T-Bone

#1247: Vindication

No words needed.  I have been vindicated by Alex Van Halen himself!

See below from “Sammy Hagar” after our LeBrain Train episode on the 5150 album.  In a case of over-preparing for the episode, I played 5150 numerous times that week, along with 1984, OU812, and Eat ‘Em and Smile for context.  I felt that each era had its merits, but Dave had better lyrics than Hagar.  I still feel that way,

I was teased for calling David Lee Roth a “poet” while critiquing the lyrics on 5150.

In 2026, Alex Van Halen said:  “He was a poet.  We did our best work with Dave.”

I’d call this vindication!

Full LeBrain Train episode is below (April 30, 2021).

Hold onto your seats, folks, because T-Bone will blow you away with his 5150 knowledge and insight. In fact, all six panel members tonight brought it!

  • Mike
  • Tee Bone
  • Derek Williamson
  • Aaron (KeepsMeAlive)
  • Uncle Meat
  • Kevin

While it wasn’t fun being the lone dissenting voice when you’re up against heavyweights like Kevin and Meat, this was one of the best discussions on 5150 that you are likely to hear. And you need a dissenting voice, right?  I was happy to play the role of punching bag too!

The Van Halen talk begins at exactly 0:48:00 and runs through to the end.  Enjoy!

Tomorrow: Polychuck’s back!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano and Tee Bone

Episode 106 – The Return of Polychuck

Polychuck has remained busy since I last spoke to him back in July of 2021.  Since that time he’s released the EP Shadows Remain, and his current single “Hero” featuring Derek Sherinian of Dream Theater on keyboards.  We can’t wait to talk to him about the song, its important meaning, and the band he has backing him on it.  This talented multi-instrumentalist has been creating a catalogue of songs that defy categorisation.  As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also a mixed martial artist!  Polychuck literally and figuratively kicks ass!

We always like to support Canadian talent, and Polychuck hails from beautiful Montreal, where he also teaches music.  Truly, the guy is inspiring and if you don’t know that already, you will this Saturday at noon on the Train.  Please join myself, Polychuck, and special co-host Tee Bone for this sure-to-be awesome episode.

Special Time!

SATURDAY April 23, 12:00 Noon E.S.T.  on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!

 

 

Sunday Screening: “Community” – isolated live Aaron reaction video

For your convenience and enjoyment, here is an isolated video of the moment we surprised Aaron with the new Tee Bone Erickson music video “Community”. I will remember this night always.

SURPRISE! A Tribute to Aaron from the Community! Featuring new video by Tee Bone!

The secret is out!  This show was a month in planning.  We have been wanting to do a tribute to AARON from the KMA for some time now, due to his passion for Community.  And tonight we finally did it, surprising him with a blindside like no other!

For the last month, Tee Bone has been secretly toiling away on his new magnum opus, like a Mr. Holland gone mad, with late nights and early mornings.

Now we can reveal the truth:  the Community that Aaron nurtured has repaid him in song.  The new track “Community” features our contributions and our tributes to the man.  The very first duet with Tee Bone and Meat together, and the first vocal contributions from LeBrain and Geoff Stephen in a Tee Bone song!  And we got to spring the surprise on him live!  His reactions are on video for you to see yourself.

We had a full house tonight with Harrison, Kevin, Sarah, Geoff, Meat, John Snow and Tee Bone all in the house with James and Aaron!  A first!

Key points:

  • Interview with Aaron and James begins at 15:30.
  • The surprise is sprung at 46:30, followed by the debut of the “Community” music video.

If you were able to watch live, thank you for helping making Aaron’s party something truly special!

 

You will be able to buy “Community” on Bandcamp next week.  Wahoo!!

Tee Bone Rocks the LeBrain Train All Night Long

Thanks to the Kevin from Canadian Grooves for co-hosting tonight!  Our special guest was Mr. Tee Bone Erickson, who has provided all the theme music for the LeBrain Train and Scotch on the Rocks over the past year.  Tee Bone has a long history with writing and recording tunes, going back to Thunder Bay’s Current River with Deke.  Fast forward a few decades, and Tee Bone has found new creative license writing songs for the Community.  And now you can buy them on Bandcamp.  Yes, you can now have “Open Door Piss” and “HBD to the Mad Metal Man” in your mp3 library!

We quizzed Tee Bone on inspiration, process, and hardware.  We saw some guitars and heard some riffs performed for us live.  Most of all — we laughed!

Look for a special “meaty” Cinco de Listo from a certain uncle….

Thanks for joining us if you did!  If you didn’t — watch below!

The Tunes of Tee Bone – Tonight on the LeBrain Train!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & Kevin

Episode 93 – The Tunes of Tee Bone

Special guest:  Tee Bone Erickson!

For those of you who know and love the hits of Tee Bone, this show is for you!  To celebrate the launch of his brand new Bandcamp site, Tee Bone will be our special guest tonight.  That’s right!  You can now buy high quality downloads of Tee Bone’s original songs on Bandcamp!  Together they make for a white-hot nine track EP.

Joining me will be the Canadian Groover himself, Kevin AKA Buried On Mars.  Kevin was the first to download Tee Bone’s music and like me, he’s a huge fan.  Together we shall appreciate our special guest Tee Bone, and his growing discography of quirky catchy tunes with clever comical lyrics!  We’ll chat about the tunes and what inspired them, and you will hear a whole bunch too!

Get ready to “drink water from the hose” before you take an “open door piss”!  Show up early to see a very cool Aero-unboxing….

Friday January 7, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!

 

 

Sunday Screening: LeBrain Train Season Three intro by Tee Bone, rev 006

We are nothing if not perfectionists! Tee Bone was determined to get every single guest* we’ve ever had on the LeBrain Train into this intro vid, and I present to you the new updated version that we’ll be using on the next episode.  This time Tee Bone started using actual show clips in place of screen grabs in some shots, and I’ll tell you, seeing all that smiling and laughing brings warmth to my heart.

Can you spot everyone?

* caveat

  1. LeBrain
  2. Deke
  3. Patrick Gagliardi
  4. Greg Fraser
  5. Brian Hamilton
  6. Polychuck
  7. Frank Loffredo
  8. Kevin “BuriedOnMars”
  9. J.
  10. Sarca Sim
  11. Rob Barton
  12. Dr. Kathryn Ladano
  13. Steph Honde
  14. Trevor “Assthwaite”
  15. Jacob Moon
  16. Geoff Stephen
  17. Aaron “KeepsMeAlive”
  18. John “2Loud2Old” Dreyfuss
  19. Rob Daniels
  20. Gimli
  21. Max the Axe
  22. Eric “Uncle Meat”
  23. Brent Jensen
  24. Tee Bone Erickson
  25. Ryan Williams
  26. Robert Lawson
  27. Dravonous Helsing
  28. Tim Durling
  29. Marco the Contrarian
  30. Saige Weeping Willow Creations
  31. Martin Popoff
  32. Scott Peddle
  33. Mike Slayen
  34. Lana Music Forever
  35. Erik Woods
  36. Mike Fraser
  37. Andy Curran
  38. Sean Kelly
  39. Bonnie Ladano
  40. Phoebe
  41. Paul Laine
  42. Dan Fila
  43. Shawn Minden
  44. T-Rev
  45. Harrison the Mad Metal Man
  46. Michael Morwood
  47. and LakeCam!

 

Sunday Screening: The new LeBrain Train intro

Thanks to everyone who watched or shared Friday’s show, I really appreciate it! I think the new, shorter format is going to work. I also think the new intro video is pretty cool. We haven’t got a version that includes every single person who has ever been on the show, but it is a sampling of some very cool people who mean a lot to me. I hope you find yourself in this video! Music by Tee Bone Erickson.

Long Live the LeBrain Train

The weekly LeBrain Train has come to an end after 18 solid months.  I’ve done what I wanted to do — keep you entertained and connected during this pandemic.  I’ve not missed a week, but my fuel tanks need refilling and now’s the time to take a break.  But not to fear — as we announced, there is an alternative.

Darr Erickson said, “What about re-running classic episodes instead of going live?”  So that’s what we’re doing!  Special and well regarded past episodes will be repeated on Friday nights at the regular time and regular place.  The shows aren’t necessarily easy to find so we’ll do the searching for you, and play the best of the best one more time.

Next week tune in for the ZZ Top Deep Cuts episode, which made many lists tonight.

Oh right, the lists!  Joined by Harrison the Mad Metal Man, we listed the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten episodes of all time.  Lists submitted by:

  • Tee Bone (x 2)
  • Rob Daniels
  • Uncle Meat (x 2) – special cameo appearance
  • John T. Snow
  • Scotty Peddle
  • and me (x 2)

We also had plenty of special features!

  • Harrison’s Top Albums He’d Save From a Fire (0:08:00)
  • Brand new Tee Bone song “Ode to Darr” (0:29:00)
  • Special Sausagefest 20 highlights & video from Uncle Meat (0:31:15)
  • Lego LeBrain Train diorama & Easter Eggs with Harrison (1:01:30)
  • Not one but two new LeBrain train intros, adding new faces

Watch the video to learn who’s who in this Lego diorama by Harrison!

 

Discussion in the comments was lively and made me wonder if more people are still home on a Friday night than I assumed.  I hope you enjoy next week’s repeat of the ZZ Top episode.  With Dusty’s recent passing, it will be interesting in retrospect.

And we’ll be back with Superdekes on September 24 to talk to Storm Force one more time.  Our first interview was Storm Force so it’s full circle.  Stay tuned for plenty more list and theme shows.  The ideas flowed in the comments section so there is no shortage of potential themes!

‘Til next time….

Epic Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Cover Tunes Lists!

“I think it was safe to say that was by far my most favourite show.” – Chris T

Thank you Rob, Aaron, T-Bone, Harrison and Meat Man for tonight’s amazing panel.  The theme was Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Cover Tunes, brought to you by Meat.  Six lists, 66 songs, and very little overlap.  Having said that, there was one tune that made three lists, from an album that made four lists.  Watch the show to see what it was, or read Aaron’s notes below!

The lists commence at 0:20:30.

Incidentally, this show was record setting in terms of audience participation.  So many amazing picks and comments — most of them made in on screen, so check them out.

Once again your panel for this show was: