Ep. 4 Reed Mathis: The Lifer

Having a conversation with Reed is a lot like playing music with him: you think you might be on the same level but then he starts to speak and you quickly realize that you're dealing with a titan.  To illustrate my point, one of the scariest onstage moments I've ever had was a few weeks ago. I was sitting in with Tea Leaf Green at the New Parish in Oakland and Reed steps up to me and says "Lets play something just you and I." Before I could even finish tuning my guitar Reed unleashed a combination of virtuosic bass chops and high-pitched effects that I've never come up against in all my time on stage.  I felt like a lightweight stepping into the ring with the heavyweight champion of the world.  It felt like I didn't even land a single punch.  Similar feelings surfaced as soon as the podcast started.  He is quick to answer any question with unapologetic honesty, insight, and wisdom.  He talks about how he has nothing to teach anybody, but in my experience just being around Reed is an education.

Tea Leaf Green live at the New Parish 7/20/13

https://www.facebook.com/ontherocksjeremykorpas

http://tealeafgreen.com/

Ep.3 Dave Margulies and Casey Lowdermilk: The Producers

High Sierra Music Festival has spent the last 23 years creating an utterly unique festival experience. Described as the "musician's festival," there is something about the energy of the picturesque fairgrounds in Quincy, CA that brings out the best in any band or artist that performs.  This is one of the rare festivals where you actually see the musicians hanging out with fans and roaming out in the campgrounds.  You can also detect a deep sense of pride in the people who attend the festival, people who help co-create the magic. Mostly veterans of the scene, these people create elaborate theme camps, march in parades, host their own events within the festival like crawfish boils or cocktail hours, build rogue stages on top of RVs, and stay up all night just to get weird and play a raucous and hilarious game of kickball at sunrise.  The type of community achieved here is one that most other festivals could only dream of.

Throwing a party like High Sierra is not an easy task.  From setup to takedown, food courts to security, hospitality to ambiance, it takes an army of employees and volunteers to pull it off.  Dave and Casey are two of only a handful of full-time employees that work year round. Their constant dedication to all things High Sierra is a major reason this is a success every year.

Here's a tip of the hat to the rest of the full-time employees as well, thanks for all that you do: Roy Carter, Rebecca Sparks, Matt Bryant and the amazing Debbie Crockett!

Ep. 2 Dan, Jenna, and Estelle Lebowitz: The Family Band

Hosting a music-themed podcast was an idea I'd been toying with for around a year, but the ball really got rolling after a casual conversation during the cocktail hour of a wedding with a good friend of mine, Dave Rubin.  Dave's production company Rabbi Where just started producing content for the High Sierra Music Festival and he thought that it might be worth pitching the podcast idea to festival.  To my surprise they actually said yes!  Fast-forward two weeks, and we somehow managed to record 17 podcasts in 4 days at the festival. With zero experience I held conversations with some of the finest musicians on the planet, festival producers, and even a real-life rabbi.  It was an absolutely surreal experience on so many levels, and I'm extremely grateful to Dave and High Sierra for helping me to launch my podcast and bring my vision into fruition.

The Lebos were an obvious choice to start off my On The Rocks at High Sierra Music Festival series.  They have been playing the festival for over a decade, and have essentially become High Sierra royalty.  Check out how ALO got their start at the festival and how Dan and Jenna make the whole thing work.

Check out what ALO is up to at http://alomusic.com/

If you like what you hear please check me out on the ole facebook  On The Rocks w/Jeremy Korpas

Ep.1 Damien Contessa: The Birth of a Friendship, a Passion, and a Podcast

You're doing a what?  A podcast?  Why?

Take a listen and find out.