Nashville, Austin … Kent County? Rhode Island isn’t necessarily the first place that comes to mind when you think of country music, but it might not be too much of a stretch to associate the two. On the shores of Lake Mishnock in West Greenwich stands an unofficial symbol of the state’s country music scene: […]
The Providence based group Evening Sky is a quartet of jazz musicians — Chris Brooks on pedal steel guitar, Joe Potenza on bass, Gino Rosati on guitars, and Eric Hastings on drums — who have a sound not usually found around town. Though partly due to their instrumentation, it’s mostly because of the individual talents […]
African pop star, international world-music sensation and 2020 Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo is returning to Providence on Saturday (Feb 22) to perform her reimagining of Remain in the Light, the landmark album by RI-conceived band The Talking Heads. Kidjo has visited Providence before, performing in Kennedy Plaza as part of a FirstWorks event that was […]
Brian Venable grew up on the self-proclaimed hillbilly country music of Dwight Yoakam and the Dust Bowl sorrows of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. On a walk home one afternoon in Memphis, Tennessee, he found a stack of vinyl abandoned on a street corner. Hauling the lot home, he listened transfixed as the new-wave whirls […]
Okee dokee folks… Last Saturday night Common Fence Music held their first Community Hoot. This show was in the feel of the old Fiddlers and Fishermen show that was an annual and very popular event at CFM for years. The Community Hoot was basically a scheduled and juried open mic. Participants applied to be part […]
Okee dokee folks… I don’t know what to say right now. The Republican Senate is now an accomplice to every crime Trump has committed and surely will commit. Come November, you all must remember what has happened. We need to save this country from the cult of Trump. Hang onto the anger, but spread it […]
Compared to Blondie, inspired by Elvis Costello and opening for the Ramones at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, The Mundanes roused Providence in the late ’70s and early ’80s. After they left for New York, their keyboardist John Linnell went on to form They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh. As the Giants return to Providence, Sean […]
As February rolls in, I don’t think it is possible to discuss rock ‘n’ roll without pausing to remember the victims of The Station fire, which happened 17 years ago. I remember the morning after, getting up to go to work with our LAN line ringing off the hook from my roommate’s mother calling to […]
Baylies Band – Freudian Ears Baylies Band is back with Freudian Ears, a new LP released late last year. A long-running local favorite, the group is a unique combination of zany spoken word, art rock, psychedelic noodling and guitar noise. The maestro is Eric Baylies on vocals and keys, a man whose flair for experimentation […]
I want to start this one off paying respects to legendary guitarist Andy Gill of the band Gang Of Four who recently passed. I interviewed Andy in this space a few years ago when Gang Of Four was touring behind the album, What Happens Next, and he couldn’t have been sweeter. I was a little […]