John Peden Podcasts

Stony Hill is G. E. Smith's new project. Listeners to Sidetrack Liner Notes know G. E's stellar resume. He's entered a new phase with this collaboration with Seattle singer songwriter Leroy Bell. We coaxed them to the microphones for this podcast following a photo shoot for their new album "Stony Hill". It is obvious from the music these guys creat…

Trained as an electrical engineer but with a passion for music Mike Piera aka Analog Man is the perfect guide to the extremely dense world of effect pedals. He started by repairing desirable vintage pedals which led him to modifying, reproducing, and eventually manufacturing his own line of Analog Man Pedals. We visited with Mike in early March 202…

By John Peden

Tommy Goldsmith writer, musician, record producer, historian and raconteur has just released “Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown The Making of an American Classic”. Sure there are musicians who have left their mark on music. Will anyone ever play the cornet like Louis Armstrong, the cello like Pablo Casals, the saxophone like Charlie Parker,…

We return to John Hammond’s place to continue our conversation that was recorded in SLN #37. In this podcast he discusses some of his favorite guitars and why. He shares great stories of the Greenwich Village scene he was so much a part of in the 60s and the shift to electric music that he helped bring about. We continue his tales of touring and re…

The Blues have always been John Hammond’s musical passion. Throughout his career he has explored all facets of The Blues from primitive solo acoustic to sophisticated urban played with a who’s who of stellar accompanist. He started in his hometown of New York City as a member of the folk revival but his emphasis was on the blues always leading the …

Most of us found out about Steve Earle when his first album, “Guitar Town” came out in 1986. It is still one of the best first album from any artist ever. To date he has released 17 albums and won Grammeys for several of them. If that weren’t enough, he has appeared in 2 television series, “The Wired” and “Treme” and written 2 books. His most recen…

But wait, there's more. At 3 1/2 hours podcast 34 was hardly short. Don't even ask how we left this out of that podcast but we did, we found it and now you can listen to even more of Dan's stories. Included in this podcast are his stories of interviewing George Harrison and more about his father's record collection and Tommy Tedesco. We think it wi…

Dan Forte’s musical journey was blessed from the start: Family– father who loved Django Reinhardt, Location- the S.F. Bay Area, Timing- the 60s. Throw in talent, humor, taste and skill for a can’t miss mixture. Dan took full advantage of S.F.’s 60’s- 70’s scene where live music was everything. While getting his BA at Stanford, he taught an accredit…

Do yourself a favor. Listen to this podcast and get captivated by the musical camaraderie that swirls between John Dunbar lead singer and songwrtiter (A Confederacy of Dunces, The Kunks), Sal Maida, bassist (Roxy Music, Sparks, Milk N Cookies) and Sal Nunziato drummer (Pep In The Cat, The Cool Jerks). The musical references come fast and furious li…

Ian S. Port's book "The Birth Of Loud" tells the well researched story of the birth of the electric guitar and it's impact on popular music and our culture. It's a refreshing read where Ian looks into corners seldom searched and gives some well deserving figures their time in the light. His literary device of a rivalry between Les Paul and Leo Fend…

Welcome to Storytown a C D to be released this month. 12 original songs all composed by Guy Story and performed by his band Storytown which is comprised of Guy on all Vocals and Guitar, Tony Cruz-Drums, Percussion, Charlie Roth-Keyboards, Rick Wagner-Bass with guest artist Jim Corter Upright Bass (Sad), Fawzia Afzal-Khan-Vocal (Broken Promise Land)…

It’s a bit difficult to describe Dick Boak without resorting to cliches; renaissance man, gentleman and a scholar etc. I could keep stringing them on because in Dick’s case the descriptions apply. For 42 years Dick was employed by the C. F. Martin Guitar Company where he used his considerable skills as artist, musician, woodworker, draftsman, luthi…

Dick Boak best known for his work with the C. F. Martin Guitar Co. has another side. Dick is an established artist and illustrator with an exhibition Nov. 17th through Dec. 8th. daily 3-9 P.M. located in Matt Umanov's guitar shop 273 Bleecker St Greenwich Village in New York City. Dick's original pen and ink drawings are on display as well as print…

By John Peden

Jimmy Vivino is the complete musician, guitarist, keyboard player, composer, arranger, and producer with a deep appreciation for the musical path we are all on. Mr Vivino is well known for a variety of gigs. His collaborations with legendary blues and rock luminaries are simply to lengthy to list. For years he has been a member of The Fab Faux (the…

The Songbirds Guitar Museum has been open in Chattanooga, Tennessee. for a little more than a year now. If you are a vintage guitar geek then you probably already have heard about it. Terry Foster (SLN #11) and I paid a visit to examine a recent addition to the museum’s collection, Fender Spanish guitar #0075 . In this podcast we discuss the Museum…

James and Kami Walbourne are The Rails, a husband and wife duo from London. “Fair Warning”, their first album was called by Mojo magazine the best folk album of 2014. Their newest CD, “Other People” broadens their sound and if possible is even better. James is the lead guitarist for The Pretenders and Kami is the daughter of Richard and Linda Thomp…

We welcome noted author and journalist Gene Santoro for an extensive conversation about his long association with music both as a writer and performer. Gene is one of the lucky ones who roamed NYC's music haunts in the 1960s and was able to see and hear first hand John Coltrane, The Blues Project, Dave Van Ronk, The Mothers of Invention, Tiny Tim a…

If you follow live music in New York then the buzz about Emily Duff has been inescapable. She turns out great new songs with a frequency not seen since that scruffy fellow landed in the Village back in ’61. God bless whoever funded her recent trip to Muscle Shoals to record “Maybe in the Morning ” an L P that stands with the best to EVER come out o…

A deep discussion with John Sebastian concerning his boyhood and musical development in Greenwich Village and the folk movement, his founding of The Lovin' Spoonful, his move to California and his solo career which continues today. A raconteur of the first order who has had a front row seat when he hasn't been on stage himself to some of the most i…

Zeke Schein is our guest to discuss his discovery of what many believe is the 3rd photo of Robert Johnson King of the delta Blues and the writing of his new book, "Portrait of a Phantom". This discovery is not without controversy. Zeke lays out the story of finding the photo and his struggles to discover the identity of the 2 men in the photo. Zeke…

Martin Kelly is best known to SLN listeners for authoring the book "Fender The Golden Age" along with his brother photographer Paul Kelly and previous SLN participant Terry Foster. We visited him outside London where he lives with his wife Sarah Cracknell singer of Saint Etienne for this interview which covers his history and fascination with vinta…

In pt. 2 of our conversation with John Cohen he discusses his trips to Kentucky to record Roscoe Holcomb, his collaboration with Ralph Rinzler for the first concerts for The Friends of Old Time Music, Doc Watson's trips to New York, The New Lost City Ramblers residency at The Ash Grove in L A where Johnny Cash stood in for Mother Maybelle and The R…

John Cohen This man has done it all, photographer, musician, film maker, teacher, historian. He started in the late 50s on the Lower East Side with the abstract expressionist and beatniks. By the 60s he was in the thick of the Folk Music Boom in Greenwich Village where he helped form the New Lost City Ramblers on of the best bands performing "Old T…

Recorded in Kingston N.Y. Part 2 of our conversation with Geoff where he discusses his time in the steel business (go figure?) and return to music recording the wonderful personal C D, "The Secret Handshake" , his 8 year classical music project in Antwerp, "Private Astronomy, the C D that features his arrangements of classic Bix Beiderbecke tunes, …

We sit down in Kingston, N y with Geoff and have a far ranging conversation on all things musical. We get into his early fascination Blues and Jazz recordings accompanied by his friend Joe Boyd and Joe's brother Warwick. Geoff's involvement with the Cambridge scene including his time with the famed Jim Kweskin Jug Band. Geoff and his wife of the ti…

We introduce our recording engineer, Mike Crehore who helps us in the 2nd part of our conversation with Richard Alderson. Richard discusses building his first recording in NYC, Some of his techniques and philosophies for recording The ESP free Jazz catalogue. More about the 1966 tour with Dylan and The Band. His feelings about tubes vs solid state …

For years the tapes sat in the vaults of then Columbia now Sony. Now we can listen to the famous Bob Dylan and the Hawks/Band live tour of 1966 which includes the "Judus" concert in Manchester England. Richard is the audio & recording engineer that we can thank for these recordings. He has great stories of his early times in Greenwich Village in th…

J. J. French doesn't let up in part 2 of his interview. Great tales of his early musical development and witnessing of the amazing scene in New York in the late 60s and 70s. He describes his initial involvement in the band Twisted Sister and some of the methods and attitudes that have made the band successful for more than 40 years.…

We Sit down with J. J. French best know as the lead guitarist of Twisted Sister. J.J. tells us of his musical beginnings in New York, His musical forays to Greenwich Village and The Fillmore East where he witnessed an enviable number of bands. Very little escaped his eye. He tells his story with intelligence and humor. This is the first of at least…

Author, Terry Foster (Fender The Golden Age) discusses Leo Fender from childhood, his radio shop, partnership with Doc Kaufman and formation of Fender Electric Instruments. A deep dive into the company and it's early development.

Pt.2 of our discussion with Brooklyn guitar wizard Flip Scipio where he discusses the music and guitars of Ry Cooder, David Lindley,Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Wes Montgomery and more. Informative and entertaining for sure.

Flip is such an entertaining speaker that he could have a career in stand up. However, there would be a long line at his door in Bushwick in need of his guitar wizardry. Imagine the following who’s guitars he’s worked on lined up at his door: George Benson, Edie Brickell, Jeff Bridgers, Jackson Browne, Larry Campbell, Jim Campilongo, Rosanne Cash, …

More great stuff from Dan, tips for buying and setting up guitars. His adventures as a pioneer of self produced guitar repair instructional videos. His inventions like a chair that holds your guitar while you sit on it and numerous recollections of musicians he's known. Dan's stories flow like water. check out the blog for a Spotify playlist at www…

Dan Erlewine master guitar repairman and current spokesman for Stewart MacDonald discusses his life in music from his folkie roots in Ann Arbor, his blues band days in San Francisco, building guitars for Albert King and Jerry Garcia, the creation of his pioneering videos on guitar repair plus many fascinating stories and guitar tips. Extremely ente…

In part 2 of our conversation Andre' discusses his early trips to Nashville and Kalamazoo to research his first book "Gibson Electrics" and his involvement with Fender leading to his books "The Fender Telecaster" and "The Fender Stratocaster". A fascinating discussion with a pioneer vintage guitar expert.…

Pioneer vintage guitar expert Andre' Duchossoir discusses early fascination with the guitar and music including attending the Beatles Paris concerts in 1964 and the groundbreaking early articles and books on vintage guitars

Author, writer Dave Rubin continues the discussion of the evolution of the electric guitar in R & B. with examples from Ike Turner, Curtis Mayfield , The Meters, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Cropper and Nile Rodgers. If you enjoyed episode #3 pt.1 then you won't want to miss this wrap up in pt. 2

Dave Rubin, author of over 100 books of guitar instruction and numerous articles on the blues based on personal interviews with many notables brings his formidable knowledge to our podcast. It will take 2 podcast for Dave to discuss the evolution of the electric guitar in Rhythm and Blues.

We continue our conversation with legendary New York Opinion maker Sal Nunziato, publisher of Burning Wood Blog.

Liner notes conversations with people with a passion for all things musical. First episode we interview Sal Nunziato New York vintage vinyl dealer and musician. Well know opinion maker author of "Burning Wood" blog.