As the singer and guitarist of Broadway Calls, Ty Vaughn has toured throughout Europe, Asia, and across the United States. During the band’s 15-year run, he’s shared the stage with the likes of The Decendents, Bad Religion, Rancid, Alkaline Trio, Bouncing Souls, and countless other world-renown acts. Long before he was helping to put the small town of Rainier, Oregon on the map as part of the long-tenured punk project, Vaughn was learning blues riffs on a rented acoustic guitar and developing tight musical bonds with kids who would go on to be his bandmates for decades to come.

A few days after Broadway Calls released Sad In The City on Red Scare Industries, My First Band host Tyler Maas asked Vaughn about the excellent new record—the band’s first album in almost eight years—before taking a deep dive into his rich musical past. Over the course of the hour-long discussion, Vaughn talked about formative shows across the river in nearby Longview, Washington during his teens, his stint in a ska band, touring the country in a hardcore outfit called Countdown To Life, originally forming Broadway Calls as a side project, recording with Bill Stevenson, and the life-changing compliment he once got from Tim Armstrong. Along the way, Maas also made some questionable jokes about The Oregon Trail and Milwaukie, Oregon.

My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth (“The Junction Street Eight Tigers”) and Broadway Calls (“Sad In The City”).