Drummer Corky Laing is best known for his work with the hard rock band Mountain. Born in Montreal, he began his career with the famous soul doo wop vocal group The Ink Spots, before joining the band Energy, produced by a young Felix Pappalardi. In 1969, he left Energy and joined Pappalardi and guitarist Leslie West in Mountain, (replacing N.D. Smart). Along with Cream and Blue Cheer, Mountain would become "one of the seminal power trios in modern heavy psychedelic rock music." (-AllMusic.com) The band broke up in 1972, but has reunited several times and is still active today. Corky Laing has recorded and performed with Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, The Allman Brothers and many more legendary rock artists. He has been credited as the drummer responsible for turning the cowbell into a rock n' roll staple. In this conversation Corky talks about how being the youngest of five children led him to the drums, Keith Moon's influence, the road, drumming as a primal instinct, the importance of listening, and how drumming is "the most beautiful choreography you can do without standing up".

British film director Anthony Harvey began his career in the 1950s working as a film editor with Stanley Kubrick (Lolita, Dr. Strangelove), before going on to direct many feature films, including: The Lion in Winter starring (Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole), for which he received a Directors Guild of America Award and an Academy Award nomination; They Might Be Giants (with Joanne Woodward and George C. Scott), The Glass Menagerie (with Katherine Hepburn and Sam Waterston), The Abdication, The Disappearance of Aimee, Eagles Wing, Richard's Things, Grace Quigley and This Can't Be Love. In this conversation, Anthony Harvey, now 83 years old, looks back on his career, recalling some of the most exhilarating moments of his life in film, and the friendships that came out of it. Tune in to hear what he learned from Stanley Kubrick, why Oscar night in 1969 was so hilarious, and how he went about directing Katherine Hepburn without getting smacked.

Dianne Reeves is a 4-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer, known for her improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings. She is the only singer to have won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance three consecutive times. Her most recent album Beautiful Life was released in February 2014. The album showcases Reeves’ sublime gifts by melding elements of R&B, Latin and pop within the framework of 21st Century jazz. “At its essence,” says Reeves, “Life is beautiful, and I wanted to celebrate that which is too often overlooked.”In this conversation, Dianne talks about her earliest influences, discovering her own style and what her mother taught her about living her best life.

Part II of our conversation with Grammy and Emmy Award winning producer and recording engineer Cynthia Daniels. She’s a two-time Grammy Award winner, (The Producers, [2001 Original Broadway Cast] and The Julie Andrews Collection CD), and has worked with everyone from Beyonce to Paul McCartney to Jennifer Lopez. Specializing in orchestral pop, she has recorded and produced countless broadway cast albums and large-scale productions in New York and London. She’s also produced solo and live records for some of the world’s most renowned vocalists and performers, such as Barbara Cook, Patti Lupone, Eartha Kitt, Sandra Bernhard and Elaine Stritch (Elaine Stritch: At Liberty). Ms. Daniels has also worked extensively in television and film and in 2007, she won an Emmy Award for composition and music supervision on the longest running daytime series Guiding Light. In 2011, she built a world-class recording studio in the Hamptons, (designed by architect John Storyk) and launched her own music label: MonkMusic Records, which focuses on young, emerging artists and producing audiophile quality, high-energy rock.

Cynthia Daniels is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning producer and recording engineer, known for her work in Broadway, film and television. She’s a two-time Grammy Award winner, (The Producers, [2001 Original Broadway Cast] and The Julie Andrews Collection CD), and has worked with everyone from Beyonce to Paul McCartney to Jennifer Lopez. Specializing in orchestral pop, she has recorded and produced countless broadway cast albums and large-scale productions in New York and London. She’s also produced solo and live records for some of the world’s most renowned vocalists and performers, such as Barbara Cook, Patti Lupone, Eartha Kitt,Sandra Bernhard and Elaine Stritch (Elaine Stritch: At Liberty). Ms. Daniels has also worked extensively in television and film and in 2007, she won an Emmy Award for composition and music supervision on the longest running daytime series Guiding Light. In 2011, she built a world-class recording studio in the Hamptons, (designed by architect John Storyk) and launched her own music label: MonkMusic Records, which focuses on young, emerging artists and producing audiophile quality, high-energy rock.

Dune Local's original trio, vocalist Tristeen Caravella (T. Kissy) and drummer John Loetscher of Hampton Bays, and guitarist Austin Quinn of East Quogue are long time friends who grew up together on Long Island. In the last few years, Chris Hamilton joined the band on bass, and they began writing music together.

Dune Local has been described as a harmonic blend of the best of rock, reggae, blues, & hip hop funneled into a powerful and unique sonic experience. Their eclectic style brings a little something for everyone to the table. Last year, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning producer Cynthia Daniels signed Dune Local to her independent music label, MonkMusic Records, and they're currently working on their second album.

Tune in to hear the band talk about their eclectic sound, how working with Cynthia Daniels has enhanced their music, and where they see themselves going. PLUS-- two in-studio performances. Check it out!!

Follow them online at dunelocal.com

Bruce Vilanch is a six-time Emmy Award winning comedy writer and actor. Probably best known to the public for his 4 years stint on Hollywood Squares, he is a featured writer for the Tonys, Grammys and Emmys and has been head writer for the Oscars since 2000. Bruce Vilanch began his career writing for Bette Midler in the mid 70s, before going on to write for such stars as Diana Ross, Billy Crystal, Lilly Tomlin, Roseanna Barr, Rosie O'Donnell, Elizabeth Taylor and Robin Williams, among many others. Vilanch was the subject of the 1999 documentary Get Bruce, which you can find on Netflix, and he appeared off-Broadway in his one-man show, Bruce Vilanch: Almost Famous. In this conversation, Bruce answers questions about the James Franco-Anne Hathaway-Oscars Fiasco, and talks about his dreams of being a movie star, how he professional relationship with Bette Midler began, what it was like to work with Robin Williams and how he feels about other people speaking his words all the time.

Bonnie Grice is a two-time Gracie Allen Award winning radio host, producer and interviewer. She is the producer and host of “The Song is You,” a weekly radio show that explores the impact of music in our lives; and the “Eclectic Café”- both of which are featured on Long Island's NPR station 88.3 WPPB in Southampton. A public radio veteran, she co-hosted the show “Anthem” on National Public Radio and has been heard on WNYC in New York, WGBH in Boston and KUSC in Los Angeles. Bonnie is also a librettist and author.  She wrote the text for the two-act chamber opera, Mrs. Dalloway, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf, and she’s the author of From Z to A – A Classical Lover’s Alternative.

Tune in to hear Bonnie talk about her Harry Potter obsession, why she loves living in the Hamptons, what it's like to work at NPR, and how long it took her to find her true voice. Plus Bonnie and Walker talk about how they both deal with criticism, what it means to hit your creative ceiling, and- for the first time- publicly address their perceived rivalry. It's really juicy.

Is Walker dressed as a woman throughout the entire interview? Does Bonnie come bearing rainbow-colored gifts? Do they both break into an Italian aria? Tune in to find out.

Polly Draper is an award-winning actress, writer, producer, and director. Best known for her work on the ABC television drama thirtysomething, she also wrote and directed The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, and The Naked Brothers Band TV series on Nickelodeon, both of which starred her two sons Nat and Alex Wolff. More recently, Polly has appeared in the Showtime dramedy The Big C, the CBS drama Golden Boy and the film Side Effects, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Tune in to hear Polly Draper talk about marriage and divorce, Yale Drama School, the theater, meeting her husband on the Arsenio Hall show, the casualties of riding mechanical bull, and what it's like having a dog on anti-depressants.

G.E. Smith is one of the most in-demand blues/rock guitarists in the world. He got his break in the late 70s backing Dan Hartman before joining Hall & Oates as their lead guitarist for six years. TV Viewers know him best as the Music Director for Saturday Night Live, where he lead the band between 1985 and 1995. He's toured with Bob Dylan and Roger Waters, and has played with everyone from Mick Jagger to Tina Turner to David Bowie to Jimmy Buffet. In 2007 he celebrated the launch of his GE Smith signature Fender Telecaster. Tune in to hear G.E. talk about the SNL years, what it was like to be married to Gilda Radner, how the Hall & Oates song Maneater came to be, and why he loves being a sideman. Plus- a live, in-studio performance.

The beauty of the land cannot mask the brutality of a farm town. As harvest draws near, Betty confronts a terrifying new reality. She will go to desperate lengths to save her family and must coldly decide whom to sacrifice.

That is the description of the new film Runoff which debuted at the LA Film Festival and was featured at this year's Hamptons International Film Festival.

In this conversation, Writer-Director Kimberly Levin and Producer Kurt Pitzer talk about what inspired the film, its universal theme of survival vs. integrity, why family farms are struggling to survive, and how our personal decisions can have global consequences for the earth.

"[Wildlike is] the story of Mackenzie, a troubled but daring teenage girl sent by her struggling mother to live with her uncle in Juneau, Alaska. At first he is a supportive caretaker and friend, but the relationship is not what it seems and Mackenzie must run away. Trying to make her way back to Seattle to find her absent mother, Mackenzie only winds up deeper in the Alaskan interior. With no one else to turn to, she shadows a loner backpacker, Bartlett, an unlikely father figure with scars of his own."

-Production Weekly

 Wildlike makes its world premiere this weekend at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Tune in to hear the film's writer and director Frank Hall Green talk about what prompted him to tell this story, and the healing power of nature. Plus, Frank talks about one of his earlier films, Shooting Script, a documentary about his experience getting shot in the stomach in New York City.

Roberta Flack is one of the greatest songstresses of our time. Known for her classic #1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Where Is The Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", she remains the only solo artist to have won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year two consecutive times.

Tune in to hear Roberta Flack talk about how her classical music training influenced her as a songwriter and performer, how she discovered Killing me Softly (and what she thinks of the Fugees' version), and what she thinks about the state of pop music today.

Betty Buckley is a Tony Award winning actress and singer. Considered the quintessential musical theatre actress, in 1982 she originated the role of Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which won her a Tony Award and established her reputation as one of Broadway's leading ladies. She went on to play Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, both on Broadway and the West End, and Hesione in Broadway's Triumph of Love. In 2012 she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

TV viewers know her from the HBO series Oz, Law & Order SVU, and Eight is Enough, for which she was nominated for an Emmy. Her film credits includes M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, Brian De Palma's Carrie, Roman Polanski's Frantic, Woody Allen's Another Woman, and Tender Mercies which won 2 Academy Awards in 1983.

Betty Buckley has also had a prolific career as a recording artist. To date, she's released 16 albums including the Grammy nominated Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar. Her new solo album Ghostlight, produced by her childhood friend T. Bone Burnett has been hailed by fans and critics alike.

In this 2008 conversation, Betty talks about some of her most formative teachers, the impact Bob Fosse had on her as an artist, what it takes to sing one eleven o'clock number after another in concert, and how being an actress is like being a portrait painter.

Also- what does Betty think about being dubbed "the quintessential Broadway leading lady"? Tune in to find out.

Part 2 of my conversation with Judy Carmichael, who is known as one of the world’s leading interpreters of stride piano and swing. A protege of Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn, the New York Times has described her as “astounding, flawless and captivating”. She’s toured the world— playing everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice— and has performed private recitals for Rod Stewart, Robert Redford and President Clinton. Judy is also the host and producer of Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired, which airs on National Public Radio as well as Sirius XM. In this second conversation, Judy Carmichael talks about how she decided to start singing, what inspired her to create her show Jazz Inspired, how she approaches her interviews as a jazz musician and why she thinks of her show as her rebellion.

Grammy nominated jazz artist Judy Carmichael is known as one of the world’s leading interpreters of stride piano and swing. A protege of Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn, the New York Times has described her as “astounding, flawless and captivating”. She’s toured the world— playing everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice— and has performed private recitals for Rod Stewart, Robert Redford and President Clinton. Judy is also the host and producer of Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired, which airs on National Public Radio as well as Sirius XM. 
Tune in to hear Judy Carmichael talk about the moment she feel in love with jazz, her fight to be taken seriously in a male dominated jazz world, how Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn influenced her as a musician, and why she thinks she does look like she plays.

Linda Fairstein is the bestselling author of the Alexandra Cooper crime novels, which have been translated into more than a dozen languages. A former prosecutor and a pioneer in the field of crimes against women and children, she ran the Sex Crimes Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's office for over 25 years. Her office supervised the prosecution in the much publicized Central Park Jogger case which is still unsettled to this day, 25 years later.Tune in to hear Linda talk about the similarities and differences between her and her fictional heroine, what it was like being one of the first female prosecutors in a male dominated department, the dangers she faced as an Assistant District Attorney and how advances in forensic technology changed the nature of her work. Plus- how she responded to my question about the Central Park Jogger case, and more...

It's FUN to get the scoop, and Joan Jedell has it. The founder and creator of Hampton Sheet Magazine and hamptonsheet.com, Joan Jedell has been chronicling the lives of the rich and famous in Manhattan and the Hamptons for over 20 years. Tune in for a full celebrity-recap of Summer 2014 in the Hamptons, including: the Kardashian-invasion, the "Housewives", the Clintons, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, Jerry Seinfeld, the hottest party of the summer, and what NOT to do if you get pulled over this Labor Day weekend.

Sheldon and Margery Harnick aren't just an ordinary couple, they're a legendary Broadway couple. She: a former Broadway actress and now, an accomplished painter and photographer; and he: the Tony Award winning lyricist of the hit musicals Fiddler on the Roof and Fiorello, among others. I sat down with them a few years ago after the publication of their book of photography and verse, An Outdoor Museum: Not Your Usual Images of New York. Tune in to hear them talk about art, New York City, collaboration and the secret to a long and happy marriage.

Jane Krakowski is a star of stage and screen. She first became known to TV audiences as office assistant Elaine Vassal on Alley McBeal, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. More recently she starred as Jenna Maroney for 7 seasons on NBC's 30 Rock, for which she was nominated for 4 Emmy Awards. Tune in to hear Jane talk about her start in the theater, why 30 Rock was a match made in heaven and how playing the character of Jenna helped her not take herself too seriously as an actress.

Steven Gaines is the author of 12 books, including Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons; The Sky’s the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan; The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of the Beatles; and "Fool's Paradise: Players, Poseurs and the Culture of Excess in South Beach". His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, the New York Observer, New York Magazine and the New York Times.

In this conversation, Steven looks back on his life as an author and investigative journalist. He talks about why he stopped writing unauthorized biographies, and how his thinly veiled roman a clef about Studio 54 caused so much drama that he was forced to leave New York. Also, tune in to hear how he thinks the Hamptons has changed since 'Philistines' was published in 1998, and what we need to do to keep it from turning into Miami Beach.

How did Gloria Feldt go from being a teen mother and high school drop out, to president and CEO of Planned Parenthood? Tune in to find out. Gloria Feldt is an activist, keynote speaker and president of Take The Lead, the new women’s leadership movement to prepare, develop, inspire and propel women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025. Vanity Fair has called her one of “America’s Top 200 Women Leaders, Legends, and Trailblazers”. I spoke with Gloria in 2010 after the publication of her book No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power. Considering the historic Hobby Lobby ruling that took place a couple weeks ago, I thought it would be a perfect time to listen back to our conversation.

Amy Sohn's new novel The Actress, published by Simon & Schuster, is being touted as the beach-read of the summer, and "an addictive saga of love, lust, fame, and friendship..." (Elisa Albert). It follows ambitious, young actress Maddy Freed as she gets her big break in the movie business, falls in love with Hollywood's most eligible bachelor and learns the hard truth about fame, ambition, self-worth, and the fairy-tale illusions of a celebrity marriage.

Amy Sohn is also the author of Prospect Park West, Motherland, Run Catch Kiss, My Old Man and has written for the New York Times, New York Magazine, the New York Post, Slate, Details, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Men’s Journal and Playboy.

Tune in to hear why Amy feels like an outsider, what happened when she took on the "mom establishment" and how talent can be the biggest aphrodisiac.

Conviction, a new play by Carey Crim is making its world premiere at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. It tell story of Tom Hodges, a beloved teacher and husband and father. But when he's convicted of sexual misconduct with a student, his image of perfection shatters and his whole family's world is changed forever. Conviction is directed by Scott Schwartz and stars Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story, 12 Years a Slave), Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope, No Country for Old Men), Elizabeth Reaser (Grey's Anatomy, the Twilight movies), Brian Huchison and Daniel Burns. Tune in to hear my conversations with Scott Schwartz, Garret Dillahunt and Daniel Burns.

"Hands down, the best thing you will have seen at Bay Street in years. Conviction, by Carey Crim is smart and accessible, and every cast member shines brightly under Scott Schwartz's simply orchestrated, masterful direction.Completely absorbing and thought-provoking, the play pulls you into one family's living room as they struggle to move past (and live with) conviction. Your heart will break for all of these people, even the one whose innocence is in question."

-Walker Vreeland, 102.5 WBAZ-FM

Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? Those are just some of life's big questions asked (and answered) in the book 11 Days in May. It's about one man's journey to understand himself and the world around him, and the wisdom he encounters along the way. That man is JD Messinger, and he has a remarkable story. From the outside everything in his life looked perfect (great job, a beautiful family), but it would take a major crisis for him to realize he was going down the wrong path. This conversation is about that realization. For more info about JD and 11 Days in May, visit jdmessinger.com.

Welcome back to Interview with the Artist!! We lost a great comedic talent this month. David Brenner, who some have credited as the originator of observational comedy, died at his home in New York City at the age of 78. Master of the adlib, no one could shoot from the hip quite like him, and no one sat on Johnny Carson's couch more times than he did. I had the great pleasure of interviewing David a number of times over the years, and this is our very first conversation, which I always remember fondly. RIP David Brenner. Thanks for the laughter.