Episode 219 - SPECIAL EPISODE - A Tribute to Michael Feldman

This episode is very raw and emotional. It absolutely comes with a trigger warning, if you are negatively effected by grief, death, mourning, or just-plain hearing someone struggle with loss.

Sometime on Sunday morning, November 30th, 2025, my friend Michael Feldman passed away, after a lengthy battle with cancer. I had been in bands with Mike for about 25 years. He's someone who will remain in my heart forever.

Later that evening, I sat down in front of a microphone, played one of Mike's albums, and recorded this episode, while I listened (and beyond). What you're hearing here isn't my prettiest moment--I cry several times--and it is NOT the place I would begin listening to this show...but I needed to do it, for myself, and for my friend.

This barely scratches the surface of my memories of Mike. But it's something. I hope there's something in it that speaks to you. Thanks for listening.

Player:

Photos: (I won't be captioning them here, because I'm very tired...but I think they're still fun. Many are from album covers or liner notes from music we made together. Several are lifted from Mike's website.

 Etc.)

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Episode 218 - Doing the Hard Part by Existing

It's a Thanksgiving treat! There's a new episode of Empty Checking!

In advance, I ended up doing something else and did NOT get the nap I was hoping for throughout the episode...but at least I got to talk about music from Cheap Trick, Envy of None, Drive-By Truckers, and Hayley Williams, then about the last Downton Abbey movie, Frasier, and the King of the Hill revival! I had fun doing this one, even though it was willfully rushed and could've been time spent napping. Hope it makes your Thanksgiving Day/weekend pass a little more happily.

Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com 
email: db@derekbrink.com 

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 8:01 - Forever Home
• 8:32 - Recent Listening
  • 8:32 - Cheap Trick - All Washed Up
  • 13:46 - Envy of None - Stij(e)en Wavz (That's as close as I can get to their dumb spelling without using characters that won't show up on some computers)
  • 18:38 - Drive-By Truckers - The Definitive Decoration Day
  • 25:15 - Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party
• 31:20 - You and You Alone
• 31:51 - Recent Watching
  • 31:51 - Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
  • 43:33 - Frasier
  • 45:28 - King of the Hill (Revival Series)
• 52:01 - Indelible
• 52:32 - Outro

Episode 217 - The Fab 15 Rush Songs

In this episode, Your Uncle Derek and Papa Dave are counting down their Fab 15 Rush songs! Rush is one of our collective favorite bands, and narrowing it down to just 15 was a TOUGH battle. We had a lot of fun rehashing old stories and talking about music that means a lot to us. We hope you enjoy this one, as the subject is very close(r) to our hearts!

Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com 
email: db@derekbrink.com 
Spotify Playlists: https://open.spotify.com/user/317eypfciiajkyay2kxloz3kreoa?si=f046115ad0514079 

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 11:55 - #15 - Far Cry/Finding My Way
• 15:42 - #14 - Time Stand Still/Fly By Night
• 23:46 - #13 - Animate/Closer to the Heart
• 33:51 - #12 - The Pass/Nobody's Hero
• 43:24 - #11 - Distant Early Warning/The Garden
• 50:04 - #10 - Subdivisions/The Pass
• 53:48 - #9 - Tom Sawyer/Freewill
• 1:02:08 - #8 - Limelight/Animate
• 1:12:50 - #7 - Freewill/Limelight
• 1:12:58 - #6 - Closer to the Heart/Dreamline
• 1:15:40 - #5 - The Trees/Time Stand Still
• 1:23:17 - #4 - YYZ/Red Barchetta
• 1:33:05 - #3 - Red Barchetta/Armor & Sword
• 1:38:53 - #2 - 2112/Resist
• 1:50:23 - #1 - The Spirit of Radio
• 2:02:31 - Honorable Mentions and Other Subjects
• 2:19:32 - Music Break: Greetings from Far Away
• 2:19:50 - The Final 15 (below) and Closing Thoughts
• The Spirit of Radio
• Closer to the Heart
• The Pass
• Freewill
• Animate
• Limelight
• Time Stand Still
• Red Barchetta
• Subdivisions
• Tom Sawyer
• The Trees
• 2112
• YYZ
• Fly By Night
• Dreamline

I'm super proud of this particular picture! :) 

Episode 216 - Get Gabbin'

It's a new episode of the thing! I talk about Dropkick Murphys, Alison Brown and Steve Martin, The Who, Downton Abbey, and a semi-obscure movie called Still Crazy. I had a lot of fun with this one, despite a lot of back pain. Enjoy!

Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com 
email: db@derekbrink.com

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 11:39 - I Hope You're Happy
• 12:10 - Recent Listening
  • 12:24 - Dropkick Murphys - For the People
  • 16:09 - Alison Brown & Steve Martin - Safe Sensible and Sane
  • 22:18 - The Who - Who Are You Super Deluxe Edition
• 29:30 - Useless
• 30:00 - Recent Watching
  • 30:32 - Downton Abbey Movies
  • 40:59 - Still Crazy
• 47:20 - That Weekend (Blue Tattoo)
• 47:51 - Outro

Episode 215 - The Weather is Deflating My Head

In this episode--which is neither spooky, nor scary, despite the upload date--I talk about a bunch of new music and get mad at Taylor Swift fans (but maybe not in the way you think). It's a fun one. Check it out!

Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com 
email: db@derekbrink.com 

• 0:00 - Intro, including a tribute to Prunella Scales
• 13:26 - Live Your Life
• 13:57 - New Music Reviews
  • 14:46 - Max Richter - Sleep Circle
  • 21:12 - Sloan - Based on the Best Seller
  • 24:28 - Amanda Shires - Nobody's Girl
  • 34:54 - Los Straitjackets - Somos Los Straitjackets
  • 38:35 - Halestorm - Everest
  • 43:08 - Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl
• 48:45 - Every Day
• 49:15 - Outro, including a brief review of Only Murders in the Building

Here's your cover photo!

Episode 214 - The Intent of a Good Show

In this slightly shorter (but if you ask me TWICE as fun!) episode, I mostly just talk about the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the reunion of RUSH! I had a blast doing this one. I bet you at least sort of enjoy having it on in the background while you work or go to the gym or walk the dog or whatever!

Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com
email: db@derekbrink.com

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 14:13 - Deeper Than Oceans
• 14:44 - Rocky Horror 50th Anniversary
• 29:23 - Burn
• 29:54 - RUSH!
• 48:46 - Intervention
• 49:17 - Outro

And here's your cover photo, cover photo fans!

Episode 213 - The FAB 15 Van Halen Songs

In this episode, your Papa Dave joins us to count down the FAB 15 Van Halen Songs! (The episode also intermittently features my fridge fan humming. Sorry!) We're both big VH fans, and this one just happens to be coming out on the heels of the 5 year anniversary of the loss of Eddie Van Halen, so it seems a very apt episode. And it's a lot of fun! It's a little longer than usual, just because I was enjoying listening to us talk and kept forgetting to edit! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Bandcamp: http://derekbrink.bandcamp.com 
email: db@derekbrink.com 
Spotify Playlists: https://open.spotify.com/user/317eypfciiajkyay2kxloz3kreoa?si=f046115ad0514079 

Time Index:

• 0:00 - Introduction, Rules, and So On
• 16:40 - #15 - Can't Stop Lovin' You/Humans Being (Derek Note: In the days since the show was recorded, I looked the song up on Wikipedia. There does not seem to be any indication that Eddie had anything to do with the lyrics of "Humans Being.")
• 26:54 - #14 - Dance the Night Away/Feelin'
• 32:08 - #13 - Humans Being/Ain't Talkin' Bout Love
• 36:22 - #12 - Jamie's Cryin'/Mine All Mine
• 44:11 - #11 - Judgement Day/Runnin' With the Devil
• 49:24 - #10 - Panama/When It's Love
• 1:02:51 - #9 - And the Cradle Will Rock/Can't Stop Lovin' You
• 1:06:20 - #8 - Running with the Devil/Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)
• 1:12:31 - #7 - Mine All Mine/Top of the World
• 1:17:27 - #6 - Love Walks In/Dreams
• 1:24:42 - #5 - Unchained/Panama
• 1:31:11 - #4 - Little Guitars/Best of Both Worlds
• 1:39:21 - #3 - Right Now (EXACT MATCH!)
• 1:48:42 - #2 - Dreams/Unchained
• 1:49:55 - #1 - Best of Both Worlds/Jump
• 1:55:51 - Honorable Mentions
• 2:07:45 = Music Break: Intervention
• 2:08:06 - Picking #1
• 2:13:02 - The Final 15 and several minutes of us still having fun talking about Van Halen

Here's your cover photo, for those who care.