Performance Anxiety Marc Shea

Today’s guest makes me feel like royalty. It’s drummer Michael Bland and he has worked with some of the best in the business. But before that, he played in school and found out he had perfect pitch! Finding that out helped solidify his decision to be a musician. But his parents weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea and pushed him to have a backup plan. That is, until Prince called the house looking for Michael. This started a trend of Michael being offered jobs on stage in the middle of jams. Michael was the drummer for The New Power Generation during a time where Prince was reinventing himself. But Prince isn’t the only high profile artist Michael has worked with. There’s Paul Westerberg, Chaka Khan, Maxwell, Nick Jonas, & Soul Asylum. 
Michael relays some behind-the-scenes stories about Prince, Paisley Park, and The Paisley Park Power Trio, among other things. And that ties in to a new project he’s working on with long-time collaborator, Sonny Thompson called (Br)others. They have a single coming out and are playing a show with a lot of The New Power Generation. Check Michael out @michaelblandofficial & @brothersmusic2024 on Instagram. Check out Brothers Forlife on Facebook. And look for Soul Asylum on tour this summer with Our Lady Peace, Live, & Stone Temple Pilots. Look for us @PerformanceAnx on socials. Love us with the gift of coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Or buy something with our logo at performanceanx.threadless.com. I had a wonderful time with Michael Bland on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network. Check it out.
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Today’s guest makes me appreciate life a bit more. Welcome a woman who has lived the blues, Bex Marshall. She talks about how she always had this absolute need to learn how to play guitar and the huge impact karaoke had on starting her career. She was singing in a band called Blue Murder before she had to press pause on her music career and get a “real” job. But it wasn’t all that bad. She traveled the globe and it was on a flight home from Jakarta when it hit her that music was her calling.
She describes the great support she received from her family, including being given a Gibson Hummingbird guitar at age 11 that she still uses to this day and how street performers helped her raise her own bar. Since then, Bex has taken her time to grow and hone her craft. That not only includes loads of gigs and touring but also by starting a writer’s retreat that was inspired by her late husband, pirate DJ Barry Everett. She also talks about the history of The House of Mercy, a place of rest for traveling musicians. 
Bex’s latest release, Fortuna, began during COVID lockdowns, which turned out to be a tough time for her including the unexpected passing of her bass player. She’s persevered and released the album that includes some of her best work to date. Pick it up wherever you get music or through bexmarshall.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, Instagram, & TikTok. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on X & Instagram. You can help us out with a coffee donation at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety or by buying merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Here’s Bex Marshall on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.Check it out.
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Today’s guest reminds me that not everything is always as it seems. Please welcome Lance Hoppen from the band Orleans. Prior to speaking with Lance, I hadn’t dug very deep into Orleans’ catalog. But when I did I realized that there is a whole lot going on there! The band tends to get lumped into the yacht rock genre but there is so much more to their sound.
Lance gives a history lesson on the band that became the family business. And in true familial style, his big brother, Larry, made him audition to get in the band. But even though he felt like he was hanging on for dear life, at times, he settled in and not only held down the groove with some amazing drummers, but also contributed to the Orleans style of blood harmony. 
Lance also talks about their sophomore album that came out after their fourth album, which contained early versions of their biggest hits. But the label didn’t hear it and dropped them! 
But as their sound fell out of favor, Lance made some tough decisions and took a hard left out of music for a time. But he couldn’t deny his art and eventually came back to music. Orleans has played for a handful of people on a military base and to literally hundreds of thousands at Woodstock ‘94. And it wasn’t always a linear progression. 
Lance is extremely candid about everything here; from the music to his life to the death of his brother Larry. It’s an episode that really did leave me speechless, at times. Orleans is playing a limited number of shows this year but new dates are always being considered. Check them out at orleansonline.net, on Facebook at orleansmusic, and their YouTube channel for all kinds of info. Check us out @PerformanceAnx on social media. You can support the show with a merch purchase at performanceanx.threadless.com or feeding our coffee habit at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. And please welcome Lance Hoppen of Orleans on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
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Today’s guest really makes me want to be more experimental…somehow. It’s Michael Wiener of The Children…(with the ellipses). They have just released what is technically their second album. But good luck finding the first. Michael’s household growing up was not typical. His mother was a pioneering photojournalist and his father was a child Holocaust survivor. And they encouraged his pursuit of the arts and culture, which led him to violin and piano lessons. But his initial professional foray into music was not via a band, but as a critic. This is how he met his future bandmates in The Children… Jim Coleman and Phil Puleo.
The band has a very loose way of creating music. They do a lot of improvising and build their structure on that. Michael also explains how the band writes in layers, the malleability of memory, as well as the difficulties of writing in a band when it’s everybody’s side project. 
The Children…have a new album out called The Craving on Erototox Records and it is…unique. It is delicate, heavy, menacing, and frenetic depending on what you’re listening to. It is a fascinating listen. Get the album on Bandcamp, from Erototox or wherever you get music (make sure you use the ellipses). Check out their Instagram page @thechildren_now. Follow us at @PerformanceAnx. Grab some merch at performanceanx.threadless.com or keep us awake with coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. Now check out Michael Wiener of The Children…on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
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Today’s guest makes me wish I had studied more in school. Meet Jason Achilles. This guy’s breadth of talent and interests just blows my mind! He’s not just a talented musician but he’s also an engineer who has recorded the sounds of Mars from a microphone system he was in charge of on the Mars rover. And apparently this kind of professional diversity runs in the family. By the way, he uses one of the microphones that didn’t make it to Mars on the podcast!
But the podcast starts off with an admission by Jason about the amount of info he decided to share with me. We talk about his early musical endeavors, including how he started playing solo and improvisationally.
So you now know that Jason has worked with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, but he’s also worked with Jerry Cantrell, Doug Kershaw, Geezer Butler, Dizzy Reed, and a ton of other people. I’m really not sure which of those is more impressive to me.
Jason reveals how he started working with NASA, getting involved in the Mars Rover project, and recording exclusively in analog. He obviously gets more creative the more limitations he has! He also reveals some news about a Carnegie Hall performance, putting together a planetarium tour, and thanks to a student at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, he’s asked probably the most intelligent question that’s ever been asked on this podcast (Thank you Triston Tindell). 
Check Jason’s music out on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music. Go to jasonachilles.com for his music as well as Sounds From Mars and more info on upcoming events. He’s @jasonachilles on X. We’re @PerformanceAnx on the socials. You can keep us going with coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety or merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Visiting our sponsors also helps out a lot! So let’s check out Jason Achilles on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
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Today’s guests exemplify the virtue of patience. Please welcome Jim Suhler and Buddy Whittington of the band Texas Scratch. Their debut album was released recently…14 years AFTER it was recorded. And if you’re asking why, I’m not even sure the band can answer that. Texas Scratch is a Texas blues album that was recorded in New Jersey. Maybe that’s why it took so long…the universe couldn’t believe such a great blues album could have been made in the Northeast.
 Jim and Buddy have played with some incredible musicians like John Mayall, George Thorogood, AC/DC, Joe Bonamassa, Billy Gibbons, and more. Speaking of Billy Gibbons, Jim reveals the very special place Billy has in his marriage.
So we start off talking, like we usually do, about each guitarists musical history; what inspired them to play guitar, how they started professionally, and how they found their current gigs. But the most amazing part is how the whole Texas Scratch album came together, almost spontaneously, and how it stalled after it was slated for release. 
Go get the album from Quarto Valley records, Amazon, Itunes, Apple music, or wherever you get music these days. Follow them on Facebook and maybe Instagram at this point. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on socials. You can send coffee money to ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety. You can get merch at performanceanx.threadless.com. Now prime your ears for some killer blues and a debut album that is very late to the party on Performance Anxiety on the Pantheon Podcast Network.
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