Nick kicks us off with some new music from The Hives and checks in with Jay on the announcement that Bruce Springsteen is releasing seven unreleased albums in June. Greg is out this week, so Keith Grasso is kind enough to join us again. Nick takes the opportunity to check in with the owner of Island Music (and five-time cohost) on the state of music equipment sales amid a tariff war.

Song: The Hives - “Enough is Enough”

Keith’s feeds were blowing up this past week when it was announced that Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy and guitarist Warren DeMartini are touring together again after a ten year break.

Song: RATT - “Way Cool Jr.”

Jay closes things out with a Three For Thursday. We have a track off the new Springsteen project, an Apple Music Discovery find, and another from Sirius XM.

Songs:

Bruce Springsteen - “Rain in the River”

Lola Kirke - “Bury Me In NYC”

Birdtalker - “Season of Charade”

Jay takes us back to 1997 to revisit the album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. by Incubus. The album preceded their commercially successful 1999 album, Make Yourself. It’s heavier and funkier and was the last album to include DJ Life. It is worth a listen, you should check it out.

Songs:

Incubus - “Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)”

Incubus - “Deep Inside”

This week on News with Nick, Snoop & Dre collab on a Nashville Gin bar, and we have a selection of music related films coming out soon to discuss.

Song: Tortoise - “Organesson”

Finally, can we talk about Greg Loman for a second? We close the show out with a very special Review the Review. It seems as though a write for SDShowz made it to the Beck’s Bolero & Red Not Chili Peppers’ gig in San Diego last week and, boy oh boy, were they impressed with Greg! We read the whole darn review, we bask in Greg’s awesomeness and we celebrate his modesty. If you wanna read/laugh along, you can find it here: https://sdshowz.com/f/red-not-chili-peppers-beck-bolero-at-house-of-blues-san-diego

Song: Nas - “N.Y. State of Mind”

Greg’s side project, Beck’s Bolero, opened for the Red Not Chili Peppers to a sold out crowd at the House of Blues in San Diego this past weekend. It the group’s first show and Greg shares the experience. The band features Harry Waters on the keys, Greg on guitar, Cain Daniel drums, and Zephyr Avalon on bass.

Songs:

Beck’s Bolero - “Air Blower”

Beck’s Bolero - “Scatterbrain”

Whenever Jay has an melange (or a stew, or a gumbo) of different topics to share, he serves up Jay’s Jambalaya. Jason Isbell eschews the songwriter approach on his new solo acoustic album, King Gizzard has an unreleased documentary called Chunky Shrapnel, and the greatest two-hit wonders as written by Chris Dalla Riva (https://www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/p/the-greatest-two-hit-wonders).

Songs:

Jason Isbell - “Gravelweed”

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - “The River”

We close with Three for Thursday. Nick brings new indie/alternative tracks released in the past month from Moreish Idols, Sharp Pins, and YHWH Nailgun.

Songs:

Moreish Idols - “All In The Game”

Sharp Pins - “With A Girl Like Mine”

YHWH Nailgun - “Tear Pusher”

At the top we have confirmation of a new album by Mars Volta, and speculation of something new from Radiohead. Then, Tempo Music Investments recently acquired a quarter interest in Bruno Mars 2012 song “When I Was Your Man.” The company is now suing Miley Cyrus, claiming exploitation of their copyright for her Grammy winning 2023 hit song “Flowers.” Cyrus claims she wrote it for her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, who reportedly dedicated the song to her in the past. Cyrus’ lyrics seem to respond to the chorus of the Mar song. Does that entitle the new copyright holder to a cut? Apparently that’s for a hurry to decide.

Song: KEG - “Strangers”

Greg shares some Sound Advice from Chick Corea. The legendary & influential jazz pianist and composer laid down some serious wisdom about playing and improvising with other musicians. Greg found and is sharing these nuggets for everyone to reflect on. Also, Beck’s Bolero will be opening for the Red Not Chili Peppers at the House of Blues in San Diego Friday, March 21. Check it out if you’re in the area.

Songs:

Miroslav Vitouš - “Freedom Jazz Dance”

Chick Core - “Humpty Dumpty”

This past Sunday, a 70 year drought ended when Newcastle United beat Liverpool in the EFL Cup Final. Jay has been a fan since childhood and he’s celebrating the win with an album review from Newcastle native Sam Fender. We listened to the title track from “People Watching” a few episodes back, but the full album is now out and Jay feels like it’s something worth checking out.

Songs:

Sam Fender - “Little Bit Closer”

Sam Fender - “Rein Me In”

Sam Fender - “TV Dinner”

We sprang forward last week and are celebrating our hour lost with three Three for Thursdays. We named our celebration, too. Threes for Thursday.

If you, like Jay, are watching the “Primus Interstellar Drum Derby” series on YouTube, then the last episode you saw was Mike Stone’s audition. Prior to the episode, Mr. Stone had recently recorded a song and an album with Secret Chiefs 3. Les Claypool was quite impressed by this fact. You may have wondered, who is Secret Chiefs 3? Jay did, too, and he looked into it and shares what he found.

Songs:

Secret Chiefs 3 - “The Four (Great Ashra Ki Sun)”

Secret Chiefs 3/Traditionalists - “What’s Wrong With Cytherea”

Secret Chiefs 3 - “Chitzonuyut” (John Zorn)

We lost the massively influential vibraphonist, composer, and producer, Roy Ayers, this past week. The “Godfather of Neo Soul” began in bebop and migrated to the jazz funk scene in the early 1970s. His music has been sample hundreds of times over the past 4 decades, most often by rappers. Nick presents some of his signature tracks.

Songs:

Roy Ayers - “Sound and Sense”

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby”

Kendrick Lamar - “Good Kid” (first 30 sec)

As demonstrated thus far, we often have themes when presenting a Three For Thursday. This is often just to demonstrate that we’ve invested slightly more effort than the segment initially called for. Greg takes it to the next level this week by offering a sub-genre of the segment. “Captain Hook” is a Three For Thursday featuring songs with impeccable hooks. Greg closes us out this week with Part 1 of “Captain Hook.”.

Songs:

Bad Bad Not Good - “Last Laugh”

Aphex Twin - “Flim”

Fontaines DC - “Here's the Thing”

Greg is back with another Heavy Rotation. Spiritbox headlined a recent Periphery show in the UK and Chat Pile returns with “Cool World.” Finally, it’s been 13 years since he left the band, but Mike Portnoy is back with Dream Theater on their new album Parasomnia.

Songs:

Spiritbox - “Holy Roller”

Chat Pile - “Shame”

Dream Theater - “Night Terror”

To celebrate the entire Unplugged series now available on Paramount+, Jay is having an unplugged Three for Thursday. It’s amazing how impactful this series was for musicians growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, before watching your favorite artist perform was a quick search on YouTube. Jay highlights some moments from the series, which spanned twenty years from 1989 to 2009.

Songs:

10,000 Maniacs - “Because of the Night (Unplugged)”

Maná - “Se Me Olividó Otra Vez (Unplugged)”

JAY-Z - “Izzo (H.O.V.A.) Unplugged”

Get ready for it, it’s another News with Nick. Neil Young schedules a free concert in Ukraine, Bob Dylan did not show up for the Oscars, and Drake cancels the rest of his Australia & New Zealand tour due to a scheduling conflict.

Song: Brown Spirits - “Fault Lines”

Nick brings us a Three For Thursday for Roberta Flack, who passed this week at the age of 88. She grew up in Arlington, VA, and upon graduating high school at the age of 15, she received a full music scholarship to Howard University. She began singing professionally in 1968, was signed to Atlantic Records, and went on to have a whirlwind of a successful career in the 1970s. Her voice touched a generation and she will be missed.

Songs:

Roberta Flack - “Compared to What”

Roberta Flack - “Killing Me Softly (With His Song)”

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway - “I (Who Have Nothing)”

Heard it through the GREGvine that Christina Ricci really hates Live, but particularly “Lightning Crashes.” Also, Marshall Allen, current bandleader of Sun Ra, releases his debut album at age 100, breaking all sorts of records. Finally, the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded music catalog is for sale, you can own it today for clean $350 million.

Song: Bob Dylan “One More Cup of Coffee (feat. Scarlet Rivera)”

Jay brings a listener inspired (thanks Mr. Lentz!) BienVenue for a long-gone Baltimore music spot: The Painters Mill Music Fair. It began as a tent in a parking lot in 1960, with the 2500 person venue constructed in 1967. A venue of that capacity hosted some pretty large acts in the years to come. Dave Brubeck, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Chick Corea, Bruce Springsteen, and more over the next fifty-five years. It was also where Greg Allman played his final show with the Allman Brothers. In 1991, the venue burned to the ground when a bugler attempted to access the safe with a butane torch.

Song: Frank Zappa - “What’s New in Baltimore? (Live at Painters Mill Star Theatre)”

It’s that time of year again, Jay brings us the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees. We each pick five artists/bands from the fourteen nominees and see how we did when they announce the inductees in late April. This year’s nominees are Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cindy Lauper, Mana, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden, and The White Stripes.

Song: Anthony Joseph - “Tony”

Get ready for it, it’s News with Nick. Bryan Adams gets fatberged, Black Sabbath’s final concert, Drake drops a new album, and the Kennedy Center is under new management.

Song: Yussef Dayes - “Black Classical Music (feat. Venna & Charlie Stacey)”

Greg’s brings us a Vulfpeck inspired Three For Thursday. The band has been releasing singles from their new album, ‘Clarity of Cal’ over the past few weeks and we give some a listen.

Songs:

Vulfpeck - “Big Dipper”

Vulfpeck - “New Beastly (feat. Joe Dart)”

Vulfpeck - “Matter of Time”