The Marty Riemer Show

After 461 mornings this is it. It’s been a terrific run, and if we had to end it this is exactly the way we would want to do it, with many of our best friends in the house. Michael, Jodi, Erin, Sarah, Brian, our favorite bassoon player, and of course, Carmen from Cardholder services. And then there is Star Anna. She’s been on the podcast more than any other guest, but this performance – which takes forever – to get started – is well worth the wait. We’ll catch you in another life, thanks for the support! Happy Holidays.  

Second to last. One more and we’re out. The end is nigh. Get the idea? At this point, like any last semester graduating senior you’d think we’d be calling it in… but no. Like NASA we are continuing to push new boundaries and boldly going where people have … well, gone before. Yes, NASA launched a rocket into outer space and that has the internets reeling. In outer space? You mean where the Soviets sent a dog back in the 50’s, that outer space?!?! The hell you say. Also, the show goes on a weird tangent – also something we’ve been doing since the 50’s – where we discuss the solution to homelessness being as simple as a pair of pleated pants. It makes total sense. With us for the wild ride today, and contributing his own theories on homelessness and Power Ball winners from Auburn, El Gaucho’s piano man Paul Richardson. Paul, his legendary left hand, and his Barry White baritone, improvises his way through holiday classics (sorry Michael), Elton john tunes (sorry Michael) and a Biggie Smalls classic (sorry Isley Brothers).  

With only one month left before the podcast is laid to rest, Marty tries to rally the troops to discuss a wide-range of topics, but to no avail. And these are hot-button, get out the vote topics. Like a sandwich shop that closed down in Seattle! Or a comb left behind by last week’s celebrity guest. Or Seattle getting confused with Detroit. Hello? Anyone!?!? I go toilet in your mouth! (That phrase did wake up the panel.) Joining us today for the discussion to follow our non-discussion was author and Emmy Award-winning writer Lynn Brunelle. Known for her work on Bill Nye the Science Guy and her best selling book “Pop Bottle Science,” Lynn stumps our group with a series of enjoyable science experiments. Her new book “Mama Gone Geek,” is all about how she uses her love of science to navigate the ups and downs of parenthood. Finally, our old friend Jeff Fielder is back. One of the most sought after hired gun guitarists in Seattle, but this time he refuses to perform in someone’s shadow. Next Thursday, November 20th, Jeff will headline a show of his own at the Triple Door. Jeff and friends, including Ian Moore and Jen Ayer, will collaborate on some of the bluegrass nuggets that he himself has concocted. P.S. We will be off for the next two weeks for Thanksgiving vacation. See you on December 5th!

You can’t live in Seattle and not wonder what it is about West Seattle. So many musical types (yes, yes, Eddie Vedder, but so many others too) choose to settle on the westside. On the surface West Seattle doesn’t seem the usual hipster haven (we’re looking at you Capitol Hill), but still it plays home to more than its share of musical luminaries (did we mention Eddie Vedder lives there?) On this special investigative edition of the Marty Riemer Show podcast, our host and his former (and future) co-host, Jodi Brothers, explore – Why West Seattle? Joining Jodi and Marty for their fair & balanced report are a bundle of West Seattle homies: Chris Ballew (presidents of the United States of America and Caspar Babypants) Megan Jasper (Sub Pop Records) Matt Vaughn (Easy Street Records) Susan Silver (Soundgarden and Alice in Chains former manager) Tim Bierman (Pearl Jam Ten Club). And talk about preaching to the choir. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience on a sunny Saturday at Salty’s on Alki for the Southwest Historical Society’s annual Champagne Gala Brunch. (photo credit: Gail Woodzin of Gail Ann Photography)        

If there was ever threat of a Cylon invasion in West Seattle, we crushed it this morning with a lively appearance from Dirk Benedict, the actor who played Lt. Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica series. In town for an appearance at the Jet City Comic Show in Tacoma this weekend, Dirk fired off anecdotes about his A-Team days, UCLA coeds who ignored him one day and loved him the next, and his hair. In fact, he even busted out his giant black plastic comb, ca. 1977, to show that he still knows how to man-groom. Ladies. But then he left the comb behind!! #ebay Next time you miss your flight to Cancun, don’t be angry, be entertained. Our next guests have a regular gig playing the Main Concourse at SeaTac airport. After a rigorous security screening, Aubrey Zoli and Matt Hart of The Local Strangers end up playing to vistors from Japan to Juneau. While we can’t offer them a patdown this morning (well, we offered, they declined) we did give them an attentive audience. Their acoustified version of “Boys of Summer” left us swooning (and Don Henley probably suing). With a new double-CD set out in March 2015, The Local Strangers showcase one of their beautiful new songs as well. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have hair to blow dry.      

Beware the Halloweed! That’s the message this Halloween day from the Denver police, who claim that hooligans are lacing Halloween candy with weed. Just another thing to be afraid of. That’s why we’re going “Trunk” or Treating, a new candy-gathering fad that seems even weirder than the traditional one. Marty and crew discuss another new fad – expiring marriage licenses. That’s right, you have to re-up every 5 years in order to remain betrothed. Get ready to dial 1-800-Flowers a few times in year 4. And then Marty is shocked to discover that the President of Burkina Faso has stepped down, vacating his palace in Ouagadougou. Is that the Ouagadougou that’s just outside Van Nuys? In other words, we are stunned by our geographical ignorance yet again. Our musical guests today – straight from the Ozarks, we discover – Red Jacket Mine harkens back to the best of the 70s, 80s and more. We mean that as a compliment, so let’s just say 70s, early-80s and no more. Come see Red Jacket Mine celebrate the release of their fantastic new CD “Pure Delight” on November 15 at the High Dive in Fremont. Can we get tickets to that through Brown Paper Tickets? Luckily we have Brown Paper Tickets CEO Steve “the butcher” Butcher of the Butcher Clan, to answer that and tell us how to minimize ticket service charges. Joining him is Jeff Leisawitz, who just produced a sweet ode to radio starring Marty Riemer and released by Brown Paper Ticket Films.  

Like wearing rented bowling shoes isn’t creepy enough, now we have to worry about Ebola festering in those stylish loafers. The latest doc to bring Ebola back to the U.S. was out bowling the night before he exhibited symptoms. But that’s the bad news, the good news is our old tunnel-boring friend Bertha has suffered another project setback. OK wait, that’s the bad news too. The good news is, a new portable fusion powered reactor has been invented by the scientists at Skunk Works. What the hell? Is that good news or bad news? Now, we’re baffled. Let’s segue to something warmer. Last holiday season Apple debuted a popular ad for the iPhone which depicted a disenfranchised youth buried in his digital device, ignoring his family during holiday festivities. The keyboard player on that ad was none other than the piano player in Into the Cold, a West Seattle Supergroup that performs live on today’s show. Into the Cold is a haunting mix of Pink Floyd meets Black Sabbath with four female vocalists. You can see the entire ensemble perform for free at West Seattle’s Feedback Lounge on November 1st.      

It’s our first day back after a long two week hiatus and we come back promising never to take a break like that again … until we sign off for good at the end of the year. WHAT?!? Yes, Marty is returning to radio – ignore everything he said about the industry – and alas the podcast is in it’s waning days. But for now, we are strong. Joining us today is the renowned, or is it notorious, ethical hacker Bryan Seely. This is the man that spied on the Secret Service, and then stepped up and admitted it. Had they not been hard drinking the night before at an Argentinian bar, they woulda been really mad. Bryan Seely has hacked Google Maps, the bank account of Mandeville, Louisiana, and a couple creepy guys who hang out at Starbucks for the free wifi. He happily shares his stories and provides tips for keeping your stuff safe. Wait, where’s our wallet?!

It’s the reunion show you never thought would happen, though it’s happened about 30 times this year alone.  Jodi Brothers joins the Marty Riemer Show. Jodi and Marty answer a series of FAQ’s about their past and future broadcasting opportunities, missteps and lunatic co-workers. Coincidentally, one of our guests today is a licensed psycho therapist  … and comedy writer.  Who better to help Marty and Jodi (but mainly Marty) cope with their demons? Though that is not at all why, former Almost Live! Writer, Joe Guppy joins the podcast today.  He has published a compelling account of the time he spent in his early 20’s teetering on the edge of madness, and what it took to regain his balance.  “My Fluorescent God” is a charming, albeit scary, read about how close we all are (but mainly Marty) to falling into a psychotic abyss. Finally, Seattle roots rockers Massy Ferguson, fresh back from a summer tour of the UK, have a new EP out.  Ethan Anderson, their front man, performs a couple of the new tunes.  Massy Ferguson will be part of the Macefield Music festivities in Ballard October 3rd and 4th.

Best show ever. Our green room is packed with talent this morning. I mean, real entertainers. Nancy Guppy, 10-year veteran of Almost Live! and now the host of Art Zone makes her debut appearance in the Moldy Basement. She coins the phrase “54!”, which isn’t so much as a phrase as her Tourette’s-fueled answer to so many questions. Marty, who’s apparently part of a global community of women who are reinventing themselves, shares a list he uncovered of the top-5 life lessons every 30-year-old should know. This is a must hear segment! #clickbait Followed by another must-hear, acclaimed guitarist Jeff Fielder, and Left Hand Smoke veteran Ronan O’Mahony step up to play tribute to one of their favorite bands, Little Feat. These two Seattle gems will be joined by a long list of Seattle notables, tonight, September 12, 2014, at the Columbia City Theater for “Get Yer Feat Wet.”  

It may be our last sunny weekend of the year, and it coincides with the opening of the Puyallup Fair (renamed the Washington State Fair, because Puyallup wasn’t a draw) and joining us two young men raised on deep fried carnival goodness. Sweet Kiss Momma, who are not only playing the fair, they are performing at Chinook Fest in Naches the next weekend, Sept. 12-14. But before we get to the live music we have some other topics to discuss. Marty’s theory that reclining an airline seat is rudeness. A woman who flipped out in the skies over Florida apparently agrees. Marty tells the story of the time he sat at Joan Rivers’s desk. And Michael’s theory that Amazon is out to crush the viral video we produced. Can you understand why?  

It’s a show of stark contrasts. Compare the poetic intensity of Patsy Cline’s music, as interpreted by amazing vocalists V. Contreras and Alessandra Rose, with the “potty” talk uttered by an Indian phone scammer that Marty manages to capture on tape. One of them calls Marty an MF-er, guess which one? This is the 8th year of the Sweet Dreams Patsy Cline tribute. This year’s show, September 6th and 7th at the Triple Door, features the aforementioned Alessandra Rose, V. Contreras, Star Anna, Jennifer Hopper and Kim Virant. Tickets are still available through thetripledoor.net Also Marty’s dad pops for the Oxyclean laundry system as discussed ona previous podcast epsiode for Marty. After installation we’ll find out if – without detergent or warm water – Marty can still get the blood out. Have a great Bumbershoot weekend!

What? It’s really been only 50 years since the Beatles played Seattle. Seems like only “Yesterday.” Ha! Yesterday. That was a big Beatles song. Oh, how Marty loves to reminisce about the Beatles. If there’s going to be reminiscing, we’ll do it with our musical guest Star Anna who makes her 678th appearance on the podcast. Poor girl. What makes it even worse, she fraternizes with these guys (or at least one of them) when she’s NOT on the show. You can fraternize with her from a distance this evening when she plays a free KEXP Mural Amphitheater concert, just a long and winding road away from the Coliseum where the Beatles played 50 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play…  ENOUGH! Or you can have Star play you a private living room show by supporting her on www.patreon.com/staranna . Today’s show caps off with a very trendy bucket of ice on Marty and Michael’s heads to support ALS research. If you really want to support the ALS Association, don’t take the Challenge and actually make a donation.        

If your highly-rated show is ever taken off the air, come by ours and shout loudly until someone re-hires you (was that you, Jodi?). We have uncovered numerous musical gems in the history of the podcast, but none of them have rocked the Wazookle like Vaudeville Etiquette. If you must, fast forward past the first 15 minutes of Marty reliving the opening of the Panama Canal while being berated by his former radio partner, and get right to the tunage. Vaudeville Etiquette is a 5-piece “boot-stompin’ ever-lovin’ rag tag group of rascals.” We didn’t coin the phrase, but dang nabbit, it fits. You can catch them live at Chinook Fest in Naches, September 13, 2014, or tonight at The Columbia City Theater. Speaking of the hinterlands, we also meet Amy and Naomi who are preparing to embark on their first ever all-women’s, off-road rally in the deserts of Morocco. Nine days, all sand, French maps, no men. Sounds nice. Help them fund their amazing adventure, sponsor their ride by going to drivelike-a-girl.com.

In a week that was riddled with bad news – war, disease, Lady Gaga in Seattle – we try to lighten the burden with our exclusive Ebola update. Turns out last week’s show may have been a little too upbeat about our prospects. This week we set the record straight. Suffice to say, don’t touch anything or anyone. Our guests today, the lovely duo of Bradford Loomis and Beth Whitney, in promoting their appearance accidentally directed their fans to martyrdom.com instead of martyriemer.com . Figuratively, it’s the same thing. And as you’ll discover, much of this show is better suited for the former than the latter url. Why didn’t Marty win that Skidoo!?!?!? Why??? Beth and Bradford have a wonderful – too short – new CD out called The Banner Days. Celebrate the release with a Seattle Living Room Show on August 23rd and find out more about the new music at thebannerdays.com .