By Joe Viglione
Welcome to Column #4
We get lots of music, as you can imagine. And it is exciting to get to hear the elements that make up the New England music scene. These are just quick snapshots of the musicians. We hope to have them answer our Going Track by Track series so that you can get more in-depth information on each performer.
Steve Keith
Private Lightning bassist and producer comes up with this sublime version of the 1972 Spinner’s hit, “I’ll Be Around,” one of his and almost everyone’s favorite songs from that era. He’s got @elizabethdarcel on vocals with Keith (@steve2k2) on instruments, mix and master. Just tremendous. Love it.
Paul Donsanto
Paul Donsanto sent us “Crying Ain’t a Shame” recorded this between 2003 and 2007 with other songs, “Seems Like Yesterday” and “Holiday.” His elegant playing shines through, the guitarist who performed with local legend Myles Connor is an extraordinary talent. Though I’m against bringing up Myles it does catch people’s attention and it is a part of Donsanto’s legacy – read some NPR here on the subject https://www.wbur.org/lastseen/2018/10/26/myles-connor
“Crying Ain’t A Shame” is magical and mesmerizing and it’s the musicianship which builds a lovely foundation under the voice, melody and lyric. In 1981 Paul released “Madrigal” on Zajj Records, party of this writer’s Varulven label. It’s great to hear from such an important artist thirty-eight years later. Search Discogs.com or Google for “Madrigal”
___________________________________________
Hayden Arp
Hayden Arp performed at Club Bohemia some years ago and the set was inspiring and fun. Here’s a message we got in our mailbox that is rather surprising: “I write you from my new home in Los Angeles, California (a wild sentence to write). I moved in on Monday and have spent the past week flying between concerts, coffee shops, and a beautiful house on a hill in Echo Park, where I now live. This whole city is wild to me – the sun literally never stops shining, and everything smells of either guava, trash, or marijuana (sometimes a combination of the three). There are more events happening every night than I can keep track of, and I am having a very good time.
It is with this energy of newness and excitement that I get to announce the return of my Friday Sounds series. I began the project back in 2018, sending out a new song to a subset of my mailing list every Friday, and managed to generate 20 before the year ended.” So I gave a listen to “Dance With Me” on his Soundcloud dot com / Haydenarpmusic The three minutes and nineteen seconds are as dreamy and explorative as I remember the sounds to be. Check it out.
Nick Zaino
“Pour Me a River” leads off the new Nick Zaino disc, Habitual Salvation. The seasoned performer hits it out of the park with this new material. Live in the studio it’s Nick live in the studio with just guitar, voice and words, and it absolutely is more listenable than the new Bruce Springsteen album which I felt was Bruce going through the motions. Zaino has the inspiration that the Boss is missing these days. Nick Zaino: vocals, guitar, harmonica Engineered at iZotope Studios by Matt Carlson Mixed and mastered by Chris Johnson Special thanks to Rachel Alix Go to Bandcamp to hear: https://nickzaino.bandcamp.com/album/habitual-salvation
The Complaints
Our friends The Complaints getting airplay in North Carolina on Alan Cox radio show High Point, North Carolina, Cox Rox is a monthly independent rock show and their tune “The View” is on the chart this month, Nov 2019 episode. Catch the trio every Wednesday at the Escada bar 39 Putnam Pike, Johnston, RI 8:30 pm. No cover!
Saturday November 16 Kids Like You and Me present at Club Bohemia @ the Cantab 728 Mass Ave, Central Square Cambridge Moto, Sticker Shock, Electric Street Queens and Johnny and the Foodmasters. Always fun and maybe club manager Mickey Bliss will jump on stage with the Foodmasters…they know his material. You can send demos and such to demodeal@yahoo.com
Joe Viglione is the host of the Pop Explosion Radio show featuring The Demo That Got The Deal – how major artists got their recording deals with publishers and labels. He’s on Activatemedia.org at 8 PM on Friday nights. Tune in!