Inside MusiCast co-hosts, Rick Such and Eddy Cabello, crossed paths while working their day jobs in advertising. Rick was recording and editing a radio spot for Eddy’s ad agency firm at Earshot Audiopost (Rick’s studio). After they finished the radio spot, they started talking about their tastes in music, their reading of album liner notes, favorite artists and musicians, albums and even producers. Needless to say, they had lots in common and their mutual love of Toto fueled the fire! Soon after, Rick and Eddy connected with Scott Page. Scott is a world class musician in his own right, but had stepped away from the music scene to focus on a technology related business called NewMBC. His company created an innovative web site for the band Toto called The Toto Network - a social media web site that contained a running blog, video, and many social media aspects before social media became mainstream. It was truly ahead of its time! Rick and Eddy soon became correspondents of The Toto Network and beta-tested a mobile video posting platform for the site long before Facebook implemented this type of technology. This connection to Toto sparked a series of discussions and brainstorm meetings that would throw the concept of a new podcast on the table: To interview the great studio musicians who were the musicians behind the musicians. It was finally at a Saturday morning breakfast that Eddy and Rick would move a concept to reality. This was the beginning of Inside MusiCast.

NOW IN OUR SIXTEENTH YEAR of programming, Inside MusiCast has become a leading source of music industry information, content and quality podcast programming. IMC has created hundreds of audio podcasts that provide in-depth insights with musicians, producers, session players, and front-line artists. Our interviews are designed to draw emotion, critical opinion, humor, and insight from our guests – providing comprehensive podcast content.

We’d also like to thank our correspondents. They help us see music through a multi-genre lens and help create up-to-date content that matters to you. This is an extremely diverse team that brings broad knowledge and opinion to the IMC table. Get to know them by reading their bios below. We dedicate our podcast to our guests and to those who need to go “beyond the liner notes”.

– Your hosts, Rick Such & Eddy Cabello

Inside MusiCast is a non-profit program of Escala Foundation, a 501c3 entity.

Rick Such / Indianapolis

Rick Such has been feeling the groove since he was four years-old. His love for music and sound in general led him down a sound-related career path. As a talented audio engineer for over twenty seven years, he is daily immersed in the world of sound design at his Emmy award-winning audio post-production studio. Rick studied percussion as a grade school student and continued all the way through college at Ball State University, where he majored in Telecommunications and was awarded the 2009 Alumnus Of The Year award. A true music aficionado, his appetite for music has allowed him to appreciate music from all genres. Rick knows that the bottom line is excellence in what you do. “I have always had such respect for the guys who were the talent behind the talent in the music industry. To me, the liner notes are an album’s true artwork. Creating Inside MusiCast and giving these amazing musicians the spotlight has been something I have always dreamed of doing.” Rick is Owner/ Engineer of Earshot Audiopost, a recording studio based in Indianapolis, Indiana USA.

Eddy Cabello / Indianapolis

A purist and minimalist when it comes to music, cars, design and life, Eddy Cabello is uniquely connected to the world around him. He began studying violin at the age of 10 and piano at the age of 12. He put his talent to use at church while he was growing up, and learned how to play Gospel piano while listening to CCM artists such as Andraé Crouch, Edwin Hawkins, Michael & Stormie Omartian, and Keith Green. Then, as a kid (ask him about it), he inherited 300 vinyl records under unusual circumstances and began listening to artists such as Steely Dan, Cosby Stills Nash & Young, Carole King, Cat Stevens, Burt Bacharach, Pink Floyd – you get the picture. This changed his life by expanding his musical perspective. When the digital age hit, he migrated to playing synths, owning DXs (yes, he still has his cartridges), Ensoniqs, Rhodes, M1s, Trinitys, Akai drum machines and other digital toys. Today, he stays close to his acoustic grand and MX88. Eddy is also a painter, visual artist and designer, currently focusing his painting efforts as an abstract expressionist. Eddy is Creative Director at Cabello Associates, an award-winning advertising agency/consultancy based in Indianapolis, Indiana USA. He has created the new branding “look” for Inside MusiCast. This is his forty-second year in advertising, design and marketing.

Brian Pearson / Chicago

Growing up in a talented, musical family, Brian Pearson was constantly surrounded by different types of music. His father, uncles and cousins have been full-time musicians with various bands that played both the national and Chicago scene for years. Both of his parents exposed him to a wealth of music as a child, all of which influenced his development. Music is literally in his genes.

After realizing at a very early age that working in the music field was his main goal, Brian began to focus his talent working in radio, providing musical programming direction to stations in the Chicago market. With Blues and Jazz as his forte, he hosted several well-known shows that pulled-in large audiences. It was during this time that he was able to make acquaintances with artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Robben Ford, Al Jarreau, Larry Carlton, Delbert McClinton, and many more. A declining demand for radio has led to staging concerts with up-and-coming artists like Susan Tedeschi, Peter Mayer, Ben Taylor, Doyle Bramhall Jr., Tommy Castro and Coco Montoya. Brian found himself writing for music publications like Relix, The Reader, Blues Revue and The Midwest Beat. Today, he runs Deacon Grooves Media, promoting artists that need to be heard.

Kim Reilly / Boca Raton

Since the age of 5, Kim Reilly felt the magnetism of music through her early exposure to classic rock and pop music on 45’s and LP’s in her home. Albums such as Paul McCartney’s Band On The Run, Jefferson Starship’s Miracles, and Elton John’s Captain Fantastic, along with TV shows such as The Midnight Special paved a road that led her to the conclusion that music was much more than instruments, singing, and dancing. Kim became aware of the talent behind it all and fell in love with the music-making process. She’s a multi-instrumentalist, having performed in several bands throughout the years, and has had the good fortune of meeting and listening to some of the greatest artists who have influenced her musically. Today, she works in the music industry, side-by-side with new and established artists that have inspired her over her life. As a correspondent, Kim has supplied industry knowledge, promotional assistance, as well as musical guest contacts to Inside MusiCast.

Scott Gross / Tampa

During his twenty-one year residence in Los Angeles, Scott Gross immersed himself in the L.A. music scene. A regular at venues such as The Baked Potato, The Golden Bear, At My Place and The Coach House, Scott had the good fortune of seeing incredible artists such as Toto, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Ambrosia, Peter Frampton, Stephen Bishop, John Waite and others performing regularly in these intimate venues as they pushed their abilities and performances for their hometown crowds. As a music archivist and dedicated reader of liner notes, he has developed a deep appreciation for the unsung heroes - the session musicians - whose first call status earned them greater respect than it did fame or fortune. Scott performed regularly as a stand-up comedian/musician touring comedy clubs, colleges, cruise ships, resorts and as an opening act at concerts during a ten-year period.  Scott and his family currently reside in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

Mikael Engström / Tyresö, Sweden

Born into a musical family, mainly focusing on classical music, Mikael Engström soon realized that his mission was to protect the interest of other genres. At the age of nine he entered the local record store and bought his first LP, “Chicago Transit Authority”. Having heard “Introduction” on the radio, his life was completely changed. At an early age he developed a love for rhythm and groove. Playing mom’s pots and cans made his parents realize there might be a drummer born into the family. Many drum kits later he’s now the proud owner of a huge Pearl Birch kit. Always surrounded by music, his collection now contains over 5000 CD’s and loads of music DVD’s. Groups like 10cc, Supertramp, Yes, Camel and Genesis made a huge impact on him as they contained the bridge between his classical roots and rock music. Lee Ritenour’s 1977 “Captain Fingers” was also a key that turned him into a true liner notes reader. Through the notes he discoverd session players like Jeff Porcaro , Bill Champlin, Jay Graydon & David Foster. He considers himself now to be a real “West coast nerd” and he’s quite proud of it. He´s also a great lover of fusion. Mikael also enjoys being involved in the Stockholm music scene as his knowledge and networking helps facilitate various concerts and artists. He resides in Tyresö, just outside Stockholm, Sweden.

Scott Sheriff / Nashville

Scott Sheriff was born into a musical family and from an early age, was listening to music with a very discerning ear.  His musical tastes run the gamut from AC/DC to Bill Evans, but mostly he gravitates toward music with deep harmonic structure.  He cites early influences such as the Four Seasons and Beach Boys as instrumental in developing his love for harmony, and later gravitated toward the music coming out of the West Coast circa ‘75-‘85.  Hall & Oates “Kiss On My List” was a touchstone for his interest in rock keyboard playing.

Scott graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Production and Engineering.  He has toured extensively as a Keyboardist and Vocalist with with Carrie Underwood, Kenny Loggins, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Susan Ashton, and has filled in dates with Richard Marx, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Michael W. Smith. Scott currently acts at the Owner of ClassicTributeBands.com, a Nashville Music Collective with several bands for hire.

He has also served as Music Director for two Nashville churches, Crosspoint Church, and Bellevue Community Church.  His praise & worship songs are registered with CCLI, and Max Lucado featured his song “Living Water” in his Come Thirsty teaching series. He also travels to teach and play for various worship conferences and seminars.

Scott also currently serves as one of the arrangers for David Foster’s ongoing series of live concerts.

Don Breithaupt / Toronto

Toronto native Don Breithaupt nearly fell off his red three-speed bike when he first heard “Reeling in the Years” crackling out of his transistor radio. He was 12. Born to musical parents (and not incidentally surrounded since birth by his father’s collection of jazz piano LPs), Don received his first taste of Steely Dan like a message from outer space: “It was a revelation. I thought, you mean that’s allowed? You can play like that and use those chords in a pop song?”

 Don studied composition and arranging on a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, then began what has been an illustrious career as a keyboard player, songwriter and producer. His Monkey House project, currently signed to ALMA/Universal, has featured such guests as Michael Leonhart, Drew Zingg and Richie Hayward. He won an Emmy Award in 2009 for his theme to the animated series 6teen. He has twice been shortlisted for the prestigious Fred Ebb Award for musical theater songwriting, has won three SOCAN Awards for his television scoring, is a Gemini Award nominee, has co-written three songs nominated for Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammy), and is a past winner of the American Songwriting Competition in the jazz category. Don has accompanied hall-of-fame soul artists including Aretha Franklin and Sam Moore, and has toured with Marc Jordan, Rik Emmett and Sass Jordan, among others. With his NYC-based brother Jeff, he has created an extensive catalog of songs whose interpreters include Jane Monheit, Janis Siegel and Catherine Russell. “It’s always pure creative joy to perform any of their songs,” says longtime Steely Dan vocalist Carolyn Leonhart.

Now based in Los Angeles, Don flies his music nerd flag proudly. In 2007, after an extensive one-on-one interview with Donald Fagen, he wrote Aja, Vol. 46 of Continuum Publishing’s 33-1/3 series on classic albums. His two previous books (for St. Martin’s Press, co-authored with brother Jeff) examined pop music in the seventies. “I think a lot of musicians forget to be music fans, forget the original buzz of it all, forget to keep looking for the next thing they’re going to love. I’ve never lost that. I’m a liner note-reading, album-collecting fan for life.”

Loretta Sassaman / Seattle

Loretta Sassaman is a freelance writer, music reviewer, all around music enthusiast, a vocalist and musician. Her reviews and thoughts on music can be found on her website Spin That 45. She has contributed to and manages other websites as well as groups & pages on Facebook. Loretta has music running through her hispanic genes as her great aunt, Adela Zambrano Hall (recording artist Adelita y Chico) a Decca Records artist in the 30’s, penned and recorded what is today considered a staple in “el genre” (traditional Mexican music). If you’re familiar with Linda Ronstadt’s Grammy-winning LP “Canciones de mi Padre”, you’d recognize Adela’s song, “Los Laureles.” Thus, Loretta’s roots to music. Loretta’s first collected albums were given to her on her 5th birthday – “Paul Revere & The Raiders Greatest Hits” along with her first 45, “Groovin,” by The Rascals (both of which she asked for). She has always loved the “who, what, where and how” of music and considers herself an amateur musicologist. Maybe that’s because her mother, who was a huge lover of all music, would “talk” music with Loretta, even having her read the autobio of Billie Holiday, “Lady Sing’s The Blues” at age 11. Loretta, growing up in Southern California’s East LA, San Gabriel and later moved to Palm Springs. She rarely missed her favorite music shows, such as 60’s favorites, “America’s Top 40” with Casey Kasem on radio, television’s “The Sam Riddle Show,” “The Reel Don Steele Show,” ‘American Bandstand,” “Soul Train,” “The Midnight Special” and “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.” Her love of music is vast, from R & B, Funk, Pop, Rock, Latin, Blues, Euro, EDM, CCM, Bluegrass, Jazz and Blue eyed soul!!!

Yinka Oyelese / New Jersey

Yinka Oyelese, a physician specializing in high-risk pregnancy, is also a lifelong musician, producer and music aficionado. While growing up in Nigeria, he collected a great album collection, reading the liner notes religiously. It’s no surprise that he got to know the names of all the great session musicians. Years later, he moved to the US, and married a professional singer. In producing her music, he has had the fortune to personally work with several of the top musicians, arrangers, engineers and producers in the world. Yinka loves jazz, West Coast music, gospel, rock and blues. An professed audiophile, he loves listening to the finest recorded music. He is also an avid photographer whose work has been published in several leading photographic magazines. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Patrice Jegou.

Arnaud Leger / Paris, France

Arnaud Leger is an Art Director and Graphic Designer living in Paris, France. Graduated from the superior Art School Duperré in Paris. His passion for music began when he was very young. At 8, he discovered the music of Billy Joel, his first American musician hero. His uncle, a sax player in a band called The Forgetters, introduced him to the music of Chicago and Toto. Arnaud grew up with a passion for this kind of music often forgotten. Soon, he discovered Rocktime, a french music fans magazine, focusing on spreading news about artists such as Richard Marx, Toto, Survivor, Michael Bolton. They consistently released news, reviews and cover art of such releases. A few years after, with Jean Luc Raymond, from the Rocktime team, Arnaud created a newsletter “Westcoast Rendezvous”, specializing in “west coast music”, and had it printed by a friend, Jean Philippe Rejou and sent to subscribers. The name of the newsletter was inspired by a song from David Roberts “Midnight Rendezvous”, a classic in the AOR genre. Then the “internet” arrived. The newsletter became the official westcoast music french website on the web in 1996. Jean Luc and Arnaud were contacted by the staff of Disneyland Paris to organize a Westcoast music festival in 2003 featuring Robbie Dupree, Poco, Peter Mayer, Greg Guidry, Jim Photoglo, Stephen Bishop, Firefall, Marc Jordan. It was a great success! As an art director and designer, a dream has came true by working with several great AOR artists. Arnaud has designed covers for CDs, posters, and other promotional materials for cd artworks for these musicians such as Bill Champlin, Bill LaBounty, Peter Friestedt and many others.