Listen Now

Award-winning composer Cormac Bluestone has created original scores and songs for film, television and theater. From gospel and New Orleans-inspired cues to ukulele and hip hop beats, Bluestone is known for his versatility in creating unique sound palettes for film and television spanning a range of genres. He is best known for composing original songs and music for FX’s three-time Emmy-nominated series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and FOX's The Cool Kids. To say "hi" and find out more about Cormac, go to "http://www.cormacbluestone.com" or "https://twitter.com/cormacbluestone?lang=en" Music featured in this episode, "Dark Highway" and "Scene of the Crash". As always, I love hearing your feedback and would really appreciate it if you took a minute to leave a review on iTunes, it really helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! - Steve

With her soulful, smoky voice, Lucy Woodward is singers, singer! Her latest release Music! Music! Music!, a collaboration with Charlie Hunter, is out now and the duo is currently on tour. From her Atlantic records debut to her more recent solo records to singing with Rod Stewart and Snarky Puppy, Lucy radiates a fun, positive vibe backed up by years of professional experience. I loved making this episode and I hope you do too!  To say "hi" and find out more about Lucy, go to "www.lucywoodward.com"  Music featured in this episode, "Can't Let Go" from the album Music! Music! Music! Lucy Woodward/ Charlie Hunter "Lady Killer" from the album "Til They Bang on the Door" As always, I love hearing your feedback and would really appreciate it if you took a minute to leave a review on at your favorite podcast spot. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! - Steve

Peter Moc is a Czech-born guitarist, educator, composer who lives in Dublin, Ireland. When he’s not sharing his gifts as a teacher, Peter can be found touring and recording in NewYork City, Dublin, and through Europe. In 2015, Moc and American jazz legend, Larry Coryell (the "Godfather of fusion") established the annual event, "Tribute to Emily Remler" celebrating short but productive life of jazz guitarist Emily Remler. Peter has performed and recorded with some of today’s most exciting improvisers including Lange Lund, Brian Charette, Sheryl Bailey and Nir Felder, to name a few. I met Peter almost 10 years ago while on tour with bassist, Viktor Krauss. The gig was in the small northern city of Děčin in the Czech Republic. He was our translator/ support person for the evening. As we began talking, I instantly recognized, “he was one of us”! He was curious, interested and had a fire inside him which stuck with me. We stayed in touch and met up periodically over the next few years and It’s been awesome to see the life and career he’s manifested for himself! He’s the type of musician who’s confident but humble and is not afraid to do the work required to realize his dreams! All key qualities for success, if you ask me! You can find out more about Peter at http://www.petermoc.com or follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/peter.moc.7 and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/petermocmusic/ Music featured in the is episode: "The Pick-up" & "Follow Me".    As always, I love hearing your feedback and would really appreciate it if you took a minute to leave a review on at your favorite podcast spot. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! - Steve

Australian born singer, songwriter, illustrator, and entrepreneur Nadia Ackerman moved to NYC from Sydney in 1998 to pursue her passion for singing and has been taking the “Big Apple” by storm ever since! With five albums under her belt, appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, SNL and Good Morning America, she has also performed with  Sting, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Billy Joel. In 2012, Nadia’s story took an unexpected twist. She began to see her songs as images and felt an overwhelming desire to draw her music which turned into an unexpected and wildly successful new career. Today Nadia’s company “Natchie” creates prints of her original illustrations based on her songs which include song lyrics plus a free download code. If you’re in NYC you can visit her at The Empire Stores in DUMBO or head over to her website. If that wasn’t enough, Nadia is in the midst of finishing up a new album and the first single “The Well” is out now! I met Nadia over dinner last December and I found her story fascinating! Here openness to possibility and her adventurous spirit are infectious and I think all of us can gain a little something, something from listening to her story! Music featured in this episode. "My Darling John" & "The Well"  As always, I love hearing your feedback and would really appreciate it if you took a minute to leave a review on at your favorite podcast spot. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! - Steve   .

Patrick Warren is an award-winning composer, arranger, producer and session pianist/keyboardist, based in Los Angeles. Patrick currently scores Showtime’s Peabody-nominated series The Chi (Seasons 1 and 2), created by Emmy-winning Master of None writer Lena Waithe. His film and TV scoring credits include Pleasantville, Boogie Nights, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Knocked Up, Across the Universe, Bloodworth, Sunshine Cleaning and HBO’s hit series, True Detective alongside T Bone Burnett. Warren has performed and recorded with hundreds of artists including Aimee Mann, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ray LaMontange, Fiona Apple and Lana Del Ray. Patrick’s touring highlights include tenures with Waits and Diana Krall, and he performed with Dylan at the White House in celebration of music from the civil rights movement. Patrick’s string arrangements have appeared on albums for artists including Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Chris Issac and Gwen Stefani. He arranged and orchestrated the song “Glory” from the movie Selma (written by John Legend, Common and Rhymefest) that won 8 awards including an Oscar (2015), Golden Globe (2015) and Grammy (2016). His arrangements also appeared on Common’s 2016 album, Black America Again, and received critical acclaim, being described as some of Common’s most vital work to date.   You can follow Patrick on Instagram at @patrickwarren1. As always, I love hearing your feedback and would be thankful if you took a minute to leave a review on iTunes. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! 

  Eclectic bassist/composer/producer, Viktor Krauss was born in Champaign, IL, and lives in Nashville TN. Viktor has been Lyle Lovett’s primary bassist since 1994. Starting with 1996’s “Nashville”, Krauss began a long tenure with jazz guitar great, Bill Frisell. Other albums with Frisell include “Gone, Just Like a Train”, “Good Dog, Happy Man”, “East/West” and “Disfarmer.” Other artists over his career have included notables Tom Jones, Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow, Robert Plant, James Taylor, Buddy Miller, Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Chet Atkins, Larry Carlton, James Newton Howard, The Chieftains, Peter Rowan, Harry Connick Jr. J.D. Souther, Joan Baez, Indigo Girls, Dolly Parton, Rodney Crowell, Graham Nash, Michael McDonald, John Fogerty, Elvis Costello, Kenny Rodgers, Jewel, and Michael Feinstein. In 2004, Krauss recorded his solo debut of his original compositions, Far From Enough (Nonesuch) featuring an all-star band consisting of Frisell, Jerry Douglas, Steve Jordan, and sister Alison Krauss (peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard® Contemporary Jazz Chart). Krauss' second album, II (EMI), features core band session greats Dean Parks and Matt Chamberlain. Krauss, along with lever harpist extraordinaire Maeve Gilchrist released a duo album in 2017 entitled Vignette. Primarily instrumental music, Viktor cites that his own music could be described as “a soundtrack without a movie with nods to ‘jazz, classic rock, and electronic music’.” In 2006, Viktor was awarded a fellowship for the prestigious Film Composers’ Lab at the Sundance Institute and his film composing credits include music for directors Ken Burns and the late Robert Altman. Viktor's original compositions from his solo recordings are used daily as musical "bumpers" for National Public Radio between programs. Viktor continues to be very active as a music producer and arranger. Music featured in this episode. "Philo" from Viktor's album, "Far From Enough". "Hop"  from Viktor's album, "II". You can learn about Viktor at www.viktorkrauss.com or on Instagram at @kraussviktor. As always, I love hearing your feedback and would be thankful if you took a minute to leave a review on iTunes. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! 

John Deley is a NYC-based keyboard player, pianist and musical director. He’s performed with so many well-known artists, I’d spend the whole show reading off the list to you! But here’s the cliff-notes version, JD has performed and/or recorded with practically everyone ranging from Andy Grammar to Elvis Costello to Angelique Kidjo. He’s performed on multiple Broadway musicals including, Spiderman and Shrek. If that was enough, John is the keyboard player who plays all the underscore music for Sesame Street. We go all the way back! We lived together for years back in Boston. From crashing his car to spilling a coffee into his upright piano to playing countless gigs together, John is one of my closest friends! John is as equally soulful as he is self-aware and someone I call on before making any big life decision. Listen to John, this guy is preaching the truth and can help you get on the fast track to landing your dream gig! You can find out more about John and his band, The 41 Players at www.the41players.com and on FB and Instagram. Music featured in this episode. "Big Chief" performed by the 41 Players "Watercolors" featuring John Deley - piano, Kristy Norter - sax, Teddy Kumpel - guitar, Richard Hammond - bass and Ethan Eubanks - drums As always, I love hearing your feedback and would be thankful if you took a minute to leave a review on iTunes. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! 

Fil Eisler is one of today’s busiest and most diverse composers, with projects that range from big studio action pieces and comedies to gritty independent films and hit television shows. He has been nominee and recipient of numerous awards including the World Soundtrack Awards New Discovery, SXSW Best Soundtrack Award and multiple BMI Awards. Eisler’s ability to understand directors’ musical intent and his flexible approach to scoring has led to numerous collaborations with various Hollywood heavy-weights. Eisler, a Czech-born, English-raised composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, has worked with ensembles of all shapes and sizes to help bring his scores to life. Variety described his music as "smoky, elaborate film noir-inspired compositions", while Beatweek Magazine praised him for making “beautiful music” that “…almost acts as another character further enveloping the audience in its grasp.” Credits include music scores for the hit TV shows, "Empire", "Revenge", "Unreal" and films such as, "The Titan", "CHIPS", "How To Be Single", "Newtown" and "Shameless". Fil can be found at, @fileislermusic on Instagram. Music featured in this episode. "Titan's in Training" and "I Made Him" from The Titan Motion Picture Soundtrack. As always, I love hearing your feedback and would be thankful if you took a minute to leave a review on iTunes. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support!   

Guitarist and educator, Amanda Monaco has performed at venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Jazz Standard, and the Blue Note, and with artists such as Milt Hinton and the Mingus Orchestra. She has released six albums as a leader. Her current jazz projects include her eclectic quartet Deathblow, rambunctious organ quartet Glitter and chamber jazz trio Mo-Fi-Co. Her Pirkei Avot Project performs her original music with lyrics from selected verses (from a collection of rabbinical teachings with the same name) compiled in the third century C.E. Monaco’s guitar playing is “well within the modernist canon, but quite distinctive: her phrasing is often made up of tartly dissonant chords and insistent yet off-kilter repetitions that remind one of Grant Green by way of Andrew Hill... her playing is utterly unique, a breath of fresh air in the cookie-cutter climes of both mainstream and free jazz.” (Clifford Allen, The New York City Jazz Record) An educator since 1990, Monaco is currently an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music where she teaches private instruction, labs, and ensembles. She teaches private lessons for Berklee Online and recently recorded a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) for the college which is available worldwide at www.coursera.com (https://www.coursera.org/instructor/amanda-monaco). Monaco's book, Jazz Guitar for the Absolute Beginner was published by Alfred in 2004 (https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Guitar-Absolute-Beginner-Absolutely/dp/0739036718). Monaco is the Artistic Director of Convergence Arts, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to share the art and fun of improvisation with people of all ages. Convergence has presented festivals in New York City such at the Six String Summit (showcasing guitarists Nels Cline and Julian Lage, among others) and the Queens Jazz OverGround’s Spring Jazz Fest at Flushing Town Hall. Monaco received her M.A. from The City College of New York in 2008. In her undergraduate years, Amanda studied with Ted Dunbar, Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid and Harold Mabern. She received her B.Mus from William Paterson University. Amanda Monaco plays a Brian Moore Guitar, ZT Amps, and D’Addario Strings. www.amandamonaco.com www.convergencearts.org www.twitter.com/guitarmonaco www.youtube.com/guitarmonaco www.facebook.com/guitarmonaco

Henry Hey is a NYC-based pianist and keyboard player. From his original instrumental bands, Forq and Rudder to his role as musical director for David Bowie's "Lazarus" musical, George Michael's "Symphonica" project and Rod Stewart's "Great American Songbook", Henry is an artist and consummate music maker who is at home in many styles of music. In part 2 of our conversation, we discuss Henry's work as a musical director and arranger. You can find out more about Henry at www.henryhey.com Let him know what you thought about our conversation at https://twitter.com/henryhey?lang=en Follow him at, https://www.instagram.com/heyness/  Music featured in this episode: "Laurito," Rudder "Heroes", David Bowie from Lazarus As always, I love hearing your feedback and would be thankful if you took a minute to leave a review on iTunes. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! 

Henry Hey is a NYC-based pianist and keyboard player. From his original instrumental bands, Forq and Rudder to his role as musical director for David Bowie's "Lazarus" musical, George Michael's "Symphonica" project and Rod Stewart's "Great American Songbook", Henry is an artist and consummate music maker who is at home in many styles of music. In part 1 of our conversation, we focus on Henry's musical development as well as his projects Rudder and his current band, Forq. You can find out more about Henry at www.henryhey.com Let him know what you thought about our conversation at https://twitter.com/henryhey?lang=en Follow him at, https://www.instagram.com/heyness/  Music featured in this episode: "Motion View," Henry Hey "Taizo", Forq As always, I love hearing your feedback and would be thankful if you took a minute to leave a review on iTunes. This helps raise the awareness of the show. Thank you for your support! 

Ken Rich is a producer, engineer, composer and musician. An accomplished bassist, he performed and recorded as a session musician in New York City, working with Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, and Babatunde Olatunji, among others. Gradually, he shifted his focus to producing and engineering with a series of home studios and created Grand Street Recording in 2004. In 2008, Rich's score and sound design for Alex Lyras's play "The Common Air" won the 2008 L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Sound Design. Producing and engineering credits include Joseph Arthur, Tracy Bonham, Angus & Julia Stone, Sophie B. Hawkins, David Mead, Rene Lopez, Amanda Brown, Ingrid Michaelson, Mike Doughty, Big Yuki, Bill Sims Jr., Morley, Julia Darling, and Lucinda Black Bear.  For more information about Ken and Grand Street Recording, please go to www.grandstreetrecording.com Music featured in this episode: "Fully", Julia Darling "Don't Think Twice", Bill Sims Jr. (feat. Emmylou Harris) "Nunu", Big Yuki

I hope you enjoy Part 2!  Libor Šmoldas is a Czech-born jazz guitarist living in Prague. He performs internationally with his own group and as a sideman. With 9 albums released under his name, he has performed and recorded with bassists, Jay Anderson and George Mraz, drummers Jeff Ballard and Adam Nussbaum, organists Sam Yahel, Ondrej Pivec and Brian Charette and legendary saxophonist Bobby Watson. Music featured in this episode:   "Mr. Dinosaur" from Libor's album, Lay It Down "Moon River" from" Libor's solo guitar album, Dreamtime

Libor Šmoldas is a Czech-born jazz guitarist living in Prague. He performs internationally with his own group and as a sideman. With 9 albums released under his name, he has performed and recorded with bassists, Jay Anderson and George Mraz, drummers Jeff Ballard and Adam Nussbaum, organists Sam Yahel, Ondrej Pivec and Brian Charette and legendary saxophonist Bobby Watson. In our conversation, we get into so many things that I think are so important and interesting, I've decided to split our conversation into 2 episodes. I hope you enjoy Part 1!  Music featured in this episode:   "Liquid Breakfast" from Libor's album, NYC Trio, On the Move "Serenáda from" Libor's solo guitar album, Blue, Šmoldas plays Ježek.

This week I thought I'd share a bit about myself. This episode focusses on the time between finishing high school, going to Berklee College of Music and my time in Boston after school. I talk about my mentors, the fact that had huge holes in my playing and the tenacity it took to hold on to my dream of becoming a professional musician. I love to hear your feedback and I want to make the show the best it can be! If you like what you hear please subscribe and leave me a review on iTunes. I really appreciate it!

  Ethan Eubanks is a drummer and fixture on the NYC music scene. With a love for all things swinging, soulful, funky and honest, Ethan is a renaissance man driven by his creative muse which manifests in various ways. A drummer, bandleader, record producer, writer and chef, Ethan is many things to many people. Highlights include playing drums with singer-songwriters Juliana Hatfield and the Crash Test Dummies, blues artist Bill Sims Jr and jazz legend Joe Sample. Currently, he is performing with actress and comedian, Rachel Bloom. If you’re in NYC you can find Ethan performing with his bands, Detroit Grease a classic soul-jazz organ trio, the New Orleans inspired 41 Players or his passion project, Still Bill, a Bill Withers tribute that brings you as close as you’re gonna get to the real thing! You can find Ethan on Twitter at @eestankify or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/eegreasy.

Bassist, Andy Hess lives in NYC and can be found holding the groove down for some of the most influential guitar players alive! Equally at home with John Scofield's Uber Jam, Michael Landau and Robben Ford, Andy can also found layin' it down with Chris Robinson, The Black Crowes, Warren Haynes & Government Mule and Doyle Bramhall II. If that wasn't enough, Andy's a great friend and soulful person. If you enjoy this episode please leave me a review on iTunes and subscribe to the show. Thanks for listening! 

NYC's Brian Charette is a leading voice on the Hammond Organ. His music runs the gamut from, traditional organ influenced jazz to more modern fare, combining the organ with analog synthesizers and circuit-bent synthesis. Charette has released numerous records on the Steeplechase and Positone labels as well as independently. He tours the world and regularly performs with some of the brightest stars in Jazz including, George Coleman, Vic Juris, Peter Bernstein, Ari Hoenig, Ben Monder and Oz Noy, to name few. He's a Grammy-nominated musician and is regularly found in the top of the heap of major music polls. Besides his musical accomplishments, Brian is a great resource for musicians trying to learn to navigate the music business, develop their brand and audience. A thoughtful and spiritual soul, Charette has thought deeply about how he strives to be in the world and the energy he brings to the situation. I've known Brian for several years and his musical evolution is exciting to watch. Please enjoy my conversation with Brian Charette!     Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Vince Clarke is an electronic music pioneer and a founding member of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure. In our conversation, we discuss Vince's songwriting and production values. I met Vince in 2004 when I played some radio promo shows with Erasure. Out of the blue, I was asked to co-produce an album which became the Erasure album, Union Street. Named after my Brooklyn studio, Union Street was an acoustic reinterpretation of some of Vince and vocalist, Andy Bell's favorite Erasure songs. Since then we've developed an ongoing friendship and I always look forward to talking music with Mr. Clarke.

Welcome to the "The Loud Noise Podcast!". Join host, Steve Walsh for weekly conversations with some of today's most exciting musicians. Here, he digs into the creative process and shares tips and insight that you can use to develop your own creative voice.