Mark Diamond and his band Stuck in Traffic joined KGNU for a live studio session celebrating the music of the legendary British band Traffic. During the interview with host Dan Willging, Diamond talked about his longtime passion for Traffic’s blend of rock, jazz, and improvisation, the band’s careful approach to recreating the music while adding its own voice, and the musicians who make up the project.
The session features live performances of “Medicated Goo,” “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys,” “John Barleycorn Must Die,” and “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” along with conversation about the band’s origins, upcoming performances, and the enduring appeal of Traffic’s music. (Air Date 4/8/26).
Listen to the studio session here:
Transcript:
Dan Willging: With me now in our Kabaret studio, I’m proud to bring you Stuck in Traffic, spearheaded by their fearless leader, Mark Diamond. Hey, Mark.
Mark Diamond Trio: Hey, Dan. How are you doing? Hello, everybody out in radio land. We are thrilled to perform live here at KGNU for you all. We’re a new band, but we’re all a bunch of old pros.
This band has been a dream of mine. I’ve loved the music of Traffic since I first heard it as a teenager. This music has elements of rock, jazz, and Latin, and we love to jam. We’ll be doing some abbreviated versions of songs today.
I’ll introduce everybody during our next break, but first let’s play some music. Here’s one of Traffic’s classic tunes, “Medicated Goo.”
[“Medicated Goo” performance]
Mark Diamond Trio: Introductions. On saxophone and flute, Mr. Eric Earhart. On vocals and guitar, Ed Edwards. On vocals and keyboards, Johnny Sterling. On multiple percussion instruments, Tudy Calderon. On drums, Dean Killian. I’m Mark Diamond on bass, and we are Stuck in Traffic. We’re thrilled to bring this music to you live.
Thank you to KGNU for hosting us.
We’re going to move on with another classic tune. There are so many great Traffic songs to play, and we’re just giving you a small taste today. One of their best-known songs is “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys.”
[“The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” performance]
Dan Willging: Wow, Mark, this is a knockout.
Mark Diamond Trio: Thanks, man. I love sharing this music because people who know Traffic are so excited to hear it live. You don’t get many chances to hear it performed. As far as I know, there isn’t another band dedicated to playing Traffic’s music.
We’re glad to help keep it alive. One of my favorite comments came from someone in his 30s who said, “I didn’t know any of those songs, but I loved every one of them.” That really showed me how timeless this music is.
Everyone in this band plays in multiple projects. We perform original music, jazz, and all kinds of styles. Our percussionist, Tudy, also plays with Firefall. Between all of us, there’s a lot of history and musical diversity.
Dan Willging: My God.
Mark Diamond Trio: We found common ground in our love of this music and in presenting it.
Dan Willging: I noticed when I came in earlier to take some pictures that you had music scores. Did you write out every part?
Mark Diamond Trio: Johnny, Ed, and I worked together to create arrangements. We wanted to pay tribute to the original recordings, but Traffic also played these songs differently over the years in live performances. We’ve developed our own approach while staying true to the spirit of the music.
Dan Willging: So you’ve been working on this project for quite a while?
Mark Diamond Trio: We rehearsed for about 30 hours before performing publicly. We really started from the ground up. Thanks to Ed and Johnny for creating many of the roadmaps we follow, and for the creativity and trust that allows each of us to contribute in the moment.
Dan Willging: So when you played Frocco’s on Friday night—
Mark Diamond Trio: Actually, Frocco’s just shut down. We received a message about a week ago saying they were closing their doors. Anyone planning to go there, I’m sorry to say they’re no longer open.
Dan Willging: We’ve been losing some venues around here lately.
Mark Diamond Trio: It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of the business. I have a great deal of appreciation and respect for anyone who runs a live music venue. They provide musicians like us with a place to perform. Venues come and go, unfortunately.
We do have a couple of shows coming up. Every Thursday night I host a rotating music series at the Vine Street Pub in Denver, featuring different musicians each week. Tomorrow night, for example, Erica Brown is joining us for a night of blues.
Stuck in Traffic will be performing there on Thursday, July 30. We’ll also be at Nici’s on August 21, sharing the evening with a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band. We’ve also shared shows with a Pink Floyd tribute band, and people really enjoy those combinations.
You can always visit markdiamondmusic.com to see what’s coming up.
Dan Willging: Or just Google “Mark Diamond bass” and you’ll find him.
One quick question. There are two Steely Dan tribute bands around here, and they’re very good. How would you compare the complexity of Traffic’s music to Steely Dan’s?
Mark Diamond Trio: Every kind of music has its own challenges. We all love Steely Dan, and some of us perform that music in other groups. Those tribute bands are excellent.
I’m not going to say one is harder than the other. No music is easy to play. Every style presents its own complexities.
Dan Willging: That last song was a gateway into jazz for me.
Mark Diamond Trio: Absolutely. There’s so much jazz in Traffic’s music. Today we’re playing abbreviated versions, but at live shows we really get to explore. Eric takes extended solos on saxophone and flute, and everyone has the opportunity to create in the moment.
Dan Willging: Nice. What are you going to do next?
Mark Diamond Trio: We’re going to play another classic. We also perform many lesser-known Traffic songs, and people often come up afterward and say, “I’d forgotten about that one—I love that song.”
This one is “John Barleycorn Must Die,” featuring Ed Edwards on acoustic guitar and vocals. For anyone familiar with it, there’s a deep story behind the lyrics that we can talk about afterward.
Dan Willging: Sounds good. Stuck in Traffic, everybody.
[“John Barleycorn Must Die” performance]
Mark Diamond Trio: The title sounds brutal, doesn’t it? But if you look into the story, it’s really about planting, harvesting, and brewing beer—or perhaps mead. It’s essentially a recipe.
That featured Ed Edwards on guitar and vocals, Johnny Sterling on keyboards and vocals, and Eric Earhart on flute.
Any questions, Dan, or should we keep going?
Dan Willging: Let’s keep going. We’re really enjoying it. I’m hearing from friends around the country, and they’re enjoying it too.
Mark Diamond Trio: Fantastic. We hope you’ll come see us live, where we can really stretch these songs out and take them on a journey.
We’re available for bookings as well, so if you’d like to hire us, we’d love to hear from you. Thanks again to KGNU for having us.
Dan Willging: We’re honored to have you. I think this was a great idea, focusing on Traffic.
How many performances has this band actually played?
Mark Diamond Trio: It’s almost embarrassing—we’ve played a total of four gigs.
Dan Willging: I was expecting you to say fewer than that. You sound very polished.
Mark Diamond Trio: We’re ready to go. We want to bring this music everywhere, and we appreciate everyone who’s enjoying it.
Dan Willging: All right, Stuck in Traffic, everybody.
Mark Diamond Trio: Coming into Boulder today, I thought traffic would clear up after 9:00, but apparently not.
Here’s another classic: “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” featuring Johnny on vocals.
[“Dear Mr. Fantasy” performance]
Dan Willging: To make this all come together so well, you must have spent a lot of time refining every component.
Mark Diamond Trio: We worked very hard on it. We spent a lot of time getting everything together.
Dan Willging: Another thing I like is that your two vocalists remind me of Steve Winwood in places. Your guitar player could almost pass for English.
Mark Diamond Trio: That’s a wonderful compliment.
Dan Willging: Do you have time for one more?
Mark Diamond Trio: Unfortunately, Johnny has another commitment, so we need to wrap up. We were working within a set amount of time anyway.
As Confucius supposedly said, “Leave the crowd wanting more.” Hopefully this has been a good teaser. We have a lot more great music to share, so come see us live.
Visit markdiamondmusic.com to see our schedule. We’ll be at Vine Street Pub on July 30 and Nici’s on August 21, with more dates to come.
Dan Willging: We were honored to have you. The room sounded great, and George did a fantastic job on sound.
Mark Diamond Trio: George Figgs in the booth—absolutely. Thanks, George.
Dan Willging: Thank you all for coming in. Mark, I get your emails every month.
Mark Diamond Trio: About once a month, at the beginning of each month. I’ll also make sure our shows are listed on the KGNU Concert Calendar.
Dan Willging: And you’ll include Stuck in Traffic dates in your monthly emails?
Mark Diamond Trio: Absolutely. Whenever we have a show, it’ll be there.
Dan Willging: I think you’ve inspired a lot of us to pull out our Traffic records and rediscover that music.
Mark Diamond Trio: We really appreciate that. Thanks for listening, thanks for having us, and we’ll see you out there.
Dan Willging: Take care. Thanks for coming in.
