Laura Boland is a daughter, a sister, a significant other, a musician, and an old-school soul. She's also my guest for Episode No. 198.

When wearing her musician cap, Laura goes by the moniker, Elska, and you can find her stuff at elskamusic.me, and you can follow her on Instagram at @elskalullabies.

Laura was kind enough to stop by and visit with me about growing up, life moves and changes, writing, recording, mixing, incorporating Alex Alexander into the Elska fold, and a number of other things, including a few of her favorite albums. Those were these:

Heaven or Las Vegas (1990), Cocteau Twins

Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)

Fur and Gold (2006), Bat for Lashes

Chelsea Wolfe's Pain Is Beauty (2013)

Many thanks to Laura for her generous donation of time and good energy, and thank you to all of you that support the podcast.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this clip. They are snippets from a Bob Dylan tune called, "Man in the Long Black Coat," which you can find on his 1989 release, Oh Mercy. It has featured in this episode and is available to us all c/o Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

"Mama always said that dying was a part of life...but I sure wish it wasn't."

-- Forrest Gump

My journey as a fan of the Grateful Dead is -- from my perspective -- and interesting one in that I went from the tiny handful of FM-radio hits to Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of the Grateful Dead, and I didn't love it. At all, really.

Some time later everything changed.

I wasn't certain about the lineup and why the vocals sometimes didn't sound like Jerry Garcia's voice, but I eventually figured it out, and -- in typical fashion for myself -- I fell in love with Garcia's playing, Garcia's voice, and the sometimes-lovely keyboard playing. And that was kind of it.

It took me until the formation of Dead and Company to form my admiration and respect of -- plus love for -- Bobby Weir. Seeing the occasional photo of him in Birkenstocks (and ultimately barefoot) on his on-stage rug in addition to the occasional Instagram post of him in yoga poses, etc. really solidified my belief that this was a truly special human being.

I struggle with a number of things, and among them is the constant need for the reminder that social media isn't real life. So, when Bobby's passing was shared with the world, I bristled at verbiage in posts that started with phrases like, "I'm devastated."

At the same time, I also kind of understood.

Bob Weir -- from my vantage point -- was in incredible human, and we are so, so lucky that we shared living moments with him.

I say all of that to say this: Nicolette Paige joined me for Episode No. 197 and even though I didn't know her prior to her ringing my doorbell (and scarcely know her now), she seems like a delightful person. She -- I think -- is all about energy and love and positivity, and we could use a few more Nicolettes on this planet right now.

Mrs. Paige and I talked about family, growing up with incredibly supportive parents, putting on shows, seeing clients, peddling products, managing screen time, as well as a few of her favorite albums, which were these:

Bob Marley's Exodus (1977)

Bruised Orange (1978), John Prine

Jimi Hendrix's The Jimi Hendrix Experience (2000)

Mama's Gun (2000), Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, Part I (4th World War) (2008)

Follow her at @nicolettepaigemusic on Instagram. Check out her Web site, soulchildawakenings.com, and -- if you're so inclined -- you can follow Soul Child Awakenings on the socials we know as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. She's also got two albums -- self-titled + The Other Side -- available via the streaming platforms.

A big thank you to Nicolette for the time and the vibes. A super-big thank you to you for supporting the podcast, and a massive thank you to Bob Weir, for being an absolute treasure.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio clips featured in this episode. They are snippets taken from the leadoff track of Bob Weir's 2016 record, Blue Mountain. It's a fantastic album, and I encourage you to check it out in its entirety. We have it available to us today c/o TRI Studios LLC, which is distributed under license by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

This is the Badass Records podcast, and I'm pleased to let you know that Episode No. 196 features none other than Joel vs Joel's very own, Joel Stratton.

Joel vs Joel's debut album, Smile in the Mirror, came out in August of last year, and Brad Smith (Episode No. 108) of Enigmatic Brunch Records was the wizard behind the curtains of making that happen.

But let's not let that detract us from Joel.

I am thankful for the opportunity to've sat with Joel and talked about his release, his approach, and, well, a few of his favorite records.

I know. It's the same old stuff every week(ish) here, but that turns out to be the actual skinny, so...his list looked a little something like this:

Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring (1986)

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002), Wilco

Elliott Smith's From a Basement on the Hill (2004)

Tinks (2014), Pether Schlamb

Anyway, please consider giving Joel an Instagram follow; you can find him at joelvs_joel_, and -- again -- his stuff is out there for both streaming and purchase. Check it.

Thank you very much to both Joel and to anyone/everyone that supports the show.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio pieces found in this here episode; they ain't mines. I managed ta' lift 'em from the ranks of a dusty, forgotten bin in the corner of my uncle's barn in Republic, and I figured they was worth sharin', so here's the skinny: This is an R.L. Burnside tune. It's one of many fine, fine cuts he shared with the world. This one in particular's called, "Got Messed Up," and I snagged it from his phenomenal 2000 release, Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down, c/o Fat Possum Records. So there. Put that in your royalties pipe an' smoke it.