Artist Spotlight Podcast Series James Riley and Beth Riley

Mark Malibu spends some time with James and Beth Riley for this new episode of Artist Spotlight Podcast Series in their quest to become honorary Wasagas! They chat about early musical influences, The Monkees, “Canada’s Original Surf Punk Instrumentalists”, the early period of The Wasagas when there wasn't a surf scene, reuniting and a 2nd phase of the band 30 years later, the current surf scene, a certain Scooby Doo character that we think he sounds like, Surfin' Kitty Xmas compilations (and if there will be a volume 5 this year), record collecting, desert island discs, a time period he would go back to if a time machine were possible, requests for our radio shows, what's on the horizon and so much more!

James and Beth Riley had a chance to chat with legendary surf guitarist Bob Berryhill! Bob is the sole remaining original member of The Surfaris and tours with his wife Gene and sons Deven and Joel. A variety of topics were discussed including the story of how "Wipe Out" happened, various covers of that iconic song, surf influence on punk rock, touring with his family, playing with Surfer Joe and his Surfer Joe Festival last year, playing the Surf Guitar 101 Festival Weekender this year, requests for our radio shows, desert island record picks and more!

James and Beth Riley recently spoke with Nicole Damoff from The Surfrajettes! They talk about her influences, the members of The Surfrajettes, recent tour (and trying to pack for all seasons), headlining vs being an opener, looking to bands like The Ventures as inspiration, record store finds, cover tunes, writing originals, being on a couple of The Beach Boys cruises (and what they learn from playing with icons like that), working on their new album, requests for our radio shows, desert island discs, our time machine question of what time period she would like to go back to...Oh, and they also chat about Jim Babjak of The Smithereens who had commented "Cool" on a Facebook video that Beth shared of The Surfrajettes live. All of that and so much more!

Beth Riley chats with guitarist Jim Suhler on this episode of Artist Spotlight Podcast Series. They chat about his influences, bands he is a part of (Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat, George Thorogood & The Destroyers and Texas Scratch), having Billy F Gibbons play a big role in his 2002 wedding and meeting some of his idols. They also chat about Jackson Browne and his music, as well as The Kentucky Headhunters. Of course, the infamous time machine and desert island disc picks are talked about. They chat about Jim Suhler's band Texas Scratch's debut album from 2009  finally being released 14 years later, as well as his thoughts on his bandmates, Buddy Whittington, Vince Converse, Jeff Simon and Jim talks about the loss of Nathaniel Peterson. Not a dull moment on this episode and there are so many good stories. If you ever wondered what Jim would pick between "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer" (the song pre dated his time in The Destroyers but it had to be asked), his answer might surprise you. All of that and so much more!

Beth Riley chats with guitarist Bryan Bassett on this episode of Artist Spotlight Podcast Series. They chat about his influences, various bands he's been in (including Molly Hatchet and Wild Cherry). They talk about how he joined Foghat and their new album "Sonic Mojo"that was released on November 10, 2023. Bryan picks his favorite track off of the album and his favorite from his entire career. He also talks about the late Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown and his influence on Foghat and him personally. Of course, Beth had to talk about Jackson Browne and Bryan talks about his love of Jackson's songwriting. Bryan tells his favorite memories from each band he has been a part of, as well as talking about his time teaching in college and how difficult it was to answer to Professor Bassett. Current influences and bands that Bryan listens to are also on this episode. Beth mentions a surf band called Froghat and Bryan talks about a piece of Foghat merch that was a frog head made for babies to wear as a hat...making it a frog-hat. Lots of laughs on this one, and, as always, there's the time machine question and Bryan's desert island disc picks....all of that and so much more. 

Beth Riley chats with Todd Bradley on this episode of the Artist Spotlight Podcast Series. Join the conversation as they chat about Todd's beginning stages of music, his short time at Berklee College of Music, bands he has been in including Delroy Rebop, Indirect Object, The Essentials, The Salamanders and of course, his current band: The Hi-Risers. They also talk about his friends and bandmates (both past and current) including: Jason Smay, Greg Townson, Trevor Lake, Eddie Angel, Jim Symonds and others. The Bossa Nova Bradley Brothers (that Todd does with his brothers Mark and Scott) is talked about too... including upcoming shows for them. Todd speaks highly of his wife of nearly 3 decades and their 2 wonderful kids and he also speaks highly of Lou Whitney and D.Clinton Thompson of The Skeletons/The Morrells....as well as the owners of Hi-Tide Recordings: Vincent and Magdalena Minervino. We didn't forget about the famous desert island disc question either....find out which albums Todd picked! All that and so much more!