Laura Boland is a daughter, a sister, a significant other, a musician, and an old-school soul. She's also my guest for Episode No. 198.

When wearing her musician cap, Laura goes by the moniker, Elska, and you can find her stuff at elskamusic.me, and you can follow her on Instagram at @elskalullabies.

Laura was kind enough to stop by and visit with me about growing up, life moves and changes, writing, recording, mixing, incorporating Alex Alexander into the Elska fold, and a number of other things, including a few of her favorite albums.

"Mama always said that dying was a part of life...but I sure wish it wasn't."

-- Forrest Gump

My journey as a fan of the Grateful Dead is -- from my perspective -- and interesting one in that I went from the tiny handful of FM-radio hits to Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of the Grateful Dead, and I didn't love it. At all, really.

Some time later everything changed.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

This is the Badass Records podcast, and I'm pleased to let you know that Episode No. 196 features none other than Joel vs Joel's very own, Joel Stratton.

Joel vs Joel's debut album, Smile in the Mirror, came out in August of last year, and Brad Smith (Episode No. 108) of Enigmatic Brunch Records was the wizard behind the curtains of making that happen.

But let's not let that detract us from Joel.

Andrew Turner of Andrew Turner Auctions sat down with me a handful of days ago, and we talked about some stuff.

Our Episode No. 195 conversation involved a little about growing up, family, life visions and the shifts therein, being a gigging musician, and so much more.

Ay, yo!

Life be life-in' right now, and I'm feelin' it; the usual stress of holiday hosting and shopping and scheduling and all the other stuff has my mind crinkled and my right shoulder blade in a knot.

It's a lot.

Sometimes, though, a little dose of blessing floats your way, and I couldn't be more grateful to share with you that I had the pleasure of meeting (and sitting with) the beautiful and the savvy, the sharp and the hilarious, the talented and ambitious, Kimology!

That's right.

Alright, now...

Thanksgiving is in the rearview, and we are officially in the thick of holiday madness!

And, in wishing you happiness and sanity getting through it all, I'm pleased to share that Rodd Fenton joined me for Episode No. 193.

Rodd is a son, a sibling, a husband, a producer, an engineer, a guitarist in a band, and he has an A+ em-dash game, to boot.

I'm feeling a tiny bit too gassed to look it up, but I think this is maybe the fourth-consecutive episode of the podcast to drop on Thanksgiving.

Thursdays aren't fantastic for metrics it seems, but what's more likely is that this thing just isn't really marketable in terms of audience growth.

And that's okay. There was never a pipe dream to have it all blow up. It's always been about connecting with people and sharing stories. And I'm pretty proud to be closing in on 200 episodes/four years of sittin' down with folks to talk about life and music.

Every Now and Zen I wax a little existential on here; doing so at least gets in the neighborhood of scratching that writer itch.

Daylight Savings has been over for a bit, and I think we're all still adjusting to it getting dark at 5:00 (soon to be 4:30), bracing for the holidays, and stirring the miniature marshmallows of emotion into the cocoa that is the forthcoming cold.

I have a fat bundle of youth basketball games to look forward to watching to, and the last week or so with my high-school-freshman daughter has been decent, better perhaps than it was at the end of October, so that's where my focus is attempting to be right now: on the positive.

What is up, everyone?!

We're back -- after a small pause -- with another episode featuring a guest, and I'm thrilled to share, regardless of how LinkedIn-y that sounds -- that I was lucky enough to see my interview with Phil Kilmer to the other side.

Meaning, it took a year and-a-half to make it happen. Which is fun!

In that vein, I'll pause for two seconds to say thank you to anyone that's ever replied to my outreach, and everyone that has helped me to see an episode come to finished-product state by committing, showing up, and being awesome. I'm really excited to see that the 200 mark is right around the corner, and -- as of this moment -- I have a small dose of confidence in me that we'll get there.

I'm equal parts excited to share this episode and sad that the project has come to a close, but before I get all emotional, know that the Apple Music playlist that serves as a companion to this episode can be found here. If that isn't your platform and you want me to create one for you for yours, D.M. me on Instagram or drop a comment on the YouTube post; happy to do it.

It's Episode 189 then and this is my first crack at a discography-series installment all by my lonesome.

Ladies and gentlemen -- Please put your hands together for Holly Day!

Holly is a daughter, a sibling, a wife, a mother of two, and a darn fine TikTok'er.

She's also my guest for Episode No. 188.

I had the pleasure of meeting Holly about a decade ago, and she's just as awesome as she was back then. We talked a little bit about growing up, parenting and navigating the world as adults, as employees, and as appreciators of music.

It has been a hot minute since the last installment of a discography-series episode dropped, and I couldn't be happier than to share that I was able to convince Sammy Sanchez to join me for a breakdown of the King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard catalog.

Sammy and I go all the way back to Two Thousand and Twenty-Two, when I met him for the first time after having his awesome father, Cesar, sit down with me to talk music and life.

I've gotten to know Sammy via these (now five total) podcast conversations, and that lane of my life is richer for it.

In our initial conversation, we talked LCD Soundsystem, Pink Floyd, and Tom Waits. Our second installment peeked into the Tom Waits discography. We did a Beck episode, and a Radiohead episode, and now...it's Kay Gee & the Elle Double-you, baby!

Allison Mendoza, a.k.a. @buffaloroamks on Instagram, is my guest for Episode No. 186.

Allison is a sister, an aunt, an embroiderer, and a lover of instant-film photography.

She's also a person with whom I enjoyed talking a great deal.

We talked about growing up, family-business life, and -- yes -- we also took a peek at a few of Allison's favorite albums. Those were these:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls -- Please put your virtual hands together for this week's guest of Badass Records podcast, Josephine Tsaur!

Jo' is the fantastic mastermind behind Hidden Gems KC, which you can follow on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and/or YouTube.

Hidden Gems KC is the channel you need to follow to find out about all of the cool stuff you might not know about in Kansas City, so -- as Kid Fry Cook once said -- please run up her numbers.

Please put your hands together and give a warm welcome to the Badass Records Podcast stage...Andrew Dodderidge, ladies and gentlemen!

Andrew is a son, a sibling, and a lover of both music and movies. He's a guy that dabbles in photography, but really gets the creative grease hot when it comes to putting words in print. In fact, he does that very thing for Kansas City's very own, The Pitch.

My guest for Episode No. 184 was kind enough to share a little bit of time with me a few Saturdays ago, and we chatted family, growing up, a Kansas state-college house divided like no other, writing and editing, loss and longing.

Kate Taylor is a daughter, a sibling, a wife, a mom, and an expert craftswoman. She's also my guest for Episode No. 183.

Learn more about Kate's awesome artwork at @matchboxkansascity on Instagram. Find her on Facebook at Matchbox KC, or reach out to her regarding a commission piece you'd like her to create for you at matchboxkansascity at gmail dot com. She's also on Threads.

I can't take credit for it 'cause Suzie told me that one of her friends already made the statement, but typing, saying, or thinking Suzannah Johannes sounds like you're talking about a cousin of Roseanne Rosannadanna.

Regardless...Suzannah Johannes -- my guest for Episode No. 182 -- is a resident of one of the finest towns this side o' The Mississippi'.

It's called Elle Eff Kay if you're keepin' score at home.

Mikey Wheeler is a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a musician, and a tattoo artist. He's also my guest for Episode No. 181.

Every now and again I wax emotional about what a good human with whom I've had the privilege of sitting on the other side of the table of, and when I do so it is 100 percent not in an effort to speak any less of the other fine folks that've been kind enough to join me.

We've all got a story or stories. We've all rowed the channels of life in one form or other.

Eric Martens is a son, a sibling, a husband, a father, and the owner of Border Brewing Co.

He's also my guest for Episode No. 180.

Eric was kind enough to carve out a small slice of his Tuesday evening a week or so ago to come spend it with me. And for that I am grateful.

Border Brewing Co. is located in the proverbial heart of downtown KCMO at 512 E. 18th Street, and you can give them a holler at 816-469-5287 or find their stuff online at borderbrewco.com.

This is Episode No. 179, and it features the lovely Sherrie Ortiz, who is the owner of Just One Day Travel Tours.

Sherrie is a daughter, a wife, a mom, an entrepreneur, and a business owner. You can find out more about Sherrie's Kansas City-based guided-tour operation at justonedaytraveltours.com, as well as on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Sherrie and I talked about her previous life in the retail-bakery world, her leap to launch Just One Day Travel Tours, as well as a few of her favorite albums.