The Touring Fan Live
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The Touring Fan Live
Let's Talk Vine(YL) - Pearl Jam Rumor Season
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Pearl Jam rumor season is hot, and we’re not pretending we have a secret hotline to the band. We’re looking at what fans are seeing, what promoters are hinting at, and why the delayed Ohana Festival announcement has everyone convinced a new Pearl Jam drummer reveal is coming. We walk through the most talked-about names, what each drummer would change about Pearl Jam’s live sound, and the real issue nobody can dodge: chemistry, stamina, and whether the next person can truly join the band’s inner circle for the long haul.
Before we get too deep into speculation, we pour wine and actually talk like humans. Grenache takes the spotlight with tasting notes, why Paso Robles Grenache often runs riper and higher in alcohol, how Washington Grenache can land lighter and more savory, and what foods really make the grape shine. If you like wine education that’s practical, this is a solid guide to pairing, aging, and what to notice in the glass.
We also zoom out to vinyl culture and Record Store Day, including the surge in vinyl sales, the collector mindset, and the frustration of flippers and endless variants. We debate streaming algorithms vs independent radio like KEXP, and we end on the most important point of the night: when music is about connection, the best thing you can buy isn’t always another record or poster, it’s a memory with the people you love. Subscribe, share this with a fellow vinyl or Pearl Jam fan, and leave a review with your pick for Pearl Jam’s next drummer.
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Chill Opener And Ted Lasso Set
SPEAKER_01And welcome to this episode of Let's Talk Vinyl, keeping it with a chill sound this evening with the band New Constellations, a Pacific Northwest band that is on the road right now touring as a two-piece, very much in the similar fashion of like Phantogram and things of that nature. Band that's been on repeat for me. Um, they just came through Kansas City and I missed them because I fell asleep. But I would recommend you seeing them if they come to your city. But really dig this band. I feel like it just sets a tone for tonight.
SPEAKER_03What was the name of that band again? Who is that?
SPEAKER_01New Constellations.
SPEAKER_03The New Constellations, not the um That's not that band that had that hit back in the that's the New Radicals. Never mind.
SPEAKER_01No. No, new new New Constellations and Radicals, while they are new in some sense. You got the reason to give. You know what song I'm talking about. Give up. That's a good song. That's the uh, what's it called called? The Ted Lasso. Ted Lasso with a Ted Lasso dance go in there for a little bit with that song. Is that right? That's funny.
SPEAKER_03I that's a show that I I think I should have watched, and and we just have not watched it.
SPEAKER_01You gotta watch it. Brady's great. Brady's gonna be on the new season. He's gonna be on the show? Yes, yeah. Uh last summer they filmed at the uh sporting Kansas City complex. Is this known?
SPEAKER_03Is this a known entity? Are you telling us this is breaking news here?
SPEAKER_01Um, I've kind of told a little bit, but I can talk about it now that the his uh NDA has kind of passed. Um because they were trying to keep the new season under wrap. But yeah, the filming of Ted Lasso came through Kansas City uh last uh June or July or something like that. Uh Brady was out there for I think two days. Um play he's in the back, he's not like a speaking role, but they had him playing in the back. There's a scene in one of the episodes where Ted Lasso and some of the other characters are watching a youth soccer game and Brady's uh playing a game behind them. Um so yeah, it was pretty crazy. I mean, I was I mean, I met uh Jason Sadakis, he walked past, super nice guy, um, really friendly to and the cast was really great. And um, but there is just so much intricacy and like work that goes behind the scenes to so many people. Oh my god, to film one scene that like probably is gonna be like three minutes in the grand scheme of this entire episode was wild to me. It was cool, but like after like being on set for like five hours, I was I was like, I'm done with this.
SPEAKER_03Like, I don't know how much money you know what, and that's why that's why people need to appreciate the fact that this is just me and you, just us, just us. And look at what we're putting out.
Six Years Of Let’s Talk Vinyl
SPEAKER_01We yeah, I mean I've tried to. I've keeping it pretty that's a pretty good entertainment. I I try, I try. I mean, we do you realize I I I this is insane to me. Excuse me, I'm coming over a cough. Um, as I was getting the studio cleaned up, I did an episode with Brian the other day uh for uh another unnecessary list. Um, and we were I'm working on some other shows, and I was talking to a couple sponsors that sponsor the podcast and stuff. And as we're doing this, um, they were asking some numbers on this show in particular, um, because it just has a unique audience. And I was like, Yeah, I'm like, I think we've been doing it for a few years. And it's like, well, when was the first episode? I said, I don't know. So I look back at uh iTunes, and the first episode was August 23rd of 2000. 2020. 2020. Yeah, something like that. Whatever. I always get those numbers mixed up. I was never a mathematician, but yeah, six years ago.
SPEAKER_03Still though, that's six years ago.
SPEAKER_01I know it's insane.
SPEAKER_03And the things we've done, we gotta make sure is that on is that is that better be on your calendar. I better be getting an anniversary card and flowers and the whole deal.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know what? Maybe you should be doing a little bit. I actually made you a custom print the one year to celebrate the one-year anniversary. I shipped to the house. You did, uh, you know. Um, so we'll have to we'll have to figure out. I'll have to order some wine.
SPEAKER_03Well, look, man, that's that's look that's what that's what happens when you're taking all the sponsorship money and getting all the big bucks, and here I am over here.
Road Trips Miles And Recent Shows
SPEAKER_01No, you know what I mean? No, I I will tell you this. If you look at the actual books for this show of how much money it costs to actually make it and the money coming in, I there's a reason why is a tax write-off. There's a reason why we're red in the background and on my face. There's a reason why. And it's not just because May the 4th was the other day and we're doing a Star Wars theme in the background. No, it's because um we still haven't we still haven't gotten to the green yet, if uh you know what I'm saying. Anyway, tonight we are gonna be breaking down a few things, uh talking about the latest rumors around Pearl Jam. We're gonna be talking about the wine we're drinking tonight, which I'm really excited about, talking the one about the wine I got. I know you have some really good wine to talk about. We're also gonna be talking about the Pearl Jam rumors. Um, there's a lot of rumors coming out uh right now about Ohana. We discussed a little bit about it back in January when I was in Seattle with you. Um, but it with the news that broke this morning with uh uh the Brazilian uh promoter on a very well-known show. Um, then we're gonna have a fun segment about wine and bands. Like if if if a band could be a wine, what would it be and why? And then we're gonna talk a little bit about um Record Sore Day. Uh some interesting numbers came across when it came to vinyl uh this year and some interesting tidbits I have on it. And I'm curious what your thoughts are. But um let's just get right into it first. First, I haven't seen you in like fucking four months. I think the last last time I saw you was in Seattle. We have I took a break from the show for a few months to get uh everything set up in the studio, uh work on some stuff with family and stuff, but you just came from uh Idaho, didn't you?
SPEAKER_03I drove to Elko, Nevada yesterday. I left with my friend Andre, my uh good friend from uh originally from Boise, who was where I knew him from, and then he lived in Walwall. And he's uh him and his wife just moved to Elko, Nevada. And so I had to, they had an extra car here that they needed to get back, and I told him I would I would road trip with him. So he drove his truck and trailer, and I drove a truck behind him, and stopped along the way to take some snaps with my iPhone. It was way more beautiful than I thought it was gonna be. And uh big, huge mountain ranges, and it was just absolutely gorgeous. The geology out there was just amazing and pretty time of the year, lots of wildflowers out right now. So, yeah, it was nice. And then I jumped on an airplane at 6:30 this morning and flew home.
SPEAKER_01How long of a drive was that? It's eight hours. Oh, that's not as terrible as I thought it was gonna be.
SPEAKER_03Not bad. I'm gonna do that tomorrow, too. Holly and I in June are driving to Bozeman, Montana to see Kaylee, our oldest daughter. Okay, who uh graduated back in January um from Montana State University, got her master's degree.
SPEAKER_01Congratulations.
SPEAKER_03And so she's having her ceremony, her walking ceremony is tomorrow. Or cap and gown, whatever, whatever they're gonna call it. Anyway, uh yeah, and so that is uh tomorrow, and we're gonna, or it's on Friday, so we're driving out tomorrow. It's about an eight-hour drive as well. Um, but it'll be a little longer with three people in the car. Yeah, I yeah, yeah, I understand that.
SPEAKER_01How many miles are on your vehicle? I always feel like you're on the road. I can only imagine the miles on your vehicles.
SPEAKER_03I mean, that truck, uh, I think uh that's close to 300,000 miles on it. We bought that truck when it had like 40,000 miles on it.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god.
SPEAKER_03That's just in the truck, and that is um, but that is we bought that back in, I think we bought it right around 2008 or nine. So something like that. No, no, I'm sorry, 2018, because it was five years old. Okay. 2018. Uh we was two this 2013 truck. So and then my cars got cars got close to two 200,000 miles on it now. Holly's is over 200, I think.
SPEAKER_01So I did I don't we're uh I know it's just don't I I don't want a car payment either, so I hear you on that one.
SPEAKER_03It's like when you live you live four four hours from anything, you know, you have to driving. I'd four to Boise, Portland, Boise, Portland, and Seattle are all right around four hours from Walla Wall.
SPEAKER_01So we're stuck right in the middle there. That's all right. I had that in Virginia. I don't miss it at all. I kind of like the fact that like all my work is centralized here to Kansas City and shows are close by, and um, you know, we can we saw Band of Horses on Friday. I was able to drive into the city right like 30 minutes before the show started and was home before it was even that late.
SPEAKER_03Uh you saw Band of Horses?
Band Of Horses Then Vs Now
SPEAKER_01You got this has been the month of shows. I over the last like 30 days, I've been to like four concerts. I have like seven more over the next three weeks. Yeah, so this is a busy month for me. But I saw Band of Horses on Friday. Um I love Band of Horse. I love Band of Horses.
SPEAKER_03Yes, and they're touring behind uh they're the it's the 20th anniversary of their first album, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I love Band of Horses. I've seen Band of Horses over 25 times. I love Band of Horses. Um here's my here's the issue. I have a band of horses right now. Um, it's just not the same with some of the key pieces that are missing with the band. Not having Ryan on keys, Tyler, not Tyler on guitar. It's just the guitar player they have now is a younger kid that's probably mid to late 20s, that just has a different energy than what Band of Horses is. His vocal range and his harmonies are not as strong as what Tyler's were. And you know, Ben tours heavily. So when as the tour gets on, Ben's voice, who's very unique and and and different, it it starts to just it it just doesn't hold up as much. And I love them and I love what they do, and the show I saw was great. Um, but it's just not the band I remember from years ago. And I just and it's I feel like they're just putting so much stress in the body. I literally, if I wanted to, within three hours of Kansas City over the next six months, I potentially could see Band of Horses eight times. They're that playing that many shows close by Chicago and St. Louis and Omaha, Nebraska, Columbia, Maryland, Kansas City, St. Louis, Wichita twice, can uh Oklahoma City, Tulsa, like all these places, and it's just like I and here's the thing they're selling tickets. It's not like they're not selling tickets, so they still have this loyal fan base that's coming to them. It's just I don't know, man. Um, and then they play their new song that's coming off the album that comes out next year, and it was good, but it's just I don't know, man. It's just there's something that was really cool about Band of Horses um leading up to the years right before Tyler left. And I think after Tyler left, Ryan was the glue that kind of helped keep that sound unique with his keys and his vocals. And I feel as though it's just right now with Creighton on drums and uh Ben on on vocals, that's really like the long-term key pieces of the band. And everything else, I know the bass player is an original member, but he's been back and forth and he's very much like a punk rocker, um, comes from a punk rock playing style, so it's just different. Um, I just Band of Horses is just if you've ever seen them in an intimate setting 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_03I saw them. Did did you ever hear about the show they did in Yakima, Washington? Um I think Brad and um I think Brad and Sam were at that show. Um, and it was in an old mausoleum, old concrete mausoleum in uh in Yakima. And this would have been in late 2000s, maybe 2006, 7, 8, 9, maybe around then. And they had just played the day before, I want to say at Easy Street or the Show Box, something like that. And this was like a last-minute announcement. Hey, we're playing this, you know, a small show in Yakima on our way to Boise or whatever. And I don't even remember how I got tickets for that, but ended up with these killer tickets. I'll have to find the photo and send it to you. One of the most beautiful venues, 100 people sitting in this, in this mausoleum. It sounded so beautiful, really big and warm. And that was such a great show.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, that they're a great band. I've seen um and I think they put on a lot of epic epic shows. I've seen them in uh small clubs back in the early 2000s when they first came out in 2005, 2006, uh in Virginia. But yeah, it's just I don't know, man. It's just a little different, and it's not bad different.
SPEAKER_03No, I get it. I get it. You know, I'm just expecting what I got. There's there's there's plenty of Pearl Jam fans that say the same thing about Pearl Jam.
Grenache Notes And Pairing Ideas
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, yeah. Yeah, and we'll we'll we're gonna get to Pearl Jam a little bit because I have some big theories. I have a real big theory about Pearl Jam, and I think it excites me. So we'll talk about that a little bit. Let's let's talk about the wine we're drinking tonight.
SPEAKER_03Um wine here. I'm trying to I'm trying to update my uh wine here. Will you hold on one second? Oh, you can I can sure I can hold. Um you know what. Oh, maybe she's gone. Never mind. No worries. Um I was gonna have the the wine that I brought up. I'm gonna let I'm gonna let you start off. Yeah, sure. And maybe by the time I'm done, yeah, uh Holly will have seen the text. I I'm asking her to send up another bottle.
SPEAKER_01So just to show you over six years how how I'm trying to figure things out, I have sh notes for the show and the wine.
SPEAKER_02Uh so Oh will you I'll tell your mom to come up here real quick.
unknownWhy?
SPEAKER_02Ask your mom to come up here, please.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Go ahead. 14. Yeah, no, I I trust me, I I get it. Um, so um I was surprised my birthday. Um, Brad and Sam uh flew out. I had no idea. Um, but the the the scheme behind them was I had purchased some wine with them from a wine club a couple months ago, and we split the box. Uh it's from Kay Kayana, Kayana, I can never say it correctly. You know, I barely speak English, you know this. Um, but I've really fallen in love with this this brand of wine. Um, and one of the bottles that came in this mystery box of like wine was this 2017 Grenache, which I had some when I was in uh Portland a few months ago with them. And it is super good. Um, and this is one of the ones I got. And I was really excited about talking about this because as you know, as the show's gone on, I've definitely started to find the the one I like and the one I don't like, and especially like the taste and flavor profiles that really meet my like what I like to drink. And I find myself like Grenache, I can't drink it all the time, but this is a really good, flavorful, like fruity wine that I've really uh grown to love. And you know, just drinking it right now, there's a lot of like different berry flavors when it comes to it, like a raspberry, cherry, like a cranberry. Um, there's like even like a little sandalwood. But what I like about this is that it's not too tannic when you're drinking it. There's not like a really tannic aftertaste. Um, there's not like a it's not soft. Yeah, it's very soft.
SPEAKER_03So here, throw that away. You can drink, you could try it, but it was I didn't like it. I'm gonna talk about uh I'm gonna first of all, that wine you have is from Passer Robles. Um it's a uh fairly well-known venue, it's from a well-known vineyard down there called Larner Vineyard. And Larner is a winery as well, but they sell fruit, and so you will often see other wineries putting Larner Vineyard on their bottling because it you they can get more money for it because they're better, they are better. Um that's a great vineyard site. So that style, what you have it's fairly ripe. Grenache can be fairly ripe anyway, and most of the time, especially if it's like chefed enough to pop and pasta robes, especially Sonoma, they're they're gonna be high 14% alcohol, low for low 15s. Rarely do you see a sub-14% alcohol grenache. And one of the reasons is it is a difficult grape to ripen, it ripens very unevenly because the clusters are huge, really big. Like the clusters can weigh up to a pound, uh, where a Cabernet cluster gets to about a quarter pound total. So that's a lot of grapes on one cluster, and they ripen at different uh at a different pace. And so you'll have some grapes that are underripe and some grapes that are overripe. And so if you're waiting for everything to be at least somewhat ripe, it's gonna be on the riper side, period. And so I think that was low 15s. Paso Robles typically makes some pretty ripe style uh wines. Um, I just got back from there, was there in February for Roan Rangers, a big wine event pouring Syrah and Grenache down there. And um uh it was um awesome to taste all those wines, but they're stylistically are very different from Washton for sure. Okay. Um, although you there are plenty of people that you can make those styles, you can make that style of Washton, no problem. Um, I find that they put a little more oak on their wines down in Paso on their Rhone varietals than we do at Slight of Hand. Again, there are some Washton wineries that stylistically can will will make make the that style, but I feel like most people are sort of backed off of the new oak on Rhone Varietals. Okay. But Paso seems like Paso's Paso and you know old school Australia um make those wines where they they throw a lot of wood on them, and they're still super enjoyable. Um I find they can detract from the actual grape sometimes, but it doesn't it doesn't make it right or wrong. So anyway, I I I went when we were down there, I was down there in February and we we had some delicious wines. I really enjoyed um taste of the wines that were in that area.
SPEAKER_01So let me ask you this question because I I know we've talked about this in the past, but it's been a while. You know, there's a lot of people tend to pair wine with food or even like an outing per se. Because there is some wines that you can it they don't really pair with like food per se, but it it's more of like a casual drinking warm summer day or whatever. When it comes to Grenache, what would you typically pair this with either a food or a style or what an outing?
SPEAKER_03Oh, that's a good one. Um I mean, it is uh it's a pretty boozy grape, you know. Um, and they don't necessarily have a lot of acid all the time. They can be quite soft. Um depends on if they're using whole cluster or tannin. You know, tannin. I always feel like that tannin profile determine what you want to eat uh with with that. But I mean, yeah, just go straight to your proteins. It's gonna have to be something that's got, you know, it's gonna be a something in the steak family, I feel like, or lamb or something like that. Something that's got some heartiness to it. I guess maybe even a beef stew, maybe. Oh so yeah.
SPEAKER_01Beef stew sounds good. How about that? A beef stew sounds absolutely like a home run right now. I could go for a fucking beef stew.
Why Grenache Ripens And Ages Differently
SPEAKER_03So what are you drinking? That's awesome. Well, I was I I poured myself. I went down to the cellar, I'm like, I'd find something older. And I went to Paso. Very famous winery, tablets Creek, uh winery that's been around for a long, long time. Um 2011. It's called On Goblet, which is a um trellising style, which we actually use in Washington as well. Uh it's from Paso Robo. This is a this was a Mouved Grenache, Tanat and Syrah blend. Uh only$13.9, was we sitting here talking about that. You don't find them uh under 14 often. But two things. One, it was a very cold vintage. 2011 was a cold vintage for California and for Washington. Um, and it is Mouvet dominant. Grenache is like 40% of that, 27% of that. Um and then Tanat, and then Syrah's last. Anyway, it was tired over the hill. So I pour I popped it open two seconds before we went live here. And so I was hoping for a lot more from that wine, so I had Holly take it away, and she just went and grabbed a bottle of 2013 Sorceress. This is a Grenache. This is our this was our second, third vintage, third vintage ever making Grenache. And it's mostly from Upland Vineyard, which is in uh Yakima Valley, Snipes Mountain AVA. And I can't remember what else we would have now. Let's see here. It has upland in it. It may have some French Creek, um, but I can't remember. But it's delicious. So it's uh 13 years old. Uh ours is definitely on the lighter side, color wise. Um but it still has um it hasn't really started to like brick. I mean, when it starts to turn a little orange on the rim when you like hold it up against a white piece of paper or something. They call that bricking, and that means that shows it can show the age. Sometimes how much oxygen essentially has caused by oxygen. So oxygen causes those red, red, purple, and blue filments, filaments, whatever the color pigments, pigments. Changes them from red to brown as it oxidizes. Um and so that that gives you sort of like a burnt orange color for older wines.
SPEAKER_01So wait, so wine can get bad then. Oh yeah. Oh shit. I'm wondering, uh, because I just found my Pearl Jam box, which is actually, I don't know if you can see it. It's literally uh I see it down there.
SPEAKER_03Is the wine in there?
SPEAKER_01It's in there, sitting in the box. Yeah, just your big old 75-degree room. This no, this room is a cool 67.
SPEAKER_0367 is fine. 65 degrees too warm. That's all right. It's not gonna go bad.
SPEAKER_01I don't I I have never I've I don't even know.
SPEAKER_03I've never drink it anyway.
SPEAKER_01So no, no. I actually think um, because I have two of them. I think I'm gonna auction one off because Brady starts his nonprofit in a couple weeks, and I'm gonna auction them off to uh raise some money for him. So um because they're just sitting here. I I've I have gotten rid of so much shit here recently. Just I have too much. But I have yeah, two, I have two boxes of them. One of them is completely sealed. That one I opened up to look at them. I'm probably gonna auction off the one that's completely sealed. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Oh, why that's great.
SPEAKER_03That's gonna it definitely shows some more more mature notes. It's not quite as fruitful as what you have in your glass for sure. Um, more savory notes, but delicious.
SPEAKER_01No, yeah. This, I will say, this like I like I think you made a great point. It's really it's flavorful, it's non-acidic, it's not it's 15.3, uh it's alcohol by volume based off what the label says. Um I'm on the website for this. I if I feel it says like bringing a taste of Hawaii to California, so I think that's kind of the whole theme behind it. Um okay. Yeah, I'm really I've I've I haven't had a bad bottle of wine from this company at all. The only two wineries I've done.
SPEAKER_03Where did you find that again?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um, yeah, listen, Brad and Sam, who I adore, I go out there and I visit them. Um, they got me hooked on this wine. Uh the first time I drank is when I helped them move from uh, you know, down to Portland and they showed it to me. And then they told me that I think it was a Black Friday deal. They're like, hey, there's you know, it's a you want to split a box? I'm like, sure, you know, whatever. And uh we split a box, and then the whole thing was they told me that a friend of theirs was flying into Kansas City. He was gonna bring me a box of wine. And then when I went to the airport to pick up this box of wine, it was actually Brad and Sam who came to surprise me for my birthday with the box of wine. Yeah, I was was not not expecting that at all. So that was a fun that's amazing, though.
SPEAKER_03How cool is that?
SPEAKER_01Oh no, I love them so much. They're uh they're the best people in the world. So it was it was uh that was a couple weeks ago, it was two weeks ago they came for my surprise me for my birthday. So that was uh a good time. Love them together. Did you get go see any shows for your birthday? Uh so I was that's so I yeah, they came and then we ended up going to see C Matt in uh Lawrence. Um and I don't know, I didn't know too much about her. Um leading up to her, I know that she has a big fan following and stuff. So we went out to Lawrence on Saturday to this venue I'd never been to. Um and she just was outstanding. Theatrical voice was amazing. She does a style of music called Euro Country, um, which I don't know if that's really that. It's more like a pop alternative music. Um, but it was amazing. She's absolutely stunning. She's got she has a huge fan following. Her music is a home run, it's a lot to enjoy. It's a good sing along with you. What's her name again? Uh C Matt, C-M-A-T. So I would definitely check her out. She's from Ireland, um, and it was good. So, Brad and Sam, they were on the rail. Me, my wife, and Charlotte, and uh uh friends locally, Brennan and Holly went to the show. Uh, it was great. It was a good time. It was definitely something I would recommend if you haven't heard of C Matt, I would take the time to listen to her and uh just it's she's a great voice. I definitely think she could be uh she's on the verge of really making it big.
Smash Fundraiser Night In Seattle
SPEAKER_03Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna give our Pearl Jam uh community a heads up. We have a show on Friday at my tasting room uh it's in Seattle in Soto. And um it's with Ian Moore. Ian Moore is a Austin, Texas born and bred, but lives in Bashon Island, Washington now. But he's a blues uh guitar player, um RMB in blues, just an incredible like Stevie Ray Von. Okay, that's that's the you know the sort of Texas, Austin, Texas cowboy guitar. And he's incredible. And so he was the he founded Smash, which is the organization I'm on the board for, and the organization that we did the fundraiser for when you came out for the home shows. Yeah. And he um uh we're doing sort of a sit-down interview with him, and then he's gonna play a set. But Stone is gonna do the interview. Whoa. And so we've got uh Cheryl Waters from KEXP, our favorite radio station, is gonna be the host for the evening. And then Stone is going to essentially just do a sit-down with Ian and talk about Smash a little bit and uh talk about his musical career as well. Um Mike McCready is all week has been promoting a big fundraiser uh with KISW that's benefiting Smash. Um I think he threw in a there's a Pearl Jam guitar they put up for auction um on KISW's um radio station, too. So we got the support of two great radio stations, and um, yeah, so it's 50 bucks for ticket. We have about 40 tickets left to sell, and it's gonna be an ridiculously awesome night. So that's amazing. Hopefully, Pro Jam fans that are watching now live can they they can buy the tickets on my website at sight of hand. So just go to sight of hand sellers and go to shop. You'll find the events page under shop, and uh you'll find the find the tickets there.
SPEAKER_01Are you recording this at all? Or is it gonna be live streamed or uh this just you have to?
SPEAKER_03I'm hoping that I've instructed the the as I I'm telling you how great it's gonna be, and I'm not gonna be there. Um Holly and I are we're going to Bozeman, as I mentioned. So um we're we our oldest daughter is graduating from Montana State for with her master's, so it's a little more important than uh a concert. But it's gonna be a great night, and uh, I did instruct my team if they can find a way to um either live stream it or to at least record it so I can upload it and you know, upload it to YouTube or something like that.
Bands As Wine Quick Draft
SPEAKER_01Um have whoever's in charge message me and I can tell them the easy way of taking care of that. I'll help you out. Okay. Yeah, I'll help you out for sure. All right, now let's jump into a new segment, right? So I was thinking cheesy today. I was like, you know, we're not we're not gonna do a Pearl Jam song today. We're gonna talk Pearl Jam, but let's like let's talk vinyl, we talk music, we talk vinyl. Like, what band from the 90s, if you had to say they were a bottle of wine or a liquor or something like that, what would where would you rank them, right? So I'll start off. And this might be cheesy and stupid, and we might I might get fucking butchered for the I this idea, but like I was thinking, right? Like a like if you thought Pearl Jam, like if what if you were to say Pearl Jam is something like a bottle of wine, liquor and stuff, I said, and here are the notes I took, excuse me as I adjust my glasses, I said Pearl Jam's like a cabernet, right? Classic, bold, ages incredibly well, gets deeper with time, dependable, but still emotional, right? And then Pearl Jim is the wine you become to know is going to deliver, right?
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01Oh, should I I just You're not wrong about any of that?
SPEAKER_03I mean again, I feel I feel like I'm at a disadvantage as uh I was just given the uh our script for the uh evening about two hours ago. So I'm just making sure that the public is well aware of how we operate here with our huge budget. Let's talk vinyl.
SPEAKER_01The the big budget. Well, you know, well, the funny thing was originally we had planned this show to be last Wednesday, but I actually had it on my calendar for that.
SPEAKER_03And then I checked, I checked our text, and we had it on the calendar of the right day.
SPEAKER_01I fucking know. And then I act and then Brian, we had to cancel the one show and then reschedule it, so he rescheduled for that day, and then I didn't have I had just changed my book calendar, didn't update it, and then you texted me during the show, and I was like, oh shit, I double booked. So then we went to this week, and then yeah, it's it's been crazy.
SPEAKER_03It's it's a crazy I enjoyed, I enjoyed the one with Brian though. It was good. I uh I messaged him on Instagram. He had behind him that uh Lane Staley print that he did uh a number of years ago, and I've got that, we've got that hanging in our soto tetan room. I love that print.
SPEAKER_01He's uh I'm so happy for him too because he's such an incredible artist that for years was not being used and was overlooked by the biggest.
SPEAKER_03He just did a fucking he just did a band of horses poster.
SPEAKER_01Wilco, band of horses. I mean, he's done quite a few, he's really just knocking out of the ballpark, and and he's never had to like adjust who he is to appease people. Like he his style has always been the same, he's never given a fuck. It's like you like me for who I am or don't give a shit. Um, and I know and I'm hoping his big dream has always been Pearl Jam because he's been part of the Pearl Jam community forever. Um, I'm actually looking at the poster he did of Eddie Veterans.
SPEAKER_03He's never done a Pearl Jam. He's never done a Pearl Jam poster.
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_03Have you ever asked?
SPEAKER_01I don't know the whole asking thing. Um, I that's a great question to ask him. The only thing I know is uh I got to know Brian um through becoming friends years ago. And in 2013, when I photographed Pearl Jam, um he liked one of the pictures I took of Eddie Vedder. And he's like, hey, I want to do a series of Pearl Jam prints. I want to use that Eddie Vedder picture. Can I use that for the print? Like, I'm gonna and I'm like, Yeah, sure. Like, fuck, yeah, sure, done. So he that Eddie Vedder poster that he did. Um, I take it off the wall, but it's it's like right here. Um, yeah, that is the picture I took of him in Charlottesville, Virginia. And then he that was a successful poster for him, and the whole band was a very successful thing. So, but yeah, he's he's still waiting for Pearl Jam. Let him do it. He's done Foo Fighters, he's done a lot of the great bands, but uh Pearl Jam for some reason. Um I think Mr. T-shirt has uh just kind of has they have not connected yet.
SPEAKER_03So I'm gonna uh I'm gonna put a I'm gonna put a ping out there.
SPEAKER_01You put a ping. There you go. There you go. If there's one I don't, you know, I don't like to advocate for everybody, but he's someone to advocate for because he deserves it. Um you know what? Um we're gonna skip the whole fucking name a band to a bottle of wine.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I was gonna I I was gonna I was gonna give you one okay name a band. I was gonna go smashing pumpkins.
SPEAKER_01Oh, whoa, whoa, hold on. Before I said it, I also did smashing pumpkins. I'm curious if we said the same same wine.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. I said I I uh smashing pumpkins would be like uh like Zinfandel. Oh you know, right? Definitely loud, bold, kind of brash. You know, that's kind of Zinfandel's that way.
SPEAKER_01I said Pinot Noir, a lot of attitude. See, I said Pinot Noir, delicate but dramatic, beautiful and complicated, changes depending on mood.
SPEAKER_03No, it's too ethereal. Pinot Noir is too uh light, too light uh and airy. Doesn't have the weight of a smashing pumpkins.
SPEAKER_01Okay, we're gonna skip this whole segment. This thing has been a fucking bomb. This has been a bomb. All right, we're gonna let's just go right into the pearl. Hold on, hold on a second, hold on, hold on.
SPEAKER_00I know I have that that that that that somewhere.
Ohana Clues And New Drummer Talk
SPEAKER_01That's the one right there. That's the one. You got it. Um, so Pearl Jam rumor season is hot and heavy right now. There have been a number of music festivals that have been announced for September and October dates over the last few weeks, and Ohana has been sitting there with no official announcement. Tickets have been on sale for a few months now, and no official announcements made. Back in September, when me and Trey were together, I had told Trey that there was a rumor that was given to me by a very credible source that stated that the rumor was that Pearl Gym was trying to figure it out how to do two nights at Ohana on the first day and the third day with the new drummer being announced. Once again, all rumors, all speculations. Me and Trey do not have a direct connection to any of these things. These are all just rumors. So please do not say that me and Trey told you this. It is just a rumor that we are talking about. Now, with that being said, this I don't need you getting a call from Eddie tonight.
SPEAKER_03Don't be dragging my fucking name into this. That's right. All right. Well, I mean, you're sitting here acting like I'm I'm a part of this, I'm just part of the conversation. Okay, okay. I'm not responsible for any of these rumors.
SPEAKER_01Okay, no, I this these rumors were just given to us. Anyway, here is what the rumors were told to me back then. It was that they have been working in in a studio with the new drummer. They're trying to get everything worked out, it's working really well. We're gonna I'll give you some ideas of who I think the new drummer is and the rumors of who potentially could be and why it could be that. Um, yeah. This morning, a Brazilian radio show went out. Uh, the articles all over a lot of the Pearl Jam groups, the Reddit threads, everything like that. The uh concert promoter stated that they have two spots dedicated to Pearl Jam for one in Rock and Rio and one uh somewhere else in South America. That they are the headliners. It's Pearl Jam with the new drummer. They are not there. I don't I don't know, possibly. Okay. Um, but they are not to announce it until after Ohana is announced that they are supposed to Pearl Jam is supposed to be playing two nights in Ohana with the new drummer. Now, Ohana, once again, still has not released any information about any of the artists playing there. There's a lot of speculation. There's a lot of artists that are performing kind of close by. Jack White has is playing in LA and then also in like San Francisco, and there's a space in there that basically fits in for Ohana, but nothing has been officially announced. Now, here is some more information information I have about Ohana that I have written down here. So let me kind of get through this. Um, this is a one, this is the biggest community-driven festival in all the United States. It's 100% funded through a community-based project. Money goes back into the community. Um, it is one of the festivals that a lot of the bands bring back more money into the community than they actually take out for themselves, similar to a Coachella, where Coachella is kind of more feeds into the bands, or the bands have to play to play there. Ohana's not like that. Um, there have been speculation of a lot of bands that want to play there, but they couldn't fit the card and things of this. Here are the bands that I have um based off of what I read online and what is being said on here. So these are the potential people who are supposed to be playing Ohana based off of the dates and the things here. And they are Neil Young, Glenn Hansard, Brandy Carl, Pixies, Queens of Stone Age, The Strokes, and Mud Honey. Um, none of these are guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Jesus Christ, that'd be a great one, that'd be a great one. Yeah, well, come on.
SPEAKER_01And if you do Pearl Jam in there, that's almost like a fucking Pearl Jam 20, if you think about it, based off those things. Now, none of these are guaranteed. It's more of all hypotheticals and based off of rumors we read on Reddit that kind of line up to this. Now, if Pearl Jam, if if Ohana is the birthplace of the new wave of Pearl Jam, it's gonna be a new drummer. Matt Cameron's not part of the band. Matt Cameron has stepped away, he's doing his own thing, and it makes sense. He just wants to kind of take it easy, he wants to be able to do his own thing and be with his family. Love that idea. So here are here are right now the top rumored drummers for Pearl Jam. And I will tell you which one I think it is after we go through each one. So the number one is a friend of the show, friend of both of ours, Richard Stuver. Already in a Pearl Jam orbit.
SPEAKER_03My wedding singer.
SPEAKER_01Your wedding singer, trusted by the band, has familiar chemistry. I love Richard, but I don't think it's Richard. Um, I think he would fit the band perfectly. I think he f he brings an energy to the band that is needed, but I don't think it's him. What are your thoughts on the rumors of Richard Stuverud potentially being the new drummer for Pearl Jam?
SPEAKER_03I would do everything I could to see every show. He's one of my favorite drummers to watch. So uh and he's just an awesome human being too. So um, yeah, I don't I think it would be an awesome fit. I think he would be uh we would be bringing a lot of energy to uh to those shows. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay. The next one would be would be Matt Chamberlain. Session Legend has Pearl Jam history and an asymophilic style. What are your thoughts of Matt Chamberlain potentially coming back and doing stuff with Pearl Jam?
SPEAKER_03I mean, another guy who you know the thing about Matt is Matt Chamberlain is the same age as Matt Cameron. I mean right? I mean, don't you think don't you think he'd be saying dealing with some of the same issues?
SPEAKER_01Yes and no, because I don't know if he so you gotta remember, Pearl Jam toured heavily from 2006 all the way to COVID. Like they were they were having tours and long shows all those times. I don't know if Matt Chamberlain was doing the same uh amount of touring and uh that much on his body um that uh Matt Cameron was doing because drumming is a different beast of its own. It is a lot of work on the body, you're moving so many body parts, you're almost running a marathon. Um the rumor makes sense when you think of the logistics. I just don't think it makes sense for Pearl Jam now going into the future because I feel like it'd be a temporary fix and not something that would be sustainable long term. Yeah, um so that would be that one I'm trying to get some information on. Okay. The next one is Josh Freeze, probably the internet's answer for every drumming opening right now, as he's filled every vacancy from the offspring, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Bounce around from everyone. He is literally the switch army knife for all bands that say, Hey, we need a drummer filled. I think his drumming style is energetic. He plays long sets, he's one drummer that can do uh nine-inch nails with a 24-hour notice and just kill it. But I don't know if his personality and his style really fit some of Pearl Jam's later works when it comes to everything after probably Riot Act. Because after Riot Act, a lot of the songs are different style, which are more in line of Matt Cameron, where it's a more it's more jazz style, and I just don't know if that's a Josh Freese-esque.
SPEAKER_03More more more rhythmic than uh than uh like banging. You know, I mean I don't know, yeah. I mean, it's funny. Yeah, I mean he again again, another ridiculously talented drummer. It isn't it it's you know, you ask these questions and you're like all these guys could fill in and they would do incredible with that band, as far as from the show standpoint. I think the real question is of all these people, who is going to be able to sit, uh, who is going to be able to tour with them and hang out backstage and slip into that brotherhood, as opposed to just be a hired hired gun.
SPEAKER_01You know what I mean? Are you ready? Because I think I have the answer. Okay. Steven Perkins, the drummer of Jane's addiction, who has Jane's addiction, yeah. Yep, who has not been around, has a tribal style drummer, groove heavy, dynamic player, is very good at improv improv improvising on the spot and is emotionally expressive. If you've ever seen him play, he has a style of play to him that is just unique and and really can elevate a sound. Now, with how this could work with Pearl Jam, when I started listening to a lot of his how he played in the past, what he's done, and how it can help Pearl Jam. I think you know it's Pearl Jam's groove-oriented, right? They definitely jam, they're a jam-friendly band live. Mike fills in with his guitar solos. I think it's an easy fill to fill that void when it comes to things. He brings energy, movement, and unpredictability. And I feel like he would be an easy slot when with Matt Cameron out. I think he brings a little bit of chaos, a swing, and an atmosphere that can really completely change the Pearl Jam live shows. I think we'd hear songs in ways that were very similar to giving us a sound of what Pearl Jam was like when Dave A possibly was doing some songs. Now he's not as heavy as Dave A, but he has a more aggressive sound than Matt Cameron. So let me dig a little bit deeper into these rumors. If you go onto Reddit thread, there is a couple of discussions discussing about Steven Perkins um and his being around the Seattle area and especially over by the warehouse for Pearl Gem tours. With there was supposedly a picture which is almost as grainy as anything I've ever seen in my entire fucking life. It could have been Bigfoot, like Bigfoot. 100% good my Bigfoot. But it it makes sense to me. Jane's addiction is broken up. They're not getting back together. There is a connection between Jane's Addiction, their band members, and a lot of the band members in Pearl Gym right now. And I think that this would be a unique way not only to start a new wave for Pearl Gym going to be.
SPEAKER_03Oh, is he the original drummer all the way back to the late 80s, early 90s?
SPEAKER_01Um, yes, from he started in 1985 to 1990, he did Jane's Addiction from 1990 to 20 to 2000. He was in porno for pyros, uh, infectious grooves. Uh, then he was in that weird methods of mayhem uh thing, that Tommy Lee's band, where he was doing like that rap rock thing, um, where they were talking about porn stars and all that weird shit. Uh, then he did the second edition of Jane's Addiction Error, which they came out, uh, which I think that was started in like what 2004? And then he did the I saw that tour. And then in 2008, he joined back for the third and final Jane's Addiction Error, uh, right up until the last show. So that is what he's been up to. So he's done Jane's Addiction, everything from uh all the way from 85 until right until the end of 20 uh 24.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I mean the guy he's he's you know pro on the road, right? That's the other thing. Guys lived on the road his whole life, so that's not really gonna shouldn't come into you know question. He knows how to knows how to do that. So that's the one thing about maybe like a Matt Chamberlain who has toured, but maybe not quite as much. Richard, you know, he's family guy too. So it's not like he's you know, certainly he's done plenty of tours, but nothing like what these guys do, I don't think. At the same level, at least. So I don't know. Yeah, in the end, I still think it comes down to yeah, who's gonna who's gonna fit in that band room the most comfortably and just you know mesh with four very different personalities.
SPEAKER_01And and the thing is they can't they can't bring in somebody that's temporary. I don't think Pearl Jam works with a temporary drummer right now. Yeah. If you bring in I if you bring in someone that's only gonna be for a few months, like, you know, I heard uh, you know, let's say the Chamberlain, or let's say even Richard, for instance, like Richard's like, hey, you know, uh my son's in college, I can give you a few years and stuff of that, but then it's you're pressing restart again. And Pearl Jam is all about community and connection and really working together. And I just don't think that's gonna work. And also, I know someone just posted in the group chat about Josh um kind of filling in from that background voic vocal of background kind of filler to drummer. I got to see Josh play a full set uh where he should when he kind of shuffled in and out, where I think that was uh LA. And listen, Josh is a nice guy, but he's not a full-time drummer, and it's not going to fit the void that is uh you know that's Matt Cameron.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean those are big, that's the problem. It's like uh the same issue that Russia's gonna have when they go on tour with with their new drummer. You know what I mean? It's like god, those are humongous shoes to fill. And both those roles, uh, because both of them are just incredible drummers. Incredible. So that's not saying that whoever fills in is you know, maybe lesser, but boy, those are those are really tough shoes to fill in.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, it it's it and I'm not trying to kiss your ass, but it's it's almost like if you were going to quit being a winemaker right now, and with what you've done, with a lot of things you've done, you can't just throw anybody into your role and assume that they're gonna be able to produce at the same quality. You're gonna have to find someone that has the history and the ability and the work ethic that's gonna be able to fit that role to be able to continue to produce it going forward. It's the same thing for this. I really feel like you need to get the right person in place and build from there because in the grand scheme of things, here's the thing you gotta think about too. Uh the guys are gonna be in the guys are in their 60s. In 10 years, some of them are gonna be in their 70s, so on and so forth. I listen, I know that we're aging much better now than we did 20, 30 years ago.
SPEAKER_03Our bodies are holding up a little bit better, but it accidents happen, and the band cannot July 6th, Rolling Stones new album. Oh my god. So God, I don't I I thought I was gonna say I don't know about that. Uh I have I have my 60 years.
SPEAKER_01I just 60 years. But here's the thing in 30 years' time, are people gonna be talking about that album or are they gonna be talking about what they did in the 60s?
SPEAKER_03Let it let it bleed and and sticky fingers. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01No, I I just want I listen, I want the guys to be well, I want them to be successful. And and listen, and here's the thing with Eddie Vedder, what he did in Japan, and the amount of positive reviews and positive feedback that came from that, about how Eddie was just on a different level and his vocal sounded good from taking a break and stuff. There's just right now they have to make the right choice to make sure that this is a long-term effect for this. And I will say this the one thing that I do worry about, and I thought about this when I was looking at the ages of the band members, you know, Boom is getting older. And if this is gonna be a fresh restart on the band, I'm wondering if this is almost like maybe this might be the end of Boom as well. Because if they're gonna be restarting things with a new drummer, a new kind of sound where they're doing things differently, is this uh the appropriate time for Boom to just kind of go go on his way?
SPEAKER_03And and I don't want to say it would be probably Josh. I'm saying, but Boom's a keyboard player, though. That's not, I mean, well, that's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01But this would be a good thing.
SPEAKER_03I'm saying from the standpoint of like even if he is 75 years old, he's just keyboard player. You know what I mean? He's not he's not he's not guitar, drums, or lead singer. So I'm talking about an energy energy standpoint and being able to do that, you know. Ray Charles played up until he's 90. So okay, but you know, hey, listen, this is why we have different opinions.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I'm just saying, I I I I I get I get where you're going with that, where it's like if they're gonna do a restart, let's just refresh everything. But I don't I think Boom would deserve uh a proper going out, you know.
SPEAKER_01But don't you think that Matt kind of deserved a proper going out a little bit? You don't think he had a proper send-off for the band? No, I don't think so. This is where I've had arguments with people in the past. Matt Cameron deserved to have a couple of shows known that these were his last shows because I think that the the Oh, you mean you mean they should have like let they should have announced it so people knew correct? Yeah, no, I I don't think there's any hatred between the band and Matt. I'm not saying that. But I think from a fan's perspective, like for me, like for me, if I known that these were Matt's last shows, I probably would have made more of an effort to go to them.
SPEAKER_03I didn't make the Matt didn't, but again, maybe Matt didn't fully tell those guys that maybe that was his own decision. Maybe, you know, he do you think he's the kind of guy who would want that? I don't think he is. I think he's the absolutely the kind of guy who wants to go out on his own note and like you know, he didn't need pomp and circumstance. Maybe you're right on that. You know, I mean he's he's not a guy who's looking for, you know, whatever you think about how when Eddie introduced him, it's always basically like a wave, you know, it's away from the thing, it's not like you stand it up and oh sure, yeah. I don't know. I can see that. I can see that from him where he's like, he went out the way he wanted to. Probably played those shows like he knew those were his last shows, which may be why that, you know. Did you go to the pitchbury? You didn't go to the pitchburg show?
SPEAKER_01I didn't the last tour, I didn't go to any shows. I didn't have time. What my life has been chaotic. I just don't have time. I didn't have the time. You didn't either. I know. We talked about this. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, crazy. Uh all right.
SPEAKER_01So do you have an opinion of who you think the next drummer is?
SPEAKER_03I I like I like your Jane's addiction addiction uh prediction. I I I would lean that way. My heart would is in the Richard camp at you know, 98%. Uh but you know, again, who knows?
SPEAKER_00Who knows?
SPEAKER_03We'll even I mean, you know, Jeff Jeff and him have Jeff and him have there's a lot of history there. And even as old as War Babies when he was in War Babies, um, you know, they were one of the first bands uh Pearl Jam opened up for at the off-ramp. He was in the Fastbacks, one of the greatest Seattle bands ever. You know, played in that city in the 80s and 90s. So Richard is so was Duff McKagan, though. He's a drummer for the Fastbacks. You know that?
SPEAKER_01I did know that, yes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Richard told me that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I think Fastbacks have had like 18 drummers. A lot more than Pearl. I'm not lying. A lot more than Pearl. Not making that number up. I think it's pretty high, pretty high up there. Pretty high. Oh. All right.
SPEAKER_01Well, let's let's let's shift shift a little bit. With us talking about it.
Record Store Day Sales And Flippers
SPEAKER_03All right, let's do it.
SPEAKER_01Lost talk vinyl. Vinyl is a big part of the show as well. And Record Store was just a few weeks ago. And I've had some theories and ideas on what Record Store has become, and I'm really curious about getting you some of your ideas on this because I do feel as though as the last couple years have kind of grown, I feel like there's more of this um collectible like addiction going for people, whether it's baseball cards, whether it's anything vinyl. I feel like there's more of a collection side of it. So here are some interesting numbers about uh records and record store day and vinyl in in particular for this year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, it is increased for the 19th consecutive year in sales, nearly 48 million via years. Let's go back. Let's go back. What year is that? That's as as of record store day.
SPEAKER_03Right, but what but what year did what what year was the beginning of that? 2000 or what? No, that'd be 2005. 2007. 2007.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yep.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. What what else happened in 2007?
SPEAKER_01Oh shit. I don't know. What happened in 2005?
SPEAKER_03Slight at hand, Slight of Hand opened its doors and had a turntable in the tasting room on opening opening day. And right about that time, you saw this uptick in vinyl sales. I tell Matt Vaughn this all the time. I'm like, you know what, you think you're responsible for this, but let me tell you, it all started in Walla Walla. Trey Ball back to the world. When you see that, when you see that little uptick, it is it is the first year that we opened. I'd be like, I do like, I, you know, I like to think it's not a coincidence, but that was also the first year of that was the first year of record store day. And uh when you look at that graph, that from 2007 to 2026, when you look at that, it's one of those like you know, very slow, and then it's just gonna shoot straight up. You know what I mean? Like it's really, really dramatic. And uh while I love that, at the same time, it it's jacked the price of vinyl up. Oh, yeah. Uh, I'm glad that I bought the majority of the most of my used stuff that I purchased. Most of that was purchased prior to probably 2015 or 16. And I'm thankful because it's worth, you know, it's used vinyl has gone up so much too, and not just new vinyl, but like, you know, what was three, four, five bucks. You know, now you're spending 15, 20 bucks for the same albums, you know. So I'm glad I'm glad I'm glad we got all of our.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, here's here's a fun fact for you. You know that vinyl surpassed one billion in the US for the first time since 1983 in sales. How cool is that? Yeah, the units were sold were 47.9 million uh units were sold. And it's and they say it's a Gen Z and a high demand collector edition that's what's causing it, which is why I wanted to talk about this. In 2026, Record Store Day, the top sold records were Pavement, The Cure, Nas, David Bowie, Paramour, Taylor Swift, Sleep Token, and Neil Young. Okay, all interesting albums, right? Now is Record Store Day a true holiday for collectors, or is it really just for flippers, scalpers, and then the collective culture?
SPEAKER_03I think it's turned into both. I still think collectors are you know, love that. It it really is an awesome holiday. This is the first year that Hall and I haven't been in Seattle for this in a long time. Normally we're in Seattle for whatever reason. So we'll go up to Easy Street early in the morning and I'll bring my camera and take pictures of the crowd. I've got some great photos of Easy Street record store day over the years. And then Matt is kind enough to let me sneak in early because I will usually bring some wine for him. Um and uh, but not too early, you know, let not like I'm jumping first in line or anything. Uh, but I enjoy that day. There's definitely stuff that's that is released that I'm always looking forward to, you know, there's always something in there. But it's like Pearl Jam collecting, man. You know what I mean? You're sitting here asking about scalping and f and flipping. Jesus. Yeah, you ever seen the guys who goes and buys one of everything and maybe two of everything? Oh, wait a minute. Oh, hey, hey. I used to do that.
SPEAKER_01I don't do it anymore. I don't. I know, I know. But I used to.
SPEAKER_03It is the same thing. It's addictive. So you can't you can't be mad at him for doing it. No, no, not at all. But it it it it you know it's aggravating for the collector, for the one who wanted that album because he loves pavement, or you know what I mean? Or whatever it is. So that's the infuriating thing. And that's you know, like the Taylor Swift stuff was that way. She were she released trying to remember the album. It was Midnights, yeah. She released Midnights on like it was like Pearl Jam. You know when they did was it dark matter on like eight different, ten different colors?
SPEAKER_01Oh, different colors, different splatter columns.
SPEAKER_03Dude, so Taylor Swift did the same thing. They sold so much merch because of that. And that is, again, we're sitting here getting mad about it, but then look at all the poster artists that make the variants, and you gotta own, oh shit. Well, I gotta, you know, emec, I gotta get all three variants. I mean, I can't just have one. You know what I mean? So it's it's it's in it's indicative of that culture period. And people are gonna take advantage of it, especially when stuff becomes collectible, you know, a sperry, an emec, a germaine, you know, a Hampton. When when these guys are in demand and you know that if you buy something, you can flip it for twice as much. Why wouldn't people come out and try for that stuff, you know?
SPEAKER_01No, I agree. But I I still I still don't think it takes away from why vinyl still matters. I mean, you know, I I think younger people I I think for us, right, there's this nostalgia factor. Like I think it brings us back to a moment or a time that we can kind of go back to that and just have that physical source of something to go on back to that moment. Where I think for these younger people, it I think there's a physical connection to music that a lot of people don't get anymore just because of the fact that you can purchase something, own it, feel it, touch it, read about it. It's all there, right? And then there's the album art side of it. There's like a ritual, there's a community, and there's kind of I think people kind of get burnt out on digital in its own sense. I think it's the whole thing with streaming services in general. At some point, yeah, you get overwhelmed by things and you just want things to be simplified. Like you just want to put it on and listen to it. You don't want to have to overthink it.
SPEAKER_03But but but with the vinyl, you have to pay attention. Yes. Because, you know, you're you get 22 minutes and then it's over. And then if you have an automatic reset, it'll, you know, your music's off. And you gotta stand up and you gotta walk over to your turntable and you gotta flip it over. So you're paying more attention to that music. It's less less background music at that point. Streaming is just background music a lot of times. It is. So you're not even really paying attention to it.
SPEAKER_04No.
SPEAKER_03Um, whereas when you go through the pro when you go through the process of pulling that record out and turning your ample and letting it warm up and you know, putting that record on there.
SPEAKER_01But then I asked that. But then I asked this, right? Are people buying records because they love music or because they're collecting? Is this really like is this another version of like, was it like sneaker culture or like the baseball card culture culture where you just want to own it and you don't open it and you just have it and it's just sitting there and it's collecting dust. And I think that there is there is this like desire to own and to operate and to get as much as possible. And I think that's where things get interesting. There is um Forbes did an article uh back on March 16th, and they talked about the 2030 outlook for projections, and I'm looking at this now, and it talks about vinyl sales in general, and they said with the projection of consistent growth of between three to seven percent yearly, and with some years jumping as high as 15%, that they predict that vinyl sales could reach 55 to 60 million units sold, which would be 3.8 to 4.2 billion dollars in revenue. And at one point in 1997, it was declared by Rolling Stone that vinyl is dead and would never come back. If you were to invest money at the point of product of projection of what they're talking about, vinyl is now, back then to this, it'd be an increase larger than any stock market has ever seen in general when it comes to how greatly the cost of vinyl has gone up, the collectibility of vinyl has gone up, everything about vinyl. If you think back to 1999 to 2002, how many people went into their garage, took that box of vinyl, and just put it to the end of the road and forgot about it, and now they are kicking themselves in the ass.
SPEAKER_03No doubt, no doubt. I I would tell you that in 2007 and eight and nine, when we first started the winery, we had customers walk in and were just sort of laughed at the fact that we even were playing records. And they're like, oh my god, I've got, you know, I've got a couple boxes uh at home. I'm happy to bring them. So a lot of our collection that we have uh came from a lot of our customers that would just drop off boxes sometimes, you know, and this is again before the real, real uptick, uh that sort of 2000, I would almost call it like 18, 1920, is I feel like when things started really ratcheting up quite a bit. Um it was uh only a few years ago, I don't know if it was 23, 24, where it overtook CD sales for the first time since um like 1987 or 88 or something like that, right? Um and uh so but from the investment standpoint, um, it's also like you're buying at the high end of the market right now, is what it feels like. You you hear what I'm saying? Like right now, if you go buy a new app, first of all, here's your these are the reason artists love it. An artist could sell a CD for$9.99,$12.99, right? They're selling this physical format for$30 to$40 new albums now. You know, I mean that's just that's how much they cost. You know, you can find some for$19.99, some you know, young new bands or whatever,$24.99. Sub Pop is still really good about their pricing, which I love about that label. But most of the major labels, especially, you're you're spending some money for that record. So they're making, and you know, those things only cost uh, especially if they're pressing a lot of them, you know, those are gonna cost$12 to$14 for the vinyl and the packaging and all that stuff, especially if you're doing them in large quantities, probably get that number down even. And so they're making some good money, yeah, on that vinyl. And so you would think you're like, well, that's why uh you know, that's one of the reasons artists are investing heavily in it because that's a good revenue generator for them. 100%. Um, and you know, you're like, well, you make six, six different versions of I mean, you talked about the not opening things. Pearl Jam fans are notorious for that with the live, the live bootleg series. Yeah. Uh, you know, go on eBay and or any of the trading places. I mean, those are the those are some of the most expensive things out there, are the unopened versions of Benaroya, you know, the unopened Constitution Hall. People spending a thousand dollars for that. You know, that's crazy. It is crazy. So crazy, but you know, people were spending$200 on a goddamn baseball cap I saw the other day on really so stupid. Oh my god. You know that brown, I I own it. It's brown with a tan front, and it's just sort of a brown and orange PJ label on it or whatever. Nothing crazy. New versions of that are selling for 200, 250 bucks, unopened or whatever, like with the tags on them. I do not get the hat culture at all.
SPEAKER_01I I'm looking at like, because I'm about to put them up on eBay, I have like four. I have probably 30 Pearl Jam hats that I'm gonna do.
SPEAKER_03You should throw those. Go to the Facebook page. You're gonna get a lot more money, and there are real Pearl Jam fans on there too.
SPEAKER_05Alright, maybe I'll do that.
SPEAKER_03It's yeah. I'll say if you don't have that link, I I think it's called PJ Bay or something like that.
SPEAKER_01Funny story about PJ Bay. I have been blocked off of PJ Bay because supposedly I was involved in a transaction like nine years ago, but that supposedly I purchased something that I don't recall purchasing, and something happened in the transaction. I've been banned from the site. I have no recollection of it. I have no records. Never mind. Go back to eBay. I guess it's fucking eBay. It is. Uh, what are you gonna do? Um, but all right, so going back to your facts, so yeah, vinyl records officially surpassed CDs and sales, revenue and volume. Um in April of 2022, for the first time since 1987, fueled by a 17-year resurgence in popularity. In 2023, vinyl continued to dominate with 43 million units sold compared to the 37 million in CDs, and every year that has doubled in popularity in general based off of 1.4 billion in sales for vinyl to 450, 537 million. As of this year, vinyl has surpassed CDs by 80%, a number never thought to be seen. But CDs in general is almost another dime medium. But I will say this if you want to hear something crazy. My 16-year-old son had to go purchase a VHS TV and has been collecting VHS tapes. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Well, you know, the tape, the cassette tape is coming back as well. It has been sort of, I say coming back, I mean it's like, you know, it's a tiny, tiny segment of the market. But again, you walk into Easy Street Records, and there are br new bands with cassettes out. And and trading old cassettes is so now there's like a used cassette market out there. So I've got my, I still have my you know the held 80 tapes, two-sided, big old suitcase. Yes, you know what I'm talking about? I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah, I still have mine downstairs, man. It's got all my mixtapes I made, the 80s and 90s.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, I had a I had an uncle, he's a fucking whack. You know what? You know, back in the day when everyone says, Oh, I have a crazy uncle. I fucking he's crazy as shit now. Yes, but I have an uncle back in the day that was like Motley Crue, all the cassette tapes, like cut off the sleeves, like had the Camaro, like drank all the time, like fucking, oh, this is the best fucking music.
SPEAKER_05You gotta listen to this shit or put fucking hair on your chest. You don't know this shit, man. He'll be like, you Ozzy Osborne.
SPEAKER_01Little Jewish priests, little Jewish priest, Lion Leiden. Oh, that that was that was my uncle Dave. He was a fucking and you know what back in the day, but now he's like a Trump fucking fanatic, fucking lunatic piece of shit. I can't deal with it. I I mean, and listen, if you like I'm not trying to get political, but I mean, there's some people out there that just are fucking oblivious to shit, like that will post anything, even though it is completely inaccurate, comes from a made-up website, he will post about it, and I had it's just fucking nuts. He's a fucking nutcase. Anyway, but every time I think of cassettes, he he had this Camaro and he had the fucking suitcase, like two of them, and he had like all of these just cassettes, and like I don't know, he was like I crazy. I I'll never forget listening to like Dream Theater and in the car and the Camaro going like straight out of straight out of um uh dazed and confused.
SPEAKER_00Oh, 100%. He was the yeah, the I keep getting older, but the girls keep getting the same age, that kind of deal. Yeah, that that was that was my uncle Dave.
Spotify Discovery Vs Real Radio DJs
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a fucking crazy piece of shit. Anyway, so that's that. So yeah, I think that with vinyl, I think there's a collectibility market. I think everything's getting collectible. I think a lot of things are becoming more physical, but I will say this the older I get, the simpler I want things, the simpler I just want to press play and go. I have become I have become a slave to Spotify where you press the DJ button and you say, Hey, I am feeling like this today, and it will use the algorithm of the music I listened to and create a perfectly curated playlist for me to listen to. And I'm like, this is fucking perfect.
SPEAKER_03Don't do that. Don't do that. Listen to KEXP, go listen to real people putting real music out there. I like that you're gonna you're gonna get a mix, you're gonna listen to you're gonna get the you're gonna listen, you know what I mean? Hold on, it's it's you're stealing jobs. I'm stealing jobs from people.
SPEAKER_01Wait a minute. I will say this though. Since listening to Spotify and using the new algorithm they have, I have gone to seven concerts that I never would have gone to, found about artists I've never even heard of, but I found out about because of Spotify. I found about bands like New Constellations, uh, was it called Girl Tones? Uh I can go to my hold on a second. As a matter of fact, I can go to my love songs so recently. As of recently, I found about out about uh a band called Eka Vandel. I never knew about her before. She's a uh Lambrini Girls was another one. I guess a new constellation spirits. Uh there was another one.
SPEAKER_03I'm saying that you can you can discover all those all those cool bands on independent radio stations like KCRW and KEXP and uh KCBQ and Boise, Boise Radio, that they they're curating bands that you don't list to either. And they'll be like, and I guarantee there's a college radio station in Kansas City, and they'll be like, hey, tonight playing at the so-and-so is this next band. You know, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01I 100% agree with you. But it's a real DJ.
SPEAKER_03It's a real DJ putting that together.
SPEAKER_01But I'm also lazy, I'm I'm lazy as shit.
SPEAKER_03I know, I hear you. Most people are. It's fine.
SPEAKER_01I guess no, I there is there is a radio station that I found out about locally because after I saw Girl Tones, Girl Tones had played. Um, I guess there's in in the city, and I haven't gone to it yet, there's an old radio station where they actually have bands come out and perform and play. And you have to be a member of the radio station, which you have to you can only do it once a year. They have like an open enrollment, you go and do it. And I'm thinking about joining because I have the opportunity to see some of these bands. Um, but it's not nearly on the same level as KEXP. I mean, KEXP is on a level of just pure love for music and the will the way they give back to artists and the way you curate things and the way they just educate is something that is amazing. And then there's probably other reasons.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and that's and it's community built too. That's the best part about it. You know what I mean? It's it's uh the every DJ on there is a music lover. They do it, you know, they they didn't come out of broadcasting school necessarily to just to you know jump on, go get a job somewhere. They're like they truly love music, which is is awesome. Um, you know, and so you know, you think about corporate radio these days, and you know, you hear the same morning show in 18 different cities, and you're like, well, that's weird. You know, it's not like the you know, I grew up in Atlanta. We had a morning show and those guys lived in Atlanta. Now it's one company controls, you know, 90% of the airwaves. And so it's little little independent radio stations like KXP and you know all the other independents out there that are gonna that's what's gonna help save popular music. So I agree. And by the way, I was I I I I didn't mean to make a point when we we talk uh you were talking about the collectibility side of things real quick.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_03And you you talk you use a stock market reference. Uh there is a finite point where people will stop buying music, and I feel like it's on the high end of that already. Uh it's very difficult for me to drop 50 bucks on a even if it's a double album, I'm like$50. You know what I mean? That's a lot of money. And if you I'm I'm I'm like you where you're like, I'm getting you're getting rid of Pearl Jam stuff, right? Like I, you know, I've sold you know, 20 t-shirts um you know over the past three or four years, uh mostly to one guy, but uh you know, and I've got other stuff that I'm like, yeah, I'd I'd probably part ways of this stuff by now, you know. And so there it there was a time when I would spend$50,$75, no problem. Oh, there's only a thousand copies of this album, blah, blah, blah. Now I'm like, uh, you know, that that's I don't want to spend that much money for that. And so I do think that there is a topping out point. I think we're close to that already. And so it's hard to extrapolate that same rate of increase from 2000 and or from 1999 to today versus the stock market. I don't think you can start it today and expect it to be that same. I think it's it's gonna start uh not flatline, but like certainly level out level out, yeah, as far as the amount of money that they can charge for the music. I think that it's gotten to the high side of things right now. So they may be able to sell more units, uh, you know, more and more artists, and everyone's putting stuff on a vinyl. So that that vinyl number may still go up, and that that um the the dollar number may go up, but that's gonna that's gonna be because of more bands and and less because of um, you know, they're making more money on each unit kind of a thing.
When Memories Beat Merchandise
SPEAKER_01So I think for me, and I and I think I I think you might agree with this. You know, before I used to want to collect things because I wanted it to be a memory of that time. Like I wanted to like have to look at something and bring me back to it, or I wanted to have to have a physical form of having there. Where nowadays I'll go to a show and I could be in the moment. I don't take as many pictures on my phone anymore. I might take one or two, but I kind of want to live in the moment and just enjoy things. Um and you know, I had this conversation with my wife today because I went yesterday, the Livered Arrigo tickets went on sale, and I bought tickets for my daughter to go see, me, my wife, my daughter go to see a liver odrigo in Boston for night one and two, and it is the most absolutely 100% the most money I've ever spent on concert tickets in my entire life.
SPEAKER_03And you got them through their her website or you got them secondhand?
SPEAKER_01I had to go, I had to get an MX card to get the pre-sale. I did so much homework to make sure I got tickets for this because the last tour, I took so many hoops to jump through to get tickets, and I had to fight people, it was insane. To get and I got general admission floor seats for these nights. What is the most money you've ever spent on a concert ticket?
SPEAKER_03Because I'm curious if I've top it out for uh not much at all, because yeah, I think uh Neil Young tickets, front row, acoustic show, and spoke in, I think I spent 150 bucks a ticket.
SPEAKER_01Oh god, yeah, I forgot. Okay, so three tickets two nights, six tickets total. Yep. I have spent three thousand two hundred and fifty-four dollars on tickets. They were five hundred and five thirty-five a piece.
SPEAKER_03Jesus, Anthony.
SPEAKER_01But hold on a second, hold on a second, hold on a second. God almighty. Can you I want to tell you about why this is important to me. I in this room right here, I have a ton of posters, I have stickers, pins, shit. I haven't even looked at in years. I have a flat file that I counted the other day with over 400 posters that I've never that I'll never do anything with.
SPEAKER_03Well, Lover, do you hear that?
SPEAKER_01Hold on.
SPEAKER_03400 posters Anthony has were that are flat.
SPEAKER_01Flat file. Flat, flat. 100%. But I have videos. I have videos on my phone of the last time I saw her Olivia Rodrigo with my daughter. I that I filmed. I paid more attention to her and the way she lit up, and in the moment of time, the way she's looking at her, and the way there's a video of like when Olivia Rodrigo's on this moon and she goes past you, she waves, waves.
SPEAKER_03I'm not, I'm not gonna argue with you on that one. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Everything I've watched that video more than anything else I've owned. T-shirts wise, none of that. That to me is worth every single penny that I will spend because I know that when I go to Boston and I go there, I'm not gonna be thinking about the money I spent, but I'm gonna be watching the videos back of her living her life because that's where she wants to be. Because for there's a connection we have in music, and it's gonna be great. Now, listen, I I don't care. Money is money. I can't take it with me when I die. But you know what? These memories will last forever. In six years' time, I'm not gonna remember what the fucking tickets cost, but I'm gonna remember at the moment of going there. So that's where I'm at in life. So all these posters and t-shirts that I I'm getting rid of, and I've I'm going to go.
SPEAKER_03Oh, you're buying those, you're gonna be buying a bunch of those too at that fucking show. You're gonna be buying Olivia Rodriguez.
SPEAKER_01Listen, all that stuff.
SPEAKER_03You think you're only in it for 3,200 bucks. Wait, have you gotten to the merch line yet? Oh, hold on. You dude. Have you ever seen a hundred and thirty dollar t t-shirt?
SPEAKER_01Taylor Swift, the uh the flight, the the hotel, and then also um that if the Patriots play on Sunday, we're gonna go to the Patriots game. This is this is almost Disney money. This is this is fucking Disney money. But you know what? I I'm listening it is what it is. I I work my ass off, I make good money. Why can't I give my kids what they want?
Next Month Topics And Closing Track
SPEAKER_03You should do that. You're absolutely right, brother. So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01But anyway, all right, listen, I know that we've been talking in Yippin' Yappin for over an hour, which and I've listened I'm so grateful for it. Um, I'm thinking for next month, I want to bring up two, I want to talk, I want to have a Pearl Jam song on the show, and I want to do something kind of off the last album. So I want you to think about that. Um, but I think for the topic, I fucking had this written down. Oh, here we go. I want to talk about the best live albums to drink wine to. So I want people to think live album. Best live albums to drink wine to, like an album that you can put a you can put if vinyl, uh streaming, whatever you do, that you can put it on, just sit back, drink a bottle of wine, and just really enjoy the moment. So that's gonna be a topic for next month. And then the second topic is gonna be what album sounds better on vinyl? What albums were made for vinyl? And then we'll discuss a Pearl Jam song. So that'll be next month's topic. And I listen, and I don't want no, no fucking excuses of two hours. I have just given you a homework assignment well in advanced. So you now have tech that tech that to me. Oh, 100%. Yeah, I'll take care of it. But yeah, I'm really excited. But dude, I'm so glad that we uh were able to get this going. And uh I have a song.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, me too. And we will do it next month, so let's not um let's make sure it's in let's make sure it's in June, all right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, in June. Okay. Well, I I have every month going forward until October, I only have one week off because I am booked all the way through October. So yeah, cool. But we're gonna end this show with a band from Seattle. There's another band from Pacific Northwest called Babes and Canyon, another two-piece band I'll be seeing on Saturday that I found through the uh efforts of the algorithm. Um, some people find it through radio stations. I found it through an algorithm, but I'm really excited about it. It's a husband and wife, give them a listen. But until that next time, I am Anthony Krizwitz, that's Trey Bush. Drink his wine, send him money, and uh support them. Talk to you later. Thanks, buddy.
SPEAKER_04Okay, you wanna be the deal that's beauty.