Backstory Sessions

Fifty

Its episode 50!!.. We are shocked and amazed to reach this milestone, and cant thank you all enough for your support, encouragement, and comment. In this episode we look back at what our initial thoughts about starting this podcast and what we think we have learned during the process of developing it from our initial vision into what it has become. We reveal the most surprising thing each of us has realized in talking to our guests, and take a spin with the ever popular random question generator again. 
Our sincere thanks go out to our listeners for everything. We truly appreciate each one of you. This podcast is one of our passions, and we strive to bring you interesting content and even more interesting guests, and will continue to do so as we evolve and grow. We hope you will remain the loyal listeners we have come to know, and welcome all the new listeners to our Backstory Sessions family. We have many interesting episodes already recorded for you, and many more to come. We hope you will find the future of this podcast and new features we will be introducing you to as exciting as we do.
Thank you,
Cat and Matt

Down With The Sickness

An episode a year or more in the making... We finally got a chance to sit down with our friend Mikey Russell, aka The Sickness, as he is known to some, whose backstory has many interesting twists and turns. Mikey is a member of our Backstory Sessions FB group and also a good friend of ours. He suffers from severe diabetes, has battled cancer, dealt with chemo, and is currently on dialysis for kidney issues. He has dealt with all this and more by keeping a sense of humor about everything, and shares with us how his deep love of music, history, photography, and debating people online helped him through it all. As we recorded this episode, it had been 2 years since his last chemo treatment and he was being tested to see if he could be put list to receive a kidney transplant in the future. He shares with us many stories about his past, some of the people he has met along the way, and reveals some exciting news about the future for him. It is a story about many things in his life, both good and bad, and his resilience in facing what most of us can only imagine. Today is also his birthday, and we hope you will join us in wishing our friend Happy Birthday! and enjoy the episode. 
(Note from Matt): Happy Birthday Mikey...ya f@#kn f%&k...your a gook kid, but ya ain’t too f@#kn bright...lol...Love you brother...

3 Chord Truths - Jack Williams

We continue with an amazing episode of our series “3 Chord Truths”, where we have been talking to songwriters and musicians, and have been able to sit down with some very interesting personalities, with cool backstories that reveal what it takes to follow the dream of being a success in the music business.
Tonight’s guest is Jack Williams. He has an amazing story that spans many years, and shows that tenacity, talent, and some luck can help create some amazing opportunities. Jack’s list of friends and acquaintances, people he has worked for and with reads as a who’s who from different types of music genres. The Who, Ritchie Havens, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Uriah Heap, the Allman Brothers, Kevin Costner, and many many more are part of Jack’s incredible story.  He recounts many of the meetings, and fun he had, as well as some of the sacrifice and pain in the choices he had to make. Jack continues to be involved in writing music and works with a variety of artists,  as well as putting out a new album of his own, titled “Halfway to Hell”. We found Jack to be very down to earth, and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with him very much. We know you will find Jacks story as  interesting and inspiring as we do. 
Halfway To Hell BIO:“When I was a kid, I thought I was the only one going through what I went through,” H. Jack Williams says. “Music always helped me connect emotionally. But there’s still a lot of abused kids turned damaged adults in the world today, and I hope this album let’s them know they’re not alone.” For Williams (his friends know him as Jack), it’s a characteristically candid statement from the veteran-songwriter-turned-recording-artist who’s experiencing one of the most surprising second acts in music. And with his debut album Halfway To Hell, Jack Williams now delivers a sonically startling testament to trauma and survival that sounds – and stings – like no other.The 10-songs on Halfway To Hell are all co-written by Williams – with the exception of his haunting take on the standard ‘What A Wonderful World’ – including two co-written with Kevin Costner and directly address Jack’s broken past and road to recovery. “I’m not afraid to say how horrific my childhood was,” Jack says. “I’ve had huge anger issues, drug issues, everything issues, and I’m not afraid to confront any of that darkness in these songs.” With producer Adam Box shaping Jack’s graveled vocals into an American Recordings-meets-Nine Inch Nails soundscape, Halfway To Hell simmers with menace, growls in defiance and shimmers with strength. “I’ve been in the music business since ’71,” Williams explains. “So many people still in this game at my age are jaded and bitter, but my heart is still intact. This album is who I am.”To truly understand Williams’ personal journey is to also recognize an unprecedented 50+-year odyssey through Folk, Rock, Southern Rock, Country and beyond. A U.S. Marines Force Recon veteran and trained Escoffier chef, Jack’s one-of-a-kind career includes being mentored by Richie Havens; a ‘70s publishing deal with The Who; as the first in-house songwriter for UK rockers Uriah Heep; landing ‘80s cuts with Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot and Gregg Allman, for whom he co-wrote the hit ‘Just Before The Bullets Fly’; numerous ‘90s tracks for The Oak Ridge Boys; running kitchen teams on research vessels in the Aleutian Islands and Azores as well as supply ships during the Gulf War, for which he earned a Medal of Bravery from President Bush; ‘00s Nashville cuts on the Miracles From Heaven soundtrack and with artists that include Montgomery Gentry, Black Stone Cherry and a Top Ten hit for Canadian artist Aaron Pritchett. Eventually, Jack’s patience for the current scene came to an end. “Three years ago, I was done,” he says. “I didn't want to write any more ‘back of my pickup truck’ bullshit. I figured I’ve had a pretty good career; it’s time to go fishing. But when I started to write and sing what was in my heart, everything began to change.”In more ways than one, Williams had finally found his voice. Always self-conscious of his ragged vocals, Jack started performing new material at Nashville singer/songwriter nights to widespread industry acclaim. He soon got a call from Academy Award winner Kevin Costner, whose band Kevin Costner & Modern West would record two of Jack’s songs – including the Top 20 hit ‘Love Shine’ – and cut four more Jack tracks for 2019’s top-selling Tales From Yellowstone album. Williams was also approached by producer and longtime Brothers Osborne drummer Adam Box to capture Jack’s new direction on record, with the resulting 2020 EP Already Dead leading Film Daily to declare, “Jack Williams is a musical legend.”“People are starving for genuine delivery, and Jack is the real deal,” says producer/programmer/engineer/co-writer Box, who compares William’s unconventional vocal quality to that of Leonard Cohen and Dylan. “His voice is so unique, and anything he sings is sung with conviction. We started this album with lyrics and a blank slate, then approached each track visually. Sometimes the beauty of the song is in the contrast, like with ‘Wonderful World’, but it all comes back to tone. I see this album as a montage of shapes and textures, like cutting up construction paper to make collages. Ultimately, it’s an authentic expression of Jack.”
 
 
 

3 Chord Truths - Bobby Tomberlin

Back with another episode of “3 Chord Truths”, where we talk with songwriters and musicians, and reveal their motivations as well as their amazing backstories.
 
In this episode, we pull up a chair and chat with songwriter, musician, and actor, Bobby Tomberlin. Bobby’s single “I’ve Lived Country Music” provides the backdrop for this really great discussion with someone who has worked with, met, or is friends with many of the legends of country music, as well as some of today’s artist. His stories are funny, sweet, always entertaining, and provide an amazing view of some of the history of the country music genre, as well as Bobby’s personal connections and many experiences. It was a pleasure speaking with him, and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did making it. We wish to thank Bobby for his time with us talking about his amazing career.
Bobby Tomberlin Bio:
Grammy, CMA and ACM nominee Bobby Tomberlin started out in the music business at the age of 11 in his hometown of Luverne, Alabama interviewing legends such as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Keith Whitley. Mel Tillis gave Bobby his first publishing contract and for the past 14 years, Bobby has been a staff writer for CURB Records Publishing.
Bobby co-wrote the number one country and Top 5 AC single, “One More Day” recorded by Diamond Rio. Bobby also co-authored an inspirational book by the same title. Bobby co-wrote the Top 10 single “A Good Day To Run” with Darryl Worley. Bobby has also had songs recorded by Josh Turner, Faith Hill, Kenny Rogers, Rodney Atkins, Joe Nichols, Terri Clark, Little Jimmy Dickens, the Oak Ridge Boys, Joe Diffie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ty Herndon, Lee Greenwood, Chely Wright, Linda Davis, Chris Young, T. G. Sheppard, Eddy Arnold and many others.
Some of Bobby’s co-writers include Steve Wariner, Bill Anderson, Mac Davis, Steve Dorff, Phil Everly and Josh Turner.
Bobby is one of the singers on the new CMT hit series, “The Singing Bee”
Bobby has appeared on numerous other television shows including “Opry Backstage” and “The Bad Girls Club” on the Oxygen Network, where he starred in an episode.
Bobby makes numerous live appearances every year across the country and is a featured guest on the Steve Dorff and Friends Songwriter Show.

3 Chord Truths - Frank Moka

We are back with Part 3 of our interview series, 3 Chord Truths, featuring another very talented guest. We have been bringing you guests from different genres and presenting different stories of success in the music, as well as what it takes to achieve the success our guests have achieved thus far, 
Our guest this week is Frank Moka. Frank started as a percussionist at a very young age, spent his youth learning to play, and later went to college to study music theory. He is now the drummer for acclaimed singer, actress, and record producer, Erykah Badu. He also has a "small" 17 pc orchestra project, with a new single out, and is working on an album with the orchestra, along with continuing to tour with Erykah. We recorded this interview with Frank the night before their show in Louisville, KY. Frank's drive and passion for what he does cuts through in his retelling of his youth, career, as well as talking about future projects. We were honored to get a chance to chat with Frank, and really enjoyed our time with him.
We will be bringing you a few more exciting artists with some amazing stories in the weeks to come. We hope you enjoy this great episode with the very interesting, talented, and engaging Frank Moka as well.

A Million Details - Part 1.5

Another episode where we talk about a few different topics near and dear to us,, give some updates on various projects we have going on, talk about some different guests and what they are up to, and some future changes coming to Backstory Sessions. We include some of the history of how we started Level 11 Ventures which is the parent company of Backstory Sessions, a mishap we discovered we made with Backstory Sessions, and what goes into getting the podcast recorded each week. Gearing up for some exciting changes and new things you will see shortly that we are excited to talk about. We also forget a few things, as we tend to do when we record on the spur of the moment like this. Apologies to those whose names we have forgotten or gotten wrong, as iy was not intentional....lol. 

A Million Details - Part1

In this episode we begin another series of podcasts on what it might take to own your own business. Many people are reassessing their priorities and looking for ways to either supplement or replace an income, and exploring starting a business from home, or start a business they always wanted to. We decided talk to various business owners about what it takes to start and run your own business, what some of the drawbacks are, and have them share advice they have for budding entrepreneurs. In future episodes in this series, we will be bringing you discussions with owners of various sized businesses who have found success, and weathered the storm of the million details that must be sorted out in order to achieve that success. We hope you find these podcasts informative, entertaining and helpful, and they give you some insight of how to navigate the minefields you might have to walk through on the path to working for yourself.
Our guests this week are Kim Hammons Minton, and Isaac Abner. Kim owns a thriving coffee shop in Barbourville, KY called "The Ugly Mug", and has been in business for 7 years there. Isaac started "Cumberland River Photo", a video and photography business (also based in Barbourville), with his long time friend, Chris. Both have interesting backstories of how their businesses came to be, challenges they faced during start up, and things they deal with on a daily basis, as well as the effect of Covid on their businesses. We touch on business financing, the role of social media, a recent wedding, and a range of other topics, including what the future may hold for each. Both Kim and Isaac have had different paths to business ownership, but share a similar drive and passion for what they do, which is necessary to push them through the difficult days. We recorded this episode on location at "The Ugly Mug", and thank Kim and Isaac for joining us for this fun and interesting chat and sharing their backstories. 

Jellico Connection

In this episode we chat with actor Bill Allen. Bill is from just over the Kentucky border in Jellico, Tennesee. This also where Cat was born and lived before ultimately settling in KY. We chat with Bill about a variety of film and TV projects he has worked on, his sports prowess, and involvement with various charities in his area. He provides some interesting insight into his career as an actor, and his community involvement. He talks about his latest project below, and we hope you enjoy this wide ranging episode:
 
Bill Allen appeared on the big screen once again as he portrayed the lead burglar in CNBC TV series “Super Heists” pilot episode called “All the President’s Money” Monday night.
Allen, portrayed Amil Dinsio, an infamous burglar who, in collaboration with others, allegedly stole over $12 million of President Richard Nixon’s money from a bank vault in Laguna Niguel, California.
“It is the story of these guys out of Ohio that get a tip from a large mob boss. Nixon had a large slush fund in a bank in California, allegedly, and they go to do this bank robbery of over $30,000,000,” said Allen as he described the episode.
Dinsio and his partners pulled off one of the largest bank heists in American history. The burglary’s investigation by the FBI resulted in the second largest man hunt since John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
“Super Heists” is not the first series in which Allen has appeared. He has also played roles in “Snapped”, “American Detective”, “The Heist”, “Sins of the City”, “Killer Couples” and more.

Stronger Than Pretty

In this episode we talk with model, actress, and producer: the amazing Kate Amundsen. Kate has had a long career in modeling, and moved further into acting as a way to challenge herself in different ways, and later into producing as a further challenge. Kate shares with us her motivations, backstories, and insights into the making of the movie "Donna: Stronger Than Pretty", which is based on a true story, and about many other entertaining stories from her life. In addition, find out about her interest in Judy Garland, and what's coming in the near future from Kate. We thank her for coming by to chat with us, and hope you enjoy this really interesting episode.
Kate's Bio:
Kate Amundsen is an actress and model born and partly raised in Los Angeles. She got her start in the mountains of Utah and New Mexico where she starred in the classic homemade VHS videos as Barry Springer- the epic spin off of the classic Jerry Springer, and the rest is history! Kate convinced her parents to move back to LA at 13 and it quickly worked out in her favor. She has been fortunate enough to travel the world for work, starring and working alongside some of the best in the biz such as Roman Coppola, Amy Poehler and Julia Roberts to name a few. Kate is proud to have landed the leading role for the feature film "Donna", in which she has won Best Actress in several film festivals across the country. You can also catch her making appearances on TV shows such as "Shameless", "Ray Donovan" "The Mindy Project, and "Criminal Minds" to name a few. Kate is currently studying with Stuart Rogers at Stuart Rogers Studios.
 

3 Chord Truths - Pamela Hopkins

Welcome to the next in a series of our 3 Chord Truths podcasts where we sit down with a singer/musician, and get insights into their careers, motivation, hopes, and backstories.
Our guest this week is the amazing Pamela Hopkins who we thoroughly enjoyed talking with. She is a great guest who shares with us some interesting insight into the commitment it takes to make it in the music business, following your dreams, and how her family and friends, as well as the community has reacted to her career and successes. We wish her continued success in all she does! See links below for more info about her, merchandise, and videos.
Little Rock, Arkansas native Pamela Hopkins is a powerhouse singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Her first Nashville album of all original music was released in February 1995. She returned to the studio to record her second album/EP project released in October 2018. 2 more singles were released in 2019.
Pamela returned to the studio in early2020, to record her next 4 singles with Off the Row Recording Studio. She plans to release 6 singles this year. Pamela regularly performs in piano bars, on cruise ships and clubs across the US. Pamela's song "Givin' a Damn (Don't Go With My Outfit) recently reached 500,000 Spotify streams! 
 
Website: https://www.Pamelahopkinsmusic.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pamelahopkinsmusic
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCepe2h
http://www.Facebook.com/pamelahopkinsmusic