When the highly respected label The Numero Group approached Brandon Butler, the voice and heart of KC heart throbs Boy's Life, about doing a retrospective of his influential band, his initial thought might've been there's not enough material to reissue, considering they only released 2 full lenths in their short tenure. What he hadn't considered was they were purchasing their entire catalog of 7" recordings and split collabs with bands like Christie Front Drive and Vitreous Humor, turning their rerelease into a 4 LP celebration of this foundational band from Kansas City MO. His career is one of a troubador and seeker always pushing and growing. His evolution over the years of his different bands from The Farewell Bend, to Canyon and on to Six Bells and through a prolific solo career that has seen him blossom from indie rocker to thoughtful and knowledgable musician with command over not only his lyrical narrative but also his voice and the machinations of theory, allowing him to make the music he hears in his head. He's a dedicated father, husband, a talented luthier and a hardass worker with a growing remodeling business in his adopted town of Louisville KY. With the reissues and a few Boy's Life shows in the near future, Brandon's at the top of his game indeed.&nbsp;

Episode 183 - Brandon Butler

After 13 years of teaching percussion as an adjunct faculty member at a nearby college in upstate New York, Blake Fleming was unceremoniously let go, common with many colleges and shrinking enrollment that is plaguing the academic world. But the loss of this relatively low-paying gig was a blessing of sorts for Blake, a ground breaking drummer who entered the collective conscious with his avant punk band of the 90's Dazzling Killmen, then Laddio Bolocko, followed directly by a stint as a founding member and drummer in The Mars Volta. He used his new-found freedom to channel his creative energies into finishing and releasing a new album of percussion-only music, one that forges an EP from 2020 called Drum Killah with new material that has become his newest release called The Beat Fantastic. It's an eclectic and powerful testament to the tones created by only percussion instruments, revealing much more nuance and melody and actual note from each drum in pieces that feature no stringed instruments or keys of any sort. Blake is also an author of note after he released his first book in 2017 called The Book Of Rhythm (Skin and Stick Publishing) an exhaustive archive of rhythms containing every possible rhythmic combination derived from a 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9-beat grouping as well as every combination derived from a 12-beat grouping. With The Beat Fantastic he's offering rock-solid proof of the power of percussive music.&nbsp;

Episode 184 - Blake Fleming

Gerald Dowd is the rare working musician who is actually making his living directly from his drumming gigs with an extremely wide range of musicians, from Eddie Vedder to Mavis Staples to Robbie Fulks to Neko Case to Justin Roberts, not to mention fantastic players that you may not have heard or be aware of. In addition, he's a songwriter of the first order playing a brand of country music that tips its cap just slightly without ever aping a certain artist or style. On his most recent solo release&nbsp;Fathers Day, his songs are straight from his soul and reflect exactly who he's become as a father and husband making his way in life, with narratives sometimes hilarious but also achingly poignent and heartfelt. After graduating from music school in Boston in the late 90's studying jazz and classical percussion, he found his way to Chicago and spent 20 years traveling the US and the world playing every small venue with various outfits, at which point he'd embedded himself within the Chicago scene and became the go-to hire for so many. Gerald is also a crazy man by staging fundraising events called the Day Of The Dowd in which he plays drums for 13 hours straight with 12 different bands to raise money for local food banks, pantries and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Great rap with the real deal.&nbsp;

Episode 185 - Gerald Dowd

Going back to school to study World Religions just seemed like the right thing to do for Chris Simpson, the hugely talented solo artist operating under Mountain Time and formerly of the bands Mineral and later The Gloria Record. Minerals influence and impact from the late 90's cannot be overstated from their albums the Power of Failing and then EndSerenading, before getting signed to Interscope Records and then promptly disbanding. Dream Homes (Spartan Records) is the new record from Mountain Time and it sprawls and inspires awe with walls of sound including horn and string sections and loose arrangements that Chris danced with for over a decade while also raising four kids with his wife in Austin. oh and now going back to school. Dream Homes of course reflects his love of giants like Big Star, Neil Young, the Band, George Harrison, Leonard Cohen. But mostly if reflects Chris at his best.&nbsp;

Episode 186 - Chris Simpson

The service industry has always been in actor Vasily Deris' blood, seeing as how his family owned a group of restaurants in Crown Point IN just south of Chicago. He had been working 12 hours a day in multiple restaurants each for more than a decade but his true calling is on the stage; any and all stages. Since deciding to refocus his existence into the lights he's taken his powerful singing and acting talents to many hallowed Chicago stages in performaces of Bat Out Of Hell: the Meatloaf Musical, Groundhog Day, Kinky Boots, and is currently finishing a 2 month run at Writers Theater in Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812. But his biggest break may have been landing an agent which pretty quickly turned around into impactful screentime on FX's The Bear, Shining Girls Apple TV+, Showtimes Shameless&nbsp; and now a holiday feature film with&nbsp;Ben Stiller coming later this year. The SAG-AFTRA strike stuck a dagger in not just his work but the entire biz and Vasily still has a toe in the service industry. But you may want to put your order in quick because soon he'll be too busy.&nbsp;

Episode 187 - Vasily Deris

Blake Smith and his rock band Figdish from the 90's Chicago scene has never taken things too seriously; never been careerists, and in fact went out of their way to indulge in hijinx and sabotage, despite ending up with 2 hugely influential records and a solid major label record deal. This was the band that came of age with&nbsp;Varuca Salt, Local H and Smoking Popes with comparisons to Replacements and Husker Du that intentionally played a set of Neil Diamond covers at a label showcase in front of A&amp;R from all the biggies. The same band that threw a sandwich off their hotel balcony and covered Marilyn Manson and his crew in hoagie. Blake Smith and band mate Mike Wilison went on to start the electronica based project Caviar with pretty solid success with lots of TV and film placement. But its the music that was written before they lost their record deal with Polygram that is the focus of a new Figdish release, the first in over 25 years, called Feels Like The Very First Two Time (Forge Again). These apocryphal songs complete the journey of this band and round out a top flight collection of powerful chicago indierock of the 90's scene that left a lasting impact on rock today, despite the hijinx and sabotage.&nbsp;

Episode 188 - Blake Smith

Kirtito Freestyle (Mo Hos)

Freestyle-Bing (Bring Intrigue Never Garbage)

Day Twelve - The Life And Times (cover)

WARNING! All ye who put your ears toward this episode should know that it is the final installment of Third Gear Scratch, which appropriately features one of my closest friends and bandmates, Mr Chris Metcalf of our band, The Life and Times. But before that Chris had done much wood-shedding with crazy great bands like Stella Link , SImple Lines and Lafayette. The latter one here Lafayette has in fact reformed since Chris has returned to KC after an almost 10 year run in Chicago, and has recently made a new record with Paul Malinowski, Shiner bassist that is due for release. We recount our time together in TLAT through 5 records and 3 more EPs and so many live shows and tours with bands like Russian Circles, Mono, Pelican, Murder By Death, Appleseed Cast, Sparta, Nueva Vulcano, Magnetic Morning and so many more. It's a fantastic way to close out this podcast that I've been so greatful to host and get to meet so many hugely talented artists who've inspired me and Chris is among the most inspiring. There's new Life and Times in the pipeline, so pour one out for Third Gear Scratch podcast but don't weep for me or us. We'll continue to make music as long as our bodies will let us. Thank you all so much for the support and for your ears and for all my amazing guests. ONWARD and Keep on making stuff. All the love!&nbsp;

FINAL EPISODE! 189 Chris Metcalf

Music with heart and soul and laughter.  Prolife Photo credit: Omar Figueroa Turcios is a renowned Colombian illustrator and caricaturist.

No longer posting on SoundCloud Moving all of it somewhere more accessible #stars #portals #portalsisfromheaven #kiing #kiingshine

New tracks tagged #shiner