Badass Records

About Badass Records

a podcast about people and music

Publisher

Blair Johnson

Category

music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Jul 2022

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

228 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Episode 228, Bradley McKellip

   Bradley McKellip is a son, a sibling, a fiancé, a talented musician, and a gifted writer. He's also my guest for Episode No. 228. You can follow Mr. McKellip on Instagram at @bradleymckellip, and consume his content on Bandcamp, where you'll discover that he has four EPs, a live set, and a single. He's been a part of numerous outfits in the Lawrence, KS area, and, well, I just can't say enough kind things about him and the chunk of change he shared with me at the end of last month. We talked clean copy, robust vocabularies, poetry, photography, Anthony Bourdain and Guy Fieri, and -- among other things -- life. Somewhere in that mix, we examined a few of his favorite records, which were these: Red Headed Stranger (1975), Willie Nelson J Dilla's Donuts (2006) The '59 Sound (2008), Gaslight Anthem Bon Iver's 22, A Million (2016) Small Town (2017), Bill Frisell A portion of our conversation jogged this old man's rusty memory bin and reminded me of the time Mark Kelpe gifted me a paperback copy of Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential (2000) as part of one of my manager reviews working as a chef for Kelpe's (now) Culinary Virtue company. He and his business partner James Westphal taught me a number of good lessons across my eight years under their employ, and I'm forever grateful for those learning moments and the gig(s) themselves. Kelpe, on the title page, wrote, "I hope this inspires you to write your own book. Keep challenging your life -- creatively!" I really enjoyed this chat, and I hope you'll check it out. Thank you, Bradley, for the time and the energy, and thank you to everyone that supports the show. copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio clips contained within this episode. They are snippets from a Bruce Springsteen tune called, "I'm on Fire," which you can find on his 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A., c/o Bruce Springsteen.

2. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Episode 227, Mat "Slimm KC" Adkins

   Part of the fun of a project like this is the gambling, the happenstance. And a lot of what that looks like on my end is taking a chance on a stranger and a stranger taking a chance on me. It's really fun most of the time, and I typically wind up feeling good about things going the way they went. And -- more importantly -- so do my guests. So, when @kc_slimm's content started making its way to my algorithm, I was pleasantly surprised in the lane of people I'd like to talk to. You, however, should give him a follow because he's checking out joints around town and giving them honest reviews. It's more of a put-that-place-on-our-to-check-out list as opposed to a where-should-we-eat-right-now kinda lists, but I suppose the content could actually serve both purposes. Either way, Slimm's content is solid, and -- not only have I enjoyed consuming it, but -- I really enjoyed meeting him and chewing the fat. Beyond the Toks of Tik, Slimm's on Instagram at @slimmkc. And his Record Bar burger joint handle is @slimms_recordburger. While we were hanging, Mr. Adkins and I talked family, happy places, life, and -- of course -- a few of Mat's favorite albums, which were these: Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous (1978) White Pepper (2000), Ween John Prine's Fair and Square (2005) Dig, Lazarus, Dig! (2008), Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Deer Tick's Coin-O-Matic (2026) Trust me when I say that Slimm's content is worth you like/share/subscribe. Please check him out, and -- in case you're still tuned in here -- there's a special merch' prize for anyone that's able to successfully identify every piece of flare on his jacket. Thank you, Slimm. Thank you, everyone that tunes in. Cheers. copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the audio segments contained within this episode. They are clips from a The Who song called, "Eminence Front," which is off of their 1982 release, It's Hard, c/o Geffen Records.

3. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Episode 226, An Esperluette (Jimmy Wing)

   Jimmy Wing, a.k.a. An Esperluette, is a son, a sibling, a husband, and a conductor of synth-pop mayhem from Kansas City, Missouri. The handle for An Esperluette on Instagram is @anesperluette, and you can also find Jimmy's stuff on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, YouTube, and TikTok. An Esperluette's full-length release, Splatter, dropped in June of last year, and consists of 10 tracks and a 33-minute run time. And for the ultra-timely, catch his gig tonight, Thursday, October 1 at miniBar in KC at 3810 Broadway Blvd. Jimmy and I talked writing, gear, gigging, the pressures of being a one-man operation, and -- naturally -- we talked about a few of his favorite records. Those were these: Melt* (a.k.a. his third self-titled record) (1980), Peter Gabriel Depeche Mode's Construction Time Again (1983) Good Mourning (2003), Alkaline Trio Radiohead's In Rainbows (2007) A ton of courage goes in to doing something like what An Esperluette's doing, and I'd like to raise a glass to Jimmy for taking on this project. I thank him for his time, energy, and forgiveness, and I wish him continued growth and success as he moves the needle. And thank you to all of you that support the show. Not to be confused with the first self-titled Gabriel record (oftentimes referred to as Car), which is precisely what I did in preparing for this conversation. Kudos to Jimmy for being so kind. copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio snippets contained within this episode. They are clips from a String Cheese Incident tune called, "Land's End," which is off their 1997 offering, Born on the Wrong Planet (c/o SCI Fidelity Records).

Who has been a guest on Badass Records

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Miguel Antonio
• Tasha Ransom
• Brian Kraemer
• Nic Aguero
• Vanessa Kramer

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

10,584

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

4.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 69 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

79

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

68

Contact Badass Records

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.