We're back! First of all, our deepest apologies for being away for so long. We've been very busy with life, and we finally got a chance to sit down and record an episode! We reach back into the 90s for an oldie but goodie, and also a strange genre blend of breakbeat, opera and metal. Thank you so much for your patience! Our Songs for This Week: Smo…

We return to our original format with two random songs, no special theme this time. We talk about an up and coming pop star as well as an established but relatively unknown prog metal band. Our Songs for This Week: Escapism (featuring 070 Shake) by Raye, from her 2023 album My 21st Century Blues released via Human Re Sources. 1985 by Haken, from th…

First of all, our apologies for missing an episode in April. We suffered some loss in our family, including our dog Leela. In this episode we pay tribute to our puppers, and pick two songs that remind us of her. We barely talk about our songs, and we just ended up talking about our pups the majority of the time. The release date of this episode is …

New episode! We have another edition of Criss Cross Applesauce for you. Sam chooses a solo piano tune, and Peter chooses a heartfelt country tune. Our songs for this week: Fry Bread by Connor Chee, from his 2020 album Scenes from Dinétah self-released. My Only Child by The Highwomen, from their 2019 album The Highwomen released via Elektra Records …

And we're back! In this episode, we pick songs that we think the other will absolutely hate. One of us is way more successful than the other, bet you can't guess! Thank you for your patience while we were away, and moving forward we will be releasing episodes less frequently. We're thinking once a month at this point. Thank you for sticking with us…

Happy New Year friends! What a crazy year it's been. This year we have tried something with a theme for almost every episode. It's been an absolute blast picking our songs for these themes, and we've even learned a thing or two. We can't wait to see what 2023 has to bring. Honestly, it's been tough to keep up a regular schedule these days, so we ma…

Happy National Native American Heritage Month! In this episode, we pick artists that have Native American ties. One from New England in North America, and one from Columbia in South America. As mentioned in the episode, if you're curious which indigenous lands you are on, check out Native Land Digital. Our songs for this week: You Never Told Me by …

This week we wanted to highlight transgender artists for Transgender Awareness Week, observed November 13 to November 19. While we featured a transgender artist for our pride month episode, we wanted to go a step further and raise awareness of the transgender community. Our songs for this week: I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses by Back…

For the conclusion of our two part episode, we continue our discussion of opera songs with friendo Kris! We continue with a metal rendition of a famous aria, and conclude with one of the most iconic arias of all time. Thanks again to Kris for joining us, and we hope you enjoyed this two part special! Our songs for this week: Nessun Dorma by Manowar…

For this two part episode, we invited friendo of the pod Kris back on! This time we are covering opera songs! We start off with Sarah Brightman and discussing the world of popera. This is only part 1 of 2, so please stay tuned for part 2! Stay tuned for part 2 in a couple weeks, where we cover both Sam and Peter's songs! Our song for this week: O m…

This week we decide to go back to our regular format with no theme. Sam revisits The Marfa Tapes which you heard in our top 5 songs of 2021, and Peter shares a song with an American Idol! Our songs for this week: Home Grown Tomatoes by Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, and Jon Randall, off their 2021 album The Marfa Tapes released via RCA Nashville. Ta…

Happy (belated) birthday to the late great Freddie Mercury! In this episode, we choose two songs by Queen that were primarily written by Freddie Mercury. His songwriting, his vocal talent, and his stage presence are truly unparalleled. Unfortunately, he was taken from us too soon and succumbed to complications as a result from having AIDS. His infl…

This week, we wrap up our dive into Post by Björk! For part 2 we finish with the more chill and more subdued latter half of the album, including our favorites from this portion of the album. We absolutely loved re-listening to this album, and we hope you enjoyed our discussion! All songs are from Post by Björk, released on June 7, 1995 released via…

This week, we return to a format we tried last year, and we take another deep dive into an album! Sam bought Post by Björk on whim at a used record store, and for a steal! It remains one of our favorite albums of all time, and is also important in Sam's vocalist journey! This episode is only part one, please stay tuned to part two in a couple weeks…

This week we have a listener request for kid's songs! Thank you Jackie for requesting this episode. We had a blast recording this, and it was a nice break from the more serious heavy subjects as of late. We cover a song from an Animated show from our tween years, as well as a Finnish metal band that performs in dinosaur costumes and aims their musi…

On this episode, we pay tribute to artists in our respective genres. Trevor Strnad and Naomi Judd were large figures in the metal and country world respectively. Unfortunately, they both took their own lives. We take this opportunity to talk about mental health. We are certainly not experts on the subject, but we at least want to have this conversa…

Here's part 2 of our celebration of Pride Month! We continue the fun with Mark and David and we conclude with Sam and Mark's songs! Big thanks to them once again for joining us, we had a total blast. We hope you all had a wonderful pride month filled with love and positivity! Our songs for this week: Skeletons by Brothers Osborne, off their 2020 al…

Happy Pride Month! For this very special 2 part episode, we have invited another couple to join us! We talk to Mark and David about how we all celebrate pride, and we share and discuss LGBTQIA+ artists / songs. With the four of us each sharing a song, this episode ended up being fairly massive. This is just part 1 and it's over an hour long! Our so…

Hello friends! I cut a big chunk of the end of our special episode with Kris. It didn't have much to do with the songs, but I found the conversation to be interesting and I hope you do too. Unfortunately, we've had some IRL (In Real Life) things get in the way of our regularly scheduled program, so I'm stalling a bit with this mini episode. But I w…

It's part two of our celebration of Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! In the conclusion of this special episode, we go through Sam and Peter's songs and to discuss with our friendo Kris! Our songs for this week: 日月神教第一節 (Sun Moon Holy Cult Part 1) by Ripped to Shreds, off their 2019 self-released EP 魔經 - Demon Scriptures. Fr…

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! In this two part episode, we invite our very good friendo, Kris! We've known him for quite some time, and he was even in our wedding party. For part 1, we cover Kris' song by K-pop supergroup GOT the beat. He's a big fan of K-pop and was the perfect person to speak to teach us the ins and ou…

This week we continue with our celebration of Arab American Heritage Month. Sam chose a song from a Lebanese indie rock band, while Peter chose a song from an anonymous black metal band from Saudi Arabia. We also begin the pod discussing the potential end of an era. The Bay Area may lose its one and only country station and Sam has a sads. Our song…

Happy Arab American Heritage Month! Peter and Sam discuss what countries are considered Arab countries, and an upcoming Disney+ show. This week Peter presents a song from the one and only Myrath of Tunisia, and Sam chooses a blast from the past which is somebody you may not know is half Syrian. Our songs for this week: Nobody's Lives by Myrath, fro…

For the second episode of March we are continuing our celebration of female artists for Women's History Month! Sam goes outlaw country while Peter slaps you in the face with a blazing fast tech death tune. Our songs for this week: I Don't Owe You Anything by Tanya Tucker, from her 2019 album While I'm Livin' released via Fantasy Records. If You're …

For March we are celebrating female artists for Women's History Month! Peter kicks things off with an all female death metal band, while Sam steps outside of her norm a bit with a blues tune. Our songs for this week: Death Arcana by Crypta, from their 2021 album Echoes of the Soul released via Napalm Records. Woman Down by Beth Hart, from her 2019 …

Sam and Peter continue to celebrate Black History Month by starting off the episode talking about The Beatles (hear us out!). Sam's song is by a San Francisco Bay Area artist and Peter chose to highlight one of the members of the West Coast Get Down. Today's episode title come from one of Frank Zappa's most famous quotes. Our songs for this week: H…

And we're back! We're fresh off of our podcast vacation, and we have decided to feature black artists in honor of Black History Month! We also have another criss-cross applesauce where Peter's song is country adjacent, and Sam's song is a ripping rap/metal hybrid. Our songs for this week: Hold On by Yola (featuring The Highwomen, Sheryl Crow, and J…

Happy (Almost) New Year! As we wrap up our first full year as a podcast, we look back at our 5 favorite songs of 2021. We were so hopeful that 2021 would magically be a better year. In many ways it was, but we still have a long way to go before we return to normalcy. Here's to a better year, cheers to every single one of you, we appreciate you all!…

Happy holidays y'all! We are a bit late but we wanted to celebrate the holidays with a special Hanukkah episode! Peter picks a part serious, part jokey, but pure fun song. Meanwhile, Sam picks a traditional Hanukkah song covered in a modern jazzy style. Our songs for this week: The Hanukkah Song by Too $hort, a single from 2012 released via Short D…

We did it y'all! We made it to the fourth and final part of our Quadrilogy! For Part 4 of our Podcast Anniversary Quadrilogy, we are now in modern times in the 2010s and talk about the "evil evil" streaming service: Spotify! Peter digs himself even deeper into the progressive metal rabbithole, while Sam circles back to her roots. We hope you enjoye…

For Part 3 of our Podcast Anniversary Quadrilogy, we breach the 2000s and talk about the infamous file sharing software: Napster! In this period of Sam's life, she took a break from Country music until she heard Miranda Lambert's first top 10 hit, while Peter was crashing headfirst into progressive metal. Stay tuned to part 4 (the finale!) which wi…

We continue our pod celebration with Part 2 of our Anniversary Quadrilogy. This time we hit our hormone fueled teenage years and we pick songs from the 90s! We begin by discussing the beginnings of playing music, then head into some grunge, and end with a bluegrass leaning pop country tune. Stay tuned to part 3 which will be released next week wher…

Happy Anniversary to the pod! Our very first intro episode was released on Nov 3, 2020, and we wanted to celebrate by giving y'all four episodes for the month of November. Welcome to Part 1 of our Quadrilogy, where we are picking a song from each decade of our lives. We start off in the 80s (ish) where you get to know where Sam's country roots star…

Happy Halloween! On this week's episode, Peter and Sam share a few spooky stories, and swap songs that are dark and macabre. WARNING: Explicit content! Well, there's explicit content every week, but in particular we speak a bit about domestic abuse as well as a truly vile cannibal true crime story. Our songs for this week: Goodbye Earl by The Chick…

This week we pay tribute to one of our favorite bands, The Beatles! October 15th, 1960 marks the first recording session that included Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Peter and Sam swap their favorite Beatles songs, Special shoutout goes to the Alphabeatical podcast, where they cover all songs by The Bea…

On this week's episode, Peter and Sam stumble upon an unintentional theme of making judgements on how an artist sounds based on their looks. Sam gives Peter Mickey Guyton's song Remember Her Name. It is off Guyton's debut album of the same name which is out today. It's an important album in the country world, showing us all that representation matt…

On this week's episode, Peter and Sam discuss a couple shows they have been watching lately, the comfort we find in our rituals, and the suburbs. The shows are Giri/Haji on Netflix, and Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu. Our songs for this week: Rituals by Rolo Tomassi, from their 2018 album Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It released via Holy Roa…

On this week's episode, Peter and Sam are covering...cover songs! For both of our songs,we will be discussing the original as well as the cover, so you get four songs this week. We also discuss how much covers should stay faithful to the original, and why some people prefer the original over the cover and vice versa. Special shoutout goes to Rise t…

This week our theme is songs from soundtracks. We coincidentally chose songs with similar themes even though the movies they come from are very different. Also, dog farts! Our songs for this week: 悟 (Wù) by Andy Lau, from the official soundtrack of the 2011 movie Shaolin Gone by Ioanna Gika, from the official soundtrack of the 2012 movie Snow White…

This week we talk about Bay Area country artist Cam, and Norwegian progressive black metal band Enslaved. Special shoutout this episode goes to Twitch streamer Vaehan. Check him out at twitch.tv/vaehan! Our songs for this week: Girl Like Me by Cam, from her 2020 album The Otherside released via RCA / Triple Tigers. Roots of the Mountain by Enslaved…

Surprise! We've got a bonus episode for you, and it features a very special guest. Alycia from Civics & Coffee! This episode is only part 1 of our 2 part discussion. To listen to part 2, please head over to Civics & Coffee, which you can find wherever you get your pods. Follow Civics & Coffee on Facebook and Instagram @civicsandcoffee, and on Twitt…

This week, Sam and Peter pay tribute to their parents for the upcoming parents day on July 25th. Our songs for this week: Hound Dog by Elvis Presley, from his 1956 Hound Dog single released via RCA Records. Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley, from his 1968 Suspicious Minds single released via RCA Records. Trống Vắng by Phương Thanh, from her 1998 EP…

This week, Sam and Peter tackle a question from @HistorianTibbs on Twitter, as well as old European Norse chants and country's move into pop territory. Our songs for this week: Traust by Heilung, from their 2019 album Futha released via Season of Mist. Villain by Lily Rose, her 2020 breakout single released via Big Loud Records. Support the show…

This week we decided to honor Deborah, one of our dear friends that passed away recently. She was a big fan of Broadway musicals, and we wanted to honor her memory with a couple classic songs that have special meaning to us. Words cannot truly describe the impact that she has had on our lives. Rest in Peace Deborah, you will be forever in our heart…

This week, Sam and Peter go back to their normal format and dive into a throwback country song and reminisce about concerts. Warning to your ears, Peter's song starts out loud! Special shoutout this week goes to Cereal and Beer! Our songs for this week: Next Girl by Carly Pearce, from her 2021 EP 29 released via Big Machine Records. When I Lost My …

This week, Sam and Peter celebrate their anniversary by dedicating new songs to each other. You get a glimpse into our relationship and we prove that we actually do kind of like each other. You also get a visual of Peter that you can't unsee or unhear...you've been warned! Special shoutout this week goes to Civics & Coffee! Our songs for this week:…

This week, we conclude our format breaking discussion of Lateralus by Tool. Do you ever wonder what it's like to sing Tool for karaoke? You're in luck because Peter has a story for you! All songs are from Lateralus by Tool, released on May 15, 2001 released via Volcano Records. Support the showBy PeterSam

This week, we have a break in format and we are taking a deep dive into an album! Lateralus by Tool is one of our favorite albums of all time, and we are excited to share our discussion with y'all! Speaking of albums, special shoutout to Our Favorite Albums! This episode turned out to be fairly massive, so we split it up into two parts. Stay tuned …

This week, we somehow connect our songs to both The Dark Knight and Avengers Endgame, and bring up Hamilton AGAIN. Our songs for this week: I'm Not Pretty by Jessia, from her 2021 single released via Republic Records Tantibus II by Scardust, from their 2020 album Strangers released via M-Theory Audio. Check them out on Bandcamp here! Support the sh…

Bonus Episode! This is a follow up to "Insert Joke About Cowbell" where Peter said he wanted to dig into Marvin Gaye's discography. We briefly talk about his experience going through Gaye's different eras. Our songs for this week: Stubborn Kind of Fellow by Marvin Gaye, from his 1963 album That Stubborn Kind of Fellow released via Tamla Records. Ma…