I love reading biographies of musicians. I like watching the TV series ‘tales from the tour bus’, about the lives of musicians.
The podcast ‘disgraceland’ is good but the author doesn’t really go into a lot of detail about the musicians, I feel his priorities with his stories aren’t too good.
Are there other podcasts that talk about the lives of musicians (especially their dysfunctional antics)? I’d be interested in hearing them.
My friends Rev. Peyton and his wife Breezy have a podcast called Hard Times and Weirdness that is nearing 50 episodes. They play Country Blues, have been touring continuously for nearly 15 years and have played in 37 countries. Unlike far too many of their peers, they decided early on to actually see the world and meet people rather than seeing only green rooms and stages and meeting no one but industry. For instance, they love to fish, and have fished in 35 countries so far (some fishing magazine really needs to hire Rev as a columnist.)
Rev is a great storyteller, and they have had so many amazing adventures on the road.
My favorite episode is #11, where they tell of a run-in with Ted Nugent where they both played an Indiana Ribfest. As soon as they show up, Nugent’s road manager is being a colossal asshole, and one of the rules of the road is that nobody lasts long in that job being an asshole unless they are being directed to act that way. The story is epic.
Episode #46 was done with a live audience at Hordestock where they tell of an encounter early in their career with fellow Indiana native Axl Rose at the bar over the Roxy in LA, where he plays them he as then unreleased Chinese Democracy in Daryl Trucks’s tour bus, that ends with poor Daryl hiding under a car to avoid Axl.
Two others are done with their friend, the fishing guide Captain Vinnie told the most amazing fish story I’ve ever heard of fishing for tuna off the back of a cruise ship, and later returned to tell the tale of a fishing competition in Cuba, and meeting the man who was the model for The Old Man and The Sea.
Another truly amazing podcast is the Rialto Report. It’s about the adult film industry in New York City during the Seventies, but they had two episodes that were about music.
My favorite one was about Neville Chesters, a roadie for The Who, Jimi Hendrix, ELP, Cream and the Bee Gees. It’s filled with stories about dealing with the insanity of life on the road, and the insanity of Keith Moon specifically.
There is also a two-parter about Disco singer/porn star Andrea True that is well worth listening to. Part 1. Part 2.