Chatter, Chit-Chat and Conversation: More Chats with CirdecSongs

Shame on me.

I’ve been putting so much energy into book work and my YouTube channel, I’ve failed to keep you up do date on what I’ve been doing. Oops.

My other focus has been on interviews. I’ve done quite a few, and more are coming down the pike. Rather than provide a separate post for each chat, whaddaya say I just provide all the links here. From there, feel free to devour at your own pace.

By the way, I’ve chosen to stop using the term “interview.” It’s too formal for what I’m doing. I believe the word “chat” is much more accurate, given the highly informal nature of the conversations. After all, the goal here is not to merely pump information out of my subjects. I’m out to have FUN! and I think we do!

I’d really appreciate it if you would “like” the videos, share them, leave comments, and subscribe to my YouTube channel. The algorithm and I would sincerely appreciate it. Thanks!

Here we go. Ahem …

LEONARDO PAVKOVIC is one of my favorite people. This is at least the third time I’ve spoken to him for publication. In this chat, we discuss his upcoming music festival in Spain, new and upcoming MoonJune Records releases, and the joy of improvisation. Leonardo literally comes out of the dark for this one.

LAINEY SCHOOLTREE is an immensely talented composer/performer. She has found success with her band Schooltree, but more recently, she has been successfully broadcasting a twice weekly livestream via Twitch. We get into that, musical construction, bicycles, and Star Trek.

I wasn’t looking for it to happen, but I’ve become quite friendly with the guys in Chicago’s SONS OF RA. They are both super-capable and very nice people. This makes any conversation we have a good time. Here, the fellas talk about what brings them together musically and their upcoming new album.

My time as a guitarist in St. Louis led me to meet and befriend more than a few musicians who deserve a title much grander than “local.” These guys can hold there own with the best of them. One of those friend is guitarist/vocalist JIMMY GRIFFIN, the only friend I know who once had a video on MTV. We talk about that moment, tribute bands, and his remarkable efforts as a solo performer. Alas, we had a rare technical glitch during this recording, So, the chat is divided into two parts. Here’s the first part:

And here’s Part 2:

PRESTON SINGLETARY is the founder and bassist for Khu.éex’, a band that blends the sounds of Native American spoken word, poetry and percussion with R&B and funk. Better still, their efforts feature the keyboard wizardry of Bernie Worrell, the subject of my current writing project. Hearing about the genesis of that band and what it’s done with 100-plus hours of Bernie’s work made for an interesting chat, indeed.

BILLY BARNETT was my first guitar teacher. Take it as a compliment when I declare him stupid talented! Put a piece of music in front of him, and the man can flat-out PLAY it! He proved this to me on countless occasions. Here we talk about making the big-time, collecting instruments, and the mutual enjoyment of a certain theme song among many other things.

When I went to cover King’s X for Prog magazine, I had the pleasure of seeing a Nashville band called SOUND AND SHAPE. They’re a band worth keeping a close eye on. In this chat, we talk about touring, their current album, and the work that’s coming down the path.