Couch Riffs

Vivian Campbell has had a great career playing in legendary bands since the early 80s. Sweet Savage (as covered by Metallica), Dio's original band for the first three albums (Classic KILLERS, all three), Whitesnake (stepping in to cover John Syke's place), and for the last 27 years Def Leppard who was inducted in to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year (2019). Vivian is currently out touring small theaters and clubs with Last In Line who is supporting their sophomore release. He was a great story-teller, a great guest, and a humble guitar hero. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/support

I'm honestly not sure how this slipped by and went unpublished until now. I mean, Shane recorded the intro that I use on every single podcast for crying out loud. At any rate, Shane Enholm is an open book and anyone willing to read the big words (and the subtext) through his many social media posts, mostly IG videos, already feel like they know him. I certainly did. But, each time that you tune in to his videos or you talk with Shane you learn some insanely interesting little tidbit about him, his life, or the things in his life that he has read up on and studied.  Shane clearly paved a rough road in his earlier life. Unlike many others before and after him he was fortunate enough to make it through and turn himself around and tune his life up, changing his attitude and outlook. Admittedly, many of his instagram stories can be taken in a number of different ways if you only take them at face value. However, Shane is one of the realest dudes I've ever met and his stories are not brags or boasts. He states hims

On this episode of Couch Riffs Podcast I had the pleasure of hosting the guitar/bass team from Buckcherry, Stevie D, Kelly Lemieux, and Kevin Roentgen. We played Nights On Broadway by The Bee Gees and it was a gas! If you haven't seen it please go check it out on IG, YouTube, of Facebook.  We cover a few things in this conversation including the new album, road rage, guitars, and the sexual power of Barry Gibb. Our performance and the conversation we recorded/filmed were bisected by some band business and a drive in my Jeep back and forth to The Chance where the band was playing this night in Poughkeepsie. So, we were only just getting back in to the groove when we had to call it and get back for the band to play their show.  As always, please leave reviews and help support Couch Riffs by subscribing where ever you listen to your podcasts as well as showing pledge support at Anchor.fm/couch-riffs . I also have some great shirts for sale to help fund the purchase of some more new gear to keep the Couch Riffs i

My guest on the Couch Riffs podcast this week is one of the earliest Couch Riffs performance guests from pre-podcast conception. Timo Ellis is an incredibly multi-talented musician with a mind tuned for thrashing convention. As always, Timo and I didn't talk about the weather when we hung out. We cover drugs, classic metal, Grateful Dead, random thoughts, and his career timeline amongst other things.  I hope you enjoy this episode and please help support Couch Riffs if you're able! Subscribe, leave messages, and pledge at Anchor.fm if you're able.  Thanks so much. It really makes a difference!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/support

This is the complete conversation during my hang with Jared James Nichols in which the entire video was loooooost! NO! That's okay, the show was  salvaged and I got a good video episode still. Please go check it out! Jared is currently on fire and for good reason: he's amazing and just as genuine and cool as he is talented.  I had such a great time making this episode and the song we performed, Albatross by Fleetwood Mac, is an all-time favorite from the psych-blues genius mind of Peter Green. Go check it out at www.couchriffs.com YouTube, IG, and Facebook!  Thanks for your support! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/support

I've known Nabil for over 20 years, been in two bands with him, and clocked countless van miles with him. He's one of the most consistent and rock solid humans I've ever known and I'm happy to call him my friend.  Being a big Soundgarden fan, Nabil picked this week's Couch Riffs song and he crushed it! I totally clammed ALL of my weird little bits, though. And, that's how the cookie crumbles here at Couch Riffs, kids. Practice like you will perform (also, Do as I say, not as I do).  As for Nabil, our conversation in this video is an abbreviated edit of a much longer story of his trail from small indie label owner to being the US General Manager of one of the coolest labels of all time, 4AD (while still operating his own label, The Control Group). I hope you enjoy!  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO BE NOTIFIED OF ALL NEW EPISODES! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/support

To say that Brad Houser merely impacted my musical life is hardly true. He almost entirely put me on a course, in fact. I must've seen Critters Buggin' 25 times in Seattle in the 90s and when I couldn't find myself a guitar gig I got myself a bass gig. Brad was my guy. I even started a band with some friends that was our answer (read: attempted rip off) to Critters, an instrumental band consisting of my 3 different basses (4 and 5 string plus fretless), drums and a percussionist, and a clarinetist. So, yeah. Brad had an influence on me. And, as I've said a million times: playing the bass was one of the most important things I've ever done for my guitar playing. So, Brad eventually influenced my guitar playing by my estimations. Getting in to Critters opened doors for me to go back and listen to Miles, Herbie, and some other 70s stuff like Mahavishnu.  Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians' debut album had a break out single, What I Am. As a young rock/metal kid it was unusual for me to get into something like

What can I say? John Roderick is like my brother, driving me crazy much of the time but I love him a lot. Like anyone close to John I've spent countless hours having discussions with him, like this one, late in to the night. Usually with some iHop pancakes and strawberry milkshakes..... We've been in two bands together. One as bandmates (Harvey Danger) and one with him as the leader (The Long Winters). I can tell you with confidence that I preferred to play with him as a peer, though. John, as he states himself, has a lot of "ideas". You can listen yourself to some of them in my upcoming Couch Riffs Podcast. Our conversation was a whopping 93 minutes long. Sheesh.  It has been something like 12 or 13 years since the last record was recorded by The Long Winters. I tracked some guitar (and bass that was unceremoniously recorded over after I quit mid-session) on that record and I think it is a really sweet collection of tunes. I would love so much for John to find the inspiration to commit himself to making the

What can I say? John Roderick is like my brother, driving me crazy much of the time but I love him a lot. Like anyone close to John I've spent countless hours having discussions with him, like this one, late in to the night. Usually with some iHop pancakes and strawberry milkshakes..... We've been in two bands together. One as bandmates (Harvey Danger) and one with him as the leader (The Long Winters). I can tell you with confidence that I preferred to play with him as a peer, though. John, as he states himself, has a lot of "ideas". You can listen yourself to some of them in my upcoming Couch Riffs Podcast. Our conversation was a whopping 93 minutes long. Sheesh.  It has been something like 12 or 13 years since the last record was recorded by The Long Winters. I tracked some guitar (and bass that was unceremoniously recorded over after I quit mid-session) on that record and I think it is a really sweet collection of tunes. I would love so much for John to find the inspiration to commit himself to making the

Alex Skolnick is one of the most versatile guitarists in the metal game and was waaaaay ahead of the curve when it came to shred metal guys taking a step outside of the metal world. And, being such an amazing player he is an incredibly cool and humble guy, clearly happy to be living a life creating and performing music. It might seem weird to some that I would mention a musician being absolutely happy living a musician's life but trust me, its less common than you think it is. We talk in this episode about functional/dysfunctional band dynamics,  Alex Skolnick Trio and playing with "real jazz guys", and new Testament LP. Look for a complete and unedited version of our conversation in an upcoming Couch Riffs podcast! Reflecting back on the middle school kid I was in the outer edges of the Bay Area in '84-'85 I can tell you that it was a thrill and an honor to have Alex in my home to do Couch Riffs with ME. Metal was everything to me and, as I've stated in the past, KVHS radio was a High School station that was

Our first episode is finally here! The amazing Matt Sweeney and I had almost an hourlong conversation immediately following the recording of our first take of David Bowie's "Fame". Look for it on YouTube! Matt is an incredibly talented musician who cannot possibly be summarized in this podcast description. Please, if you're not familiar, look him up. You're most likely very familiar with a number of things he's recorded on as he has recorded and performed alongside tons of legendary artists since the 90s right up until today.  I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Matt is smart, engaging, and always down to clown about guitar stuff.  Please subscribe to hear future episodes with future guests! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/couch-riffs/support