After spending a couple of years playing around their hometown, as well as venturing up the East Coast, the Athens, Georgia quartet Squalls would enter Electro-Acoustic Systems Studio in September of 1984 and make a record. In Episode 65, the band’s frontman and primary songwriter, Bob Hay, tells the story of how Squalls’ 1984 self-titled ep came to be. Recounting the events and inspirations that led to its creation, the native Midwesterner touches on his journey to Athens and the supportive environment there that helped facilitate the band’s formation.

Nearly 35 years ago, a group of extraterrestrials became stranded on Earth. Posing as college students attending Auburn University, they would make the most of the situation by starting a band and making a record. In Episode 64, Brian Teasley aka Birdstuff tells the story of how Man or Astro-man?’s 1993 debut full-length Is It…Man or Astroman? came to be. Recorded in a 100 year old house in rural Alabama, Teasley touches on the band’s experience working there with engineer Jim Marrer as well as the events that led to the album’s creation.

In the fall of 1984, singer-songwriter Carla Olson of the Los Angeles based band The Textones would visit Madame Wong’s West for an evening of live music. It is there, after being pulled on stage to sing with that night’s performer, that she would meet and befriend her future duet partner– the late, great Gene Clark. In Episode 63, Olson tells the story of hers and Clark’s 1987 album So Rebellious a Lover. Considered to be one the first true Americana albums, Olson recounts the events and influences that brought about its creation including her musical journey from Texas to Los Angeles, the living room singalongs that would inspire the album’s specific sound, and the transformative experience of working with the legendary songwriter and founding member of The Byrds.