This past Friday I got to sit in on a World’s Of Wayne Podcast with the purpose of interviewing Mark Stuart of the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash. The interview was done in anticipation of their show at the Waiting Room this coming Tuesday, May 12. The “phoner” was put together by local musician Josh Dunwoody of the Filter Kings, who is partially responsible for the band coming back into town and whose band will be opening the show.

The World’s Of Wayne pod cast is from the mind of local musician and artist Wayne Brekke. Brekke is closing in on his 100th episode of the almost weekly forum, which can be found at www.worldsofwayne.libsyn.com. The Podcast covers everything culture based in Omaha and often features in studio music performances and interviews with both local and touring acts. Brekke covers happenings in town, talks with artists and event organizers, and he sometimes puts his witty spin on current events. It’s a fun listen that also incorporates some music either pertinent to that episode or that Brekke is looking to expose. Many Podcasts are just someone ranting into a cheap computer microphone, but Brekke takes it to another level with a professional studio set up with a large table, radio mikes and plenty of room and equipment to accommodate a number of guests. Many times he will take phone calls from listeners, do off-site events, and man on the street interviews. It’s an excellent weekend morning with a cup of coffee listen or an at-work diversion and a good way to keep up with Omaha’s culture.

The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash have been on the road pretty much non-stop for the past 10-plus years. The band has made a few stops in Omaha over the years and many in Lincoln. The band can honky-tonk with the best of them, but it’s Stuart’s smooth vocal delivery and California roots sound that makes the band stand out. One can hear the influences of other greats from that area like the Blasters, Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakum maybe more than the man they pay tribute to in their name. The band has released three albums full of stellar songwriting in the past decade and during our interview Stuart stated that he just finished up the fourth one. “It’s mastered and ready to go,” he stated, “we are just messing around with the sequencing and figuring out which song will go first and last. It’s going to be called ‘Bend In the Road’ and it’s going to come out worldwide in mid-August. We will have advanced copies with me, just white sleeve advanced copies of the finished record.”

We also asked about how he picks musicians for studio work versus on the road. “Usually, there are people that I know from growing up on the West Coast,” he stated. “I have a lot of connections with the Los Angeles recording industry. For me the recording studio has such a unique environment. Music comes out so much different in the studio than it does live. It’s like either being in space or being underwater – it’s that much different. In order to get the best possible sound or quality for the songs I use the best possible people for the album. For this record, I have people from Dwight Yoakum’s band, Lucinda’s (Williams) band, Bonnie Raitt’s band and Eric Clapton’s band. I try to pick the best people that I can for each song that will represent that song and will bring something unique and special to them. Sometimes I use the live band and sometimes I don’t. They are just different animals to me. I have fantastic live players. I am not saying the live band could or couldn’t do it in the studio. These other players can do it faster and that saves you money, because as you know the studio can be expensive.”

There was a lot more to our discussion with Stuart, including him talking about the name of the band, being invited to Johnny Cash’s home, recording, touring Europe, and plenty of humorous banter. You can hear that whole interview this weekend on the Worlds Of Wayne Web site.