← Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
"takin ' a walk" introduces you to Adam Reader-The Professor of Rock
00:07:14
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- [00:01]
A
Taking a walk. So this is Buzz Knight here. I host the Taking a Walk podcast. And one of the things I love being able to do is to find podcasts or YouTube channels that are doing amazing things you in the audience might like to check out. And there's one that I recently have discovered that's been toiling away on YouTube and building massive audience there. And, and it's called the professor of Rock. And I'm here to speak to the professor of Rock, Adam Reader, right now. Hello, Adam. How are you?
- [00:38]
B
Good, how are you?
- [00:39]
A
I'm doing awesome, thank you. And the cool part about what you've built on your YouTube channel, the professor of Rock YouTube channel, is it is now turned into a podcast for everybody to consume. Part of the the Gamut network, which is run by the fine folks at Hubb and Hubbard, has connected us. So we're able to kind of do this little, little segment here. So. So for those that don't know what you have built and what you do on the professor of Rock channel and now the professor of Rock podcast, tell us what it's all about.
- [01:22]
B
Yeah, so the podcast is really, really. The YouTube channel is a podcast. A little bit different, you know, because it is a podcast. But. But I've really told the story over the last 10 years of the greatest artists and greatest songs in history. Mostly focused on classic rock, but I focused really on all music, rock, pop and soul, from really from the the 50s to now. And mostly focused, you know, 60s, 70s and 80s, but also into the 90s and newer stuff. And I've interviewed, had the opportunity to interview, I think we're 800 and something artists now. In fact, I have an interview later today with Bill Sismic, the producer of many of the Eagles finest albums. And it's been just an incredible opportunity to spend, you know, couple hours with my heroes that my dad introduced me to their music when I was a kid. And that's, that's really where this all spawned from. Buzz is. My father and I, you know, we had a relationship was here and there. It was volatile. I guess when I was growing up, when I was a teenager, we were kind of butting heads, but the, the two things we had in common were baseball and music, especially music. And he raised me on rock and roll. He loved the Beatles, he loved Motown, he loved Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crosby, Stills and Nash, all that stuff. And so, you know, he was a painting contractor and he would drive around, I'd drive around with him in his old Ford pickup and, you know, he would do different jobs around. Grew up in a small town in Idaho, the potato capital of the world, actually, Blackfoot, Idaho. And in that small town, my window to the world was music. It was, you know, first it was listening to the top 40 countdown with Casey Kasem every. Every week. Didn't miss a week. Wrote them all down in my notebook. And then, you know, mtv, once we got it later on, we were a little behind the times there in a small town. But really, my dad turned me on to it and to vinyl in eight tracks. And that's how I learned about music. He. But he also loved Zeppelin and Sabbath and he loved some of the heavier bands in the 70s. And so, you know, one of my favorite stories to tell is there was a kid on the playground that was kind of picking on me, saying, you know, my dad could beat up your dad. And I said, well, my dad listens to Led Zeppelin and your dad listens to Conway Twitty. So, you know. Right. And so my dad raised me on Zeppelin and. And all that good stuff. And he told me his stories behind the songs, the stories that he knew. And, man, it just fascinated me. And so I would go and study these artists and these stories and. And I now ask them about these things. But the thing that fascinated me the most was that my dad told me stories about his connection to the songs, his memories. And I would get a look into his life, him growing up, who he was when he was my age. And, you know, he passed away about six years ago. And, man, that music, that means more and more every day to me because of the memories that I share with my dad. And they've just become magical memories because of that connection with him. And so I feel like, in a way, I'm keeping his spirit alive and keeping the music alive and introducing it, hopefully, to new audiences. My kids, I've raised them on radio, as I say, raised on radio, raised on the oldies, but goodies. And so that's essentially what this is, the story of rock and roll, song by song. I wanted to tell those stories from the artist perspective, but also share some of my personal memories and my dad's memories and. And then have other. The viewers I'm really standing for, the fan. You know, I just. If Alice Cooper's tour bus broke down in front of your house and he didn't have cell service, what would you ask him if you had him in. In your front room for an hour? And that is how I've always approached every interview. And. And so that. That's essentially the goal and and, and what I've always tried to do.
- [05:32]
A
I love that that's at the heart of what I certainly believe with the, the Taking a Walk podcast, being able to get to the heart of the music, what it means to us and keeping those stories alive. So I urge the audience to check out the professor of Rock and you could find it everywhere you get your podcast and also check out the professor of rock on the YouTube channel. And I know you also have a lot of behind the scenes stuff available for subscribers further. Do you want to just talk about that a little bit?
- [06:05]
B
Yeah. So, so we do. We have. I actually do a live stream every week with somebody outside of music athletes. I'm actually going to be interviewing Nomar Garcia para, you know, former shortstop for the Red Sox and the Dodgers and, and many other teams. But yeah, that's an example. CEOs from large companies. Brandon Fugal, who has the Skinwalker Ranch, the TV show. And, and I like to interview them because they share their perspective on music and how it shaped their life. Because obviously in sports, in entertainment, in business, music is such a huge part of that as well. And then of course I share outtakes from interviews, things that you won't see anywhere else. And sometimes I ask some, some questions outside of the interview as the interview is beginning or is this ending? And I share a lot of that. And so it's insight that you wouldn't find on, on YouTube or, or the podcast necessarily.
- [07:10]
A
Thanks, Adam. And I urge the audience to check out the professor of Rock.