Rex-A-Vision:The Podcast

Zebulon Bowles is a fiddlers fiddler, a bluegrass force, an ever smiling friend and a new dad! His work with Hot Buttered Rum is always stellar, his sit ins around the music scene are much anticipated with everyone from Twiddle to Leftover Salmon and all points in between and he can even be talked into running sound for friends like the Jon Stickley Trio! Check out our chat about music, life and diaper duty! Dig it!

John Ferguson is a true blue, for realsies music fan. Regardless of genre regardless of distance he will be there up front, a huge smile on his face and a song in his heart and soul. By his own estimate he's seen close to a thousand concerts in the last ten years! I had a great chat with him about his travels, his music love and the weirdness he has encountered along the way! Dig it!

Today's guest, Jonny Ray, knows more about New Orleans music and culture than a lot of the cities natural born citizens. He didn't just lock himself in a library and gain all that wonderful knowledge from books and records, he goes out and lives and breathes the city every day. As a DJ on WWOZ, a music industry insider working with George Porter Jr., Ivan Neville and so many more or even in his role as tour guide for the New Orleans Movie & TV Tours He goes around the clock preaching his love of New Orleans to folks from around the world! Jonny has been a friend for a hot minute now and I am really happy to share this first in what I hope will be a series of chats here on the Rex-A-Vision podcast! Dig it!

Khris Royal and the powerful funk sound he gets out of his sax is the essence of New Orleans. He's smart, talented and not afraid to tell it like it is. He and I talk about everything from his time with George Porter Jr., legendary bassist of The Meters, to his touring with Rebelution to his hometown solo band Dark Matter (Whose new release drops on April 26th, just in time for Jazz Fest!) Which is good to get that out of the way, since he'll be playing a gazillion shows through the ten day sprint/marathon of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Dig it!

Adam Chase is a sterling drummer, and his funky jazzy beats can be heard in projects like Jazz Is PHSH, the James Brown Dance Party, The DAB Sessions and more. With shows from all of his various projects on the horizon I thought it might be a good time to discuss not only his work but his philosophy on covering songs versus recreating songs, whether an artists personal life should affect the appreciation of their art and plenty more in this excellent, wide ranging chat! Dig it!

Flat picking guitar phenom Billy Strings joins me for a chat about his mentality when playing, his history steady rise in the ranks of the top jamgrass bands on the scene. Always electrifying on stage, Strings is also wise, insightful and humble off the stage and our chat only made me MORE ready to see him do what he does! Dig it!

Author & Photographer Michael Weintrob has set remarkably high goals of quality and artistic merit for his work and has hit and exceeded his marks time and again.  From his award winning photography book Instrumenthead, his imaginative angles and perspectives and especially his willingness to go the extra mile in helping elevate those around him Weintrob is relentless in his pursuit of excellence. From the high seas on Jam Cruise to the clubs of New Orleans to the...uhmm...rocks of Red Rocks Weintrob captures the moments and the spirit of live music like no other! Check out our chat!

Lyndsay Pruett has been trying to literally saw her fiddle in half for years, and as a member of the multi-genre spanning Jon Stickley Trio she is starting to get close to her goal. From the stages of her musical home at the Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park to the four corners of the country...hell...the world her playing is always awe inspiring. Check out my chat with the fiddlin' phenom from Florida, Lynday Pruett! Oh and visit the Jon Stickley Trio Website HERE to purchase music, find shows and fanboy out!

Today we chat with one of the funkiest funksters, Freekbass. This Ohio based thumper has made audiences from around the world shake their groove things and I'm delighted to get him to sit and chat about the history of funk, his upcoming release with Sammi Garett of Turkuaz on The New Mastersounds guitarist Eddie Roberts' Color Red Record Label, his teaching bass on the True Fire app and his mentor in all things funky Bootsy Collins of the mighty Parliment-Funkadelic! There's even a full song embeded at the 41.40 mark of the piece so you can judge Freekbass' funkiness for yourself! DIG IT!

Today we chat with bassist Andrew Altman for seminal Americana-Bluegrass band Railroad Earth about his music, life on the road and tragic loss of his friend and bandmate Andy Goessling.