Jason Gerken is one of my favorite human beings on the planet and I barely even know him.

As I was telling the guest from Episode #9, it feels like every episode I do is my new favorite conversation, and this one was no different.

It takes a lot of courage to say yes to doing an interview about your life and your music and it takes even more to show up and see it through. I can't exactly say why, but I just had a hunch that our conversation in this one would be a hoot, and it did not disappoint.

Jason has been behind the Shiner kit for some time now, and it was exciting to learn about the other projects he's participating in as well.

Jason Proffitt is a father, a retired beer-league goaltender, and one of the coolest cats you'll ever meet. Even when he's angry at you for playing shitty defense in front of his net.

In this week's episode of Badass Records, Jason and I dissected musical snobbery, chatted about good, great, and goofy people, dipped our toes in the Frank Zappa and Jenny Lewis waters, and talked about a few pivotal points of our musical journeys, which -- for him -- included his introduction to The Cult's album, Electric. We also spent a decent chunk of time envisioning ourselves to be stand-up comedy experts, so take that forever it might be worth. 

We enjoyed the shit out of ourselves in this conversation and we hope you'll dig it, too.

There's no way in the human world to compile a collection of words that will do justice to who Matt "Bus" Barr is, and -- even though I'm gonna try -- one could only attempt to grasp what a phenomenal person he is after knowing him for almost 30 years.

He is, nevertheless, a son, brother, a father to three, and perhaps above all an artist.

Bus has had a really fascinating musical journey and turned a lot of people on to a lot of things they probably never would've heard of otherwise. He's been on Grateful Dead tour at age 16, in a band at age 25, had an entire gallery display of his own original work, lived with a pot-bellied pig, dealt with Type I Diabetes since age 10, been a teacher and a principal, made both a children's-music album and book, and, well...we're not even scratching the surface of his life list with those mentions.

Britt Whitehead is a son, a kid brother, and a father of two. He's one of the smartest dudes you'll ever meet, so if you need a guy like that on your payroll, you should hire him. And while you ponder that, you might also chew on the idea of giving him a pile of U.S. currency to restore that favorite piece of furniture you've always been wanting redone.

Anyhoo, let's not overlook the idea that Britt joined for an episode of Badass Records to talk about The White Album (or The Beatles' self-titled double LP, if that's what gets your rocks off) that remains a legendary recording 54 years after its release.

Matt Graunke is a brother and a son and an uncle and a cat lover. He's also been one of my best friends for nearly 40 years, and in this installment of Badass Records, we talked about life in Lawrence, KS, relationships with our homeboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Beastie Boys.

Although we didn't do Licensed to Ill half of the justice it deserves, it was a fantastic hang, nonetheless.

Erik Hess is a husband, a father of three, a note-taker, and a collector of music, memorabilia, stats, jewelry, and hair-care products.

In Episode 5 of Badass Records, we not only talked about what an oddball Russell Wilson is and how much his new team overpaid for him, but we also talked about the distinct possibility that the band 311, the comedian Carrot Top, and retired NFL quarterback Jay Cutler might be entirely interchangeable entities.

Tanya Sieber is a mother of two, an entrepreneur, and a vessel through which music is manifested and shared.

She has sailed many musical seas, including being baptized by Pink Floyd's The Wall at age eight, playing bass guitar in a band in her college years, to today, in which she finds her singer/songwriter self frequenting the recording studio and releasing original tracks out into the ether. Or the ethos. Take your pick.

In Episode 3 of Badass Records, we talk rap, hip-hop, R&B, grunge, and more. We got a few things wrong in our De La/Tribe discussion, but we didn't sit down together to have a perfect conversation. Instead, we examined a few of our own musical-journey tributaries, and illustrated our appreciation for friends, family, record stores, and stereo systems.

Josh "Jett Pakk" George is a father of three, a skater at heart, and a retired muthafuckin' hustla'.

In Episode #2 of Badass Records, we wax nostalgic about Led Zeppelin and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but not for long, as those relics remain but a dusty launchpad into the world of hip-hop, breakdancing, and rap.

Jason Fisher is a father, a writer, and the proprietor of Armadillo Storage Company in Durango, CO. He roots for the Denver Nuggets and the Boston Red Sox, but really finds pleasure in supporting the Denver Broncos Football Club, and that last part is a painful phrase to type. Jason once held the esteemed position of Editor-in-Chief for Fort Lewis College’s The Independent newspaper, and still makes up one-third of The Iron Triangle, a trio of ex-Independent editors that dabbled in the blog world over at House of Georges.