The Guestlist With Sean Cannon

Since Thursday is Christmas, I won't be airing an interview on the radio. That also means no interview online this week. So in lieu of that, I have a mighty fine Christmas present for you. All you've gotta do is put up with my list of the best records from 2014...

Carl Newman isn't just the frontman of The New Pornographers. He's also a dad, a husband, a homeowner, a fan of The Monkees, and a down-to-earth member of the indie rock elite. We talked about his preference for Nesmith over Parsons, his appreciation for Mark Kozelek's honesty (even when it comes across as pettiness), and having no idea what works musically — until the moment you hear it, anyway.

America's Funnyman® Neil Hamburger sat down with me in Austin to discuss his disco idols, his surprising lack of concern for ebola, his upcoming major motion picture, and how he was awarded the title of America's Funnyman®.

This is a special one for a few different reasons. There's not enough space here to get into all of the hows and whys, but suffice it to say that Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou and I shared a few pretty honest and open moments during our conversation.

No interview this week, thanks to Thanksgiving. I've still got a little something for you, though.

Former Black Belles frontwoman Olivia Jean stopped by the studio while on a tour of record stores in the Midwest promoting her new LP, "Bathtub Love Killings." We talked about how she became part of the Third Man crew, how important record stores were to her musical development, and her love of the bouffant.

Now that he's three records into his return to music, Yusuf Islam (better known as Cat Stevens before his conversion to Islam) sounds comfortable but not complacent. "Tell 'Em I'm Gone" isn't exactly the record you'd expect from him, but it's one that was a few decades in the making.

Going into my conversation with producer and musician Ethan Johns, I knew about his work in the studio. What I didn't know about was what led him to working as a producer, engineer, and musician...which was just as fascinating.

If Wikipedia existed in the '90s, David Koechner might've lasted a lot longer than one season on Saturday Night Live. True story. Speaking of true stories, he faked his way into the last Replacements show (before the reunion, that is), too. He discusses that and the importance of family, community, and treating work like work.

This might seem like a bit of a curveball, given the type of folks I usually have on the show, but my desire to talk to this guest is no less sincere. Del McCoury is a bona fide bluegrass legend, and it was fascinating to hear him talk about how rock and roll might not exist without bluegrass progenitor Bill Monroe.

Since I've never interviewed a chef before, I wasn't entirely sure what shape my conversation with Edward Lee would take. In the end, though, it was a great conversation about chef Lee's life, his passion for affecting the way people think about and interact with food, and his love of duets.

Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Tony Millionaire did something during his guest DJ set that no one had ever done before — he serenaded me. If you heard the sound collage in episode 233.5, you already know that. If not, go listen to it. In addition to that, though, Tony gave me some insight into his accidental development into a professional cartoonist.

During my interview with Tony Millionaire, instead of doing what most folks do for the guest DJ portion, tony decided to sing his picks to me. So I ended up being serenaded by the man behind Drinky Crow for almost half an hour. Sadly, I lost big chunks of the audio, but I've pieced some of it together here as a beautiful sound collage.

Cameron Esposito made just one pick for her guest DJ set, and it was a doozy. Not only because it flowed perfectly into our conversation beforehand, but also because it involves one of the most iconic moments in the history of show tunes.

Music can break through boundaries. It can be transcendent. And it can make two people who barely know each other stand arm in arm and belt out song lyrics like they've been best friends since childhood. That's what happened with Bobby Bare Jr. and me at a Guided by Voices show right after this interview took place, and it was such an edifying experience.