Talkin‘ the Talk With Don

Happy New Year!!! To kick off 2026, we are covering Robert Plant's 1988 album Now and Zen. This time around, my good friend and co-conspirator on the Glacially Musical Pouredcast and Ghost Cult head man, Keefy Chachkes. As always, Keefy is a blast to work with, so having him be a part of this series was a no-brainer. We talked in depth about the Now and Zen album and waxed nostalgic as well. Dig on it and check it out.

==========...

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL! I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday! I'm sure everyone traded their jeans in for sweatpants for a week or so and that's cool. I'm just glad that you're here now so thanks!

In 1984, I was sitting at home one Friday night watching Friday Night Videos and the video for a song called "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister came on. I never heard one note from this band but that was the band that start...

Welcome to a very special episode of Talkin' The Talk With Don.  No interviews or anything like that.  This episode we are diving into my 2025 Spotify Wrapped.  I always enjoy seeing what all I randomly listened over the year so it's always a surprise for me.  This was fun.  

What are YOUR Top Albums and Artists on your Spotify Wrapped?  

Buy Me a Coffee (or Slurpee):
https://www.buymea...

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

========================================

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

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 K...

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 art...

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 anyw...

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

=================================================

Keef is one...

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...

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 amazi...

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 b...

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 ...