Okee dokee folks… It has been about 8 months (I know, time flies) since I last checked in with my control group of local musicians, who MAKE THEIR LIVING from music, about their music careers and the pandemic. I wanted to know how they were doing since my last check in. The pandemic is FAR […]
When I sat down (virtually), with three Rhode Island musicians, I had no idea their takeaways from navigating pandemic life would overlap as much as they did. For all three, Dylan Block-Harley, Chachi Carvalho and Roz Raskin, what’s most important is creating art and community in Rhode Island and beyond. This three-article series explores how having […]
Austin Bullock — Don’t Wake Me Up At the end of 2020, Providence-based multi-instrumentalist Austin Bullock dropped Don’t Wake Me Up, a satisfying collection of eight songs with wide-ranging influences. A prolific writer, Bullock put out three albums in 2020, all following the theme of “8 hours labor, 8 hours recreation, 8 hours rest” according […]
Okee dokee folks… Most of you know I’m a “get off my lawn” type of guy, and age is finally catching up with my attitude. I will be turning 60 this year — yikes! In general, I don’t find a lot of new mainstream music that I like. I make an exception for local music; […]
The Fairview is one of the bigger pop-punk bands in the local scene right now. With catchy tunes cognizant of other alternative greats like As It Is, Paramore, and Neck Deep (just to name a few), their music is easy to listen to and hard to forget. Led by co-vocalists Nolan McGovern and Jake Perreault, […]
The Downbeats were a group of young high school musicians that formed a quartet that was to play local school dances, featuring upbeat music of the times. These young performers were in the graduating Class of 1957 at Pawtucket West High School, where they excelled in the school band and orchestra. They chose jazz standards […]
She was already a skilled guitarist when local songstress Tori Hall caught the writing bug, and she hasn’t looked back since. After the stark realization that performing solo was fine for calmer gigs but maybe not enough for bigger venues, she reached out to her musical friends for backup. And that’s how Dogs on Shady […]
Harrison Reed Dolan is the drummer for grizzlies., an alt-funk bank recently covered in Motif. But he also has a solo career with a song to be released on February 12. I recently had a conversation with him about his creative process, collaborating with grizzlies. and some of his proudest moments. Angelina Singer (Motif ): […]
Okee dokee folks… Most people remember where they were when they heard that John F. Kennedy was shot. Not many remember where they were on July 16, 1981. I do because that was the day that Harry Chapin died. I was doing a service call on a pinball machine (in another life I ran an […]
As the new year rolls along, still chock full of anxiety and loneliness, a seafaring music genre that peaked in the 19th century has become an unlikely star on TikTok. The trend started when 26-year-old Scottish mailman Nathan Evans posted his version of the sea shanty “Wellerman,” a whaling song with origins in New Zealand. […]