I realize that I'm playing a bit loose with the concept of “year” by putting this blog post up in March.  That said, two episodes of my podcast that I recorded in 2023 just went up last week.  I apologize to those lovely guests - Anthony Church & Valerie Vonn - for taking that long.  After my first year of podcasting, I wrote a blog post reviewing the conversations that took place, and setting out a goal for the following year.  Let's see how I did, shall we?

The last episode I released was number 113.  This means that during what I'll loosely consider as the second year of my podcast, I recorded 39 episodes, since this group started with number 75.  That's down from the 75 that I released in the podcast's first year (it had an “episode ½”). I had a goal that at least 50% of the episodes would include women, since that didn't happen in year one.  How'd I do?

I count 22 episodes that included a woman as a guest.  That's more than 50%, so mission accomplished.  This was a diverse group of women as well, a Latvian, a Ukrainian who lives in France, a Persian of Jewish descent, a young Ohioan of Moroccan descent, an Aussie, and other ethnicities. There were musicians, of course, but also a comedian, a lawyer, a competitive trail runner, and a film producer, among other things.

Here are what I think are the most notable episodes of the last year or so:

The longest episode

This dubious honor goes to Tim Minneci, who was my guest for episode 90. Tim is co-host of the Dig Me Out podcast, which takes a deep dive into 90s music, album by obscure album.  Tim is also an author, having released two novels that I have read so far.

The most popular episode

That would be episode 98. This was a conversation with Kyleen Downes, a professional musician who happens to live in the same city as me. Kyleen is one of my favorite people to go see play and sing songs, and just recently released an excellent new music video for her single, “Left on the Pavement”.

The most important episode

You might know that I spent an awful long time working on I Am Experienced, which I released in June 2023.  That project wouldn't have been nearly as successful artistically without Rizo, who engineered, produced, played a bunch of instruments, and put up with me in a small room for a LONG time. We sat down one day to listen to the final mixes, then had a conversation where we reflected on the work.  That conversation is episode 110. 

I should mention that the project around I Am Experienced is not over. The video portion is underway.  Each of the songs will have a music video, even the two bonus ones that you won't find on any streaming services.  The project also includes essays, photos, demos, studio footage, sheet music, and a mountain of other goodies.  If you'd like to dive in, head right on over to this link.

The episode that isn't in English

I only had one conversation for the podcast in the last year that wasn't in English.  You'll find that it was with Maxime Cholley, number 85.  That conversation is in French. If you don't speak French and would still like to get to know Maxime, you're looking for episode 84.

The episode with a famous author

100 is a nice even number.  I wanted a special guest for that episode, and I got one.  His name is John Scalzi. He's a well-known science fiction author who only lives a couple of counties away from me. This was my first conversation with a bone fide public figure, a famous person. For this conversation, I zagged where others may zig. You see, in addition to being a well-known science fiction author, church owner, creator of abominable burritos, husband, and father, Scalzi is also a musician.  We talked about his music, and I challenge you to find any other conversation he's had in the press where all they talked about was his music.

***

Like I said last year in a post very much like this one, if you've listened to my podcast, thank you for choosing to spend some time with me. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed sitting in on my conversations, and I warmly invite you to keep on listening.  Maybe you could even subscribe to the You Could Be My Aramis podcast on your streaming service of choice?

To the wonderful people who have been guests on my podcast, THANK YOU so very much.  I wouldn't have a podcast without you, I'm not one of those people who can just ramble on about nothing for a half hour.  If you happen to be a musician, or have something you are passionate about, and would like to let the general public listen to us have a chat about it, reach out to me, and we'll get you scheduled.

I met new people in 2023.  I very much wish to introduce all of you to them.  I'll make an effort to get more than 39 episodes finished this year, ok?

This song is on my upcoming album, Anxious Inventions & Fictions. It is the result of a songwriting exercise meant to combat writer's block... but strangely enough, I wasn't actually suffering from writer's block when I wrote this song. Let's set the scene... come to Nashville with me, to the CD Baby DIY Musician Conference in the summer of 2018.

One of the most useful sessions I attended was conducted by Shane Adams.  This gentleman is on the faculty at Berklee Online.  I had seen him speak the previous year, and he is humorous and engaging, energetic and open, and clearly quite knowledgeable.  This year, he was talking about a proven method of defeating writer's block.  At the time I sat through this seminar, I wasn't suffering from writer's block... I wasn't really trying to write songs at the conference... but in order to get the most out of the session, if there is an audience participation exercise, you need to participate.

I don't want to explain all of the things that were covered here, but let's briefly say that the method consisted of a series of letters.  No, not the twenty-six characters that make up the English alphabet, the method of communication before email, telephones, and telegraphs.  When I was much younger, I used to write letters often.  I would write to my friends both here in Ohio, in other parts of the United States, and overseas.  I couldn't even tell you how many scores of letters I've probably written.  That being the case, I took to this exercise rather well.

The phrase "she speaks in metaphor" came out of this exercise.  Wanna see?  Here it is:

At some point, I thought this would make an excellent song title.  Once I decided that, I needed a musical approach.  I decided to write this one on my bass instead of on the piano.  Further, as the song title seemed to me at the time that it would lend itself to a rather complicated idea, I wanted to make the song simple, and I wanted the bass to carry it.  For that reason, the verses consist of only one chord.  A minor.  That's it.  The bass line that carries the verses is moving through several of the notes in the A minor scale.  There is a bit more motion in the chorus parts as far as the harmony is concerned.  That settled, I used the piano to help me pick out a melody.  After I had a melody, then came the work to write lyrics to fit the melody and the theme.

This needed to be a rock song.  Ok, not just rock.  RAWK.  To that end, I recruited one of the finest bass players in Dayton, Chirs Corn.  (He has other talents as well.)  He used to play in a very loud, chaotic, experimental, post-punk outfit called My Latex Brain... and in this band, he would surround himself and his bass with what seemed like a hundred different pedals, and make the bass sound like a legion of guitars.  That's the sound I wanted on this song.  I also recruited Thad Brittain for more high frequency guitar work.  For the percussion end, I asked Brian Hoeflich to do his best Jimmy Chamberlain impersonation, and he obliged.

I am extremely pleased with the result.  If my Kickstarter campaign is successful and we get vinyl pressed, you'll be able to find it as the first song on Side Two of the album.  I can't wait for you to hear it.