You Could Be My Aramis Podcast
By Mike Bankhead
Some episodes will touch on travel, sports, cooking, art, and any number things where Mike and his guest share similar interests.
You Could Be My Aramis PodcastMar 18, 2022
Episode 114 - Tod Weidner
Tod Weidner is back again to talk about his experience recording "Favorites", one of his recent singles. We're also chatting about his upcoming shows here in Ohio with Peter Mulvey on May 2nd and 3rd.
Episode 113 - Valerie Vonn
Valerie Vonn is an independent musician currently based in Germany. How did she get started making music? Why is she based in Germany? You'll learn the answer to those two questions in this episode, as well as several insightful thoughts on the music business.
Episode 112 - Anthony Church
Anthony Church is a fellow Ohioan, a music producer, and a podcaster. What are his musical influences? What's his podcast like? What does he see as the role of a producer? You'll get the answers to these questions and more from this episode. Don't forget to check out the Show Notes for applicable links, including a Spotify playlist of Anthony's music, and his LinkTree.
Episode 111 - Juliet Fromholt & Taylor Ruckle with our favorite albums of 2023
Three music nerds talk about their top 10 favorite albums of 2023. Here's hoping you discover something that you'll love! Links in the Show Notes.
Episode 110 - Rizo talking about I AM EXPERIENCED
My latest release, I Am Experienced, is exactly six months old today, having been release on June 20th, 2023. This episode features Rizo, the engineer / producer on this concept album.
Episode 109 - Buick Audra
Buick Audra is a songwriter and guitarist based in Nashville, who seriously brings the rock in her band Friendship Commanders. She wrote a concept album called Mass for the band, and in addition to doing the artwork, she also wrote a book to accompany it. There are a lot of stories here. You'll hear just a couple of them in our conversation.
Episode 108 - Golden Guy
The more you learn, the less you're going to know about Golden Guy. That being the case, listen to this episode and learn a little less about this enigma of your fascination.
Episode 107 - Max B. Greene
Do you know what a cigar box guitar is? I didn't, and then I had this conversation with Max B. Greene.
Episode 106 - Taylor Ruckle and our favorite albums of Q2 2023
Taylor Ruckle is back on this episode, and we're talking about some albums we enjoyed. I hope you find something here that you like. The albums are listed with Bandcamp links over in the show notes.
Episode 105 - Black Opry with Holly G
How many Black country artists can you name? How many Black folks artists can you name? Even people who consider themselves music fans might not be able to name more than one or two. Why is that? What is being done to change that? You'll learn the answers to those questions in this episode, a chat with Holly G about Black Opry.
Episode 104 - Cherimondis J
Cherimondis J is an outrageously talented multi-instrumentalist, a classically trained concert pianist, and a soon-to-be college graduate. Our conversation goes to some deep and introspective places, mostly because Cherimondis clearly does a lot of thinking about how making art fits into her life. I asked her to contribute to my new concept EP I Am Experienced, she kindly agreed to do so, and you can hear her singing and playing violin on a few of the songs. We talk about that, the album Dove Archer that she released last year, being Black in the classical music world, her creative process and plans, and all sorts of other things.
"Chameleon Skin" - Cherimondis plays violin and sings on this song
Episode 103 - OriSoaring and I Am Experienced
I'm talking to my multi-instrumental pal OriSoaring again on this episode. This time, we're talking about how she kindly contributed saxophone to my concept EP, I Am Experienced. She played on "Latent", "Plantation", and "Hey Baby Take the Keys." You'll hear me talk a little bit about my family history when we discuss "Plantation." You'll also hear how Ori approached tracking saxophone on these songs, as well as how she got the idea to put saxophone on a punk song.
Episode 102 - Hiba Loukssi
Hiba Loukssi just graduated from Xenia High School, and is headed to Cornell. She's an enthusiastic, eloquent, intelligent individual who you are surely going to love. This episode is for all the 2023 graduates: I hope that you all groove to my new song "Good Times" as your song of the summer, and that you look back fondly upon this time someday in the future.
Episode 101 - Linsey Rogers
Linsey Rogers is a vivacious multi-instrumentalist and pinball enthusiast. There's more here, of course, but that's the hook. We had an enjoyable conversation, and I think you'll also find it quite entertaining.
Episode 100 - John Scalzi
It was truly a pleasure for me to speak to Ohio musician John Scalzi, who happens to also be my favorite author. We spend most of this conversation talking about music. What was the first instrument he learned? You'll find the answer to that and other things about this very interesting individual in this episode.
Episode 99 - Lisa Wagner & Levitt Pavillion
Lisa Wagner is Executive Director at Levitt Pavilion. They're a non-profit organization with the mission of building community through the power of music, and they bring 50 free concerts to Dayton every year. How in the world do they pull that off? Find out in this conversation.
Episode 98 - Kyleen Downes
Kyleen Downes is a professional musician, and one of my favorite people here in our Dayton music community. In this conversation, you'll learn how she decided to study music in college and what her songwriting process looks like, among other things.
Episode 97 - Tatiana Bonneau
I was on Tatiana's podcast a short time ago, and she returns the favor for this episode. Tatiana speaks four languages, has four children, and has a whole lot of interesting life experiences. You'll get to know her personally and professionally in this episode.
Episode 96 - Tracey Bunn
Tracy Bunn is my first Australian guest. She is an experienced musician and songwriter with lots of stories to tell. I think you'll be able to tell how much she cares about the music she makes from our conversation.
Episode 95 - Taylor Ruckle and our favorite albums of Q1 2023
Taylor Ruckle is back on the podcast! As music enthusiasts tend to do, we gush about our favorite albums of 2023 so far. I've linked to all of them in the Show Notes so that they'll be easy for you to find.
Episode 94 - OriSoaring
OriSoaring is a multi-instrumentalist and painter who I've known for a few years now. She's an intriguing individual with lots of stories. You'll get to hear some of them in this conversation.
Episode 93 - LeeAnn Tooker
LeeAnn Tooker is a comedian based in Los Angeles. I saw her do a set the last time in Los Angeles, and she made me laugh. You'll get to know LeeAnn in this episode, and get a picture of how much work it is to do stand up comedy.
Episode 92 - Dirty Doc (Dirty Metal Lefty)
Left-handed rock & roller Dirty Doc joins me today. You know her out in the streets as Dirty Metal Lefty. We'll get into how she learned to play music, what her songwriting process looks like, and all of the various musical projects she's participating in.
Episode 91 - Mike Thome 2023 baseball season preview
No show notes for this episode. Mike Thome is back on the podcast, talking about the brand new baseball season with me. We talk about the new rules, our favorite teams, our predictions, and then a little about barbecue.
Episode 90 - Tim Minneci
Tim Minneci is a musician, podcaster, and author based in Columbus, Ohio. Our lengthy conversations answers some important questions, such as: How does Tim decide which characters to kill off in a book? What authors, films, and music give him inspiration to write? What does he hope readers take away from his books? You'll the answers to these questions and more in this episode.
Episode 89 - Briget Boyle
Briget Boyle is here to tell us about "Mandolin", the second single from her upcoming album Heartbreak Residue.
Episode 88 - Jed Craddock & Joey Berrios
Jed Craddock & Joey Berrios cover a whole lot of ground in this conversation with me. Our chat goes from light-hearted to serious and heavy, from artistic reflection to ridiculous conjecture, and from remembering the past to looking forward to the future. It's all sincere. Please enjoy getting to know these gentlemen.
Episode 87 - The Wag
The Wag are a band from New Jersey who have been doing the music thing for 25 years. All four of the band members join me for this conversation. What's their story? What is their sound like? Who are these people? Listen to this episode to find out about these lovely people, and check out their new album Blue Bottles and Copper Coins on March 25th.
Episode 86 - Nora Rahimian
Nora Rahimian is an anti-capitalist business coach. What in the world does that mean? Listen to our conversation to find out!
Episode 85 - Maxime Cholley (en français)
Maxime Cholley est batteur professionel savoyard que habite maintenant en New York. On a parlé en anglais sur l'episode 84. Notre conversation en français et un petit peu différent. Maxime a des observation très intéressants au sujet de quelques différence culturels entre la France et les Etats-Unis. Vous allez aussi découvrir comment il a pris la décision d'étudier la musique à Boston au lieu d'en France.
Episode 84 - Maxime Cholley (in English)
Today's guest is French drummer Maxime Cholley, who is based in New York these days. This conversation is in English. (Come back Friday for our conversation in French.) How did he end up choosing to come to the United States to pursue his career as a professional musician? You'll find out in this episode.
Episode 83 - Marcelo Maccagnan
Meet Marcelo Maccagnan, Brazilian born bassist! He's currently based in New York. You'll be able to hear his passion for music in our conversation. Why did he choose bass? Tune into this episode and find out!
Episode 82 - Simona Smirnova
Simona Smirnova is my first Lithuanian guest. She is known for playing the kanklés, a traditional Lithuanian instrument. She's on tour right now promoting a book she just released called Kanklés in New York. A fascinating fact: her band consists of someone from Brazil, someone from France, and someone from Italy... that's four nationalities in one band! You'll find out more interesting things about Simona when you listen to our conversation.
Episode 81 - Yue Deng-Wu & Spacenotes
Yue Deng-Wu is a former lawyer. She's a classically trained pianist based in San Francisco, and is co-founder of a startup called Spacenotes. She has taken a fascinating path to get to where she is today. I am glad to call her my piano teacher right now, and am sure you will enjoy getting to know her via our conversation. What does she think is missing from music education? What did her childhood smell like? What does success look like for Spacenotes? These are some of the things you will learn in this episode. Stick around to the end to hear what is absolutely the most beautiful piece of music to have ever appeared on this podcast.
Episode 80 - Josh & Liv Roush present the film Wrong Reasons
Josh Roush grew up in Middletown, Ohio. Liv Roush grew up in Australia. They live in Los Angeles now. Josh wrote and directed independent punk rock feature film Wrong Reasons. Liv produced the film. Kevin Smith is the executive producer. Josh and Live are on the road right now, taking the film on tour to audiences across the country. How did they manage to finish this project on a small budget? How did Josh and Liv meet? How did Kevin Smith get involved? What in the world does a film producer even do? You'll learn the answers to these questions and more from this conversation.
Episode 79 - Jovi Espina
You'll really enjoy getting to know Jovi Espina, a talented songwriter from Virginia who is currently based in Los Angeles. Among other things, we talk about her EP Act Accordingly, which I strongly recommend you listen to.
Episode 78 - Nina Nepa
Nina Nepa is a songwriter and musician from Pittsburgh who is currently based in Los Angeles. We get into her songwriting process, and I ask her specifically about three songs so that she can break them down for us. (I link to those in the show notes.) You're going to find one of her stories especially touching.
Episode 77 - Ben Monat
Ben Monat is an amateur guitarist from Massachusetts who has a palpable enthusiasm for the instrument. In this conversation, you'll learn about his musical background, his influences, and what he likes to play these days.
Episode 76 - Brenda Carsey
Brenda Carsey is a singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. Her new album is called Cognizance, and you can stream it everywhere this coming Monday, January 9th. This is also Brenda's first vinyl release, and she's doing it in style, as Cognizance spans 2 discs.
Episode 75 - Olivia Frances
Olivia Frances is a multi-award-winning indie artist. She is originally from Cincinnati, and is currently based in Nashville. I like her songs, and I think you will, too.
Episode 74 - Juliet Fromholt & Taylor Ruckle with our favorite albums of 2022
Juliet Fromholt is Music Director at WYSO. Taylor Ruckle is a freelance music journalist who has been published by several outlets. Suffice it to say that the three of us are somewhat crazy about music. We have a lengthy and enthusiastic conversation about our favorite music from 2022. I hope you discover something from this episode that you end up loving. You can find a complete list of the top ten albums from Juliet and Taylor over in the show notes.
Episode 73 - Zack Sliver (Yuppie)
Zack Sliver's a Dayton based musician and songwriter whose project is called Yuppie. Yuppie put out an album called Peculiar in 2022. We talk about that in this episode. We also talk about songwriting, Lee's Famous Recipe fried chicken, music videos, and about how wearing a wig in Okinawa helped Zack to become a better musician. See the show notes for links to two fantastic music videos.
Episode 72 - Cara Van Thorn
Here's the description of this band that I lifted from their Bandcamp page: A little bit gothic, a little bit neo-30's, and just a little bit weird, they dazzle and delight with every song.
Carrie and Adam were kind enough to talk with me for this episode, and they were delightful. You'll enjoy getting to know them.
Episode 71 - Mary Beth Carty en français
Episode 70 - Mary Beth Carty
How would you like to meet an artist that sings in FOUR different languages? That's Mary Beth Carty, a fascinating multi-instrumentalist from Nova Scotia. We talk about her latest album, Crossing the Causeway, how the diversity of her region influences her music, and what her childhood smells like.
Episode 69 - Utopia Parkway
Marisa "Bux" Buxbaum is back on the podcast. Brandon Semler joins us. We lavish praise and analysis upon the second Fountains Of Wayne album, Utopia Parkway.
Episode 68 - Zac Pitts
Dayton musician Zac Pitts has his debut album Midwest Romance available right now on all streaming services. He stops by the podcast to talk to me about how he got started making music, his songwriting process, what making the album was like, and why it's important for independent musicians to learn about marketing.
Would you like a free song download? I'll send you one if you join my mailing list.
Episode 67 - John Dubuc
John Dubuc is a guitarist and songwriter from Dayton, Ohio. His band is called John Dubuc's Guilty Pleasures. We discuss his songwriting process, his musical background, his album (Where Have I Been All Your Life?), and what he has coming in the near future.
Episode 66 - Michelle Rhea Goddard
Michelle Rhea Goddard is a songwriter from California who is currently based in Nashville. We talk at length about her album Breaking Bread: Songs of Reconciliation in this conversation. We also get into her songwriting process and discuss the difficulties and limitations of choosing a musical genre.
Episode 65 - Three At Home
Three At Home are a band from the Boston area. How did they get their band name? How did three people from three different states come together to make music? You'll find out from this episode.
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