Deeper Cuts Graeme Burk, Shannon Dohar and Rob Jones

What grabs you as a kid listening to songs on the radio may still grab you as an adult... but the nuances often come out after you’ve had years to process them, all informed by life experience. This was true for Rob and Steely Dan’s 1972 debut record Can’t Buy a Thrill. It was an album he immersed himself in his twenties during his first flush of CD buying. But as a little kid, the big radio singles sounded weird and even terrifying – and sometimes hilarious – to him. So, what’s the real identity of the music beyond what listeners hear in it wherever they are in their lives? It’s a big question.
Of course, as always, music is weird, with a lot of it splitting rooms and creating friction among otherwise friendly discussions between music fans. Does that play out here among the Deeper Cuts trio? Where do they stand on the Steely Dan divide? Where do musical expectations come into this discussion of how we hear music from one point in our lives to another? And what of this album, specifically? Is it a thrill? Or do the Deeper Cuts Trio not buy it? Not going to click to find out? C’mon. Only a fool would say that (just kidding, please click).
The music from every episode this season can be found our Spotify Playlist. Also, don't forget to talk to us on Twitter (@deepercutscast) and to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts!
Special thanks to Alex Kennard for our theme song and Scot Clarke for our logo and ID graphics.
This year's "Vox Pops" heard at the start of every episode included Michael Powell (6.1), Joy Piedmont (6.2), Francis Bradley (6.3), Lacy Baugher-Milas (6.4), Jen Burt (6.5) and Jay Wilson (6.6).
Deeper Cuts will return. Thanks for listening.

When you find out your friend is in a band and has made a record, it’s like finding out that they’re a practicing wizard, a superhero, or secret agent. It often turns music fans/friends into evangelists – “Everyone! Listen to what my friend made!” In the heady days when melancholic northern new wave roamed the earth, Graeme’s friend Bob, alias “Simon DeBeaupre”, along with his bandmates in Age of Mirrors put out 1987’s Screenplay. Graeme made sure we all had a copy. He’s still making sure of that by way of this episode of our show – thirty-five years later!
So, all these years later, how do the songs carry? What about the personal connections to the music? Do they skew the results as to how listeners judge its quality? Overall, what does the Deeper Cuts Trio think about this album? Does this record scale the cinematic heights? Or does the plot fall flat? Jump on that play button to find out.
You can take a shallow or even a deep dive into this past season courtesy of our Spotify Playlist which covers every episode, as well as the recently completed miniseries, The Live Sessions. And, hey, don’t forget to talk to us on Twitter (@deepercutscast) and to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts!
In the episode Graeme talked about having a signed, limited edition copy of Screenplay. Here's some photos of Graeme with that copy (which, naturally, is the first of 30!)

Music runs deep and has the power to enlighten, educate, and empower. This doesn’t have to be a didactic thing and the best of it isn’t. Great songs can do all of those things as one listens and enjoys them. It does all that at the soul level. Music is weird – and sometimes very, very sneaky.
Shannon connected with the world of acapella from her time in college, solidifying her well-earned status as theater and choir kid. All the while, the music of Sweet Honey in the Rock and their album Breaths was a stalwart influence to change her perspective on what acapella music could be. It introduced the idea of protest and politics in acapella music – a new idea for her as a young music-maker. So, how did the Deeper Cuts trio react? Did the album take our breaths away, or was it a battle for our lives? Do the thing with the clicking to listen.
You can come back to all the songs sung this season thanks to our Spotify Playlist which covers every episode, as well as the recently completed miniseries, The Live Sessions. And don’t forget to talk to us on Twitter (@deepercutscast) and to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts!

There reaches a point in a young music fan’s life when they begin to detect the emotional complexities of the songs and albums they love. This usually corresponds with a capacity for sensing these things in real life between real people. One discovers that some things can seem happy on the surface, while being full of tumult and struggle underneath. Nick Heyward’s 1983 debut record North of a Miracle was the key example for Rob when he was 14 and going on 15. It also provided the soundtrack for what followed in his own life as things changed dramatically in his household at the time.
How does that happy/sad dynamic in the music read for him today? How does this dynamic play in general when one is feeling down or in a period of uncertainty? Most of all what did Rob’s co-hosts think of the album? Was it a guiding north star to musical bliss? Or did it go south fast? Get with the clickity-click to discover the answer.
Our Spotify Playlist will cover each episode of this season, as well as the recently completed miniseries, The Live Sessions. And don’t forget to talk to us on Twitter (@deepercutscast) and to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts!

We often find an attachment to certain music during times of emotional upheaval and loss. And it can be a double-edged blade. We love it and find it painful at the same time... because, hey, music is weird – and mysterious. For Graeme, the ending of a relationship led him to this exact place. Around that time, Sarah McLachlan’s 1997 record Surfacing was his soundtrack – not just on his personal stereo, but with the music playing as a musical accompaniment in his head as he navigated his way through a painful period.
Join Graeme, Shannon and Rob as they ask: what makes a great break-up record anyway? Is there a way to reconcile an album we associate with emotionally harrowing times to just appreciate it over time as great music? Overall, what did the Deeper Cuts trio think of this record as a whole? Did it breach the surface for us, or did it sink to the bottom? You know what to do to find out!
Our Spotify Playlist will cover each episode of this season, as well as the recently completed miniseries, The Live Sessions. And don’t forget to talk to us on Twitter (@deepercutscast) and to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts!

As is often the case with music, love can grow in increments. The Deeper Cuts trio touched on that in our discussion on Tom Waits’ Mule Variations album all the way back in Season Two when Shannon first saw the artist’s incendiary performance of “Chocolate Jesus” on Letterman. But even as listeners grow into a sound over time, artists themselves reveal something of their art through various stages of their careers, too. It was this phenomenon that struck Shannon when she heard 1974’s The Heart of Saturday Night, which presents Tom Waits in an earlier incarnation. The album revealed new depths and new perspectives for her on his work, solidifying her fandom for all time. But what were the impressions of her two cohorts? Did we all sidle up to the bar and knock a few back in celebration of the weekend, or did we get bogged down by the threat of Monday morning? Make with the clicking to find out, friends as we begin our sixth, yes that's right, sixth season of Deeper Cuts.
As ever, our nifty Spotify Playlist will cover each episode of this season, as well as the recently completed miniseries, The Live Sessions. And don’t forget to talk to us on Twitter (@deepercutscast) and to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts!