Talking Ears

Wayne Tucker is a trumpet player, singer, songwriter, composer, and soon to be author. He has shared the stage with household names such Taylor Swift, Ne-Yo and David Crosby, and jazz artists like Al Foster, Cyrille Aimee, and Kurt Elling. Since 2016, he's been releasing albums of his own compositions and songs. Wayne is also a founding member of Brass Against, a unique group which reimagines the music of Rage Against the Machine (and other artists) with a huge horn section and energetic stage show. In this interview, we hear music from his most recent EP, "I'll Never Stop", as well as his many records and collaborations.

Dr. Matt Bell is an audiologist who has written and taught extensively on the subject of 'Audiologic Management of Musicians'. He has inspired countless audiology graduate students, and many of his students have gone on to do great work in the field of music audiology... we're looking at you, Juan Vasquez, co-producer of Talking Ears! 
Juan takes the host chair for this episode to interview Dr. Bell, his mentor and arguably the reason he is an Audiologist today. Music in this episode features Matt Bell in various bands including Raindriver and The Feel.

Good news! Talking Ears won the 2023 NHCA Media Award. This is an incredibly meaningful award for Frank and Juan as we consider the National Hearing Conservation Association our primary professional organization as hearing conservationists and music audiologists. 
The NHCA Media Award was established in 1993 to recognize the efforts of creators who serve to heighten public awareness of the hazards of noise and who take the time and effort to bring hearing conservation related issues into public light. Past winners include John Eichwald (CDC Noise Induced Hearing Loss Workgroup), Kevin O'Connor (Ask This Old House), Gordon Hempton (The Sound Tracker), Cara Buckley (The New York Times), and Brian Fligor, just to name a few. NHCA's mission is to prevent hearing loss and other auditory disorders due to noise and secondary environmental factors in all sectors of society, and we are enthused by the increased awareness and attention being aimed at the hearing healthcare of music and entertainment industry professionals.

Kitten Kuroi has traveled the world as a featured singer with some of the biggest names in music, and we're thrilled that she took the time to sit down to talk with us about her ears! In this episode, we discuss how her career got started and the proactive approach she uses to keep her ears sharp while on the road year after year. She also shares the inspiration behind her upcoming album, American Refugee, which in part reflects on how her experience of traveling abroad has changed over the years.
We would also like to thank MusiCares and Tuned for connecting us, and for all the great work the organizations are doing to help music professionals. If you or someone you care about is a music professional in need of hearing care or other health and support services, contact MusiCares: 800.687.4227 or Musicaresrelief@musicares.org
All music from this episode is by and/or featuring our guest, Kitten Kuroi.

This is Tinnitus Awareness Week, and our friends over at the How I Got Tinnitus podcast released three episodes, including an interview with our host, Frank Wartinger!
Listeners may recall that the host JD was our guest on episode #10 of Talking Ears. It was a real joy to have the table flipped around for this interview, and we don't shy away from the big questions and faux-frenemy banter. To listen to the full episode, aim your podcast player to How I Got Tinnitus and enjoy the positive and refreshing approach JD brings to the sometimes heavy and hard topic of tinnitus.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been shown time and time again to be one of the most efficacious methods to treat tinnitus distress. In this episode, we go straight to an expert, Bruce Hubbard, PhD, ABPP, to better understand how CBT can be leveraged for the treatment of tinnitus. Dr. Hubbard is a psychologist, Past President of the New York City Cognitive Behavior Therapy Association (2016-2018), and Founder and Director of CBT for Tinnitus, LLC. In this episode, we ask him to explain how CBT differs from other tinnitus management and the practical science of habituation. 
Dr. Hubbard is also a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, bringing his own perspective and empathy to the care of musically-minded folks. In this episode, we'll hear original songs by Dr. Hubbard, as well as his performances with various groups including Glove and BlueFuse.

Brandon Beaver stops by to talk about Philadelphia, his past musical families of Buried Beds and mewithoutYou, his experience watching his bandmates wrestle with hearing injury while on the road, and what's next now that mewithoutYou has played their farewell tour. The conversation keeps coming back to one thing... and yes, we talk an awful lot about ears on this show, but in the end, music is all about the people.
Music heard in this episode is by or featuring Brandon Beaver with mewithoutYou, Buried Beds, Make a Rising, and the 2011 Buried Beds short film Small Stories. To get into the holiday spirit in a uniquely Philadelphia way, you can also hear Brandon on the Philadelphia Eagle's Christmas album "A Philly Special Christmas", which benefits the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center.

Benj Kanters, audio engineer and educator extraordinaire, illuminates us on the creation and design of his award-winning, one-of-a-kind hearing conservation workshop, Hear Tomorrow. We also get into his history as an acclaimed audio engineer, thoughts about the current state of the industry, and the future of hearing awareness education. For years, Benj has been an inspiring mentor and friend for the entire Talking Ears production team.
This episode features music by composer and guitarist Dave Wright and his new album There and Gone. Pro tip: while checking out his album, take a few minutes to enjoy the world-class photography corresponding with each track.