Backstory Sessions

🎙️ NEW EPISODE — BACKSTORY SESSIONS

This week on Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives, we’re joined by Michael Perzel and Rick Mowat, the writers behind the memoir Livin’ It: True Story of a Bad Kid from Philly Who Defies the Odds.

Michael’s story begins with a turbulent childhood in Philadelphia and follows a life filled with hard lessons, survival, risk, reinvention, and eventually success. After spending more than three decades in the insurance industry — including 26 years running his own brokerage — Michael entered an entirely new chapter as a writer and publisher.

Together with award-winning writer, director, and screenwriter Rick Mowat, those experiences became Livin’ It.

In this episode, Michael and Rick take us behind the memoir and talk about how a lifetime of memories becomes a book, what it means to tell difficult stories honestly, how they built trust as collaborators, and the challenge of deciding what stays in and what gets left out.

We also talk about the audiobook, the possibility of bringing the story to film or television, Michael’s second act as a writer, and what both men learned through the process of turning lived experience into storytelling.

It’s a conversation about survival, truth, second chances, creativity, and the reminder that sometimes the most compelling stories are the ones we actually lived.

🎧 Listen now to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

#BackstorySessions #LivinIt #MichaelPerzel #RickMowat #Memoir #TrueStory #AuthorInterview #WritersLife #WritingCommunity #Philadelphia #PhillyStories #SecondAct #Storytelling #BehindTheBook #BookPodcast #MemoirWriting #CreativeJourney #ConversationsWithCreatives #NewEpisode

🎙️ NEW EPISODE — BACKSTORY SESSIONS

This week on Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives, we go behind the music of one of outlaw country’s most distinctive voices, David Allan Coe.

Our guests are Ken Madson, Coe’s former co-manager and former Average Joes Entertainment partner, and David Wade, Coe’s former co-manager, songwriter, musician, and one of the key creative figures behind A Million Reasons — Coe’s final completed studio album.

Ken and David take us back to the 2017 recording sessions, sharing what it was like working with Coe, how the project came together, and why these recordings remained unheard for nearly a decade.

We talk about the long road to finally bringing the album to the public, Ken’s acquisition of the master recordings, and why preserving and releasing this music became even more meaningful following Coe’s death.

David also takes us inside the songwriting and creative process behind the project, including the title track “A Million Reasons,” “Corner of Cash and Coe,” and “No Holes in These Hands.”

And the story doesn’t end with the album. David shares details about the forthcoming documentary on Coe’s life and musical legacy, currently being co-produced with Johnny Knoxville.

It’s a conversation about the man behind the mythology, unheard music, friendship, songwriting, legacy, and the responsibility of preserving one final chapter from an artist whose voice left an unmistakable mark on country music.

🎧 Listen now to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

#BackstorySessions #DavidAllanCoe #AMillionReasons #KenMadson #DavidWade #OutlawCountry #CountryMusic #CountryMusicHistory #Songwriting #BehindTheMusic #UnreleasedMusic #MusicLegacy #JohnnyKnoxville #Documentary #ClassicCountry #ConversationsWithCreatives #NewEpisode

NEW EPISODE — ROLL WITH IT

This week on Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives, Cat Goguen and Ryan Dunn have a candid conversation about disability, capability, identity, independence, and what it means to truly be seen.

Both Cat and Ryan navigate life using wheelchairs and mobility devices, but this episode goes far beyond the equipment they use. We talk about assumptions people make, the difference between offering help and underestimating someone, accessibility, humor, frustration, resilience, and the everyday realities that don’t always get talked about.

We also explore how disability is perceived from the outside, why representation matters, and how much a person can be missed when others see the wheelchair before they see the individual.

There are serious moments, funny stories, honest reflections, and a lot of perspective.

Because sometimes life changes the route.

Sometimes the road looks different than you expected.

And sometimes, you simply have to Roll With It.

🎧 Listen now to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

#BackstorySessions #RollWithIt #CatGoguen #RyanDunn #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityRepresentation #Accessibility #MobilityMatters #WheelchairLife #DisabilityInclusion #Capability #Independence #BeingSeen #RepresentationMatters #ConversationsWithCreatives #Podcast

Producer Ed Accura (Blacks Can't Swim,Blacks Can't Swim: The Sequel, Blacks Can't Swim: REWIND, Changing The Narrative) didn't learn to swim until adulthood. That single fact, and the unease it left behind, is the spark for No Lifeguard. This new feature documentary that turns one man's late, hard-won relationship with water into a wider story about who actually keeps us safe when we get in. The film is directed by Mysterex and filmed across Ghana, Sri Lanka and London.

 

Drowning remains one of the most under-discussed causes of preventable death worldwide, and disproportionately affects children, low-income communities and those with limited access to swimming lessons.

 

It is a deceptively simple thought, delivered with real warmth. A lifeguard, the film argues, shouldn't be one person in red and yellow watching from a chair. It should be all of us, starting with ourselves. No Lifeguard builds that argument through testimony rather than statistics, travelling to two of the regions hit hardest by drowning anywhere in the world.

🎙️ NEW EPISODE TONIGHT — BACKSTORY SESSIONS

Tonight on Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives, we sit down with Marlon Hargis of Exile for a look back at more than six decades of music, memories, and staying power.

Marlon takes us back to his own musical beginnings, how he became part of Exile, and what those early years were like before the band’s breakthrough. We talk about the song that changed everything — “Kiss You All Over” — Exile’s transition into country music, the hits that followed, and what has allowed the band to remain together and continue creating for so many years.

We also bring the story back home to Kentucky, including Exile’s recent recognition by Governor Andy Beshear, and talk about what that honor means after a career rooted so deeply in the Commonwealth.

And Exile is far from finished. Marlon gives us a look at the band’s new album, Look Out, Heart, arriving October 23, and shares what longtime fans can expect from this next chapter.

There’s history, reflection, plenty of laughs, and even a few “Which Exile member is most likely to…” questions along the way.

🎧 Listen tonight to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

#BackstorySessions #MarlonHargis #Exile #KissYouAllOver #LookOutHeart #KentuckyMusic #CountryMusic #ClassicCountry #MusicHistory #GovernorBeshear #KentuckyProud #BehindTheMusic #ConversationsWithCreatives #NewEpisode