hal in philly

Ben Vaughn Part 2

Delaware Valley Revisited

Click here if  you missed Ben Vaughn Part 1

Hey, howzit going everybody? Had enough of this lockdown yet? I know, I know, there’s nothing funny about it and you’re running out of ideas. Well, at least you have me to keep you entertained for a little while. I’m Hal in Philly and this is my podcast. Welcome to it. In case you forgot , it’s called… TALES OF THE ROAD WARRIORS!

If you listened to the last episode, my conversation with Ben Vaughn – Part 1 then you know I ended it wth a kind of a cliff hanger. Ben was telling me that his father would not allow him to have a guitar i the house if he couldn’t get his grades up in school. Well, Ben had a hard time getting better grades, Instead choosing to be a juvenile delinquent. A rebel with an axe to grind, but he couldn’t bring his axe home with him. So, in part two, Ben goes on to tell us how he got around the Vaughn house rules…

Talking Points

No guitar allowed…

E.J. Korvettes

Silvertone guitars

The Relay Shack

The Rambler Revisited

My Essra Mohawk story

The Hippie scene in Philly, 20th and Sansom Street, The Plain Dealer – free underground newspaper

Sugar Cane Harvest in Cuba – Learn more about the  Venceremos Brigade

Songs we thought we had only imagined

Underground Radio, The Marconi Experiment with Dave Herman

John Sebastian was a bad influence on me

Ben and I preach against smoking (Sorry, smokers)

Norristown and the Zep

The Delaware Valley

More on The Geeter

The Mojave Desert

Santa Monica, Rent control, Ocean Park

The Blue Lagune Saloon

Kenn Kweder live shows on Facebook

Music scene in Philly – Past and present, the next generation

Charlie Gracie

World Cafe Live

Coronavirus effect on gigs

Ben Vaughn Links and Resources

Ben Vaughn Official  Website

The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn Podcast on Stitcher

The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn On Facebook

Ben Vaughn Videos

Ben Vaughn & Kim Fowley – Kings of Saturday Night

Ben Vaughn – Rambler 65 – Full Show

Ben Vaughn – My First Band

I Dig Your Wig

Pièce de Résistance

Cashier Girl


Join The Conversation

What was your first concert?
Did it change you life.
Are you a fan of Ben’s Show, “The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn”?
How did it change you life?

Scroll down to the Comments and Leave Some Feedback!


You can help support Tales of the Road Warriors – while you’re on the  website, in a couple of ways. You can can click on the PayHal link and donate any amount through PayPal. Or –  you can purchase an official Tales of the Road Warriors Coffee Mug available through Zazzle. You’ll see a photo of it on every page. Just click on the link and get yourself  one. There’s also an I’m Going For A Drive Travel Mug!

Posted by Hal in entertainers, guitar player, live music, music venues, NPR, podcast, rock and roll, singer songwriter, 0 comments

Ben Vaughn Part 1

A Love Letter to the Delaware Valley

Ben VaughnToday you’re in for quite a treat. I’m talking to Ben Vaughn. If you’re from the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware Tri-state area, you’re probably familiar with him. He’s been a fixture around these parts for a very long time. As a rock and roll star and as a DJ. Even outside of this area, listeners of NPR radio stations across the country can hear his remarkable, eclectic music on his show, The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn”.

Ben and I talked about music mostly,  but a large portion of this conversation  touched on his good friends and musical influences, Kenn Kweder and Jerry Blavat aka The Geeter with the Heater, the Big Boss with the Hot Sauce. I’d go so far as to say this episode is a love letter – from Ben Vaughn to the Delaware Valley.

We talked for well over an hour, so  after much debate with myself, I have decided, for the sake of our short attention spans, to make this a two-parter. I intentionally ended this show with a slight cliff hanger, like all good serials do. I hope you enjoy this very educational and entertaining conversation with Ben as much as I did. So let’s not keep you waiting…  here’s me, Hal in Philly and Ben Vaughn, sharing a few anecdotes and some memorable – Tales of the Road Warriors!

Talking Points

Recording in a 65 Rambler

Multitracking with two cheap Akai reel to reels

Jerry Blavat aka The Geeter with the Heater, The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce

Aaron Lightman, Billy Joel and Sir Benjamin Quintet… record deals gone bad

Sir Douglas Quintet

Augie Meyers

Bob Malone

Philadelphia music scene in the 70s  and 80s

Cream at the Spectrum and Four Tops at Steel Pier in 1968

Terry Reid

Marijuana and other mind altering substances and the teenage brain

Listening to the radio and musical influences growing up

Grand Ole Opry

Porter Wagner, Wheeling West Virginia

Kit Kats

Kenn Kweder

Cinitoli’s Music

Benny Cintioli, Gus Cordovox, Gus Zoppi, Lenny Apple

Facebook friends, My Space and the internet

The Rambler Hubcap

Tex-Mex and Zydeco

French sense of humor

Kim Fowley

Drummers and their parents

No guitar allowed Go to Ben Vaughn Part 2


Join The Conversation

What was your first concert?
Did it change you life.
Are you a fan of Ben’s Show, “The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn”?
How did it change you life?

Scroll down to the Comments and Leave Some Feedback!


Ben Vaughn Links and Resources

Ben Vaughn Official  Website

The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn Podcast on Stitcher

The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn On Facebook

Ben Vaughn Videos

Ben Vaughn & Kim Fowley – Kings of Saturday Night

Ben Vaughn – Rambler 65 – Full Show

Ben Vaughn – My First Band

I Dig Your Wig

Pièce de Résistance

Cashier Girl


You can help support Tales of the Road Warriors – while you’re on the  website, in a couple of ways. You can can click on the PayHal link and donate any amount through PayPal. Or –  you can purchase an official Tales of the Road Warriors Coffee Mug available through Zazzle. You’ll see a photo of it on every page. Just click on the link and get yourself  one. There’s also an I’m Going For A Drive Travel Mug!

Posted by Hal in entertainers, guitar player, live music, NPR, rock, rock and roll, singer songwriter, 0 comments

Dave Kanyan

Pragmatism, Truth, Happiness and the Search For It All

 

Dave Kanyan

Hi this is Hal in Philly, host of Tales of the Road Warriors. This is my podcast… I’m glad you’re here.

Today , I have a very special and very different episode, for a few reasons…

For one – I haven’t put out an episode in over a month. I hate to admit it but the COVID 19 pandemic, which has resulted in this whole shelter in place, self-isolation, quarantine, whatever you call – it has left me so unmotivated lately and I know I have to pull myself out of these doldrums, because if I don’t, I can’t be here to help motivate YOU. I know 2020 has been kicking a lot of our asses, but I’m determined to get through this and come out better and stronger after this chapter is over. Even if I could tell you how this book ends, I wouldn’t. I just hate spoilers.

Another thing… this has been recorded on video as well as audio. Which means – for the first time, you have the choice to watch this on Youtube, or, to listen to the audio-only version on your favorite Podcast app including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spreaker, or Spotify – wherever podcasts are available.

On a side note – I’m still in the middle of two previous shows with – Toby Lightman and Essra Mohawk. My apologies to you both for my dropping the ball. I’ll be in touch soon to finish our conversations. I Promise.

Finally, my guest today is NOT a musician. Nevertheless, I still consider him a road warrior… He’s a truck driver and fellow podcaster. His name is Dave Kanyan and his podcast is called “Dumbing it Down With Dave”. He’s dubbed it the “fastest podcast on Earth because he records his show while driving on the interstate in his 2008 Kia Rio or his Dodge Caravan at speeds up to 85 mph.

Dave Kanyan and Hal AaronI met Dave at Podcast Movement 2019 or PM19 as it’s referred to, in Orlando Florida. For more on that, there’s a link in the show notes to a previous episode where I tell the whole story about how I met Dave.

One last thing before we get started – I have some swag, available from Zazzle. There is a link on the Tales of the Road Warriors home page.

The first is this Tales of the Road Warriors Coffee Mug. It  keeps your coffee hot and tasting delicious. Even if you make bad coffee, it will taste much better if you drink to out of this handsome mug, It’s got the  Tales of the Road Warriors logo on one side and on the other, the iconic van with the TotRW license plate. Very nice.

For those of you who do a lot of driving, like Dave Kanyan, you might want to order the I’M GOING FOR A DRIVE Travel Mug, instead It keeps your hot beverages hot or cold beverages cold. All Day Long! On the other side is the Tales of the Road Warriors logo. So state your intention! Get yourself the official I’M GOING FOR A DRIVE travel mug and tell the world, I’M GOING FOR A DRIVE!!

which is also the name of the theme song for Tales of the Road Warriors as well as the Dumbing it Down With Dave podcast.

All right! Let’s get into it. Let’s get Dave on the line and… have some fun!


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Talking Points

Who’s the host and and who’s the dumb-dumb?

Meeting Dave Kanyan at Podcast Movement 19

Adjusting the background to hide dirty clothes

Naming of the Rosen Shingle Hotel in Orlando Florida

I’m Going For A Drive theme song

Standup comedy.

Being a soccer dad Dave

Mustangs

Truck drivers – angels of the highways?

Has milk been replaced by energy drinks, fake milk, Red Bull and Monster?

Egg Cream: Why do they call it that?

Hal creates a new segment:  Nothing is Dumber

Dave’s tales from the road

Celebrities

Peter Graves, Dick Caveat, Gregory Hines

Driving couple to the airport as they “bade each other goodbye”

Getting hijacked

Discussing roadkill and rutting

Talking about the pandemic and quarantine due to COVID 19

Trying to get Pandemic Unempoyment Aid

Tipping through PayPal and Venmo

Busking vs. Gigging

Charlie Barnett

Sarah Lightman at Universal City Walk

Musta Hadda Great Time

Harmonica, Xylophone and recorder flute

Dumbing It Down With Dave – the fastest podcast on Earth

Pragmatism, truth, happiness and the search for it all


Episode Links and Resources

See this episode on Youtube

hal aaron and dave kanyan on youtube

Dave’s Podcast
Dumbing it Down With Dave

Stream or Download – I’m Going For A Drive

ToTRW SWAG

Tales of the Road Warriors Coffee Mug

I’m Goin’ For A Drive Travel Mug

I'm Goin' For A Drive Travel Mug

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Henry Phillips

The Highway Man

Henry Phillips I first became aware of Henry Phillips when he was performing in coffee houses and comedy clubs throughout the Los Angeles area. His songs are scathingly funny but kind of off the beaten path. He’s what you might call an acquired taste. His delivery is very deadpan, so he acts as if he is completely unaware of how funny he is, but once you pick up on his rhythm, his schtick and his lyrics are sidesplittingly hilarious.  I was hosting a songwriter’s showcase  at the Chimmneysweep in Sherman Oaks. After reading a review of Henry Phillips by Jonathan Widran in Music Connection Magazine, I decided to track Henry down and invite him to perform at the ’Sweep. After that, we started hanging out now and then.

Eventually, Henry branched into filmmaking. I found this out when in 2006, shortly after I moved back to Philly, I was searching Youtube to see what Henry had been up to since I’d last seen him. In addition to discovering a few new songs, I came across a web series he had filmed for IFC called “The Loner”, where he portrays a guy who hangs out with a cool, good-looking, smooth-talking buddy that has an easy time picking up girls in bars. But when Henry, after observing his friend run the game on a lady, tries to emulate him, the results are the direct opposite… and as they say – hilarity ensues.

Henry has also written an award winning, independent film called “Punching the Clown” followed by a sequel called “Punching Henry”. I highly recommend both of these movies and now that we’re sequestered indoors, you  can check them out later, after you finish listening to this podcast.

Punching the Clown is for rent on Amazon $3.99

Punching Henry – if you subscribe to Showtime, you can watch it for free

His later endeavors include a cooking show spoof called “Henry’s Kitchen” where you can learn to prepare scrumptious dishes such as “Isolation Cupboard Casserole” and “Meatloaf For One”.

The most recent Henry Phillips project is a new series on Patreon titled, “The Highway Man”. As the Highway Man, Henry travels the nation’s highways, encountering motorists in trouble  where he stops to offer assistance. Having absolutely no mechanical skills whatsoever, he often leaves them in more of a lurch then they were in before he came along.

All right! Well, I think I’ve already told you more than enough. Come on and sit in on my conversation now, with the one and only – Henry Phillips.

BTW – The Godzilla clip was inspired from a meme that’s been passed around Facebook, and I thought it would be cool to create an audio version. So, yeah, I kinda stole that  – I have no idea where it originated.


Talking Points

Sorry, wrong number

Discovering Henry – Music reviewer Jonathan Widran

Chimneysweep

Jerry’s Deli Stories – Marlon Brando

Saturday Night Live, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider

John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck

Mark Cohen

The Devil and Donny Most

The Loser on IFC

Henry’s Kitchen

Jose Suicidio

Hecklers

New Show The Highway Man

Singer songwriter Eric Schwartz

Doug Stanhope

Misogonistic lyrics

Role of John on John Silicon Valley

Mike Judge


Links:

Henry’s Website

Henry Phillips: Neither Here Nor There on Amazon Prime

On Youtube:

The Loner

End of the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0_aFU4Yjj8

On Patreon

Henry’s Kitchen https://www.patreon.com/henryskitchen

The Highway Man https://www.patreon.com/HighwayManShow

Posted by Hal in acoustic, comedy, entertainers, guitar player, live music, open mics, podcast, Road Warriors, singer songwriter, solo acoustic, 0 comments