Jeff Scott Soto of Sons of Apollo joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days discovering his voice, how he got the gig singing on the first two Yngwie J. Malmsteen records and what he learned from that experience, finding his own voice after early days in cover bands, performing with such greats as Journey, Queen and Jimi Jamison, was he up for the lead singer role with Queen back in 1999, his various solo career efforts, his solo albums, working on Song For Joey from his new album Retribution in tribute of his brother, the upcoming W.E.T. record, connecting with the Mike Portnoy, Bumblefoot, Billy Sheehan, and Derek Sherinian to form Sons of Apollo, what it’s been like recording and hitting the road with that band, what’s next for their second record and much more!
eric’s interviews
Ronnie Platt of Kansas joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days discovering his voice, working his way up through the Chicago music scene for decades struggling through a string of bands including Shooting Star and ARRA, his near misses with both Survivor and Foreigner, how that prepared him for when he ultimately got the meeting with the guys in Kansas after Steve Walsh had announced his retirement, what it’s been like for him to take the stage and record and write with one of his most inspirational bands, the new rebirth that Kansas is currently experiencing with Prelude Implicit and their new live album Leftoverture Live & Beyond, Kerry Livgren’s reaction to seeing him sing Hold On, his favorite deep cuts from the Kansas catalog, what’s next in terms of an anniversary tour for Point of Know Return, a new studio album in the works and much more!
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Phil Collen of Def Leppard and Delta Deep joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days of discovering the blues via British classic and hard rock, his early connections to the guys in Iron Maiden, first joining Def Leppard during the making of Pyromania, writing for Hysteria, how the loss of Steve Clark affected him personally when working on Adrenalize, how the band looks back at some of these records in terms of production, his work with the blues band Delta Deep, Def Leppard releasing their catalog on the streaming sites and what tracks does he think deserve a second look, hitting the road with Joe Satriani personally and Journey with Def Leppard in 2018, his thoughts on producing the upcoming Tesla record, how far along the new Def Leppard studio album is and what’s next.
Stax legend 
William Bell joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days of discovering music, seeing Sam Cooke as a kid, getting started with The Del-Rios as a young teenager, how he first connected with Stax Records, meeting Sam Cooke and what he learned from him, what the environment was like working with such Stax legends as Booker T & The MGs and Mavis Staples, he shares a wonderfully funny road story from his time touring with Otis Redding, what it was like to tour in the segregated South as part of the Stax family, his meeting with Martin Luther King Jr, bringing that full circle in regards to performing You Don’t Miss Your Water for the first African American President at The White House, how he connected with John Leventhal, how the 2016 Grammy winning This Is Where I Live came together and what it means to his career, life on the road and what’s next.
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Joey Tempest of Europe joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days of discovering music, songwriting, his influences and connecting with John Norum, the difference stylistically between the first couple Europe albums and those that ultimately broke the band out globally, memories of being at Epic Records while Pearl Jam’s Ten was released, reconnecting with John Norum for 1992’s We Will Be Strong, what lessons did Europe learn and apply when the reunited in 2003, how they approach writing and record at their more mature stage, his friendship and writing collaborations with Chris Difford of Squeeze, how important is it for Europe to have a presence in American, lots of talk around their new album Walk The Earth, and much more.
Chris Hillman of The Byrds and Desert Rose Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Vicki Peterson of The Bangles and Action Skulls, John Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls, Mitch Schneider of MSO PR, and Rod Melancon join Eric in conversation to share memories and pay tribute to the life and work of Tom Petty. Hear Chris Hillman share memories of Tom Petty joining The Byrds for a few gigs and Tom’s efforts behind the scenes and in the studio on Chris’s latest album, Vicki Peterson’s memories of singing with Tom during the Full Moon Fever sessions and joining the Heartbreakers earlier this year, John Rzeznik’s thoughts on Tom’s songwriting, the greatness of American Girl and Tom’s timeless cool factor, Mitch Schneider sharing personal memories working alongside Tom as his publicist for 17 years including specific memories about specific lyrics directly from Tom, and young Louisiana singer-songwriter Rod Melancon’s deep appreciation of Tom, his legacy and the immortality of Tom’s music. Lots of funny stories, behind the scenes memories, praise, kind words, laughter and tears in homage to one of the world’s greatest, gone too soon. Part 3 of 3.
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Nils Lofgren, Dwight Twilley, Amy Helm, Keller Williams, and Mike Portnoy join Eric in conversation to share memories and pay tribute to the life and work of Tom Petty. Hear Nils Lofgren share memories of bringing Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on their first UK tour in 1977, Dwight Twilley shares memories of the early days at Shelter Records and appearing on each other’s early recordings, Amy Helm talks about how Tom’s music has been a real soundtrack to her life, Keller Williams shares details of his Pettygrass bluegrass tribute to Tom Petty, and Mike Portnoy’s high school memories of competing with the Tom Petty poster on his girlfriend’s wall. Lots of funny stories, behind the scenes memories, praise, kind words, laughter and tears in homage to one of the world’s greatest, gone too soon. Part 2 of 3.
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Joe Satriani joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days of discovering guitar, building his first ad-hoc amp out of a reel to reel tape player, touring in a disco cover band in his late teens, following his muse and making the move to California at a young age, building a new network in California, how he ended up singing background vocals on Crowded House’s self-title debut album, what he loved about giving lessons to many of the guitar greats of our time, views of his breakout album Surfing With The Alien after celebrating it’s 30 year anniversary, what he’s learned from 20+ years of touring with the world’s greatest guitarists in G3, how the idea of his new album What Happens Next featuring his friends Glen Hughes and Chad Smith came together, and much more.
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Graham Nash, Dan Baird, Rich Robinson of Magpie Salute and The Black Crowes, Brett Dennen, and Crystal Bowersox join Eric in conversation to share memories and pay tribute to the life and work of Tom Petty. Hear Graham relay a story of Tom working on The Hollies road crew in 1966, Dan Baird’s appreciation of Tom’s uncanny ability to write a killer first line, Rich seeing Tom Petty for the first time with Rick Rubin, Brett’s reaction as a kid when his parents got the first Traveling Wilburys record, and Crystal’s exceptional parenting in turning her nine year old son onto Tom Petty’s music. Lots of funny stories, behind the scenes memories, praise, kind words, laughter and tears in homage to one of the world’s greatest, gone too soon. Part 1 of 2, maybe 3.
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Gene Simmons joins Eric in conversation to discuss The Gene Simmons Vault – an amazing collection of 50 years of Gene! We talk about the earliest recording My Uncle Is A Raft from 1966, how he views songwriting from a creative perspective in addition to the business success, he shares details of specific never-before-heard tracks Hunger, Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl, early versions of Journey of 1000 Years, It’s My Life, writing during the Elder and Dynasty years, the history of the tapes involved in compiling this collection, how the book came together, the process he’ll undertake to deliver these to fans that buy them around the world, was anything retouched, whether he and Paul have talked about the future of KISS should one of them choose to step away, what’s next and much more. W’ALLLRIGHT!!
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THE PODS & SODS NETWORK 