Terri Daly is a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mom, and a librarian. She's also a reader, a planner, a traveler, and my delightful guest for Episode No. 230.

You can find Terri on TikTok and Instagram at @librarianonvacation, and while you're at the latter, please give @heartlandbookfest a look and a follow as well.

Terri and I came together for this conversation via the oddest of circumstances in that one of her TikTok videos landed on my FYP, and I reached out to her about a chat. A little way through that process we discovered that -- not only do a few of our kids go to the same school -- we've actually met in real life!

I received an invite to attend Flare tha Rebel's album-listening party at Vine Street Brewing Co. a few months ago, and while there, I met JT Daniels, who was displaying some of his artwork.

A little while later, I hit him up to join me for what would become Episode No. 229, and he obliged.

JT is a son, a sibling, a husband, a father, an artist, and more; I'm grateful that he made time to come have a conversation with me.

Bradley McKellip is a son, a sibling, a fiancé, a talented musician, and a gifted writer. He's also my guest for Episode No. 228.

You can follow Mr. McKellip on Instagram at @bradleymckellip, and consume his content on Bandcamp, where you'll discover that he has four EPs, a live set, and a single. He's been a part of numerous outfits in the Lawrence, KS area, and, well, I just can't say enough kind things about him and the chunk of change he shared with me at the end of last month.

We talked clean copy, robust vocabularies, poetry, photography, Anthony Bourdain and Guy Fieri, and -- among other things -- life. Somewhere in that mix, we examined a few of his favorite records, which were these:

Part of the fun of a project like this is the gambling, the happenstance. And a lot of what that looks like on my end is taking a chance on a stranger and a stranger taking a chance on me. It's really fun most of the time, and I typically wind up feeling good about things going the way they went. And -- more importantly -- so do my guests.

So, when @kc_slimm's content started making its way to my algorithm, I was pleasantly surprised in the lane of people I'd like to talk to. You, however, should give him a follow because he's checking out joints around town and giving them honest reviews. It's more of a put-that-place-on-our-to-check-out list as opposed to a where-should-we-eat-right-now kinda lists, but I suppose the content could actually serve both purposes.

Jimmy Wing, a.k.a. An Esperluette, is a son, a sibling, a husband, and a conductor of synth-pop mayhem from Kansas City, Missouri.

The handle for An Esperluette on Instagram is @anesperluette, and you can also find Jimmy's stuff on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, YouTube, and TikTok.

An Esperluette's full-length release, Splatter, dropped in June of last year, and consists of 10 tracks and a 33-minute run time.

And for the ultra-timely, catch his gig tonight, Thursday, October 1 at miniBar in KC at 3810 Broadway Blvd.

When Derrick Benitz joined me for Episode No. 160 (3/26/25), we were talking about a bunch of cool stuff and he said something that prompted me to mention that I'd like to have him back one day for another conversation.

Today is that day.

Or...the other day was that day, and today the episode's dropping, but you catch my drift.

Derrick's first appearance covered topics like street photography, his University of Missouri-Kansas City gig, John Mayer, Taylor Swift, Dr. Dre, The Wind & the Wave, and -- last but not least -- The Decemberists. For the unfamiliar, the latter is an indie-rock outfit out of Portland, Oregon. They've released nine records, and this is a conversation rooted very loosely in an analysis of their library.

And by "very loosely," I mean very loosely.

Jen Jones, Jen Jones, "...gonna walk around..." Jen Jones, Jen Jones, "...gonna..."

Ho, boy, if dad jokes just aren't the bees knees.

What a great guest for Episode No. 224, though!

Jen Jones is a daughter, a sibling, an educator, and so much more.

For example, she helps put together the monthly R.A.W. storytelling open-mic night at The Black Box in Kansas City (1060 Union Avenue), and the upcoming installment is this Monday, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Their Instagram handle is @raw_storytellingkc, and The Black Box's is @theblackboxkc.

Before I tell you about the amazing Emma Jo as my guest for Episode No. 223, I'd be sorely remiss if I didn't give a world-class shoutout to the absolute North American hockey great, Barry Melrose.

Barry warmed the hearts of hockey fans for decades and turned some of the non-hockey-knowing world onto the sport by virtue of his knowledge, charisma, and wit at a time when the game needed it most.

On behalf of Badass Records podcast, R.i.P. in Peace to the legend, the real one, the mullet, Barry Melrose.

Now...please let me tell you about Emma Jo, and her amazingness.

Paul Seiz is a son, a sibling, a husband, and a father. He's also my guest for Episode No. 222.

If one were so inclined, one could follow Paul on Instagram at @paulseizisalive, and one could peruse Paul's Web site, redbeatentertainment.com as well.

Were one to check out said site, one would learn that Paul has an arsenal of entertainment at his disposal, and you can hire them. Or just check them out. Either way. Totally up to you.

Of Tree's Ben Parks joined me for Episode No. 221, and we've got a few things to cover, so let's get into it.

Ben is a son, a sibling, a father, a visual artist, and a musician.

On the artist front, please visit benjaminparks.info to check out his available workshops, studio space, exhibits, and commission-outreach details. His Instagram handle is @branchesoftree. For the musician in him, find details at benjaminparks.info/of-tree. That Instagram handle is @of_tree.

Christena Graves is a daughter, a sibling, a wife, a mom, and a musician.

She's also my guest for Episode No. 220.

Christena joined me a couple of weeks ago to talk about her journey in youth, adulthood, parenting, and musicianship. We talked about faith and family, being a part of the music business and re-entering it after a short hiatus, recording, writing, producing, and so much more.

Adam Doyle of Shotgun Wedding Singer joined me for Episode No. 219, and it was both a treat to meet him and a delight to visit with him about his thus-far journey on this rock hurtling through space.

We talked about crafting one's own musicianship path, the band community in Kansas City, seeing awesome live shows, and a bunch more.

Josh Barber of Idle Heirs joins me for Episode No. 218.

Mr. Barber is a son, a sibling, a husband, a bandmate, and a man of both vision and talent.

Josh and I talked about the process of writing the bones of Life Is Violence -- Idle Heirs' full-length release from 2025 -- in the Pacific Northwest, recording it in Norway, and the excitement surrounding their next project.

Ian Dobyns is a son, a sibling, a partner, a mixer/producer, a musician, a super-sharp dude, and a great conversationalist. He's also my guest for Episode No. 217.

He stopped by the studio Saturday and chewed the fat with me on life in the producing/engineering/mixing lanes, wearing different band hats, growing up, relationships, and a bunch more. Find him on Instagram at @atlantis_morrissey, @doubledrag.wow, @theyretheirs, @elementrecording, @squishy.audio, and @indiedrummercollective.

Daniel Cole is a son, a sibling, a fiance, and a drummer in numerous projects. And he was kind enough to join me for Episode No. 216 of the podcast.

I sat down with Daniel last week to chat about his story, the outfits he gigs with, music, being engaged, and a bunch more.

His Instagram handle is @dcoledrums, and if you peep his bio, you'll see links for all of the bands he currently collaborates with or has collaborated with in the past. Those include @xtothev, @runwithitband, @quixoticfusion, @katbking, @twiceonsundayband, and -- last but not least -- @frankieshorez_mercyfiremusic, whose new album, Project Lullaby: Adventures in the City is out now on the streaming platforms and on Bandcamp.

As we roll into the birthday-weekend celebration of the United States of America, one might imagine coming out the other side of the festivities thinking a little more of the greater good than of the self. Maybe that's a lost cause at this juncture, but I don't believe that to be true. There are plenty of decent folks and resources and programs (or at least perhaps there were) in this country that we could -- at the very least -- spend a few seconds thinking about how one could serve one's neighbor. Or put the self second in a few of our daily walks.

And speaking of folks that land north of the decency line, I'm pleased to share with you that Jocelyn Olivia Nixon is my guest for this week's episode of the podcast.

Your assignment for the week -- class -- is to find someone cooler than Cass Jones.

And once I've graded all of your papers, I'm pleased to share with you that I will be modifying all of your Fs to As, because -- that's right -- it's an impossible ask.

We're putting up something in the form of Episode No. 214, and I couldn't be happier to share that @cassjooones on Instagram is my guest, and what a hoot I had chatting with her.

Very pleased to welcome Sammy Sanchez back in to the podcast studio for another exciting look at an artist's discography, and this time -- for Episode No. 213 -- we dove in to the Queens of the Stone Age catalog.

If you've not caught previous episodes with Sammy, you can check him out on Episode Nos 44 (first appearance), 66 (Tom Waits), 88 (Beck), 113 (Radiohead), and 187 (King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard). And if you wanna know how that train got rollin', check out Episode No. 30 with his dad, Caesar, which was also a fun time.

It's good fun for the dork in me this week as we're dropping a palindrome episode, and I couldn't be happier than to share that Brian Hurtgen joined me for the 212th installment of the program.

Brian is a son, a sibling, a parent, a partner, and a wearer of many band hats.

We talked family, musicianship, band life and the learning curve that sometimes comes with it. We also talked about life, death, and being a sage person as you walk the path.

Hi, hello, hey, and howdy!

Episode No. 211 features the super-fantastic Scott Devouton of Sound Ridge Studio!

My conversation with Scott involved details associated with creating a recording space, the development of chops as a musician, and you can check it out in a number of places. Namely, here!