A-Sides

After a long summer vacation apart, Brent and Andy take this episode to get caught up on their misadventures, and spend one long dive down the rabbit hole of record-collecting. They touch on the upcoming Judas Priest box set, Record Store Day releases, Dave Grohl, and other perils of record collecting. Thanks for coming back for another spin on A-Sides and stay cool this summer.

A-Sides returns to brew up a special podcast episode with musician extraordinaire and coffee enthusiast, Acey Slade. Acey joins Andy to claw into his company Catfight Coffee and also a bit of his musical background. You can find Catfight Coffee online to purchase their brand of coffee and teas, and also learn about their company with their extensive coffee blog. Thanks to Acey for the fun conversation and thanks to you, the listener, for pressing play.

If you were a teenager of the 90's who loved heavy metal and horror movies, it didn't get much cooler than White Zombie! Brent and Andy dive into this band of spooks that mixed guitar riffs and movie dialogue, while ranking their favorite songs and discussing the album cuts and b-sides. They also fall into a few random rabbit holes along the way... but if you're talking about White Zombie, perhaps it's best to call them 'black holes.' Thanks for checking out this newest episode of A-Sides.

Pulling back the curtain yet again for more concert stories, on this episode Andy speaks with Devin Birch. He was instrumental in bringing live music to Central Illinois for several years at the Limelight venue, and Devin shares the genesis of the venue, as well as which shows personally stood out most to him. The conversation touches on Blackberry Smoke, Damon Johnson, Marilyn Manson, Night Ranger, and more acts that played Peoria. Big thanks to Devin for taking the time to be part of this episode.

With 20 albums to their credit, Cheap Trick have a vast array of songs, from classic rock staples to those we've dubbed "pop songs for serial killers." On this newest episode of A-Sides, we did our best to narrow that down to our ten favorites, without getting too side-tracked. We also reminisced on seeing Cheap Trick live, discussed the vocal prowess of Robin Zander, and mentioned which of their albums deserve a closer look. Thanks for coming back for another spin on A-Sides!

Deftones' third album, White Pony, recently reached it's 20th anniversary, so hosts Brent and Andy decided to sit down and discuss the vinyl reissue along with its companion album, Black Stallion. Along the way, the guys talk about where it sits in the Deftones' discography, compare Deftones to their peers in the nu metal genre, chat about the dilemmas of collecting vinyl, butcher words and phrases, and Andy gets heated about incomplete album reissues. This might be our silliest episode yet, so feast your ears on this episode of 'A-Sides' and take a trip back to when JNCOs and frosted tips were all the rage.

Andy welcomes back Corey "Rizzo" Rozzoni (Lights of Marfa, The Great Affairs) for a second appearance on 'A-Sides'. Rizzo has a wealth of experience from his 30+ years of performing, and during this episode he "pulls back the curtain" to share his personal philosophy on being part of a rock band. The guys discuss these nuggets of knowledge, from rehearsing to touring, and also the taboos of concerts shirts. You can follow Rizzo online at his personal website, find out where he will be performing with The Great Affairs here, and check out Lights of Marfa online. Thank you for listening and helping A-Sides reach 60 episodes!

In the early 1980's, a new genre of music was in its early stages in the Bay Area of California, which would later take over the world. Brent and Andy spend this episode diving into that genre of "thrash metal", specifically tackling three huge albums released in 1986 from Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth. While discussing these three particular albums, they also dive down a rabbit hole of related concert stories, what constitutes "selling out", sample a related brand of coffee, and discuss the merits of 'greatest hits' compilations. Strap on your bullet belt, raise your fist, and press play on this episode of 'A-Sides.' Thanks for listening!