My Weekly Mixtape: Music Discovery & Nostalgia

There’s a moment every parent (or anyone who’s been around kids long enough) recognizes — a song that gets played over and over again… and somehow doesn’t wear out its welcome. That space — where something clicks for kids and doesn’t lose the room for the adults — is harder to pull off than it sounds. And it’s exactly where Laurie Berkner has lived for decades.
This week, she joins me to talk about her new album, Walking With The Penguins — her first full collection of original songs in five years — and what it actually takes to make music that connects with kids without ever talking down to them.
We get into the push and pull behind songs that invite movement (especially when kids are being told to sit still), how interactivity becomes part of the songwriting itself, and why the best children’s music often works on a level that goes way beyond what people expect.
But what really stuck with me is something you don’t always think about — her audience is constantly changing. Kids grow up, new ones come in, and the cycle just keeps going. We talk about what that feels like as an artist… and what it means to create songs that live in someone’s earliest memories, even if they age out of them later.
It’s a conversation about craft, longevity, and a kind of musical impact that doesn’t always get talked about enough.
Photo Credit: Jayme Thornton

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Most people remember their first concert. I’ve talked about mine more than a few times — David Lee Roth and Poison on the 1988 Skyscraper tour. But the second one hits differently for a lot of people.
For me, it was Aerosmith and Skid Row on the Pump tour in 1990. I was 12, standing there completely wide-eyed, when Skid Row tore into “Piece of Me” and something just clicked — that bass line. That moment revealed how much attitude and power could live in the low end, and it played a big role in me picking up a bass.
This week, I’m joined by Rachel Bolan of Skid Row to talk about his debut solo record Gargoyle of the Garden State. We get into the DNA of the album — how it leans into his punk influences while still reflecting decades of defining Skid Row’s sound — and what punk really means when you strip it down to attitude over genre. We also talk about creative freedom after years in a band with a defined identity, and what it means to step outside that without losing your voice.
The conversation also covers collaboration, as Gargoyles features appearances from Corey Taylor, Nuno Bettencourt, Danko Jones, Steve Conte, Damon Johnson as well as contributions from fellow Skid Row bandmates — and how outside voices can either elevate a track or shift its intent. And, as a longtime obsession of mine, we dig into cover songs, ranging from Skid Row’s “Psycho Therapy” to Bolan’s take on Oasis’ “Rock & Roll Star,” and the balance between honoring an original and making it your own.
A conversation about influence, identity, and the long arc of music that started with a bass line in 1990 that still echoes today.
Photo Credit: Anabel DFlux

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Upbeat dance classics, pop anthems and heavier rock songs give you one feeling — but what happens when you slow them down, strip them back, and see what lies beneath the surface? This week on My Weekly Mixtape, I explore why slow cover songs often hit harder than the originals, taking familiar pop, rock, and dance hits and reshaping them into something far more intimate.
Across 10 mellow cover versions, I look at how tempo, space, and vocal delivery can completely transform the meaning of a song you thought you already knew. Does a feel-good pop anthem still work when it’s turned into a ballad? Can slowing things down turn energy into vulnerability, or nostalgia into an emotional gut punch?
Whether it’s the power of hearing lyrics without a driving beat, revisiting songs from a different stage of life, or discovering new emotional weight in familiar words, this episode dives into how slowed-down covers create intimacy, expose hidden emotion, and in some cases become the definitive version.

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Can you narrow 25 years of dance classics into 10 songs? Nice try if you say it's easy!
This week, Jay Sweet joins me to dive into the tracks that kept crowds moving from the early 2000s straight through today — ten songs that shaped twenty-five years of parties, playlists, wedding receptions, late-night drives, and every moment in between.
We’re looking at the hooks, the beats, and the cultural waves that turned these songs into staples, exploring how dance music evolved over the last quarter century. Whether you’re chasing nostalgia or discovering these eras for the first time, this countdown is your guided tour through twenty-five years of pure energy.
Get ready to hit the dance floor with two guys who couldn't dance if we tried!

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Is there such a thing as a Rush deep cut? To the diehards, absolutely not — but that shouldn’t stop us from trying! As the band gears up for their long-anticipated Fifty Something anniversary tour, I am throwing back to an episode where I was the guest, and joined Steve & Gerry on the Something For Nothing: A Rush Fancast.
In this discussion, we set out to celebrate the overlooked corners of one of the most iconic catalogs in rock history, and wrack our brains to come up with five not-so-popular-but-definitely-should-be Rush songs each — tracks that may not dominate classic rock radio but reveal the band’s depth, ambition, and evolution.
No hits. No concert staples. From early prog explorations to later-era experimentation, this episode dives into underrated Rush songs, forgotten fan favorites, and deep album cuts that showcase the brilliance of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart. Whether it’s intricate musicianship, storytelling, or emotional weight hiding beneath the surface, these songs remind us why Rush’s legacy continues to grow fifty years on.
Whether you’re a lifelong Rush obsessive, gearing up to see them on this tour, or a newer listener curious about what lies beyond the hits, this episode is a love letter to Rush deep cuts — the riffs, the risks, and the moments that still reward close listening decades later.

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🎵 Hear the Playlists / Browse the Catalog:⁠ https://myweeklymixtape.com⁠
💬 Join the Mixtaper Community (Patreon):⁠ https://patreon.com/myweeklymixtape⁠
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