Richard’s Rock & Roll Alphabet Like most good and bad ideas, the genesis of the new book Richard’s Rock & Roll Alphabet happened in a bar — Patrick’s Pub to be exact. It was there that Robert Blunt asked renowned photographer Richard McCaffrey if he had photographs of musicians that spanned the entire alphabet Blunt’s […]
As social distancing restrictions ease up, concert announcements for national acts have started to trickle in, just really not here. Outside of Tiffany in June and Electric Six in July, I can’t find anything in terms of summer concerts with national acts in Rhode Island or southern New England that I’d want to attend. Some might […]
As a kid I hated music like Meat Loaf. I thought it was pompous and overdone, and I never liked having to hear that stupid “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” song at every wedding. It wasn’t till years later that I was reading a review of a Meat Loaf concert that it all clicked and I […]
As spring rolls around in the underground, glimmers of hope abound with vaccines, warmer weather and the gradual return of live music! On the negative is the return of mass shootings, but that is another conversation for another place between people who don’t listen to each other. One of the bright spots of the pandemic […]
I wanted to start with a few words on the passing of legendary New York Dolls guitarist, Sylvain Sylvain. Although I am trying not to write a monthly rock ‘n’ roll obituary column, I would not be writing this column without the influence of Sylvain Sylvain and the New York Dolls. The New York Dolls, along […]
Welp, the ball finally dropped in 2020, minus the usual glitter and confetti, to the thud of a collective sigh of relief. We made it, right? Well here we are, not even a week in and so far the President incited a mob of thugs to storm the Capitol on Twitter. I don’t know what frightens […]
This Julien Temple directed, Johnny Depp produced documentary shines a spotlight on Pogues singer, Shane MacGowan. Crock of Gold starts with MacGowan talking about growing up in Ireland living in a crowded house, without electricity or indoor plumbing, where he worked in the field with his uncle, and how his aunt would bribe him at […]
Turn Up The Mains Let’s start this off with addressing the undecided voters in one of most divisive presidential elections ever. Four years of Trump, an epically mismanaged pandemic, and a knife stuck in the long festering wound of racial inequality and yet you are still undecided. Congratulations, you are the unicorn nobody thought could exist! Most […]
Throwing Muses — Sun Racket (Fire Records) It’s amazing to think that Newport’s Throwing Muses have been together 40 years now. To celebrate, Throwing Muses will release a new album, Sun Racket, on September 4. Sun Racket is packed with singer/guitarist Kristin Hersh’s abstract poetry that floats and flails in the seas of psychedelic guitars […]
On their third full-length release, Special Hazards, Ravi Shavi unleash a collection of 14 songs chock full of grooves, trashy surf and classic pop. Gems like “Going Going Gone” come off like a letter to an old flame with singer/guitarist Rafay Rashid asking, “How’s the city, how’s your mom, do you still have a car, […]
