Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls --

Please allow me to introduce my wonderful guest, Carlton Rashad, to the podcast.

Carlton is a son, a sibling, a singer, a songwriter, a performer, and a fantastic human being. He also makes an appearance on this program for the esteemed 200th episode, which -- if I'm not lying -- is pretty cool.

Know what else is cool?

Carlton.

He has a Instagram -- @imcarltonrashad -- you can follow. He has a Facebook, a TikTok, a Threads, a YouTube, and he has his stuff on Apple Music and Spotify. He's the 2021 Best Male Vocalist per the Kansas City People's Choice Awards, and he's a Kansas Citian through and through.

Carlton and I talked about his lifelong existence as a performer and a singer, a person with music always in his life, and his affinity for manifestation. We also talked about a few of his favorite albums, which were these:

Get Lifted (2004), John Legend

Mary Mary's self-titled release (2005)

Future Sex/Love Sounds (2006), Justin Timberlake

Lalah Hathaway's Lalah Hathaway Live! (2015)

the entire Beyonce catalog

Please go check out Carlton's stuff, and -- while I have you -- thank you for your continued support of the Badass Records podcast.

copyright stuff: I do not own the rights to the audio clips contained within this episode. They are snippets from a tune by Robert Walter's 20th Congress called, "Inversion Layer." It's a track from his 2013 release, Get Thy Bearings, and we have access to it c/o The Royal Potato Family.

Ryan Johnson is a son, a brother, and a musician. He's also a super-sharp dude, and he's my guest for Episode No. 199.

Both Ryan's solo and full-band outfits write, record, and gig around town, and if you give him an Instagram follow -- @foxlinband -- you can see that he has some upcoming gigs, including one tomorrow night!

Ryan was kind enough to share a little bit of time with me the Tuesday before last, and we talked about growing up, family, music memories, writing tunes, gigging live, his ongoing fight with cancer and challenges that he faces living with not only Multiple Myeloma, but Borderline Personality Disorder as well. We also talked about a few of his favorite albums, which were these:

REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity (1980)

Take Offs and Landings (2001), Rilo Kiley

Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (2005)

Mean Everything to Nothing (2009), Manchester Orchestra

The Decemberists' The King Is Dead (2011)

Meeting Ryan was a treat, and chatting with him was delightful. Find Foxlin's stuff at foxlinband.wixsite.com, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and Bandcamp.

The Bandcamp platform has something in the way of seven EPs, two full-length releases, and a pair of singles. Lots of good stuff. And the Web site has some very valuable resources for anyone that may be in need.

Thanks to Ryan for the time; thanks to all that support the show.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio clips contained within this episode. They are samples of the title track from Phish's 1990 release, Lawn Boy, and is available to listeners c/o Phish Inc.

Laura Boland is a daughter, a sister, a significant other, a musician, and an old-school soul. She's also my guest for Episode No. 198.

When wearing her musician cap, Laura goes by the moniker, Elska, and you can find her stuff at elskamusic.me, and you can follow her on Instagram at @elskalullabies.

Laura was kind enough to stop by and visit with me about growing up, life moves and changes, writing, recording, mixing, incorporating Alex Alexander into the Elska fold, and a number of other things, including a few of her favorite albums. Those were these:

Heaven or Las Vegas (1990), Cocteau Twins

Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)

Fur and Gold (2006), Bat for Lashes

Chelsea Wolfe's Pain Is Beauty (2013)

Many thanks to Laura for her generous donation of time and good energy, and thank you to all of you that support the podcast.

copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this clip. They are snippets from a Bob Dylan tune called, "Man in the Long Black Coat," which you can find on his 1989 release, Oh Mercy. It has featured in this episode and is available to us all c/o Sony Music Entertainment Inc.