Music Life Radio

Jack Conte is a working musician who has had quite a bit of success via YouTube with his Video songs which have a couple of rules: 1. What you see is what you hear. (No lip-syncing for voice or instruments), 2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (meaning that there are […]

Penelope Houston, lead singer of the San Francisco punk band the Avengers, and successful solo artist, has released a new solo album entitled On Market Street.  We talk to Penelope about her early punk roots including when her band opened up for the Sex Pistols at Winterland, her expansive solo career, the re-release of the […]

Travis Larson joins MLR producer Josh Almond to talk about his instrumental fusion rock group, the Travis Larson Band. Think of a musical stew mixing a thick brown Rush gravy with big hearty chunks of Steve Morse and a dash of Jeff Beck. Comprised of Travis Larson (guitar), Jennifer Young (bass), and Dale Moon (drums), TLB’s complicated […]

Kathy Peck is co-founder of Hearing Education Awareness for Rockers aka as H.E.A.R, a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to preventing hearing loss and raising awareness of the real dangers of repeated exposure to excessive noise levels from music which can lead to permanent, and sometimes debilitating, hearing loss and tinnitus. Kathy talks about her first […]

Robert Pielke, author of Rock Music in American Culture – the Sounds of a Revolution, talks about his book which investigates rock music from a philosophical perspective. We discuss several of the concepts used in the book, including how a cultural revolution succeeds, and examine two prominent symbols of the revolution: Elvis as the negation […]

Dave Meros is an American bass guitar player, best known as the bassist for Progressive Rock band Spock’s Beard. Josh Almond of Music Life Radio interviews Dave about his background, including his time as bass player and tour manager for Eric Burdon and The Animals, and his musical career with Spock’s Beard.  Dave’s main creative venture […]

Geoff Robinson is best known as the lead guitar player for the epic Seattle grunge band Blood Circus.  They were one of the first bands on Seattle’s Sub Pop record label, playing with bands such as TAD, Nirvana, and Soundgarden back in the late 80’s.  In part two of the interview, Geoff talks about their first and only American tour, and how they […]

Geoff Robinson is best known as the lead guitar player for the epic Seattle grunge band Blood Circus.  They were one of the first bands on the Sub Pop record label, playing with TAD, Nirvana, and Soundgarden back in the late 80’s.  In part one of the interview, Geoff talks about his upbringing in Georgia, his experience […]

Steve Ritchie is a pinball game designer, working at Stern Pinball.  He is a Coast Guard Vietnam veteran, and has played in the rock bands Sweet Asylum and Legs Diamond in his early life.  In 1976 he walked through the doors of Atari looking for work,  and was soon creating his own games.  His designs are legendary, […]

Australian Pianist and Composer Richard Goldsworthy creates tranquil, melodic and uplifting music for Solo Piano. Josh Almond interviews Richard about his early life in rock bands, his stint as the Australian Elton John, his collaboration with soul singer Tarvin Watson,  his solo performance work, and his thoughts on music as a healing art form. Richard […]

 Architecture of Sound from the American Sabor exhibition at San Francisco Public Library is a panel discussion that explores the relationship between architecture, acoustics and the live performance experience and how it has influenced musical venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Panelists include architect Mark Cavagnero, whose projects include the new SFJAZZ Center; Kurt Graffy, […]

Ben Bongers, tenor, is an artist in demand by many opera companies throughout the world. MLR’s Erik Core interviews Ben about his life, including how he went from the Nebraska farmlands to star of the opera stage, and all places in between. Ben breaks down an opera for us, talks about how to take care […]

 Steve Moriarty is a drummer who has played in many bands, but most notably in the Seattle punk band The Gits. In part two of this interview we cover the details surrounding the tragic rape and murder of the Gits lead singer, Mia Zapata in 1993, how the surviving Gits went on to form a new band, […]

Steve Moriarty is a drummer who has played in many bands, but most notably in the Seattle punk band The Gits. In this first part of the interview we talk to Steve about his background as a jazz drummer, how spending a year in Spain changed his world views, his Antioch college experience, joining the […]

Dave Dalton has been playing music since the 1980’s.  He started out in the punk bands Screaming Bloody Marys, and Cell Block 5, and is now diversifying his sound after picking up the dobro. His current projects include the Irish Folk rock band Ol’ Cheeky Bastards, the acoustic busker punk band Pissed Off Punks (POPS), as […]

Gregg Inhofer is a singer-songwriter, pianist, and vocalist who has played a significant role in the Minneapolis music scene, and is a member of the Minnesota Rock and Country Music Hall of Fame. We talk with Gregg about his early career with Pepper Fog, This Oneness, Olivia Newton-John, and Soldiers of Fortune (featuring Jesse Ventura), […]

Bill Collins is a guitarist, singer/songwriter, and music teacher, who has performed for over 35 years, playing everything from hardcore punk to children’s music (Irish, Rockabilly, Ska, Folk, Blues, Metal, Reggae, Country, Rap, and nearly every kind of Rock ‘n’ Roll).  He has made music with the best, gigged in sixteen countries and most U.S. […]

Bryan Beller is a bassist, composer, writer,  solo artist, and contributing editor for Bass Player magazine.  He has played with several musicians including Steve Vai, Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa), Dweezil Zappa, his wife R&B / soul singer Kira Small, and as member of the touring band Dethklok – from the Adult Swim show Metalocalype.  Josh Almond interviews […]

Ron Shock is a comedian with one hell of a life story. His career path includes priest in training, chain gang member, attempted jewel thief and subsequent guest at a maximum security penitentiary, computer programmer in the U.S. Army, and Vice President of a Fortune 500 company.  At age 40 he had an epiphany, and became […]

Ron Shock is a comedian with one hell of a life story. His career path includes priest in training, chain gang member, attempted jewel thief and subsequent guest at a maximum security penitentiary, computer programmer in the U.S. Army, and Vice President of a Fortune 500 company.  At age 40 he had an epiphany, and […]