Pittsburgh, PA-based Guitarist Ken Karsh on Jazz Guitar, Jimmy McGriff, Bobby McFerrin & a Life in Music

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Pittsburgh, PA-based Guitarist Ken Karsh.

Ken began playing guitar at age 9 and has spent a lifetime immersed in music, performance, and music education. After attending Berklee College of Music, he earned both a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree in performance and went on to build an incredibly diverse career across jazz, theater, film, recording, and education.

Over the years, Ken has performed live and on recordings with nationally and locally known musicians including Jimmy McGriff, Bobby McFerrin, Lee Konitz, Larry Elgart, Joey DeFrancesco, Jack McDuff, and many others.

One of his proudest musical moments came through his work as guitarist on the soundtrack for the documentary film In My Hands. His performance career has also taken him into some of the best-known productions in musical theater, including Legally Blonde, Swing, Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess, Chicago, and many more.

Ken's commitment to music extends into education as well. He currently serves on the faculty at Slippery Rock University and California University of Pennsylvania, continuing to share his experience with the next generation of musicians.

In this conversation, we cover the whole journey — discovering the guitar at nine years old, studying at Berklee, his jazz heroes, legendary musicians he's worked with, theater gigs, recording, film, music education, Pittsburgh's music scene, and the many chapters of a career that continues to evolve.

It's a conversation about jazz, guitar, performance, teaching, and a lifetime spent following the music wherever it leads.

Enjoy this interview with Ken Karsh.

More Ken:
https://kenkarshguitar.com/ 

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Matthew States: From Addiction & Homelessness to Purpose & Recovery

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Matthew States, founder of Divine Chosen Ones and Soul Shine Struggle, two purpose-driven communities focused on helping veterans rebuild their lives after alcohol addiction through identity, faith, practical skills, and community.

Matthew's journey was anything but a straight path.

After serving more than two decades in the U.S. Navy and working as a Department of Defense contractor, he faced some of life's most difficult challenges — including addiction, divorce, homelessness, and the daunting process of rebuilding his life from the ground up.

Those experiences ultimately became part of a larger mission.

Matthew believes recovery is about more than simply quitting alcohol. It's about discovering who you are, developing practical tools for moving forward, finding meaningful community, and ultimately creating a life worth protecting.

In this deeply personal conversation, we get into Matthew's military background, addiction and recovery, homelessness, faith, identity, resilience, veteran support, purpose, and the experiences that transformed his own struggles into a mission to help others.

It's a story about falling down, getting back up, and discovering that the hardest chapters of your life can become part of the reason you help someone else keep going.

More Matthew States & Divine Chosen Ones: Divine Chosen Ones

Follow Matthew on TikTok: Matthew States on TikTok

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Stuart Perrin Part II: Meditation, Healing & the Jazz Metaphor for Living

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we welcome back Author & International Rundra Meditation Teacher Stuart Perrin for Part II of our conversation.

Born and raised in New York City, Stuart has spent more than 40 years teaching meditation, healing, personal growth, and the art of living with greater awareness. He is the author of seven books focused on transforming life's tensions into greater joy, love, and understanding through practical and accessible approaches to meditation and healing.

This time around, we get into some of the blocks of modern living — the pressures, patterns, expectations, distractions, and internal struggles that can keep us from experiencing life more fully.

And then comes the jazz metaphor.

What can jazz teach us about living well? About improvisation, listening, responding to what is happening in the moment, embracing uncertainty, and finding our own rhythm while remaining connected to the world around us?

Our conversation moves through healing, meditation, personal growth, joy, self-awareness, modern life, improvisation, and the inevitability of being human.

Stuart brings a thoughtful, deeply human perspective to all of it, and this return trip to Famous Interviews becomes a rousing conversation about how we navigate the beautiful imperfections of being alive.

More Stuart Perrin: Stuart Perrin Official Website

Stuart is amazing. Enjoy his insights.

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Multiple Hall of Famer Tim Miller: From NCAA Football Coach to Motivational Hypnotist & Beyond

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with former NCAA Division I Head Football Coach, motivational hypnotist, professional speaker, author, RE/MAX Hall of Famer, and high-stakes corporate entertainer Tim Miller.

With more than 20 years in athletic coaching and two decades devoted to developing elite team dynamics, Tim has built a fascinating career around leadership, performance, motivation, and human potential. Along the way, he learned directly from legendary football figures including NFL Hall of Fame Coach Dick Vermeil and the Kansas City Chiefs organization.

Tim has also been recognized for his work in team culture, athlete empowerment, and community leadership, including an induction into a Black Hall of Fame in Pennsylvania — a distinction recognizing his dedication to empowering minority athletes and serving his community.

Today, his career has taken another fascinating turn.

After founding Hypnotizing America, an international program based on Grand Bahama Island, Tim and his team are rolling out a brand-new interactive entertainment experience: The Chaotic Hypnotic Game Show.

From his current base in Bermuda, Tim shares the story behind his evolution from college football coach to motivational speaker, hypnotist, author, and corporate entertainer — along with lessons in leadership, teamwork, performance, confidence, and creating unforgettable experiences.

We get into football, coaching, the influence of Dick Vermeil, the Kansas City Chiefs, team culture, hypnosis, motivation, entrepreneurship, and what comes next for Tim Miller.

It’s a stellar story. Enjoy this interview.

More Tim Miller & Hypnotizing America: Hypnotizing America

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Cincinnati-based Acclaimed Jazz Guitarist, Composer, Arranger, Bandleader & Educator Greg Chako

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Cincinnati-based Acclaimed Jazz Guitarist, Composer, Arranger, Bandleader & Educator Greg Chako.

We dive into his new 2026 album, Hard Bop – For the Record, and a remarkable five-decade journey through the world of music that sounds almost like it was written for a movie.

Inspired by the hard bop tradition, Hard Bop – For the Record features ten original compositions and stands as one of Greg Chako’s most personal and compositionally ambitious projects to date. The album brings together the tradition, swing, storytelling, and musical exploration that have defined his career.

Greg’s musical journey spans five decades across the United States and Asia. Known for his warm guitar tone, lyrical phrasing, and deeply swinging approach, he has developed a wide-ranging body of work rooted in mainstream jazz, hard bop, Latin jazz, and world-influenced modern jazz.

In this conversation, we get into the making of Hard Bop – For the Record, the artists and experiences that shaped Greg’s sound, his life as a guitarist and composer, his adventures across the United States and Asia, teaching and leading, and the incredible twists and turns of a career that has unfolded across generations of jazz.

This is a conversation about hard bop, creativity, longevity, travel, composition, education, and what it means to keep evolving after five decades in music.

Dig this interview.

Get the album and more:
https://www.gregchako.com/ 

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Obie-Award Winning Director, Writer, Actor, Founder of QSL Healing & Transformation Practitioner Leah C. Gardiner

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Obie Award-Winning Director, Writer, Actor, Founder of QSL Healing & Transformation Practitioner Leah C. Gardiner about creativity, identity, inner truth, healing, spirituality and the process of profound personal transformation.

For decades, Leah has worked at the intersection of creativity, identity and inner truth. Whether she's working with actors in rehearsal halls or guiding clients through transformational work, she describes the mission as remarkably consistent: helping people acknowledge who they've become, release what no longer serves them, and step into who they truly are.

As an adoptee who connected with her biological family through what she describes as channeling her deceased biological mother, Leah has a deeply personal understanding of trusting inner knowing and exploring what becomes possible when we listen to ourselves.

Her philosophy recognizes that while insight can happen in an instant, meaningful transformation requires integration over time.

Through QSL Healing, Leah now guides high-achieving individuals through The Quantum Soul Level Healing Integration Framework™, bringing together her experiences in theater, creativity, identity and transformational work.

We get into the whole story — her career in theater, her personal journey, identity, intuition, healing, inner truth and the path toward transformation.

More Leah C. Gardiner & QSL Healing:
http://www.qslhealing.com/

Leah C. Gardiner:
https://www.leahcgardiner.com/about

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Award-Winning Wildlife Artist, Biologist, Expedition Canoeist & Vermont-native Rob Mullen

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Award-Winning Wildlife Artist, Biologist, Expedition Canoeist & Vermont-native Rob Mullen about a life spent exploring the intersection of art, science, nature, wilderness and adventure.

We dive into Rob's fascinating journey and his new 2026 book, Boreal Wilderland: Art, Science, and Adventure in Earth’s Great Wilderness.

The book takes readers deep into the vast boreal wilderness stretching across North America, Europe and Asia — combining breathtaking paintings, sketches, photography, natural history, scientific insight and adventure storytelling to explore one of the planet's most important ecosystems.

Boreal Wilderland is the culmination of decades of wildlife exploration and wilderness art expeditions conducted through the Wilderness River Expedition Art Fellowship (WREAF), an organization founded by Mullen to connect artists with remote northern landscapes.

The book showcases the work of 30 artists and includes contributions from six scientific experts, creating a remarkable intersection of wildlife art, ecology, exploration, science and conservation.

We cover Rob's whole fascinating story — from biology and wildlife art to expedition canoeing, remote wilderness, conservation and the creation of a book dedicated to Earth's great boreal landscapes.

More Rob Mullen & get the book:
https://www.robmullen.com/

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