Jonpaul Balak is an internationally recognized Surf and Exotica bassist based in Venice, CA. He performs around the world with the "international Surf music ambassador" Surfer Joe (Lorenzo Valdambrini), is a member of the renowned modern Exotica septet The Tikiyaki Orchestra and their Surf-centric quartet Tikiyaki 5-0, and the highly influential Surf revival band Insect Surfers ("planet Earth's longest running modern Surf band").

"C’mon! Live a Little" host Derrick Bostrom gained notoriety as the drummer and founding member of the legendary Meat Puppets. One of the longest-lasting bands from the American indie scene, the Meat Puppets continue to this day with Bostrom behind the skins. He also labors as an I.T. professional and is considered a "technologist" by those who don't know any better. In truth, he knows just enough to be dangerous...especially to his listeners.

Mr. C was raised amid the street lamps and row houses of Philadelphia's Great Northeast, and then the near beyond, He gave up a budding basketball career and potentially lucrative venture in publishing to follow a calling.

Oddball loner artist/musician Robin Crutchfield has been escaping the darker elements of life by retreating into his own reality since hearing The Routers' "Sting Ray" at a 5th grade classmate's patio platter party. The snappy instrumental, with accents from the hip hot rod's car horn revved his escapist tendencies past the pop highway into multiple lanes and genres transcending ten decades. As a performance artist in New York City in the 1970's, and with his bands DNA and Dark Day, he made pit stops at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City, worked with Brian Eno, wrote a comedy skit for Steve Allen, and displayed his art at MoMA and the Whitney. His music was used in Erroll Morris' Bravo TV show, First Person. He's released numerous albums and books, continuing to make his output available online. On the Dark Day Escape Pod, expect road trip hopscotching across time and space from the morass of the morose to the cheerful earful, melodies from the mellow to the melodramatic, the sophomoric to the simply silly. Crank up the engine on the quirky mobile and strap yourself in for a delightfully dizzying detour down the rabbit hole.

Jim Dawson has written half a dozen books on early rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues, including “What Was the First Rock ‘n’ Roll Record?” (1992, Faber & Faber), as well as over 100 album liner notes. He also wrote the 1999 top-selling “Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart?” (Ten Speed Press), “The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words” (2009, Feral House), and “Los Angeles’s Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction’s Mean Streets and Film Noir’s Ground Zero!” (2012, History Press). He is the co-host of The Ian Whitcomb Show on Wednesday nights.

Sheryl Farber is here because her father spotted her mother from a Catskill mountain lounge bandstand. Teenage devouring of Shangri Las and Lesley Gore records landed her a place in NYC underground girl group The Pussywillows. Since then, she’s contributed vocals to a bunch of obscure records. She’s the co-producer of the Rhino boxed set One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds, Lost & Found, has worked on hundreds of Rhino releases as editorial supervisor, as well as written liners for several. She’s been nominated for three Grammys—art direction and historical packaging (for One Kiss) and art direction (Weird Tales Of The Ramones).