PAULA COLE by Eric Baylies Rockport, MA, native Paula Cole has won a Grammy, sang with Peter Gabriel, toured the world as a solo artist many times over, and has two of the biggest hits of the past 20 years in “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” and “I Don’t Want to Wait.” Her new album,Raven, is out now as she prepares to play a few New England shows. I spoke to her as she was preparing the tour. Noise: Tell … Read More >>
Category Archives: Cover Story
LENNY LASHLEY’S GANG OF ONE by Kevin Finn Lenny Lashley has long been one of the most beloved figures in Boston rock, largely because of the good times his bands provided. Whether with the raucous and raunchy punk of Darkbuster or with the country stomp of The Piss Poor Boys, it was impossible to leave one of Lenny’s shows without a smile on your face. Often, though, there was a sense of melancholy in the music. It was often buried … Read More >>
DAVID ADDISON SMALL & THE BORDERLINE SAINTS by DJ Mätthew Griffin While Thai dining on the back deck of the home of Borderline Saints frontman David Addison Small, a thunderstorm over Boston’s South End serves up as the perfect backdrop for an evening interview with a new band comprised of veteran players. Mid pad thai, the phone rings—it’s Fritz Erickson. Chip “Taylor” Smith takes the call and exclaims: “I am out on the veranda with the Bowie.” It’s an evening … Read More >>
DUKE ROBILLARD ON THE ROAD AGAIN by A.J. Wachtel After dinner, you are tuned into WBZ Channel 4 watching Jeopardy as Alex intones to the final jeopardy contestants: “What do Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, John Hammond, the late Jimmy Witherspoon, Dr. John, Maria Muldaur, and Roomful of Blues all have in common?” You find yourself screaming “Duke Robillard! Duke Robillard! Duke Robillard!” to the TV screen and you curse the stupidity of the blank-eyed threesome. You even know Duke won Blues … Read More >>
MELISSA FERRICK FINALLY HOME AND FEELING HAPPY by Julia R. DeStefano “Songs are snapshots of what you’re going through, and mine involve questioning, searching for completion, joy, and truth, and desperation for relief. I’m satisfied with my progress as a writer and a human being, and I know I’m going to get better at both. There will be times when I’ll feel like I’m not improving, and I’ll get through that.” ~Melissa Ferrick Melissa Ferrick is a woman of many … Read More >>
FLY AMERO by Peter Van Ness Children are playing in a warm, sunlit field behind the Amero’s Southern Avenue home in Essex, MA. Suddenly, Mother shouts out the back door: “Come quick! Gene Krupa is on Dave Garroway.” Dennis “Fly” Amero, along with his older brother and sisters race into the dark living room to be instantly mesmerized by the first superstar drummer. Gene Krupa had catapulted to fame on Benny Goodman’s 1937 cover of Louis Prima’s hit, “Sing, Sing, Sing,” one … Read More >>
TIM GEARAN by Dave Westner Anyone from out of town who happens to stumble into a Boston bar—be it Atwoods or Toad—when the Tim Gearan Band is playing would immediately think this is the greatest city on earth. Tim has assembled a band of musical heroes, at least to me and to many other local music people. Every Monday night for years, his band (Andy Plaisted on drums, Lou Ulrich on bass, Sean Staples on mandolin, the Cottonmouth Horns—aka Paul Ahlstrand and … Read More >>
JON BUTCHER GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE by A.J. Wachtel Jon Butcher is a showman in every true sense of the word. Behind his charismatic smile is a heart full of soul and passion. And now, a generation later, he brings his iconic flashy licks front and center and revisits a great former band—Jon Butcher Axis. Read on and learn the differences between fact and fiction as the plot thickens in Butcher’s legendary life. Noise: In three sentences, give me … Read More >>