Billy, Mr. Curt, and Ruby Photo: Ms Donna
WHAT’S THE ISSUE?
Lolita: April is always one of the most exciting months of the year in New England. It’s the first time when I might consider bearing my arms—and that seems to really turn on the opposite sex. Rita: What’s this about bearing weapons and threatening to shoot guys? Have you become another whacko with a gun? Lolita: Do you see how careful I have to be with your words? I guess I should have said “get naked” and “have sex” so there would be no question of my motives. Rita: But then the lack of subtlety wouldn’t produce the desired effect to encourage impromptu lavishing of affection. Lolita: I guess you hang out with different guys than I do. Is this conversation leading to anything? Rita: How about talking about what’s in this issue. Lolita: What issue—there are no issues—guys want gals and gals want guys! Rita: No! I mean what’s in this issue of the Noise?Lolita: Can’t you just look at the cover and figure that out? Cover-boy FLY AMERO is an internationally known rock ’n’ roll star, yet he is hardly recognized outside of his Cape Ann community. He plays with ORLEANS (“Still the One”/ “Dance With Me”) and has an amazing solo show. We plan to change the quality of his recognition. Rita: We also have stories on MARY LOU LORD, BRIAN CHARLES, and SCOTT ALARIK. Each one of their stories will give you a better understanding of music in New England. Read on and improve your NEMIQ.
BEST OR WORST GIG
Lolita: How do you pronounce nemiq? And what is it? Rita: You’ll have to figure that out, while I ask our friends to tell us about the best or worst gig they ever had. There’s Fly—hold it. Don’t fly away… FLY AMERO (Orleans/ solo): Worst gig? Several to choose from, but this one stands out… my band played a wedding when a fight between the two families broke out that escalated into an full-scale brawl. The bride had the groom’s sister on her back in the middle of the dance floor, wailing on her face with haymaker punches. Everyone in the room was fighting. It took five cops to break it up… and the band never got paid! *** PREACHER JACK (Preacher Jack): The worst gig night I ever had was the night many years ago on Revere Beach (Upper Deck, Shipwreck Lounge) when I got ahold of a few “bad ice cubes” and was asked by management to “break for the evening.” The request was soon after I damaged the house piano (again) and possibly may have insulted a patron or two. The subsequent walk back home to Malden, on this long ago rainy June night, ended at 3:00 in the morning at the Forestdale Cemetery and a recitation at Grandma Coughlin’s grave side. Thank goodness those days are over! *** ANDERSON MAR (Sans Nomenclature): February 2 at Sammy’s Patio in Revere—a show with fellow horror-punkers Necrophiliac Meat Circus devolved into a war of the most offensive stage props. NMC ventured a drag queen lead singer, a fetus piñata, and a GG Allin cover. Sans countered with an inflatable sheep, a hermaphrodite blowup doll, and panty raid. Guitarists from both bands then proceeded to use vibrators as guitar picks. *** TIM MUNGENAST (Timworld): About 10 years ago, Michael Bloom and I did a two-man show at this little Irish place in Kendall Square. We’d done at least one show there before and had a great time, but this night, the band in the slot before us cleared a full room, except for four really tough-looking wise guys sitting at a table smoking cigars and not even pretending to pay attention. After each song, I’d say, “thank you” out of habit, but there was no applause. That gig was a character-builder. *** KAREN DeBIASSE (Girl On Top): Girl on Top has had many great gigs. The most fun was at the Hatch Shell in Boston playing for teenagers. When we were done our performance I was bombarded by so many of them asking for my autograph it was actually overwhelming. *** MICHAEL P. AROIAN (Elsewhere): Wow, there have been so many worst gigs over the years, but let’s think positive… One of our best gigs was waaaayyy back in 1999 when I was able to randomly contact online, and then book a show at the Middle East Upstairs opening for space grunge gods Gwen Mars (from L.A.) when they were kind of making a comeback. I had only four or five days to put a lineup together and promote, but we got a great turnout from people and played a strong show! At the end of it, the carpel tunnel I was having in my wrist went away! *** KIER BYRNES (Three Day Threshold): We opened for the Zac Brown Band up in northern New Hampshire. The trouble was that my girlfriend’s dad was also coming to the show. My plan was to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. As he lived far away, I wasn’t sure when I’d ever be able to get him alone again, so it was critical I did it that night. However, as we sound checked, I went from a confident rocker to a nervous wreck. I don’t know how I made it through that show. Fortunately, when it was all said and done, I ended up marrying that girl. *** NIKI LUPARELLI (Niki Luparelli & the Gold Diggers/ The Steamy Bohemians): The worst gig ever was many years back when I first started doing stand-up comedy. I got a gig for a biker birthday party. No one was laughing and everyone started yelling for me to “take it off.” I finished and got off stage. Turns out, the dude throwing the party thought it would be super fun to tell everyone that I was a stripper instead of a comic. Like “Hey, every time you laugh, I take something off…” Then the *real* stripper showed up, and it was a fat, busted dude in shitty drag, and a dollar store wig. I thought there was going to be a riot. I snuck out the back and hightailed it the hell out of there. “No, no, you don’t have to pay me. No, I don’t want any cake.” Lolita: I skip the cake too. Gotta keep those love handles to a minimum.
N.E. MUSIC NEWS
Rita: Mardi Gras in April!? All the February Mardi Gras parties got snowed out and rescheduled in New England, so you can go to the Larcom Theatre in Beverly for a jumpin’ jivin’ Mardi Gras show featuring HENRI SMITH and CHARLES NEVILLE on Saturday, 4/6, and to the Mardi Gras make up party at The Cantab in Cambridge on Saturday, 4/13, featuring JOSIAH. *** The International Songwriting Competition is now accepting entries for 2013. More information can be found at www.songwritingcompetition.com. New England finalists from 2012 were Richard Machnowski (Mattspoisett, MA), David Veslocki (West Hartford, CT), Ronald Donnelly (Cumberland, RI), Muyinza Kasirye, Gabriel Sarango (Boston, MA), Annette Philip (Boston, MA), David Veslocki, Marc Kaplan, Steve Kaplan (West Hartford, CT). *** The Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble starts on April 7 at T.T. the Bear’s (which is celebrating 40 years of serving the Boston music community). *** BIRD MANCINI has collaborated with MR. CURT on “Solar Vinyl Compactor” that will appear on vinyl for Record Store Day—April 20! *** JEREMY WEISS of Emerson College was one of the 12 finalist in the Boston Student Film Festival for his film Riff Raf, a narrative about a jazz musician whose mistake coincidentally lands him a gig with an orchestra. *** JOYCE LINEHAN has lobbied for JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE MODERN LOVERS’ “Roadrunner” to become the official state song for Massachusetts, and a bill was filed with the state legislature by MARTIN WELSH. But the momentum has slowed since another proposal wants to make AEROSMITH’s “Dream On” the official song. When JONATHAN RICHMAN was asked about the original proposal, he modestly said he didn’t think his song was good enough to be a Massachusetts song of any kind. *** Last summer’s cover boy, BRAD BYRD, is making plans to move back to L.A. and continue producing and writing songs for bands. *** On CHARLIE FARREN’s latest CD, the song “Tuesday” is written by the late BRAD DELP (Boston)—a song he never finished or released. *** BARRENCE WHIFIELD got signed to Bloodshot Records in Chicago. *** We ran into HENRY ALLEN returning from a successful gig in Denver that could lead to him playing at some showy little town that’s just a hop over the Rockies. *** LINDA VIENS and RICHARD LAMPHEAR, formerly of the folk-rock collective adam&eve, are working together on their new project called KINGDOM OF LOVE. Their live debut is at Right Turn in Arlington on Saturday, April 13, opening for ENGINE JUDY. *** CASEY DEMOND gets to open for ANDREW W.K. at the PVD Social Club in Providence on April 18. *** COUNT ZERO is back in action with their new bass player TOM KORKIDS. The band was recently joined by a 50-piece choir, a horn section, and a dancer who brought new life their song “Heaven’s Ladder.” *** Drummer MIKE GOSS has hooked up with MC3—will they become MC4 now? *** A tribute to the late JOE COUGHLIN (the Noise) is planned for Saturday, May 11, at the Midway, where Joe worked as a bartender for a long time. Rita: Joe was a pretty fantastic writer. We will miss him. Go to the show and see how Joe’s followers respect him.
A DAY FOR FOOLS
Rita: Everyone knows the tradition of April Fool’s Day. I bet we have a couple of friends with good stories about this prankster day of the year. DAN KING (Bandit Kings): Blizzard of ’97 was my most memorable April fools. I’d been doing the Rhumb Line open jam for about a year and half, started booking, plus my band the Prolz were being produced by Tom Hambridge at Dave Brown’s Breakwater Estate Studio. It was my first time on 24 track Otari and Studer Analog with Neve and Sony Nashville consoles. The storm hit and, of course, the Rhumb Line opened as usual! Soon after opening, the place was packed. Skis and snowshoes lined up the walls and coffee drinks, board games, and cards with tunes cranking became the order of the day. One for the ages! *** LINDA VIENS (Kingdom of Love): My parents were really cute about April Fool’s Day growing up. My mom would make soap suds “mashed potatoes,” dog food “meatloaf,” grass “salad,” etc, and have it on the dinner table in serving dishes. Us four kids would wait for my dad to come home and serve dinner, trying to restrain our giggles as my dad would pretend to not notice until he took a mouthful, whereupon we would fall off our chairs laughing hysterically. Rita: Like I said—we have a couple of friends.
WHO HAS HELPED YOU?
Lolita: I know we at the Noise have help you with your career in some way—maybe in a bad way in some cases, but tell me who has helped you more than any other person. To keep it real, let’s eliminate your significant other from the answers. STEVE GAETZ (Bedlam Group): Mickey O’Halloran made Bunratty’s, created the Beat magazine, Harpers Ferry, and the Boston Blues Challenge at Jaspers, just to name a few. So many Boston musicians owe Mickey so much. I hope he’s smiling in heaven. I miss him everyday. *** KEN FIELD (Revolutionary Snake Ensemble/ Birdsongs of the Mesozoic/ Agachiko/ Musaner): Many years ago, John Schaefer, the music director at WNYC in New York City, took an interest in my music. Schaefer is influential and widely respected, and his encouragement and support has been incredibly meaningful to me. *** WILL DAILEY (Will Dailey): Tom Polce. A master, a brother, and a friend. Also a drill sergeant. *** RAY MASON (Ray Mason Band/ Lonesome Brothers): My grandmother (on my mother’s side), as she bought me my first guitar in 1964 when I graduated from the 8th grade. It was the single pickup Silvertone with the amp in the case. It was $69.95, brand new from the Sears in Holyoke, MA. My fate was sealed! Forty nine years later and I’m still using a Silvertone. Thanks, Grandma Saunders! *** TERRY KITCHEN (Terry Kitchen): I’ll mention three people to bless or blame, depending on your perspective: in the early ’80s, just after college, my Ohio-based band (Loose Ties) was trying to figure out where to move to. I was a big fan of Jules (Shear) & the Polar Bears, and heard Jules was moving to Boston, so we did too… Then in the mid-’80s, Fred Pineau of the Atlantics produced our record, and got us on ’BCN (and hence into the Rumble). Then, in the ’90s (post-Loose Ties), a Nashville song publisher named John Van Meter produced some demos for me, with ace Nashville session players, which ended up winning a bunch of song contests (which resulted in some actual checks). Despite their best efforts, I am still one hit away (from being a one-hit wonder). *** FRANCIS DiMENNO (the Noise/Wrong Hero): There are too many to mention, but I would like to single out Paula F. Ebbitt, formerly the head of circulation and reserves at the Kennedy School of Government Library, who gave me my start in the library field. Professor Cheryl McCarthy, the teacher of my library management course at the University of Rhode Island, also deserves a mention—I learned a great deal from her, and continue to do so. *** MARK KAYE (Hear Now Live): Ken Capobianco really helped me get started in the music industry. He was my English teacher at Northeastern University and he is also a music journalist. He taught me a lot about having passion for the music that I was into and let me cut class to do music industry-related events while working with me to make sure that I passed all my classes. If it wasn’t for Ken, I wouldn’t have got into the local scene at all. *** RUBY BIRD (Bird Mancini): The strange “six degrees of separation” truth of our Boston career is this… virtually every musically involved person we know, including T Max and Chuck U, we have met through Boston rock icon, Mr. Curt. It’s true. Nearly everyone important to us can be traced through one person or another back to him. And Mr. Curt and his wife, Donna, are both great photographers who have contributed mightily to our career imagery (as T Max and others have.) So, thanks to the talented Mr. Curt and Ms. Donna for leading us to so many other fabulous people. Lolita: An old friend of mine said, “People lead to people.” So go find the people who want to help you and more people will show up. Rita: I recently realized that the Noise is, in effect, one of the earliest community blogs—but instead of it being digital and existing online (although it is that too, now)—it exists in nature organically. Now please don’t start eating the Noise—that is not recommended. Just intake it through your eyes by reading it. We’ll be back in May, when the days will be warmer and Lolita will expose even more of her healthy epidermis.