Okee dokee folks…The man with a cape and keyboards is headed to Fall River on October 19. Legendary Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman hits the Narrows Center for the Arts with his Even Grumpier Old Rock Star show. I spoke with Rick last week via a Zoom call. Rick Wakeman: Hi, John! Hi, my friend!John […]
Okee dokee folks…Last week I was fortunate to attend the 2021 edition of Farm Aid. For those of you who don’t know about Farm Aid it’s a fundraising and awareness raising concert/organization dedicated to helping family farmers and promoting good food. Farm Aid was started by Willie Nelson in 1985 and was inspired by an […]
Okee dokee folks… It’s pumpkin spice season. Not that I am a fan but I am at least glad that the summer is over. I saw a meme that read “pumpkin spice vaccines available”. If it was real maybe more folks would get it. Here I am eager to get vaccine #3 and there are […]
Okee dokee folks… Back in the pre-pandemic era I was scheduled to perform an opener for Karla Bonoff at the Greenwich Odeum. Then the cancellations started and the show was bumped ahead a couple of months and then again a couple of months later. This continued for a year and a half until society got […]
Okee dokee folks… Back in July I was invited to open for the band The Fools in New Hampshire. I thought it an odd pairing but I took the gig nonetheless. I remembered the band from the early 80’s and loved their songs “Psycho Chicken”- a “Weird Al-esque” spoof of the Talking Heads’, “Psycho Killer”, […]
Okee dokee folks… We are in the home stretch of summer, and it is unclear how the pandemic is going to affect fall schedules. I am seeing many cancellations already, so it’s best to check directly with venues before you head to any show to make sure the show is happening and find out their […]
Okee dokee folks… Back in the mid ’70s, my friends and I would drive around in my 1965 Rambler station wagon. I had an 8-track tape player sound system and often Yes songs would make the endless loop in the deck. We would always find it amusing how you would hear the clank of the […]
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes will be at Providence Performing Arts Center on August 20. I recently spoke with John Lyon, aka Southside Johnny, about touring post pandemic, porch performances and how it all started. John Fuzek (Motif): So, are you in New Jersey now? Southside Johnny: Yes, I am about a five minute […]
Okee dokee folks … I honestly thought that we would be beyond pandemic discussions by now, but we’re not. GET A F**KING VACCINE!!! We have the capacity to eradicate the virus, but it takes a village and we are learning that the village has more than one idiot. It has throngs of them. As long […]
Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael will be bringing their band, The Bacon Brothers, into the Greenwich Odeum on Friday, July 16. I had the opportunity to speak with Kevin via phone last week in advance of his show. John Fuzek (Motif): We actually played a show together quit a while back. You played in Newport, […]