SPEAKER_00 0:45

My guest this afternoon is the guitarist delivering the Riffs solo and firepower behind one of the most legendary rock shows on the planet. Hey everyone, it's Randy Holsey with Backstage Pass Radio. As a driving force in the Alice Cooper band, his sound helps bring shock rock to life night after night. From world stages to iconic songs, we're talking guitars, life on the road, new solo music, and rock and roll longevity. Crank it up, and we will talk to my pal Ryan Roxy when we return.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

This is Backstage Pass Radio. Backstage Pass Radio, a podcast by an artist for the artist. Each week we take you behind the scenes of some of your favorite musicians and the music they created. From chart-topping hits to underground gems, we explore the sounds that move us and the people who make it all happen. Remember to please subscribe, rate, and leave reviews on your favorite podcast platform. So whether you're a casual listener or a die-hard music fan, tune in and discover the magic behind the melody. Here is your host of Backstage Pass Radio, Randy Holse.

Acoustic Choices And Right Hand Magic

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Ryan, welcome to the show, brother. Good to see you, man. Hey, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

It's uh it's actually a pleasure to be on your show and to see all those beautiful guitars behind you.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Thanks. I've I figured of all people you might appreciate those, right? I sure do, man.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

I'm trying to pick out which ones that I would like first take on stage. And we are doing actually a couple of ballads, a couple of new ballads in the Alice Cooper show. So acoustics are always really, really uh appreciated. And I love a good acoustic.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Well, I've kind of switched to the the SJ 200 right there for my live performances. That's kind of the working, the working guitar before it was kind of the the Taylor 814 CE, which is kind of Taylor's flagship guitar. But uh I love the sound. That SJ sounds like a canon on state. Sounds amazing.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

I've never been a cutaway guy, uh and I see you have a few of them back there. I like them just looking traditional and stuff, but I do understand the functionality of having a cutaway, but I'm actually learning, you know, as a guitar player, I've been playing guitar pretty much my whole life, but I'm it's cool that you're still learning things because just this last year I've I've I've undertaken the right hand and and doing a little bit more finger picking style and learning from some uh some great people up on, you know, I'm going down the YouTube rabbit hole just like probably many of you other guitar players out there that go down that YouTube uh black hole, and then you just start learning and learning from this teacher and that teacher. So yeah, I'm I'm learning way more about my right hand, um, and it helps because I already I know uh pretty much the left hand and uh been using a pick for so many years that I thought I'd go back to, you know, working the fingers and uh it's a it's a gives a whole new world, a whole new, you know, whole new flavors to songs.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Well, I think you would agree with two sentiments here. Number one, they say the magic is in the right hand for a guitarist, right? And I think you would probably to a degree agree with that. I mean, there's magic in the left hand too, don't get me wrong, but uh, you know, they say you can do some magical things with that right hand just with different picking styles, Travis picking, whatever, right? So, and then, you know, I was gonna say the other sentiment that you might agree with me on is if you're anything like me, I'll go down these rabbit holes on YouTube, and certainly you learn things and it and it kind of inspires you, but it pisses you off all at the same time because some of these players are so good, man. It's like, how did you get that good at that young of an age, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Yeah, well, because you know, technology, they took full advantage of technology. If you and I would have had the same technology, we would have been using it and probably saved a lot of vinyl records from their demise back in the day. But you know, learning eruption, you know, learning Edward Van Halen's eruption, you know, with a tool that lets you slow it down to 75% and and then tune in exactly the way you want it, and then repeat and just loop little parts is a lot less, you know, a lot less difficult than what we had to do to learn eruption with a vinyl record and a and a really bad record player.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

100%. And then even if you fast forward that a little bit to when the CD player came out, I mean, how many times did we, or even a cassette tape, fast forward, rewind, play, fast forward, rewind, play. We did that 9,000 times just to hear the song over and over and over again to try to ingrain every little detail into the brain, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:34

I remember the first time tapedex, cassette tape decks, uh came out with a pitch control where you could actually slow it down, and I was like, wow, that's a whole new world.

New Alice Cooper Shows And Vegas Illusions

SPEAKER_00 5:44

I loved it. How about that? Well, so we've been chatting for a couple of weeks, off and on, you know. Um, I guess uh I guess it's good for you to be back on uh home soil, right? You're back on home soil for a little bit, right? It's it's always feels great to come back to the U.S.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

and especially for a good reason. And the reason is for certain not one, but two Alice Cooper shows this year for 26. Uh there's the Alice's Attic show, which we're really happy about because that's our touring show all across the U.S. and Europe. It's a brand new set and brand new set pieces, uh, but still, you know, the iconic Alice and the Alice Cooper sound. And then there's something that's also happening throughout the year that we're gonna pepper shows in uh combining forces with illusionist Chris Angel. Cool. And so it's the first time that I know of where illusions and rock and roll, like a real rock and roll show and like a real hardcore illusions are gonna be combined together. So, you know, it's not just gonna be Alice getting his his head cut off every night, it's gonna be people getting sawed in half, people flying through the air, people disappearing. So, all through in the context of a great Alice Cooper song. So we're look really looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

That's gonna be sort of a residency thing that's happening in Vegas throughout the year. That's super cool. And I mean, I think it all goes kind of hand in hand, Ryan. I mean, you would you would kind of expect that. I think it fits, right? Like now that I think about it, the whole illusionist Chris Angel uh persona and at what Alice has had going on for many years now. I think it just works. I think it will work, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:25

So well, if you think about it, Alice Cooper, AC, Chris Angel, C A. Right? A C C A. A C C A. Um, yeah, and a lot of people come up and they say, you know, I've never seen that done before. And you know, maybe there's a reason for it. Maybe there it'll be a reason that I find out in the next month why it hasn't been done before, but we're gonna sure as hell give it a try. That's right.

Living In South Africa And Chasing Summer

SPEAKER_00 7:47

It's gonna be cool. Well, I think you call um, and you correct me where I'm wrong on any of my facts, but uh you call Cape Town home these days or or South Africa in general? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Currently residing in Cape Town, South Africa, amazing country, amazing people, and um actually amazing weather because I'm always chasing the sun. When Alice Cooper tours, it's during usually the summer months and the spring and summer months uh here in the States and northern Europe and anywhere above the equator. Then when the tour ends, I go south of the equator where it's summer again. Sure. So the seasons are actually opposite. So luckily for me, I'm got the eternal suntan.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Yeah, how about that? Well, I've had quite a few, you know, American artists on my show and and a and and a like one that comes to mind, Tony Carey, right, who played in Rainbow for a while. He lives in um in Germany now, and and I see more and more of American artists moving to Europe or to to the UK. What what took you? Did South Africa find you or did you find it? Like that it just seems like it seems like of all the places that you could live, that that South Africa never pops up in conversations too much, right? Can you talk about it?

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Well, yeah, I I I always I've never been there and you know until I actually moved there and or or met my wife who lived there. She wasn't living there at the time. We met um after I was uh divorced from my from our my first marriage, and we I have two kids that uh we raised and were living in Stockholm, Sweden. So that's like north, way the North Pole. So I went somehow I went from the North Pole to the South Pole. Um, but the kids are going to college now and out of college. My my son just, you know, actually relocated to Los Angeles. So with every all these moving parts, everybody uh moving in different areas, it seemed like a time for us to uh go back to where her family is. Um my second wife Bianca, and she's you know, she's down in Cape Town holding down the fort. Okay. She's able to come out on the road with us, but it just for us it was the right decision. And I feel that you know if you can and you can afford and you have the opportunity, travel and see as many different countries as you can because you'll find that it's so similar to you you think it's so much different. But there's so many, so many similarities, and so it'll either inspire you to stay where you are because you know that it's all the same everywhere, or it'll actually inspire you to, you know, go and relocate someplace else for a while because it's not as scary as people talk about.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Of course, of course. And I and I guess since you have or Bianca has family there, there's really no nothing in the I guess the crystal ball to ever come back to the States at this point for you, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Well, well, I mean, that being said, I'm um I love America, you know, born and bred, I wear I wear my red, white, and blue wristband every single night for a reason. Um, I love the audiences, I love the the people, I love all the different types of people throughout the U.S., you know, the different accents, the different mannerisms. But at the end of the day, just like other countries, as Americans, I feel, you know, in a in a very macro version, we're all we are very similar. Sure, you know, sure. So that's and I and I love coming back every year to play. And and now that I have you know my son living in the States, there's always a reason to come back to the States. Of course.

Growing Up In The Bay Area

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Well, let's jump in the time machine for just a second. And I want to go back a few years to San Mateo, California, right? Talk to me a bit about young Ryan Roxy growing up in Northern California. Do you come from a musical family at all? Um parents musical?

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Like well, I mean musical in the sense of like band, like marching band and stuff like my dad played the trumpet, my mom played the marching snare drum. So I actually was in the marching band as well. Um one of my first gigs was marching timpani. And um I grew a little bit um, I grew up a little bit um west of San Mateo, but uh east of San Francisco. So I grew up in the East Bay. You know, when you grew up where I grew up, you're you're you're an Oakland Raider fan. That's basically the best way to describe it. And um so I would basically be surrounded by amazing music on the radio stations from Northern California. That's really where my my influence of music came from with all different styles because and it was AM radio. It wasn't FM, it was before the explosion of FM radio. It was, you know, before talk radio and AM were just synonymous, it was like when they actually played music. Yes, and there'd be all these bands that that they would play back to back, whether it was the Commodores next to Aerosmith or it was ACDC next to ABBA, there would be a great mix of pop and rock, and um actually blues and soul as well. So I got a really good upbringing in Northern California, which probably has influenced my music um history more than anything else.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

A lot of great bands came out of the San Francisco Bay Area, right? Absolutely. We could do a whole podcast on that uh by itself, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Just from the heaviest to the poppies, I like per capita. It was like so many different great genres of bands. You know, you can talk about the Grateful Dead, but you can also talk about Metallica. But then you can also talk about the Greg Ken band, or you can also talk about new wave bands that came out. Journey, oh, of course, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Yeah, and you know what's interesting. I I spent uh many, many years in professional hockey uh uh as an official, and I spent time with the San Jose Sharks up in Northern California in the Silicon Valley, and it it was always interesting. I love San Francisco, and I always thought it was really interesting how it could be 65 degrees in the city, and you go across the Bay Bridge into Oakland and it's a hundred degrees over there, right? And just like two miles, totally different climate, isn't that crazy?

SPEAKER_01 14:11

That's the uh amazing part about being in the Bay Area. Everyone thinks, oh, San Francisco, nice and warm. It's cold as hell, man. But but then when you get onto the East Bay where I grew up, you know, Pleasanton Livermore area, it's it's basically the valley. So we're in the bottom of the valley, and um, it gets quite hot. No doubt about it. Yeah, no doubt about it. But I grew up a suburban, a suburban kid, pretty much, you know, in the suburbs and um just pretty much a normal middle class lifestyle. And uh so the things that were inspiring to me were the posters on my wall, and um, you know, every day playing guitar in the mirror, being a being a poser, if you will. But at least now after all those years of posing in front of a mirror, I I guess you could call me a professional poser.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Well, you know, I I think we won't talk about our age, but I think you and I are exactly the same age, and I did all the same things you did growing up. Like you didn't do anything that was anomalous, right? Like we we all did that, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:11

No, I've I we we we wanted to be those um icons and idols that we that we listened to on the radio, or we had the album and we'd take out the album, open up the gatefold, read along with the lyrics and we play for a record. But then we'd also go to baseball practice, you know, we'd uh we'd be in the little league and we'd um, you know, do a lot of the same things and uh that that all of America does.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Of course. Well, how did you find the guitar? And at what age did you find the guitar?

SPEAKER_01 15:43

The I found the guitar lying on the couch. My my parents were really smart in the fact that they had it more as sort of an aesthetic vibe. It was just like I don't know what brand it was. It wasn't really an uh a name brand or anything, but it's just on the couch, always laying there. So it was always there for me to an opportunity to strum at the age of five. So I was introduced to the guitar at at five years old. I think I kind of started to take it seriously and say, you know, this is what I want to do, probably around eleven. And that does seem young, but at the same time, I I feel there's never an age where you have to learn it in order to continue and be good at it or have it as a career. You can pick up at the get the guitar at any age that you want, and you can make rapid progress in a very short amount of time if you're driven to do it. And I would say from the year of me being 11 to the time I was 16, I really like to, okay, I'm gonna really take this under my um under my wheelhouse, and I'm gonna try and be the best guitar player I can be. And um, luckily I've I've been inspired to be keep learning ever since.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Well, I think the interesting thing that you said there is that, you know, 11 was young, and you look out on YouTube, we talked a little bit about YouTube, and there's kids that are five, six, seven years old that are playing, that are playing stuff that I I still at my age can't even come close to playing. And and I think a lot of it has to do with two things. Number one, there's so much elasticity in a young kid's brain that they're like a sponge. When you there's there's some truth to that old adage, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Not that I'm an old dog, but we stop the the brain stops absorbing those types of things, I think, or or does it at a slower rate. But now you've got all of the um the tools, you've you've got tablature. Like, what was tablature when you and I were 14, 15? It didn't exist, right? That I know of it.

Ear Training Over Tabs

SPEAKER_01 17:42

And I still don't know how to use it, to be honest with you. I still don't know how to read it. Every once in a while, it just takes more time for me to learn something. If I really want to get into an intricate part of a riff or a song, then maybe I can look at it just for a bar or two of music. But to be honest with you, the thing that's always been my saving grace, and I I give this sort of advice to anybody that wants to uh do this for a living or even make it easier on themselves to learn, practice your ear training. You know, hear a note and then hum it and then play it on the guitar and match it. And then know the names of just seven notes that you have to memorize with their sharps and flats, it's 12 total. If you could anybody can remember 12 tones, you know, from I'm not gonna get into like you know crazy, you know, other types of music, but in Western music there is only twelve tones. So if you can just memorize those twelve tones and and and have them in your head, you know, you can pretty much almost visualize a song as you're hearing it as to what chords they are. You'll you'll know, because us guitar players and us rock and rollers, we love the key of A. Yeah, we love the key of E. Yes, we do. We love playing a big open G and a D chord.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

So if it's probably one of those big four chords somewhere in the song. So they call them the cowboy chords, right? Like everybody's gonna play them at some point, so yeah, I love that. Well, if you didn't play the guitar, like have you ever thought much about what what else would I play? I mean, you uh you look at my studio. Well, you can't see it, of course, but pianos, drums, you know, we've got all these things, right? Like what would Ryan Roxy gravitate to if the guitar went away today? What would the instrument of choice be for you?

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Um, I did play drums as along with playing guitar, and I they were kind of hand in hand for a while. My mom uh was a very cool mom, and she bought an an actual drum kit, not a you know, not an electronic drum kit. It was way before the times of having electronic kits in the house. So she let me have an honest to goodness elect uh acoustic drum kit in the living room that I would practice and it would be so loud everywhere. But you know, I'd bang on those drums and get my aggressions out, and I still like playing the drums from time to time. It's just one of those things that it really is a physically demanding instrument to do. And um again, I I I was looking a little bit more to to be more in front of the stage and and actually come a little bit and a bit later to the gigs. You got you, you know, as a drummer, you have to come, you have to you have to arrive first, you have to leave last, and you probably have to own a van. Yeah. So those three things um were weren't in uh weren't in my top priorities because I wanted to like, you know what? I want the thing that I can take to a uh anywhere. I can you can take a guitar anywhere and become, you know, an instant sort of entertainment. Just add water or just add alcohol and you got yourself a party.

Auditioning For Alice Cooper

SPEAKER_00 20:48

I totally get it. And right now I've I've been playing in a duo for a long time, Ryan. And I uh it's it's funny. I still complain and bitch about you know breaking down and loading out at the end of the night. And I'm really just, you know, it's uh it's a mic stand, it's a guitar, it's a it's a little foot pedal. Like, you know, in the grand scheme of all things, there's nothing there. And then I and then I start thinking, man, if I was a drummer, think how long it would take to tear all of that hardware down, especially on an acoustic kit that there's just 9,000 pieces of stuff, right? And it's like nothing. Every single gig. Well, if we uh if we stay in that time machine for just a minute and we and we jump to I I think 96, 1996, you joined uh the founding father of Shock Rock, Alice Cooper. Talk to me about how you connected in with the Alice Cooper camp there.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Yeah, everything is a connection from something previous, I say. Okay. So, which means if you're playing in a band now, it's probably best to remain friends and close to the band members that you're playing with, whatever current situation you're in. Um, because there's going to be some connection from that that leads you to the next project or the next band. And what had happened with uh Alice Cooper is that I was playing with Gilby Clark, who is a solo artist. He was playing with Guns N' Roses, but he had become a solo artist, and I toured with him all around the US, and then we went to Europe and then we went down to South America, and then we, you know, first time for touring on a large level was with Gilby, and I always give him a lot of um accolades and and and thanks for for taking me on that those tours. Um Alice had heard about it, he liked the idea of maybe. having Gilby and Roxy be the guitar players for Alice Cooper at one point. As it turns out, Gilby was um still committed to his solo uh stuff with his record company. So he gave me the gold light, you know, the green light to go and get the gig basically. He said, go get that gig because this could be the next level, you know, the next step in your journey for yourself. So go do it. And um I appreciate that support that him and the people around me and that band gave. So I went down to the audition and it just was one of those one of those magical days where everything kind of just fell into place. I played the I played the right chords to the pre-chorse of Poison and I say a lot of times that that might have been the song that got me the gig because I didn't miss a chord on that audition. I still miss the chords today every once in a while it's a hard pre-chorse. It's a Desmond Child Alice Cooper collaboration. But you know to this day I'm probably the one guitarist that has played the song Poison more than any other guitarist in the world. So if you want to if there's a Guinness book of world records for playing the song Poison, I might. I just might.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

I and I love that song too man. I'm not gonna you brought it up and I'm like yeah that's one of that's one of my favorites. I mean it you you can't ever go wrong with that song. I love it. But a great hook great lyrics everything everything about it's a cool song.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Well you gotta think every single time that we play an Alice Cooper concert there's like three or four signature guitarists that start a song the minute you hear that guitarist song whether it's No More Mr Nice Guy, Schools Out, poison it's they're iconic and that's why we give um a lot of credit to the previous bands that have been around in the Alice Cooper band because he's Alice has put together so many incredible musicians over the year in different groups and all we do with this lineup is try to make um the best versions and the best in this and play those songs live with the same spirit that they were recorded in. And I think we've been doing a pretty good job of it because this current lineup that we have is is been together longer than actually the original Alice Cooper band. So we're doing something right because it's cohesive and and people seem to be digging it and I think we're sort of supporting the legacy and and giving the the the Alice Cooper's legacy a some well deserved um exposure. That's super cool man and I mean I was thinking back to Gilby a little bit um that's that that's a you know a lot of a lot of friends will you know pass some things on to their friends that don't mean a whole lot but what he gave up to you was a pretty damn big you know uh an offering right to play with Alice Cooper and then you of course had to go out and earn it but I mean he gave me the support and they he gave me the support and he gave me the encouragement but ultimately you know the opportunity was there from Alice and I was able to like you know again have was one of those days and and there's something to be said about the preparation that's you put into it whether it's years or whether it's however much you practice for a gig be prepared don't overprepare for it but but all that experience that I have all those playing in front of five people in an empty bar you know touring across the US in a in a in a van with a U-Haul on the back all those you know lows highs of being in a club band helped me prepare for the audition with Alice that day and then going from then on it's been you know one sort of steady climb up and now I'm happy to you know again happy and and grateful to still be able to tour on this level with a guy who's a household name like Alice.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

100% well you well I guess let me jog my memory a little bit Gilby replaced Izzy in Guns N'Roses is my memory serving me correctly isn't it's exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

And and a lot of people don't realize that it was when Gilby joined the band that they started consistently playing big arenas and stadiums. They weren't playing like huge stadium gigs before but when Gilby joined they um they they they went up to that they leveled up to that level and they and they never they never really went back after that so which is cool. With me with Alice we we started on a tour with the Scorpions in 96 it was a shed tour. We've been able to play everything in between it's always been a good gig but we can play anywhere from 3,000 to 3000 on any given night on any given week and that's what I love about the appeal of the Alice Cooper band because you can see it in a theater and you can get even more out of it in a theater than you would at an arena. Yes. Or you can see it in arena and it doesn't you can scale it is what I'm saying. The Alice Cooper show is is definitely scalable and we've been able to you know play a huge spectrum of different size gigs because a band like Metallica they only play stadiums and that's amazing for them obviously yeah but we actually have the we have the sort of I don't I don't know if it's a luxury but it's it's it's sort of a cool thing that where where we do play theaters still and that those theater gigs can be really really uh important because you're close to the audience and you can get the in immediate feedback. It's not just one type of venue. So uh again you know the experiences the whole musical experience that I get out of playing in this band is something that very few uh musicians get because of the just different spectrum of venues we play.

Touring Scale And Guitar Lineups

SPEAKER_00 28:56

100% and and some like it was a couple of years ago I had Nibbs Carter the bass player for Saxon on my show. And I was asking Nibs, I'm like, do you ever get nervous playing these 1500 people you know monster shows? He's like I I don't know I can't see past the first three rows right I mean how can you get nervous and it kind of goes back to what you said when you play places like the Arcada and St.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Charles Illinois these these cool theaters right it's it's kind of it's big where you could get people in there but it's it's still intimate enough where you feel a connection with the fans and I think you would probably agree to that right absolutely absolutely well you also you had so but you know with Gilby you and Gilby you had a stint with Slash's snake pit right you and Gilby together is that correct no not together that's the crazy thing it it was different times but we both ended up playing in Slash's snake pit uh Gilby played on the it's five o'clock somewhere uh album and I played on the Eight Life Grand album so it's two different lineups same guitar player Slash absolutely but I feel that the album that I worked on with him and we wrote songs together with the whole band that lineup was something special and Slash's guitar playing was really special too it's one of those albums that kind of flies a little bit below the radar ain't Life Grand but if you listen to it the singer that we had for that album was Rod Jackson. Such a soulful amazing powerful voice and the singer that the Gilby had for his version we always call it Slash one and slash 2.0 or whatever. So slash's Snake Pit the first album had uh Eric Dover who's another great singer and a great musician I actually played with him in the Alice Cooper band as well great guitar player great vocalist he was on the first slash snake pit then we got this then then the the second album was uh getting written and looking for musicians and Johnny Griparik on the bass guitar uh Matt Logg on the drums who actually plays in AC DC now so and then Rod Jackson and Slash and myself I mean Slash was playing some of his best guitar playing since Appetite in my opinion so if you have a chance and you can see it it comes up and on it kind of fluctuates between um Spotify sometimes it's up there sometimes it's not but if you have a chance to go check it out and maybe even find it in a record store um slash's snake pit and life grand is a great album it's a great find.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

I'll have to keep uh an eye out for that and I was thinking I I had a buddy that was on the show um that was connected I think in maybe LA Guns with with Gilby uh Adam Hamilton. Do you do you know Adam Hamilton at all sounds familiar he was with he was with LA Guns for like eight years and I didn't know if you know it's a small circle that you guys float in and out of there right so that is a rite of passage you know you have to play um you have to play at least one gig in LA guns to say you're you're an LA musician and I actually have played one gig with LA guns you you checked the box then didn't you I did how does the how does the playing styles differ between you know yourself Tommy and Nita like what what are what are the different playing styles at a high level right when you think of three guitarists in a band right yeah yeah with with this lineup we do have Tommy Hendrickson on guitar Nita Strauss on guitar and myself on guitar and it's pretty easy to divvy up the solos because we know what era of song uh plays to our playing melody right no well it just plays to our uh our the facts that plays to our advantages like like plays to our strengths that's that's what I said because because Nita's a great shredder she can and and she she's really that's she shines at that she can also play rock but trust me she's an all-around guitar player and Alice likes to have lots of solos that's another cool thing in the band Alice Cooper loves guitar solos but we know that the initial solo in sort of an 80s era or more of that guitar shredding era Alice Cooper song is going to probably fall in Nita's hands with the first solo and then I'll get a second solo or Tommy will get the solo.

Onstage Character And Band Chemistry

SPEAKER_01 33:24

And if it's more of a classic rock Alice Cooper song or maybe one of the songs that we wrote together on the albums Eyes of Alice Cooper or Dirty Diamond, something like that, then maybe it'll fall into my sort of wheel wheelhouse and and that's where my strengths are. And then Tommy and I are really play well off each other. All those original Alice Cooper parts that had Michael Bruce and Glenn Buxton Tommy and I are really good at it sort of being the bookends on that. And then we also have that advantage to have the third guitar player that can provide like an overdub support guitar part. So it works out great with the three guitar players for us. And we all have you know the thing about it is we all know whose name is on the marquee so we don't have to ever argue anything about that. And the guy whose name is on the marquee wants us to get up there front and center when it's our time to shine and he wants us to get up there and perform at the highest level possible. He doesn't want you to sit back and sort of play for yourself and be introverted. He wants you to be front and center with the spotlight on you.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Well I think that speaks a lot to his character right I mean you know I don't know him of course I've never met him but I I mean any lead singer like I I think you would agree with me right when a lead singer says here you take the front of the stage for a little bit you know they must be you know in touch with you know I'm cool you know go do your thing I want you guys to shine too so I I really think that that speaks a lot to his character and what kind of person he is absolutely yeah and he's secure with his his fame and and that's the coolest thing about him is that you know he wants he wants you to to get up and get as much recognition when you're so you know when it comes time for him to come sing back and become Alice just move out of the way or you might get stabbed with a with a with a sword or something.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Yeah you may hit you something might happen uh because he is really lost in his character when he's on stage which is a very cool thing to to see and and be a part of each and every night you just have to be a little careful one once in a while because you know uh there's been there's been a few times that there's been some some close to being stabbings on stage because Alice doesn't have a proximity of where the the balloon that he's popping out with the sword is and where the the bass player is where Chuck our bass player or Tommy is or something.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

So be on your toes is what you're saying right I always always well is do you think it's um do you think he offers up the parts for you guys like more solos or you say that he loves solos um I think there's some musicians as as we as we age it's a it's a time that they the that the vocalist can relax or rest their voice is that what he does or is it a combination a hybrid that he does that but he really is that kind of guy and wants you guys to get out there and shine like can you speak to that a little I think he really enjoys people performing and he want he likes the the idea of a guitar duel in every in every uh sh every song but at the same time Alice doesn't speak Alice the get the character Alice Cooper doesn't say a single word in between songs.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Okay the only time Alice talks is in the introductions of schools out so there is something to be said about having a little bit of a break with with you know a double guitar solo but I mean look it's a usually our guitar solos aren't super long. So the difference of eight bars or sixteen bars isn't that much you're not stretching the song out like to no five minutes. But it probably gives them a little bit it gives them a little bit of a breath and and that's good, you know. So who knows, maybe you know there's always the drum solo.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

Of course yeah right and then everybody gets a break.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Well share with the listeners what it's like to work with such a uh a a recognizable figure and you know some might call the forefather of of of shock rock like I mean no I don't think there's any I don't care what what genre of music you listen to at some point in time you know who Alice Cooper is right yeah and and what is that he's a forefather I think he's the godfather yeah there you go okay he's the the godfather of shock rock he he um just like it for me it's inspiring to learn from I still learn things from him every year um each and every year we do something that's kind of special so being associated with him and as close as we are like we play golf together I'm his golf guy that we go out each every morning so I've gotten to learn a lot about how to play golf and during those times that we're playing golf I get to hear the stories you know that sometimes don't make it into the interviews Alice has done like a thousand interviews and you probably heard a thousand stories but I get to hear some that never ever make it to the interviews and it it's pretty cool. And again just how you carry yourself how you how with business you kind of like do a lot of different things that's all centered around rock and roll and what your foundation is him being a touring rock and roll musician. But that allows him to to do so many other things whether it's his charity work or whether it's his work with the golfing and whether it's you know he's doing the radio show and whether he's doing all the different appearances it all sort of is sort of supported by the fact that he's still out there doing it each and every year. And you know we're like I said we're every single year that comes that we get to uh do it and go go out on this level it's just like it really is like you have to pinch yourself and say man this is what I wanted to do since I was a little kid so you know there ain't no complaining.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Sure. And you know what on my show it comes up a lot um because I have some old old school 80s guys that have you know 80s rock guys that have been on the show and we talk about relevancy, right? Uh you know when you're 60, 70 and you're still out 55, what whatever the age, right? I mean we're not 20 year olds anymore at the end of the day. And you're still out there and you're selling out theaters and and arenas and all of the things relevancy is everything and and I think that's a wonderful thing that he's that all all of you guys are still out there doing what you love to do at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

Well look at the end of the day I I still would love to make a paycheck and it's it's great work we you know when you can get it. Alice if you take a big step back doesn't have to do it he's he's made his mark he's got he's got enough of a catalog that he could live you know just one of those guys like Paul McCartney doesn't have to go out and and tour but he does it because he loves it and and and Alice loves it as well.

Ryan’s Touring Rig And Tone

SPEAKER_00 40:19

So we're happy to be along for the ride. That's great man well when you're on tour with Alice shifting gears a little bit what what does the rig look like at a high level for you? Do you travel light as a guitarist or or do you have tons of pedals and tons of guitars? Talk to the I guess let's shift for the gear heads just a little bit what does that rig the Alice Cooper rig look like uh for for Ryan after night for me I like to take a big assortment of guitars because I like the guitars and the aesthetics of the guitars to reflect the songs that are in the set.

SPEAKER_01 40:55

So I do a lot of guitar changes uh throughout the set and I do play them pretty hard so they do go out so it is important that we switch every you know one or two songs but I I basically love like classic guitars and then mixing in with some newer brands that I've been working with lately. So I have I have a classic the I call it the big six of the um the big six of the Gibsons you know the Les Paul is pretty much the the creme de la creme and then its little brother the SG and then its cousin 335 the Gibson 335 and then I've got both the V and the Explorer out as well and I think there's also a Firebird out there so that would be the six um I love it. I just love having those those classic ones and and then I play uh Rock and Roll Relics was his newer brand as well with the uh revenge guitars which is a really cool shape so I'm just always trying to look for certain new guitars that that had that have the classic sound of the old so that's with the get on the guitar end. On the amp end I've always been sort of a Marshall guy marshall esque and if I get things that sound like that I I I do have two rigs one's an analog rig and one's more of a modeling rig. So the the Kempers are something that you know the whole band experiments with and and has in their in their racks but they're not really huge because everything our stage setup is is so massive with set pieces there's no room for speaker cabinets. There really isn't so we we've all gotten used to in ears we're we're all kind of all tuned in our front of house guy too without having all that sound coming off the stage can really dial in the tones and dial in the separation. That's one thing that we get a lot at the sh at the uh for feedback is that um not feedback in a in a bad howling way feedback in like from audience uh response is that there's so much separation between our guitars and then when we solo our our uh FOH front house guy is able to like really crank the sounds and Ron does a great job at that um so it's it and and as far as effects I'm always picking up new little effects here and there I just started a collaboration with a company called Citadel and they have great um phasers and uh great uh great noise gate to be honest with you one of the best noise gates I've ever worked with at all and and um they have a bunch of uh boosting uh pedals as well sort of in an octaver pedal um we're actually working on a Ryan Roxy signature pedal that'll that'll hopefully combine two of my most functional and favorite uh effects that I feel are important in a uh in a guitar rig. So stay tuned for that. But Citadel has has been a good collaborator as of late and like I said between rock and roll relics and and some other new guitar companies that are that are coming out I'm I'm I'm always looking for something new that sounds old. How about that?

SPEAKER_00 44:07

That's super cool. I like that and I I I guess going back to the guitars a little bit and it is probably kind of like you know saying do you have a favorite kid but is there one is there a guitar that's a go-to for you like that that is that is the Ryan Roxy go-to guitar I know I know they all serve their own purpose I get it I'm a guitarist too but is there one like for me the SJ200 is my guitar right now right so I didn't know if there's one for you.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

If you talk to if you talk to my front of house guy he actually prefers out of all my guitars the rock and roll relics uh Roxy Revenge I have one in hot pink and I have one in That's uh it just sounds it's such a good sounding guitar. Um really easy to play. Um, if you ask me, as far as going old school and what my idols play and and what you know I was inspired to play from the beginning, there's two Les Pauls that I really love and that I own. I own a 72 gold top and a 79 uh cherry burst. And the gold top was just I call it my first girlfriend. I bought it in Los Angeles when I first moved down there as a kid. I traded like like probably seven guitars for one guitar at Guitars R Us, but it was I still have it to this day. You know, it's all checked and cracked and and and you know, reliced naturally, or not just from our own. It probably has so much blood, sweat, tears, and beer all soaked in that gives it its its tone. And then the the cherry burst, which was a huge um influence for me, was Ace Fraley. I I just think of him playing that cherry burst, and I finally was able to find one. I found the ultimate American guitar of all places in Moscow, Russia, and so I had to buy it. And so those two I just I just love the Les Paul as well, you know. I and and I'm still young enough in a sense where I it doesn't hurt my back too much. Yeah, and these act actually happen to be, you know, more on the lighter side.

SPEAKER_00 46:15

So between the rock and roll relics and the Gibbsons, I'm covered. That's cool, man. Well, the cherry one you were saying, it kind of reminded you of of Ace Fraley. And when you when you said a 72 gold top, I you know, the first person you kind of think of there is Slash, right? I mean Slash, you know, his his persona is synonymous with that gold top, Les Paul, right? Is that uh is that around the s the same year model as yours, or do you even have it?

SPEAKER_01 46:39

I'm not sure. I mean Sash's like appetite, you know, for destruction wasn't even a a Gibson. It was actually it was it was a uh it was a great you know knockoff, but that that actual first one was was actually built by someone else. Okay, and uh interesting. And it sounded and it sounds great, you know. Um and that was I I have uh uh basically a nice no-burst type of uh Les Paul like that as well. But again, the the the different shapes that Gibson has put out because they're so classic just reminds me of different eras. So when we're playing whether it's poison or feed my Frankenstein or one of the more 80s types of of Alice Cooper songs, um I'll usually go for either the explore or the find V for one of those and drop D uh tuning, if we go down to Brutal Planet or something, you can easily do that with a with an explore type shape and stuff. So again, a lot of times the shape dictates the the um the the song. And um and of course the original Alice Cooper band, they both played SGs, so it looks pretty cool when Tommy and I both play uh Gibson SGs side by side because it harkens back to the originals. Paying homage, that's right.

Songwriting On Acoustic And Solo Music

SPEAKER_00 48:00

Well, always paying homage. That's right. Do you um do you have a love for the acoustic guitar? I'm sure you have love for all guitars, but do you find yourself sitting around and playing the acoustic guitar? Are you that guy, or not ever?

SPEAKER_01 48:14

I found myself lately, as of late, I was talking earlier about you know learning how to play with the right hand a lot better with the finger picking style stuff. Um, acoustics have always been my go-to in songwriting. If you can if you can write the idea on an acoustic and then translate it over to an electric, I think you got yourself, you know, a good song. Absolutely. And uh for me, I've got two of the best acoustics now. Um always wanted a Martin, and I finally got a Martin just la in the last couple of years. So, and then um my Gibson hummingbird is pretty much the main get songwriting guitar that I've had and the main acoustic guitar that I have when I do Troubadour gigs. Because, you know, during the times that we're not on tour with Alice, um I try to do gigs on my own, and a lot of times it's it's just you and an acoustic guitar. And if you can translate your music like that, then that's great. And let's hope you have a good sounding uh acoustic and that hummingbird's been the go-to always.

SPEAKER_00 49:17

Yep. And that's a great segue, Ryan. You know, you you currently have a new, fairly new solo song out that came out, I guess, at the top of the year. Talk to the listeners about the song Fight Another Day.

SPEAKER_01 49:29

Cool. Yeah, well, Fight Another Day is the newest. Um, I say I put two songs out um lately. One was called Better Than You, and that sort of dovetails in with this new song called Fight Another Day. They're both a little bit of like an indie rock vibe, but they also have more of a classic rock, Fight Another Day, has this classic, I don't know, you could say a stonesy type of uh stones meets T-Rex. Um our our video uh producer that that put together the video made a um an eight-bit video game uh style video for it. So, like whether it's Mario Brothers or Donkey Kong, that sort of thing, made myself into an avatar, which is really cool. And the object of the game in the video is for me to make it up on stage without uh getting run over by the security guards, which we call the big Ragu security guards. So we we interspice that with live footage from um the musicians that helped out on this song, and like I said, it became a very international type of uh thing with putting together Fight Another Day. We had myself recording the vocals and the guitars down in South Africa. We had our the drummer Trent Tekken, really great drummer, uh recording the drums in uh Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had Keith Weir um from Black Eyed Sons playing the keyboards from London, I believe, or some in the in the UK area. We had and we had Bridget West who guest vocal on it. She played in a band uh back in back a few years ago called the New York Loose. Great vocalist. I needed some sort of that stonesy nice background vocals. She guessed it on that, sent her tracks all the way up to Canada. Everybody sent their tracks to Canada. It was mixed and uh by Robbie Miller, who did a great job. Matt Marzola mastered it, and you know, now it's out there. It's out on Spotify, it's out on all the streaming platforms. And if you really want to do it yourself, do me a favor, go check it out on YouTube and uh hopefully you'll dig the video as well. But all those links to hear the new song Fight Another Day are on RyanRoxy.com.

SPEAKER_00 51:51

Yeah, and that can also, yeah, on the official YouTube site, Ryan Roxy actually. So check it, check it out there. What inspired the song, Ryan? Where where did the where did the idea come from?

SPEAKER_01 52:02

With Fight Another Day, it's it's I I have this thing called uh the three Ps. This is sort of advice I give out. Practice, persistence, and patience. Those are really important for to to to get across to people because you know they're just three easy things to remember, but they'll help you in with whatever goal you're you have set for yourself. And the thing with fight another day is look as long as you do something towards that goal, you know, just you can always just take a rest, celebrate the win of the day, and live to fight another day. And you and you'll be able to kick that door down maybe the next day.

SPEAKER_00 52:43

But uh that's where it kind of came in. Oh, that's great advice. And it and it's uh it it kind of it's like the idea of taking a boulder. It's it's hard to move a boulder, but if you break that boulder down into rocks and then ultimately into grains of sand, it's easier to learn it, right? So kind of the same the same mindset. Well, you have solo music, man, that dates back to what 20 2018 on Spotify, I believe. And it's even before that, yeah. So, yeah. So I wanted to ask you, yeah, how much time do you spend writing material for yourself versus that of doing Alice stuff, right? Like learning new songs or or perfecting things. Like what how much time is Ryan Roxy time for your solo stuff?

SPEAKER_01 53:28

I don't really have any sort of set, like, okay, now I have to work on this. Not I with whatever is inspiring me at the moment, that's when I'll I'll put the time into. And sometimes it's it's maybe not the best use of time, but I'll spend like an you know, like I'll spend like a three or four hours learning the uh acoustic beginning to um heart uh crazy on you, you know, that that beautiful uh you know Nancy Wilson acoustic you know intro where I should, you know, maybe I should have actually been working on my own songs, but but that inspired me at that point. So you so I I I found the best thing to always have is have your phone, your voice memos on because you never know when that song idea is gonna come around, and um you never know when you're going to get inspired by whether it's a lyric, a melody, or maybe even a guitar riff. There's been many times where I've hummed a guitar riff into the phone and then went back home and um played it and transposed it and and actually got a song out of it.

In The Trenches Podcast And System 12

SPEAKER_00 54:32

Sure. Well, you you gave me a visual there. I'm I'm I'm I I love Nancy Wilson. I I I envision Nancy Wilson playing that opening on that Martin guitar and then the leg to go into the like it it never leaves the brain, man. It's kind of it's kind of ingrained in there. Well, outside of solo music, uh, what other projects do you have going on that that you'd like to talk about that uh would be of interest to the uh my listeners at Backstage Pass Radio, right?

SPEAKER_01 55:01

Well, if anybody wants to find out more about me, I have a few things going on. All the links and stuff are at RyanRoxy.com, but I have a podcast called the In the Trenches Podcast, which um I've been able to interview a bunch of people, a bunch of uh musicians, a bunch of um comedians, uh personalities, some philosophers actually, um just some intellectuals. And um so go check that out. We've had guests all the way from you know the the guitarists from Elton John to Jordan Peterson to Doug Stanhope, who's one of my favorite stand-up comedians of all time. So I I I've been able to interview a lot of people that have inspired me. Um you know, a lot of my own favorite guitar players. For one of them is uh Steve Stevens from the Billy Idol band, had a really good talk with him. And um, so I think the podcast is something if you want to check out, it's cool. Um, if you're thinking about learning guitar yourself, I also have a guitar system called the System 12 guitar method. And it's basically a 12-lesson course where you learn in 12 lessons all the basic fundamentals of playing guitar. Um, I want to teach it to you the right way, give you all my shortcuts before you go down that YouTube rabbit hole because at least you'll have a little bit of knowledge. What happens with a lot of people that want to learn how to play guitar is that they um try to take a little bit more, they bite off a little bit more than they can chew, and then they end up getting frustrated by it. And I don't want you to get frustrated by it because again, I told you there's only 12 notes in Western music. So seven whole notes with their sharps and flats. If you can remember that and you can memorize that and where they are, not even on all the six strings, and you can just do it on the sixth string and the fifth string, the names of each one. I can teach you how to play power chords. Then once I teach you how to play power chords, I can teach you how to play any song that's ever been written. So my my I think go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 56:57

No, I was gonna say, I think you would agree with me, Ryan, that you know, it guitar playing is gonna be a journey for those listening to this podcast. You're you're not you're not gonna learn it overnight, it doesn't happen overnight. And and and I think most players get to that point where the fingers start to blister and they check out, right? And that's like you got like Steve Miller said years ago, you got to go through hell before you get to heaven, right? Uh and I and I think that you would you concur with that as a guitar player, like you got to put in the work. There's no shortcuts to uh to becoming a a good or a great player. And you you just have to be prepared to go on that journey. And it's not an overnight journey, right? And it's not the same thing. You gotta break it up.

SPEAKER_01 57:41

Yep. Again, break it up because you don't have to. I'm not saying that you have to practice till your fingers bleed. You really don't. You can put in just a finite amount of time each and every day. The the important thing is that you put that time in each and every day. Put that 15 to 20 minutes a day into learning something new, whether it's a new riff, maybe a new chord, maybe a some ear training. And the collective over time is going to be you know how to play music.

SPEAKER_00 58:11

100%. When did you spin up in the trenches? How how long has it been uh out there in the in the started, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:18

We started in in the dark times during COVID, and uh we were able to do a you know, easily pack a bunch of shows in uh at a short amount of time. But we've been doing it sporadically as as the touring schedule got busier and busier, we not able to do as many episodes as I'd like, but we're still trying to get people each and every you know few months to get it to tell their story. And for people that I'm interested in that that that I think would be interested, uh interesting to to the people that follow me, um, go check it out. I mean, like I said, we're we're what we're we're in well into like 150 episodes. There's gonna be someone there that uh a lot of people, more than just someone, but uh a lot of people hopefully that inspire you and uh tell some great stories.

SPEAKER_00 59:06

Well, the interesting thing there is that you and I are about 150, 160 deep, both of us. I started mine up in 21 and it's heard in like 143 countries now, and uh it's I I love it. It's it's almost as enjoyable as playing live shows. And I cut the live shows way back just so I could, you know, put more into the podcast. And I wanted to ask you, is podcasting enjoyable to you, or is it kind of like this thing you just felt like you needed to do?

SPEAKER_01 59:36

Like, do you really I won't do it, yeah. It's it because it is it's certainly not a huge money maker. It's it's it's uh you're doing it to like inspire, and you're doing it because you're interested yourself. So if I ever get to the point where it's not fun to do, I probably won't do it. And uh, but but but I do like talking to the people because there's they are every single person has something that enlightens you. And it that goes not with just with people that you interview in podcasts and stories, it goes with every single player that you ever play with. You know, you can learn something from someone that seemingly has way less experience than you. If you're gonna they're gonna look at the guitar, they're gonna look at the playing, they're gonna look at something about your instrument that you don't look at the same way at and will hopefully open a door, open, maybe spark an idea. So always keep your um keep your eyes and your ears open for new inspiration.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:29

Yeah, 100%. I I agree with that. And where where can the listeners find the podcast? I'm assuming it's all on all of the major streams, right? iHeartRadio, YouTube.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:39

Yeah, yeah, it's it's it's on it's it's on Apple podcast as well, um, Spotify. Um, but you the the place to go see everything is uh RyanRoxy.com. Yeah, because we have the podcast there, we have you know our system 12 there. If if you want to go really inside the the Ryan Roxy uh sort of rabbit hole, if you will, uh you can you can become an all accessor. And that's where I have um I have a private Instagram page and I post up a bunch of different you know content that I don't put on my private because it's it's just more day-to-day. If you really want to know what happens day to day in my tour schedule, my tour cycle, uh, become an all-accessor. And um I can, you know, I'll show you what it's like on the tour bus, what it's like in the dressing room, what it's like at soundcheck, what it's like in the, you know, not all the hotel rooms are are are are yeah, backstage, after show, pre-show, post-show. I do live streams, all that's all that's sort of in our own little circular group. And we're and we're in we're not a huge group. That's so that's that's what makes it seem like I, you know, I get to know everybody that's an all accessor. And then, you know, the public, uh they all uh they they can always be part of that as well. But if you want to go a little bit more hardcore into uh the touring world and the tour life of Ryan Roxy, uh become an all accessor. Again, all that's all that's on my website.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:06

Awesome. So you got the Instagram, you're out there on Facebook, all all of all of the major platforms. And uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:13

I think I even have a MySpace.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:16

Okay, okay. Now you're dating yourself a little bit, but I'm pretty sure I don't have a MySpace, but I'll bet it's somewhere. I'll bet you there's an archive version somewhere. Yeah, I can tell you that I had one. I don't know if it's still out in the ether somewhere, but I had one myself back in the day, right? Well, Ryan, listen, man, it's this has been super cool. I really appreciate you uh spending the time with me this afternoon. I know we we've had a lot of back and forth, and uh thanks for sticking with me. And the scheduling always seems to be the hardest part for some reason. Um, but but I appreciate you being here. Yeah, man. And you guys uh you guys break a leg, and I wish you nothing but the best uh in the years to come and uh out on the road on this couple of tours that you're you're doing with Alice and then the Chris Angel shows. We'll be on the lookout for that stuff. Um Thanks for carrying the torch of rock and roll and spreading the Roxy word. I really do appreciate that. You know, I saw I a lot of people said, Why did you even start the podcast? And I said, you know what? It was never for me, it was never for I had money, money never crossed my mind. It was for two reasons. Because I'm a rock and roll junkie. I I love the backstories, the the stories of the road, the liner notes, all of the things. And it was a platform to being a local musician here in Houston, you know, just a platform to give to my peers and my fellow musicians to talk about their music and what they're doing and what they have coming out. And and it's spun into having, you know, world-renowned musicians like yourself on the show. And it that's really it. I mean, it was never, it was for the love of music at the end of the day, right? And I think I think it comes across sincere when a musician is talking to another musician, right? We get it. Absolutely. I'm not I'm not doing it for a living per se, but I go out and I'm a professional musician. I get paid to play music, but I don't take it to that level. I have the nine to five job that I go to every day, right? But it's for the love of the music at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:18

The end of the day, Randy, you did this podcast for moments like this.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:22

That's it, man. That's that's exactly it. Well, again, thanks for being here. I asked the listeners to like, share, and subscribe to the podcast on Facebook at Backstage Pass Radio Podcast, on Instagram at BackstagePassRadio, and on the website at BackstagePassradio.com. You guys remember to take care of yourselves and each other, and we'll see you right back here on the next episode of Backstage Pass Radio.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:46

Thank you for tuning into this episode of Backstage Pass Radio. Backstage Pass Radio. We hope you enjoyed this episode and gained some new insights into the world of music. Backstage Pass Radio is heard in over 80 countries, and the streams continue to grow each week. If you loved what you heard, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave reviews on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback means the world to us and helps us bring you even more amazing content. So join us next time for another deep dive into the stories and sounds that shape our musical landscape. Until then, keep listening, keep exploring, and keep the passion of music alive.