Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico

From 1973-1997, Jim Harold ran one of the most well-known and popular live music clubs not only in Boston, but in America. The long list of great bands that played the legendary basement is incredible. Jim passed away this past week so we reached out to some locals for their thoughts on the man and the club and this week we remember Jim Harold and perhaps the greatest rock bar in Boston history.  

Pete Sjostedt and his band Ape Hangers got the elusive major label deal and even landed a song in the film "Empire Records", which has become somewhat of a cult classic, but the band still fell through the major label cracks. Pete's career has however rebounded nicely as the lead guitarist of Garage Rock heroes Muck And The Mires. We talk about all that plus his interesting and at times challenging childhood.

Brad Hallen joins us on the show and talks about his long storied career playing with a plethora of artists over the years including The Joneses, Ministry, Elliot Easton, Aimee Mann, Johnny Winter, Duke Robillard, Susan Tedeschi, his current band The Nervous Eaters etc..  Lots of cool stories from a musician, who's career spans over 40 years...

WMFO Radio personality Skybar Lusardi(host of Skybar Rising) joins us on the show to talk about the Boston music scene with an emphasis on an upcoming show which he put together(along with Rum Bar Records) featuring Carissa Johnson, The Dents, and The Hi-End. Skybar also tells about his roots, working as a mailman, and how he got into radio. We also talk about some of Skybar's favorite all time Boston bands, including two which we share an equal love for....

Music

On this episode of the show, we are joined by Justin Keane and Amy Young, the rock duo of the group Canyons And Locusts. The pair discuss their long history of playing music together and how they have continued their rock journey while living on opposite sides of the country. We also talk about the recording session for their new album "Roll The Dice", and their subsequent signing to Red On Red Records..

Joe Nelson from Trust Records joins us on the show to talk about The Circle Jerks, 7 Seconds, SSD, and more...

Music

In a bit of a twist, Jim Saxton, who hosts the UK based Temple Of Bleh podcast and is currently producing and directing "The History Of RoadRunner Records" documentary interviews Steev Riccardo, the host of Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico about his history in the music business.

Al Quint joins us on the show and recommends some of the new punk and hardcore releases (The Cowboy, MAZE, Anti Machine, PCP & The Knives etc) that he's been playing and listening to the last couple years. We also get into the Record Collector's scene, the impact of Husker Du, the announcement that SSD's first album is being re-released on Trust, the greatness of The Big Boys, and the status of the live underground scene.

Ken Cheppaikode from Dirtnap Records joins us to talk about the Milwaukee based label's 22 year history and some of the labels bands including The Ergs!, Scrunchies, Fox Face, Proud Parents, Personality Cult etc.. We also talk about the huge Dirtnap anniversary weekend happening in Madison Ws. on June 16 & 17.

On this episode of the show, we are joined by Pittsburgh Rock legend Todd Porter as thrash heroes Eviction prepare to play their first shows since the early 90's. Todd talks about the early days of Eviction and the path that led to the bands' deal with Metal Blade Records. We also talk about Todd's hard working punk band The Cheats and more cool stuff about the Steel City. Plus the June 2022 Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico playlist! 

Music