BONG WISH
by Sleazegrinder

Part hazy, shimmering hippie death goddess, part snarling, shin-kicking Bad News Bear, Mariam Saleh is one of Boston rock’s most compelling and alluring figures. She is probably most well-known for the jangly thrift-store explosion that is the Fat Creeps, the psyche-pop duo she formed with Gracie Jackson, but more recently she’s been concentrating on Bong Wish, an all-girl barefoot lysergic boogie-raga blowout with flutes, violins, and teenage runaways in denim jumpsuits. There has literally been nothing like Bong Wish since Charlie closed shop at the Spahn Ranch in 1970. Despite being forty years removed from the sights, sounds and smells of the late ’60s desert-baked love/sex/death communes, they channel that particular freak vibe with eerie precision. Bong Wish is flower children hiding knives behind their backs, and Mariam Saleh is their fearless, steel-eyed, breathlessly beautiful young leader. It’s heavy, man.

But before we get to wishing upon a bong, let’s talk Creeps. It is, after all, where the story begins.

“The Fat Creeps was the first musical thing I ever did,” says Saleh. “I didn’t know how to play an instrument before I did the Fat Creeps. I started the band before I learned how to play. When we started, I was playing a tom drum and a guitar, and Gracie was playing a guitar, and we were both yelping, basically. I didn’t even know how to tune a guitar, but I kept writing all these songs. Gracie was really musically inclined, so she would basically just go with it, and that developed the sound. It really meshed well because she knew what she was doing and allowed me to not know what I was doing. It worked, it created this vibe that became the Fat Creeps.”

Despite their inexperience and one of the worst band names since Dracula Milk Toast, the duo’s quirky, groovy, broken-pop sounds eventually caught on. They released records (well, tapes mostly), toured, and created some alarmingly fucked-up videos. Things went pretty well, as far as first bands go. After building up a nice head of steam, the Fat Creeps had their most triumphant gig at last year’s weekend-long psychedelic freakout, the Fuzztival. It was also their last. So far, at least.

“People talk about that show a lot. I think people just picked up on how intense the set was. Because we both knew it was our last, but nobody else did. So we went all-out. We went full-tilt boogie.”

That they did. Amidst all the swirling light projectors, the two young friends weaved a musical tapestry that zigged and zagged through so many sub-genres, it was impossible to keep up. I think they invented “death surf’” that night. I mean, it was crazy. So why stop there?

“I wouldn’t say we’re finished for life,” explains Mariam, “But we are currently pursuing our own paths as individuals. We’re doing our own thing. I just think it kinda lost a certain feeling towards the end, and we both felt it. I think we both needed to do something else. I took a big break from music and she went right into starting a new band, Gracie. And they’re doing great.”

Mariam has not closed the door on Fat Creeps, and there may be a reunion/resurrection of some kind in the near-future. But at the time, she was finished. And after a five-month sabbatical – and let’s face it, a ton of weed – a new vision emerged. “I remember just being really stoned one day, and I thought of a really great band name, Bong Wish. It was the combination of a bong rip and a deathwish. It kinda fits the vibe. I mean, we have dark elements to us. I don’t wish for death or anything, but I think it’s an interesting play on words.”

With the name in place, it was time to write some songs. “I knew what I wanted in terms of music, and I knew what kind of vibe I wanted to bring to the table, and it just expanded from there. I was really into ’60s/’70s guitars. I was listening to a lot of The Byrds, a lot of Neil Young, a lot of Beatles, and just a lot of random one-hitters that I’ve heard over the years. I just went on from there. A lot of my words for Bong Wish songs are kinda earthy, kinda lovey. It really stems from being kind of a hippie.”

There is ample evidence that Saleh is, indeed, kind of a hippie. She’s got a pet rabbit. She brings her own mason jar full of tea to the coffeeshop. But Bong Wish isn’t all glowing afternoon light and flip-flops in golden fields. There’s a creeping menace in the music that belies the surface congeniality of the songs. Mariam Saleh is a hippie chick, sure. But she’s a hippie chick who knows how to throw a punch.

“I didn’t really go to school,” Saleh explains. “I didn’t go to high school, so I just partied a lot. I went to high school for a year, and then I got kicked out. I was getting into too many fights. I was just an idiot, really. I’d go into school and be like, ‘I don’t need to be here! You’re not teaching me anything!’ I got kicked out of there and I was put in this place called the ‘Blood Building.’ It’s where total fuck-ups go. I got kicked out of there, too. I had a lot of anger issues. So, I dunno. I was kind of a dick, and then eventually I discovered music.”

Like many once-wayward misfits, Saleh found music to be the salve she had always been searching for.

“Music definitely saved my life,” she says. “It made me a more peaceful person. There was a point when I was writing a lot of angry music and it helped, but now I’m at a point where I can just write without feeling compelled to get anything out. That’s the difference with Bong Wish, I think. I feel a lot more balanced now.”

With a clutch of songs finished, Saleh sought out like-minded souls/groovy stoner chicks to complete the vision. She found so many, she can’t even fit them all on stage at once.

“We have people jump in and out,” she says. “Like at this point I know so many great woman musicians, it’s just kinda ridiculous. So I just throw it out there, like, ‘Hey, you wanna play with us at this show?’ And they do or they don’t, you know? But there’s always four of us. There’s me, Anna Karina on bass, Molly on flute, and Kristina on drums. So it’s usually us four, and then we’ll have someone play violin, or come sing with us, whatever. It’s all over the place.”

Bong Wish, you see, is not just a band. It’s a collective.

“For sure. I’d eventually like to have 40 people on stage.”

A Bong Wish show is less of standard rock gig than it is an audio-visual experience. Somewhere between the GTOs and The Runaways, it’s a riot of peasant shirts and witch hats, smoke and gloopy light shows, breezy flutes and distorted acid-rock guitars, with Saleh as the grand ringmaster, like Frank Zappa, Kim Fowley and Joan Jett all wrapped up in one tiny, pleasantly stoned package.

“If you’re gonna put on a show, do it head to toe, inside and out,” she says. “I don’t want a Bong Wish show to be like seeing some people wearing rock band T-shirts playing in someone’s basement. I want there to be a theatrical vibe to it, I want to add artistic elements. I really just want to go crazy with it, just go all out.”

And she has big plans, too. More instruments. Bigger light shows. Wilder outfits.

“Yeah, eventually we’ll have some ridiculous costumes. Some kinda Mothers of Invention kind of craziness, for sure.”

Currently, the only way to experience Bong Wish is to see them live, but the band is currently in the studio working on their first album.

“What we’re going to do first is get three demos together and send them out to the world, because we don’t have anything out there yet. And then we’ll finish the record. I think I’m gonna throw a bunch of people in there and add some stuff. There’s definitely going to be some violin, some piano, I’m gonna go crazy.”

If ever there was an album begging for a gatefold sleeve full of forgotten stems and seeds, it’s Bong Wish. In the meantime, put on your finest ceremonial robes and catch a show. There is a distinct possibility that you’ll end up as part of a hippie cult, but it’ll be the good kind, with chicks and drugs and flutes. I think.

“Maybe we were all born at the wrong time,” laughs Saleh. “Everyone in the band has that vibe, like we’re all old souls, or something. But it works. We’re all pie-in-the-sky types, but in a very loving, very peaceful way.”

Well, okay. But that’s how the Manson Family started, too.

MISSION OF BURMA

by Eric Baylies

Any serious discussion of Boston rock music begins and ends with Mission of Burma. The band was started in 1979 by Roger Miller, Peter Prescott, and Clint Conley, and rounded out by soundman-tape manipulator Martin Swope. The original incarnation lasted about four years. The legend grew well beyond New England and in 2002 Burma reformed, with Bob Weston of Shellac replacing Swope. Since then the band has released more music than the first time around and has played to far larger audiences all around the globe. On Saturday, July 18 the band will be playing its biggest Boston show ever at Fenway Park opening for The Foo Fighters. I briefly spoke to Roger, Clint, and Peter about the upcoming Fenway gig and much more.

Noise: What are your thoughts on being asked to play Fenway? Is this the biggest non-festival show you have done around here?

Roger: I do believe it is (the biggest show). Our biggest non-festival shows before were around a thousand people or so. Fenway holds more than a thousand, right? [editor: try 37,673]

Peter: Obviously it was a very nice gesture to be asked and it will be an unusual experience, but I will know after we played what I thought about it.

Clint: It was pretty shocking to be asked to play a weird, giant gig, no question.

Noise: So how did this show come about?

Clint: We’d heard that David Grohl (Foo Fighters frontman) was a fan through Mark Kates (Mission of Burma’s manager), but we have yet to meet him.
Noise: This is a large venue to play. Because Fenway only recently starting having concerts and with all the history at the ballpark, I want to know: do you guys even like baseball, or the Red Sox?

Clint: I am a Red Sox fan and go to the park a couple of times a year, but I don’t think Roger’s ever been to “Fenway Stadium,” as he calls it.

Roger: It will be my first time there and I’ll be playing in centerfield. I find that quite amusing! I have some problems with organized sports, as follows. My brother Gifford is the head of the Geology Department at the University of Colorado. He says there are seven Nobel Prize winning scientists there. The  salaries of all seven combined does not equal the salary of the football coach. Doesn’t that seemed fukt? It sure does to me.

Noise: Will you be playing any new stuff? Are you working on any new recordings?

Clint: There are no recording plans at the moment.

Peter: We’ll probably play one new song.

Noise: One new song is better than none! Hope to hear more soon. You guys have been known for many years to huddle together and come up with a set list just before you go on. Do you still do this, even for such a big gig?

Peter: We still do the set list just before the set.

Noise: After all these years, do you approach how you write or record any differently? Any concessions to age or hearing loss? You guys have now played about three times as long in this incarnation of the band as the first go round. Any big long term plans for the group?

Clint: There are no real big changes in how we rehearse or approach the Burma thing. We just work around the realities of having otherwise full lives. We have no grand plan to re-lifespan, either.

Peter: We still manage to be pretty childish in spite of our advanced ages!

Roger: Mission of Burma is not the kind of band that makes plans.

Noise: Peter has another band called Minibeast that is a sort of no wave retro futurist neo noir psychedelic experience. What else are you up to, Roger?

Roger: Sproton Layer has another album recorded 1969-1971 coming out on the German label World In Sound. I’m pretty excited about it, though it will be more raw and less polished than With Magnetic Fields Disrupted, which was a planned recording. The album will be titled Press Your Hand and The Whole Room Fluctuates.

Noise: What about the Trinary System?

Roger: The Trinary System is my new trio with drummer Larry Dersch from the Binary System and bassist Andrew Willis, who hadn’t played bass in a band before. I’m on guitar and vocals. Despite being a trio like Burma, it’s really quite different. It ain’t post punk. It touches on more layers of history, and we’re here now. We’re hoping to have a release by mid fall and play some gigs in November. Also, the Alloy Orchestra is an ongoing band, accompanying silent films and playing all of the United States and Europe as well. Quite different from either Burma or Trinary! Roger Ebert has said that “the Alloy Orchestra is the best in the world at accompanying silent film.” Doesn’t get much better than that!

Noise: Don’t forget to see Mission of Burma at Fenway Park, and any other opportunity you might have in the future. They are one of the best live bands in the world. Don’t just take my word how great they are. I spoke briefly with Brian Ritchie, bassist of The Violent Femmes and some local luminaries as well.

Brian Ritchie: I did some co-bill gigs with Roger Miller solo. He said he had to quit the band because of tinnitus. He was going around as a solo prepared Yamaha cp-70 artist, which was amazing. He was far ahead of his time with that – very creative and original.

Noise: Richard Brown of early Boston punk band The Proletariat also had some kind words.

Richard Brown: Burma was always my favorite Boston band. I remember our original goals as a band was to play The Rat, record anything, and open for Burma – something we did about a dozen times. When Burma put us on second in their last show ever (at the time) at The Bradford Ballroom it was an honor and a privilege I will never forget.

Noise:  Singer Mike Mountain of the band Mike Mountain has been navigating the treacherous waters of the Boston and Amherst noise rock scenes for over a decade. He had some thoughts on one of his biggest influences.

Mike Mountain: I heard Mission of Burma for the first time in the late ’80s listening to college radio WSMU (now WUMD). They were one of the first bands that opened up a world of music I was unaware of. Everyone that knows about post punk or whatever agrees that members of Burma were pioneers. I really love their other bands too, like Minibeast and Binary System.

Noise: Sonic Nova, the singer for Mothor, is part of a new generation of modern rock bands in Providence. I’ll let him take us out of this story with his enthusiastic praise.

Sonic Nova: Mission of Burma is a major influence on generation after generation of East Coast rock ’n’ roll. Long Live Burma!

www.missionofburma.com

www.facebook.com/BurmaBoston

Fri July 10  LIVINGSTON TAYLOR +
@ Old Whaling Church, Edgartown, MA

Fri July 10  GROOVECHILD +
@ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Fri July 10  TARBOX RAMBLERS
@ One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME

Sat July 11 THE PAISLEY FIELDS
@ The Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA

Sat July 11  JOE THOMAS
@ Jalapenos, Gloucester, MA

Sat July 11  TONY SAVARINO
@ Atwoods, Cambridge, MA

Sat July 11  HEATHER MALONEY +
@ Prescott Park Americana Festival, Portsmouth, NH

Sat July 11  (noon-6pm) NICKEL & DIME BAND w/ RICK BERLIN +
Porchfest JP
@ 44 Boylston, Jamaica Plain, MA

Thurs July 16  (1:30pm) MARINA EVANS & BERNARDO BAGLIONI
Outside the Box Festival
@ Tremont Stage, Boston, MA

Fri July 17  T MAX & BIRD MANCINI +
Help! The Beatles Benefit
@ The Cultural Center, Rocky Neck, Gloucester

Fri July 17  KERRI POWERS
opening for Melanie
@ Shalin Liu, Rockport, MA

Fri July 17  CAGED HEAT +
@ Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Sat July 18  MISSION OF BURMA +
opening for Foo Fighters
@ Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Sat July 18  (6:00)  JAY DiBIASIO +
@ Gloucester Block Party, Gloucester MA

Sun July 19  MARY CASIELLO
Tom Bianchi’s Backroom Acoustic Music series
@ The Burren, Somerville, MA

Mon July 20  TONY SAVARINO & THE SAVTONES
@ PA’s Lounge, Somerville, MA

Thur July 23  ALDO ABREU
Society for Historically Informed Performance
@ Lindsay Chapel, Emmanuel Church, Boston, MA

Fri July 24  BIM SKALA BIM +
@ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Sat July 25  RUBY ROSE FOX +
Sponsored by The Noise
@ Cabot Theatre, Beverly MA

Sat July 25  PSYCHO +
@ Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Sat July 25  SCRUFFY THE CAT
TT’s Blowout Farewell
@ T.T. the Bear’s, Cambridge, MA

Sat July 25  DINOSAUR JR. +
@ Blue Hills Bank Pavillion, Boston, MA

Sat July 25  BUSTED BRASS BAND
@ Atwoods, Cambridge, MA

Wed July 29  MUNK DUANE BAND +
@ The Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA

Thur July 30  AMERICAN VERSE +
@ Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Thur July 30  MAMADOU
@ Bay State Cruise, Boston, MA

Thurs & Fri  July 30 & 31  PAULA COLE
@ Shalin Liu, Rockport, MA

Fri July 31  ROBBY ROADSTEAMER +
@ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Fri July 31  THE COWSILLS +
@ Lynn Auditorium, Lynn, MA

Sat Aug 1  JAY ALLEN & THE ARCH CRIMINALS +
Frank Strom’s B-Day Bash
@ Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Sat Aug 1  CHRISTINE OHLMAN & REBEL MONTEZ +
@ The Iron Horse, Northampton, MA

Sun Aug 2  DOUG MACDONALD BAND +
Yankee Homecoming Festival
@ Downtown Stage, Newburyport, MA

Sun Aug 2  MARINA EVANS & BERNARDO BAGLIONI
Benefit for The Grace Center of Gloucester
@ Trinity Congregational Church, Gloucester, MA

Thur Aug 6  THE CHARMS +
@ The Spotlight Tavern, Beverly, MA

Sat Aug 8  THE RATIONALES +
Bob Colby’s Birthday Bash
@ Store 54, Allston, MA

Sat Aug 8  GENE DANTE & THE FUTURE STARLETS
@ Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

Thur Aug 13  BOSTON
@ Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT

Fri Aug 14  THE FORZ +
@ The Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA

Fri Aug 14  GROWNUP NOISE
Album Release
@ Davis Square Theater, Cambridge, MA

Sat Aug 15  (5:30 doors) THREE DAY THRESHOLD +
Opening for Dick Dale
@ The Middle East, Cambridge MA

Wed Aug 19  CHRIS SMITHER
@ Shalin Liu, Rockport, MA

Fri Aug 21  CHELSEA BERRY +
Opening for Livingston Taylor
@ Old Whaling Church, Edgartown, MA

Sat & Sun Aug 22 & 23  LIVINGSTON TAYLOR
@ Shalin Liu, Rockport MA

Wed Aug 26  LENNY SOLOMON BAND
@ Club Passim, Cambridge, MA

Thur Aug 27  THE J. GEILS BAND
@ Blue Hills Bank Pavillion, Boston, MA

Fri Aug 28  MIKE GIRARD & HIS BIG SWINGING THING
@ Blue Ocean Music Hall, Salisbury Beach, MA

Sat Aug 29  HUMANWINE
@ Club Passim, Cambridge, MA

Fri Sept 11  CARAVAN OF THIEVES +
@ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Fri Sept 18  CHARLES NEVILLE +
@ Church, Boston, MA

Fri Sept 18  TONY SAVARINO & THE SAVTONES
@ Store 54, Allston, MA

Wed Sept 23  HEATHER MALONEY +
@ The Armory, Somerville, MA

Fri Sept 25  DARLINGSIDE
@ Port City Music Hall, Portland, ME

Fri Oct 2 (1:30pm) T MAX +
@ The Topsfield Fair, Topsfield, MA

Fri Oct 9  JIM TRICK & CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS
@ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Fri Oct 9  THE STOMPERS +
Celebrate Lennon
@ The Spire Center For Performing Arts, Plymouth, MA

Sat Oct 10  THE EASY REASONS +
@ Store 54, Allston, MA

Fri Nov 6  WHEN PARTICLES COLLIDE +
@ Store 54, Allston, MA

Sat Dec 5  CHRIS SMITHER
@ The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

Sat Dec 19  CHRIS SMITHER
@ Spire Center for the Performing Arts, Plymouth, MA

You’re Crazy: First-Hand Accounts
of Mental Health Struggle, Addiction,
and Trauma from the Punk Scene. Volume I.
Better Days Recovery Press, [n.l.], Revised edition 2014.
Paper, 158 pp. Edited by Craig Lewis.
Review by Francis DiMenno

What I was dreading – and what might (but shouldn’t) deter you from reading this insightful book – was the thought that it might consist of twenty-five recovery narratives: hard-luck stories in which the principles of A.A. and the wonders of therapeutic intervention are extolled to the skies. There is some of that, but not a lot. Nor is the book top-heavy when it comes to the punk rock saved my life narratives, although there are also a few of those. What editor Craig Lewis has done instead is to shrewdly curate differing points of view to assemble a volume which is more than the sum of its parts.

Before discussing the merits and insights of this volume (one of a projected three), it might be instructive to briefly discuss punk rock as a subculture. If you are looking for a set of narratives which solely focus on one set of genres or eras, you may be disappointed. Here, “punk” refers to an amorphous form which extends from the mid-1970s to the present day; one which encompasses post-punk, no wave, pop punk, hardcore, and other forms. On the political compass, the stance of the respondents tends to skew heavily in the direction of left-libertarian (Anarchism is such a dangerously misunderstood phenomenon).

Why have so many readers been so enthusiastic about this book? Perhaps because it is not full of undiagnosed narcissism or full-bore solipsism. Rather, it is a series of useful narratives which strive, in varying ways, to express what mental illness feels like, with prescriptive messages which might show at least one person a way out of the labyrinth of symptomatic behaviors, including self-medication, self-loathing, lassitude, negativity, and destructive acting-out.

Useful insights about the musical world abound. “Dingy, beer-soaked punk bars and clandestine underground spots were temples to Dionysus, the way all rock ’n’ roll is supposed to be, and I was a Maenad allowing actions and sounds to take me where they would.” (Gonzalez-Blitz, 48.) We are told that punk rock has its shamanic as well as political aspects. “…I found a way to express myself – just go off and help the revolution. Music becomes not just entertainment but ritual, confrontation.” (Blitz, 43.) “‘…[R]esistance to norms comes naturally from knowing what is better for me…. At the pace we are going, it seems like human life could end in my time, and at the least a pile of toxic garbage and dying earth will be left for the next generation… slouching into apathy… is the unforgivable, impossible path that I will never ever take. Resisting, raising a stink, knowing that those of us who value equality, justice, and a life full of joy, love, and community… are not wrong!” (Sock, 110, 117.)

But, for all the political high-mindedness on display, the less idealistic aspects of the punk rock scene are not overlooked. The respondents tend, as you might expect, to express themselves with radical honesty. “I want a community that gives a shit instead of just acting like it gives a shit – because let’s face it, every year punk gets closer and closer to being another subculture without culture.” (Rachel, 106.) “Despite its solace, [is] bohemia… also an oppressive chokehold?” (Gonzalez-Blitz, 49.) “The scene is becoming more and more like a high school clique every day and the people who make it that way should be ashamed.” (Svendsen, 94.)

Along with the ups and downs of the punk lifestyle and its sometimes strident political stances are some hard-won life lessons. “I like to avoid all drama unless I see a reason to be forceful against somebody else, or else I risk drama to explain a point, then stroke the other person’s ego.” (Chaos, 23.) “Self-hate breeds hate.” (Hollander, 86.) “… I feel that often, as real as my dark moments are, I almost want to stay trapped in pain. I want to feel bad about myself. Maybe because it’s familiar.” (Sock, 116.)

There are also some rather searing statements about the nature of depression itself which are useful to know about whether one suffers from the affliction or not. “The Depression block is an all-encompassing pressure: total and complete. Nothing else matters at that moment and almost nothing can change the feelings but time…. Your brain doesn’t want to play the games of life anymore. Depression makes you lost and disillusioned with the world, people, relationships, goals, and even things you usually like.” (Hollander, 86.)

The ways in which punk rock can be inspiring in spite of its clannishness and seeming anti-everything stance are well explicated here. “…. Punk is the only thing that proves to me that humanity is not completely fucked – punk stares this fuckedness right in the face, like Coyote, the ambiguous trickster who sneaks in to turn the page. It’s like in dialectical behavior therapy: you learn to handle bad times just by noticing them honestly and building from there.” (Anonymous, 140.)

The book also offers quite a few bits of common sense advice. For instance, this, from a registered creative psychotherapist: “There are certain illnesses which need specialized treatment by well-trained professionals… well-meaning… friends… might be unhealthy, unhelpful, or worse–dangerous.” (Anonymous, 145.) For those who are contemplating suicide, there is this insight: “I am more of a burden dead than I am alive. If I am alive, people have the choice to deal with me or not deal with me. If I am dead, I am just a ghost that haunts them for the rest of their lives.” (Christina, 36.)

Some of the best career advice I have ever seen regarding temperamental artistes is here. “…In order to relate (and be related to), one must always exercise a certain restraint in order to be heard…. If you want that one door you want to walk through to be opened – you can’t let the gate keeper know that within your mind resides several personalities…. Just smile and act normal (and don’t say anything about the purple dinosaur on the ceiling.)” (Ley, 84.)

This collection of writings opens many windows (and doors) into the puzzling enigma of madness, and is both valuable and worth your time. This book has a lot of potential to help people with their own depression, and to assist one in understanding people who live with depression and other mental issues. Want to contribute? See: Punksinrecovery.com

Click on this photo taken by Coleman Rogers to reveal the Big Shot for August 2015.

MICHEAL J. ROY

Eclectricity

14 tracks

Michael J. Roy is the long time guitar star and handsome fashionista of Boston and NYC bands Fox Pass and Tom Dickie & the Desires. The players here are Stephen Gilligan on bass and Lenny Shea, Jr. on drums of Stompers fame. Line up wise this is essentially Fox Pass sans Jon Macey. Roy is and has always been a sensitive, painterly guitar player who added color and emotion to the songs of the Desires and Fox Pass, as he does here on Electricity. His warm, soulful voice can cause even this reprobate’s heart to melt. It was always Roy who was chosen to sing the smoother, more melodic songs of Fox Pass. If it were the ’60s, I could envision Roy in a blue eyed soul outfit like The Rascals.  “Stop the Rain” kicks my ass. As does the Byrdsian jangle of “In A Well.” There’s not a dud here. Roy’s voice is heart-wrenching. He doesn’t pluck the heartstrings – he shreds them! Congrats to a fine artist and human being.     (Nancy Neon)

…

REVEREND FREAKCHILD

Treated and Released Records

Hillbilly Zen-Punk Blues

10 tracks

Swampy, with appropriately muddy production; the first song, “All I Got Is Now,” comes lackadaisically oozing out at us with laconic, homely wisdom: “If you can find a way/ To want what you get/ Hmm, I’ll tell you Buddy,/ That’s the best thing yet.” The Instrumental piece “Angel$ of Mercy” is a soothing, introspective piece for resonator guitar, with harmonica by the super-talented Hugh Pool. The brain-melting cover of Rev. Gary Davis’ “It’s Gonna Be Alright” is reverential, but not slavishly so–not to mention kind of trippy. “Lullaby” is another crystal-clear instrumental with meditative undertones. The delicate picking and atmosphere of calm is entrancing. The guitar line on “Moonlight Messages” is like something out of John Fahey, albeit with vocals, percussion, and flute (ably played by John Ragusa). “She Wants My Name” reverts back to gutbucket blues – the low-down dirty kind which wouldn’t be out of place in any whiskey-soaked roadhouse in the U.S.A. “Soul Transforming Realization” has an anthemic guitar line which explodes into percussion and dirty blues, then resumes its psychedelicized ascent. We hear some more spectacularly grimy blues on the raging “Tears of Fire.” Finishing off a fine collection is a growly version of a song made popular by Mississippi Fred McDowell and R.L. Burnside, “Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down” – a song which lesser mortals wouldn’t even attempt. Overall, this is one of the best modern blues albums I’ve heard in years. Recommended.  (Francis DiMenno)

…

BONNIE GORDON

Lowbudget Records

This Modern World

10 tracks

When Bonnie Gordon released her debut album almost six years ago, she was a fresh-faced, lovelorn tunesmith of much potential. She got some excellent reviews, did a few gigs, and then disappeared. Not a promising career move. My suspicion is that heartache rules her destiny and the proof is here on her new album. With her fragile voice, wound-up verbal delicacy, and gentle piano playing, she paints song after song with vibrant images of failed, missed, and past romance. Obviously, she’s still looking for her dreamboat. There is something compelling and utterly personal, unsentimental, and somehow affectionate in the details she engages. In the title tune, she admits “I may be old fashioned/ A casualty of a kind/ But I’ll go round the world/ For a modern love to find.” Displaying a sadness tempered by optimism and a despair rescued by innocence and experience, she is a modern adult caught in a major paradox called the dating game. Two of my favorie songs are the bluesy, jazz shuffle, “Lips of Fire,” wherein she succumbs to the passionate advances of a “dime store paperback” though she prefers her “literature hard bound,” and “Long Ride,” a deep organ driven confessional overview of her tired life with “her meter expired without any spare change/ feeling so human and terribly exposed – my thoughts deranged.” Without forcing comparisons, she mostly reminds me of Marianne Faithful and Rikki Lee Jones, two classic song stylists with wistful voices and an array of anecdotes, all weary and wise. And lastly, I must acknowledge Chillgroove, the ambient, world-music backing band she uses to convey this fine material. Adroitly attuned to her sentimentality, every texture and nuance they produce – dripping with atmosphere – works masterfully. If they ever return to live performance, this would be an ideal pairing to make modern audiences swoon. This is a gorgeous, stunning album produced by Tim Casey, and hopefully a preview of more to come. Highly recommended.   (Harry C. Tuniese)

…

MELVERN TAYLOR & HIS FABULOUS MELTONES

The Old New Stuff

14 tracks

This kicks off as classic Americana: nouveau-vaudeville music hall division, in the vein of Harper’s Bizarre, The Kinks, and Mungo Jerry (!). “Penny Arcade” – as well as many of the other songs –benefits from an irrepressible joyousness, here replete with horns, which is impossible for the fan of eclectic music to resist. Melvern Taylor has the kind of relaxed tenor which suits the material. Other best of shows include “Jet Black Chevy Corvette,” which has a somewhat cheesy old-time country and western tone which is nostalgically delightful. Brilliant, after its retro fashion. “Mill Town Moon” is a slowed-down waltz more suitable to the tastes and sentiments of the early 20th century than the present day, but its straight-faced earnestness renders it innocent of the charge of mere travesty. “Tellin Lies” is so sprightly it might almost be featured on The Lawrence Welk Show, reeking as it does of a ’20s mentality and ’40s western swing bonhomie. One almost expects to hear an electric steel solo by Bob Dunn. “Nothin Left to Do But Cry” could almost be a lost recording by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. It also happens to be a pretty good tune under the layers of superadded hokum. “The Girl Next Door to the Girl Next Door” is an anomalous Motown-like bit of early ’60s pop fluff and is awfully impressive, even if it is replete with the now-familiar c&w styled guitar. “Melly’s Waltz” caps the proceedings – thoughtful, even heartwarming, with an entrancing melody. The wonderful thing about this album is how it manages to integrate disparate instrumental styles belonging to music hall, bluegrass and c&w with the Great American Songbook of early 20th century popular and Broadway tunes – while seldom betraying much of a modern sensibility at all. This collection is an amusing exercise in musical camouflage which will please fans of artists such as early-era Randy Newman and Harry Nillsson. Recommended. (Francis DiMenno)

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BELLA’S BARTOK

Don’t Be Yourself

4 tracks

The number of songs on this release may be minimal but all the cuts possess a big and very unique sound and approach. The four tunes, “Frankenstein’s Monster,” “The Bag End  March,” “Garden Song,” and my favorite, “Wanderin'” all sound like they come from the music of an avant off-Broadway play. An accordion, mandolin, and acoustic guitar mix with a trumpet, trombone and a very tight bass and drums to provide the perfect backing for the changing tempos, alternating instrument focus and the eye-popping, finger wagging vocals. It’s as if a kaleidoscope had a soundtrack. The music itself has many influences from punk arrogance, polka oom-pa-pa, to Broadway musicals. Cool and very interesting music from a suburban band. Check it out.   (A.J. Wachtel)

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DOWNTOWN BOYS   

Don Giovanni Records

Full Communism         

12 tracks

Providence Rhode Island’s Downtown Boys are often lumped in with political punk rock bands. That’s all fine and good, and well documented elsewhere. I only have a moment of your time and I want to focus on what I love about Downtown Boys. They write catchy yet angry punk noise songs and execute them to near perfection, mostly in English, but with some sung in Spanish. Not many punk bands use horns, and fewer make them work. Downtown Boys, who are also great live, obviously put a lot of thought and hard work into this short but amazing album. The CD has 10 originals and two covers. “Poder Elegir” is from a leftist leaning Chilean hardcore band Los Prisoneros, and the other is from Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen has written many political anthems and socio-economic essays within the framework of a pop song, so its interesting that they cover the pretty much straight forward “Dancing In The Dark.”  Maybe singer Victoria Ruiz and crew want to show that sometimes even Downtown Boys want to have fun. (Eric Baylies)

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HIXX

Branded  

12 tracks

The music on these songs basically fall into two different categories: Southern rock punk, sorta like Blackfoot or Skynyrd on amphetamines, and country metal, sorta like Kiss meets Elvis meets Johnny Cash. Richard Mirsky (Zipper), Ray Crandall and Chris Costello wrote all the tunes and I know Bob Daley (Chloe) is now the hard hitting drummer, but the credits don’t reveal a thing to me about who does what to create this loud and contentious release. Everyone has a pseudonym with the last name Hixx, and in the photos, everyone is wearing sunglasses.  My favorite cuts are, the head banger “Petting Zoo,” the country punk ballad “Trailer” and the oversize 10-gallon hat country punk pop anthem “We Want America Back.” I also dig the growling and creepy low opening vocals to “AxMurder Country,” the loud sonic thrashing of “Redneck Motherfuckers,” and the aggressive “Drink! Fuck! Fight!”  Sometimes dark and scary. Always guitar driven. And built like a wall of sound. Best for inspiration when you want to kill for catharsis. Make sure you’re not near anything breakable. I love it !    (A.J. Wachtel)

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VIVA GINA

Live At WFMO   

4 tracks

This is a fun CD. I’m sure the ladies in Viva Gina work real hard to be this awesome. Tracks titled “Crotch Punch,” “Your New Girl Is A Slut,” and “Like A Unicorn” make me think these women are not as angry as they seem on first listen. The album is a must for anyone who likes Hole or The Muffs, but are looking for something way better. The songs were recorded live on WMFO’s On The Town With Mikey Dee on July 17, 2013. They sounds good but I can’t wait to hear a proper studio recording. Still, the live energy of the band explodes through the speakers and dares you to see them live. (Eric Baylies)

JENNIFER GREER

The Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA   

7/11/15

This is my first time seeing a show at Inman Square’s famous art space, The Lily Pad.  There isn’t an empty seat in the house so I have to stand in the back. The room is about half the size of Club Passim’s listening room, however what it lacks in size, it makes up for in acoustics.  The grand piano set up on stage sounds fantastic. It’s as rich and melodious as they come.  It also doesn’t hurt that the talented Jennifer Greer is behind it. She can play and she can sing with the best of them.  Her band isn’t too shabby either.  Mike Barry on guitar, Julio Matos on bass, and Chris Michaels on drums.  The group enhances the dynamics of each song majestically; sending the songs to the next level or at other times backing off and creating a level of intimacy allowing Jennifer’s voice to really shine. As tonight is her CD release party, the quartet mainly plays tunes from Jennifer’s new album Hey Tide however there are a few tunes Jennifer slips in that she indicates will be on the next album. I’m excited. We all should be. Nice work Jennifer!     (Kier Byrnes)

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WILLIE ALEXANDER

Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church, Gloucester MA

7/19/15

Today’s review of Willie’s performance will be a little different from what you’d normally expect. Although he’ll be playing some music, he’ll also be up at the altar preaching to the congregation.

At 10:00am on the dot I take my seat, third row center pew, and Willie starts hammerin’ away at the grand piano with father and son sax players, Rikki and Alec Razdon, playing backing roles on “Celebration of the Spirit” written by Preacher Jack.  Jeremy Melvin, high on the altar, soon has the floor with a greeting and announcements that are open for anyone to join in.  Behind Jeremy, even higher on the altar is music director Harrison Kelton adding the big pipe organ sounds. As Willie moves to take the center high stage, Kelton provides the big pipe backing to a Quaker hymn, “My Life Flows in Endlessness,” with everyone singing from #108 in the books provided in the pews. Willie chose beforehand which hymns would be part of the service.  A candle is lit over Willie’s prayer, and the poem “Love Is Not Concerned” is read in unison by the congregation. Willie heads back to the piano and performs my personal favorite, “The Gold,” from his collection of Vincent Ferrini’s poems put to music. The big organ follows, spreading its massive sound, when Jeremy’s young daughter casually walks up to the ground floor level of the altar and snuggles up in her dad’s lap. Willie’s back at stage top center and shakes out an ancient scroll (in true show biz style) to read his Gloucester-based “Fred Buck’s Footsteps” story. He performs it in a bebop beat poet style; the Razdons’ saxes add peeps and squarks transcending me to a small cafe in Greenwich Village a half century ago. Fred Buck was one who walked all over Gloucester and had a good understanding of the area. Oddly enough, Willie is also a walker and the closest thing this fish town has to a modern day Fred Buck. We all join in singing on “For the Beauty of The Earth,” a hymn Willie dug when he was a wee boy back in the Baptist Church where his dad was a preacher.  “Only in a UU church can you play the devil’s music on Saturday night and be asked to preach on Sunday morning,” Willie states to lead into his entertaining sermon that touches on staring at the stain glass windows, Southern friend chicken, Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven,” African tunes sung by Mom, Mom’s violin playing and yodeling, record stores, the luring bells of the church, Zulu hymns, and following the Golden Rule… do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Emotions build as we all sing the UU hymn “Spirit of Life.” His sermon and the hymn perfectly sets up what follows—the emotional peak of this experience—a small simple Willie-written prayer that sends blessings to specific people, big and small. It fills my eyes uncharactically with tears. The show leads to it’s goodbye with Deb Hardy jointing Willie at the piano for a rousing version of “Stand By Me” with the Razdon saxes letting loose — the whole of which morphs into standing stomping and clapping.    (T Max)

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MATT NATHANSON

Opening for Train and The Fray

Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA

6/20/15

I’m sure ya’ll have been to the Xfinity Center and know what a cool concert venue it is. If you haven’t been here before, it’s set up with a ton of food, beverage and bathroom options, as well as lots of pre-show tailgating fun in the parking lot. The sound is awesome – and I’m in the very back on the lawn! The view is decent – I’m pretty sure I could hit the stage with a baseball – not sure about a football though. There is a wide demographic of people from little kids on up, and the vibe is very positive and fun.

Matt is a Lexington Mass native who lives in San Francisco now. At some point you’ve probably heard his songs on the radio and know who he is. Nothing too fancy with Matt and his band – just guitars, bass, drums, and some sequencing. He’s a talented pop singer/songwriter and also very witty. He’s not here to finish us off, so to speak; “I’m here to fluff you,” he says. During the first song his excellent band goes into U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” for a bit and get’s the whole crowd to sing along. Audience participation is a big part of his show – from clapping certain parts to sing-alongs. He also talks directly to audience members. At one point, he runs into the audience and says, “I’m going high.” Then he hangs out with the peeps in the upper middle section for most of the song.

His set is about 40 minutes and he plays the songs you’ve likely heard on the radio: “Headphones,” “Modern Love,” “Kinks Shirt,” Come On Get Higher,” as well as a cover of James’  “Laid.”

Matt really is a “local boy done good” story and I realize this more as he talks about all the shows he’s seen here as a kid, and how cool it is for him to be playing in Mansfield right now.  He makes it clear how proud he is to be originally from Massachusetts.

To top it all off, he’s invited up to perform with Train and Issac Slade (The Fray) on stage at one point to sing “With A Little Help From My Friends.” Not a bad place for a guy from Lexington to be. Fun Show, excellent fluffing stuff!    (Jeff Reynolds)

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FUNBUCKET

The Harborloop, Gloucester, MA   

7/23/15

I don’t review cover bands often, if at all, but Funbucket has some wickedly talented performers who turn their skills to this form of income and have a hell of a time doing it. Sure they can duplicate the guitars (Mike “Mr Bogus” McMahon/ Kook Lawry on bass), the beats (Greg Dann), and the lead singing (Chris O’Connor), but these guys also add the vocal harmonies when called for. And after they get though classics by Grand Funk Railroad, Badfinger, The Beatles, John Cougar Mellencamp, Radiohead, The Who, Aerosmith, and Van Morrison, they delve into Hendrix. With “Manic Depression” and “Foxy Lady” Mr. Bogus figuratively drops some acid and taps into the Hendrix spirit. He plays those well-known lines so fluidly with the right tone and expression that you’d swear you were in the presence of the greatest electric guitarist of all time. And Bogus does it without a trace of self-consciousness.  I’m not sure how he comes back to earth to play anything by Elvis Costello or Talking Heads. Maybe he manages to occupy his extra brain cells by challenging himself to get his fallen floppy hat back up onto his head using only his foot — while continuing to play. Catch Funbucket and let me know if you’ve ever seen anyone play Hendrix like Mr. Bogus.  (T Max)

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DEBRIS BOUQUET/ SYPHILLIS DILLER/ FISTED SISTER/ CHOCOLATE SUNDAY/ MEANER PENCIL/ JONATHAN WOOD VINCENT/ THE DOOBIE SISTERS

Outdoor Guerrilla Concert Series

Boston Common, Boston, MA 7/24/15

A friend tells me to sign up by emailing an Outdoor Guerrilla Concerts gmail account. I do, and by Thursday I receive secret info in my inbox for the next show to be held somewhere in Boston Common on Friday night. It’s a little bit like finding an Easter egg, but they blast some strange pre-show live music to tip us off as we and others wander. Some people text them for the exact spot but we are a bit lazy.

There are maybe 35 people seated on the ground with smiles all around. We can see some battery amps that look like vacuum cleaners and some musical instruments, along with a few very strangely-attired people we assume are performing. It’s a beautiful, casual environment.

The organizers of the event proudly boast of their anti-professionalism, and they aren’t kidding, but it’s all part of the fun. The MC (I think his foreign accent is fake) keeps asking the audience if anyone has seen a violinist or tall blond accordion player – performers they are waiting on. There’s no sign of them, but the first act starts, nonetheless.

The Doobie Sisters are three long-haired guys badly done up in drag. Their dresses are hideous – one is spandex – let’s leave it at that.  They do what seems to be a 10-minute “song” about how Jesus is more than alright. They pass a joint to an imaginary Jesus, who they claim is their invisible roadie! They are shambling and funny with catchy music.  But it’s over quickly. They aren’t lying when they say sets are short in these outdoor guerrilla concerts!

Immediately, the next act is introduced: a keyboard virtuoso named Jonathan Wood Vincent who is evidently the tardy blond accordionist, who is now ready to go. His outfit is impossible to describe (newspaper and red trash bags make up a lot of it) as are the unearthly sounds he coaxes from his accordion. It’s a lot of avant-garde-noise, but he keeps it entertaining all the way through, dancing around us and being silly. His linguistic clowning is also very enjoyable. He plays for only about eight minutes. The whole event is like a VERY unique variety show, rather than your average ordinary concert.

Next up is a blond nerdy gal on cello and vocals who goes by the stage name Meaner Pencil. She sings four songs and her clever words and beautiful melodies have us tearing up, which we never expected in this goof-ball extravaganza. Lovely stuff. I bought one of her CDs.

Next comes Chocolate Sunday, who claim to be “the world’s WORST Black Sabbath cover band” (think about their clever name for a second). They are two guys in cloaks doing instrumental deconstructions of Sabbath hits, but on twin ukuleles. They are actually quite good and very skilled on their instruments. Their set resembles an abstract medley of Black Sabbath songs. I love it because you often have to guess what song they are de-composing. Immense fun.

The perfectly named Fisted Sister claim to be (fake) Sammy Hagar douche rock – but fake imbecile metal might be more apropos, and I mean that as the highest compliment. We can’t believe what we are seeing: Two guys in ridiculous outfits (I’m told that’s a rule of these shows), one is also wearing a long grass skirt… as a wig, duct-taped to his head. It did look like Dee Snider on a bad [good?] day! I still can’t believe their act: the non-wig oddball has a microphone through an amp and crouches with his back turned towards us, as if he was hiding. He does all the over-the-top arena-rock stage banter  (“How are ya all doing tonight?” “I can’t hear you! I still can’t hear you! I have to get my hearing checked on Monday, thank God for Obamacare!”)… while the lead singer (with the grass-skirt-wig) instantaneously mimes to it all. Hilarious. Their main shtick is long-winded intros describing what the next song is about, with a famous song title inserted, as if they’re in front of 80,000 people in a stadium!  “This next song… is about a girl I dated… who would never ever shave her special garden… this song… is called… ‘Welcome… To… The… JUNGLLLLLLLLLLE!!’”  Then, the hiding guy goes into some vocal power chords while the singer sings a made-up melody for an ersatz chorus. 20 seconds later and that “song” is done!  “This next song… is about a radio talk show host… who is addicted to synthetic heroin… but luckily has several suitcases of Oxycontin in his trunk… this song… is called… ‘Just… What… I … Neeeeded!!’” … followed by some clearly-improvised 30-second a cappella tune. They must be seen to be believed. I could’ve watched these idiots for hours, but alas, their set only lasts about six minutes!

 Even the self-proclaimed “never-fun” anti-music of Syphllis Diller is unavoidable fun: four members (two guys, two gals), dressed for a stage in Las Vegas sit down and look surly for five minutes. THAT is their entire M.O. They claim that they refuse to make any sound because music is dead! Weird but fun and unique!

The apparent headliner of this concert is French noise-puppet duo Debris Bouquet, who are mesmerizing and seem like rock stars from the future. A barely-dressed man in kneepads and other junk on his person wanders through the crowd with his creepy home-made puppets while his partner plays crooked atonal loops and other strange, grotesque sounds on electronic ukulele. They have guests join them, including a talented art-punk gal on violin. Some of the prior performers also make mysterious sounds around the crowd. They play less than ten minutes but the crowd demands three encores. Most inexplicable is the guy standing randomly on the side of the stage covered in a sheet, who just stands there the whole time and never does anything else! When I inquire after the show, he claims his sheet had no eye-holes to symbolize how the KKK lack foresight.

My friends and I wish this short show (45 minutes) would never end. Not just for the creative and funny musical acts, but for everything about it. They pass a hat at the end and also ask for weed and booze as tips, so my friends smoke a bunch of them up. It’s how every concert should be.

Pray they indeed do these every Friday night at midnight. They told us they may try to do them all in the same location, as long as no police bother them. Whatever you do, do not miss these wacky shows.  Boston needs more wild events like this.    (Shauna Erlbaum)

Pet of the Month has found it’s way onto The Noise website due to its popularity and the excessive submissions we’re receiving. Here’s our first online Pet of the Month…

MAGICK

I am Magick, child of Lucretia X. Machina and Jason Skulls. I was re-adopted on Thanksgiving when my previous owners returned me. Now about 2.75 years old, I spend my days lounging in a ball on daddy’s fuzzy pajamas or on the sunny back porch where I cackle at outdoor creatures, or flopping on the bathroom rug while mommy gives me “chinny chin chin” rubs to which I purr.  I say “PRRT!” a lot. I rarely “rahow” except when I want to eat (though that is always), or when mommy is too rough with me and tries to kiss my little head. Then I strike with my ominous claws!  I like to leap at and bite “flat squirrel on a stick” and paw at crawly fingers on my scratching post. Or just run like crazy up and down the hallway and destroy the corner of my “hotel” box that they say is going to collapse.  They claim I am sweet despite not wanting to stay on their laps unless they have a kitty treat that I cannot resist. Whatever! I’M MAGICK CAT!

MITCH HAMPTON: No Mindweeds On His Musical Menu

by Nancy Neon

Mitch Hampton is a modern day beau brummel with a full blown ’70s fetish. At the Cambridge restaurant Cuchi Cuchi, he led me on the musical odyssey that has brought him to the release of Heavy Listening, his debut solo album on Navona Records. Hampton received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music. Moreover he has commissioned work for clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, flutist Mike Feingold, and Ciumpi Quartet, among others. Hampton’s works have been performed at Boston’s Symphony Hall, Weil Recital Hall, and on NPR. It is a treat discussing music with one of my favorite people at one of my favorite restaurants.

Mitch Hampton: I fantasized about being a musician even before I took my first lesson.

Noise: Why does being a musician hold such power for you?

Mitch: I was frustrated at having no access to instruments. My dad had a lot of records from the ’50s and  ’60s, a couple  from the late-’40s – theater records like the first Guys & Dolls soundtrack. He also had records like Dylan Thomas, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, Bach’s Branderburg Concertos, and blues recordings by Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.

Noise: Did you start on piano?

Mitch: The first instrument I tried was the trumpet. It was the ’70s and albums were very synthesizer oriented and there were album covers with banks of keyboards. I started going to local concerts and I was fascinated by how the instruments look and worked. I saw a local band with a musician who had five keyboards run through a computer. I went to classical concerts and I was interested in the role of keyboard in classical music like the harpsichord and the clavichord.  Keith Jarrett played on Saturday Night Live and I started buying his records. A lot of albums in the ’70s were double album sets with powerful artwork and photographs. There was a lot of emphasis on the instruments like a guy flying through the air with his trumpet.  I tried to draw that. I had Freddie Hubbard’s album Keep Your Soul Together where Hubbard is holding his trumpet while lying on a couch that is a pair of lips. I listened to that album over and over. I even wanted a couch like that! When I was 12 or 13, I saw one of the first productions of Chicago with Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera.  I think they were in their late-30s with Bob Fosse as choreographer and Jerry Orbach of Law & Order-fame was in it. I did a drawing of Verdon and Rivera in leotards. They were older; they were not doing ingenue parts. I discovered The Beatles White Albumand was fascinated by it. I was impressed by the soundtrack to Hair, jazz, theater, contemporary rock music. Another important influence was seeing the Jackson Five at Madison Square Garden.

Noise: What impressed you with them?

Mitch: Their rhythm, soul, and energy!

Noise: Who else has inspired you?

Mitch: I started getting into the classical pianist, Vladimir Horowitz, at that point, and I could listen to piano all day. It didn’t matter who was playing. It could be Erik Satie, Glenn Gould’s Goldberg variations, Debussy, or avant-garde composers like John Cage, Charles Ives, or Aaron Copeland. Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder blew my mind! Then there was Johnny Hodges, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington’s Big Band. Luckily my dad saved those records.  I liked Randy Newsman’s Nine Songs and Little Criminals. I liked his lyrics and the humor in them. I liked the New Orleans shuffle. Box sets were big in the ’70s and I had lots of them. A whole stage play like Hamlet could be in a box set. I had a first production of Death of a Salesman and H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. I stared to subscribe to music magazines like Contemporary Keyboard and Downbeat.

Noise: What other parts of the music business had an effect on you?

Mitch: The visual culture was important to me – the design and the advertising, The visual culture was more important at that time. Artists posed with their instruments. Individuals artists posed with their bands, I thought it was glamorous – the idea of being on the road with a band.

Noise: So did you follow up on your feelings?

Mitch: I started taking piano lessons from an Italian woman. She was old and very strict. She was the high school’s choral conductor and an expert on opera. She taught me about opera and when she realized that I loved jazz, we started a cultural exchange. Each week I agreed to listen to an opera if she allowed me to bring her a jazz album to listen to. I turned her on to Oskar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bessie Smith. She turned me on to Tosca, Caruso and Verdi. I loved the way that they composed. I fell in love with “Monday Morning Blues” – the first piece I learned. I practiced everyday. I tried to recreate what I heard in my head. I went to see Herbie Hancock and I played the first piece I learned for him. My teacher wanted me to play classical. I liked the feeling of the blues, however I was a dutiful student. I followed her rules. Then I listened to Art Tatum and never heard the piano played that well. At the New England Conservatory I took a piano class from Stanley Cowell who had met Art Tatum and had taken lessons from him. They were both from Toledo, Ohio and lived in the same neighborhood. Moreover I feel you must be a complete artist on the piano.  You have to be able to recreate the sound of a full orchestra on your own. I have relative pitch while my childhood piano teacher had perfect pitch, so I had to work on training my ear.

Noise: What about music in films?

Mitch: I feel that movies are a kinetic art form like music. When I saw Jaws and heard John Williams’ score, I felt he took a lot from Aaron Copeland, the dean of American composers. I was very affected by 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Beatles movie Let It Be. It was exciting to see them playing outdoors.

Noise: Which film do you think used music to its fullest effect?

Mitch: Psycho. In fact Psycho‘s musical director, Bernard Herman, said “Hitchcock only finishes a movie 60 percent, I have to finish it for him.”

Noise: What type of movie would you like to score?

Mitch: A police film with great chase scenes. Like William Fiedkin’s French Connection with music by Don Ellis. I saw an amazing show at Cambridge’s Art Repertory Theater where Canadian pianist, playwright, and composer, Hershey Felder appeared as Monsieur Chopin. I saw him do George Gershwin Alone and he knocked me out! There aren’t many shows about Gershwin so that was especially impressive. I liked it a little better than the Chopin show. I felt what Felder was doing was gimmicky and commercial, but it was a way to make music more accessible to larger audiences. Speaking of Chopin, he is a big influence on my music, the figures he wrote on piano, his brilliant sense of melody and phrasing. Chopin has such an influence on jazz musicians – Bill Evans for instance.

Noise: When I first you, you played one of my favorite pieces of music – “Iere Gymnopedie” by Erik Satie. What about Satie appeals to you?

Mitch: Satie’s pieces are perfectly made. He is both free and controlled. He was able to get out of his own way.

Noise: The Jazz Suites by Claude Boiling and Jean Pierre Rampal is one of my favorite recordings. If you were going to make a recording like Jazz Suites, who would be your Rampal?

Mitch: Mike Feingold! He is a genius, certainly as good or better than Rampal. I would work with him in seconds. Right now I am writing for trombone and piano – a double concerto. I’m also writing a piece for a high school piano player. In fact, I’m always writing.

DUKE LEVINE
by A.J. Wachtel

Duke Levine is everywhere, onstage or in the studio, in New England or around the world, playing folk, country, R&B and rock ’n’ roll. There’s a good chance you’ve heard his ringing tone and stinging licks somewhere. He’s a local Worcester kid who grew up to become one of the best and most talented artists around. Born a Duke, he is now a king. Check out his latest royal decree:

Noise: You were born in Worcester. What bands did you like growing up and what clubs did you go to back then?

Duke Levine: I basically listened to my older brothers’ records. Luckily, they were into a bunch of different things: The Stones, Beatles, The Band, B.B. King, Doc Watson, Merle Haggard, Paul Butterfield. As I started getting more into playing guitar I got into The Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Ry Cooder, Little Feat, Howlin’ Wolf, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Pat Metheny; pretty much anything that was great, which was a lot back then (’70s). I also got to hear my brother Rick’s band, The Prairie Oysters, rehearse almost every day in our basement. Walter Crockett, the lead guitarist and songwriter, was a big influence, and I ended up playing in his band, right out of high school, for four years. Worcester had a really good music scene. There was Ralph’s, Exit 13, Sir Morgan’s Cove. Around the time I got out of high school, the Wormtown scene was starting, and there were some great bands. The Blue Moon Band, The Lynch Mob, Automatics, and a band my sister Rachael was in, called The Worst. At the same time, the radio station WCUW had an amazing Monday night jazz series at a little church, that brought in some heavies like Hamiet Bluiett, Archie Shepp, Ed Blackwell, and Derek Bailey. There was a great blues bar, Gilrein’s, that was one of the best sounding dive bars anywhere. They always booked great stuff. Pinetop Perkins. Sugar Ray & The Bluetones, Kim Wilson, Steve Riley from Louisiana, pretty much anyone on the blues circuit and more. I actually have the old, upright piano from the place in my studio at home.

Noise:  At one point in your earlier career you were mainly known as a rock and country session guitar player, but today you can be seen in clubs with your own Duke Levine Band, at the Me & Thee folk venue backing Slaid Cleaves, The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge playing with Dennis Brennan and in huge stadiums around the country with The J. Geils Band. Am I missing any groups you are also in today?

Duke: I still do a fair amount of sessions. I played on a record by Lee Ann Womack that was nominated for a Grammy this year. Also, in the last couple of years, records by Peter Wolf, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Garland Jeffreys, Martin Sexton, Chris Trapper, and Session Americana. In addition to the bands you mentioned that I perform with live, there’s also Peter Wolf & The Midnight Travelers, Roy Sludge, and I got to do some shows earlier this year with Roseanne Cash. Kevin Barry plays with her band, and I filled in for Jon Leventhal, one of my favorites, for some shows.

Noise: You have played in the Geils band since around 2011 with Kevin Barry. What is this music relationship like?

Duke: I started playing in the Geils band in 2009, when they played the opening of the House of Blues. I think Kev joined up in 2012? The Geils band is a pretty well-oiled machine. There’s some room for spontaneity here and there, but for the most part, we all stick to our parts. And it’s really a blast feeling how all those parts work together.

Noise: What do you like best about Kevin’s playing ?

Duke: The first time we got together to play, it was maybe 1990? It felt like I just added a couple more arms to myself. Not that we play the same, but there was an instant affinity, or musical sensibility, we seemed to share. It’s always been pretty effortless to play together. Besides that, when he’s on his own, and not making space for others, he’s just a terrifying guitar player. Most people that have heard him a lot still probably don’t know the range and depth of what he can do. I’m lucky to have witnessed this and I can tell you it’s daunting. Which is another reason I insist on playing with him all the time. Keeps me from feeling too good about my own playing!

Noise: What does your two guitar roles bring to the J. Geils band?

Duke: Well, when I started playing with the band, I was doing what Kev is now doing, which is basically more supportive stuff. Doubling a bass line sometimes, adding some extra power to some of the original guitar parts, stuff like that. And now I’m playing most of the original guitar parts and solos. The more we do it, the more it evolves.

Noise: And what are your personal favorite classic J. Geils Band tunes you love to play? And why?

Duke: I love playing a lot of the early ones, because they had such an impact on me when I was a kid. I was probably 12 or 13 when I first heard “Give It To Me,” “Musta Got Lost,” “Whammer Jammer,” and all that stuff. It’s really a thrill to play that great intro to “House Party” every time. It’s all pretty surreal, really, to play with such an iconic band. Everyone still plays with such an amazing intensity. Wolf, Seth, Dick and Danny are all great as ever, and Tom Arey, who plays with so many bands around town, has been awesome on drums.

Noise: Care to share a great Peter Wolf onstage story with my readers?

Duke: When I first started playing with Wolf, we were touring behind his great record, Sleepless. We were doing an event at The Sundance Film Festival for The Blues, a documentary series that Martin Scorsese had produced. We were on a big stage in a big function-type hall. Tons of people, food stations, bars, all kinds of stuff everywhere. We were mostly doing Pete’s own solo material. But we usually will do “Give It To Me” at his shows too. When we got to that one, Wolf went out into the audience with his wireless mic during the out-choruses. We did a bunch of ‘em while he’s singing and doing his thing. We can’t see him ’cause he’s just lost in the sea of folks, but we hear him singing with us the whole time. When he gets back onstage, he’s got a beer for EACH of us in one hand, and the mic in the other. FIVE beers. Another one of those “I don’t know how he did it” moments. But it definitely made me want to play with him some more!

Noise: Care to share a great Peter Wolf offstage story with my readers?

Duke: Same gig. We were out at Park City, Utah for Sundance, staying at a beautiful resort near the top of the mountain. Amazing views everywhere you look. We arrived late the first night and then we were there for a couple more days. The last day, we get picked up early afternoon to go to the airport. We all pile in the van and get going. Pete looks around and goes “Whoa! This is NICE!” Wolf, the night owl, was seeing the view for the first time.

Noise: Are there other local guitarists and musicians you would like to perform with in the future?

Duke: I’m lucky to have gotten to play with so many of the great artists here in town. It’s really a genuinely open community and I’m thankful to everyone who’s ever asked me to play with them. Let’s see, I’ve never gotten to play with Asa Brebner. I think I could play “Jack’s On Drugs.” I haven’t played with Andrea Gillis, so that would be good sometime too. I would put a wig on to play with The Upper Crust but I don’t think they make pantaloons big enough for me. [laughs]

Noise: Any advice for guitar players trying to get their music heard in this tough music scene today?

Duke: Oh man! I really don’t know. In some ways, its the worst of times. And in another way, there are so many great resources we have now that can help us to get heard and put together a following. My advice is probably the same as it has always been. Try to get as good as you possibly can on your instrument. And play music that you love. Those are the elements you have control of. After that, I dunno. Be nice to people and in the immortal words of Viv Savage (Spinal Tap): “Have a good time, all the time.”

UPPER CRUST/

LAST STAND/

DON’T CALL ME FRANK/

THE BRISTOLS

T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge, MA

7/17/15

This Noise correspondent is egregiously weak for women, which is germane to this review because as he crossed the threshold of the venue one half of The Bristols breezed by his left elbow while he paused to shell out the admission charge to Meghan the door girl; thus positioned within a nexus of three of the commonwealth’s most beautiful girls, the rest of the night was passed in a pixilated rapture that was hardly conducive to trenchant criticism. [For instance, Pooka Stew was just wrapping up at the time; even if they’d been channeling Yoko Ono, they’d’ve been enthusiastically received by these ears..]

You might be inclined to dismiss anything written about The Bristols here, and that’s understandable; yet those in the know will verify that the renown of being one of our region’s pioneering female rock bands has long since given way to the status of credible musicians. Slot them anywhere on the bill; they belong here on a weekend night. By virtue of the babelicious Kim Ernst singing lead on one of the numbers, this is the best fifteen clams a clubgoer could spend.

The band name Don’t Call Me Frank suggests an unmistakable insouciance, and sure enough the five guys who take the stage under that moniker are into jocularity and horsing around; that observed, between wisecracks there’s some skilled rock ‘n’ roll performance taking place, particularly in the stringed instruments. Hey, the Harlem Globetrotters might be defined by their repertoire of antics, but don’t think those guys can’t ball!

One look at the brunette sylph who drums for Last Stand and a certain sucker for pretty faces confers his imprimatur on the act before they even play a note. What’s more, she’s more fetching in a plain black T-shirt and dungarees than the likes of Katy Perry in provocative couture. Musically, though, it seems the robust guitar and bass guitar licks are what propel Last Stand. They might not be as overtly merry as Don’t Call Me Frank, however they’re every bit as redoubtable as their predecessors.

Discerning folk everywhere appreciate that Boston and environs is home to top-rank universities, leading hospitals, first-rate art and historical collections, storied athletic franchises and so forth…. Ultimately, however, it’s Upper Crust that makes us world-class. If you’re ever moved to compose a bucket list, inscribe attendance at one of their shows at the top of your roster! Tonight it seems Lord Bendover is unusually magnanimous in permitting the Duc D’Istortion and Count Bassie to show off their vocal prowess, yet he remains in charge, casting such pearls as “Pabst Blue Ribbon: ’tis an aspirational beverage” when he’s not belting out beloved compositions like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Butler.” Highest praise to this group, which, coming hence, is really saying something, because, while they’re fancy lads, they’re not female.   (Dr. Swig McJigger)

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TIGERBOMB/

JAY ALLEN & THE ARCHCRIMINALS/

SPRAINED ANKLES/

HAMBONE SKINNY

Cantab Lounge, Cambridge, MA

8/1/15

About a million years ago I booked a show for the first time, so I’d have something to do on my birthday (and guarantee every band playing was a favorite). It was a Sunday night at The Abbey with Rick Berlin, Jay Allen, Malibu Lou… and an audience of two people. I’ve been apologizing to Jay Allen ever since. Also changing my actual birth date so it always falls on a Friday or Saturday! Tonight’s show reminds me of that first one – we’ve got more than two people here, but not much.

Hambone Skinny is the latest venture for ex-Coffin Lid/Speed Devil Skinny Mike and his hot wife Steph. I’ve never heard the band before but was betting anything these two are involved in would be cool. And it’s true! Punk blues they call it, and that’s just about the size of it. Mike on wailing guitar and Steph wailing on drums. I love minimalist two-piece bands making a huge racket and that’s definitely what we’ve got here. Mike’s always done that old blues man thing well, and while Hambone Skinny fits into that category, it’s also louder and more rambunctious. I’m totally nuts for Steph’s (often one-handed) drumming – she attacks the skins like she’s murdering someone (or beating her husband)! Linda Shore finally has competition!

Jay Allen & The Archcriminals run into trouble just a couple songs into their set: Playing with extra gusto, Jay breaks a guitar string then runs into further technical problems with the replacement guitar. Patience runs thin with the rest of the band and I’m expecting a big argument at any moment. They manage to salvage the set and the audience is probably more sympathetic and encouraging than is typical (you can tell by the strong rather than polite applause). Jay, Henry, and Larry sound terrific tonight – it’s like adversity is urging them into giving one of their best ever performances. Either that or they’re just trying to sell us on how good their upcoming single on Rumbar Records is gonna be!

From distant Maine comes Tigerbomb, a band named after a signature move of the late Mitsuharu Misawa (greatest Japanese pro wrestler ever). That’s a genuine fact… even if the band doesn’t realize it themselves. I love them so much I’m willing to be nerdy on their behalf. They’re not merely a magnificently groovy ’60s garage-meets-’70s punk outfit, they are that totally cool hip band that you don’t know about yet! You can tell by the people they attract: Look – there’s Matt from the Coffin Lids, Mitch from Triple Thick and BFace from the Queers. These are guys who know their shit! With Chris Horne fronting this combo, the sound is similar to The Brood, but her co-star Lynda Mandolyn brings a 1970s quality to it (less impressionism/Ramones, more naturalistic punk). “Peh! Nothing new.” I hear you snear. But it is new, and what makes traditional rock ’n’ roll forms new or fresh is a band’s interest and excitement in playing them. Tigerbomb sure as hell sound interested and I’m sure as hell excited. You should be, too. Check ’em out, I sez. Boy, howdy!

As has long been a Strom b-day show tradition, we have The Sprained Ankles closing the night. I want to be sent on my way with silly goofy punk rock ringing in my ears. I am not disappointed. However, I will admit to having reached a point of mixed emotions with this band. For the past few years, they’ve had a new song or two almost every show, and tonight’s set is roughly 90 percent new. On the one hand, I still want the old favorites… but on the other, the new material is great and their creative vitality itself is awesome. This is another band very interested in what they’re doing and it’s exciting for us spectators. Yeah, I want the back-up singers reinstated (I mean it!) and I wanna hear “Death From Above,” but it’s hard to complain when Ankles are doing such a great job of things. They are forever near and dear to my heart. I’m expecting them to play last at my funeral, too, ’cause that’s how I wanna go out.    (Frank Strom)

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THE COWSILLS

The Happy Together Tour

Lynn Auditorium, Lynn, MA

7/31/15

It’s always a blast seeing a local act pack a house. It’s even more of a thrill when the group is on a successful national tour. And it’s the icing on the cake when you think that Bob, Paul, and Susan Cowsill have been in perfect harmony since the late-’60s. “It’s always nice to come home,” Susan tells me before the show starts as she pulls in from Newport, R.I.  Not far out of Boston, Lynn is on the North Shore, and I immediately know things are gonna be great tonight when we find a metered parking spot DIRECTLY in front of the venue. I am in awe, because there are still a few empty parking spaces within sight. And this place is jammed! Promoter Henry Ryan has Lynn Mayor Judy Kennedy introduce the night and the crowd is already hooting and hollering. It’s really cool hearing The Buckinghams do “Kind Of A Drag,” The Association perform “Windy,” “Cherish,” “Never My Love,” and  “Along Comes Mary,” The Grassroots do “Midnight Confession” and “Sooner or Later,” and Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere & the Raiders) do “Cherokee Nation.” I really dig Flo & Eddie (The Turtles) playing “You Know She’d Rather Be With Me” and “Happy Together” (with all the artists onstage for the grand finale). I also love when they do a few measures of “Peaches En Regalia” from Zappa’s Hot Rats album as a nod to their years in The Mothers of Invention. This is a night of hits and harmonies, and The Cowsills have everyone in the audience singing all the words to their songs.  The siblings open with their 1967 hit “The Rain the Park And Other Things,” and follow up with “Indian Lake,” “Love American Style” (the theme for the TV show), and “Hair.” They joke, tell brief stories, and share memories in between songs, and this great night ends with a short walk back to my car. A lot of great music. A lot of fun. It doesn’t get any better than this for all of us aging hippies.   (A.J. Wachtel)

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THE FORZ

Midway Café, Jamaica Plain, MA

8/14/15

We drove here for The Connection and The Forz, and with every road from Everett to JP closed for repairs, it took Keith and me an hour and a half to get here. Turns out The Connection cancelled (every road from New Hampshire to JP must also be closed). What gives? This state doesn’t have the money for road repairs! No matter. This is the first time I’ve come out expressly because The Forz were playing – previously, I’ve taken them as a bonus band playing on Muck & The Mires shows. Guess I’m officially a fan now (even if I’m not sure if their name is alluding to Star Wars or golf). Rather than “retro,” the band is self-described as “vintage” rock ’n’ roll. Put another way, The Forz are a bunch of young guys doing mid-’60s British rock, specifically that point where it moved away from the Mersey sound but before the hippie/druggy sound took hold. So that would be interesting progressive, not boring, dull and bloated progressive. While they keep it all very authentic and faithful, their youth gives it vibrancy. Another big compliment is that they are excellent playing live, but in the studio they have even more color and nuance (check out their debut CD!). They are very, very, very good at what they’re doing.   (Frank Strom)

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THE LIGHTS OUT/

AD FRANK & THE FAST, EASY WOMEN/

PARLOUR BELLS/

FRANCINE

T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge, MA

7/22/15

Sins of omission are the worst kind, and if arriving too late to hear Cujo: Featuring Jen Trynin qualifies, the truth of that axiom is evinced loud and clear. The featured musician is among the crown jewels of Beantown’s indie rock scene.

Even if their infectious amalgam of blues and psychedelia didn’t hit the sweet spot, Francine would win over audiences with their warm demeanor and self-deprecating japes. Whereas “musical reference” typically denotes another act whose sound is similar to the band under review, Francine brings to mind Mercury on Mars because both instill the urge to “chillax” with the members in a conversation pit. Francine’s latest recording should be out sometime this month – wink wink.

Parlour Bells is easily the most histrionic element of tonight’s menu, noteworthy in that Ad Frank & the Fast, Easy Women as well as The Lights Out appear on the card; such is due to Gosh-darned Glen (his nickname altered by The Noise so that the pious won’t be offended) having a voice evocative of musical theater; his showmanship is more than enough to overcome some technical glitches with the sound system. Every male in the house is hoping for a wardrobe malfunction at the keyboard.

Inasmuch as Ad Frank & the Fast, Easy Women are troupers with an active schedule, they’re one of those bands you assume you’ve caught here or there along the way; consequently it chagrins this auditor to confess he’s experiencing Ad & the Slatterns for the first time. The frontman being the last word in debonair, one expects a lounge act, but this outfit doesn’t do dulcet… rather power. How Jordan Valentine can pogo with equal parts zeal and dignity is an issue perhaps best left to the scientists up the street at M.I.T.

Readers of this discriminating periodical know that The Lights Out draw plenty of water with the audiophiles here. It’s a shame that the final slot on a weeknight means playing to fewer bodies, but The Lights Out never slacken. Their current exploration of time travel and alternative universes themes rings particularly poignant due to T.T.’s imminent shuttering.   (Dr. Swig McJigger)

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EARTH/

HOLY SONS/

27

Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge MA

8/23/15

The Middle East in Cambridge has three sections, the 600+ capacity Downstairs, the more intimate Upstairs where this show takes place, and the corner for smaller events. On this Sunday night, three bands have drawn a full house that packs the place.

The first band up is the Cambridge-based 27.  I have not seen of them before, but I won’t soon forget them.  They deliver a seven song, energetically atmospheric set.  They launch into “Tokes,” a progressive and spacey instrumental track with layered guitars and banging drums.  After this, they impress the crowd further with “Dog Day,” a song that will be playing in my head for weeks.  They perform for 35 minutes, then go to the merch table, set up shop, and start talking to fans. I highly recommend seeing 27 next chance you get – you will not regret it!

The next act to take the stage is Holy Sons. Unlike 27,  Holy Sons play fast paced hard rock ’n’ roll. Their songs are filled with Frusciante-esque solos, pounding heavy drums, and crowd interaction. Holy Sons rock the 194 capacity club as hard as possible for the entirety of their 45 minute set.  While my immediate thought is, “How did a hard rock band go on tour with drone metal legends, Earth?” I soon realize that the show would not have been the same without them.  I love every minute of their set. Each new song tops the last.  The crowd keeps asking for more, until Holy Sons set comes to a close at 10:15. They walk of the stage to applause, and I feel the crowd is anxious for the headlining act, Earth, to get things rolling.

This is the band everyone is dying to see – the legends – the reason drone metal is a common term. Earth has pioneered the genre.  This is my first time seeing them and I am beyond excited. Band leader Dylan Carlson greets the crowd as the rest of the band follows and readies their instruments. They launch into the first song, “There Is a Serpent Coming,” off their latest release Primitive and Deadly.  The band completes this nine-minute piece, and immediately follows it with a fan favorite, “The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull.” Earth is killing it. They hit every note with power and feel every beat with precision. The middle of the set is filled with more songs from Primitive and Deadly, such as the 12-minute “From The Zodiacal Light.” Then Dylan says the words every fan wants to hear, “This next song is the first song I wrote for Earth.” Of course he is talking about “Ouroboros Is Broken,” the one that I want to hear most. They do an abridged eight-minute version of the originally 18-minute long song, playing it flawlessly, then launches into their finale, “Torn By The Fox of The Crescent Moon.” The band leaves the stage with the crowd begging for more.  After about five minutes of crowd noise, the Earth jumps back on stage for an encore, and play the fan favorite “Old Black” to close out the night.  They stick around to meet fans and sign autographs.  I will never miss another powerful Earth show. I exit the Middle East and walk through Central Square in the dead of night with this 10/10 performance droning through my head. (Tom Barvick)

KIER BYRNES & FRIENDS

The Best Days of the Summer

7 tracks

The title track of this Americana-suffused summer-themed album is a good-natured loping tune about the mishaps of summer, full of lyrical and musical hooks. “Dud” is a lonesome lovelorn plaint with vocals by Jay Dibiaso: “Ain’t it right, we broke up tonight?/ My heart’s a bursting Milky Way/ Now I’m single, on Independence Day.” The uptempo country lope “M80s and Bottle Rockers,” with Evan Gavry on vocals is an unrepentant ode to the strictly American joys of getting hammered and setting off fireworks. Taken straight, it would be a bit much, but there is an undercurrent of dry wit which keeps it from being a straightforward endorsement of redneck sentiments. “Welcome to the 4th of July” is a deadpan country-rock song featuring a lovely male-female vocal duet with Casey McKinnon. “Corn on the Cob” is a humorously hustling and brazen rockin’ paean to the familiar treat:”I got my magic recipe from a Chickasaw Indian Chief/ He had a bit o’ succotash stuck between his teeth/ Hoggin’ on that cornstick, you get a salty taste,/ Don’t get zealous with yer chewin’ lest it squirt up in your face!” “Casey’s Been Everywhere,” featuring Casey McKinnon, is a frantic travelogue of North American landmarks. On the whole, this humble little release reminds me very much of a band like Green On Red, with a lively attitude and delivery well worth your time. (Francis DiMenno)

JOSH & THE JAMTONES    

Jamhouse Records

Rocksteady           

19 tracks

Okay, let me get my bias out of the way up front: I think of music as an art form and I love it for that reason. I understand that, for many people (most?), music is NOT an art form, it’s an entertainment medium where the only rule is that you enjoy it – I don’t share that view very often. I need to hear creativity and originality. I’m sorry to say I really disliked this CD, even though I could see lots of other people loving it and it being a high-energy live show (the whole group has a lot of skill), but that’s not enough for my tastes. I found it to be wholly cliche ska, cliche rap, cliche “skits” (radio announcements and the like) and cliche in every way. The album title alone, Rocksteady, says it all. As do song titles like “U and I,” “I Love You” (seriously?), “I Heart Ur Face” and so on.  The only glimpse of creativity I found was that the CD loaded with all the numbers scrambled, so the tracks number 4, 9, 12, and so on. That’s a first. More of that, please. (Shauna Erlbaum)

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THE KEEPERS

Bourbon Street    

3 tracks

I dunno anything about these dudes, but I like ’em. And I don’t usually say this, but I sorta wish this record was longer. It’s pleasantly slurry drunk-rock, rootsy and loose, with a slight ’60s psych edge and backporch country vibe. The title track has some tasty mandolin and accordion, and even though I usually hate accordions (I mean, who doesn’t?) it works fine here. This is low-anxiety rock ’n’ roll, man. It’s not out to hassle you. So, you know, pour something semi-poisonous in a Mason jar and wile away a sunny afternoon with The Keepers.  (Sleazegrinder)

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KYLE MORGAN

Morgan Productions

Starcrossed Losers

10 tracks

With the opening track “We Begin Again” I detect a very strong vibe of early ’70s Kinks, with other British Invasion and ’70s pop influences. Not necessarily a bad thing; in this case, it’s kinda brilliant. “Sorry” is a straightforward churning new wave grinder with a clever lyric conceit; the sheer bravura energy is hard to resist. Then we get “Caricature,” which brings us to banjo-laden music hall territory redolent of “Muswell Hillbillies” and the like; again, with a clever lyric conceit: “She was attacking a caricature.” “And I Wept” begins with “Be My Baby” percussion and devolves into a lovely if somewhat insubstantial wispy ballad. “How They’re Rolling” is a sad lament; a type of music hall blues ballad. “Dealing Twenties” is somewhat akin to the Raspberries’ brand of pop brazenness. “Peculiar Ways” mixes things up with a monumental Queen-like pronunciamento; “Is Anything Different” is a sweet-tempered waltz number. “Will I Ever Know Joy” is a conventional refrain with Gospel overtones. “Out of My Reach” is a pretty little melody but seems somewhat fragmentary. If the album had ten songs as good as the first three, I would be shouting Kyle Morgan’s praises to the rooftops. As it is, it is a commendable effort in pure songcraft.  (Francis DiMenno)

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THE GROWNUP NOISE

Stewing

12 tracks

The first two songs, “Eating Our Own” and “Bratty Bones,” are the cuts initially being pushed by the band, but there are a lot of other melodies here that are just as good. It’s minimalist folk/ pop music done really well. By minimalist, I don’t mean sparse and silent, although many of the songs start with just vocals and build to a climax, there is a lot more going on as the measures progress. I refer to the feeling that all of the vocals are specific words of warning told from the pain of experience. The power is in the brevity, and it greatly adds to the credibility of the message. “Eating Our Own” and the last cut “Lovestruck, We’re Alive” are both hummable and have a slow, simmering anxiety leading to a brooding disparity, that both establish and showcase the mood of this presentation. Sort of like R.E.M. with  cello and an accordion, the arrangements of each composition are different and very interesting. All of a sudden, in the middle of a line, the band does a four note riff together and you are carried away along with it. Listen for this in “Food Trucks,” “Leaving Home,” “Pepper And Shame,” “The Storm I Love,” and “Play The Room.” Paul Janson (vocals/guitar) wrote all the music, with Adam Sankowski on bass, Todd Marston playing keys/accordion, Aine Fujioka on drums, and Rachel Arnold on cello (check out the great opening of “What I’m Told”). The Grownup Noise has a very different indie/ Americana/innovative pop sound. Even Morphine’s Dana Colley adds his impressive baritone sax to these recordings. Check it out!    (A.J. Wachtel)

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THE UNDER

The Under    

5 tracks

On the one hand, Jesus fucking Christ, this is a prog-metal record. On the other hand, maybe you like prog-metal. In that case, you’re probably gonna wanna listen to this and stroke your neckbeard until the cows come home because my guess is, it’s top-notch for this kinda thing. To me, it just sounds like a Soundgarden record that keeps skipping. I’m not sure I wanna deal with Soundgarden on their best day at this point, so broken Soundgarden just does not fill the gaping hole in my heart. Sorry The Under, I’m sure you deserve better than me but I also deserve better than chug-chug-chug-howl-chug for twenty minutes, so let’s just call it even.   (Sleazegrinder)

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ERIC HOURDE

The Album

11-tracks

Every time I see a punk rock-looking guy with an acoustic guitar I hope for the best, and think of Billy Bragg and Joe Strummer. Eric Hourde starts off strong in this vein with two killer full-band tracks of straight-ahead pub punk – “Artist’s Punk Rock Song,” and “This Time.”

Thereafter, things fall off dramatically. Eric picks up the acoustic guitar and breaks into the awful “Me and Your Mom.” With its chorus of, “I fucked your mom, I fucked your mommy,” sung to a single mother’s young kid – the track is nausea inducing.

Oddly, the rest of the album has a weird Christian rock vibe – which in my book is worse than the nausea inducing “Me and Your Mom.” Flutes are interspersed amongst the songs with backing female vocals sung by some kind of wood nymph. The whole package is strangely disconcerting.   (George Dow)

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PICNIC LUNCH

So Unavailable   

9 tracks

Picnic Lunch is a trio made up of James Picardi on drums, Michael Ribeiro on guitar/ vocals, and Devin Brynes on bass/ vocals. The CD is an awesome mix of dissonant melody, jagged rhythm and catchy, repeated choruses. The track “Bob Seger’s Ghost” might be more aptly titled “Thurston Moore’s Ghost” to get the spirit of what the band is up to, though neither one are particularly dead at this moment. Picnic Lunch is made up of New Bedfordite bands MR, Horse Rotorvator, and former Brooklyn noise mongers, the Modern Day Urban Barbarians, so label it an all star, no wave, southcoast sound explosion, super elastic bubble plastic crimewave, no core free for all – but with structure. I’m loving it! (Eric Baylies)

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JESSE LIAM

So Much More    

6 tracks

An instant mood-lifter! At only six tracks, it’s a great taste of Jesse Liam as both a solo artist (since this is under his name only) and as part of his band, The Jesse Liam Band, which features his musical partner and dad, the highly regarded performer/ producer/ engineer, Grammy-nominated Jack Gauthier (Lakewest Recording). Of course this is a top-notch, professional, radio-ready recording with Jack at the helm and impressive guest musicians, but all the best performers and equipment behind an artist don’t mean a thing if the talent isn’t there and by all means, it’s there. There’s a wonderful blend and balance of Jesse’s youthful energy and Jack’s seasoned musicality; and their harmonies: beautiful! The standouts, to me, are the original singer-songwriter/country-twinged “Love Will Have Your Back” and their jangly, lively folksy version of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – outstanding! I think they’re best when they stay closer to that genre for consistency but the entire recording is a bright, brilliant, enjoyable listen. (Debbie Catalano)

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BOYS ROOM

Big Bad Us

4 tracks

I am convinced that there is no wrong way to do ’70s style garage punk. Boys Room prove to be no exception to that rule.

Like the Runaways with a snotty male singer and sprinkled with a dose of GG Allin & the Jabbers, Boys Room continue the long-held traditions of the era when garage rock first began its metamorphosis to punk. Think The Modern Lovers, The Heartbreakers, and their ilk.

Their only nod to more modern punk styles are their heavy bass and deep guitar riffs. With which they turn up the low end of what is a traditionally trebley sound.

Track two, “Cripple Junkie Soldier” is a stark look at a struggling veteran which ends with a smoking Black Sabbath/ Tommy Iommi guitar solo. Third track, “The Pleasure of Life” slows the pace to a riffing dirge, sounding much like the garage-psych of early Alice Cooper Band.

If you like your rock gritty, off the cuff, and straight out of the garage, the EP is for you.   (George Dow)

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MEANER PENCIL

Senza Amanti   

12 tracks

Meaner Pencil is just one sad, forlorned gal (Lenna Pierce) on sparse cello and beautiful, elegiac vocals, but her music gains huge power from this elementary format. Normally, I don’t like when all the songs on a record sound the same, but this is the rare example where it works. It’s one of those records where you wish it would never end. The lonely mood is quite addictive. Almost haunting, and always bittersweet, her pristine vocals loosely remind me of Amanda Palmer’s more somber work, however, Meaner Pencil doesn’t appear influenced by Amanda at all. There’s something about the vocal phrasing that’s very unique (it could maybe remind me of a castrati boy singing alone in a church after having his heart broken!) – it’s simply gorgeous. I often can’t figure out the lyrics, but they sound as interesting as the titles (like “The Ballad In Which I Attempt To Murder Andrew Jackson” or “Lingering Love Song For a Long Lost Drunk”). She used to play at the Whitehaus collective and nowadays she splits her time between Boston and NYC, busking a lot. So if you get a chance to see her, and like this kind of music, with large gaps of dramatic silence and ambience, don’t delay.   (Shauna Erlbaum)

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CROOKED MIRROR

Living Things

11 tracks

The music here is indie/ psychedelic/ rock and it’s split into ballads and up tempo pop rockers. Vocalist/ guitarist Brian Doherty wrote all the tunes and sings solidly .The band: hard pounder Alan Hendry, bassist Victor Narro, and keyboardist Ryan Tomb play very well together and their instrumentation jumps out of the speakers courtesy of engineer/ producer David Minehan and his Wooly Mammoth Sound studio. My two favorite cuts are “Good Morning,” with it’s punchy rhythm and psychedelic keys, and “Howling,” a tight radio friendly hard rocker. “Sleep” is the ballad on this release I like best because of it’s psychedelic pop feel. I really enjoy how the organ and piano add an almost haunting spacey feel to the sound on “Honest Mistake,” “Old Friend,” and “Memory.” Cool stuff from a hot band. (A.J. Wachtel)

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SHANNA UNDERWOOD & WANDERLOST

Wandering

10 tracks

Shanna Underwood has a well-developed set of pipes with an inimitable vocal timbre,and the highly textured songs of her album-cum-travelogue are a wondrous amalgam of folk and rock, along with country and blues. On the stupendous opening track and best-of-show, “Dry Water,” she is ably accompanied by Devon Colella on the cello. On “Distance,” we have a slow but not ponderous gospel-inflected number, well-augmented by Todd Hutchinson’s keyboards. “Wandering” is a percussion-driven country folk piece with the vocals mixed a bit too low – a mood piece more than a hook-laden confection – with a great harmonica solo by Joe Bloom. “Looking to Find” is an introspective and moody love song with a subdued vocal which becomes a wild and sad plaint accompanied by the uptempo stylings of the strings and percussion. “Midnight on the Sun” is a cello-laden art song, almost a dirge; a lament for lost love. “Elvis Presley Blues,” by Gillian Welch, is a highly atmospheric song with intentional undertones of the classic 1927 number  “Gonna Die with My Hammer in My Hand” by the Wiliamson Brothers and Curry. Underwood’s vocal trick bag is put to particularly good use on this number. “65 Home” is a country-inflected ballad with some fine mandolin by Greg Bjork and pedal steel by Tom Hutchinson. “Lose It All” is a crack countrified barn-burner with fine stand-up bass work by Adam Barber and some excellent mandolin accompaniment by Zach Ovington. “Lightening” is a lonesome lament with swelling cello and elegiac guitars. The final track, “Stone to Hold,” is a smoldering Chicago blues style number taken at a funereal pace.  Longer on atmosphere and musicianship than many similar releases,  overall, this is an idiosyncratic collection of finely wrought and well-thought-out numbers. Fans of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks would appreciate this.  (Francis DiMenno)

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HEAVY AMERICA

Heavy America     

6 tracks

Heavy America is not as cool as their name, but they’re at least as cool as most of the goofy millenial bullshit going on in this town, so whatever. In fact, they are so uncool they’re almost hip. This is basically just heavy rock, man. My guess is they like Alice In Chains a lot, but it’s not grunge, it’s just dudes in the garage wishing they were in an arena and doing their best to sound like it. There’s a couple points when they get pleasantly weird: “Daddy” has a guitar solo that basically sounds like a jet engine grinding gears for two minutes, and “Under Glass” is a psychedelic synth-pop song caught in a time tunnel. Otherwise it’s just riffs and high hopes. I’m alright with this now, but if they’re gonna keep the name I’m gonna need them to grow their hair long and discover the Stooges already.  (Sleazegrinder)

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THE GAMMA GOOCHIES

Never Learned To Dance!!!

13 tracks

Perfect, I get a Maine-based band to review just when I’ve been in a Maine state of mind. But my summer Maine vibe really doesn’t have any other connection to The Gamma Goochies – only that I am reminded that the city of Portland, Maine still has a vibrant, rockin’ music scene. I want to know more about these guys but info seems a bit scarce so I can only share what I hear on Never Learned To Dance!!!.  It’s full-on punk/ garage/ blues rock…the recording isn’t polished or full-sounding and somehow that just wouldn’t sound right if it were – so a live-club-feeling, raw, garage, rock ‘n’ roll as it should be. They take lyric liberties with some classics and though, I can’t say exactly what they all are I do know they do a raucously cool version of an already-cool tune, The Rascals’ “Come On Up” and a Gamma Goochies style mash-up of Neil Young’s “Farmer John” and The McCoys’ “Hang On Sloopy.” The band also pays homage to one of my favorites, Otis Redding, as they do two of his, “Security” and “Love Man” – sans the horns but it’s a Gamma Goochies take on a truly great performer. Between these altered versions of classics and their own original compositions, I know, no doubt this band rocks any room they play clear into the late, dark, beer-drenched hours. (Debbie Catalano)

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URANIUM DAUGHTERS

Pierri Records

When Pigs Fly

4 tracks

Unique sound. Unique songs. Former members of Twig, Drumming on Glass, and Fuzzy get together to form a supergroup of sorts. “Lucky 7″ is a nice little ditty, full of a playful nursery-rhyme affect. “The Day My Buddha Fell Off the Shelf” sounds like an epic song struggling to find a tune amid a mound of squark  and atmosphere. The best of show is “Sunshine Underwater” – a rave-up with a brazenly memorable guitar solo. Poor production values diminish this outing. I would like them to go back into a better-appointed studio and record more of their intriguing concepts.  (Francis DiMenno)

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LUX

Fat City    

10 tracks

I don’t like my jazz unless it breaks some rules of the genre, and this CD sounds like LUX is a fantastic party quartet: raucous, fun, inventive, and delicious. They’re definitely a lot more than ordinary jazz or funk. And, amazingly, all the bass and keyboard parts are neither; it’s actually just one guitarist (!), Todd Clancy, playing one of those crazy 8-string guitars with the weird frets, accompanied by a great drummer and two great sax players. One of their sax players, the only gal in the band, also sings on a few tracks, and her voice is incredible, like a more mature Suzanne Vega maybe. (Musicians, listen up: your vocalist makes or breaks a band. This is not an area to trifle with.) Great singers are very rare, but this gal is fantastic. Interesting lyrics… (bands, you can never sing dumb stuff like “wanna whole lotta love” unless you have some special chops)… interesting song titles, like “Larry The Lanechanger”… (bands, would it kill you to come up with titles that aren’t dull?)…  this is the rare CD that makes me want to see the band live. (But this band would shine at a warehouse party, where everyone can get crazy and dance, rather than some uptight venue.)   (Shauna Erlbaum)

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GRENADES IN THE ARCHIVES

Dressed Up Like Armageddon    

10 tracks

What’s good is that it’s just loud. I don’t know that it’s anything else in particular. I mean, it’s sorta punk, sorta metally, sorta ’90s indie-noise, but it’s really none of that. It’s just a bunch of belligerent battering on instruments. I felt exactly the same way when I heard the first Squirrel Bait record in 1985. In fact, this is basically a Homestead Records record. You know what I mean? If you like wearing T-shirts and getting headaches and think that Sonic Youth were alright, this is gonna be a real treat. The end. Next please.   (Sleazegrinder)

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BRONSON

Overtime   

6 tracks

Bronson’s Overtime EP is a six-song release full of surprises. Opening track, “Back Home,” lumbers along as a nondescript hard rock song until about four-and-a-half minutes in when, out of nowhere, the breakdown kicks in revealing some until then unsuspected instrumental virtuosity. From that point forward the EP is a guitar geek’s dream.

Twin, dueling guitars solo in and out of every track providing a little something for every type of metal fan–a little grunge here, some hair band riffing there, and some incredibly technical solos to round things out.

Vocally there is a little bit of Alice in Chains via Godsmack. Sung a little beyond the vocalists’ range which is at time endearing. But, when push comes to shove, who even hears vocals when the guitar playing is this good.

Check out track 4, the instrumental, “Sweatfest” to get the true impact if Bronson’s technical prowess.

PS – Bronson gets extra props for stuffing a George Michaels trading card into their CD sleeve.   (George Dow)

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HOUSTON BERNARD BAND

HB Music

Knockin’ Boots    

17 tracks

In spite of all the declaiming in the vocal track about how “This one’s for the country crowd” – the sorts who like to “settle things outside” – what defines this collection as “country” seems more like an overlay of attitude–this is, essentially, country mild, commodified to the Nth degree. The title track is a bluesy song of praise for country-style dancing. We step into choodlin’ country-rock territory for “Home Is In Your Arms,” and if you like the effusions of The Eagles, et al., you’ll probably favor this. “Ready to Leave” is a fairly straightforward pop ballad about lost love; “Loretta’s Last Shuffle,” the best of show, is a keyboard-rife elegiac which devolves into an excellent bluesy shuffle, like a mutated version of Booker T. & the MGs, which does a premature fade-out. “Shut Up and Kiss Me” is a perfectly catchy recitative. “Yoga Pants” has a goodly amount of nu-country corn in its unorthodox subject matter. “I’d Rather Be Holding You” is a rather thin ballad about the travails of the working stiff. “You’re All I Need (I Don’t Need Much)” is a ’70s rock number with a country inflection. Overall, the musicality is variegated and impeccable, and the collection seems highly representative of contemporary country, for better or worse.  (Francis DiMenno)

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DAN WEBB & THE SPIDERS

Perfect Problem    

12 tracks

Fourth album from Webb & his Spiders, half of which was recorded by Steve “In Utero” Albini. Or Steve “Big Black” Albini, if you’re also a million years old. The Spiders essentially sound like a Minneapolis garage-rock band circa 1987, and I’m sure that suits them just fine. Sad songs livened up by gooey hooks and crunchy distorto-guitars and pop-punky whoa-ohs. Not as good as the Spiders From Mars, but better than the Spider Babies. And that’s basically all you need to know to carry on with your life. Go forth and prosper.  (Sleazegrinder)

COURTNEY SWAIN: THE BROAD STROKES OF IMAGINATION

by Harry C. Tuniese

Songs are strange critters: thoughts with interpretive sounds, all individually contained, promising more than less, in simple bursts of content, known or unknown. By now, having passed through so many genres and styles, when I hear something where all the diverse elements connect, I’m struck with a renewed sense of wonder and awakening. Some artists may take years of struggle to reach their goals, and sometimes, they’re able to hit their visionary bulls-eye early in their career. Let’s meet Courtney Swain, a young, shimmering performer whose second solo album, Monstre, combines a gorgeous blend of overwhelming vocal talent, modern keyboard techniques, and contemporary sophistication. Although I’ve possessed this disc for just a short time, the sheer power of self-determination, vision, and performance that blazes out of every bar of music is so obvious and so courageously implemented that I am in a state of virtual awe at the achievement. She’s also a member of Bent Knee, a fabulous art-rock ensemble that has been roaming our locales for almost six years. As we sat down to discuss her burgeoning career, I can’t help gushing over her ingenuity and convincing qualities. Her new album is already tops on my list of local albums for 2015…

Noise: Tell us a bit about your musical background. What brought you to Boston and how do you feel you fit into our music scene?

Courtney: I was born and raised in Japan and moved to Boston in 2008 to attend Berklee College of Music. Before that, I was a classical pianist for a long time, though I never really wanted to be one, but it’s where I got my background. In high school, I sang in rock bands and found that to be refreshing to show my emotions along with the piano playing. I applied to Berklee after their deadline, but they contacted me and offered me an audition, so that’s how I ended up here. I find the scene to be diverse, but filled with cliques and niches that somehow don’t work together, but the deeper you dig you find more interests. I feel a lot of people bloom a project here and then tend to gravitate to other places like New York or LA. My band, Bent Knee, was formed in 2008 – we’re  still here and that’s good so far.

Noise: What did you expect to get from Berklee?

Courtney: I expected to learn how to make a living with music. I can do the music fine, but it showed me the fast track to doing a lot of things, like earning money, networking, and other aspects of the business. But best of all, it introduced me to the people I’m playing with now. Also, as a solo artist, I’m now part of a new collective, Secret Dog Brigade Records, which is seeking to change the paradigm of the scene towards a more nurturing & community based effort, less cut-throat or using tired old values. We’re trying to connect with other outfits using the internet and other social media, like the Record Company in Dorchester, to offer both veterans and newcomers a less expensive way to make music. That seems like a worthwhile venture to me!

Noise: How do you compose? Where does your creativity spring from?

Courtney: Well, each of my solo albums I did in one month. During the year, I write down little scraps of ideas, mostly lyrical – some musical, and then when the time comes, I coalesce them and see what I’ve got. I usually have half the album done from the work I’ve compiled and then I force myself to pull the rest out of nowhere. I’m most proud of the diversity in Monstre  – all the sounds are different in the song flow and I’m adamant to innovate in the form and harmonic structure. A lot of my creativity springs from frustration in the conflict of who I am and who I want to be. Having grown up in Japan, everything is different culturally, and as I gained new friends and acquaintances here I noticed different frames of reference that led me to question my values. I’ve had to change habits to cope and wanting to be a full-time musician allows me to observe these differences, without having to put on a “work face” as many people do. Really, I’m just a work-in-progress.

Noise: What do you call your type of music? Singer-songwriter? Electronica? Quirky avant-garde?

Courtney: That’s funny – I never ever think of that as a whole – it’s just dreamy songs!

Noise: Now that teaching is a vocation, how do you introduce music to your students? Do you first show the mechanics and then encourage them towards originality?

Courtney: It always depends on the student. Some kids are there because their parents make them and some special ones really take to it to heart. I encourage them to find their personal potential to unlock different parts of their lives, in their feelings and communication with others. Especially with my vocal students, the only thing holding them back is themselves. Singing is a very vulnerable and personal activity, so the connection between that and speech is an emotional one. People forget that and clam up. With my keyboard students, the mechanics are an essential tool. Not everyone is going to be a musician, so I know it’s important to learn fingerings and be able to read. The basic thing is to play music as a valuable part of one’s life.

Noise: Your cutting edge tunes stretch into an avant-garde direction with emotional depth, stylistic resonance, and lyrical imagery. It all feels so fresh and natural, yet well thought out – care to comment. What are you aiming for in your songwriting?

Courtney: A lot of my music just pops into my head – it just happens! I’m always looking to create something both familiar and fresh. I hear something and I immediately want to translate it to the keyboard to help fully realize the song. “Dreams” – from my first album – came to me on a bike ride past B.U., while “Grow Up!” – from the new album – was based on a keyboard riff and chord changes, with their time duration varying between the verses, which also acted as the metaphor for the song’s context.

Noise: Your vocals and their arrangements are amazing. Did you study or are you just gifted?

Courtney:  Vocals just happen! Though my lyrics go through editing, I very rarely do that with my vocals. When I was growing up, my dad listened a lot to The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater, Led Zeppelin, etc. and I naturally gravitated towards harmony lines. Though I have perfect pitch, I did study @ Berklee as a voice major and I had to start from scratch. Despite my piano ability, I did loose the joy of singing for a while because I was so focused on the mechanics – learning how to sing higher, sing louder, etc. It was very frustrating. My vocal development has been closely knit to my personal growth. I’m very proud that the vocals on Monstre are much more assured and controlled.

Noise: Both your solo albums were created for the RPM Challenge. Please explain that situation.

Courtney: I was introduced to that through the band Jaggery. It’s a call to musicians to create a certain amount of stuff based on quantity, not necessarily quality – 10 songs or 35 minutes of music – recorded within a month’s framework (usually February). It’s great when you start out with the first four or five tunes, but then you really have to change up your format or songwriting habits. It’s important to get it out and not labor too much over the process. It’s a great creative artistic enterprise.  [For more info, check the website  www.rpmchallenge.com.]

Noise:    Claws of the Beast Inside [2013] is a good introduction to your artistic values and Monstre [2105] nails it! Discuss your production techniques & ability in creating those albums.

Courtney: I used a software program called Reason. It’s modeled after rack synthesizers so it’s a lot more visual with knobs that you tweak and turn. It’s just my keyboard, microphone, and my computer. I used other instruments like violin, melodica, or a toy piano to enhance the textures. At Berklee, I studied composition and production as well as voice and keyboard, so that’s where my interests are truly directed.

Noise: When I was introduced just a few months ago to your tracks on the Secret Dog Brigade sampler, I was immediately floored and bought your albums from your website. Then I had  to see you perform, but was surprised to hear only one tune from the newest album. How do you plan incorporating the new material into your solo show?

Courtney:    I need to come up with a better looping situation, though I’m a bit hesitant to jump into full-on looping. So much of Monstre relies on textures that I need to set up a better triggering system. It’s something I’m looking forward to developing. When I get back from this tour with Bent Knee at the end of the summer, I can spend much more time on creating that fuller sound.

Noise: Tell me about Bent Knee, a most robust, dramatic, epic outfit – it’s been your main focus for years and you’re about to set out on a lengthy national tour. (Finished by the time this interview is published. – ed.)

Courtney: Bent Knee is an art-rock sextet. I hope that doesn’t sound too pretentious  – we’re not like a Rush. To me, it’s just progressive rock: forward thinking rock music with diverse influences. We try to be dramatic and dynamic. A lot of the earlier material was co-written with guitarist Ben Levin, but recently the group has become much more collaborative and exciting.

Noise: How will you handle these concurrent careers?

Courtney: Currently, Bent Knee is our bread winning band – with so much time and energy invested in making it work successfully. Right now it’s very tough to balance because I am the front person, as well as booker and organizing administrator, so there’s an endless workload to be tackled. But, since all of the members have their individual projects, we can foresee a time when the band becomes a seasonal effort. My solo act has become a refuge – it allows me to discover who I am in a fresh light. Though I’ve been playing for years, when I did my first solo show last year, I clammed up. Right there, that’s a new sensation.

Noise: Lastly, I cherish seeing new young talent obsessed with artistry in their efforts. I want to meet and listen to performers who pass this progressive torch. Both you and your band have created your own unique haunting style, obviously vowing never to repeat yourself. What are your future plans? Do you have a manager or agent or are you following your instincts?

Courtney: Well, I’m doing everything by myself for my own enjoyment for both situations, not trying to take over the world. My approach has been to love every aspect of the business and learn from each endeavor. So far it’s been working really well and I’m really quite proud.

Noise I hope Monstre wins you a bevy of fans and helps shape the arc of your career.

Courtney: Thanks very much. Everything I do for my solo act makes me feel good about myself.

JIMI HENDRIX’s FUNERAL

by A..J. Wachtel

You might recognize the name David Hull from his many years playing bass for Farrenheit, The James Montgomery Band, Joe Perry Project, and Aerosmith, but many moons ago he played with former Band of Gypsys member, Buddy Miles. Here are his recollections of playing at the Jimi Hendrix funeral in 1970.

David Hull: Okay, I tried to put the event in a context of what was going on that year, with Hendrix, Buddy Miles, me, and the people I knew. For what it’s worth, here’s what I remember about it:

I got hired by the late, great Buddy Miles sometime in March, 1970. He called me up at my Mom’s house in Connecticut, I picked up a plane ticket in New York and flew off to Chicago, where we started rehearsing for his upcoming record, which turned out to be the soul classic, Them Changes.  That track had already been recorded but I played on the rest of the album. I was 18.

This was a few months after Buddy had played the famous Band of Gypsys shows with Jimi Hendrix at the Fillmore East on New Year’s Eve and Day, 69-70. Now he was getting back to his solo career and lucky, teenage David Hull somehow got tagged to be the bass player for the next four Buddy Miles Band records.

During the course of the recording, Buddy said an odd thing to me. Being a huge Jimi Hendrix fan, I’d asked him what it was like playing with Hendrix and he said something like, “You mark my words man… it’s sad, but Jimi’s gonna be dead before this year is out.”   At the time I didn’t know anything about Jimi’s behind-the-scenes struggles with his management and career… I thought it was a preposterous statement and let the subject drop.  Sadly, it turned out to be an accurate prediction.

When the recording was finished Buddy moved the band to Los Angeles and we started tour rehearsals at SIR in Hollywood. Turned out the first date on our tour we would be the support act for Jimi Hendrix at the Forum, right there in Los Angeles.  Unbelievable.

Almost anyone who had seen Jimi play around that time thought he was the greatest live act on the planet… transcendent shows, a Hendrix concert was like watching a great magician at work.  At the Forum our green room turned out to be the Lakers’ locker room.  I got to meet Jimi backstage, where he said he had heard Buddy’s new record and liked my playing a lot (!).

His own album of new songs (The Cry of Love) had not yet been released at this point.  Jimi didn’t care, and played a show comprised of about half new material that the audience had never heard, and about half familiar hits.  A brilliant set and the crowd ate it up, familiar or not, and gave him a great reception.  I remember him playing “Freedom,” “Ezy Rider,” and other new tunes that were released after his death on The Cry of Love.  Amazing stuff.  We played two more shows with him, in San Diego and Sacramento and went our separate ways… I continued touring and recording with the Buddy Miles Band.

In September of that year I heard the tragic news of Jimi’s death, along with the rest of the world.

Jimi Hendrix had said that when he died he didn’t want people to mourn him, that instead, he wanted a celebration of his life – a party, with music. I don’t know how literally he meant this, but someone took him at his word.  Shortly after he passed, his body was flown home to Seattle.  We did not play at the church where his funeral service took place – that was strictly for family.  But after the burial a fairly large group of people gathered at a hall nearby and sure enough, a celebration with music took place.

The atmosphere was pretty surreal.  One one hand, everyone there was really saddened and shocked by his death. At the same time, some of the people who knew about the toll some of his business pressures and personal issues were taking on him, were not very surprised.  His bandmate, Buddy Miles had predicted it would happen and said so to my face six months earlier!

But along with that, people loved Jimi’s music and him personally…  everyone understood his wish to have them celebrate his life, rather than mourn his death. I was stunned and had a hard time believing he was really gone… although I didn’t know him very well, he’d been so much larger than life that I couldn’t really absorb it.

There was a stage set up at one end of the hall… nighttime lighting in the afternoon.  Buddy’s band played a set, followed by musician friends of Hendrix getting up and jamming.  Johnny Winter, who was a great jamming partner of Jimi’s, got up and played brilliantly. Billy Cox, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding were there. I played bass for a bit, I think Noel took over after that.   My pal Charlie Karp jammed with Miles Davis… a who’s who of the music world. The mood was sad but everyone there seemed grateful to have the opportunity to play for Jimi one more time.  People clustered around and reminisced. A lot of stories were told, mostly about jams and parties with Jimi.

To be honest, the whole afternoon was a bit of a blur, and afterwards it was off to the airport, back to work and the Buddy Miles Band tour resumed.  Flying out that night I remember wondering what the music world could be like without Jimi.  I don’t think I was alone in feeling he was way out there, ahead of the pack.  Decades later, I think he was the greatest we will ever see or hear.   RIP Jimi Hendrix.

RED PETERS

 by A.J. Wachtel

Red Peters is a very funny man. He also has a bit of Eddie Haskell, from Leave It To Beaver, in him: his outward smile and comedic persona really camouflage a much darker, more complex and intellectual interior. While Eddie said in black and white, “My you look very nice today, Mrs. Cleaver,” and fooled nobody, Red croons “Blow Me (You Hardly Even Know Me)” behind an orchestra, and the world dances at his feet. Read on and find out why Red Peters should be a big part of your life:

Noise: You attended Mass Art from 1968-’71, majoring in film. When I used to visit the school in the mid-’70s. I remember that all the stairways were covered in great graffiti. I still remember my two favorites: “If PRO is the opposite of CON is Progress the opposite of Congress?” and Dr. Rene Richard’s new book,Tennis Without Balls. Do you remember this as well and what was your favorite wall comment? And is there anything bad you did while enrolled you never got caught for and can confess now; 40 years later?

Red Peters: When I left MassArt in 1971, I returned once for a 1975 concert. My favorite graffiti line was, “Give yourself a handy. You’ve earned it.” I agree with that sentiment, and it’s been my motto ever since. As far as doing anything bad? Everything I did there was bad. I got laid and blown in every room and in every nook and cranny of the old building on the corner of Longwood and Brookline Ave. My friends, classmates, and eventual band mates in GNP and I, took over a storage area that we named “The Room.” We used to smoke pot, drink, and bring girls there, as well as write songs, play music loud, and jam. It took the school administration many, many, many months to get us out of there. The whole school went on strike to protest the Vietnam War but we camped out there and raised hell.

Noise: You left school to go on the road with your first music group Gross National Productions (GNP) as lead vocalist under the name Matt Maverick. Given that Red Peters isn’t your real name either, can you explain your affinity to aliases and pseudonyms?

Red: For GNP, I thought Matt Maverick was a cool “show biz” name. I’d enter from the back of the club or auditorium with a beautiful chick on each arm in long gowns dressed in a custom made white Western themed tuxedo. The name Red Peters was given to me by my co-writer and producer, Ed Grenga and came as a result of exercising extreme caution after writing our first song, “Blow Me (You Hardly Even Know Me).” I owned a commercial music production company at the time and chose to remain anonymous to protect my true identity.

Noise: Will there ever be a GNP reunion?

Red: I’ve been listening to a bunch of the old songs recently and would definitely consider some sort of a reunion. The songs are stuck in my head. I’d at least like to record some of the songs not on the album using the knowledge and experience I’ve gained after so many years in the studio.

Noise: You’ve opened for Sha-Na-Na, Badfinger, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Mahavisnu Orchestra, and Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention among many others. What’s the difference between going on the road back then and today? Any crazy adventures you had with any of these headliners?

Red: There’s not enough room in my head for all the memories, but back then we’d all crowd into the back of a shitbox van, drink cheap wine and beer, and eat baloney sandwiches. We’d crash wherever we could. Today the vehicles are much nicer, the food healthier, and the accommodations a lot better. I remember when we played with Zappa at the Fenway Theater (now the Berklee Performance Center), we stayed next door in the Bryant & Stratton dorms. After sound check, we were up on the sixth or seventh floor and our nutty drummer Joe threw a glass beer bottle out the window in the direction of Zappa and a few members of The Mothers including Artie our bass player as they were leaving rehearsal. Luckily, the bottle smashed about 20 feet from them. We killed that night on two shows. After the 1st show, we did an encore and their roadies threatened to push our equipment off the stage if we did one at the second show. Later that night, we smoked hash with Flo & Eddie of The Turtles who were vocalists in his band. Cool time. There were groupies everywhere and I remember seeing a Japanese photographer standing on a stack of amps taking pictures during the show and he had pissed his pants. Ridiculous memory! We did a few shows with Sha-Na-Na too and I can picture them getting into costume and using tubs of Vaseline.

Noise: In 1984, your Big Band arrangement of your “Blow Me (You Hardly Even Know Me),” recorded with an Orchestra; came out. Legend has it, that Gov. Dukakis and his wife Kitty, danced to “Blow Me” while attending a wedding reception at The Copley Plaza the year he was a Presidential candidate. Fact or fiction?

Red: True story. He was running for President of the United States at that point. My friend Ron Rudy was DJ at the function and would often use the instrumental as a slow dance at weddings. I’ve heard from many other DJs over the years who also used the instrumental as a first dance at weddings or at corporate functions. It’s heartwarming.

Noise: In 1990, you promoted your second single, “How’s Your Whole Family” which led to the full length release of “I Laughed… I Cried… I Fudged My Undies,” in 1995. A national tour followed leading to your first appearance on Howard Stern. You sang “A Ballad of A Dog Named Stains.” Currently, you are the host of The Red Peters Comedy Music Hour on Sirius XM and are a frequent guest on Stern’s show. Is it friendship or competition when you two get together and between the two of you, who really has the more extreme personality? Care to share a quick Stern-Peters story to prove your point?

Red: Stern loved “Dog Named Stains”! And I’ve premiered all my new songs on his show since. It’s difficult to say who has the more extreme personality. His on-air persona is reserved for the radio when the red light comes on. And he never speaks to his guests until they are on live. Off the air, he’s a perfect gentleman. If he’s pissed off, he can be a prick though. Between us, there is no competition (as far as I know). His professional friendships stay at work. His private life is very private. He respects what I do as a writer and recording artist and has always been very generous to me. Our relationship is purely professional. MY material speaks for itself when I’m on the radio or onstage and while offstage, I’m much more polite, mellow and low key especially these days – almost angelic.

Noise: In 2005, “I Can’t Say These Things” came out. Followed by 2006’s “When I Jerk Off, I Think Of You.” And in November, 2010 you and comedian Margaret Cho recorded a cover of Dick Shreve’s “The Christmas Gift (Just A Christmas Blowjob)”. I’m sensing a major drift in your material. What do you find so funny about sex? Is it fair to say that you are a tri-sexual – and

will try anything sexual?

Red: Haha. That’s a good one. Don’t forget about my duet with Todd Rundgren. He’s been singing “Blow Me” in his show for years and we recorded a new big band arrangement of the song that was released last year. You have to remember that I grew up during a time when you couldn’t say “pregnant” on TV and censorship was extremely strict. Plus I went to parochial school and was an alter boy. A lot of thoughts and feelings were repressed. I had to be a good boy at all times. My life of debauchery started with being a hippie at MassArt and then with GNP.  Still, government censors ruled with an iron hand back then and you could get arrested for indecency. Look what happened to George Carlin. And then afterwards, when I started producing music for advertising and special events, I again had to act professionally and mind my p’s and q’s around the clients. But as soon as they left, we’d substitute filthy lyrics for theirs and carry on the craziness. I was always fascinated with what they called “party songs,” the stuff that was kept behind the counters at record stores reserved for adults only. Today, profanity in music, especially in hip-hop is everywhere. Even kids hear it. So it’s not that big of a deal anymore. I love superbly produced and arranged songs that co-exist with funny and sometimes filthy subject matter delivered with a straight face. The juxtaposition amuses me.

Noise: In Aug. 2011, while vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard, you are said to have farted in front of President Obama. “Mr. Obama was forced from the fiction aisle to the self-help section until the Secret Service deemed the area clear,” you told the Boston Herald. “They were polite but not amused. The young daughter (Sasha) was blocking her nose.” The President’s Secret Service detail then escorted you from the bookstore. Fact or fiction? Do you find it ironic that the Secret Service can miss a man in a small plane landing on the White House lawn but are immediately all over a citizen in close proximity; with bad gas? Does it bother you that in all probability you know have a CIA file? And are you upset that you didn’t claim you were just “expressing your first amendment rights” to the press, Secret Service, and the leader of the free world?

Red: Hahaha. Another good one. This was an embarrassing moment for me and I’m not really comfortable talking about it. But to make a long story short, I had just eaten a broccoli, cheddar, and onion omelet with a side of sausage next door and thought I’d browse the book store a couple doors up. I was checking out the titles when I heard a commotion and a half dozen beefy dudes with sunglasses and walkie-talkies burst in, frisked me, and told me to remain calm and carry on with my business. I almost shit when I saw Obama and the girls come in. Literally! The rest is history. When the “brown air” reached their row, the first family was not very happy. It was pretty warm in there and the Secret Service rather abruptly and roughly escorted me out the door. I laugh now, but I was mortified as they shoved me into the street where there was a huge crowd of curious vacationers and onlookers standing by. It reminded me of a saloon scene from the wild West!

Noise: What else are you planning to unleash on the world in the near future?

Red: I still scan the planet each week to find and showcase well crafted, funny and filthy adult comedy songs for my podcast, The Song Snatch atwww.redpeterssongsnatch.com. Plus, my producer Ed Grenga and I are gathering up and picking songs for a third Red Peters album that is due out Spring 2016.

www.redpeters.com

RANDY BLACK & THE HEATHCROPPERS

by Christopher Burbul

One Sunday I ran in to my old band mate Larry Dersch. We’d been in the Bentmen together back in the early ’90s,and anybody who knows him know he is not only one hell of a guy, but also a gifted drummer. After a little catch up, he mentioned that he was playing with a former band mate and of ours, Bassist Matt Gruenberg, another serious player, in a trio with this guy Randy Black, called Randy Black & the Heathcroppers.

Randy Black? I didn’t know him personally, other than the lore of his Rumble winning band Limbo Race, in which he played guitar and sang back in the day. The stuff of legends, Boston style, as they say.

Being curious as to what the hell a Heathcropper was, and what my old cohorts were up too, I showed up at the Cantab for their gig the next week. They were playing downstairs, in the dingy basement beer hall with the scars and smells of decades of Pabst, engineer’s boots and drug induced dementia.

When they began I was curious and by the time it was over I was mesmerized. Call it “eclectic folk rock with deeply emotive lyrical storytelling,” but that would not do them justice. At first it seemed like I was back In 1979, hearing late reflections of early Echo & The Bunnymen and fuzzy, ghostly images of Tom Verlain’s Television. Then it was power pop that belonged on the CMJ charts. Wait a minute, Randy is howling like Roy Orbison at midnight on a blue moon, baring his soul and sharing his humanity in a way that welcomed you inside his world to connect with his pain and come out the other side understanding that you are not alone.

And then it’s another upbeat rocker with a ting of the southwest to bring us back to the moment. One of the most interesting things about this group for me is that Randy is a vibrant rhythm player and the songwriting draws its strength not only from the lyrical tableaus he presents, but the strong musical hooks that he creates by moving cords all over the fretboard with his left hand while chopping them to bits with his right. The songs have a primitive sophistication and a driving rhythmic sensibility that draws the listener into the lyric. And NO guitar solos. This not only takes guts but it takes chops to pull it off and these guys could open a steakhouse.

This is where the unique talents of the rhythm section come in. Matt Gruenberg plays solid, driving bass lines while at the same time managing to provide a mellifluous melodic counterpoint to Randy’s cascade of guitar. And Larry Dersch builds a rhythmic scaffold that allows the bass and guitar to dance, sure footed, into the night.

I’ve seen Randy’s band perform a few times over the last two years. Audiences connect with the rhythmic hooks and raw honesty of his music. I spoke with him soon after his group opened the show on the closing night of the venerable Cambridge institution T.T. The Bears’ Place.

Noise: Let’s talk about Limbo Race and winning the Rumble in 1982.

Randy Black: I really didn’t know Limbo Race was such a good band until 20 years later. I was writing three songs a week back then.

What I remember about winning the Rumble is that my father was there with thousands of people screaming for us, and he thought, “He quit school, and he’s a fuck up, but he’s done what he wanted to do and this is going to make him happy.”

But I’ve had two bands since then. I’m proud of Limbo Race and Dr. Black’s Combo, I just don’t play that music anymore. I don’t talk about it much because that was 30 years ago.

Noise: Can you reflect on On T.T.’s Closing?

Randy: Bonney Bouley (T.T.’s owner) is one of my favorite people of all time. She accepted me and my band in a way that no one had accepted us before. It was a family thing, a welcoming, a kindness. It was an absolute honor to play that gig.

Noise: What’s its like out there as a veteran performer with live music venues becoming extinct?

Randy: Clubs close and open all the time. Who ever thought T.T.’s would open? It was a restaurant and some one said to Bonney, “Lets make it a rock club.” That’s how these things goes. I spend very little time thinking about this. I think about songwriting an awful lot, and fiction writing (several of Randy’s short stories have been published under the name Edwin M. Steckevicz). I’m not a social scientist. I’m a songwriter and a singer.

Noise: What motivated you to form the Heathcroppers?

Randy: Larry was always going to be the drummer. I told him two years before we started the band that I was writing again and he was already on board. We had worked together on a previous Randy Black solo album Below The Tapering. Matt also played on that record, and was living out of state. We got in touch and he said he was moving back to Boston in six months and I said, “I’ll wait, if you’re into this. I’m not going to look for another bass player.” I always hoped that they would be involved. It’s such a joy to play with them.

Noise: I have to ask: What is a “Heathcropper”?

Randy: It’s a pony that eats scrubby vegetation. I see it as metaphor for we few, we band of urbanites who thrive on what springs from the cracks in the concrete jungle. Thomas Hardy will tell you.

Noise: You also perform this material solo. Can you talk about the difference?

Randy: The band is like a boat, and everybody has an oar and often times we are going ahead in the same direction. Then Matt or Larry or I will pull one way or the other. You know, tempo, mood, whatever. And it all works if we can adjust to each other and keep it going somewhere. Playing solo is like swimming. You can just dive in and do the backstroke or go under water, but you miss the feeling of being in that boat.

Noise: Your songs paint tableaus and offer the listener an opportunity to share that perspective. Do you start with a particular mood or experience?

Randy: It’s really like snippets. I have paper all over the place where I scribble things down. I have a roll of cash register tape in the car that I unfurl and write snippets on. Eventually when I have five or six of them I’ll put them on the computer in a folder. If I have two or three ideas that are all heading in the same direction, I’ll squeeze them together and see if they stick.

I think about phrasing a lot. It’s 85 percent of presentation. When I have a chord progression, I’ll just sing nonsense syllables over it and see where the rhythm and accents are. And then if the words fit, they fit.

Noise: There are recurring themes of relationships and overcoming adversity in your lyrics. Can you speak to your motivations?

Randy: It’s just what I do. I can’t not do it. If I didn’t write it down, I’d go nuts. It’s like exercise to me. Exercising my songwriting muscles.

Noise: I’ve described your music to other people as introspective folk rock. Do you that’s accurate?

Randy: Introspective has a negative connotation to me. It sounds selfish. I like to say that I’ve invented a new genre called Faux Crock. It’s who I am.

Noise: Oddly enough everyone I’ve talked to at your shows think that you are letting them into your life in a very intimate way. You get up there and let it all hang out. That’s not selfish. There’s a lot of pain in your music. The message is that here I am, in this world, flawed…

Randy: Just like you.

Noise: Exactly. And you are giving the audience permission to be introspective without feeing egotistical about it.

Randy: I have no great philosophical ideas or insight about it. It’s not complicated at all. It’s just what I do.

Noise: Your comfort with sharing intimacy makes the audience comfortable enough with themselves to share in the experience.

Randy: Or it’s just chronicling things that happen in my life. When I’m performing I can very easily get gone, let it take me over, and I like that place. It’s like right now this is what’s happening. I’m not looking for or thinking about the reaction, but I love it when people respond. It’s just what I do. I hope people see the humor too. I think my work is an acquired taste. The beauty of performance is that it’s different than your normal life. It would be so hard to not be in a band.

In the end maybe Randy Black is just a guy, sharing his experience, and doing it in a way that manages to make other people feel like it’s okay for them to feel their own lives.

You can see the band at The Plough & Stars on 9/4/15 and at regular gigs at Sally O’s and The Tavern at the End of the World (Randy performing there solo on 9/17/15). Find them online at Heathcroppers.com. Hear their current album, The Sky Goes Clear, at Soundcloud.Heathcroppers.com.

Neely the Great
Hello everybody. My name is Neely and I’m a strong, handsome dog with  short tan fur, a square snout and a long lean tail. A lot of people think I’m a fighting dog because I’m a Pitt Bull and Pitt Bulls, as you know, get a bad rap. But I love everybody especially my girlfriend, a hot mutt who lives on the block and visits me often. We spend lots of time running and playing in the yard. I’m especially good at jumping and catching sticks and can run fast like “The Flash.”
When my mom comes home from work I make funny squeaky noises because I am so excited. Now it’s even better because she comes home from work at three instead of seven. Sometimes my family gets upset with me because I love to destroy my toys. One of my favorite things to do is go through the trash in the den. I just can’t help myself because I find things that taste so great.
Mickey is my best human friend in the world. I usually mess up his bed but he still lets me sleep with him every night. Nothing could be better than having an awesome family and I’m one lucky dog!

Submitted by: Mickey Connors Harris
Grade four Lilja, Natick, MA

“+” indicated more acts on the bill

Fri Sept 25  DARLINGSIDE @ Port City Music Hall, Portland, ME

Fri Sept 25  CHERYL WHEELER + @ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Sat Sept 26  T MAX + @ Cat in the Cradle Coffeehouse, Byfield, MA

Sat Sept 26  (1:00 pm) CONTINENTAL + @ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Sat Sept 26  WILL DAILEY + @ River Ruckus, Haverhill, MA

Sat Sept 26  LYNNE TAYLOR/KRISTEN MILLER/BRIAN KING Birds on a Wire @ The Firehouse, Newburyport, MA

Sat Sept 26  CHARLIE FARREN @ Tupelo Music Hall, Londonderry, NH

Mon Aug 28  BIRD MANCINI @ Roslindale Open Mic (featured performance), Roslindale, MA

Thur Oct 1  DARLINGSIDE + @ Arts at The Armory, Somerville, MA

Fri Oct 2 (1:30pm) T MAX + @ The Topsfield Fair, Topsfield, MA

Fri Oct 2  HALO & THE HARLOTS + @ The Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Sat Oct 3  FIREKING Vinyl Release Party @ Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA

Sat Oct 3  FRANC GRAHAM BAND +  Benefit for the Riverside Theatre @ Rivrside Theatre, Hyde Park, MA

Sun Oct 4  THE COACHMEN (reunion) @ The Midway, Jamaica Plain, MA

Fri Oct 9  JIM TRICK & CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS @ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Fri Oct 9  THE STOMPERS + Celebrate Lennon @ The Spire Center For Performing Arts, Plymouth, MA

Fri Oct 9  MARYANNE TOILET & THE RUNS + @ The Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Fri Oct 9  MARK ERELLI @ Club Passim, Cambridge, MA

Sat Oct 10  THE EASY REASONS + @ Store 54, Allston, MA

Sat Oct 10  HALEY REARDON @ Club Passim, Cambridge, MA

Sat Oct 10  FOX PASS + @ The C Note, Nantasket Beach, MA

Sat Oct 10  ERIN HARPE & THE DELTA SWINGERS @ Minglewood Tavern, Gloucester, MA

Mon Oct 12  THE GOBSHITES + @ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Fri Oct 16  LOUISE MOSRIE + @ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Fri Oct 16 3:30pm  PAMELA MEANS @ Sage Inn and Lounge, Provincetown, MA

Sat Oct 17  MUCK & THE MIRES + Crash Safety 2015 @ Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA

Fri Oct 23  UNNATURAL AXE + Crash Safety 2015 @ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Fri Oct 23  ALLYSEN CALLERY + @ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Sat Oct 24  SOULELUJAH! + @ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Sun Oct 25 2:00pm  JULIE DOUGHERTY + @ The Armory Cafe, Somerville, MA

Sun Oct 25 2:00pm  CHELSEA BERRY Benefit for the Cape Ann Symphony @ Shalin Liu, Rockport, MA

Sun Oct 25  TRIPLE THICK + @ The Midway, Jamaica Plain, MA

Mon Oct 26  GOZU + @ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Fri Oct 30  BLACK DAUGHTER + @ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Fri Oct 30  COUGAR BAIT @ Hard Rock Cafe, Boston, MA

Sat Oct 31  THE SATANICS + @ The Midway, Jamaica Plain, MA

Sat Oct 31  THE GUILLOTEENAGERS + Halloween Special @ The Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Fri Nov 6  WHEN PARTICLES COLLIDE + @ Store 54, Allston, MA

Fri Nov 6  MELT + @ The Cantab, Cambridge, MA

Fri Nov 6  ANAISE MITCHELL @ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Thur Nov 12  RUBY ROSE FOX + # The Middle East, Cambridge, MA

Sat Nov 14  ROY SLUDGE TRIO @ Atwoods, Cambridge, MA

Sat Nov 14  ROCK BOTTOM + @ The Midway, Jamaica Plain,MA

Thur Nov 19  LIZ LONGLEY + @ Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA

Fri Nov 20  HEATHER MALONEY @ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA

Sat Dec 5  CHRIS SMITHER @ The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

Sat Dec 19  CHRIS SMITHER @ Spire Center for the Performing Arts, Plymouth, MA

I am Bean, handler of Christopher Brown (Vary Lumar, The Difference Engine) and Danielle Ameen.  I find the girl acceptable and will occasionally perform tricks to teach her to offer treats on command. She is learning… slowly.

The boy, however, remains simple and obedient, so I don’t bother with further training. As long as he continues to clean my lair, I keep my distance, but insist on keeping an eye on his every move to maintain dominance.

I prefer to keep a low-profile and tend to my house when needed – conducting several remodels within a week. When I’m in need of some company, I enjoy hopping to the front porch to converse with a neighbor and scholarly friend of mine, Professor Carrot. He is a rabbit of few words, but clearly deeply insightful.