Something new on 2Loud2OldMusic.com this week will be podcast reviews.  I have been digging through a ton of music podcasts over the last few months and there are several that I have grown to love and they are now a weekly event that I listen to on the drive home from work.

First up for review is ‘Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon’ on Westwood One.  So, who is Mitch Lafon?  Mitch is a very well respected music journalists out of Canada and has been in the music scene for over 20 years.  To put it simply, he knows the rock scene.  He lives and breathes it on a daily basis.  One thing I found out is his first interview was at 11 years old back in 1980 when he interviewed Gene Simmons of Kiss.

Mitch interviews the cream of the crop in the rock world and the interviews are always compelling and full of cool information about the artist and what is going on with their music or even their lives.  At times the interviews seem like two friends sitting back and having a conversation.  Mitch has interviewed a lot of these artist before over the years and some are actually personal friends of his.  You don’t get the normal stale, boring interview.  Mitch has a way of making the artist feel relaxed and willing to talk.  Hell, most of the time the artist are coming to Mitch for the interview not the other way around.  That right there tells me a lot about his credibility.

Who has he interviewed…well who hasn’t he interviewed.  Here is a list of some of his most recent guests…

• Vinnie Vincent
• Brent Smith (Shinedown)
• John Waite
• John Corabi (The Dead Daisies/Motley Crue)
• Rick Astley…yes, the Rick Astley
• Don Dokken (Dokken)
• Mick Jones (Foreigner)
• John 5 (Rob Zombie)
• Michael Sweet (Stryper)
• Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.)
• Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest)

This is a small sample as each podcast has 2 to 3 different interviews and can run 1 to 2 hours long.  I have attached a YouTube clip of one recent interview he did with Bobby Blotzer of Ratt (and his attorney).  If you know what has been going on with Ratt lately, you would understand why Bobby has his attorney with him.

I follow him on Facebook as well and you get some great backstage pictures as he is at all the rock shows that come near where he lives.  He seems to have full backstage access and is one way he develops these long term relationships with the artists.  He always post interesting points about rock history and posts anything rock & roll.  Well worth the follow.

Okay, I don’t think I have anything negative to say about Mitch.  His shows are top notch and always has good audio quality (unlike some shows out there).  He interviews the musicians you want to hear and isn’t afraid to ask tough questions and poke around to see what new information we can learn about the artists.  He goes where the interview takes him and he isn’t just sticking to his list of questions. He lets the artist to talk and things tend to just pop out and you never know the direction the interview is going to go which is what is so great about it. If you want to add more credibility, his podcast are constantly quoted by many music websites as he usually gets some newsworthy material out of his guests.

Here is a podcast you can listen to on Apple Podcasts if you would like.  It is the podcast with Vinnie Vincent.  It was supposed to be a 20 minute interview that turned into 1 1/2 hours…and there will be a part 2. The podcast also has Queensrÿche’s Todd La Torre, April Wine’s Myles Goodwyn and co-host Bill Leverty (Firehouse)

 

Go check Mitch out and then let me know what you think.  I will do these types of reviews on occasion when I find podcasts worth talking about, but this was the obvious choice to start this series.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!