Sitting In with Sam

Marcus McCauley is a pianist, orchestrator, producer, videographer, and photographer. He went from being a contest winning pianist in his youth to become a one stop shop for artists now. He always manages to challenge the musicians that play with him to rise to his level. I have never met someone who is such embodiment of the word ambition. I hope he inspires you as much as he inspires me. This is Marcus McCauley…

Ray Casarez is a rock guitarist, composer, engineer, and producer. He is the primary composer for Hyper Gauge, a collective of animators that pit video game characters against anime characters in their one minute melee series on YouTube. He is also the composer for game developer Implosive Games on their newest project. The work ethic he demonstrates makes it obvious why he is consistently achieving his dreams. We get to talk about everything from what got him to pick up a guitar to how he became the producer he is today. This is Ray Casarez…

Moorea Dickason is Bay Area music royalty. She is probably best known for her work as the lead singer of MoeTar and Raze the Maze. She has also done plenty of sound alike recordings in the video game industry for games like Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. Her spiritual connection to music is not just a key to her success but a beacon for other musicians for how they can achieve a spiritual connection to their music. She has served as inspiration to so many musicians, myself included and I can’t wait for you to hear her story. This is Moorea Dickason...

David Möschler is the epicenter of the Bay Area music scene. He is the director of the Awesome Orchestra Collective that has been a haven for orchestral and non orchestral alike, creating memories the playing to a sold out Fox Theater in Oakland, to recording on live and studio albums for a variety of artists, to doing live readings with a full orchestra in community spaces all over the Bay Area. He also serves as the Resident Musical Director for the Youth Musical Theater Company, an organization that puts on incredible musicals starring incredibly talented high school performers in the East Bay Area. I don’t know where my music career would be without him. This is Dave Möschler…

Ted Allen was my High School band teacher. I am just one of Hundreds if not thousands of people who have benefitted from his wisdom as a musician. His years in the industry wearing many different hats from multi instrumentalist, to music copyist, to composer, etc. add up to a wealth of knowledge that is rare to find in a high school band teacher. That knowledge, along with Ted's undying itch to learn, has benefitted the bay area music scene for a generation. So here is a glimpse of the genius that is Ted Allen...

Listen to why I named this podcast Sitting In with Sam in an extended interview with Episode 1 guest Cliff Rawls!

Listen to Brian and I nerd out on some harmony!

Reggie Murray is a beacon of music tradition. He is primarily a keyboard and piano player who specializes in American Gospel music. He is also a composer and arranger along with playing organ at his church every Sunday. I have never met someone where the music from his fingertips and the words he utters from his mouth are so rooted in their person. He never has to reach for a word, or search for a chord, it's always right there because Reggie's connection to his music comes from his bones. There isn't a bone in his body that doesn't connect to his musical core which is why he was the inspiration for this podcast and the perfect person to wrap up Season 1. This is Reggie Murray.

Joe Newman is a saxophonist, keyboardist, and composer that I would identify as a superhero musician. During the day, Joe specializes in privacy law at a big firm in the city of San Francisco. At night, he dons the cape and cowl of versatile musician, playing gigs on piano and sax in genres like jazz, funk, rock, and anything else he can get his hands on. Between being a lawyer and a musician, he also is a loving husband and father.

Brian Sheu is a guitarist and a veteran of the notetracking department for the Rocksmith 2014 game produced at Ubisoft studios in San Francisco. It is his job to figure out all of the notes played in a given song so that players of the game can enjoy pitch perfect transcriptions every week that downloadable content gets released. When he isn't at work, he is a vital part of the nightlife scene in San Jose CA playing guitar for a variety of different projects ranging from hip hop, to jazz, to rock, to video game music, and just about anything in between.

Rachel Robinson is a director, music director, vocalist, and all around musical theater enthusiast. Her education from NYU's Steinhart school readily prepares her for her role as music director in productions for places like the Berkeley Playhouse and Ray of Light productions in SF as well as being a coach for a full roster of vocal and piano students. Her professionalism is second to none, which is one of the things that makes her such a joy to work with, and such an inspirational person to interview. Enjoy!

Cliff Rawls, maybe better known as Mr. Cliff to his students, is a music facilitator at NEA Community Learning Center in Alameda California. He has a Masters in Music from Boston University and has spent a majority of his education digging into why we teach what we teach in music. He is a gifted drummer, guitarist, arranger, metal vocalist, and a dear friend. I hope you enjoy this conversation with him as much as I did.