Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This very cool “Songs and Stories” two-parter features chats with Antsy McClain, lead singer, songwriter (and fellow podcaster) of the Americana band the Trailer Park Troubadours. I’m finding myself overusing the phrase “gold standard” lately, but Antsy fits the bill. He’s just darned good at it. Antsy’s also a heck of a lot of fun to hang out and talk shop with, as you’ll soon discover.

In episode #51, we talk backstage at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz on the night of the “New Good Old Days” release party. We discuss the trailer motif that runs through much of his music and how he came into songwriting as a visual artist. Antsy also describes how KPIG radio and the late Laura Ellen Hopper saved the Troubadors – in much the same way Paul Thorn described to me back in “Songs and Stories” #12.

Click to hear “Songs and Stories” #51.

In episode #52, we meet up at KPIG radio a few weeks later. Ansty plays “Right Side of the Dirt” and “New Good Old Days” off the new record, and explains the “laughing in the face of death” idea that runs through the CD.

Click to hear “Songs and Stories” #52.