A Conversation with Chicago’s Robert Lamm – HuffPost 6.18.14

Mike Ragogna: Robert, I’m honored to speak with you. LMike Ragognaet’s get caught up with Chicago. You have a lot of irons in the fire right now, including a tour. I’m sure you’re looking forward to that, huh?

Robert Lamm: Oh we are, but it’s one of those things where we’re always on tour so it’s just a question of what exactly we’re going to do while we’re on tour. We started this year going clear across Canada, our second Canadian national tour in the last few years. Of course, we went across during the month of January and February, which was an experience this year, especially with all the zero temperatures. But going from there, going to a couple of concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra interspersed with our first appearance on the Grammys and heading of to Europe next week for roughly three weeks and then coming back to do the REO/Chicago tour.

A Conversation with Nazareth’s Dan McCafferty – HuffPost 6.17.14

Mike Ragogna: Dan, let’s talk about all things Nazareth and Rock ‘N’ Roll Telephone, your twenty-fourth album, right? That’s a great achievement. How did you get here?

Dan McCafferty: I think we’re just a band that grew up and started to write our own songs and stuff. Coming from Scotland at that time, there were really only four or five big gigs that people used to come and visit. It’s not like that now, of course. We started like any other band, doing Chuck Berry covers and Little Richard covers and on through the early eighties and then you start to write your own stuff. We played every place, eventually got signed and made records. It was a gradual buildup, but we always worked. Up until I got sick, we were doing two hundred, two sixty gigs a year. It was that work ethic thing, “It’s got to be a proper job.” Plus, you enjoy it so much! It just kind of flew by, Mike, I hope to tell you, but it was very interesting along the way.

A Conversation with The Mavericks’ Paul Deakin – HuffPost 6.17.14

Mike Ragogna: You’re on the Twenty-Five Live Tour. What has that been like? Has it been any different from any of your non-anniversary tours?

Paul Deakin: I probably have to lump in since we’ve gotten back together, since the hiatus, and to be honest with you although we did look at a retrospective and the name of this tour this year and maybe next year, because that marks the twenty fifth anniversary which is a milestone, the difference is that we consciously went all the way back to the beginning and picked and chose some songs that were representative of the band over the years, including some covers that we did at the time that reminded us of that. But really, the main difference in the band dates back to the year before this when we got back together and just that it was a lot of fun again.

A Conversation with Robert Francis – HuffPost 6.17.14

Mike Ragogna: Hey Robert, Heaven’s your new album, and this time out, you’re backed by the Night Tide. What’s the “Night Tide” a reference to?

Robert Francis: Well, I remember I was playing a show in Zurich, Switzerland, and at the time, I was playing with some of who I would consider the best musicians in LA. I got in with some really heavy musicians in the jazz field and I was looking around the stage and even though it it sounded great I didn’t feel like there was an energy there, it wasn’t palpable. Even though it osunded good I felt like the audience couldn’t feel it and one of those reasons was because perhaps when you’re hiring people and playing with session people they’re not necessarily as invested in the music as much as a band member would be. When coming back to do this new reocrd I wanted to try to do somethin different and have the camaraderie of a band and to pick musicians and assemble a band that would be totally different. So even though there were definitely some of the most raw moments on any record I’ve made where it’s just me and a guitar, the band itself I think, when they’re on the laubm it’s them and it’s very much a certain sound.

A Conversation with NRBQ’s Terry Adams – HuffPost 6.17.14

Mike Ragogna: Let’s get down to Brass Tacks, Terry. Terry Adams: What was that fifteen seconds of silence about? MR: That’s just to get my recording software synched-up. TA: We used to say, “We’d like to have two minutes of silence before this performance, please,” and everybody would just go wild. [laughs] It never worked […]

A Conversation with Theo Croker & Dee Dee Bridgewater – HuffPost 6.13.14

Mike Ragogna: Can we start at the beginning where Theo meets Dee Dee forAfro Physicist?

Theo Croker: Dee Dee and I met in Shanghai in 2009 at a jazz festival. I was playing in a big band behind her. We met in person and proceeded to link up, go to lunch and hang out, and I kind of became her guide to the city while she was there. After the show, I had a show at one of the sponsoring venues with my band and Dee Dee came down and sat in. We kind of stayed in touch after that. That was the start of it.

A Conversation with José James – HuffPost 6.13.14

Mike Ragogna: So your album While You Were Sleeping comes about a year after No Beginning No End. Loving this creative run?

JJ: Absolutely, man. I wrote this album while I was on tour for No Beginning No End and I’m doing the same while I’m on tour for this one. I find that the more creativity, the better. The best time to do it is when I’m in it, not when I’m out of it.

A Conversation with Hop’s Erez Pilosof & Guy Gamzu – HuffPost 6.11.14

Mike Ragogna: Erez and Guy, let’s start off by going into what exactly the service is that your company provides.

Erez Pilosof: Hop makes your regular email effortless and natural – just like real conversation. It connects to your existing email service and automatically show all your messages by people and brands. Hop also makes sure your email works for you – rather than the other way around. So it sorts your incoming mail into active conversations and everything else. This way, friends and colleagues stay in your line of sight, while less-important emails stay in the background so you can focus on the messages that matter.