We welcome Jackson Loman back at the top of the show and listens to the classic Adam Sandler song, “Lunch Lady Land.”Then Greg tells us about a festival that he would love to attend one day on another round of FestQuest. Each year in late July, at the base Mt. Fuji there’s a festival called Fuji Rock. We listen to performances from some big names over the years.Songs:Elliott Smith - “Ballad of Big Nothing (Live 2000)”Squarepusher - “Anstromm Feck 4 (Live 2001)”Radiohead - “Myxomatosis (Live 2012)”Jay received a clawhammer banjo from his wife on his first Father’s Day and he’s been fiddling with it ever since. He recently decided to hunker down and work on the clawhammer technique. He shares his journey thus far.Song: Rhianna Gibbons & Justin Gibbons - “John Henry”It’s News with Nick! Oliver Tree’s tragic death, NYC names a street for Hendrix, Michael breaks biopic box office records, and AFM sues the major labels over undisclosed AI revenues.Song: Oliver Tree - “Life Goes On”

Nick has some new music to share in a Three For Thursday. There’s the new London based art-pop band, 1000 Rabbits, Yoni Mayraz has a phenomenal Portuguese drummer named Zoe Pascal, and Baltimore’s experimental rock band, Horse Lords, is out with a new album.Songs: 1000 Rabbits - "Rubik's Cube"Yoni Mayraz - "Rooftops"Horse Lords - "Brain of the Firm (feat. Nina Guo, Evelyn Saylor, Madison Greenstone & Weston Olencki)"Then, for the first time ever, Jay’s SOUND MACHINE CRASHED!!! (Don’t forget to update the software, Jay!)Next up, Greg noticed that one artist in particular appeared numerous times on Pitchfork’s Perfect 10 Album list, and he whole heartedly agrees. We’re taking a deep dive into the music and career of Elliott Smith. Early in the discussion, Greg proclaimed, “he’s one of those people that makes me love words.”Songs:Elliott Smith - “Pretty Mary K”Elliott Smith - “Everything Means Nothing to Me”Heatmiser - “blackout”Elliott Smith - “Coast to Coast”Finally, we’re a week late but this segment is for you, Dirk Mauer! Joe Negri, or “Handyman Negri” for anyone that grew up watching Mr. Rogers, died last week at the age of 99. It turns out the guy that taught little kids about musical instruments and fixed stuff for Mr Rogers was also an incredible guitar player. There’s been an outpouring of love for him online and some incredible performances have been unearthed in the process. We listen to a few.Songs:Joe Negri & Johnny Costa - “Little Brown Jug”Joe Negri with the Pittsburg Pops Orchestra - “Bumble Boogie”Fred Rogers, Joe Negri & Yoyo Ma - “Tree Tree Tree”

Inspired by Pitchfork, Jay presents a question. What’s your perfect 10 album? The guys discuss their picks. Jay chose Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys, Nick went with In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, and Greg landed on his first perfect 10 album, Nevermind by Nirvana. You can check out the 240 artists that responded over on Pitchfork: https://pitchfork.com/features/240-artists-on-their-perfect-10-albums/Song: Beastie Boys - “Shake Your Rump”It’s News with Nick! Apparently it was news to Nick that in 2009, when Thom Yorke was assembling a band to perform songs from his solo record Eraser, he enlisted Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play bass! In more recent news, the Kennedy Center retains it’s original name and independent music platform Nina Protocol is shutting down in July.Song: Flea - “Traffic Lights (feat Thom Yorke)”Friend of the show, Nate Kalwicki, was recently awarded a mortgage free home by the amazing folks at A Soldier's Journey Home. An Afghanistan veteran, Nate lost his right leg in an ambush and met Greg while recuperating at Walter Reed Hospital. Listeners may remember that he’s now the guitarist for The Resilient. The band got to perform at the celebration and Greg gives us a play-by-play on “Tales From the Concert.”Song: Aphex Twin - “Window Licker”

Greg remembers Sonny Rollins, who passed this week at the age of 95. The “Saxophone Colossus” transformed modern jazz by pioneering thematic improvisation, using his robust, full-bodied tone to stretch the boundaries of hard bop and avant-garde styles.Songs:Sonny Rollins - “Strode Road”Bill Evans - “Oleo”Miles Davis/John Coltrane - “Oleo”Wes Montgomery - “Airegin”Sonny Rollins - “St. Thomas”Jay gives us a musical interlude by way of a Three for Thursday. When traveling in L.A., he got an old Tom Tom Club track stuck in his head, and revisited some Kurt Vile. Last weekend, Sleepers made it’s Baltimore debut at SOWEBO and we listen to some audio from the show (featuring EJ Maynard).Songs:Tom Tom Club - “Genius of Love”Kurt Vile - “Loading Zones”Sleepers - “TV Town”Nick closes us out with a light News with Nick. Jack Osbourne defends AI Ozzy, Chrome Hearts drops their lawsuit with Neil Young, and Billy Joel does not want you to see Billy & Me.

We kick off with News with Nick! D4VD is getting pulled from streaming services following gruesome murder charges, Kanye owes some royalties, and Weird Al is coming to Broadway. Plus, Nick did his homework and discusses his thoughts on Heavy Metal Parking Lot and updates the guys on his Sopranos progress.Song: Frank Zappa - “Joe’s Garage”Next, Greg brings us a Three for Thursday. We listen to Nels Cline’s blazing solo on a Wilco track, dig into a Bruce Hornsby classic, and close with some classic Aphex Twin.Songs:Wilco - “Side with the Seeds”Bruce Hornsby - “The Way It Is (Live - 1998/99)”Aphex Twin - “T69 Collapse”We end the show with a hot bowl of Jay’s Jambalaya. Ike Willis was a staple of Frank Zappa’s ensemble from 1979 until Zappa’s final tour in 1988. A versatile guitarist and vocalist, we listen to some of his notable contributions to the Zappa discography. Willis passed last week at the age of 70. Next, we learn about Fender’s desperate attempt to prevent other guitar manufacturers’ from building ‘S’ shaped guitars, despite losing a patent case in the U.S. years ago. Finally, Jay brings us up to speed on his trip to LA.Song: Frank Zappa - “Outside Now (Live)”

Jay’s kicking us off with a Three For Thursday. Chris Potter and some very notable guests drop a new album, Shuggie Otis makes the 1001 albums before you die, and we have a new track from The Cockroaches.Chris Potter - “Osawatomie Brown (feat. Bill Frisell, Burniss Travis, Nate Smith, Rane Moore, Zekkereya El-Magharbel & Sara Caswell)”Shuggie Otis - “Inspiration Information”The Rolling Stones - “Rough and Twisted”Get ready for it! 3 Savile Row is turning into a Beatles/Apple museum, Red Hot Chili Peppers sell their catalog, and Jeff Tweedy wrote a New York Times crossword puzzle [link].Songs:Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr - “Home to Us”My New Band Believe - “In the Blink of an Eye”Friko - “Certainty”

Get ready for it, it’s News with Nick. Greta Van Fleet may have broken up, Dolly is gonna be alright, M.I.A. dropped by Kid Cudi, and the top licks heard played in Guitar Center.Song: Friko - “Still Around”We’ve got more news, it’s Heard it through the GREGvine! We discuss the NY Times 30 greatest living American songwriters (link), and the 40th anniversary of the cult music documentary ‘Heavy Metal Parking Lot’ (link). Finally, Olivia Rodrigo drops 6 versions of the same song and they all made the charts (plus she was seen at a restaurant with Geese singer, Cameron Winter).Song: Per Nilsson performing on Rick Beato’s YouTube channelJay remembers the transgressive outlaw country star, David Allan Coe, who passed this week at the age of 86. He spent much of his early life in prison and reform schools and was discovered at the age of 29 busking in Nashville. He went on to become a famous ‘outsider’ of the country music world and wrote some great songs in the process.Songs: David Allan Coe - “Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)”David Allan Coe - “You Never Even Called Me by My Name”Rebel Meets Rebel - “Cowboys Do More Dope”

A couple weeks ago, Wired put out an article declaring that Geese’s popularity was a Psyop. It turns out they hired a marketing company for the release of their album, Getting Killed. The company engages in some less than savory tactics to promote their clients. Jay wants to discuss what everyone thinks about this…Song:Bruce Hornsby - “Indigo Park”Nick brings us a Tales from the Concert. This week, it's Sleepers at Rockwell Brewery. He and Jay recap the evening and thank a whole lot of family and friends for coming out.Songs:Sleepers - “Patrol”Sleepers - “Protocol”Finally, Greg closes us out with a jazz inspired Three For Thursday. Songs:Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - “A Night in Tunisia”Julian Lage - “Something More”Kurt Rosenwinkel - “Blue Line”

Greg has been dissecting and practicing Frank Zappa’s Peaches En Regalia for the past few months and he’d like to share what he’s learned, in theory.Song: Frank Zappa - “Peaches En Regalia (1969 Rhythm Track Mix)”Jay came upon a piece in The Guardian called “Murder, mystery and a hit record: the unbelievable story of Ike White” (link) and had to learn more. This week, the tragic story of Ike White. Songs: Ike White - “Love And Affection”Ike White - “Changin' Times”Chicago native, Aadam Jacobs is a true music lover. He’s been recording and cataloging live shows for the past forty years and has decided to gift these recordings to the Internet Archive (link). With over 10,000 shows recorded, this is quite a collection. We listen to a few of his tapes on the latest round of “Tape Stash.” Songs:Plus/Minus - "Megalomaniac Live at Schubas Tavern 2003-11-13"Ben Folds Five - "Underground Live at Park West 1999-05-03"Nirvana - "Scoff Live at Dreamerz 1989-07-08"

Nick was out last week because he was at a conference in New Orleans. He’s back to report on all the incredible music he experienced while he was down there.Songs:Richard Scott - “Hey Day Drinkers”Wolfe Johns - Live at Bamboula’sJumbo Shrimp - “Cake Walking Babies from Home”Greg brings us up to speed on the first weekend of Coachella 2026 in a Heard it Through the GREGvine. You can watch the performances or catch the live stream over on YouTube.com/coachellaSongs: Geese - “Baby/2122 (Live from Coachella)”Nine Inch Noize - “Parasite (Live from Coachella)”Jay loves a good redemption story wrapped in a mystery, which is why he was so excited to read about Paul McCartney’s hunt for the lost bass. It’s now been made into a BBC documentary (McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass).Song: Bon Iver - “We (Live 2019 St Paul)”