Talkin‘ the Talk With Don

Check out my Patreon for some cool extras, including exclusive content not heard/seen by anyone but me. Your support keeps this podcast independent and ad-free, so all support is greatly appreciated.

 / talkingthetalk  

Check out my Socials here: https://linktr.ee/southeastofheaven1

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Mark Morris lives, sleeps, eats, and breathes metal. Hell, the dude grocery shops and sleeps metal. Mark...

Last year I was on a whim introduced to the music Nordic folksinger/songwriter Kati Ran. Her album Sala was one of my top albums of the year and getting to interview her was a real treat. We connected on such a great level that I was honored when she wanted to be a return guest on the Podcast.

This time around was almost like picking up where we left off a year ago as we discussed the organic and cathartic process of songwriting, t...

Check out my Patreon for some cool extras, including exclusive content not heard/seen by anyone but me. Your support keeps this podcast independent and ad-free, so all support is greatly appreciated. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/talkingthetalk Check out my Socials here: https://linktr.ee/southeastofheaven1

Formed in 1988 in Austin, TX, Dangerous Toys hit the hard rock/metal scene hard and fast with their stellar self-titled a...

In 2021, I was introduced to a great new Swedish psych rock band, Nephila. My buddy Jacob, who plays in Children of the Sun, is also one of the founding members of Nephila, so thanks to him, I found a new favorite band.

I recently had the great pleasure of speaking with founding member/vocalist Josephine Asker and new co-vocalist Linn Edlund. I had a great time talking to these ladies about the music of Nephila, how the band came ...

In my over 15 years of being a music journalist/writer, I have been so lucky to make some truly amazing friends within the industry.  Gail Worley is without a doubt one of those great, amazing friends.  I remember Gail's awesome pieces that would appear in Metal Edge Magazine as well as Modern Drummer (which I read even though I wasn't a drummer).  All these years later, Gail and I got connected via out good friend Keefy (Ghost Cul...

Drummer, pianist, lyricist, artist, and whatever else you can imagine is what makes up the life of legendary former Scorpions drummer, Herman Rarebell.  Since leaving the Scorpions in 1996, Herman Zee German has been a busy so and so.  Never one to sit still, Herman has returned in 2025 with a new release called What About Love as Herman Rarebell and Friends.

It was such an honor speaking with such a legendary, iconic artist and he...

In 1988, a friend of mine showed up at my house with a cassette and said, "Dude, you need to hear this song."  He put on the LA Guns debut album and played me the song "Electric Gypsy" and I loved it.  I picked up the album and played it until the tape was almost clear.  LA Guns has been at it for 40 years.  With 15 studio albums, 10 live releases, and countless videos, LA Guns, in 2025, is surely not going anywhere anytime soon.  

Check out my Patreon for some cool extras, including exclusive content not heard/seen by anyone but me. Your support is what keeps this podcast independent, so any and all support is greatly appreciated.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/talkingthetalk

Check out my Socials here: https://linktr.ee/southeastofheaven1

GHOST CULT MAG LINKS: https://linktr.ee/ghostcultmag

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Keef is on...

In 2019, I stumbled upon a young band out of Sweden called Children of the Sun.  Their debut album Flowers knocked me out with it's flower power Jesus Christ Superstar like qualities.  It was a beautiful album and I was a fan immediately.  Since then, Children of the Sun has grown personally and creatively.  They have performed countless live shows all over Europe and they continue to shoot for the moon. 

I have been friends with g...

Thanks for checking out the first episode of my On and Off the Records segment. This is where I will be joined by friends (and sometimes even members of the band of the said album) and talk about the history of the album, comments, and reviews, and finally revisit the album track by track.

To kick it all off, we'll dive into $1.99 Romances by '90s Jam Band Legends God Street Wine. Joining me as guests are none other than Lo Faber a...

This is a first for this Podcast. This time around, my good friend/fellow podcaster Nik Cameron of the Glacially Musical Pouredcast got together with zero time notice to talk about the "Final" Black Sabbath/Ozzy appearance on July 5, 2025, at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. As usual, Nik patiently dealt with my ADHD-ranting brain and did a great job wrangling us back on target. This was fun, this was different, and this was the ...

Since I first heard the iconic Scottish metal band The Almighty in 1990, I have been a huge fan of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Ricky Warwick.  At a mere 58 years old, Ricky Warwick has lived the dreams many of us can ONLY dream about.  Ricky was handpicked to front a newly re-formed Thin Lizzy in 2009 and later co-founded the Black Star Riders with former Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham.  He has worked with amazing artists such...

Happy New Year!  2024 was an awesome year of interviews here at Talking the Talk, and 2025 is already shaping up to be awesome.  Kicking the year off is the hilariously kick-ass Rebecca Markus.  Rebecca hosts a podcast called TV Tangents and a TikTok account of the same name. 

Rebecca is a Gen X master when it comes to Gen X television shows and I have always loved her stuff and I was stoked when she agreed to be a guest. Besides, ...

I love what I do.  Getting to talk to musicians and other artistic people has been one of the joys in life.  Every now and then I have a guest on that has a personal connection with me and my guest this time is a special one.  DB Edmunds (aka Doug Edmunds) was my boss for about 6 years or so when I worked in IT at UNC in Chapel Hill.  He's also an amazingly talented singer/songwriter/guitarist/drummer. 

DB Edmunds released his late...

I've been a fan of Danish prog metal icons Anubis Gate for nearly 15 years.  Every band has its strengths, and while Anubis Gate is powerful, I find the real strength to lie with vocalist/lyricist/bassist Henrik Fevre.  Fevre and Anubis Gate have been on a break since last year's release, Interference.  Not one to sit still, Fevre returned to his other musical passion, electronic pop music.  

Henrik Fevre released his latest album,...

If Jeff Sipe isn't a name you know at this point, it's probably time now that you should.  For over 40 years, Jeff Sipe has been a drummer that has wowed people all over the world with some of the most notable improvisational musicians on the planet.  While studying at Berklee, Jeff met and played in a band with a young guitarist named Steve Vai in a band called Winter.  Jeff moved to Atlanta in 1983 where he was teaching and Atlan...

This is the 2nd time I've interviewed guitarist Maggie Geeslin and guitarist/vocalist Grace "GEP" Repasky.  I have been a fan of them ever since meeting Maggie's mother very fatefully doing, of all things, JURY DUTY.  This story never gets old.  Anyway, Maggie's mom and I were talking while serving jury duty, I told her I was a music writer, and she said, "You need to hear my daughter's band."  From there, I became a HUGE Lunar Vac...

If you were alive in the '90s, you undoubtedly heard a Collective Soul song or two. "Shine" dominated MTV and radio and was followed by a string of hits such as "The World I Know," "December," and "Precious Declaration" just to name a few. Collective Soul had a busy summer on tour with Hootie and the Blowfish and Edwin McCain and recently embarked on their own headlining tour.

During a brief break from the insanity, i had a great ...

I have interviewed musicians of may different genres: pop, alternative, classic rock, psych rock, jazz, blues, etc.  I have also interviewed an author, a b-rate horror movie actress, and a tour manager but never a comedian... until now. 

One evening while aimlessly scrolling through TikTok after taking my evening edible, I stumbled upon some videos from LA comedian Emily Vokal.  Emily is an up and coming comedian and she is definit...