The Rock Podcast with Denny Somach

Denny Somach Productions

This is the podcast that goes deep undercover to shine new light on the soundtrack of the most exciting decades in music. Producer/Rock Historian Denny Somach and friends are bringing their career experiences and his library of thousands...

  • 28 minutes 19 seconds
    Michael Shrieve, Superstar Drummer

    Denny has a deep-diving conversation with Michael Shrieve, a founding member of Santana, best known for his amazing live performance on Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock. He had just turned 20 years old when he played Woodstock, making him the youngest musician to perform at the festival. That drum solo during Soul Sacrifice has been described as electrifying, as is his new album, Drums of Compassion, which features performances by great drummers including Olatunji (Drums of Passion), who inspired Michael. He also discusses some of the other groups he’s been a part of: Automatic Man, Novo Combo, Go with Steve Winwood, and the short-lived Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve Band.

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    13 February 2025, 1:08 am
  • 23 minutes 11 seconds
    Carl Palmer's American Debut

    Carl Palmer, English drummer best known for being a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Asia, in a rare interview by Denny, back in 1982 when Asia was rehearsing in Lititz, PA for their debut tour. He’s currently on tour with Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy – 42 years after this historic encounter.

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    23 October 2024, 7:17 pm
  • 33 minutes 48 seconds
    Iain Matthews

    Iain Matthews contemplates retirement and, instead, writes a song about it, adding to his discography of nearly 60 albums. Denny, who’s been a fan since the beginning of Matthews’ career, from Fairport Convention to solo to Matthews Southern Comfort, gets Iain talking about Joni Mitchell, Robert Plant, and in a totally unplanned moment, Amelia Earhart.

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    18 October 2024, 11:41 pm
  • 31 minutes 18 seconds
    Carmine Appice Rocks!

    Denny catches up with legendary drummer Carmine Appice to talk about the new Cactus album and learns about Carmine’s new AI project as well as lots of reminiscing. You’ll hear a lot of names on this episode - Led Zeppelin, John Bonham, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Vanilla Fudge, and Melanie.

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    2 August 2024, 1:47 pm
  • 36 minutes 46 seconds
    Classic Jeff Beck

    Denny celebrates the late Jeff Beck’s birthday with vintage audio from his Classic Rock Archives. Beck, one of the greatest guitar players in rock history, discusses his Yardbirds days and the beginnings of his solo career, in this rare interview. 

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    24 June 2024, 12:33 am
  • 34 minutes 5 seconds
    Steve Hackett

    Denny catches up with Steve Hackett, former lead guitarist with Genesis (part of their classic line up with Gabriel, Collins, Banks and Rutherford) with whom he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2010. He just released his 30th solo album, The Circus And The Nightwhale, and is touring, so the conversation covers decades of Steve’s extraordinary career.

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    7 May 2024, 12:09 am
  • 28 minutes 44 seconds
    From Layla to Murder

    The man who wrote Layla with Eric Clapton and was a founding member of Derek and the Dominos lived a life touched by mental illness and marked by murder. Author Joel Selvin reveals the results of his years of research on the inside story of Jim Gordon, one of the most prolific drummers of all time. Joel’s new book, Drums and Demons, raises the larger questions of how we miss the signs that someone – even a great talent - is in trouble. 

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    15 April 2024, 1:00 pm
  • 23 minutes 43 seconds
    Dave Mason Knows

    Denny and Dave Mason go back a very long time – even before Denny was the executive producer of Dave’s late 80s album Two Hearts. Dave holds nothing back, including what happened at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in this intimate look at Dave’s career.

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    25 March 2024, 8:07 pm
  • 22 minutes 51 seconds
    Gerry Beckley of America

    Known mostly as half of the platinum-selling group, America, with co-founder Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley has recorded and released eight solo albums, the latest titled Aurora. He joined Denny from his home in Australia (the other is in Venice, CA) to talk about his career and answer that eternal question… “Did the horse ever get a name?”

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    8 March 2024, 11:23 pm
  • 24 minutes 16 seconds
    All About Yes!

    Join Denny as he shares a comprehensive look at the early years of the #1 progressive rock band, taken from his extensive collection of vintage audio. You’ll hear Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Tony Kaye, Peter Banks, Bill Bruford, Alan White, Steve Howe, Trevor Rabin, Patrick Moraz, Geoff Downes, and more.

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    15 February 2024, 9:57 pm
  • 39 minutes 31 seconds
    The Immediate Family

    They’re more than just three of the best rock musicians in the business. When Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, and Waddy Wachtel get together with Denny, you feel the connection that has kept them together all these years, even though they’ve also had separate careers with amazing stories. Among others, you’ll hear Waddy on working with Warren Zevon.

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    15 December 2023, 5:12 pm
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