The Ben Maynard Program

76:51

EP. 149 Bob Dylan’s Country Roots Explain More Than...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/10/03

Send us Fan Mail Bob Dylan gets labeled a hundred different ways, but one connection keeps coming back: COUNTRY. On this episode of The Ben Maynard Program, I sit down with author, producer, and longtime music business professor Don Cusic to talk about his book Country Bob: Dylan and Country Music and the surprising musical thread connecting Dylan to Hank Williams, Nashville, Johnny Cash, and the storytelling heart of American music. We talk about why Hank Williams was Dylan’s “first hero,” w...

en-us

82:33

EP. 148 DARLENE KOLDENHOVEN — FROM CHURCH SOLO TO...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/09/26

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to build a music career that lasts more than 45 years? GRAMMY Award-winning singer, pianist, composer and educator Darlene Koldenhoven joins me to talk about her incredible journey—from a shy three-year-old hiding behind her dress during a church solo to the Hollywood recording world and international stages. We talk about her new memoir, PUT YOUR DRESS DOWN AND SING, her strict Dutch Calvinist upbringing, moving to Los Angeles, becoming a sought-after studi...

en-us

43:01

EP. 147 VAN HALEN....THE SAMMY YEARS!

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/09/19

Send us Fan Mail Van Halen loses David Lee Roth, and the world starts writing the obituary. Then Sammy Hagar walks in—and everything changes. We go record by record through the Sammy years: 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance—four albums, four #1s, and millions of records sold. But behind the hits were tensions, relentless touring, personal strain, lyric disputes, the death of manager Ed Leffler, and the events that ultimately led to Sammy’s 1996 departure. How does a band...

en-us

41:35

EP. 146 9/11 Never Forget

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/09/13

Send us Fan Mail You can watch 9/11 footage any day you want, but it still doesn’t recreate what it felt like when the second plane hit and an entire country realized the truth at the same time. We go back to Tuesday morning, September 11th, 2001, tracing the timeline from the first impact at the World Trade Center to the Pentagon attack and the moment the United States grounded civilian aircraft and the skies went eerily quiet. Along the way, we focus on the human stories that turn history ...

en-us

122:54

EP. 145 We Revisit 1986 By Counting Down Albums That...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/09/13

Send us Fan Mail 1986 isn’t just a year in music history, it’s a whole ecosystem: MTV turning videos into rocket fuel, labels chasing crossover singles, and artists trying to evolve without losing the thing that made them great. I’m back with part two of my albums turning 40 countdown, and while I planned on a full 20, you’re getting 17 records today with plenty of stories, chart facts, and personal reactions along the way. We jump across genres and moods on purpose, because that’s how 1986 ...

en-us

76:58

EP. 144 A Rock Radio Memoir That Ends At The Dakota...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/09/05

Send us Fan Mail One ordinary walk out of the Dakota turned into a memory Laurie Kaye has carried for decades. Laurie is the author of Confessions Of A Rock And Roll Name Dropper, and she joins me to trace the wild, funny, heartbreaking path that led to December 8, 1980, when she co-conducted what tragically became John Lennon’s last interview. We get into the radio origin story first, because that’s the spine of everything: transistor radios as survival, AM and FM legends, KMET contests, an...

en-us

97:26

EP. 143 Charlie Calv Explains How A Modern Indie...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/08/29

Send us Fan Mail Vinyl is back, CDs are creeping up again, and streaming still pays less than most fans realize. So what does it actually take to run a successful independent record label right now without turning into a faceless upload machine? We sit down with Charlie Calv, president of Deco Entertainment and keyboardist for Angel, to get the real-world playbook behind modern label growth, premium reissues, and artist-first service. Charlie walks us through how Deco relaunched, why distrib...

en-us

86:29

EP. 142 ANSON CORSAIR - What If One Song Could Save...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/08/22

Send us Fan Mail He walked away from a dead-end lab job, flew to India for 40 days of yoga teacher training, and came home with a new relationship to music, purpose, and faith. Musician Anson Corsair joins us for a long-form conversation that starts with albums you can actually hold in your hands and quickly turns into the deeper story behind the songs. We unpack “Just One,” a 13-track project shaped by the last 10 years of life, including grief, responsibility, and the pressure to keep goin...

en-us

120:17

EP. 141 "FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE"! Raul Explains Why Trades...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/08/08

Send us Fan Mail One wrong answer and you’re chewing a jelly bean that tastes like wet dog. That’s the deal we make on a live Friday night, and it somehow becomes the perfect way to talk about what really matters: consistency, craft, and showing up when it would be easier to tap out. We start with a real look at podcast longevity and why most shows fade after 10 to 12 episodes. Raul talks about how guesting on podcasts flips a switch for him and leads to his own upcoming show, Hard Hats And ...

en-us

68:46

EP. 140 How Hugo Valenti And Adam Holland Keep...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/08/01

Send us Fan Mail You can fake a lot online, but you can’t fake a band that actually sounds right in the room. We sit down with vocalist Hugo Valenti and guitarist Adam Holland to talk about the real journey behind a Journey tribute band that’s built on musicianship, not costumes and tricks. From a couple of Long Island kids chasing club gigs to navigating record label chaos, they lay out what it takes to keep your identity intact when the music industry keeps moving the goalposts. We get int...

en-us

139:12

EP. 139 Ben Franklin As A Rock Star & The Day MTV...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/07/26

Send us Fan Mail A bronze statue on a bench sounds simple until you hear what it takes to make it real and why it changes the feel of a town. I’m joined by Pam Lewis, founder of PLA Media and a true music and media insider, to talk about how she gifted “Ben on the Bench,” a Benjamin Franklin statue in Franklin, Tennessee, and how that single act ties into legacy, civic pride, and the kind of giving back that actually lasts. Along the way we get honest about time, goals, discipline, and the fi...

en-us

116:01

EP. 138 BEATLE MANIA ORIGINS: A Lifelong Fan Explains...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/07/18

Send us Fan Mail You can hear the moment a fan becomes a historian, and that’s exactly what happens when my longtime friend Mario Rodriguez sits down across the table with a lifetime of Beatles knowledge. Mario takes us back to 1968 when he’s three years old, his dad drops the needle on Meet The Beatles, and one song “This Boy” flips a switch that never turns off. From harmonies to groove, we dig into what made the Beatles feel different right away, and why Ringo Starr’s so-called “simple” dr...

en-us

97:52

EP. 137 Two 1981 Rock Masterpieces And The Memories...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/07/18

Send us Fan Mail Two records dropped in the summer of 1981 and somehow never stopped living in our heads. We’re celebrating the 45th anniversary of Foreigner 4 and Journey Escape, and we’re doing it the only way that feels honest: track by track, memory by memory, with the little details that turn “classic rock” from a genre into a time machine. We start with Foreigner 4, a monster album co-produced by Mutt Lange and Mick Jones, and talk about why the sequencing hits so hard, from “Night Lif...

en-us

60:21

EP. 136 Celebrating 40 albums from 1986 PT. 1

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/07/11

Send us Fan Mail Some years don’t just age well, they keep proving their point. 1986 is one of those years, and I’m celebrating the 40-year anniversary by ripping through 20 albums that still deserve a spot in your rotation. Think of this as a fast, listener-friendly guide to building a killer 1986 playlist, with just enough chart history, release-date context, and personal takes to make each record feel like a real moment again. The run starts with rock staples and comebacks like Bill...

en-us

59:50

EP. 135 BREAKFAST WITH BEN - No Ties For Dad And No...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/06/20

Send us Fan Mail Saturday morning starts simple: I’m adjusting the mic, talking breakfast, and chasing the kind of easy conversation that feels like radio you can actually live inside. Then the calendar gives us two perfect springboards for stories: World Martini Day and American Eagle Day. One leads to a memory of a great martini party, the other to Alaska, zip lines, and the moment you realize those “little golf balls” in the trees are bald eagles. From there we roll into music history and...

en-us

125:56

EP. 134 Donald Mustang Meets Steve Perry

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/06/13

Send us Fan Mail Raul Ortega hijacks the Ben Maynard Program and turns the tables on me with one goal: trace the exact moments that built my music brain. It starts with a scene that’s almost too perfect to be real, my mom dropping a Beatles 45 on the family stereo and typing out the lyrics to “Let It Be” while I sit there absorbing every word. That’s the point where music stops being background noise and becomes memory, comfort, and obsession. From there we jump through the decades lik...

en-us

60:10

EP. 133 "FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE!" We Put “No Hangover”...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/06/06

Send us Fan Mail We tried to go live, realized we weren’t actually live, and somehow that set the perfect tone for a Friday night that spirals from goofy to surprisingly useful. After we kick around the day’s “national holidays” and swap a hot air balloon horror story that makes skydiving sound reasonable, we set the ground rules: no Malort tonight. Trivia decides who eats the BeanBoozled jelly beans, and yes, the flavors are as brutal as you remember. Then we get into the real reason ...

en-us

51:31

EP. 132 My Record Store Day Haul....So Good!

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/05/29

Send us Fan Mail They can take your seat, shrink your legroom, and apparently now charge you for a carry-on, but they can’t take the joy of a great live show and a fresh stack of vinyl. I’m back from a quick Vegas hit with Kathryn, and I’ve got thoughts, starting with why Frontier’s bag policy feels like a straight-up hustle. From there, we head to downtown Las Vegas for Aldo Nova at the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street. I break down what worked, what didn’t, and why sound mixing can make or ...

en-us

80:24

EP. 131 THE BEST OF THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 MAY 7, 1983!

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/05/08

Send us Fan Mail One week. Forty songs. A whole time machine. We’re building a Billboard Top 40 playlist from May 7, 1983, and the deeper we go, the more you can hear the early 80s music world colliding: rock guitars next to synth hooks, country crossover next to new wave, and the MTV era starting to decide what “big” really means. We start with a quick life update on why I’ve been out of the studio and how much work goes into researching and writing a chart-heavy show. Then I tell the story...

en-us

61:59

EP. 130 "FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE!" The Rock And Roll Hall...

The Ben Maynard Program ·

2026/04/18

Send us Fan Mail The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame just dropped its latest class and I’m equal parts pumped and irritated. Some picks feel overdue and undeniable, and others make me wonder what the Hall thinks “rock and roll” even is anymore. So I grabbed my notes, went live on the patio, and did what I always do on Friday Night Live: talk music, tell stories, and say the quiet part out loud. We run through the Rock Hall inductees and I explain why names like Phil Collins, Billy Idol, and Iron ...

en-us

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

78 Amped

78 Amped

Cam Capone News

Cam Capone

Hardcore Will Never Die

Dj EZC

The Zane Lowe Interview Series

Apple Music

Way Up With Angela Yee

iHeartPodcasts