Part 2 of our descent into the beautiful chaos that is Marky Ray—and this time, the guitars don’t survive.

In this episode, Marky pulls back the curtain on life on the road with Nine Inch Nails, where industrial rage wasn’t just a vibe, it was a line item in the budget. Hear how touring with Trent Reznor meant nightly onstage meltdowns, flying instruments, and Marky becoming less of a guitarist and more of a full-time guitar ER surgeon—repairing, replacing, and emergency-buying axes just to keep the show moving.

Broken necks. Snapped strings. Shattered bodies (of guitars… mostly). And the unspoken rule: If Trent is in a mood, hide the vintage gear.

Dark, hilarious, and louder than your tinnitus, this episode is a love letter to road warriors, techs, and anyone who’s ever watched a perfectly good instrument die for the art.

Plug in, brace yourself, and remember:
In industrial rock, the guitars are expendable.

Be sure to click the link below to purchase Rock And Roll Mercenary by Marky Ray, a no-BS collection of insane road stories from deep inside the music world, told by someone who actually survived it. From legendary tours and volatile artists to shattered guitars, blown budgets, and backstage chaos, nothing is cleaned up or romanticized. It’s the brutal, hilarious truth about what really happens when rock ’n’ roll goes to work. [Ep 116]

Link to Marky’s amazing book:
https://ebay.us/m/ihHqRd

Become a J-Lope and follow us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, X.com, TikTok, and check out our YouTube page for more exclusive content!

Produced by: Charles Mooney
Executive Producers: Charles Mooney and Lisa Umbarger

Original Music by: Charles Mooney and Lisa Umbarger

Kazoo Solo by: Courtney Mooney

This week, Charles and Lisa crack open the tour-stained, whiskey-splashed saga of a true road warrior: Professor Marky Ray, Cleveland’s own Master of Music and the man lovingly (and fearfully) known as The Rock and Roll Mercenary.

For five decades, Marky Ray has been everywhere—onstage, backstage, under the stage, lost behind the stage—and playing with more bands than most of us can name without passing out. A former member of Jim Rose Circus, The Lyres, the terrible parade, Death of Samantha, and New Salem Witch Hunters, Marky has performed, toured, and occasionally survived gigs alongside Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Butthole Surfers, The Cramps, The Pagans, Human Switchboard, Toadies, Die Warzau, and half the Lollapalooza lineup of ’91-’92.

He’s a musician, artist, entertainer, emcee, voiceover chameleon, and the only man brave enough to front Akron’s own Walking Clampetts. These days he also wrangles 25+ bands as the Outdoor Stages Production Manager of the Tri-C JazzFest—because apparently he didn’t rack up enough chaos backstage in the first forty years.

In Part 1, Marky joins Jackalope Tales to share his wildest stories, strangest encounters, and a few things we’re pretty sure should have stayed sealed in a road case.

Dark, funny, and full of rock-and-roll shrapnel—don’t miss it. [Ep 116]

Link to Marky’s amazing book:
https://ebay.us/m/ihHqRd

Become a J-Lope and follow us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, X.com, TikTok, and check out our YouTube page for more exclusive content!

Produced by: Charles Mooney
Executive Producers: Charles Mooney and Lisa Umbarger

Original Music by: Charles Mooney and Lisa Umbarger

Kazoo Solo by: Courtney Mooney

This week, Charles and Lisa kick off the holiday season the only way they know how—by dragging a Salvation Army bucket straight into the shadows and shaking it like it owes them money.

In Ring My Bell, your two favorite festive disasters dive into the strangely inspiring, mildly cursed world of musicians who got “discovered” while ringing that famous red kettle bell. Lisa takes on Jewel, whose icy Alaska backstory somehow gets even darker when you picture her serenading shoppers outside a Walmart while calculating which toes she might lose to frostbite and industry contracts.
Then Charles rings in the holiday cheer with Cardi B, who made the Salvation Army bell sound less like charity and more like a warning alarm for everyone within a five-block radius. By the time she was done, the kettle wasn’t the only thing shaking, and let’s just say the “right people” noticing her were probably wondering if she came with a cyclone warning label.

Together, Charles and Lisa unpack the mythology, the mayhem, and the absolute madness of musicians whose big break started with a bell, a bucket, and the sort of holiday chaos only Jackalope Tales can wrap in a bow and hand to you like the world’s most questionable gift.

Get ready for jingles, scandals, and the kind of holiday spirit that definitely voids the warranty. [Ep 115]

Become a J-Lope and follow us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, X.com, TikTok, and check out our YouTube page for more exclusive content!

Produced by: Charles Mooney
Executive Producers: Charles Mooney and Lisa Umbarger

Original Music by: Charles Mooney and Lisa Umbarger

Kazoo Solo by: Courtney Mooney