Craig Smith and special guest Eric Miller look back at the 1990 opus and discuss all of the album tracks and B-sides, as well as the album's triumphs and flaws.