For this episode of the Bands To Fans podcast I spoke with Fur Dixon. Best known for being a member of the punk rock band The Cramps, we discussed her new band, Fur Dixon and WTFukushima, their new album, “Return 2 Sender,” what she learned from the time she spent busking on the streets of New York, and the comfort that comes from owning your history.

Listen to the interview
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What was one of the more challenging Foreigner songs to really get ahold of?

"The answer is probably going to throw you a little bit. There are a couple that don't have prominent guitar. They're keyboard-featured songs. I had to come up with an arrangement on the guitar in the capacity of a keyboard-featured song. They are very intimidating because there's no guitar on the recording that I can hear. The approach I took with those is just to try to stay out of the way. I wanted to be colorful. I wanted to be accents. I wanted to be the things that you're not really paying attention to. I didn't want to take away from the keyboard orientation of those songs because they are so identifiable. The two that I am talking about in particular are 'I Want To Know What Love Is' and 'That Was Yesterday'. Those were very challenging songs to embrace on the guitar for the simple fact that there was no guitar prominent on those recordings." - Michael Staertow, guitarist for Lou Gramm
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From episode 18 of the Bands To Fans podcast

The latest addition to the Connect To Fans podcast group and one of my new favorites. "Love You To Death: Four hometown friends dish on all things past, present, and future." 

Listen to it at:
https://www.lytdpodcast.com/

You can also listen via iTunes and Google Play. 
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(photo: Daniel Coston)

​For this episode of the Bands To Fans podcast I spoke with Jim Weider, guitarist and vocalist with The Weight Band. We discussed their new album, “World Gone Mad,” why the Fender Telecaster is his guitar of choice, and about his experiences playing in The Band with the late, great Levon Helm.

​Listen to the interview
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"I think that's the real judge of a great song: Can you pull it off with just an acoustic guitar and a voice?" - Jonatha Brooke -- episode 7 of the Bands To Fans podcast
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​"I came up in the jazz world, where the approach to doing a solo is off the melody. And that's how I was trained to approach a solo. When I got older and I started helping songwriters with their arrangements, that was always my focus: My guitar parts have to be based off of the melody or the structure of the song. And to be honest, I think that's why songwriters like me and why I have lasted this long in this business. I'm all for that song and what it needs. I am not there to show off." - Scotty Johnson of the Gin Blossoms -- episode 13 of the Bands To Fans podcast

"I want to continue to grow. I want people to still say, 'He was great last night.' I want to be consistent. If there is a 22-year-old kid who can come in and do my job better than I can do it, then we have a problem. That's how I feel about it. And when you see Tesla, there's going to be nobody who can come up there and do my job better than I can do it." - Troy Luccketta of Tesla -- episode 10 of the Bands To Fans podcast

For this episode of the Bands To Fans I spoke with electro-jazz-pop artist Grace Kelly. We discussed her desire to break down the virtual walls between artists and audiences, how she incorporates dance into her performances, and the music she hears and sees in everyday life.

Listen to the interview

"I'm at this stage now where I play how I feel or what I feel at any given moment. I don't worry whether I am going to play well or whether I am going to nail all of the parts. I sort of go, 'How is it going to feel? And how do I feel and how do I play to that?' 

"In other words, let's say I'm tired. I'm going to go up there and I am kind of going to play to a tired place. I'm going to pace myself. I'm not going to try and overdo anything or overcompensate for being tired. I'm going to play right to that and see what happens. If I am excited, I am not necessarily going to try and tame myself because I am excited. I am going to feel that I'm excited and just play that where it lies." - Ben Sesar, drummer for Brad Paisely -- from episode 9 of the Bands To Fans podcast
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