Keep on Moving: Time Keeps on Slipping: Check out these shows to close out the year, and feast your eyes on a few 2019 predictions

At the end of the year it is natural to look back on what transpired, but here at The Motif, we keep on moving forward. At first I was a little apprehensive about offering predictions for music in 2019 considering the differences in genres. To say music is going to be more political, electronic or whatever is difficult because people are always doing whatever one can dream of. But then, after some tequila, the hot takes just kept coming through my crystal ball and wouldn’t stop, like that thing in Jeepers Creepers. Here are a few of them.

I predict 2019 will be a huge year for the band Asia that did the ’80s hit “Heat of the Moment.” Everyone deserves a second moment, and it’s been 30-plus years for Asia — they are due! I believe the original and deceased members of the Ramones will agree to reunite as holograms to headline Coachella; however, due to internal bickering between the holograms, they will break up before they get through the count in to the opening of “Durango 95.” Burrillville will emerge as the center of hip-hop. Sean Spicer will move back to Rhode Island and start a black metal band with Allan Fung and Lincoln Chafee. Cat Country 98.1FM radio will become more tolerable by changing their programming to feature more cats and less country. I feel like both Tone Loc and William Hung are due for a comeback. I sense that 2019 will be a huge year for yacht rock DJs. It will be the year that John Fuzek does a column that doesn’t start with “Okee dokee.” Classical music will go grunge. The Kinks will once again talk about reuniting … next year. Keep On Moving columns will include more lists because they are quick reads and easy to understand. The Big Hair Sluts will be the next big band from Rhode Island. Steve Smith (from Steve Smith & The Nakeds) will find a better local beer to sponsor him. The point? In the words of Joe Strummer, “The future is unwritten,” so sharpen your pencils.

Top 5 Ways to ring in New Year’s Eve:

5) New Year’s Eve Reggae Bashment at Alchemy in Providence.

4) Empire Revue’s 6th Annual Dance Party featuring The Empire Revue and Superchief Trio at AS220 in Providence.

3) Nate Cozzolino & The Lost Arts, The Atlantic Thrills, Harvey Garbage, Green Sabbath, and The Benjis are at Dusk in Providence.   

2) EARTHKRY, Chachi Carvalho & The International Players, and The Gnomes with DJ Paulie Danger spinning between sets at the Parlour in Providence.

1) The Silks and Eric And The Nothing bring the retro rock ‘n’ roll to The Met Cafe in Pawtucket.

I&R – Reconnecting with Josh Cournoyer

Native Rhode Islander Josh Cournoyer moved to Nashville a few years ago and given his destination, it is not surprising he is still making music. The former frontman of Northern Lands, among other bands, has a new project called I&R that is releasing their second single, “Addendum,” on online streaming services on December 28. I&R will be celebrating the single’s release with a show the next night at the Columbus Theatre. I&R’s full-length debut, Bankrupt City, is finished and will be coming out next year. Cournoyer shared the record with me and is it mean to say how surprised I was by how much I liked it? The flow of “Addendum” reminds me of Springsteen sans E Street Band spiked with a southern twang. The first single, “Venice,” wrestles with finding one’s place in the world and spirituality in a world littered with sidewalk messiahs and the unasked for plastic Virgin Mary that mysteriously shows up on your lawn. Lyrics like, “I fought a little battle to get a break from these wars” capture the disillusion with the modern illusion. I’ll talk more about the rest of the album when it’s coming out, but it’s like hitting a Vegas buffet where you got everything from rockers (title track and “Silhouette”) to the string-colored acoustic majesty of “Manifesto” where Cournoyer offers his support with “if you want to burn down the patriarchy tonight, the least I can do is pass you the light.”   

As for what is I&R, Cournoyer tells me, “I&R was always meant to be a collaborative. The connective thread would be the songs and stories, but I wanted to bring in a variety of players for both the studio and live setting to help translate the music. The idea was that no project’s lineup, in my almost 20 years of being in bands, has ever persisted for more than a few years, but the benefit to that is being able to play with a diverse group of musicians and approaches to creativity. I&R as a name very much has a reason, and a specific one at that, but I love the idea that people can project their own ideas to the meaning onto those letters, much the way people project their own meaning onto the songs.”

In addition to working with some acclaimed producers and engineers, Cournoyer collaborated with friends from home including MorganEven Swain (The Huntress and Holder of Hands and Brown Bird). Cournoyer relays: “We were joined there by MorganEve Swain; she’s handling second vocal duties on ‘Addendum’ and also contributed the strings on ‘Venice.’ MorganEve has been a pretty consistent part of our live contingent as well; she added so much depth to the record, and working with her has been a blast.’’

I&R, John Faraone, and Mountainess will be playing the Columbus Theatre on December 29.

The other top 5 shows to catch before the calendar turns to 2019 are all bangers:

5) Fungus Amungus does a reunion show with Cosmic Factory at The Met Cafe on December 28.

4) Grinchfest 2.0, featuring sets by Karma Rocket, Foxx Doll, Jets Can’t Land, Sick Pills, and David Tessier All-Stars, are at Askew on December 21.

3) Doyle (of The Misfits) is at FMH on December 28.  

2) Cactus Attack is at Nick-A-Nee’s on December 29.

1) Ravi Shavi celebrate the release of Blackout Deluxe (Almost Ready Records) with a release show with Nova One and Nice at AS220 on December 22.  

Email music new to mclarkin33@gmail.com