Sean Michael Dargan Trio is Live From The Madcity on Max Ink Radio

shop local eat local listen local. This is maxing radio. We are local music. Welcome back to

maxing radio. My name is rocker here with Jane in the control room. I sure am. And we are here for

part two double dip in for live from the mad city on maxing radio tonight. Sean Michael

Dargen trio. Sean Michael Dargen is almost too tall standing six feet four inches in his favorite

black and white saddle shoes. And on a good day, he writes and plays pop rock in the vein of

Nick Glow, Elvis Costello, Amy Mann and the gin blossoms guitar and voice are his main instruments.

But if you're not nice, he'll go out and play some bagpipes. Luckily, we have high

ceilings in the maxing radio studio. Yeah, I could hardly fit in through the door. And Sean

Michael Dargen trio is live from the mad city on maxing radio. Sean Bill Joe. Welcome back to

maxing radio. Thanks, rocker. Thanks for having us. Thank you. Get out of your cavern there.

Sean Bill Joe. Welcome back to maxing radio. Thanks for having us, rocker.

And you know, what is something people will never know unless they are six foot four?

Oh, man, it's just so much easier to play basketball at my height.

Get those rebounds. The rebounds just come right to you.

Do you ever have problems with people like concerts who are like,

dude, sit down. Well, I will tell you this at my at my current age, I am starting to shrink.

Oh, no. Gravity, you know, it's not just a good idea as the law. Sean, you mentor the student

music bookers at the Memorial Union. You front your own band as well. Beatles Truby band called

Madison Mystery Tour. But how did you get started in music? What's your backstory?

Yeah, man, I started playing my first instrument when I was about four and that was the Highland

Bagpipes. Wow. Yeah, my dad was the bass drummer and a band in Panama where I was born and down

in, you know, in Central America. Yep. And we lived in the canal zone and he was the bass drummer

of Bagpipe on there. And then we moved to Philadelphia. Actually, we moved to Okinawa, Japan first.

But then eventually we ended up in Philadelphia and I'm about four. And I was so drawn to what they

were doing. The big, you know, men and skirts and big, loud screaming curling bagpipes. It was

super intriguing to me. And so I would march along with my dad's band and eventually they made me

a little kilt. My mom did and I had a little tiny set of toy bagpipes and I was kind of their

mascot at first. Wow. And then I started studying with, I basically, I learned kind of the Suzuki

method. I just like stood there next to them and listened and watched and imitated what they were

doing and it kind of sunk in. I started studying with a really great piper when I was seven. Wow.

And got really good, really fast. And so yeah, I was playing bagpipes literally for 50 years.

I think you're the only person I've ever interviewed that bagpipes was their first instrument.

Last. I've never heard of it before. Well, that's pretty cool. Yeah, I didn't get a guitar

until I was 14. Really? And was that then your second instrument? That's what you? Yeah. I mean,

I took some piano lessons just to try to get music theories somewhere under, I mean, I had bagpipe

music theory, but it's kind of a different ballgame. Bagpipe music theory. Let me think about that

for a moment. That's pretty crazy. It is crazy. What is something about the bagpipes that like

you would never know unless you play? There are four reads in the instrument. Wow.

Four reads and we only have one mouth. So that's what the bag is for us to get the air to all the

different reads. Oh, wow. That's incredible. And you know, I've known ever since I've known you.

I've always seen you in a bow tie. Tell me about your love for bow ties. I just think they're

really cool. It didn't really serve me well in high school. I didn't have a lot of dates.

Maybe there are other reasons too. So you've been wearing this for a long time? Long, long time.

Wow. Yeah. I don't know if my dad gave me my first one. He did not wear a bow tie. He did

have a bow tie, but he wore like Bolo ties like the Southwestern style. Yeah. You know, I did a

lot of growing up in the DC area. And then we moved to Texas where my dad was from. And yeah,

so like, yeah, I started wearing bow ties in high school. And it was it was not successful.

Well, then that begs the question. Why do you keep working? I would glutton for punishment.

A glutton for punishment. Perfect. Now you were telling me, gosh, Okan, now all these different

places. How did you get to Madison? I met my lovely wife. And she, Jennifer lived in Madison.

I lived in Los Angeles at the time. And she moved out to LA because LA is really cool.

But we had an apartment. My apartment was about the size of that purple case right there.

And Jennifer had a house here in Madison. So we had we were about two weeks out there and we were

like, this is stupid. Wow. So we move back here. Yeah. Oh, that is awesome. Well, I'm glad you did.

Tell us about your day job as a mentor to the students who book music groups at the Memorial

Union. Sure. I'm the advisor to the Wood Music Committee, which is just one of 12 Wood

committees there. They do all sorts of things. Art, literature, music is the one that I'm in charge

of. And I work with a student director and a group of about a hundred students that changes

from year to year. Obviously, you know, senior graduate and freshman come in. But they're in charge

of finding music that they're interested in, reaching out to the agents, negotiating contracts,

and then helping the artists come and produce their shows. And I teach them how to do that.

Wow. That is such a great skill to learn in college. You wouldn't think you would.

Yeah. It is fairly unusual. Yeah. Well, let's get to live music from the Mad City with Sean

Michael Dargen Trio, presented by the Aaron Weber group. The first song that you have for us

night, it's called dazzle camouflage. Is that a wag the dog reference? It is the title track

of my latest record. And it is, it's something that happened. It's a vestige from World War One

when they were the allies were losing lots of ships. The submarine weren't there. And so they

came up with this concept. It was a, it was a, like a Dadaist artist who came up with the concept.

And he said, if you paint the battleships and these crazy, crazy designs, the submarines won't

be able to tell which direction they're going. And it worked. So that's called dazzle camouflage.

Oh, wow. And that's the title to your album. Indeed it is. And that is pretty cool.

Well, let's check it out. This is dazzle camouflage. The Sean Michael Dargen Trio,

live from the Mad City on Max Ink Radio.

Missed by a rise, eyes wide with invisible fears. If you will survive in your dazzle camouflage.

False-bow degree of confusion, false-bow opinion up the stern. The cost of you bathed in confusion.

All the costs for great concern. Head down, cover your ears. Stay alive through the endless

barrage, eyes wide with invisible fears. If you will survive in your dazzle camouflage.

Head down, cover your ears. Stay alive through the endless barrage, eyes wide with invisible fears.

If you will survive in your dazzle camouflage.

Nice dazzle camouflage. That is Sean Michael Dargentrio. Right here, live from the Man City on

Maxing Radio. Sean, you cited Nick Lo and Elvis Costello as influences. What do you think people

miss most about these artists and how do they influence you writing? Well, they're really old

at this point. They're not what I would call current artists at the moment. They are legacy artists,

but they're so good. They are timeless, though. Indeed. I would tend to agree with you, Jane.

I think PowerPop is a big important thing to me as it was and is to Nick Lo and Elvis Costello.

You know, really smart, snotty lyrics. Always have been very important to me.

And you know, like trying to get it done in three minutes, 30. I just make it tight. Maybe

even three minutes flat. Keep it tight and move on to the next tune, right? Yeah.

And as Nick Lo, like to say, we'll just, we'll bash it out now and we'll tart it up later.

I love it. Well, you are a huge Beatles fan and lead a tribute band, Madison Mystery Tour. Tell

us about your Beatles love band and the live shows. Sure. I mean, to be fair, I don't really

lead the band. I front the band. I'm the lead singer on much of the material. But I was started by

my friends and bandmates, a Veeve, Kamai, and Jeff Blakehorst. Bill Getshow is the drummer in that

band. I'm very, very fortunate to have Bill. And you know, I love the Beatles. They were the

first thing that really, really got my attention. I have a sister who's 11 years my senior and she

had a terrific record collection. And she let me borrow some records that she has yet to see back.

Those are some air quotes. Yeah. I don't, I don't know what I would have done without the Beatles.

They were just super important to me. And it's funny because I always thought I knew a lot about

the Beatles and I don't. I got into this band and I realized I don't know squat. Oh, really?

Yeah. The other four guys in the band are way, way, way smarter Beatles scholars than I am.

But I have a nice voice. So they let me sing. And you guys do some annual shows. Is that correct

at the Barrymore? We do. We play typically play one show, one big show, a year at the Barrymore

Theatre. And that's coming up actually May 2nd. That'll be fun. We do it with a 20 piece orchestra.

Wow. So it's, it's a big, big to do. I know my friend Dahie's in that orchestra.

Dahie is, in fact, often an orchestra, great fiddle player. Yeah. It's, it's really fun. I mean,

the, we don't dress up like the Beatles are put on fake out accents or any of that hogwash.

But we do try to play the records note for note. And of course, with the orchestra, it's easier

to do that as the catalog goes on. And I mean, everybody, there's, there's five of us in the principal

band. Like I said, Bill, myself, a Veeve and Jeff, he started the band and then Steve Morgan is

our bass player, primarily our bass player. We all kind of switch around on instruments from time

to time. But in those, those five, those five, those four guys, plus me, we have a lot of fun

playing. It's, it's great. And then is the, is the show themed? Like you kind of pick a different theme

each year? We do. I mean, for the longest time, we were just playing every album on its 50th

anniversary. Yeah. And then we ran out of albums as you will. Right. So then someone suggested,

well, we'd just play them on their 60th anniversary. And we decided that was a bad idea. So, so we

since have gone to a little bit more specific types of themes, well, we did the, we did like the

red album one year, we did the blue album the next year. This year, we're doing just the singles,

you know, all the singles A sides and B sides that were released, not all of them, but most of them.

Yeah, right. It would be a very, very, very, very, very long show. Yeah, I know. I went to the

let it be one and the like the revolver rubber soul one. Well, thanks for coming, Jan. Yeah.

Those are great. Wow. I want to get out to one of these shows. Yeah, please do. A lot of fun.

Yeah, we'll get you there. Well, let's get back to live music from the man city with Sean

Michael Dargan Trio, presented by the Aaron Weber group, the next song that you have for us tonight.

It's called The One Ied Man Is King. What is it that the other eye cannot see?

Well, you know, this song is ostensibly about a guy who, you know, he, he, he, he fancies himself

as the king because he's, you know, he's got one eye and he's in the land of the blind.

So the, the One Ied Man Is King in the land of the blind. Well, when he figures out his,

he can't see anything. So he's, he's, he's not the king.

Excellent. Well, let's check it out. The One Ied Man, this is the Sean Michael Dargan Trio,

live from the man city on Maxine Credio.

It wasn't very good, but give yourself some grace. You didn't trip and fall.

You won the race. So misunderstood. And ever out of place. Try with all your mind.

In the land of the blind. The One Ied Man Is King. I look around, but I don't see anything.

Coming from behind. And hardly in full swing. I look around, but I don't see anything.

It wasn't very good, but somehow still the best. The secrets just stay standing.

Outlast to rest. So misunderstood. Never pass the test. Hiding from the line.

In the land of the blind. The One Ied Man Is King. I look around, but I don't see anything.

Coming from behind. And hardly in full swing.

So misunderstood. The One Ied Man Is King.

In the land of the blind. The One Ied Man Is King. I look around, but I don't see anything.

Coming from behind. And hardly in full swing.

I look around, but I don't see anything.

I look around, but I don't see anything.

Coming from behind. And hardly in full swing.

I look around, but I don't see anything.

What Ied Man Is King looks around, but he doesn't see anything.

That's great lyrics. I like that song. That's a good song.

Thanks, Rocker.

Live from the Mad City. It's a Sean Michael Dargan trio.

Live from the Mad City part two.

Part two. We're double dip in tonight.

Special thanks to Katie Scullin for coming in earlier tonight.

Oh, yeah. What a great performance she had.

Sean, the songs you're playing tonight,

they're from your last album, Dazzle camouflage.

And it was released last summer. Tell us about that album.

Sure. This record, I'm really happy with.

We recorded this one in my studio at my house.

Oh, really? Yeah.

And then I had my friend Andy LaValley mix it.

Andy of Bare Sound here in Madison.

Terrific, terrific mixer.

And Joe and Bill just killed it like usual.

They've played on my last three albums.

And I just couldn't be more fortunate than to have those two guys.

How many albums do you have?

That was my eighth.

Eight thousand. Wow. That's that's quite a prolific

catalog. Thanks, man.

Well, tell us about Dazzle camouflage.

You know, it was self recorded.

Did you use it producer?

I produced it myself. Yeah.

So my very best friend in the whole wide world

that I was a band mate with in college,

guided by the name of Chris Bonner.

Lives out in Washington DC.

He's sort of my set of years from afar.

He's very objective and brutally honest.

And so he's my co-producer in the last four records,

five records, actually.

And just really helpful.

And also he and I have co-written some songs.

We wrote a song together on the last record.

We played it for you when we were here last time.

Oh, yes.

Yeah, a song called Got No Questions.

And then there's another tune that Chris wrote

back in college called Before the War

that he doesn't play anymore, but we still play.

And just a great song.

So yeah, so Chris and I worked together.

Now do you have anything on on vinyl?

We always ask.

That's a great question.

It's absolutely at the very top of my punch bucket list.

And it's going to be this record or the last record

or the next record or maybe all three.

All right.

Well, you know, we have a record manufacturing company

right here in that.

We sure do.

Super duper.

Yeah.

And in the poodle.

I mean, the actual, uh, uh, we'll now

forgetting it.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I intercept.

I intercepted.

Yeah, you intercepted it.

The Waxie Poodle.

The Waxie Poodle.

The Waxie Poodle is here in Madison.

They actually bought a manufacturing machine.

So they actually pressed their own records.

We're talking about that afterwards.

I know.

Uh, isn't that cool?

Yeah, super cool.

Where can we find your album online?

Um, so it's it's on all the streamers.

You know, it's on Spotify, Apple Music, The Orchard,

all that stuff.

I recommend Bandcamp.

It's my favorite for DIY independent releases.

Um, it's where you'll find lots of artists

who used to be on major labels that got dropped.

They put their records out on Bandcamp.

It's a really great service.

Well, let's learn a little bit about the band tonight

and start with the bassist, Joe Lamp.

Joe, how do you get your start in music?

And what's your next story?

Um, I would say uh, uh, what?

Go ahead.

I'm sorry.

Um, I was a flute player as a kid.

Wow.

My mom's Irish and she thought it'd be really good

if she had one of her kids play flute.

So it was me.

And uh, I joined a band in high school.

And um, there's only so many jethore tall covers you can play.

That's right.

So I had to learn another instrument.

So I learned guitar so I could play on the other songs.

And then after college, uh,

a friend of mine, his band needed a bass player.

So I just kind of sat in on bass.

And, uh, from there,

that was a band in Milwaukee called Happy Town.

And I did that for like five or six years.

Then I moved to Madison and started a cover band

called Super Tuesday.

Oh, sure.

Yep.

And I played in that for, I don't know, probably like

seven or eight years and then I had kids.

And that was 20 years ago and, uh, now I'm back playing again.

Well, it's great.

How did you join up with Sean Michael Dergin?

Um,

the original guys from Super Tuesday are Bill who's back here.

Another friend of ours called Dave Kradler.

And, um, we were looking for some opportunities.

And Sean met us and really wanted to do a Crowded House tribute show.

So we put together a tribute show and it's honored.

So good.

We kind of just kept playing.

Wow.

And then Sean asked Bill and I to sit in some recordings with them during COVID.

And then after that, we just kind of kept playing with them, I guess.

We never left.

That's awesome.

Thank goodness.

This is the first time where it, where so far,

the band instruments, their first instruments was bagpipes and flute.

Yes.

I can't wait to talk to the drummer and find out what his first instrument was.

Well, we'll, we'll catch him in a few minutes.

Well, let's get back to live music from the man city.

Was Sean Michael Dargan Trio presented by the Aaron Webber group.

The next song that you have for us tonight.

It's called The Ghost Has Left The Shell.

Where's the ghost headed?

Well, sadly, the ghost is, uh, the ghost is checking out.

This, um, I wrote this tune, uh, from my mom who, uh, passed away from, um,

complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Okay.

And, you know, she had dementia in the last three or four years of her life.

And she lived with, with me, um, I, you know, I took care of her until I couldn't anymore.

Right.

And so my experience of her to climb really led to the, the, the kernel of this song.

Another friend of mine who lost his dad in a similar way was, was telling me about how, um,

how his dad had become and he, it was his line what he had become sort of the librarian

and a library that used to be him.

And I was like, wow.

That's, that's, that's the line right there.

So I, that became the bridge of this tune.

So yeah, yeah.

So I, I write this, you know, I sing this for anyone who, uh, has experienced that with a

love one.

It's, it's a tough road to hell.

It sure is.

Wow.

Uh, what a great son you are.

The ghost has left the show.

This is the Shawn Michael Dargen Trio live from the Mad City on Maxing Radio.

When the new wings sadly watching as he waits.

The ghost has left the show.

Yet the show remains.

The ghost has left the show.

Yet the show remains.

You see, they're coming.

All these years so preordained.

The ghost has left the show.

Yet the show remains.

The ghost has left the show.

Yet the show remains.

He's now a librarian in the library that used to be him.

Follows gathered dust upon the show.

He's now a librarian in the library that used to be him.

Follows gathered dust upon the show.

Nothing lasts forever.

His sister re-explains.

The ghost has left the show.

Yet the show remains.

The ghost has left the show.

Yet the show remains.

The ghost has left the show.

Yet the show remains.

The ghost has left the show.

And while it's time for us to head on break,

we will be right back with the shard Michael Dargen Trio,

live from the mad city on Maxine Gradio.

We are local music.

Shop local, eat local, listen local.

This is Maxine Gradio.

We are local music.

Welcome back to Maxine Gradio.

My name is rocker here with Jane in the control room.

Here I am.

And we are back for the second part of live from the mad city on Maxine Gradio

with the shan Michael Dargen Trio.

Shan, tell us about playing backpipes.

I mean, does that make you dizzy?

Uh, yeah, you can, sure.

I mean, there's a lot of a lot of hair involved.

I mean, do you actually like you both do it right?

Yeah, you blow you blow into it.

It's like I said earlier, there's four reads, man.

And only one mouth.

So you're, you're constantly blowing.

Now, and now you said that you also wear a kill.

Of course.

They don't take you seriously playing pipes if you don't wear a kill.

Oh, we got to ask you to go commando.

It just depends on the gig, man.

Well, let's give the drummer some.

Bill Getshow, how did you get started playing music?

What's your backstory?

And I hope I got your last name right.

You did, in fact.

Yeah, thanks, rocker.

My backstory.

So I started taking piano lessons.

I'm probably the only, I'm definitely the only one of the three of us

who started on a, quote, normal instrument.

Yeah, so I took piano lessons.

And, but I kind of, you know, like Sean and like Joe too, I imagine.

The Beatles were very important to me growing up.

And I idolized Ringo Star.

And those were some of the first kind of drum parts

that I ever learned how to play.

And so I always knew I wanted to be a drummer, percussionist,

whatever descriptive word you want to use.

And so I played drums in the middle school band,

in the high school band, in the jazz ensemble.

And, you know, like a lot of other people.

And I graduated from high school and I decided that I didn't want to give up.

My instrument, or give up playing music,

like so many people that I knew did when they graduated.

You know, the band people are what, not.

They put their, their trumpet away and never to pick it up again.

And I thought, you know, I'm going to keep going.

And so I played in some bands in college.

And then I put it down for a while and didn't come back to it until I joined

Super Tuesday with, with Joe Lampy over there.

And was in that band for a few years until I had kids.

This is a common, common thread here.

And it took some time off.

And then my kids got a little older and didn't need quite so much,

you know, sort of direct 24-7 attention.

And so that was a good time for me to get back into it.

And so Joe and I got back together with our friend David.

And not long after that, we kind of got together with Sean.

And yeah, the rest is, as they say, history.

Not your kids played music.

Did you get your kids into music?

They both took piano lessons.

Our son, the oldest of the two, he is a guitar player.

And I dabble in guitar.

I play guitar well enough sort of to accompany myself singing.

But at a certain point, you realize when your kid is actually better at your instrument

or better at the instrument than you are, he definitely surpassed me by the time he was a teenager.

So anyway, he's a guitar player.

He has played on stage with the Beatle band a couple of times.

Oh, really?

Which is super fun.

Oh, that's got to be fun.

Yeah.

To involve him like that.

Yeah.

And you said you play other instruments?

Did you move on from drums?

No, it was sort of simultaneous.

I mean, I've always been kind of, I have a lot of, a lot of interests.

And so I want to try everything.

And so I, I played, I picked up guitar in middle school,

you know, in a sixth grade music class.

Thank you, Mrs. Calshire.

That was awesome.

And, and kind of, kind of took to it.

I didn't sort of, it didn't become my main instrument,

but it was always kind of something that I could, you know,

it was nice to have that as well as the drums.

I could kind of come at it from, you know, come at this music thing from different,

from different angles, played the bass guitar for a little while.

I actually sat in for Joe a couple of times when he had breaks from Super Tuesday.

Who played drums then?

Uh, so there was a different drummer in the band by then.

This is a long story after I left.

Shane was the drummer, Joe was the bass player,

and then Joe was on paternity leave.

And so I played a couple of shows while he was out.

Wow.

Yeah.

So anyway, yeah.

So I, I, I kind of, I play well enough on all these things.

I can kind of pick up an instrument and make, make noise.

I wouldn't say that I'm proficient.

I would say that drums are definitely my, my main thing.

And what's one thing from Ringo that you really incorporate into your drums?

I mean, I like to think that, um, I mean, the thing,

the thing that impressed me the most about Ringo was his,

number one, his feel and just his ability to kind of just sit in the pocket of a song.

And then the other thing was his creativity in, in creating parts.

And so, um, you know, you listen to those, those Beatles songs and, um,

uh, they're all, he, the part that he plays for each song is just absolutely perfect for that song.

And, and, uh, none of them are exactly the same.

So, um, I like to think that I kind of took, you know,

took some of those things away from, from him.

Yeah.

Nice.

Well, let's get back to live music from the Mad City with the Sean Michael Dargen Trio

presented by the Aaron Weber group.

The next song that you have for us tonight, it's called Spring Dance at the St. Thomas More.

Talk about this song before you play.

Sure.

Uh, I went to Catholic school, uh, for grade school and was headed into Catholic high school

when we moved from Washington DC to Amarillo, Texas.

So, if I say there was not a big Catholic high school scene in Amarillo, Texas,

like there had been in Washington DC.

But, yeah, the Catholic school upbringing, it's, it's never far from my mind,

because, you know, the nuns they beat it into you.

And, um, oh, my.

And, you know, I just had these, I had, I have these indelible memories of being at a dance.

I did not go to St. Thomas More.

I have some friends who did.

I went to St. Camille's, but Camille's didn't rhyme with anything.

I needed it too.

So, I borrowed the other one.

Yeah, one of the times with that.

Yeah, not much.

So, um, yeah.

So, this is just, this was like, basically my, uh, seventh grade year encapsulated in three

minutes and 15 seconds.

Perfect.

Oh, let's, let's check it out.

This is Spring Dance at the St. Thomas More,

Charm Michael Durgan Trio, live from the Man City on Maxing Radio.

Spring Dance at St. Thomas More meets you there at seven.

Paddy McGee is dancing with me, and I could die quite happily.

You start could die quite happily right here.

Spring Dance at St. Thomas More meets you there at seven.

Still pushing on an open door, curfew at eleven.

Paddy McGee is dancing with me, and I could die quite happily.

You start could die quite happily right here.

Spring Dance at St. Thomas More meets you there at seven.

Slow dancing on an empty floor, stairway to heaven.

Still pushing on an open door, curfew at eleven.

Paddy McGee is dancing with me, and I could die quite happily.

You start could die quite happily right here.

All right, wow. Spring Dance at the St. Thomas More.

I guess they were dancing to stairway to heaven, huh?

Oh, yeah. You know we were.

You were too, brother.

Oh, man.

Well, we are live from the Man City on Maxing Radio with the Charm Michael Durgan Trio.

Charm Michael Durgan Trio is playing at the Willie Traveler on Willie Street here in Madison

on Thursday, February 5th, and that is such a fun place.

The weary Traveler, I love that place.

Every tried the pub's bad breath burger.

Well, yes, yes, yes, and I'm a vegetarian these days,

but back when when weary opened, I used to get the

Bob's bad breath every time I played there because it's so good.

They have great food there.

They really do have good food.

It's a really fun place.

I mean, so many board games that they have there.

And we just kind of get this like really community feel

hanging out playing board games.

And then you're going to be playing there.

It's so fun.

That's a really kind of an intimate place.

What can we expect at that show?

Oh, well, you'll hear a bunch of these tunes.

Yeah.

You know, you'll hear probably a couple new ones off the upcoming record.

You'll hear some stuff from way, way, way back.

And then you'll hear some cool covers, too, you know.

Oh, cool.

You just never know what we're going to play.

I'd imagine maybe a Beatles song, huh?

No, no, no Beatles songs.

Well, you know, with that other band,

that other band only plays the Beatles.

So, you know,

I give the guy a break.

Okay.

So at least a Nick Lovato.

Thank you, Jane.

Oh, yeah.

You'll definitely hear Nick Lovato.

All right.

All right.

And Alva's got to be well.

And that was just all right.

We're doing good.

My ankles will be ready.

I hear you're working on a new album.

Can you spill some tea on me?

Tell us about what's coming up.

Sure, man.

Yeah, the new, the new record.

So I do this thing every year, rocker.

I mean, I try to write music constantly.

And I do write all the time.

But in February, for the whole month of February,

I do this really intense thing,

where I try to write 14 songs in 28 days.

Wow.

It's called February album writing month,

or FOM, for short.

Yes.

And my friend Burr settles,

who's from Madison, started it.

Almost 20 years.

20 years ago.

Yeah, that's been around for a while.

And I've been doing it for about 16 years.

And, you know, you're considered a winner

if you finish 14 songs in 28 days.

And I have won.

I'm using my air quotes now.

I have won 10 or 12 times,

you know, where I've finished 15, 16, 18, 20 songs.

You just get in this groove,

you know, where you just like every morning,

I pour a pot of coffee and I walk down to my studio

and I just get the work.

And I push everything else aside.

And my family is very supportive of it.

And for the last five years,

I've been really fortunate

and had a really good success writing.

I mean, you write a lot of crappy songs for sure.

Yeah.

But, you know, you write enough

and you get some good ones too.

And I've been really fortunate

and had enough album tracks

at the end of February

that the next record featured most of

if not all of those songs.

And that is just a great way

to build up your catalog, you know,

while you come up with a lot of songs.

Yeah.

What would you say comes first,

the riff or the lyrics,

or the concert?

I do it both ways.

You know, I constantly, I keep a notebook,

I keep a voice memo app on my phone

and I'm always jotting down dumb ideas, you know,

and trying to turn them into cool song lyrics.

Yeah.

And, you know, I will say this,

like, I've been playing with a band

much like this one, not as good as this particular lineup.

But much like this one for,

well, since I was 19,

some when I was in college,

I put my first band together

and I've had this show, Michael Dagen band ever since.

And when I was young and handsome and vibrant

and, you know, could have made something,

my songs were kind of, you know,

they were okay, but they weren't great.

But now that I'm old and decrepit,

my songs are really good.

So, I know exactly there's no,

but the good news is, like, I just,

I love the process of it.

I love writing and I love recording.

And as I've mentioned, and I will continue to mention,

I'm so fortunate to have Bill and Joe in my stable.

And they get excited about my songs too.

So that makes me really happy

and then we go make a new record.

And it sounds great.

And this sort of been,

this process we have found a sweet spot.

And this new one, I think, is going to be no exception.

When might we be able to see this or hear it?

Maybe next, this coming, you know,

it's fall, yeah, yeah.

Okay, fall.

Yeah, well, we'll be waiting for it.

And then I will play it right here on Maxing Gradio.

Let's get back to live music from the man city

with the Shawn Michael Dargen Trio

presented by the Aaron Weber group.

The next song that you have for us tonight,

it's called Margens,

is this song about profits or type Raiders?

Neither.

Oh,

tell us about this song.

This song was inspired by a trip to my dentist.

Yeah, and he needed to do a crown.

And I wasn't excited about it,

but he was trying to figure out the margins on the crown.

And he kept talking about it.

Margens, this margins that I was like,

okay, I'll see your margins and I'll raise you.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, so it became this song.

You never know when you're going to come up with a concept

of a song you've been sitting in a dentist area.

Exactly.

Yeah, I bet writing that song was like pulling teeth.

Ah, you're killing me, James.

Oh, James.

Yeah, that was a great one, actually.

Oh, well, let's check it out.

This is the Shawn Michael Dargen Trio,

a live from the man city.

This is Margens on Maxing Radio.

Make a hole that fill it.

See it doubt the killing.

The man looks great.

The man looks great.

The man looks great.

What about the margins?

Trip the light fantastic.

The tightly elastic.

The man looks great.

The man looks great.

The man looks great.

What about the margins?

Are you bold enough to go?

Are you wise enough to know?

Would it kill you just to show me how you're feeling?

Know that you're still reeling?

How standing on the margins?

Can my bold enough to go?

And my wise enough to know?

Would it kill me just to show you how I'm feeling?

Know that I'm still reeling?

How standing on the margins?

Make a hole in fillet and see it doubt the killing?

The man looks great.

The man looks great.

What about the margins?

What about the margins?

What about the margins?

What about the margins?

What about the margins?

I was fantasizing that maybe that song was what about the margins?

You are not the first to mention that.

I should do a remix of that song.

What about the margins?

That could be the weird al parody.

That's all I can think of.

What about the margins?

What are they doing?

That's what we want to know.

Welcome back to Maxine Gradio.

I am rocker here with Jane in the control room.

You are listening to live from the man city on Maxine Gradio.

Sean Michael Dargen.

Sean at 57.

Not only are you still playing in a band,

but you are also playing competitive baseball.

How can you keep that up?

Well, it's not what it used to be, brother.

No.

I used to be a catcher.

I was a catcher for many, many years.

That's hard on the knees.

They don't talk to me anymore.

They are not my friends.

I have moved on to other positions.

I play mostly first base,

a little bit of third base.

I've had some pretty awesome injuries in the last couple of years.

I am cobbled together with bailing wire and gaffer's tape at this point.

But yeah, I'm still holding up.

I still go.

I play every summer long.

I play here in a local men's adult baseball league.

And we are talking real hardball with wood bats.

It's so fast, bitch.

No, real baseball.

Every October, I go to Arizona and play in a big tournament out there.

Which is super fun.

They call it the world series of my league.

It's pretty cool.

That is really fun.

How have you been playing baseball since you were a kid?

I played in high school and a little bit in college.

And then I took a whole bunch of time off,

because I was touring the country, living in my van,

doing the rock and roll thing.

But when I moved back to, when I moved back,

when I moved to Madison,

and right when I have my kids,

as Joe and Bill have both pointed out,

that changes everything.

Yes.

So I stopped touring,

and I stopped playing anywhere but in Madison.

And I had all this time on my hands,

taking care of kids and not playing a lot of music.

And I met a guy who,

this guy,

significantly older than me,

who was talking about playing baseball.

And I kept saying the same thing you did.

I said, oh, you play softball.

And he said, no, man, I play baseball.

Wow.

And I said, well, let's talk about this,

because I want pieces of that action.

Wow. So yeah.

Well, that's pretty cool.

And have you ever won the tournament?

We won the championship game.

We lost by one run.

It was heartbreaking.

But it was really fun, super fun.

Wow.

And my local team here has won the championship three years in a row, actually.

Oh, wow. That's pretty cool.

We have a pretty good team.

What's like, I mean, I mean, what is the average age of the other guys on the team?

Sure. Well, we have a big league

with five different age divisions.

There's a 17-up division, 18-up division,

35-up, 45-up,

and 52-up.

Lucky. They have a league that's like three times the size of ours.

They have a 60-up and a 70-in-up.

Wow.

I know. There's still guys in their 70s playing baseball.

The wheelchair league.

Oh, dude. It's so inspiring.

It's so inspiring.

That is awesome.

What's coming up for the Shawn Michael Darden group?

And how do we keep up with you online?

Sure. You can just go to ShawnMichaelDarden.com.

You can find out about the beetle band, which is called...

Madison, Mississippi.

Thank you. Madison Mystery Tour, yes.

And you can find out about us on our Facebook page or on our website.

And again, just look up Madison Mystery Tour.

We'll be playing the Barrymore Theatre on May the 2nd. It's a Saturday.

But the Shawn Michael Darden band plays a lot more frequently than that.

And we are around town.

We'll be at the weary, like you said, on the 5th of February.

Yep, February 5th.

We'll be back at the Harmony in April.

We're going down to Chicago.

Actually, I haven't played Shubas in 22 years.

Wow.

But we're playing there in March.

Yeah, super psyched about that.

The guys are like, yeah, we'll go to Chicago.

That sounds fun. Thanks, guys.

Yeah, Shubas. That's a great club.

Totally.

Thank you so much for coming to play for us tonight.

We really appreciate it.

We have time for another song tonight.

And it's your latest single.

And we play here on Maxine Gradio.

It's called a million words or less.

Can we do this in like 50 to 100?

No way, man.

You know me.

All right. What's this song about?

Well, there was another conversation between myself and a really dear friend of mine

who knows me very well.

And knows that I am verbose.

And I was an English major in college.

So I come by it honestly, right?

I paid a lot of money for this verbocating.

Yes, indeed.

And one day we were in a meeting and it was like running long.

And he was like, all right, Dargen,

give me the pitch in a million words or less.

Number one, I don't know if I should be insulted.

But that's going to be a great song one day.

So yeah, so that.

Now, to be fair, the English major and me

dies a little bit every time I sing this because it should be a million words or fewer.

I see.

You really want to be correct about it.

But fewer didn't rhyme with what I needed it to.

It's all about the rhyme.

It's all about license.

Great. Well, let's hear it.

A million words or less.

This is live from the Mad City with the Sean Michael Dargen Trio.

I'm Maxine Credio.

A major sing, cosmic science, greater danger.

Seems I haven't learned a thing.

Frosted pastry in the toaster, where the floor has failed to spring.

Oh, oh.

Tell me this story in a million words or less.

If you have to make them guess, then you'll have to make them guess.

There is no glory while you're cleaning up this mess.

Tell me this story in a million words or less.

Push me forward, falling backwards.

Prove me up to pass the time.

When it's over, you were faster.

But there was no finish line.

While you're gone, I might recover.

Like I used to in my prime.

Push me forward, falling backwards.

Prove me up to pass the time.

Tell me this story in a million words or less.

If you have to make them guess, then you'll have to make them guess.

There is no glory while you're cleaning up this mess.

Tell me this story in a million words or less.

Tell me this story in a million words or less.

If you have to make them guess, then you'll have to make them guess.

There is no glory while you're cleaning up this mess.

Tell me this story in a million words or less.

All right.

A million words or less.

And we just come in right on time.

Sean Michael Dargen Trio, thank you so much for coming down.

We really appreciate it.

And we will see all you guys next week on Maxinc Radio.

We are local music.

You found Wisconsin's local music authority.

This is Maxinc Radio.

We are local music.