Above The Basement - Boston Music And Conversation

Chuck had a solo conversation with the great New England band Twisted Pine.   He sat with fiddle player Kathleen Parks, mandolin player Dan Bui and bassist Chris Sartori not too long ago. We missed Twisted Pine's newest addition, Anh Phung, who plays flute in the band, but she is safe at home in beautiful Canada. But we did get to talk about her behind her back - all nice things of course.  Twisted Pine is one of the most acclaimed young string bands in the Northeast. These fine musicians bring their love of improvisation, rhythmic playing and even humor into their music that, while still rooted in bluegrass, bring in notes of pop, funk and jazz that, in addition to fantastic harmonies, make them unique.  Their most recent album Right Now is a must listen, and although they had to put off touring due to COVID, they have plenty of material for you to watch on their website at twistedpineband.com and I highly recommend you do because their videos are fantastic.

In early November we ran across an article in the Boston Globe about a collaboration between the Boston Hip Hop group STL GLD and The Boston Symphony Orchestra. The headline alone caught our interest – the BSO is collaborating with a hip hop artist? We were so interested.We watched a music video that they put together and it blew our minds.  The song itself, "With Me," from STL GLD's 2019 album "The New Normal” is an amazing piece, made even more incredible by adding talent from some BSO musicians.This project, called “Us: A Celebration of Community”, was a great idea imagined by Hip Hop artist and former guest on ATB Moe Pope, who felt that a collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra would be a great way to reach out to the hip hop community. The BSO was all in, and they both decided to bring together these two entities, as well as other artists, and I quote, “to explore the synergy between artists of different genres, in pursuit of a new and inclusive artistic vocabulary.”  In light of the COVID shut

It has been an insane few weeks, which is an understatement to say the least since that could apply to the entirety of 2020 if not the last four years. We don’t mean to lay our politics out there, but whatever your beliefs, 2020 can’t end soon enough.   Luckily, we were able to talk to the multi-talented Kemp Harris to bring a little light into this terrible year.  Kemp is a quintuple threat – actor, songwriter, composer, singer, storyteller – and we are probably missing a few other talents in there.  Kemp was a teacher in Boston for 40 years and has gone on to be a powerful presence on the stage, from your local coffeeshop to the Boch Center stage, his open armed and vulnerable approach to his work make for must watch and must listen performances.  Kemp and Chuck sat in an empty restaurant to talk about current events, storytelling, teaching, living and performing your beliefs rather than poking the bear.    That will make more sense when you listen.  As we were told by our friend Ralph Jaccodine, Kemp is th

Mission of Burma has been called, and we quote, "...one of the most important American rock bands of the last 20 years." That quote may be a bit dated, as now it may be 40 years, but either way, Clint Conley may find that to be hyperbole. But the fact remains that bands like The Pixies, Pearl Jam, Moby, REM, Nirvana and Throwing Muses (to name just a few) list Burma as a major influence, it is hard to argue with that moniker.In 1979, bass player Clint Conley, along with guitarist Roger Miller, drummer Peter Prescott and the “visually unobtrusive” Martin Swope got together to create this seminal Boston band that was part of a post-punk rock scene that inspired so many. Famous for their live performance and ear piercing volume, the amazing part of the story is that they released only an EP called Signals, Calls, and Marches in 1981 which had the fantastic track Academy Fight Song that was covered by REM and then one full LP in 1982 called VS., then took a 22-year hiatus before releasing their later works. Clint

We had an opportunity to sit with Abby (Abs) Kahler and Zoe Young - two of the members of the feminist folk foursome from Western, MA in the Pioneer Valley, Ruby Mack. We were sad to miss their bandmates Emma Ayres and Abbie Duquette, but during the time of COVID, we are always happy to sit face to face albeit 10 feet away and masked to chat with talented musicians. We got heavy into their songwriting and their debut album Devil Told Me, which they just released in late October. Like so many musicians, they were unable to tour the album as planned but hope to hit the road as soon as it is safe to do so.Previously called the Emma June Band, their playing and complementary harmonies are just beautiful. I’ll plagiarize here from their Youtube page just because it is so poetic -  “Ruby Mack sings about the ways in which we build ourselves into empty factories of potential productivity & transform ourselves into lonely machines, like a dog howling at something you can't see but makes you bristle regardless.”Th

Boston native Mark Kates is the founder of Fenway Recordings and manages several bands, including MGMT, The Cribs, Mission of Burma, Doves, Swim Mountain and KUNZITE.He had been in the biz since he was a kid, signing a who’s who of bands over the years including Beck, Jawbreaker, Elastica, Alabama 3.When working for Geffen, he brought them Sonic Youth and also worked with Nirvana, Hole, Teenage Fanclub, XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, White Zombie. The list is CRAZY. Oh yeah, and he also ran the Beastie Boys record label Grand Royal Records. We could go on and on, but suffice it to say he has topped himself by sitting with Ronnie and I for a conversation that runs the gamut.

We took a lovely drive to western ma to sit alongside a flowing river with our new best friend Erin McKeown.  OK, she might not be our best friend, but we certainly wish she was.  Erin is a force of nature.  A persistent welcoming smile immediately put me at ease. So much so that we talked for almost two hours.  Which is why this episode is in two parts. We talk music, musical theater, writing, name dropping, COVID, hope, and other things too numerous to mention.Over the last few decades Erin McKeown’s unique voice and guitar playing has garnered her a loyal fanbase, has grabbed the attention of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, has been awarded several Drama Desk Award nominations for her musical Miss You Like Hell, numerous awards and residencies, a writing fellowship, and is now a Professor of the Practice at Brown University.Her most recent event was a live stream celebrating the 20th anniversary of her first album Distillation, where she ceremoniously burned the dress she wore for the album cover and m

We took a lovely drive to Western MA to sit alongside a flowing river with our new best friend Erin McKeown. OK, she might not be our best friend, but we certainly wish she was.  Erin is a force of nature.  A persistent welcoming smile immediately put me at ease. So much so that we talked for almost two hours.  Which is why this episode is in two parts.  We talk music, Musical theater, writing, name dropping, COVID, hope, and other things too numerous to mention.  Over the last few decades Erin McKeown’s unique voice and guitar playing has garnered her a loyal fanbase, has grabbed the attention of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, has been awarded several Drama Desk Award nominations for her musical Miss You Like Hell, numerous awards and residencies, a writing fellowship, and is now a Professor of the Practice at Brown University.  Her most recent event was a live stream celebrating the 20th anniversary of her first album Distillation, where she ceremoniously burned the dress she wore for the album cover a

Every time we ask someone in the music business what is the most exciting thing happening in music in the City of Boston, we always get the same answer.  Hip-Hop. Not only has Hip Hop become the most popular music genre in the rest of the world, but Boston has become a hotbed of fantastic hip-hop artists like our next guest, Brandie Blaze.Brandie is nominated for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards and is blazing (sorry) her own path with her powerful and energetic performances. Her on stage persona is fierce, with socially conscious but also unapologetically explicit lyrics.She gives credit for her success to her mother, who she says raised her to be aware of the world she lives in, as well as other Boston Hip-Hop artists like Dutch Rebelle, Moe Pope, Oompa, and her collaborator in music Red Shaydez.  But she doesn’t seem like someone who needs a leg up. Brandie describes herself as a Trap Feminist, which she’ll explain in the conversation. She is devoted to her off stage work with The

Every once in a while we get to chat with a Boston legend.Chris Smither is one of the most distinguished and authentic singer-songwriter/bluesmen over the past 50+ years. His soulful voice and excellent finger-style guitar playing is set to a heartbeat kept in time by his signature tapping feet.Chris moved to Boston from New Orleans back in the mid 1960’s and within hours of arriving he was on stage with Eric von Schmidt in Harvard Square at Club ‘47 (now Club Passim).Hanging out with his future producing partner Dick Waterman and blues musicians Son House and Fred McDowell, he began to hone his songwriting chops.Also in that group of bluesmen was the incomparable Bonnie Raitt, who fell in love with his song Love You Like A Man and made it her own. His songs have since been recorded by EmmyLou Harris, Diana Krall, Josh Ritter, Loudon Wainwright III, Dave Alvin, Patty Larkin, Peter Case and Tim O'Brien.He continued to write, perform and also overcome his personal struggles to be a musical road warrior. He has

Ron and I sat in the back room of 40 South Street in Jamaica Plain, buried in denim, and various other piles of vintage clothing with our masks over our faces on a beautiful day not too long ago.  The proprietor Hilken Mancini had to leave every so often to take care of the front of the store, but we got in a great conversation.  40 South Street is a vintage clothing store owned by musician, punk rocker, entrepreneur, aerobic instructor and all-around amazing person Hilken Mancini. We first saw Hilken on stage with her band of incredible women in Band Of Their Own at the Foundation To Be Named Later event at The Paradise a few years ago.  But that is only one of her many musical endeavors. She was also in the great band Fuzzy, The Count Me Outs and currently plays in The Monsieurs and Shepherdess.  But she is also the founder of Girls Rock Campaign Boston, which empowers girls, women, and youth and adults with marginalized gender identities to believe in themselves by providing a supportive community that fos

Chuck drove out to Western Massachusetts to sit on Lisa’s front porch surrounded by chickens, a vocal rooster, two small children having an amazing time doing whatever small children feel like doing, bees and the occasional mouse to talk music, songwriting and Life in the Time of COVID.Lisa’s latest album How We Want To Live is a beautiful record that reflects her many life changes over the past few years.  Her songs are a musical ‘thank you’ to her grandmother who introduced her to the guitar and to songwriting, as well as a message to those in her life. The album reached #1 in Contemporary Folk on Roots Music Report, she was nominated in 2019 for Folk Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards and was the 2019 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Winner.Her honest and well crafted songwriting reflect her own personality. Lisa is a calming presence, thoughtful and very in the moment.It was appropriate to be surrounded by the wonderful chaos of life - the joyful sounds of her kids, a crowing rooster and the ar

Paul Hansen is The Grownup Noise – a Boston band formed in 2005 with bassist Adam Sankowski – that has had an impressive list of members too long to mention.The Grownup Noise website says their name represents something to rebel against, like fear, complacency, the closing of your heart, the stress of bills etc.We can imagine the current state of affairs with COVID, the election and the financial and social hardships we are all experiencing, we would all like to rebel.Paul is doing his own rebelling by incorporating some different instruments in his music, but it really all comes down to songwriting.We sat with Paul last week to talk about his new instruments, his songwriting and how he can’t seem to get the smell of fried foods out of his clothes. That will make more sense if you listen to the entire conversation.

With a name like Mistress Carrie, we might be forgiven if we were a bit cautious asking her on ATB for a chat.  But we knew what we were getting into.  Boston native Mistress Carrie is a badass.  She was until recently a DJ for 22 years and the Assistant Program Director of Boston rock station WAAF.  

Boston Hip Hop artist Cliff Notez is another guest we had been trying to get on ATB for a long time.    He’s a busy busy guy – writing, composing, teaching at Berklee College of Music and Emerson College, filming, sculpting, painting and according to WBUR in Boston, generally being one of the Boston arts community’s busiest multihyphenates.    Which is an awesome word and we're not sure what it means, but we think we want to also be multihyphenates.  Cliff also founded the media production company Hipstory, released a fantastic album last fall called Why The Wild Things Are, and was not too long ago was named 2019 Boston Magazine Best Musician as well as starting Boston Answering to highlight Boston artists in response to the Boston Calling music festival.  So as we said, Cliff is a busy guy, and we had a great time chatting on the phone while a thunderstorm raged in the  distance.  

For our first in-person but appropriately distanced conversation since COVID hit, we were fortunate to sit with fellow Bostonian, author, documentary filmmaker and National Arts reporter for the Washington Post, Geoff Edgers.We first came to know Geoff at a book signing of his recent book Walk This Way - Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song that Changed American Music Forever. Since then we kept seeing Geoff around town – at David Byrne's American Utopia show in Boston, in Quincy - the Quincy Jones documentary and once when he tried to steal my original pressing of The Kinks - Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) LP.That last one was a joke, but he is a huge Kinks fan and we are still hoping to watch his documentary about trying to reunite the Kinks called Do It Again. We sat in his backyard to talk current events, his continued hope for a Kinks reunion and his crazy awesome collection of tape decks, record players, 8 tracks and his personal favorite, his Welltron 2001.

We first met Corey SantOne DePina at a Mighty Mighty Bosstones concert not too long ago with some of his students at Zumix, and we could tell right then that he was the real rock star of the evening.  Zumix is an award-winning music and creative technology program designed to equip youth with the tools necessary to reach their full potential, while creating a safe space for youth to explore who they are and who they want to be.  In addition to working at Zumix, Corey also started the Fogo Project where he is working to raise money and gather musical equipment to create a permanent music education program on the island.  Madeleine Steczynski, Zumix founder and also a former guest on ATB, is our co-host and she has known Corey since he walked in the doors of Zumix as a 12 year old.

This is our second conversation with a former guest that we thought was important to have due to recent events.We spoke with Ashleigh Gordon - violist, activist and Artistic Director of Castle of Our Skins, a Boston-based concert and educational series devoted to celebrating Black Artistry through music. We talked to Ashleigh about how she’s doing with life in the time of COVID as well as her thoughts on the recent protests stemming from the murder of George Floyd.

The COVID pandemic hit all of us quickly and our plans for the spring, summer and perhaps beyond, were scuttled.  We know of many musicians who were planning to tour a new album and unfortunately they had to postpone, or in the case of Ry Cavanaugh of the amazing band Session Americana, cancel altogether.Hopefully we can change his mind about the tour, but at the very least we get to hear this beautiful album of songs that Ry gathered written by his late father George – also known as Bobby Pedd.We were about to sit with Ry before the Pandemic hit, and while safety and health kept us from being in the same room, we were still able to chat virtually about his father, the new album called Time For This, and how Session Americana, featuring many of the great musicians in Boston, came to fruition.Kristina Latino, our good friend from CornerScape, joins me this go round, so we’d like to thank her for joining us.

We wanted to catch up with a few of our previous guests to see how they are doing in this quarantine from which, thankfully, we are slowly emerging. I’ll have a few different guests on to talk about the current state of affairs in our city, including the protests and state of our country. So here is a conversation with Boston Emissions’ Anngelle Wood, where we catch up on the radio industry, what the new normal will look like for live music and how she hit the ground running once everything went down in February.