The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers

Every so often the universe sees fit to gift a person with the ability to keep others desperately clinging to their every word, so enthralled with the details of even the simplest anecdote that all sense of time and purpose are lost, and all that matters to the eager audience is what happens next. It's even less common that two talented orators cross baths in such a brief and spectacular way as comedian and storyteller Bert Kreischer and rapper Notorious B.I.G. For one brief second in 1997, the two shared the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Notorious B.I.G. had been murdered just weeks after the release of Life After Death, a double-album rife with tales of the opulence and violence of the New York City drug trade. Bert was being named America's top partier, and would go onto release two comedy special, host two television shows, produce his own podcast Bertcast. Now, nearly 25 years later, Bert reveals just how important that shared moment and Biggie's music was to him. The 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts. For show notes, guest playlists, links to new music inspired by this week's album, go to The500Podcast.com. New Artist/Song influenced by Notorious B.I.G.:Benny the Butcher - "97 Hov"  Join. The. Movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Producer, director and actor Peter Billingsley puts the nearly 40 years of boozing, brawling and broken spirits of outlaw country legend Merle Haggard's career-spanning retrospective collection Down Every Road into perspective for the modern era.Much like with the story of America, a look back on the life of outlaw country legend Merle Haggard reveals as much pain and hardship as it does hope and inspiration. But without the harsh realities of growing up poor and spending time in prison to shape him, the world might find itself sorely lacking the hard-bitten truths and forlorn beauty of that classic Bakersfield Sound he spent nearly forty years shaping with his music, to which the 1994 release of roughly 100 songs from every period of his career Down Every Road is an eternal testament. The same might be said of one of Merle's biggest fans: director, producer and actor Peter Billingsley, whose humble beginnings in yogurt commercials and after school specials led him to not only star in one of the most beloved holiday films of all time, A Christmas Story, but also helped bring to life hit movies and televisions series such as The Break Up, Sullivan & Son, and F is for Family. The 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts.For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries, and audiobooks about the music go to The500Podcast.com.New Artist/Song influenced by Merle Haggard:Mick Fury "Front Porch of America"(YouTube)Join. The. Movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two veritable rebels sustain us in this supremely honest conversation about love and relationships. While stand-up comic Jenny Zigrino bares all on her appearances on Conan and Comedy Central, Loretta Lynn lambasts her long-time husband for every wrongdoing in the book in this, her Greatest Hits album, a classic in the eyes of pioneers looking for historical footholds.For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries and audiobooks about the music, go to The500Podcast.com.New Music influenced by Loretta Lynn:“A Dream Without Pain” by Nicole Atkins (YouTube)Join. The. Movement. #FleeceArmy #KingofFleece #The500PodcastThe 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good luck trying to pin a label on Baron Vaughn, because he is an artist who has built a career out of defying expectations. Learning from an early age that humor can be both a weapon and a shield, he has carved out a unique identity for himself through his eclectic stand up comedy albums, performances in Netflix's Grace & Frankie and Mystery Science Theater 3000, and creating the series The New Negroes for Comedy Central. Vaughn takes an unflinching look at the world's expectations of what it means to be black in America. But in reaching the position he is in today, much is owed to the groundbreaking work of the creative forces that came before him, including psychedelic funk godfathers Funkadelic, who shattered genre stereotypes while also getting people to shake their asses to the drug-fueled grooves of their 1971 release, Maggot Brain.For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries and audiobooks about the music, go to The500Podcast.com.New Music influenced by Funkadelic:“El Moran” by Mascaras (bandcamp) “Bay City Blues” by Jack McCue / Idle Hands (Soundcloud)Join. The. Movement. #FleeceArmy #KingofFleece #The500PodcastThe 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world can be a cold, hard place that suffers no fools and shows now mercy to those in suffering. Few artists have ever been able to capture the dark underbelly of America the way that hip-hop giants the Wu Tang Clan have. And among the supergroup, Raekwon stands out as a master of lyrical storytelling and mindboggling wordplay, to which his 1995 debut solo album Only Built for Cuban Linx is an eternal testament. So densely crafted with harrowing true-to-life tales of the New York drug trade, it only seemed fitting that this album be deconstructed by none other than Ron Funches. Ron is known for his bright, positively jovial persona, having quickly positioned himself as one of the fastest rising stars in comedy, with appearances in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Blackish, New Girl, and his own Comedy Central special, Giggle Fit, under his belt.For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries and audiobooks about the music, go to The500Podcast.com.New Music influenced by Raekwon:Armand Hammer – “No Days Off” on (Spotify) (YouTube)Join. The. Movement. #FleeceArmy #KingofFleece #The500PodcastThe 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perception is reality, or so they say. But for an emotionally complex, yet inherently antagonistic public figure like Michael Rapaport, the image and persona people see from the outside doesn't fully plumb the depths of his character. Born in New York City, the actor/director is very much a product of his environment, ever ready to deal out bristling, sometimes caustic arguments, opinions and wordplay at a rapid fire rate, much like the gritty lyricists who laid the foundations of the hip-hop music he is so passionate about right in his own hometown. Still, there is more to Michael than a quippy tweet or profanity laden viral video might convey. He loves his children deeply, looks back on his Jewish heritage with great pride, and has a powerful affinity for the sexually incandescent, neo-soul vibrations of D'Angelo's instant classic from 2000, Voodoo.For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries and audiobooks about the music, go to The500Podcast.com.New Music influenced by D'Angelo:Dijon "Skin" (YouTube)Join. The. Movement. #FleeceArmy #KingofFleece #The500PodcastThe 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actor Tom Everett Scott finds parallels to his own life in the small-town roots and overnight success of Steve Earle’s 1986 debut album Guitar Town.Every so often an artist comes along whose talent, brilliance and charm grab the public’s attention so quickly and so intensely that the person’s sudden elevation to celebrity shocks even them. Such is the case of Tom Everett Scott, who not long after graduating from theater school, was cast in his hero Tom Hank’s directorial debut That Thing You Do, which has since become a cult classic for music and movie lovers everywhere.Tom went on to star in several of the most iconic movies and television series of his generation, including American Werewolf in Paris, Dead Man on Campus and, most recently, truTV’s I’m Sorry. Never one to forget his small-town roots, the heartfelt blues rock longing and quiet country loneliness of Steve Earle’s debut album Guitar Town, also sharing in instant classic status when it was released in 1986, reminded Tom much of where he’s been and how he’s gotten to where he is now.The 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts.For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries, and audiobooks about the music go to The500Podcast.com.New Artist / Song influenced by Steve Earle: Barrel Bones "Rebel Threat" (YouTube)Join. The. Movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Work hard on something you love for long enough and two things are bound to happen: you master it, and you stop caring about anything not directly related to how much you love that thing. If nothing else, that may be the most important lesson Karen Kilgariff has to offer. Starting out as a stand up in the early 1990's, she went on to become the head writer of The Rosie Show, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and The Pete Holmes Show. After battling addiction, anxiety, and insecurity, Karen has reached a point in her career where she is able to look beyond the stress and struggles of trying to make it, leaving her with zero fucks left to give and one of the most successful podcasts in existence, My Favorite Murder. That mindset makes Karen the best possible person to unpack the uncompromising political statements and savage criticisms of modern romance that make up Gang of Four’s influential 1979 release Entertainment!The 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts.For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries, and audiobooks about the music go to The500Podcast.com.New Song / Artist influenced by Gang of Four: Fever 333 - "Burn it" (YouTube)Join. The. Movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Music industry legend Matt Pinfield lets Josh pick over his encyclopedic brain in this epic discussion of the slightly obscure but sorely underrated 1972 Mott the Hoople release All the Young Dudes. Saying Matt Pinfield knows a lot about music may be the greatest understatement of the century. The former MTV VJ and alternative radio industry titan is not just a walking, talking encyclopedia of music fact and lore, his tastes have launched a thousand bands’ careers over the years. It all started with him parked in front of a record player, listening to a stack of albums as a child, fueling a burning passion to seek out new tunes. And looking back at an unpredictable career and a life filled with as much joy as heartbreak, it’s clear there is no one better equipped to pick apart the oft-overlooked and genius-inspired glam rock artistry of All the Young Dudes, the 1972 album from Mott the Hoople, who came too damn close to never releasing some of their best work ever.The 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts. For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries, and audiobooks about the music go to The500Podcast.com. New Song / Artist influenced by Mott the Hoople:"Outta My Mind" by Des Rocs (feat. The Cobra) (YouTube)Join. The. Movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are fans, there are superfans, and then there are people like Joe List. While Joe couldn’t tell one flannel-wearing gaggle of grunge rockers from another when he first bought Pearl Jam’s third studio album Vitalogy in 1994, no other band would ever strike as emotionally resonant a chord deep within him. Something about the heavy guitars, soaring vocals and lyrics heavily laden with meaning and story would drive Joe not only to seek out every B-side and obscure bit of trivia he could stand to commit to memory, but also to see Pearl Jam live in concert at least 40 times. As far as obsessions go, Joe’s love for these sons of Seattle could only ever be surpassed by his prodigious and prolific career in stand-up comedy, which has taken him to the finals of NBC’s Last Comic Standing and the second season of Netflix’s The Stand Ups.The 500 is a production of Native Creative Podcasts. For show notes, guest playlists, complimentary documentaries and audiobooks about the music, go to The500Podcast.com. New Song / Artist influenced by Pearl Jam:"Rock N Roll" by Welles (YouTube)Join. The. Movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices