Dennis Diken, drummer of The Smithereens joined us for a joyous chat about things we have in common like our love of The Beach Boys (recorded two weeks before Brian Wilson died), Beatles, and Kinks. And more.

Secret Monkey Weekend are a family power pop trio from Durham NC. They have been playing live since sisters Ella and Lila were 13 and 8 years old. Papa Jefferson Hart (Jeff Hart) is a longtime mainstay in the NC Americana music scene. They have recorded two albums with producer Don Dixon (REM - Smithereens - Tommy Keene), the second one just released in June 2025.

PBS recently profiled the band. More on that below.

The Emmy Award winning PBS mini-feature on Secret Monkey Weekend https://youtu.be/xbBiy6lSzIw?si=DIOGQ9C6QE9dzFlq and https://video.pbsnc.org/video/secret-monkey-weekend-ukc7h8/

https://linktr.ee/secretmonkeyweekend

http://www.secretmonkeyweekend.com

http://youtube.com/secretmonkeyweekend

http://www.facebook.com/secretmonkeyweekend

http://www.instagram.com/secretmonkeyweekend

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3yHOi73zNW69IHwW9GUQEX?si=B1wljj0VTgi2lXZl6GlnTw

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/secret-monkey-weekend/1606815318

Drums and vocals - Lila Brown Hart Bass and vocal - Ella Brown Hart Electric guitar and vocals - Jefferson Hart