Your Next Favorite Band

Early in the year 1976, a young musician was seeking a place to perform where people wanted to listen. Frustrated by the spaces where you'd play to a crowd that was otherwise distracted, he sought to find and create an environment where the musician and the audience shared the room and the exchange of energy would be something special. The owner of what was then the Lehigh Tavern (nowadays known as The Funhouse) mentioned that the doughnut shoppe next door was vacant. And the res...

I became a fan of Weakened Friends straight off of the first listen of their iconic hit "Blue Again" back in 2019 in preparation of Musikfest that summer. This many years later, and now hosting a podcast, the opportunity came up to be able to interview Sonia Sturino and Annie Hoffman and I jumped at the opportunity. They've just released brand new music, and it is there best stuff yet. The album is called Feels Like Hell, and comes out of a long wait - not quite "writer's block",...

I had the honor of attending the first Sustainability Summit hosted by Martin Guitar last October and was so inspired by the speakers, the panels, the information and the people I met while I was there. One of the speakers and tabling organizations was Sustain Music & Nature, and met co-founders CEO Betsy Mortensen and Board Chair Harrison Goodale. I was amazed by their vision and offerings to bring musicians and protected lands together to inspire beautiful music to help share the...

I attended a Sustainability Summit for the music industry hosted by Martin Guitar back in the fall of 2025. It was a great day of panels, Q&A and networking that includes musicians, manufacturers and support organizations all seeking to make the industry a bit more green, sustainable and less negative impact to the earth. While there, I was able to listen to Ben Kogan speak on one of the panels, and share how "easy" it was to make certain decisions for hosting live music festivals ...

Back-to-back episodes find Jenny Founds, Jesse Braun and Jon Braun pulling double duty - this week focused on sharing the story and the original music of the killer power trio Ruby Dear. Bringing some of the most incredibly unique songs and powerful performances. From tracks like "Spirit Go" that belong with the greatest anthems to ever come out of the Lehigh Valley, to "Screwed" that will have you dancing and crying at the same time, Ruby Dear put me in that delicious space where I ca...

This week we're honored to spend time with John Hollier and his band The Rêverie. First - it's pronounced "oh - lee - yea". Second - getchoself ready for a French-Cajun blend of rock-n-roll, heartland grit, and cinematic storytelling with one foot in the swamp and the other charging ahead. We'll spend time hearing about how John grew up on the crawfish farms in central Louisiana, learning music from his family, but not until he learned enough on his own. Then traveling to ...

This episode is special - as it represents the perfect outcome of what this show was build on and all about. The Vindys were the band at the top of our "must see" list heading in to Musikfest 2025 last summer, and they exceeded expectations with an incredible performance. Then they were also super nice and agreed to come on the show. So here we are, sitting down with lead singer and head songwriter Jackie Popovec, lead guitarist John Anthony, and rhythm guitarist Rick Deak. ...

Before ever even having a show, I had read the book This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin simply because I was fascinated by the magic of music, and it was a wonderful read. Then when I started to have my own show about music discovery, I "shot my shot" and reached out to Dr Levitin to see if he'd be open to coming on as a guest. And back in Nov of 2022, I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing him for episode 27 of Your Next Favorite Band. In addition to the book,...

The topic of streaming services comes up on our show a lot, and one thing we're always hoping to raise awareness on is how little revenue there is in that for the artist. But what if it wasn't like that? Coda Music is a new streaming service seeks to offer a more ethical treatment of the musicians who's art is on their platform. We're joined by CEO Randy Fusee and COO Ted Andre who will help talk us through all of what differentiates their offering - both to the consumer and to t...

This band from Chicago came flying in to our mindshare late in 2025 with their album release Ur A Star, and especially their track "Bad Heart" which caught our earholes so fast and furiously, it made our Top 19 Songs of 2025 list. We'll spend time with lead singer and songwriter Ari Levin and learn all about this bands raw and infectious sound, and that's not where their duality ends. They are self-proclaimed indifferent slackers and obsessive romantics. We definitely need to get...

Join us on New Year's Day as we spend time with long time friend and previous co-host of the show David Moore to revisit the year that was 2025, and preview what we have in store for 2026. We'll talk resolutions, guests, live events, Musikfest, and much much more (Moore?). I even share my Top 19 Songs of 2025 and we’ll be releasing a bonus podcast only episode that shares each track. Be sure to check it out! Text us your thoughts on this episode, and who should be OUR #NextFavBand... As alw...

Every year WXPN puts out a "Greatest" prompt for the listernship community to chew on and submit their Top 10 list. The station then compiles, calculates and computes the highest ranking 885 from those submissions. This year, we are determining the Greatest Cover Songs of all-time. Here's how WXPN is defining a cover: A cover is when an artist performs or records a song created and released by someone else. Full stop. I'll once again be joined by my fav Pod Pals Dan Drago ...

When I recently was introduced to the music of Bird Streets, it immediately jumped out as something special. Described as running the gamut from claustrophobic folk, to anthemic indie pop, to punk rock freakouts - there's something here for everyone. One song in particular has been living in my earholes since I first heard it, and so I cannot wait to connect with John Brodeur, the mastermind behind the sound. John has been writing and performing music for a good while now - first as p...