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For the fifth consecutive year, I had the honor of revealing the John Lennon Songwriting Contest $20,000 OWC Song Of The Year grand prize winner. The song is chosen by an executive panel of judges that include Fergie, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kevin Bacon, Switchfoot, Prince Royce and many others. Matthew Reich, Vice President of Tours and Promotions for the JLSC and John Lennon Educational Tour Bus joined me for the call. Fees from the songwriting contest, which is currently open to both amateurs and professionals, benefit the Lennon Bus – a state-of-the-art studio on wheels.

You can enter your song now at jlsc.com.

This year’s winner was the song “Breaking Things” which emerged from the contest’s pop genre. The co-writers, Jasmine Crowe and Josh Anderson receive the $20,000 in addition to other prizes they’ve accumulated throughout the contest thanks to supporters such as OWC, Yamaha, Neutrik, Audio-Technica, Genelec, Disc Makers, Focusrite, K&M and more.

Legendary comedian George Wallace chatted with me earlier this year ahead of his residency at The Westgate in Las Vegas. Wallace, who turned 70 this past July, talked about his Twitter account, his new show and his buddy Jerry Seinfeld – plus he offered up a few opinions on some modern-day phrases and music artists.

Our buddy Max called in from the road to chat about his new single “Still New York” and next album, “House of Divine.” The LP title comes from a lyric in “Lights Down Low,” an song he wrote for and proposed to his wife with. The single is a love letter to Max’s hometown with a number of celebrity cameos in the music video, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Chainsmokers and yes – even yours truly.

Friend-of-the-show JAX called in from our nation’s capital, where the next night she would perform at The White House for a special tribute to our troops on July 4th. The performance aired live on the Hallmark Channel. JAX’s entire family, including her father who was a firefighter and first-responder on 9/11 along with her brother, a current Marine, were in attendance.

However also in attendance were both President Trump and the First Lady. This of course subjected the New Jersey native to criticism from the President’s detractors; however JAX explained her stance on accepting the invitation to perform and what the event meant to her during our interview.

Wé McDonald stopped by the studio and in an interview taped before her EP showcase at Gramercy Theater, talked about performing the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium, releasing her debut EP and working with Alicia Keys as a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.”

Megan Devine, a psychotherapist and author of “It’s OK That You’re Not OK,” called in to the show after the death of designer Kate Spade so that we could have an honest conversation about discussing suicide and mental health in 2018 and on a platform like mine.

Sadly after we taped this, celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain took his life.

For more on Megan, find her at refugeingrief.com. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Celebrity attorney and Brooklyn-born Jill Stanley called in to update us on the latest charges against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein; the new developments in the case bring a life in prison sentence to the case.

Photo: David Shankbone

Photo: David Shankbone


Attorney Jill Stanley called in ahead of disgraced studio head Harvey Weinstein surrendering to police. The following morning, Weinstein was indicted on rape and sex act charges.

Attorney Jill Stanley called in to my show from Los Angeles to comment on what is next for Bill Cosby after his sexual assault conviction, predict what his sentence might be and talk about how the verdict impacts the “Me Too” movement.

Before his group headlined Mohegan Sun Arena and were introduced by yours truly, I sat down backstage to chat with Chris Daughtry of the band Daughtry. He gave me a tentative timeline for the group’s fifth studio album, talked about his plans for the rest of the year and even reminisced with me about a moment we had backstage at last year’s Billboard Music Awards.

Then a few weeks later, we chatted at… the Billboard Music Awards, where he gave me another update on Daughtry’s next LP.