Episodes

  • Lakewood producer Nate Saggio helps Cleveland artists find their sound

    Lakewood producer Nate Saggio helps Cleveland artists find their sound
    Oct 23 2025
    Cleveland music producer Nate Saggio has helped local musicians craft viral hit songs while exploring his own creative path. On this week’s Shuffle, Saggio talks about his passion for supporting independent musicians and his own music.
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    31 mins
  • Cleveland’s Mourning [A] BLKstar marks a decade of creation and collective power

    Cleveland’s Mourning [A] BLKstar marks a decade of creation and collective power
    Oct 9 2025
    Mourning [A] BLKstar has spent the last decade creating music that blends soul, hip-hop, jazz and punk with a powerful message of justice. This week we hear from two members of the group about how their bond continues to drive the music forward.
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    32 mins
  • Northeast Ohio’s Brent Kirby balances community and catharsis with new album

    Northeast Ohio’s Brent Kirby balances community and catharsis with new album
    Sep 25 2025
    Brent Kirby has long been a fixture in Northeast Ohio’s music scene, from fronting bands to mentoring fellow musicians. Now, he’s turning inward with a solo album. On this week’s Shuffle, Kirby talks about songs that emerged from loss and life’s transitions.
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    33 mins
  • Cleveland Heights singer JSSZCA finds strength in music, memory and sound healing

    Cleveland Heights singer JSSZCA finds strength in music, memory and sound healing
    Sep 11 2025
    Cleveland Heights singer-songwriter Jessica Shetler has found healing through music. On this week’s Shuffle, the artist, who performs as JSSZCA, talks about overcoming fear, channeling grief, and building connection through sound. She performs a live set recorded at the Idea Center for Applause Performances.
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    23 mins
  • Akron jazz bandleader Kevin Martinez finds his voice with Reclamation Band

    Akron jazz bandleader Kevin Martinez finds his voice with Reclamation Band
    Aug 21 2025
    After years of playing upright bass in other people’s bands, Kevin Martinez decided it was time to write his own music. He now leads Reclamation Band, which has evolved into a jazz sextet with melodies inspired by his years performing in folk, rock and blues bands throughout Northeast Ohio. The group performs Aug. 30 at Cleveland's Hingetown Jazz Festival.
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    23 mins
  • Cleveland rock trio C-Level finds voice in community

    Cleveland rock trio C-Level finds voice in community
    Aug 7 2025
    Cleveland band C-Level has spent nearly 15 years shaping a sound that's uniquely theirs—blending reggae, blues, punk, and funk. Bandmates Dave Deitke and Coda Crose joined drummer Jay Sparrow for an in-studio performance at the Idea Center and talked about their start at an open mic night and their upcoming concept album.
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    27 mins
  • Independence's Tori Kurtz sings her way through heartbreak and healing as Willingness

    Independence's Tori Kurtz sings her way through heartbreak and healing as Willingness
    Jul 24 2025
    Tori Kurtz, who records under the name Willingness, has always approached music with vulnerability. But on her latest album, “Sunflower,” that vulnerability becomes a lifeline — a way to process a relationship in real time, from first spark to heartbreak to healing.
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    41 mins
  • Medina cardiac nurse Ben Marthey finds healing as Van Arlo

    Medina cardiac nurse Ben Marthey finds healing as Van Arlo
    Jul 10 2025
    Ben Marthey spends his days assisting with open-heart surgeries as a cardiac nurse. Outside the hospital, he’s Van Arlo, a Medina-based singer-songwriter using music to process the emotional toll of his work. On this week’s Shuffle, Marthey talks about how music became his outlet — and his lifeline.
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    22 mins