The UCR Podcast

Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is here with us to talk about his current tour with the Chophouse Band, a run of concerts including dates with his friends Blackberry Smoke as well as longer headlining shows. Fans can expect an evening of music that touches on Jason's entire career -- and as he tells us, our shared musical heroes, as well. We dig through a lot of topics with Jason, including the history of the Chophouse Band, some Metallica memories and why this current tour is so important to him.

Rob LoVerde and Jim Davis of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab join Matt today for separate conversations to discuss their approach to audiophile reissues of classic albums. They talk about some of their recent releases, including the Van Halen reissues from the David Lee Roth era, Stone Temple Pilots' Vol. 4 and the upcoming project that will find them tackling albums by Rush. Jim addresses how they've dealt with challenges in recent years and shares the story of how he first discovered MoFi and eventually took over the company.

Director Wes Orshoski is with Matt today to talk about Di'Anno: Iron Maiden's Lost Singer, his new film about late Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di'Anno. We discuss the movie and also, the previous films that Wes has done about the Damned and Lemmy of Motorhead, plus his upcoming documentary about the Bar-Kays. We go deep into a number of topics, including Paul's history, the interview that Wes did with James Hetfield about Paul, various hard rock and heavy metal bands, why he refused to give up on completing this film (which took nearly a decade) and there's plenty of music...

Adria Petty and longtime producer/archivist Ryan Ulyate join Matt to discuss the latest Petty Legacy release, Live at the Paradise Rock Club 1978, which bottles a great performance from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded live in Boston in July of 1978. They discuss how the album came about and what was required to get it ready for release. Adria also shares a bit of insight regarding what fans can look forward to this year and beyond as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with an ongoing series of special things. Our thanks to both Ryan...

Kim joins Matt to talk about his new memoir, A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond. We go deep into the history of Soundgarden, including talking about some of their very first recordings. Kim revisits the glory years and the sound of some of their key records. We also discuss hanging out with the Ramones, getting Brian May on one of their songs and how classic rock helped to influence their career in some interesting ways. It was so much fun to talk with Kim and fellow fans, you're definitely going to enjoy this conversation!

We've got a TON of coverage including lots of photos and videos of the first Rush reunion concert which happened last night (June 7) in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum. For today's podcast episode, Matt welcomes the person who was not only at the L.A. concert, but he's also responsible for hooking Matt up with tickets to the very first Rush concert he ever saw back in the '90s. Matt Surrena, a longtime radio and music industry veteran, joins us to share his reactions to the L.A. reunion performance. We cover a lot of ground, including how...

Legendary Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock joins us today to talk about his new documentary, I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol. Glen tells Matt about the formative days for the group, how things fell apart and how he's lived out some of his greatest dreams, quite unexpectedly, with some of his own musical heroes. He also shares his thoughts on the latest Sex Pistols chapter with Frank Carter.

Today, we're heading back to the '80s with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, who reflects on the work that the band did during that decade, including 1984's Under Wraps. There's a new "Unwrapped Edition" box set for the album that brings together new mixes, plus additional rarities and live material. He also tells Matt what's ahead for Jethro Tull

Billy Corgan is with us today to talk about the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins "Rats in a Cage" tour happening this fall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their landmark double LP, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. We go into the history of the album with Billy, plus his experience working with Flood, saying goodbye (recently) to Zero, the effect of success on his songwriting in that era and many, many other topics. Check out Billy's excellent podcast, The Magnificent Others wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on YouTube at the following link https://www.youtube.com/@billycorgantmo

April Wine guitarist Brian Greenway joins Matt to discuss his nearly 50-year history with the group. He takes us through his memories of recording many of the Canadian band's most popular singles, including the rocky road to finishing their beloved power ballad, "Just Between You and Me." He also talks about the group's current tour with Triumph, a particular concert bill back in the day that didn't go so well, playing on the same bill as the Rolling Stones and what's ahead for April Wine in 2026 and beyond.

Guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore gives a rare interview to the UCR Podcast to discuss his history with both Rainbow and Deep Purple. He looks back at how Rainbow came to be and how the group progressed as they made their first two albums. He also gives Matt an update on his current health, how he hopes to return to the stage -- and he revisits the famous night that Christopher Cross stepped in for him in Deep Purple.

Joe Satriani is with Matt for the second installment of our two-part look at the upcoming SatchVai album. You can hear an interview with Steve Vai that was posted as our previous episode as well. Joe shares his view on the challenges and fun he's had working with his longtime collaborator and friend on songs for their first album together. He also talks about the most recent Las Vegas residency with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony and gives fans an update on the G3 documentary that's been taking shape. Read more here: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/joe-satriani-steve-vai-interview-2026/

We've got conversations on tap featuring both Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. In our first episode, Steve joins Matt to talk about the current SatchVai tour as well as the album that's been taking shape. They also discuss other topics, including getting to revisit Van Halen's Jump for FIFA World Cup, his past work with John Lydon and Public Image Limited (an album which also featured Cream's Ginger Baker), his ongoing collaboration with BEAT, featuring Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Danny Carey.....and more! We get into a lot with Steve. Go see SatchVai and keep your pod player warmed...

Mark Menghi of Metal Allegiance and Brann Dailor of Mastodon are with Matt today to talk about the latest release from King Ultramega, the all-star collective that’s been honoring the music of Chris Cornell, including his solo work, plus bands like Soundgarden and Audioslave. King Ultramega just released a new cover of “Dead Wishes” from Cornell’s 2015 solo release, Higher Truth. They talk about the experience of revisiting the song and the overall mission of the music of King Ultramega, which also helps to support MusiCares. Brann shares his journey with the music of Chris Cornell and the pair also sha...

Metal maniacs and hard rock fanatics, this one's for you. We've got two separate conversations today. Former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland joins Matt to talk about his current project, Nuclear Messiah and their new album, Black Flame and his experience working with Sebastian Bach on a new Uriah Heep cover. They also discuss the early years of Megadeth and a number of other topics. Gary Holt of Exodus and Slayer is also on the podcast to discuss a lot of things, including the new Exodus album Goliath, plus Slayer and the band's performance at Back to the Beginning, his early...

Episode 100 finds Matt and UCR's Gary Graff teaming up to look at this year's class of inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (announced on Monday evening during American Idol). What can we expect from Iron Maiden and Oasis? What about New Order and Peter Hook? Who are we happy to see get in? Who got left out of this year's nominees? We break it all down for your listening pleasure. See this year's inductees: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/2026-rock-hall-of-fame-inductees-2/

Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Vitale joins us today to talk about his upcoming reunion with members of Dan Fogelberg's touring band. He shares his memories of playing and recording with Dan and we also get into his long career, including stories about playing with Buffalo Springfield for their short run of reunion shows, recording "Long May You Run" with Neil Young, Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" and numerous other stories, including his recent work with Donnie Iris and the fun gig he's getting ready to play with Roger Daltrey of the Who. Read about Joe's whole career in his book...

Eric Mills of the Fogelberg Foundation is the guy you want to speak with if you want to learn more about the fascinating career of Dan Fogelberg. Eric joined Matt for a conversation about Dan's life and career and how he and his team are working to introduce Fogelberg's music to new generations. They also discussed Friends and Legends, the upcoming weekend of events that will celebrate the opening of a new Fogelberg exhibit. You can find more details at www.fogelberg.rocks

The legendary Graham Nash is with us today to talk about his amazing career and the shows he's currently playing with his solo band -- and there's a lot of them! He shares a lot of stories as well as information on what's coming up, including the upcoming CSN documentary and the unreleased CSN music that he's been working to get ready to be released at the time the film comes out. He also tells us why the CSN album with Rick Rubin never came out, and there's a number of other topics as well. Find all of Graham's latest...

Woody and Pepper of Corrosion of Conformity are in the house to talk about the new C.O.C. album Good God / Baad Man...or as album producer Warren Riker called it, Dark Side of the Doom. Here's the straight facts: It's been eight long years since the last C.O.C. studio album and the guys have come roaring back with more than an hour's worth of new music. Long overdue and very welcome. They share the story behind how the record came together, plus anecdotes about Judas Priest, their favorite music, hanging with Lynyrd Skynyrd royalty and more...

Blackie Lawless joins Matt to discuss the upcoming 1984 to Headless tour that W.A.S.P. will embark on this fall. They also dig into Blackie's memoir, which he's been working on for five years -- and the guitarist/vocalist shares the title that he's planning to use for the book. As a bonus, we're including our previous conversation with Blackie from June 2024, which goes deep into the early years of the band and their first album. Find the latest information on W.A.S.P. at www.waspnation.com

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee Melissa Etheridge is with us today to talk about her new album, Rise! She tells Matt how the record came together and they also dig into other topics including songwriting, her collaboration with Chris Stapleton, jamming with Chuck Berry at the Rock Hall's grand opening concert in 1995, playing "Thunder Road" with Bruce Springsteen on MTV Unplugged and many other things! Go see Melissa on her tour, which just started last night! You can find tour dates at www.melissaetheridge.com

Former Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate and his guitarist/collaborator Kieran Robertson are with us today to discuss the making of Operation: Mindcrime III. In two separate interviews, the pair take us through the process of working on the music for the upcoming record, which arrives May 3. Geoff also digs deep into the original Mindcrime album and other topics, including Ronnie James Dio! You can preorder Operation: Mindcrime III at Geoff's website at www.geofftate.com

Legendary P-Funk guitarist Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton joins us to talk about his early days learning to play music, the important nuances that are buried within the grooves of "Maggot Brain" and how he got his head around the song --- and we also talk about his new music, which you can find at michaelhampton.bandcamp.com. It was a real pleasure to get some hang time with Michael and we hope that you enjoy this conversation!

Author Daniel Bukszpan is with Matt on today's episode to talk about his new book, Rush & 2112: 50 Years, which landed in stores this week as you're hearing this. We dig into the history of 2112 (50 years later!) and also discuss some of the things that make Rush fans upset (a hint: "Roll the Bones!"), his thoughts on the upcoming remix of Grace Under Pressure and how 2112 has often been traditionally categorized as a concept album. Check out Daniel's book and enjoy the deep dive he took into one of progressive rock's most legendary albums.

Zakk Wylde is with us to talk about writing with the late Ozzy Osbourne, how he paid tribute to "the Boss" on the new Black Label Society album, Engines of Demolition, Black Sabbath and lots more. Speaking of that new BLS album, Zakk gives us plenty of dirt on that as well. Don't miss Black Label Society and Zakk Sabbath on tour now! Details at www.blacklabelsociety.com.

Former Marshall Tucker Band drummer Paul T. Riddle joins Matt to talk about his exciting new band that pays homage to the songwriting of his former MTB bandmate, the late Toy Caldwell. Riddle is joined in the lineup of Toy Factory Project by Marcus King, Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr, Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band, Dead & Company), Josh Shilling (Mountain Heart, Wynonna Judd plus Billy Contreras (Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder) on fiddle and Jimmy Rector on additional percussion. Toy Factory Project made its live debut in 2025 at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and returns to the stage starting tonight (Feb. 26) at...

Thomas joins Matt to discuss the innovative show he's taking out on the road starting in April. They talk about the secret project he's been previewing at some of the gigs and Thomas digs into a number of other topics, including his experiences working with Mutt Lange, collaborating with members of the Grateful Dead and some war stories about his own career. Visit Thomas' official website at www.thomasdolby.com for more information on the upcoming shows. You can also read our previous 2017 conversation with Thomas, which is archived here https://ultimateclassicrock.com/thomas-dolby-interview-2017/

Sebastian Bach is with Matt to discuss his upcoming tour, The Party Never Ends, which will begin in late February. Baz gets into other things as well, including his thoughts on the Triumph reunion, Motley Crue, the latest additions to his Kiss collection and Diamond David Lee Roth. Keep up with all things Sebastian at his official website, www.sebastianbach.com.

Slash joins us for his first UCR visit of the new year to talk all things Guns N' Roses, including "Nothin'" and "Atlas," plus the upcoming tour. We discuss other things as well, including Brian May and a brief recollection regarding GNR's first tour in 1985. Find more information regarding all things GNR at www.gunsnroses.com and thanks for listening!

Zak Starkey...Who? That's the name of the new one-man show that Zak Starkey will bring to the Gramercy Theatre (www.thegramercytheatre.com) on Feb. 20, for the first time anywhere. Zak joined Matt to discuss what fans can expect from the show and also shared a number of stories from across his career with the Who, Oasis, a missed connection with Iggy Pop and many more! He's a character and you'll love hearing him tell stories regarding his musical adventures!

As the final Megadeth album hits the shelves today, we've got a conversation with Dave Mustaine to talk about a number of subjects, including the story behind the record and also, the new film, Megadeth: Behind the Mask, which debuted last night (01/22) and will have some additional screenings on Saturday (01/24). Find showtimes and ticket information at megadethfilm.com. Dave tells Matt some stories about the early days of the band and also shares his thoughts on what might be next once he's done with Megadeth's lengthy farewell.

William joins Matt to talk about "Black Horizon," his debut with Metal Allegiance and the first new music from the hard rock supergroup in eight years. We also discuss his experience working with Metal Allegiance founder Mark Menghi in King Ultramega and their explosive cover of Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage." Plus, William gives us the origin story of how he met and started touring with Jerry Cantrell as part of Jerry's solo band for the Degradation Trip album (before the album was even out!). He also shares a surprising anecdote about his early days in Alice in Chains.

UCR's Gary Graff joins Matt to reflect on the news of the passing of Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. They dig into a number of topics including the many interesting layers of the Dead as a band, some of the things that influenced Bob as a player, the unexpected moment when the band had success with "Touch of Grey" in the '80s, thanks to radio and MTV -- and a song that's a polarizing moment in the catalog. Matt and Gary also talk about the fan culture, the gateways into the group's music, some notable covers and the...

The Black Crowes revealed release plans for their 10th studio album, A Pound of Feathers on Friday (Jan. 09) and shared two new songs from the upcoming record. Guitarist Rich Robinson joins Matt to discuss how the new LP came together, plus some additional anecdotes regarding Jimmy Page, Guns N' Roses and more! You can order A Pound of Feathers (out Mar. 13!) in a number of different configurations at the band's official website.

Aerosmith released their first album this week in 1973, so we're cracking the seal on a conversation you haven't heard yet with legendary producer Jack Douglas. He started working with the band beginning with 1974's Get Your Wings and shares the story of what he learned listening to their debut record and how the future Boston legends evolved in those early years. Along the way, Douglas also shares anecdotes regarding his experiences with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the Who and what he's up to these days.

In the new year, Jon Anderson will once again team up with the Band Geeks to present an evening of Yes Classics and Epics...and beyond. He's got a new album (his second with the Geeks) that will land in 2026 -- and he's making progress on an additional project beyond that. We get into all of it on today's podcast and it's always a pleasure to catch up with Jon. Enjoy!

Director Amy Scott is with Matt today to talk about her latest film, Counting Crows: Have You See Me Lately (now playing on HBO Max), which takes a look back at the time the San Francisco group spent working on their first two albums, August and Everything After and Recovering the Satellites. Amy shares the story behind how the movie came together as well as her own origin story as a fan of the band's music. As a bonus, our May 2025 conversation with Adam Duritz of Counting Crows is included as part of this episode after our chat with Amy...

Rik Emmett, Mike Levine and Gil Moore joined Matt on the eve of the tour announcement for Triumph's reunion tour to share the stories behind how the 2026 outing came together and also talk about how they're getting ready for the shows -- and how new band members Phil X (himself a Triumph alum), Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz will be integrated into the performances. We discuss a number of different subjects, with Rik offering insights on how the added three players will actually help them finally be able to play some of the songs live in a way that will...

An expanded box set for The Replacements' Let it Be album is due out in November, so it was a lot of fun to talk to Chris Mars to revisit his memories of how the album came together. We dug through a lot of different Replacements-related topics, but also plenty of other subjects, including his time working with Golden Smog, his solo work, his artistic endeavors with painting, drawing and video and a good amount of conversation outside of all of that with Chris Mars, the music fan. Our thanks to Chris for spending some time and digging in deep...