Dad Rocks Podcast (2024)

we discuss what it means to be a parent and a music lover, and how those two elements of our lives sometimes collide.

29/06/2024

🚨New Episode Alert!🚨

Hey, Josh here. On the latest episode of Dad Rocks! I talked with Sal Mercuri. Sal is a high school English teacher, but for decades he was one of the top collectors of memorabilia. And through his collecting, and good luck, he eventually became friends with most of the members of the band.

Now, I have known Sal for almost a decade, as his wife and I taught together at a school for over 8 years. So I knew that he had some connection to the band, and was even Moe Tucker’s “manager” for a while. However, I didn’t know how or when he got involved with them. That is until we sat and talked.

During our conversation we talk about how vinyl records helped Sal learn English after his family left Italy, how his love of David Bowie led to his obsession of The Velvet Underground, the birth and growth of his memorabilia collection, the random/lucky events that led him to become friends with the members of the band, and why he decided to sell the majority of his collection to the New York Public Library. And, of course, we talked about his sons, their love of music, and Sal’s feelings about one of his son’s becoming a professional musician (he’s currently the guitarist of ).

I truly had a great time talking with Sal, and was blown away by some of his stories. Whether you’re a fan of The Velvet Underground or not, I hope you take a moment to listen to the episode.

Link in bio.

Pictures:
1. Sal (with a picture of Lou Reed)
2. Sal at the Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars
3. Sal with Lou Reed, Doug Yule, and Moe Tucker
4. Sal and Lou Reed
5. Sal with his wife, sons, and their wives
6. Sal and Josh

02/04/2024

🚨New Episode Alert!🚨
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Hey, Josh here! On the newest episode of Dad Rocks! I talk with Alan Evans. Alan is most well known for being the drummer of the band Soulive, but is also a recording engineer and producer, a solo artist, and founder of the record label Vintage League Music.

While Soulive was a band I always heard about, I never really gave them a proper listen, until last year. When I finally did, I kicked myself for not doing so earlier. As I listened to them more and more, I looked into if any of the guys were dads, and Al was the only one. I decided to reach out to see if he wanted to come on to the podcast, and he said that he was interested.

Unlike some past guests, I didn’t have the same deep connection or fandom to him or his music, which allowed me to not focus on granular topics or ask specific, fanboi questions. What transpired was a long, insightful conversation about who Al is as a musician, father, and husband, and his journey to being the man that he is today. I gained some much respect for him from our almost 2 hour conversation, and hope that if you have the time to listen to this episode you will as well.

Link is in the bio.

Pictures:�
1. Alan
2. Alan and his family
�3. Soulive
4. Alan drumming with Soulive
5. Alan at a recording session with Oteil Burbridge
6. Alan and Josh

03/02/2024

🚨New Episode Alert!🚨

Hey, Josh here! On the newest episode of Dad Rocks! I talk with musician Marco Benevento. Marco is most well known for being the keyboardist for the bands Benevento/Russo Duo and Joe Russo's Almost Dead, along with being a solo artist.

Since middle school, I have been into a handful of jam bands, but never was fully in the jam band scene. However, being on the fringes I heard about and knew of many different bands that were in the jam scene. One of those was Benevento/Russo Duo. However, I never knew anyone who was into them, and never thought about checking them out, so I was pretty unfamiliar with their music. Still, I knew who Marco was, so when my colleague mentioned that he was his cousin, I asked to see if Marco might be interested in coming on the podcast.

When I was told he was down, I started diving into his music, both solo and with BRD, and man did I enjoy what I heard. I was so mad at myself for never giving it a listen before! So I was excited to talk to him.

We had a great conversation talking about living in Woodstock, NY, raising a family there instead of the city or suburbs, touring while being a father, his career in music, and how he started a record label and a music festival. It is easy to see why he is so well respected and why people love to perform him, because not only is he super talented, he’s a really nice guy.

Anyway, I hope you have time to check out our conversation.

https://linktr.ee/dadrockspod

Pictures:
1. Marco
2. Marco performing
3. Marco and his wife
4. Marco and his family
5. Benevento/Russo Duo
6. Marco and Josh

30/12/2023

🚨New Episode Alert!🚨

Hey, Josh here! On the newest episode of Dad Rocks! I talk with Bobby Hackney. Bobby is the bassist and leader singer of the proto-punk band Death, and is the father of three sons who are all in the band ROUGH FRANCIS. Bobby is also the bassist and lead singer of the Vermont reggae band Lambsbread, and he just published a book about the band and the reggae festival he founded called “Vermont Reggae Fest: The Power of Music”.

When we started the podcast in 2020 we had made a list of potential guests, and prodcuer Steve added Bobby to the list. Steve and Joe had been fans of the band for a while, and I loved the documentary A Band Called Death. So we knew he’d be a perfect guest, especially since he had sons who were also in a band. However, we just never reached out. Fast forward to a few months ago and I finally sent a message to their manager and we were able to schedule a date to record.

I had a great conversation with Bobby. We talked about a lot, including his sons and their band Rough Francis, his reggae band Lambsbread and the Vermont Reggae Fest, why he and his brothers started a rock band, his musical influences, and how the documentary on the band came to be. I learned a lot about him as a musician, father, and overall human.

Initially Steve was supposed to join us for the conversation, but he had a work conflict. However, I was able to keep Bobby on the Zoom call for a few extra minutes to allow Steve to hop on, say hi, and give thanks to Bobby for the great music Death has produced over the years, including the new single.

Hope you have time to check it out!

To listen to our conversation, choose your listening experience:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bands-of-brothers-a-conversation-with-bobby-hackney/id1521183189?i=1000640100140

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GPzFaCkyFoR4sicsD7kIP?si=36c47babdaeb46e5

Podbean: https://dadrocks.podbean.com/e/bands-of-brothers-a-conversation-with-bobby-hackney/

Pictures:
1. Bobby
2. Bobby as a teen
3. 1970s Death
4. 2010s Death
5. Death and Rough Francis
6. Bobby and Josh
7. Bobby, Josh, and Steve

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dad-rocks/id1521183189?i=1000532078124

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