Interview with Chris Stamey !

Chris has a new album out called Modernism. 

It features new versions of classic songs such as the Beatles’ “Hey Bulldog” (with Big Star’s Jody Stephens on drums), the Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset” (with the dB’s), and Sly and the Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (featuring the Uptown Horns, Brian Dennis [DAG], and Jon Wurster [Mountain Goats, Superchunk]). Deep cuts are also in evidence, including “Shadows Breaking Over My Head” by the Left Banke (with Brian Wilson Band alums Probyn Gregory and Nelson Bragg), “Hernando’s Hideaway” (from The Pajama Game, and a 1954 hit for Everly Bros. producer Archie Bleyer), “At Last” (by Harry Warren), as well as three new interpretations of his own earlier tunes. There’s also a closer of the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday,” a version produced by Alex Chilton in 1977. The original mix is now lost, but a charming instrumental rough mix on an old reel-to-reel analog tape (Alex on drums and guitar) was recently discovered, and Chris and Pat Sansone (Wilco, Autumn Defense) were able to replace the missing vocals and (with Don Dixon’s bowed bass and Rachel Kiel’s alto recorder) bring the track to life.

Chris Stamey began writing and playing music in grade school in Winston-Salem, NC, in the mid 1960s, in what is known now as the Combo Corner scene. In 1976, while studying music composition at UNC-Chapel Hill, he self-released Sneakers, one of the very first American “indie” records. The following year, he relocated to Manhattan to play and record with Alex Chilton in the burgeoning CBGB rock scene, then formed The dB’s with fellow Carolinians Will Rigby, Gene Holder, and Peter Holsapple, with whom he made several acclaimed records of original material, including Stands for deciBels (self-produced with Alan Betrock) and Repercussion (produced by Scott Litt).

During the next decade and a half in New York, Stamey worked with a wide variety of musicians. He recorded well-received solo records for A&M and Warners and was a part of Anton Fier’s Golden Palominos project, alongside an international touring cast that included Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Jack Bruce (Cream), Carla Bley, and Bernie Worrell (Talking Heads, George Clinton). He continued recording and producing upon returning to NC in 1993.

His recent releases include The Great Escape, Lovesick Blues and Euphoria, as well as Falling Off the Sky with The dB’s and A Brand-New Shade of Blue with the Fellow Travelers. As a producer and a featured singer/songwriter with the Paris-based Salt Collective project, he collaborated with Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Juliana Hatfield, Richard Lloyd (Television), Matthew Sweet, Aimee Mann, Andy Partridge, The Lemon Twigs, Mike Mills, and Lynn Blakey, among others. As a producer, arranger, and mixer, he has worked with over a hundred artists, including Alejandro Escovedo, Kronos Quartet, Flat Duo Jets, Skylar Gudasz, Branford Marsalis, Tift Merritt, Le Tigre, Those Pretty Wrongs, Ryan Adams, and Yo La Tengo.

From 2010-2018, Stamey was orchestrator and musical director for an international series of concert performances of Big Star’s classic album Third, alongside Big Star’s Jody Stephens, Ray Davies, members of the Posies, R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, Kronos Quartet and Yo La Tengo; Thank You, Friends, a concert film of these arrangements, was released by Concord in March 2017. He currently tours as a member of Jody Stephens’s Big Star Quintet, whose line-up includes Mike Mills (R.E.M), Pat Sansone (Wilco), and Jon Auer (Posies). His original radio musical about the early ’60s in Manhattan, Occasional Shivers, premiered nationwide on Christmas Day 2016. A “songwriting memoir,” A Spy in the House of Loud (Univ. of Texas Press), was published in 2018, followed in 2019 by his first printed collection, New Songs for the 20th Century, with a companion two-disc CD (Omnivore Recordings).

open.spotify.com/artist/1i7YYagcULgnW5Qilsto1d

music.apple.com/us/artist/chris-stamey/4034250

youtube.com/channel/UCG3O3S8Zg_WJoz2uTt_duig#

instagram.com/mrstamey/?hl=en

facebook.com/chrisstameymusic/

twitter.com/chrisstamey

songkick.com/artists/186319-chris-stamey

bandsintown.com/a/78299-chris-stamey

deezer.com/us/artist/1279457

tidal.com/browse/artist/3611403

qobuz.com/us-en/interpreter/chris-stamey/515742

audiomack.com/chris-stamey

music.amazon.com/artists/B008LPNC4M

@chris-stamey.bsky.social

chrisstamey.bandcamp.com/

Interview with Kitty Donohoe

Ann Arbor based songwriter and Michigan Emmy recipient Kitty Donohoe is not an Irish or Celtic singer, but she clearly draws from that part of her heritage, as well as her American roots, as an artist. Iconic WFMT-Chicago folk dj Rich Warren calls Kitty “far above and beyond most singersongwriters.” She writes music that has been called “earthy, luminous and compelling” (The Weekender) and she’s been praised in the press equally for her voice, her musicality, and her songwriting. Sing Out!, one of the oldest and most respected folk music magazines in the industry, says that Kitty is “ one of the rare singer-songwriters to sensuously weave words and melody into a strong and mezmerizing fabric.” Over the years Kitty has opened for a variety of artists, from Doc Watson to David Bromberg, from Bruce Cockburn to Cheryl Wheeler – and in 2008 she and sideman David Mosher took the stage at an Obama rally just before Bruce Springsteen. Already known for years for her songwriting, Kitty’s visibility escalated to a much bigger world when she wrote a song called ‘There Are No Words’ on September 11, 2001. In addition to the Emmy Kitty received for the song, it’s been featured in a documentary, which led to her singing it live at the Dedication of the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial in 2008 – an experience that she calls “profound.” Growing up in a large, creative family outside of Detroit, Kitty started ‘making up songs’ and playing the piano at a young age, then graduated to the guitar in high school, when she began going to coffeehouses and open mic nights, bringing the guitar and her own songs. When she became involved in Irish music Kitty bought a cittern (a large mandolin), and she still primarily plays guitar, cittern and piano. Kitty is a solid solo performer, and also often brings multi-instrumentalist David Mosher to her concerts, where he backs her up with guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and vocals. And although some of her originals may sound like they were written 100 years ago and others are clearly contemporary, one thing is certain: with or without a band behind her, Kitty’s striking voice carries it all, delivering each song with power and emotion.

https://kittydonohoe.com

Interview with Robert Kindey of The Numbers Bands 15-60-75.

Robert return to the show for the 3rd time. In this episode we talk about the Number bands during the era of Hot Wire, and about the Late Great David Thomas of Pere Ubu !

Info for Sep 19th &20th concert and film showing  

/https://www.numbersband.com/

/https://kentstage.org/

What's all about ( From Numbers band's website )

15 60 75 The Numbers has been praised by almost every national music publication and several international publications since the beginning of their 50 years of live performances and recordings. 
The music "cannot be categorized", "cannot be defined", "is too original".  The music industry is not about music anymore. It is about selling products the public can relate to. After all, it is a business. Even "alternative" music has become a label. The founder of the band, Robert Kidney, explains, "The music industry, the media, and the tellsusourvision (TV) are defining for the American public what is good music by only playing and supporting what is profitable. We are taught to disregard everything that is not familiar. We (The Numbers Band) give the people our best. Our effort goes into being creative, unique and original. We define our own sound. There are no rules because we don't play the game. We are not in it for the game, we're in it for the music."

So, the band continues to create and evolve outside of the "Rock & Roll" establishment. The majority of the recordings were financed by friends who loved the music enough to put up their own money. Hundreds of photographs taken of the band in different stages of it's existence by different amazing people tell a story of intense performances, long nights, and the passing of time. Band members have come and gone, and returned again. Robert sees music as much more than an emotional release or a performance. It is a job, a job for which he demands respect and payment for services.

Robert Kidney picked up a guitar and began teaching himself to play when he 16. He bought a 45 record called Guitar Boogie Shuffle and his cousin, Larren Hesson, taught Robert the licks. He also taught him to play one of his favorite songs, Riders On The Storm. At 17, Robert played solo in coffee houses and also opened for several acts at La Cave in Cleveland such as Linda Rhonstadt and the Stone Ponys and Janis Ian. He never found the time to learn to read music. After a short stint in the service in Chicago, he moved back to northeast Ohio in the spring of 1969. A friend, Gary Hawk, had formed a band called Pig Iron in Wadsworth, Ohio. Robert opened for them at the Akron Art Museum and several band members asked him to come to a rehersal sometime. When Robert did show up, Gary had left the group, and the remaining members wanted him to be their front man. Robert changed the name of the band to 15 60 75.

The title of the band has always aroused curiosity from fans. The fans called them The Numbers because it was easier than trying to get the figures right. Numbers had not been used in a name before, and the political climate in 1970 was quite Orwell-ian. Robert choose a sequence of numbers mentioned in a book written by Paul Oliver called The Blues Fell This Morning. In the chapter "The Jinx Is On Me", Oliver describes the Numbers Racket popular in Harlem in the 1950s and how dreams were analyzed as number sequences and used for placing bets. The band's music theory specialist, Terry Hynde, also discovered that 15 divided 15 is 1, 60 divided by 15 is 4, and 75 divided by 15 is 5. In a musician's world, "1, 4, 5," is referred to as the "universal progression".

The band resides in northeast Ohio. They have several recordings under their belt and more music than they can afford to release. Robert has recorded and toured with Anton Fier and his Golden Palominos. Robert and his brother, Jack, have toured Holland twice. The brothers also traveled to London, England in 1998 to perform in the Disastodrome! production by David Thomas. The entire band went to London to perform at the Royal Festival Hall in 2000. For more information on the production, and The Kidney Brothers, go to The Brothers And The Blues Abstract. This band has an incredibly interesting history.

Interview with saxophonist of The Numbers Bands 15-60-75 Terry Hynde.

Info for Sep 19th &20th concert and film showing  

/https://www.numbersband.com/

/https://kentstage.org/

What's all about ( From Numbers band's website )

15 60 75 The Numbers has been praised by almost every national music publication and several international publications since the beginning of their 50 years of live performances and recordings. 
The music "cannot be categorized", "cannot be defined", "is too original".  The music industry is not about music anymore. It is about selling products the public can relate to. After all, it is a business. Even "alternative" music has become a label. The founder of the band, Robert Kidney, explains, "The music industry, the media, and the tellsusourvision (TV) are defining for the American public what is good music by only playing and supporting what is profitable. We are taught to disregard everything that is not familiar. We (The Numbers Band) give the people our best. Our effort goes into being creative, unique and original. We define our own sound. There are no rules because we don't play the game. We are not in it for the game, we're in it for the music."

So, the band continues to create and evolve outside of the "Rock & Roll" establishment. The majority of the recordings were financed by friends who loved the music enough to put up their own money. Hundreds of photographs taken of the band in different stages of it's existence by different amazing people tell a story of intense performances, long nights, and the passing of time. Band members have come and gone, and returned again. Robert sees music as much more than an emotional release or a performance. It is a job, a job for which he demands respect and payment for services.

Robert Kidney picked up a guitar and began teaching himself to play when he 16. He bought a 45 record called Guitar Boogie Shuffle and his cousin, Larren Hesson, taught Robert the licks. He also taught him to play one of his favorite songs, Riders On The Storm. At 17, Robert played solo in coffee houses and also opened for several acts at La Cave in Cleveland such as Linda Rhonstadt and the Stone Ponys and Janis Ian. He never found the time to learn to read music. After a short stint in the service in Chicago, he moved back to northeast Ohio in the spring of 1969. A friend, Gary Hawk, had formed a band called Pig Iron in Wadsworth, Ohio. Robert opened for them at the Akron Art Museum and several band members asked him to come to a rehersal sometime. When Robert did show up, Gary had left the group, and the remaining members wanted him to be their front man. Robert changed the name of the band to 15 60 75.

The title of the band has always aroused curiosity from fans. The fans called them The Numbers because it was easier than trying to get the figures right. Numbers had not been used in a name before, and the political climate in 1970 was quite Orwell-ian. Robert choose a sequence of numbers mentioned in a book written by Paul Oliver called The Blues Fell This Morning. In the chapter "The Jinx Is On Me", Oliver describes the Numbers Racket popular in Harlem in the 1950s and how dreams were analyzed as number sequences and used for placing bets. The band's music theory specialist, Terry Hynde, also discovered that 15 divided 15 is 1, 60 divided by 15 is 4, and 75 divided by 15 is 5. In a musician's world, "1, 4, 5," is referred to as the "universal progression".

The band resides in northeast Ohio. They have several recordings under their belt and more music than they can afford to release. Robert has recorded and toured with Anton Fier and his Golden Palominos. Robert and his brother, Jack, have toured Holland twice. The brothers also traveled to London, England in 1998 to perform in the Disastodrome! production by David Thomas. The entire band went to London to perform at the Royal Festival Hall in 2000. For more information on the production, and The Kidney Brothers, go to The Brothers And The Blues Abstract. This band has an incredibly interesting history.

Interview and performance by CLE Collective

Zig At The Gig goes live at Negative Space bringing the talent from the streets of Cleveland to you! with CLE Collective ! CLE Collective is a 4-piece instrumental progressive rock band from Cleveland, OH. Their sound consists of odd time signatures, jazzy piano chords, epic guitar solos, soaring synth leads, and groovy bass lines.

https://www.facebook.com/CLEtrio/

https://www.instagram.com/clecollect/?hl=en

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJFigawGacFmDmiIJCG5hMA

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1gFryFyU6nv9jWIN52Xslp

Interview with Steven L. Jones !

Steven L. Jones is an artist, writer, musician, and former instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kentucky-born, the son of a choir director and violinist, he lives with his wife Catherine and dog Mojo in his adopted hometown, Chicago. A longtime writer for magazines and online journals, including the Woody Guthrie Foundation magazine “Sing Out.” Murder Ballads Old & New is his first book.

https://www.instagram.com/stevenljonesart/

https://sljonesart.com/home.html

murder-ballads-old-new

Interview with Glenn Morrow !

Glenn Morrow has a storied history as a founding member of “a” the first band to play at the legendary Hoboken music club Maxwell’s in the late 70s – the rest of that band went on to form the Bongos. Glenn next formed the Individuals and toured across the U.S. with that outfit. At the same time, he also served as an editor and writer at New York Rocker magazine.

In 1986, his new band Rage To Live became the first act signed to startup label Bar/None Records. Later that year, Glenn would become a partner with the label’s founder Tom Prendergast and eventually sole proprietor, a post he held until earlier this year when he turned the label over to A&R guru, Emmy Black.

Morrow felt the itch to make music again and wade back into band life after being inspired by re-union performances with his old groups at the closing night of Maxwell’s on July 31, 2013. When a flood of new song ideas arrived, he didn’t want the fun to stop.

In 2014, a band took shape around Mike Rosenberg (bass), Ric Sherman (guitar) and Ron Metz (drums). All were veterans of the local Hoboken scene (Human Switchboard, the Schramms, the Pussywillows).

Their debut album Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help was released on the Rhyme & Reason label in 2017 followed by their streaming-only sophomore album “2” in the COVID-crazed latter days of 2020. There are plans for a vinyl release of “2”, later this year.

Ray Ketchem had this to say about working with the band—

“Producing the third album from Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help drove home how sharp their instincts for hooks remain - they land with the confidence that only comes from decades of playing in bands. Glenn’s storytelling honestly reflects his generation, with a touch of melancholy, that gives the record an emotional weight,”

Here’s hoping Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help will make it to your town in 2026.

https://www.instagram.com/glennmorrowscryforhelp/

https://www.facebook.com/glennmorrowscryforhelp/

Interview and performance by Sweet Ignition.

Zig At The Gig goes live at Negative Space bringing the talent from the streets of Cleveland to you! with Sweet Ignition! Sweet Ignition is a Pop punk from Northeast Ohio. Fronted by singer songwriter, and guitarist Michael Gallup Sweet Ignition dives deep in this conversation and rocks hard!

A true up and coming talent to keep your eye on !

https://www.instagram.com/sweetignitionoh/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UcAfSbuSbqAHtNRWqshUj

Chuck Smith is a New York-based documentary filmmaker, television producer and author.

He created a 48-minute film Forrest Bess: Key to the Riddle in 1999 about the artist Forrest Bess  It featured Willem Dafoe as the voice of Bess and was co-directed by Ari Marcopoulos .

His 2018 film Barbara Rubin & the Exploding NY Underground was a biographical documentary about the 1960s experimental filmmaker and scene-maker  Barbara Rubin The film won the 2018 Metropolis Competition at the DOC NYC film festival.

Smith's publications include a Forrest Bess book that was published by Powerhouse books  in 2013 with a Foreword by Robert Thurman and Film Culture 80: The Legend of Barbara Rubin (2019) co-edited with J Jonas Mekas and published by Spector Books. 

About the Fugs Film !

fugs-film

https://www.instagram.com/chucksmithnyc/

https://www.youtube.com/@chucksmithNYC

https://vimeo.com/producerchuck

Interview iwth Johnny Iguana of The Claudettes

Johnny Iguana, the Claudettes' composer/pianist (who has played on albums featuring Derek Trucks, Johnny Winter, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton and Johnny's own Chicago punk-organ cult band Oh My God), has been reaching a worldwide audience as co-composer of the original score of Emmy-winning smash FX/Hulu series "The Bear." His co-creator of that score, JQ, joined Johnny to co-produce two tracks on GARAGE GLAMOUR. In addition, Grammy-winning producer and musical Renaissance man Steve Berkowitz (who also happens to be Johnny Iguana's uncle) flew from NY to Chicago to co-produce much of GARAGE GLAMOUR.

But the big coming-out party here belongs to lead singer Rachel Williams, who has been dropping jaws at Claudettes shows since early 2023 and now makes her album debut with the band. Riveting concert crowds with her six-foot height, powerfully soulful vocals and dazzling array of stunning outfits, Rachel simply amazes on GARAGE GLAMOUR. She joins Grammy-nominated guest singer/guitarist John Primer on the deeply moving album opener "(You Are My) Whole World." Their duet is a thing of profound beauty, as John fell in love with this song in the studio, just as the tape was rolling. This is one of those precious occasions where the moment of musical and emotional discovery is documented just as it flowered. To listen to (now-80-year-old) Primer, distinguished alumnus of the Muddy Waters Band, pour his whole heart into this duet with Rachel is something supremely special.

"'(You Are My) Whole World' is a Chicago song, through and through," says Iguana. "The Chi-Lites' 'Oh Girl' was a musical inspiration, and John Primer is not only one of the last great Chicago blues legends alive, but he loves soul songs so much. He has sung soul classics on stage and in the studio for years, and so I knew that he would bring something extraordinary to this song. My wife and our drummer's wife both cried when they first heard the track with John's vocal on it. I knew we had something remarkable here."

The band, with Michael Caskey on drums and Zach Verdoorn on bass and guitar, create rock-steady grooves on the galloping "Winter Came While You Were Gone" and the throwback reverb-soaked rock 'n' roll of "Whirlpool," the band's spin on a classic Wanda Jackson B-side. Lustful wishes go in two different directions on "No Matter How Much" and "Touch You Back." In the former, an ominous buildup of stomps and lurches that gives way to a heroic prog-rock hoedown, Rachel blames all her problems on some maddeningly ineffective magic potion…100-proof Kentucky magic potion. In the latter, a tight dance-floor post-punker (featuring musical shoutouts to everyone from Kraftwerk and Gary Numan to CCR, the Doors and the Zombies), clear romantic signals are somehow missed, but Rachel won't give up so easily. Funk perfection is brought to "Touch You Back" in the form of guest guitar by the one and only Ella Feingold (Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Silk Sonic…), and both "No Matter How Much" and "Touch You Back" were co-produced with Iguana's "The Bear" partner JQ.

Musical menace and a wide array of keyboards (from Hammond organ and acoustic piano to Roland JX-3P analog synth and Mellotron flutes) emerge on the maniacal rock-opera treatment of the real-life war of wills between Jeff Bezos and David Pecker on "Mr. Pecker's Apoplexy" and the heist-gone-wrong chiller "That Could Be Arranged." Another cinematic gem is the David Lynch-worthy "The Aftermath," in which the questioning narrator seems to ask from beyond the grave, "Are they still looking for me?" Finally, GARAGE GLAMOUR ends with the burning message of "Don't Give It Up to the Thieves," in which Rachel bursts out of the gate to urge us to stop feeling forever aggrieved, reverse the trend of finding enemies everywhere and reclaim the innocence and naivety of childhood. The second half of that album-closing suite, "There Is No Other Side," doubles down on the mission to reject this age of enmity, with the final line, "Heaven, hell and war are built on lies. There is no other side."

Radically ranging from powerhouse singer to protean character actor, Rachel Williams asserts herself majestically here ("majestic" being the way one audience member described Rachel's entrance to the stage at an outdoor summer concert). And for all the sounds, styles, omens and homages heard on this astonishing new album, GARAGE GLAMOUR presents a band with a unified sound and an ultimately uplifting outlook.

"These are wild times, in the worst way," says Iguana. "So let's get wild, in the best way. Have fun. Make fun. Make music. Be your weird self, all the way. We'll show you how."

https://theclaudettes.com

https://www.facebook.com/TheClaudettes/

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheClaudettesOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/the_claudettes/?hl=en

https://theclaudettes.bandcamp.com/