Couch Riffs

I had a great time speaking with Aurelien Budynek in this episode of Couch Riffs. Aurelien has a wonderful story, a host of amazingly varied gigs to talk about, and is as humble as he is talented. If you're interested in getting guitar lessons with him you can reach out to him at his INSTAGRAM or through his WEBSITE. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!  If you are enjoying Couch Riffs please support us through PATREON. Your support helps Couch Riffs become better and allows more focus and time to be placed on the production of this podcast and our accompanying cover song videos. Also, don't forget to check out our WEBSITE to find all our content as well as a link to our ETSY store where you can buy 100% cotton Couch Riffs shirts and our trucker hats. Thanks for listening and for your continued support! 

Our guest this episode is bassist/vocalist Alicia Vigil who fronts her own band, Vigil of War, as well as holding down the bass duties for legendary power metal band, Dragonforce. We had a great time talking and I loved hearing her story from the earliest years of school band and School of Rock to touring with the Misfits to forming her band quickly to make a gig she committed to. Please go check out there newest single, Vultures. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!  Please consider supporting the Couch Riffs podcast at PATREON. Our patrons are the only folks who have access to download the audio from the fun cover song videos that we publish and there are some fun incentives to support at including exclusive merch and more! Also, check out our WEBSITE to find ALL of our content as well as a link to our Etsy store where you'll find our 100% cotton tees and our trucker hats for sale. Thanks for listening and for your continued support! 

My guest on this episode is none other than Brian Baker, guitarist/bassist for more legendary punk rock bands than anyone else we can think of. This list could begin and end with Minor Threat but is complimented by so many more bands. Bad Religion. Samhain. Bash & Pop. Junkyard. Dag Nasty. Government Issue. More. Many more. I loved having this conversation and I hope that you enjoy it, too.   If you enjoy the Couch Riffs podcast and/or our cover song videos please consider becoming a patron at our PATREON page. And, don't forget to check out our WEBSITE to find links to all our video content as well as a link to our etsy store where you can find our 100% cotton tees and stylish trucker hats. Thank you for listening and for your continuing support! 

Our guest this episode is Vicky Warwick, and English session and touring bassist living and working out of LA. She's toured and gigged with a number of notable artists including Charli XCX and puts out music under her stage name, Ainslie. She is launching a podcast called Where Are We Again? featuring guests and stories of being on the road as a touring professional and I can't wait to dive in! I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.  If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs Podcast or accompanying cover song videos please consider becoming a supporter at PATREON. This is the only place you can download the music from the cover song videos we create and your support goes a long way toward making this project fly. Be sure to check out our WEBSITE to find all of our content as well as a link to our super cozy 100% cotton tees and stylish trucker hats. Thanks for listening and for your continued support! 

It was my pleasure to host Andrew Ross on this episode of Couch Riffs. Andrew is a musical theater major and has sang with a multitude of productions including Trans-Siberian Orchestra since 2007. He has an incredible voice and can count multi-instrumentalist as an additional talent. I can't wait until covid is a thing of the past and I can go see him in action. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!  If you are enjoying Couch Riffs podcasts or cover song videos please consider supporting us at PATREON. Thank you so much to the folks that are helping keep this thing going! Don't forget to check out our WEBSITE which is a great hub for all of our content and a link to our store where you can find our 100% tees and stylish trucker hats! Thanks for listening and for your continued support! 

Our guest this episode is Taylor Cox, the owner/operator and builder at Amplified Nation out of Boston, MA. Taylor started out re-housing amps and recovering cabinets and evolved into bhttps://couchriffs.comuilding super high-end amp clones after building himself a reputation in the boutique and hobbyist amp community. Today he's building some CRUSHERS. Go check out some demos when you get a chance. You'll be happy you did. I had a great time talking with Taylor and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast or the cover song videos we produce please consider becoming a patron at PATREON. And, don't forget to check out our WEBSITE to find all of our content as well as a link to our web store where you can find our 100% cotton tees and stylish trucker hats. Thanks for listening and for your continued support! 

Our guest this episode is MLNY Parsonz of Royal Thunder. MLNY has one of the most compelling voices in contemporary rock music and her band is amazing! Please stay on the lookout for a Couch Riffs video featuring her talents as a bassist and vocalist in the very near future. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much I did. This was a fun and interesting conversation for me.  If you are enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast or cover song videos please consider becoming a patron supporter at PATREON. There are some easy and accessible points of support there. Thank you so much for considering! Also, check out our WEBSITE to find all of our content plus a link to our webstore for our merch. Thanks for listening and for your continued support! 

Our guest this episode is Taylor Locke, singer/songwriter, producer/engineer, studio owner/operator, former guitarist of pop rock band Rooney and creative force with the musical comedy "Don't Stop, The Story of Fleetwood Mac" which I'm dying to see. He recently released a solo EP (October 2020) full of tasty pop morsels called The Bitter End. Go check it out HERE. Taylor has done a TON in his career already and will certainly continue to create and thrive through covid and beyond. I had a great time talking with him, getting to know him, and I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.  If you're enjoying Couch Riffs please consider supporting us at PATREON. Patreon is the only place where you can download the audio tracks of the cover songs we produce and you can get a sneak peak at what's coming up there before anyone else, too! Don't forget to check out our WEBSITE to find a link to all of our content as well as a link to our comfy, 100% cotton tees and our stylish trucker hats. Thanks for listeni

Guests on this episode of Couch Riffs are South of Eden's Ehab Omran (vox) and Justin Young (guitar). South of Eden are a young midwestern band out of Ohio that throw it down with some old school flavor ,tipping their hats at multiple generations of rock music that came before them. They released an EP in 2020 and a couple of videos over the past year with a full-length and some more fun covers/singles coming soon (stay tuned). I had a great time talking with these guys and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did! If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast and our performance videos please consider supporting us at Patreon! And, don't forget to check out our website to find all of our content and a link to our webstore to. find our handsome and cozy 100% cotton tees and stylish trucker hats! Thanks for watching and for your continued support! 

Our guest this episode is Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and we are quite happy to get the opportunity to host him. Ron is a great guy to hang and talk with and I first met him in 2009 while my band, Loaded, was on tour and he played some songs with us a couple of different nights in and around NYC. Ron is a stop-what-you're-doing-and-listen level guitarist and a master of the fretless guitar, to boot. He's in Art of Anarchy, Sons of Apollo, Asia, and the former lead guitarist of Guns 'n Roses. Ron also works as a producer with bands and has a studio in Central NJ that he works out of. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast or our accompanying music performance videos please consider becoming a patron at our Patreon account. Link is below. Also, don't forget to check out our website to find all of our content plus a link to our webstore where you can score our sweet t-shirts and trucker hats. Thanks for listening and for your continued support!

This episode we have the pleasure of hanging out and speaking with our bandmate Burke Thomas who started a podcast this year called The Drum Recovery Network. Go check it out! Burke has played in a number of bands over the years, does a bit of music production work for TV/advertising, runs a music school called Loudhouse and is an avid gardener and fitness fanatic. Check out the performance of Somebody's Baby Tonight that Burke played drums on, as well! We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did! If you are enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast and/or videos please consider becoming a patron at Patreon! This is the only place you can download the audio from our cover songs and there are a handful of tiers to support at there. Thank you! Don't forget to visit our WEBSITE to find links to all of our content and webstore where you'll find our super comfortable tees and trucker hats.  

Our guest this episode is Sarah Carbonetti, the Brooklyn singer and songwriting force of Ess See. I thoroughly enjoyed discovering Ess See's music this past year and had a great time learning about Sarah's musical history and on-the-job education. AND, we were lucky enough to have her sing in a Couch Riffs video for our rendition of Making Plans For Nigel by XTC. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! Please go check out Ess See's latest singles A Better Home and Overdrive, both released in 2020. Thanks for listening and for your continued support!  If you are enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast or videos please consider supporting us as a patron at Patreon.com/couchriffs! Also, check out our WEBSITE to find all of our content and a link to our webstore where you'll find cool shirts, trucker hats and more! Thank you! 

Our guest on this episode is Jeff Smith, CEO of Newman Guitars. Newman Guitars has roots back to the early 70s and the founder, Ted Newman Jones worked for Keith Richards, building him multiple guitars including some famous 5-strings. He went on to build guitars for Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Billy Gibbons and more while he has a shop set up in Austin TX. Today Newman guitars is based in Washington, Indiana and carries the iconic Newman design into the future with modern building practices and comfortability tweaks that are sure to keep players happy for another 5 decades. Be sure to check out Newman's website and consider getting a custom build from them as your next collector's piece!  If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast or cover videos please consider becoming a patron at PATREON. Your support is appreciated and goes a long way toward helping Couch Riffs grow, improve and keep the gears greased. And, don't forget to visit our WEBSITE to find ALL of our content as well as a link to our m

Our guest this episode is Charlie Starr of Atlanta's Blackberry Smoke. Charlie recounts some of his early influences, moving to Atlanta in pursuit of his musical dream, starting Blackberry Smoke and the making of their yet-to-be released new album for 2021, recorded and mixed mid-2020. Charlie will be performing SHOWS IN JANUARY 2021 through the south. Check the hyper link for dates!  Thank you so much for listening and watching our companion cover song performance videos. Please be sure to check out COUCH RIFFS WEBSITE for all of our content. If you're enjoying Couch Riffs please consider supporting us as a patron over at the COUCH RIFFS PATREON. Thanks so much to everyone for helping to keep Couch Riffs moving forward. Happy New Year!   

Our guest this episode is Jeff Pilson who is most famously known for being the bassist for Dokken. Jeff has had a ton of great opportunities over the span of his career to showcase his talents including playing with Dio and Foreigner and continues to do so most recently releasing Heavy Hitters, a covers album, with his Dokken bandmate George Lynch. Jeff practices hot pilates and yoga and leads a virtual meditation class on Monday evenings. YOU CAN CHECK THAT OUT HERE. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Thanks for listening and for your continued support!  If you're enjoying Couch Riffs' podcast and quarantine cover song videos please consider becoming a patron at Patreon. Your support goes a very long way toward making these productions continue to improve and grow. Thank you so much to folks our Patrons! 

Our guest this episode Marc Ford, former lead guitarist for The Black Crowes, Burning Tree, Ben Harper, The Magpie Salute, and leader of a number of his own bands. Earlier this year (2020) the elusive  Fuzz Machine LP got a proper release and Marc has a live record releasing in January 15, 2021, Live In Germany, which is full of the same fire that his fans have come to expect. I've been enjoying it very much and know that you will, too. I hope you enjoy this conversation. Thanks for listening and for the continued support.  If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast and covers videos please consider becoming a Patreon supporter. Your patronage goes a long way toward helping us reach our ambitious goals for Couch Riffs' future. And, don't forget to visit our WEBSITE to find all our audio and video content plus a link to our MERCH STORE!

Our guest this episode is Pete Nordstrom who is the bassist of Seattle band Stag, co-organizer (along with his wife Brandy) of SMooCH (Seattle Musician's for Children's Hospital) and who happens to have started his career in the women's shoes stockroom at the department store that bears his own family name (not a coincidence). We had a great time talking through tons of stuff including his early aspirations of becoming a NBA player, Seattle Supersonics politics, band life, and how he and Brandy came to put SMooCH together. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! Please do go support SMooCH and be sure to catch the entire benefit program that will stream on KEXP's YouTube Channel through the end of December '20.  Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs Podcast or our video series of the same name please consider becoming a Patreon supporter. This is the only place that you can download the MP3 audio for the cover songs in our videos and we have exclusive merch for specific tiers a

Our guest this episode is Joe Balaguer of Balaguer Guitars, a boutique Pennsylvania guitar company who is among those leading the charge in price-accessible guitars of a quality that far exceed their price tag. I loved hearing Joe's story and getting to know him a bit throughout the course of this conversation. If you haven't check out Balaguer's website, you should There is a custom guitar building program you can get lost in for hours and I've done just that. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!  If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast or have seen some of our performance videos and want to become a Patreon supporter, please visit our PATREON PAGE HERE. Your support is appreciated very much and it goes a long way toward making this eipsode and every thing we create happen. Thank you so much!  Don't forget to check out our official COUCH RIFFS WEBSITE, too. A hub for all of our audio and video content as well as a link to our Etsy store. 

Our guest this episode is Carrie Akre, a major fixture in the Seattle rock music scene for the past 30 years. Carrie has put out a number of solo releases as well as fronted the bands Hammerbox, Goodness, and The Rockfords featuring Mike McCready of Pearl Jam fame. Hearing her story of walking into her first band audition after cold-calling an ad from a local newspaper is inspiring! She has most recently been working with individuals as an Intuitive Life & Creative Coach and you can reach her at this link. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.  If you are enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast and video series, PLEASE support us at Patreon. This support helps us get closer to our goal of focusing 100% of our energies on producing the best and highest quality content for you that we are humanly capable of (or that we can recruit!). Thanks so much to folks who support us. 

Frankie Clarke fronts the LA band Frankie and The Studs and released their new single 9/20 called (Not Your) Victim. It was our pleasure to have her as a guest singer on a recent Couch Riffs video and we are looking forward to more and more from this great talent and her band. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!  If you're enjoying the Couch Riffs podcast and/or our cover song videos PLEASE support us at Patreon! We have exclusive merchandise at different tiers and it is the only place where the music from our covers videos can be downloaded. Thank you to everyone supporting and don't forget the Golden Rule!