Garrett Russell of Silent Planet joins us today to tell the story of their terrible Wyoming van accident, how it has impacted his thinking and and how his spiritual beliefs have continued to change and evolve.

Chris Conley is nothing if not original. His ability and willingness to listen to and follow an inner voice led him to an early arrival into the all-ages music scene with great influence. Saves The Day continued to evolve musically and did not get stuck in a certain sound even though commercial success would have wanted just that.

Silverstein is in the club of bands that are true workhorses - continuously active year after year while racking up new achievements. They seem to benefit greatly from being able to self-manage, adapt, engage in long range decision making, while always trying new things. They have played over 2500 shows and have over a million monthly listeners on Spotify.

What's most intriguing about Chad is that he is an incredibly efficient, high-level, high-energy problem solver. He fits a pattern that we see over and over again in this world of kids who come from families with engineering and technical talent and use this to power high level creativity and art. chad's ability to lead creative teams and react and improvise is what leads to the aesthetic and musical excellence that Kings Kaleidoscope is known for.

Reese Roper is simply a legend. Five Iron Frenzy (FIF) was one of the first Christian bands truly existing in both the Christian and mainstream space. In the late 90s during the ska explosion, they achieved real commercial success, made a bold choice to stay on a small independent label, and were delivering absolutely scorching lyrics that were full of questions and critique - lyrics that challenged the existing cultural structures.

JT Woodruff is one of the most intentional and efficient leaders and operators in the history of the scene. His band Hawthorne Heights has had absolutely huge ups and downs. Ups like their first 2 records going gold and creating one of the most iconic emo songs ever, Ohio Is For Lovers, which has almost 100 million Spotify plays. The downs include a lengthy, costly lawsuit with their label as well as the death of a best friend and bandmate, Casey Calvert, in 2007.

Mayday Parade is an incredibly well-balanced group of guys. Balanced in a way that equates to functioning well as a healthy team in a high output, low drama, great to be around way.

Jason Dunn started Hawk Nelson in 2000 with his pals northeast of Ontario like thousands of other aspiring garage bands who just loved to make noise. A connection with Trevor McNevan towed them in to ride the wave of pop punk right into the height of Tooth & Nail’s dominance.

The mind of Brandon Ebel is quite a unique thing. He has an ability to rapidly shift his perspectives to analyze things at multiple levels, and has a strong bias toward action and a incredible eye for talent of all kinds. He seems to be all over the place but a better description might be that he has a laser focus and intensity that is consistent on a different horizon that perhaps only he understands.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus hit the national stage right in the pocket of time where the mainstream was taking notice of what our scene was up to. This was partially due to the unique character of Ronnie Winter, who was able to break in and ride that wave and create opportunity for himself in a way that maybe only he could.

Trey Celaya has traveled an interesting path to find himself in the unique position of being a member of 2 metal-core bands that are both in their stride.

For Today is a particularly interesting band because they were one of the most outspoken Christian bands ever, but, instead of trying to carefully walk the line between Christian and secular, they just went hard musically AND lyrically. 

Sent By Ravens lived together in a trailer in South Carolina and built a reputation for a killer live show. Although their time in the scene was short, they left a real mark with genuine music that still connects with many people today.

Capital Lights came along in the peak of Tooth & Nail’s power and influence. Oddly, in this period there there are many bands who seemed to have everything going for them and were musically outstanding, yet their full potential was never realized.

Matt and Devin got the chance to preview the 2023 Furnace Fest lineup and have Chad Johnson and Johnny Grimes join the show so we could all react to it together.

Matt Baird of Spoken has been walking the line between club shows and church shows since the late 90's. He’s seen it all and remained steady with both his interests and convictions since day one. I have a ton of respect for creators that can find a way to do what they love long-term, but it’s quite rare.