The Sound of Success with Nic Harcourt

Teenaged John Roderick rode box car trains across the U.S; Aged 30 he walked from Hook of Holland to Istanbul. He was surprised to find he liked Coldplay & If he could only listen to one song for the rest of his life he'd pick Elliot Smith's Waltz #2

Nic's guest on this episode is musician, singer, songwriter, podcaster, John Roderick.John is the lead singer and guitarist of the Seattle band The Long Winters and co-hosts the podcasts Roderick On The Line with Merlin Mann and Omnibus with former Jeopardy! champion and current host Ken Jennings, but that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of his remarkable life. Nic had a great time talking with John, and as a result this episode clocks in at a TSOS record 1hr 58 mins!

On Gail Ann Dorsey's ninth birthday, her godmother and neighbor Edith gave her a Kay parlor guitar. The first album she bought was 'Slayed' by Slade, and Isaac Hayes was the first artist she saw live in concert.

Accomplished songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and one of the most highly regarded bass guitar players working today, Gail Ann Dorsey is Nic's guest on this episode. As a session musician Gail's work has graced recordings and performances by numerous artists. including The National, Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Ferry, Boy George, The The, Gwen Stefani, Seal, Charlie Watts, Gang of Four, Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls and Tears For Fears, PLUS she played in David Bowie's band, from 1995 thru his last tour in 2004!Aside from playing bass with Bowie, she sang lead vocals on live versions of "Under Pressure" (taking the part originally sung by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury) and dueted with Bowie on a whole host of other songs and contributed bass and or backing vocals on his albums 'Earthling', 'Heathen', 'Reality', and 'The Next Day.'Gail has also released three solo albums: 'The Corporate World ' (1988), 'Rude Blue' (1992), and 'I Used To Be...' (2003).Bass Player magazine gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award In December 2021,

The Spice Girls loom large in Lauren Mayberry's musical DNA & she thinks that Missy Elliott has made some of the best music videos of all time. George Michael or Whitney Houston will get her dancing & maybe, there's a Broadway musical in her future.

Lauren Mayberry is the lead singer of the Scottish band Chvrches. She has played the piano since she was a child and drums since she was a teenager. Before her music career took off Lauren completed a four-year undergraduate law degree at the University of Strathclyde and earned a master's degree in journalism leading to her first gig in music as a freelance music journalist. In Chvrches she co-writes and co-produces the bands material with Iain Cook and Martin Doherty. At the time of this conversation at the end of October 2024 Lauren is readying the release of her debut solo album 'Vicious Creature'.

B-52's founding member Kate Pierson's first music purchase was Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater", her first concert? The Doors (Jim Morrison dropped his pants) in Chicago, and the music of Neil Diamond is a guilty pleasure.

Kate Pierson's band the B-52s, who formed in Athens Georgia in 1976, have a long list of bona fide hits, including "Rock Lobster" "Planet Claire" "Party Out of Bounds" "Private Idaho "Love Shack" and "Roam". Her distinctive mezzo-soprano vocal range is a trademark of the B-52s' unique sound. Outside of her work with the band she has appeared in films and TV shows, including "The Flintstones" (with the BC-52's) and "Flight of the Conchords". Kate has collaborated with many artists throughout her career including The Ramones, Iggy Pop, David Byrne and R.E.M. At the time of our conversation in August 2024 Kate talks about her musical journey and discusses her second solo album "Radio and Rainbows".

Thurston Moore wrang glorious sounds from his electric guitar through his work with Sonic Youth, who in 1981 emerged from the experimental No Wave art & music scene in New York before evolving into arguably the most influential independent band ever

Nic is joined on this episode by guitarist, singer, songwriter and author Thurston Moore, who is probably best known as a member of the groundbreaking and highly influential band Sonic Youth. Outside of that band Thurston has a long list of side projects and credits, including work with John Zorn, Richard Hell, Lydia Lunch, Yoko Ono, Dave Grohl. REM, and Beck! He has also made 9 solo albums, the most recent of which 'Flow Critical Lucidity' is set for a September 2024 release. In 1981 he founded the Ecstatic Peace! record label which has released more than 200 LPs, cassettes, 7"s, and CDs, of both established and fledgling artists. His creative palette has included writing and performing music for film, narrating documentaries for the National Geographic channel, a residency at the Louvre, and teaching writing at Allen Ginsberg & Anne Waldman’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Boulder’s Naropa University. He is an honorary professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark.