Lenny Kaye, guitarist for the Patti Smith Band, and his dog, Silvie took a walk around Greenwich Village in January with Rick, Cindy and Mike. Him and Rick talked about the old days, record shops, beatniks, punks, hippies, Cafe Wah, Horses and of course guitars. Then Lenny came back to shop to warm up and played an unexpected cover. Music by Patti …

Comedian and musician Dave Hill stops by the shop to talk about his book “The Awesome Game”, playing hockey in Kenya, playing guitar in guitar shops, Tatoos and Guitars, of course. He also plays his song “I Wanna Live in New York City”. Music from Painted Doll, Sons of Elvis, Witch Taint, Valley Lodge and Dave Hill Theme music by Freaky Wilderness…

Bill Bentley worked with Lou Reed for years becoming a friend and confidante. Bill is a former music journalist and publicist for Warner Records. He has assembled a fantastic cast of musicians performing in a tribute album: Lou Reed - The Power Of The Heart is available now. Lou Reed fans, you're going to want to tune in to this one. Please support…

Kirk Douglas, guitarist for The Roots, stopped by just before Thanksgiving 2023 to talk about the Thanksgiving day parade, his band Hundred Watt Heart, a gifted Les Paul, and More. Music from Hundred Watt Heart Theme music by Freaky WildernessBy Carmine Street Guitars

Rick talks about the life and death of his friend guitarist Robert Quine. Quine was a legendary musician who was remains relatively unknown, but chances are you have heard his playing. His collaborators included Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Lou Reed (notably on The Blue Mask), Brian Eno,[2] John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot, Marianne Faithfull (Stra…

Dr. Gregory Alan Thornbury is an author, musician and currently Executive Director of the Silver Arts Project. He stopped by the shop on St. Patrick's day in 2022 to talk about playing in a band with Carl Perkin's son, Rickenbackers and his daughter, Kate Thornbury, who is an incredible up and coming artist. Also a surprise guest dropped by and tol…

Join host, Frank Gallagher and Melissa Etheridge, in a great chat across the spectrum of music and life. Plug in! Please support the show at soundmanconfidential.com Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Steve Gunn dropped by the shop in January of 2022 to tell us a story about how he had his guitar stolen in Russia. He also performed the song “Morning River” from his album “Other You” on one of the Kelly Guitars in the shop. Featuring music from Steve Gunn Theme music by Freaky WildernessBy Carmine Street Guitars

Dylan Keefe from Marcy Playground stopped by the shop in December 2021 to talk about his Chelsea Hotel bass and his new band The Back-alley Dolls. Theme music by Freaky Wilderness Songs from Marcy Playground and Back-alley DollsBy Carmine Street Guitars

Bruce Findlay has played an important part in Scottish pop music history. Check in for an episode that travels the early path of Simple Minds on their way to global success, managed by Bruce Findlay. Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Natty Frenchy, guitarist for the Skatalites, The Congos and literally any legendary reggae artist you can think of, stops by the shop and schools Rick, Cindy and Mike in the history of Jamaican music. Music by Natty Frenchy Theme Song by Freaky WildernessBy Carmine Street Guitars

Welcome to the back of the shop! Brush the saw dust off that stool over there and have a seat. Rick, Cindy and Mike talk all shop. Theme and Music by Freaky WildernessBy Carmine Street Guitars

By Carmine Street Guitars

Galen Ayers and Paul Simonon have a new album out, Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day ? It's an album you'll have on repeat, a dynamic blend of duets and melody. Galen Ayers is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter. Her life has been steeped in music. As a child, she would tour with her father, Kevin Ayers, a founder of the influential Sixties band…

Guardian/Observer staff photographer Sarah Lee first watched Dont Look Back whilst perched on a crowded bed in a Camden flat with a struggling rock combo called Coldplay. As she’s now a BAFTA photographer, Sarah checks plenty of other names in this episode, including Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett. On celebrity photogr…

Rebecca Slaman, writer and social media guru, is a fan of Bob Dylan’s “perfect random meme humour.” Twitter? “Girls lust after him! But I’ve seen some pretty egregious stuff. Old people don’t understand the platform.” Dylan’s 1987 film Hearts of Fire? “He cannot act. How can he not act? He’s been acting his whole life. So bad - but so entertaining!…

In the 61st year of her singing career, five-time Grammy nominee Bettye LaVette warns us that our chat will be “straight, no chaser”. And she lives up to that promise. Bettye describes her surprise backstage meeting with Bob Dylan: “He kissed me on the mouth. It was no big deal. I’ve kissed Otis Redding and David Ruffin”. Working with Keith Richard…

Like his main man Bob Dylan, comedian Simon Munnery knows a few things about heckles: aside from being arrested in Edinburgh for heckling Arthur Smith, he met his future wife when she heckled him in Australia. When not on the road, Simon joins his local Morris Men in Bedfordshire pubs, serenading fellow drinkers with his version of Blind Willie McT…

Journalist Helen Barrett was lullabied to sleep as her mother sang Mr. Tambourine Man; she had it played at her mother’s funeral (“the Dylan version, not the Byrds cover”). To top it off, Baby, Stop Crying was the soundtrack to her Dylan-loving parents’ divorce. Helen analyses Dylan’s clothes (“John Lennon wasn’t given to copying people, but he cop…

Michael Bonner, editor of music magazine Uncut, takes on Dylan’s 2022 UK concerts, as well as The Philosophy of Modern Song (“Dylan mimicking the critical noise around Dylan”). Other topics include an in-depth dissection of Key West (“ambient, amniotic and immersive”), Dylan’s “thing that he has about dual guitarists” and a couple of unfortunate Do…

Comedian and columnist Stewart Lee remains “grateful to the people who brainwashed me into listening to Bob Dylan during a period of emotional and physical weakness.” He remembers seeing Dylan live at Hyde Park with his kids (“one of the greatest nights of my life”) as well as the time he alienated the audience at a Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit. “I…

Fred Armisen is my guest. Actor, comedian and drummer. Plug in! Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Writer Matt Rowland Hill is well placed to comment on Dylan’s ‘Property of Jesus’ years: “the kind of fire-and-brimstone Christianity that I grew up with was exactly the kind that Dylan converted into. He was ripe to be captured”. At the age of 17, Matt wangled his way past security in London, hoping to accost his hero, only to told by members of D…

Jeff Hanna, founder member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, is a team player. He has played with Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Jackson Browne, John Prine, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Rosanne Cash, Linda Ronstadt and Matraca Berg. Oh, and Roger McGuinn, Jason Isbell, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Larry Campbell an…

Australian singer/songwriter Emma Swift's highly acclaimed Blonde On The Tracks album, with guitar backing by life partner (and former podcast guest) Robyn Hitchcock, was her breakthrough recording. Emma swears that "singing Dylan's songs is like wearing a magical cape. Suddenly you have special powers. My job is to give each song a different emoti…

Lenny Kaye is best known as the guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. He is the author of Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll. Plug In. Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Prize-winning poet and playwright Caroline Bird reminds us that “we’re all poets when we’re asleep. Writing is trying to find a way to dream while we’re awake”. On Bob Dylan: “You always hear him choosing the dark side of the road”; “What I love is that his songs are full of denial. Whenever the emotion gets too real, he runs away” and “He’s so naï…

Patti Smith Group guitarist and author Lenny Kaye reminds us that “Bob Dylan is still experimenting, seeing who he might be, putting on the weirdest shows ever, upending barriers”. Almost in one breath, Lenny gives forth on working with or listening to Suzanne Vega, John Coltrane, Gayle, The Stooges, Brian Eno, The Byrds, Bing Crosby and Janis Jopl…

Film director/screenwriter Justin Trefgarne talks about Dylan, but also about fathers, sons, archetypes and coincidence. “Bob has been the guardian angel and surrogate father for my entire adult existence,” he tells us. From his first encounter with Like A Rolling Stone (which he played for five hours straight), “everything was up for grabs”. Hear …

Black 47's, Larry Kirwan is on the show this week. Songwriter, playwright, novelist and storyteller - tune in. It's a smashing chat. Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Singer/Songwriter/Actor John Doe tells terrific tales: hanging with Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder in Memphis, gigging with Nick Lowe in London and hearing his voice come out of Christian Bale’s mouth in Todd Haynes’s Dylan biopic I’m Not There. Did John’s appearance with LA punk band X on the Letterman Show in 1983 inspire Dylan’s wild 1984 set wit…

Belfast’s Steven Cockcroft (co-host of leading Beatles podcast Nothing Is Real) offers unexpected takes on The Boys and Bob: “Roll On John isn’t about an individual, it’s about the sanctification of Lennon” and “The Travelling Wilburys was a calculated move by George”. Also on the menu: Dylan’s questionable harmonies on an obscure Ringo album track…

Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, on this month's show. Plug in! Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Our special culinary episode with critic Eric Asimov includes the story of long-time Dylan bass player Tony Garnier’s delicious Christmas gumbo and Dylan’s wine-making venture, Planet Waves (“the wine has aged better than the album”). A fan since hearing “I Want You” the age of eight, Eric is “drawn to the atmosphere Bob creates. It’s misty. It’s a…

Singer, songwriter and saxophonist Curtis Stigers tells us true stories with a cast of characters including Van Morrison, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan. A fan from way back (“Bob is the perfect creation. He’s an art form in himself”), his jazzy cover versions include Things Have Changed (“people go nuts for that song. Their heads explode”). A committe…

Comic actor Thom Tuck discovered Bob Dylan when, growing up in Bangladesh, he caught the promo for Subterranean Homesick Blues on MTV Rewind. His family eventually returned to Leeds, where his outsider status was made even worse/better by his obsession with all things Bob. At university, he didn’t improve his lot by writing a play called “One More …

Soundman Confidential is back with a bang! This week's guest is Clem Burke, best-known as the drummer from Blondie. You'll want to hear this one. Tune in. Check out past shows on soundmanconfidential.com Support the show. Thank you. Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Fellow podcaster Laura Tenschert’s Definitely Dylan contains multitudes of theories and insights which she shares in this eye-opening episode. German-born Laura learned English by listening to Bob, which gave her sharper ears than most. Dozens of songs are given forensic treatment, ranging from classics like Lord Protect My Child and Buckets of Rai…

Writer and musician Richard Strange insists “If you don’t want to be Bob Dylan, you shouldn’t be writing songs”. He takes us on a journey that starts in his Brixton comprehensive (“I was always bunking off, going to art galleries and the haunted, dingy Soho flesh-pot folk clubs”). He discovers “the boy band of Beat literature: Burroughs, Kerouac an…

Author, editor and podcaster Andy Miller is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore: “Bob Dylan is not a safe option!” “The heritage industry around the Beatles and Dylan is neutering the anarchy of the music. The world sees me as just another bloke buying a Dad Rock box set at Christmas. But it’s not a hygienic vision of what rock ‘n’ ro…

Music journalist Kate French-Morris found her calling in a University of California class taught by Greil Marcus (“he gets closer to Bob’s mind than anyone can, with his sideways thinking and his cattiness”). Kate shares a birthday with Dylan, but her main man might be Bruce Springsteen, who figures strongly in this, our first studio recording for …

Ian Rankin is the best-selling crime fiction author of the Rebus series. He's also a massive music lover. Plug in for our chat. It's a belter. Support the show and subscribe. We can't do it without you. Thank you. Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

The fabulous Suzi Quatro on the show this week. Check it! Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

While held captive for 32 months by Somali pirates, writer and Dylan fan Michael Scott Moore had plenty of opportunity to contemplate lyrics, especially All Along The Watchtower. He was given a Bible during his captivity and discovered, in Isaiah, “the ramparts, the princes, the two horsemen and the wildcat. The whole song clicked! It’s about the f…

Cool for Cats! Plug in for my chat with Chris Difford of Squeeze. Support the show at soundmanconfidential.com. Thank you. Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Hugo Burnham drummed the beat in Gang of Four, a band with influence. Tune in for our chat. And please help us keep the sound on by making a donation. We can't do it without your support. Loud cheers to those who have donated. Thank you! soundmanconfidential.com Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Comedy writer Daniel Radosh initiated the Twitter hashtag #BD969, celebrating every officially released Dylan song, as well as posting four playlists for The 80th Birthday: Bob Dylan For Beginners. We discuss these gems and open up the contentious topic of Dylan’s album cover art, from best to worst and everything in between. Other albums covered i…

John Cooper Clarke is the Bard of Salford, the pioneer punk-poet putting the pun in punktuation. Tune in. It's a belter. If you like what you hear, please support the show at soundmanconfidential.com. Thanks a million. And subscribe on the podcast channels. Support the Show.By Frank X. Gallagher

Gina Schock is the drummer of The Go-Go's. Take a listen. It's a smashing chat. And check out Gina's upcoming book, Made in Hollywood, for all things Go-Go's. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting the show at soundmanconfidential.com. Subscribe where you get your podcasts. Next up is Dr. John Cooper Clarke, the Bard of Salford, Engl…

Jonathan Taplin, former road manager for The Band, has done it all. He set up the equipment for Dylan’s electric set at Newport in ‘65 (“the soundcheck lasted ten minutes”) and was production manager for Dylan and The Band at the Guthrie Tribute in ’68. He organised the groundbreaking Concert For Bangladesh and produced the concert and film of The …