Backstory Sessions

Breakfast with Mao

Welcome to another great episode..In this one we talk to actor Max Casella. Max has had a long and interesting career, and chats with us about his path to his current project in this entertaining albeit shorter episode. He talks about his somewhat, by some standards, unconventional upbringing, learning the ropes at an off Broadway theater, landing the role of Vinnie on Doogie Howser, and a long list of other topics. Max has an impressive list of acting and voice credits in his resume, including plays, TV, film, animation, and even computer games. He has worked with a virtual who’s who in the acting world during his career, has appeared in many easily recognizable films and tv shows. His current film, directed by Onur Tukel, is titled “Tes Yeux Mourants/That Cold Dead Look in Your Eyes”, which was recently released. In interviewing our guests, sometimes we get really different and interesting backstories that veer off the norm. As you will see in Max’s story, he grew up with parents who were somewhat unconventional. This isn’t an advantage or disadvantage, but it is certainly not how we imagined it to be when we started the interview. To his credit, Max is very, for lack of a better term, real, and we really enjoyed talking to him and getting his unique perspectives on things. There is some profanity in this interview, but he doesn’t sound different than the people Matt has known from his time living in and around NYC for whom using profanity is elevated to an art form.  It was a pleasure speaking with Max, and we truly hope to revisit our conversation with him at a later date. 

Drew‘s News

In this episode, we chat with actor Drew Clavin Farmer. Drew is 12 yrs old, and from BarbourvIlle, Ky. He has acted in the new reboot of The Wonder Years, and will be appearing in the new Walton Family Christmas, which is being released this coming week, as well as a second Christmas movie, also out this week, to name a few projects. He is an interesting young man with dreams of landing a role on the hit series Stranger Things. He has a knack for predicting school cancellations, and can be found on YouTube in his own Drew’s News periodically. His parents have supported his desire to act to the point of splitting the families time between southern Kentucky, and the Atlanta area so that Drew can attend auditions, and act when he lands a role. Drew is continually seeking larger roles, but remains grounded in reality about his acting aspirations. He tells us he wants to study architecture in the future, as well as continue to act. We enjoyed our chat with him and wish him much success in the future.

Human Telegraphs

Welcome Backstory fans! Join us tonight for a quick chat with Rachel Barclay, writer and one of the stars of "Human Telegraphs". This series recently won "Best Web Series" at the New York International Film Awards, and premieres on YouTube on November 15th. Rachel was getting ready for the first live audience screening of the pilot in New York immediately after the interview, so we kept it brief. In addition to talking about the inspiration for the series, she talks about the process of getting the series started, some of the issues of filming during the pandemic, and how life has changed for many of the people involved with the project since the pilot was filmed. Rachel is an engaging, and fun guest with a contagious excitement, who we really enjoyed talking to, and we congratulate her and the cast and crew for their "Best Web Series" award. We are happy to bring you this great episode with Rachel, right before the premiere of Human Telegraphs. 

3 Chord Truths - Exile‘s JP Pennington

We are back with another episode of our series "3 Chord Truths". In this episode, we talk with musician, songwriter, and producer, JP Pennington from the band Exile. JP shares stories from the band's almost 60 year journey from a local small club cover band to the top of the Billboard charts, as well as his personal stories of his roots in Kentucky. Exile currently has a new Christmas album with 8 new original songs coming out, as a follow up to last year's release of thier Christmas song "Kid at Heart"(also included) and are touring in support of it this holiday season. We thank JP for taking time to sit down with us and sharing his and the band's really interesting stories. We thoroughly enjoyed recording this episode, and hope you all will enjoy listening as well.
Exile Bio (from their website www.exile.biz ):
On September 30, 1978, the award-winning band who had initially set out to play small clubs in Richmond, Kentucky back in 1963, skyrocketed to world-wide fame with their multi-week chart-topper “Kiss You All Over.” In fact, it made Billboard’s Year End Hot 100 Singles of 1978 (Top 5) and later placed in Billboard’s The 50 Sexiest Songs of All Time (Top 10) category. The iconic song has been showcased in feature films such as “Happy Gilmore,” “Employee of the Month,” “Zookeeper, “Wildhogs,” and is played in it’s entirety at the end of the 7th episode of “Mindhunter” currently available as a Netflix original.
In the early 1980’s, Exile began to focus on country music. During their run on the country charts Exile had 10 number one singles including “I Don’t Want To Be A Memory,” “Give Me One More Chance” and “She’s A Miracle.” The band wrote their own songs, played on all their recordings and also proved to be prolific songwriters composing hits for other artists such as Alabama, Restless Heart, Engelbert Humperdinck, Huey Lewis, Diamond Rio, Janie Fricke and many more.  During this country phase of their career, Exile received 11 nominations including Vocal Group of The Year and Best Instrumental Performance for the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards.
The 5 original Exile members re-formed in 2008 with J.P. Pennington, Les Taylor, Sonny LeMaire, Marlon Hargis and Steve Goetzman. The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame members continue to perform  and have appeared over 100 times on the Grand Ole Opry.  The band has sold over 8 million records worldwide, with three Gold albums. Exile has lasted longer than most marriages.

Death, Rattle, and Roll

Happy Halloween everyone! Welcome to this new episode. We are sitting down with author, editor and artist John Patrick Robbins. John's new book, "Death, Rattle, and Roll" has just been released. We talk about the origins of the book, subject matter in the book, and a variety of other topics with him. Dark humor, and dark places he has been are discussed, and are seem at odds with John's quick wit, business sense, love of the ocean, and his own sense of humor. He is engaging and funny, and has great stories and advice for would be authors. Having written many books, serving as editor for many magazines, as well as being very involved in different aspects of publishing, John brings a unique perspective to these topics, and we really enjoyed talking with him. We congratulate John on publishing his latest work, and look forward to whats next from this very talented author. 

Miles On Producing

Hi everyone! In this episode we sit down with Actor, Writer, Director, Producer, (among many other titles) Miles Doleac, to talk about his latest movie: Demigod. Miles gives us an interesting perspective of what its like to wear the many hats required to get a film from concept to completion while dealing with the myriad of things that can go wrong and derail production. Coupled with navigating all of this during the height of the Covid pandemic,  you realize just how challenging film making can be at times. Miles relays many stories of things that happened during the making of Demigod, and how he and his cast, and crew persevered despite roadblocks they encountered. He details his deep love for Greco-Roman history, potential issues encountered in auditioning for various roles for actors, and many other details on his path in the acting business. Some great insight in this episode, and we hope you enjoy it.
Miles Bio:
Miles Christopher Doleac is an American film and television actor, director, writer and producer. Along with his film career, he is also a singer, songwriter, theater actor, author, and professor. He has had acting roles in several films and television shows since 2011 including Watchmen, Treme, Sleepy Hollow, American Horror Story, Salem, Complications, Roots, and several episodes of the CW's Containment. He also has acting roles in the films The Magnificent Seven and Don't Kill It.
Demigod:
Coming to theatres October 15th and on demand! 
Directed by: Miles Doleac
Starring: Rachel Nichols, Jeremy London, and Elena Sanchez
Upon the death of her grandfather, a woman and her husband return to her birthplace in Germany's Black Forest, only to find a terrifying secret awaits them.
 

A Bit Blue

We are back with a new episode! This one is a bit different, as it deals with a slightly more serious topic than the episodes of late. While not everyone suffers from depression, there are many who may not realize they are depressed to some degree. We wanted to address that sort of thing in this episode  We talk with our guest, therapist Aaron Stevens about the signs and symptoms of depression, as well as the things he uses in his counseling to help those diagnosed. As Aaron's bio below shows, he has a long career helping people cope with and overcoming the sometimes crippling effects of depression, as well as a wide array of other mental health issues. We hope you enjoy this interesting and informative talk with Aaron.
Aaron's Bio:
I offer professional counseling services for individuals, couples, and families to help them move beyond problems and find solutions for lasting change. I have over 14 years of hands on experience in the mental health field working with clients of all ages facing a vast array of life problems relating to: Substance abuse, Mental health, Couples and Families, Behavioral and Developmental, Career and Academic issues. If you or your family are experiencing problems and are seeking to be treated by a fully licensed and highly trained professional therapist contact me today for a free consultation.
I have spent a great deal of my career working specifically with children, teens and their families addressing various issues from school behavior problems, to grief, trauma and sexual abuse. I have also worked closely with special needs children, their schools and other professionals to meet their unique needs.
I offer IN-HOME and ON-SITE counseling services in order to best meet individuals, couples and families where they are most comfortable, or where they are experiencing difficulties. This includes working with schools, teachers, doctors, social workers, foster families, and other members of the community as needed

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.”