Pittsburgh’s music scene is about much more than dudes with guitars. A closer look reveals a lot of brilliant women making their way in the music business at all levels, in all genres. Petticoat Rule tells the stories of these women, the music they make, the successes they’ve had, the struggles they’ve faced. Hosts Erika June Christina Laing and Tara Molesworth have talked to everyone from jazz singer Chloe Wiecz, to rapper/activist Blak Rapp MADUSA, to pop songwriter Casey Hanner of Donora (who’s had songs placed in movies and on TV). A great place to start is the interview with Slowdanger, an utterly original act that began as an avant-garde dance project and evolved into shimmering, ethereal electronic music.
Pitchwerks
Scot MacTaggart loves hearing the ins and outs of how companies are built — from the spark of an idea into a sustainable business. His podcast, Pitchwerks, dives deep into the struggles and triumphs of Pittsburgh’s startup scene (and beyond).
There’s plenty of tech, of course — like Jacob Kring and Bob Fields of smart thermostat-maker HiberSense, and Steve Stewart of Vezt, a platform that lets musicians raise money like an IPO. There are also less techy people, too — musicians like Lyndsey Smith, comedians/podcasters Drinking Partners (who share the Epicast studios with Pitchwerks) and even a cosmetics startup, Subtl Beauty.
“I like smart people doing useful things that they enjoy,” says MacTaggart. “I made the show that I wanted to listen to.”
Pitchwerks now has more than 100 episodes.
“We’ve never missed a week,” says MacTaggart. “We even released one on Christmas, once.”
YaJagoff
Both a grave insult and term of endearment, the word “jagoff” has a lot of uses. So does the YaJagoff podcast. It’s an interview show, with hosts John Chamberlin and Rachael Rennebeck talking to ultra-Pittsburgh characters like Rick Sebak, Edgar Snyder and Rocky Bleier. This is the podcast you’re most likely to stumble upon in the wild — from the Pierogi Festival at Kennywood to the Wheeling Nailers hockey games to the Mall at Robinson, they’re out and about. YaJagoff also attempts to answer pressing questions like, “Is that camel that freaked out at the Shriner’s circus, in fact, a jagoff?”