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News Podcast

Ep. #1086: The Sadies & Billy Ray

Mike Belitsky and Travis Good from the Sadies and Dave ‘Billy Ray’ Koster are here to discuss Live at 6 O’Clock by Gord Downie, The Sadies, and the Conquering Sun, Billy’s long and all-encompassing tenure in the working lives of Downie and the Tragically Hip as a technical director and confidante, how the Sadies and Downie connected and why he was so fond of playing with them, a look back at Downie’s first solo album Coke Machine Glow and him asking Travis to play on it, Downie’s deep love for artists like Fucked Up and Daniel Romano, insights about this collaboration and what the late Gord Downie and Dallas Good may have felt about it, when Downie planned to run the stage light show himself, poignant reasons for picking songs about ghosts and sadness for this live record primarily consisting of songs by other artists, further insights into how the Tragically Hip viewed Downie’s work outside of the band, Downie’s penchant for incorporating conversations and experiences he shared with Billy into his lyrics, the story behind “Introduce Yerself,” whether we may hear more unreleased music by Downie and the potential for Sadie to make a new album, upcoming tour dates, other future plans, and much more.

EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. This one is fine, but if you haven’t already, please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!

Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, the BookshelfPlanet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.

Related episodes/links:

Win a Gord Downie Vinyl Bundle in April 2026!
Ep. #1085: Richard Reed Parry
Ep. #1083: Rheostatics
Ep. #1082: Joe Pernice
Ep. #1071: Buck 65
Ep. #971: Change of Heart
Ep. #892: Fucked Up
Ep. #889: Rick White and The Sadies
Ep. #880: Guided By Voices
Ep. #842: Daniel Romano’s Outfit
Ep. #821: Kurt Vile
Ep. #744: Don Pyle
Ep. #590: Bob Young
Ep. #496: Iggy Pop

Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #1082: Joe Pernice

Joe Pernice is here to discuss his excellent new album, Sunny, I Was Wrong, living in frigid Canada as a well-informed American, his obsession with bicycles and riding bikes, his close friendship with music writer Warren Zanes who penned lovely liner notes for this new record, being a dad and coaching baseball with some encouragement from Buck 65, writing music again after a substantial break and from a very honest, reflective perspective, why he chose to release a record under his own name, the killer studio band he assembled featuring Jim Creeggan, Mike Belitsky, and Mike Evin, bringing in very special guests like Aimee Mann, Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, Rodney Crowell, and Jimmy Webb, what will become of the large number of unreleased songs he wrote and recorded towards this album, upcoming shows, other future plans, and much more.

EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. This one is fine, but if you haven’t already, please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!

Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, the BookshelfPlanet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.

Related episodes/links:

Ep. #1071: Buck 65
Buck 65 on Bike For Three! (2009)
Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle (2012) – Teaser
Ep. #889: Rick White and The Sadies
Ep. #800: Buck 65
Ep. #703: The Sadies
Ep. #335: The Sadies on Long Night

(Colleen Nicholson)
Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #1071: Buck 65

Buck 65 makes a rare reappearance to discuss his excellent new album, Do Not Bend, musical brevity, Joe Pernice inspiring him to start an insightful Substack, writing jokes and stories that wind up as rhymes, befriending the late great Biz Markie and hanging out backstage at a Beastie Boys show, meeting Lou Reed but being low key about their creative kinship, acquiring the four-track he once used in the mid-1990s to create new music but also incorporating Ableton, obvious and oblique pop culture references, when you don’t know where the words come from, why it’s healthy to listen to your own work, difficult time signatures for rappers, a loving celebration of vinyl record culture, many future plans, a hidden phone number, and much more.  

EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. This one is fine, but if you haven’t already, please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!

Thanks to the BookshelfPlanet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.

Related episodes/links:

Ep. #1069: The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis
Ep. #1068: Sahan Jayasuriya on ‘Don’t Say Please: The Oral History of Die Kreuzen’
Ep. #1065: Brian Raftery on ‘Hannibal Lecter: A Life’
Buck 65 on Bike For Three! (2009)
Ep. #1037: Sloan
Ep. #1026: Tortoise
Ep. #906: Joel Plaskett
Ep. #895: Al Tuck
Ep. #858: Cadence Weapon
Ep. #800: Buck 65
Ep. #770: Adam Horovitz from Beastie Boys
Ep. #272: Gord Downie [Archival; May 2010]
Ep. #117: Charles Austin of the Super Friendz
Ep. #13: Sloan’s Jay Ferguson & Chris Murphy & Photographer Catherine Stockhausen

(Roy Belding)