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Violent Femmes @ Beak & Skiff, 8/17/2024

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On August 17, 2024, the legendary punk/folk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, The Violent Femmes, took the stage at Beak and Skiff Apple Orchard in LaFayette, New York, for an unforgettable night featuring two full sets showcasing their remarkable albums. They kicked off the evening with their iconic 1984 release, Hallowed Ground, before diving into their self-titled debut album from 1983, performing both of these albums in all their glorious entirety from beginning to end. This concert marked the celebration of 40 years of the extraordinary talent, creativity, and passion that The Violent Femmes have shared with their fans over the decades. The Violent Femmes are an extremely passionate and dedicated group of musicians that work perfectly together to create an amazing live performance.

(Rachael Skinner review and photography)

 

 

More from Rachael Skinner …

Steve Conte – Xperience History

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Steve Conte

Steve Conte – Xperience History – by Dick Beach.

Steve Conte is known for different things to different audiences.  Cowboy Bebop to some, a player with Blood, Sweat and Tears to others, and as a member of the iconic New York Dolls.  One hard hitting question and a bunch of other, interesting, conversations.

RRX: We’re speaking with Steve Conte today, who has played with just about

everybody on the planet has a new record called “Bronx Cheer”. Thank you very much for joining us.

SC: My pleasure. Hi Richard, hi everybody out there. What’s happening? Where are we located right now? I know we’re on the web, but where’s home for you guys?

RRX: The home base for our organization is in Waterford, which is a little suburb on the river. And I just want to start, because this is a very important question, and our readers just want to know. You grew up in Utica. You were born in Utica; I imagine you spent a few years there. You

now live in The Bronx. Pizza or tomato pie?

SC: You’re asking a really tough question, man.

RRX: I thought I’d hit you with a hard-hitting journalistic question to start.

SC: You know I love my pizza, especially Sicilian, but the tomato pie I grew up with. Every time I come upstate I go to a place where I can get some. But it just doesn’t

happen down here, they don’t have it. So, I love both, how’s that for an answer?

RRX: Hedging your bets.

SC: Yeah, I was born in New Hartford. I don’t know if I ever lived in Utica proper,

I spent most of my early schooling years, kindergarten through fourth grade, just outside of Buffalo,

so, we even moved further upstate, and yeah, we had some brutal winters up there. Then

we moved to New Jersey, and down this way ever since.

RRX: I was surprised to see that your first touring gig was with Blood, Sweat, and Tears? Tell

me a little about that. Because I think people will go, ‘wait a minute, that dude did

what?’

SC: There are different segments of the population that know me for different

things. There’s one segment of the population that only knows me through my work

with Japanese anime. But those people had no idea that I was a singer and a songwriter on my own, that I ever recorded with my own bands, or other bands – they just know me as the voice of

Cowboy Bebop, whatever, the anime. And there’s those people who know me from my

time in New York City, playing with all these different people: Paul Simon, Peter Wolf,

Billy Squier, you know, the Dolls and Monroe. Then there’s the Dolls and Monroe

people, like the sort of glam-punk, sort of garage people who would have no idea that I

did anything, like, ultra-musical before that, like study jazz guitar, and play with Blood,

Sweat, and Tears.

RRX: Bronx Cheer has some straight ahead rock n roll, there’s some other stuff that has a very… I won’t call it swing but I’ll call it a mellow jazz feel with respect to chord changes and where the lyrics go. Did that just happen because of what you write or was that purposeful?

SC: Well without knowing the specific songs and parts you’re talking about I thought you were going to say with regard to the rhythm, the swing that would be coming from Charley Drayton, (the drummer).  Charley Drayton who plays with Keith Richards, X Pensive Winos, B52’s and The Divinyls, he’s played on so many hit records and I got him! We did a lot of live things together with Bernard Fowler who sings with The Stones. I knew I wanted to make this straight ahead rock n roll record but I wanted swing and a little bit of a different quirkiness to it and Charley always brings that to anything that he plays on, so I knew Charley was the guy for it.

RRX: Everyone’s going to know the rock n roll stuff, tell me how did Cowboy Bebop start up?

SC: Well, it’s a huge phenomena when I got the call. I call it when you hang around this crazy town long enough and shit happens, you know? I got to New York in 84 or 85. I moved in, in 86 and started hanging out a little earlier and building my reputation. This woman Yoko Kanno came to New York from Japan and she was asking for a male rock singer and her translator (for lack of a better word) reached out to some New York heavy musicians and asked can you give me the name of male rock singer? My name got tossed in the hat, so I sent a demo tape, she loved it. A couple of months I’m coming back to start a soundtrack for this new Japanese animation series called Cowboy Bebop, it’s 1998. So I did it and she kept calling me for more of those and before I know it, it’s like… time goes on we’re doing more and different animes Ghost in The Shell, Wolf’s Reign, Brain Powerd and I eventually did some for Sonic, you know the video game not with Yoko but someone else. But you know everything sort of builds and they start associating my name with that, which is completely different from the rock n roll world.

RRX: You were in The Dolls and as I understand it there’s supposed to be a new recording being done with Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks, you played with Peter Wolf. How much of that is very different but very the same?

SC: Whelp, some of that stuff is ages ago now, like the Squier, the Wolf, the Paul Simon, the Maceo Parker. These things happened in the late 90’s to early to mid 2000’s. I joined The Dolls in 2004 and that was really the first time I played punk rock or garage rock or whatever you want to call it. Proto-punk or glam, I don’t know. Once I got into The Dolls, I really dug into the music to get to its essence. You can’t stand up there on the stage and not believe what you’re doing and not love it.

RRX: In an interview I saw, you actually start with two inch tape, which is not the cheap way to go anymore. How do you think that affects what you do? Because this record sounds awesome.

SC: I agree the early digital stuff would sound cold and brash and on the high end brittle. On one of my albums, I started recording on digital and it was irking me so much with the brash high end, when we mixed it, we actually mixed it to tape. This time we started out with two inch analog tape, it’s just got that warm tape saturation.  We use one reel of tape and we get a take of a song and then we just record over it. We dump it into the computer and we say okay there’s that one’s done. Okay let’s roll over the tape now and each reel of tape lasts like fifteen minutes so you can get like three songs on it. Then you just wipe it and do the next track. We did that for all ten songs.

RRX: When you were touring and you were on a bill with Bo Diddley, did you ever meet one of his guitar players, Frank Daley?

SC: Oh. I know Frank from Albany.

RRX: You know Frank?

SC: I know the whole family. I know Joe, I know Jack. I played with all of them.

RRX: Frank used to be my two doors down neighbor.

SC:  Wow. Frank Daley man, yeah

RRX: That whole Daley family, I’d look and go, how did that much talent get into three brothers? They’re extraordinary.

SC: Yup, Joe was great too. A great drummer. Yeah, they’re like me and my brothers, me and my family. I have another brother Jeff who’s a great drummer and my brother John of course is a phenomenal bass player. He played with everybody from Ian Hunter to Roseanne Cash, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes for the past decade. But yeah, we have a similar thing going on, it’s that brotherly Upstate thing man.

RRX: I always ask people. The thing that I do when I end an interview. If there is a single statement you would like to make to the world, to everyone, anything you’d like… what would you say and why would you want to be remembered for it?

SC: That’s a heavy responsibility.

RRX: I believe everyone has a message that can resonate. That’s a personal thing with me. I never wanted to have an interview where we go through all of this other stuff and not give you the opportunity to express something that you’d like people to know.

SC: Well, there’s probably a couple of different ones. In life my motto is just be a righteous dude, you know? Be a good guy. There’s so many people in this world where people just use other people for as much as they can and just kick them to the curb when they’re done. I’m not one of those kinds of people, and I really detest people who are. I’ve met them throughout my life and career. I just write those people off, they don’t figure into my list of true friends anyway. So, I’d say, you know? Do the right thing. You know when you’re doing something sleazy and not cool. I try to lay everything out even if I’m asking for a favor from somebody. I’m not going to hide behind some fake thing and spring it out at the last minute, hey, how about this favor? I’ll come right out and say hey, look you know, this is what I’m thinking. How do you feel about this? Honest communication. Be a good dude and please buy music again!

RRX: Thus endeth the interview.

 

 

 

More by Dick Beach…

 

Slab City – An Xperience Article

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Slab City

Slab City – An Xperience Article – by Liam Sweeny.

The Southern California desert. Sixty miles south of Joshua Tree National Park, there’s a city sandwiched in between a bombing range and the south end of the Salton Sea, a body of water so toxic that if the law meant anything, no one would bask on its beaches or walk through its surf. There’s no zip code, no city council to vote on one and no mayor to give a rousing speech persuading the residents that they need one. And no cops will arrest you for stealing someone’s mail.

Welcome to Slab City, with a population of a couple hundred or a couple thousand, depending upon the season and who you ask. A place where you can be free and so can everyone else, and you realize that freedom is a fire that can warm your heart or it can burn your bones. It’s on Youtube, a Gen Z bucket list, a haunted house challenge, but the truth is very much alive.

Sira is a dancer. She’s self-taught and she moves like no one with a little touch of everyone. She is a docent at Salvation Mountain, a city landmark, a giant labor of God’s love built entirely from the vision of one man, Leonard Knight.

“He came out here and his original intent was to inflate a hot air balloon,” Sira said. “Like a 200-foot-long hot air balloon out here that said ‘God is Love’ on it. And he unfortunately didn’t get to do that because the environment that the hot air balloon was in didn’t really lend itself to that too much. So he made the mountain instead.”

“Everything you see on the mountain he did basically by himself. And he only got really donations for it, but he made that whole mountain basically on his own with his initial intent to show you that he loved God, that was his big thing. He loved God. But as the times rolled by and people evolved, he evolved as well and he started to make the mountain for everybody, long as you have love in your heart, you know, you, nothing can go wrong. Keep that sense.”

Sira is at home in Slab City. It is summer, a time that tests the mettle of slabbers, and some might say signifies the truest of them. It was 124 degrees when we spoke. She understands the true draw of such a fierce place.

“I don’t care how they are in Babylon,” she says. “but when you come out here you have this energy, you know, you feel like you can be yourself and it’s so natural and that creates a lot of uniqueness with the people who come out here. Even big artists when they come out here, you get to see them be themselves instead of following the rules if that makes sense. And it’s really refreshing to see, especially nowadays because people have such a hard time being real. So you don’t have that problem here.”

Her name is Simcha. It means “to find the blessing.” Her search, and the weather, has found her on the holy mountain of Shasta, her van parked near a drum circle that had been going on for hours, drummers hopping in and out, threading the beat. Her dog is treated to scraps of bone and meat by the drummers and fellow nomads. She lives her life riding the waves of providence, and the current had once taken her to Slab City.

It is in Simcha’s nature to help, to serve, and in the slabs she was quick to find like-minded souls.

“And, um, my campmate Chuck and I both kind of fight death for people who would come to us and nearly die, and then we would bring them back to life. Once I did a drum circle for that because my friend had had a heart attack; it happened five or six times with different people and they would come to us and be like ‘I came to the desert thinking I was just gonna come kill myself. And then I found you guys.’ And we called ourselves the Pillow Patch, like a safe place to rest. And then we would just play music. We were a sober camp except we would smoke a lot of pot and I would experiment with my journey. But there was no alcohol and there was no meth, none of that harder stuff.”

A blended truth is that the slabs are dangerous, and they can be. The desert is rough. And some who come there are escaping Babylon, what they call the outside world. And some come to do meth and hide out from Johnny Law. Simcha found out one night that she was “bad for business.”

“They lit my place on fire in the middle of the night, and I heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, you’re in trouble,’ she said. “And I got up when my ceiling was in flames and I grabbed my dog, and I ran out, and I tried running back in there, which I shouldn’t have. Thank God I woke up and like screamed for my campmates.”

He is called Water Boy. It’s a tattoo that spans his back, reining in the darker prison ink that would have him unacceptable in Babylon. He is an outlaw and a vigilante, and a father and the driving force behind Slab City’s soup kitchen. If the slabbers have a sheriff, it’s Water Boy.

Law and justice exist in Slab City, but it’s stripped down. With two girls, Water Boy makes sure that no one on any sex offender registry is welcome. And not being welcome is known to the State of California to cause ill health outcomes.

Water Boy is tough and human, two necessities of living in an inhospitable autonomous zone. But things get to him. When a 67-year-old drunk was burned alive and the murderer came into coffee hour to brag about it, Water Boy rallied the community to encourage the murderer to turn himself in. How that happened was not within the purview of our conversation.

But one of Water Boy’s biggest battles is misconceptions about the city on social media.

He explains. “We have a really bad reputation online and I’ll tell you why. I’ve been here for about 17 years, right? Give or take. I might be a year or two off because time starts to fluctuate out here a little bit, a little different. But so for years and years and years, like when I first came here, it wasn’t on Youtube. Youtube wasn’t even a thing.

“So now Youtube started to blow up, the internet started to blow up in Babylon. We didn’t have reception out here. You guys have cell phones. We did not, we still have shit reception here. So you would come here and be like, ‘Oh, one night in the lawless town of Slab City, come live in the lawless town. Or, you know, I spent a night in a lawless town.’ It’s not lawless dude. We live in California.”

The real story is far more nuanced, and in some ways, Slab City follows more ancient laws that the “civilized” world has tossed by the wayside.

”I guarantee you right now if my car breaks down or my minibike, whatever I’m riding breaks down, and I need a tire, I can go to my neighbor and be like, ‘Hey, we got an extra tire laying around, we’re gonna find a tire inside Slab City,” he said. “Even if you’re not from here. Slap it on your car and get you back on the road because we don’t want you stranded here. You’re gonna die if you’re stranded here. If you come here and you tell me, ‘Hey homie, I’m hungry,’ I’m gonna go. You can’t do that in your neighborhood. Probably very rarely. I can go to my neighbor and be like, ‘Hey, homeboy, I’m hungry as fuck. I don’t have nothing in my house.’ My homie’s gonna give me something to eat and it’s not even my home. I can walk at any random house, but I mean random, any random house and ask for help and then we’re gonna help each other because we’re desert dwellers and we’re a small community and we know we’re the only thing we got.”

Slab City is built on liberty and survival. Doing what you want, being your true self; maybe it can’t truly be done from the cubicles in skyscrapers or the chem-lawns in suburbia. But in Slab City, you only have to survive a desert that wants to desiccate you. And for the 200 to 2,000 residents (Water Boy puts it at about 450 steady) it’s a welcome crucible.

 

 

 

More from Liam Sweeny…

Extra! Extra! The Xperience September 2024 Digital Is Out! Get it Here!

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Kids are going back to school, so now you finally have time to read all the summer issues. But start with this one. Slab City, The founding editor of PUNK magazine, and the original guitarist for The Misfits.

I Wanna Bite Your Hand – Johnny Mystery

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I Wanna Bite Your Hand

I Wanna Bite Your Hand – Johnny Mystery – by Johnny Mystery.

All matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. We’re living in a yellow submarine and our friends are all aboard. The ultimate party has already been held for the lunatics. Did you bring a yardstick? It was four guys from a seaside town in the North of England that made us all want to live next door …

Join us now in the avant-garde as we explore a tragical history tour. Somebody said we’ll be listening to them (well, not us) three hundred years from now, just like classical music centuries after the fact.

I’m sure through the magic of robotics and DNA reconstruction, the citizens of Earth, the serious future music lovers, will one day enjoy three-dimensional versions of the lads that will tour the world and beyond. Holograms? Ha – mere kids play in the year 2324!

You might think enough has been written about these guys. Why do you have to read more here? Seriously, you open up these pages hoping to find something new, something interesting, something fresh, yet here is another collection of dribble about the “Fab Four.” This issue must be addressed. Every time I walk into a bookstore, there they are. When I’m standing in the checkout line, there they are. When I log on to social media, there they are. And I see new pictures all the time. I mean these cats broke up in 1970 and we’re still finding photos that have never been published. How the hell is that even possible?? Perhaps Winston really did sell his soul. Why not? I’m pretty sure Yoko cast some kind of spell on him.

Sir McCharmley is not dead. He still tours. He brings grown men to tears when the show opens with “All My Loving.” Damn, that don’t sound like Bleepmania. Back in ‘64 it was the girls crying for you Paulie. And while we’re at it, I think we can blame said Bleepmania for the glut of tribute bands and shows clogging up the concert venues these days. You know what happens in the “biz” right? Once a trend takes off, the promoters do it to death, every stinking time. There is no shame. Did you ever hear of “Mini Kiss?” Yes, it’s just what you think. It’s true and they exist, at least they used to. I don’t keep up on such things.

A lot of people know (or at least I think) that Bob Dylan is the one who turned “the lads” on to the devil’s weed. Yes, Bob was the serpent in the garden, and he held out the apple to our lovable moptops, didn’t he? This was right around the time they started recording “Help!” So, in all reality, Bob helped make “Help!” They were under the influence through the entire recording session as well as the film production. Look in their eyes, you’ll see. Check out a vid of Bob and Winston sharing a London taxi during the Judas Tour in ‘65. Bob is completely out of it and Winston hurls insults that go right over Mr. Zimmerman’s head. Bobby D laments over all the booing he gets on stage and the good Dr. Winston O’ Boogie snickers in his face. You know he just wants to tell him he should have never ever strapped on a Strat at the Newport Folk Fest.

How many chances do you need to get it right? Number 9-Number 9-Number 9. Seven-Up only did six before they hit lemon-lime. #9-#9-#9 … how much trendy chemical amusement aid did Winston and Georgie have to consume before they got the idea to just randomly flip through a shortwave over sound effects records from the EMI sound vault. It’s pure genius I tell ya … GENIUS!!!! “Take this brother, may it serve you well.” “Turn me on dead man.” Just because it worked on the walrus, won’t mean it’s going to work on #9,#9,#9.

Why, oh, why did we need another five hours of those dreadful sessions at Twickenham Studios back in the bleak British Winter of ‘69? Just let it be, let it be. Not even George Martin wanted any part of that train wreck. They got Phil Spector to fill in. Thankfully he didn’t bring his warm gun … bang, bang, shoot, shoot. Poor Georgie got reamed by Sir McCharmly for not using his whammy bar correctly. Poor Georgie ran out with his Telecaster between his legs. Will Georgie come back? Will he retire and never leave his stately gardens? Will he buy a new sitar? Tune in next episode. Shout it from the rooftop of Blabby Road. Not even Lord Krishna can help you now poor Georgie!

And who really was the fifth? Billy Preston? George Martin (my pick by the way)? Murray the K (not with that hat)? Jimmie Nicol? … Wait, what? Who the hell is Jimmie Nicol? Jimmie is the guy who filled in for Ringo when he got the mumps (or was that the flu? No, that was Georgie before the Ed Sullivan Show) and toured Australia while Ringo recovered. Jimmie said it was the worst thing that ever happened to him. Why? Most of you never heard of him till you read it here. Have you got it yet? He did receive 400 pounds and an engraved watch, though. Ahhh … the rewards of Bleepmania!!!!

Call me a “snozberry” if you wish, but the bloom came off the rose after ‘66 when they stopped shaking their heads and screaming WOOOOO! in a vain attempt to sound like Little Richard (or is that Esquerita?). They should have cut it off right after they recorded “Rubber Biscuit” and “Revolving Door.” And don’t get me started on “Private Pepper,” the most overrated album in the history of plastic waffles. I will admit to liking the song “Mr. Kite” though. Anybody smart enough and lazy enough to get the lyrics to a song from a 19th-century circus poster is truly a genius, and Winston O’ Boogie would be the first one to point it out to us.

So, what was the point of all this? It was to talk as little as possible about Richard Starkweather, aka Ringo, aka Mr. Peace and Love on his birthday. He is perhaps the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. From the looks of Sir McCharmly these days, Ringo may also be the last man standing. He was brought in to play drums at the eleventh hour because he was uglier than the other three. By the way, that’s purely objective, my perspective. He got to ride on the fame train with the rest of them. Last but not least, he got to marry a Bond Girl. Damn, how British can you get!

I’m off “to the U.S.S.R…” and you know that can’t be bad. YEAH-YEAH-YEAH-YEAH!

 

 

 

More from Johnny Mystery…

No MSG TV: Powersiren – Lobby Sessions

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Erin and Justin from Powersiren stop by the RadioRadioX.com studios and perform a few original tunes.

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Flatwounds / Gozer / Jupiter Queen @ Empire Underground, 8/25/2024

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Review by Jesse Skinner.

 

On Sunday, August 25th, 2024, the notable NOLA sludge metal band Eyehategod performed at Albany, New York’s Empire Underground, joined by the legendary thrash groove pioneers Exhorder and the Nashville-based opening act Hans Condor.

 

The bill also included three local acts from the capital region. Kicking off the festivities was Albanys own stoner metal rockers Jupiter Queen. Showcasing their skills, they created an energetic atmosphere for the evening with their vibrant singing and lively guitar playing. The drummer added to the excitement, perfectly complemented by the bassist’s rhythm.

 

Another local band from the Capital Region that performed was Gozer, they are known for their unique blend of stoner doom and hard rock. A set filled with masterful gritty guitar riffs and searing vocals paired to match. The percussion section maintained a solid rhythm throughout the performance, complemented by the bass player who skillfully supported the vocalist’s harmonies. As the set unfolded, the songs showcased the genuine talent and mastery of their respective instruments.

 

When the hardcore grunge outfit Flatwounds took the stage you could feel the crowd was ready to let loose and almost immediately when Flatwounds started playing they had the crowd in the palm of their hands until the end of their set. Performing yet again another unforgettable live show, they had the crowd singing along, moshing, and crowd surfing.

 

All three bands performed incredible sets and had the crowd ready for the headlining acts. I highly recommend making a point to see these local bands. All three bands are proof the Capital Region is the home for emerging local and unique musicians.

 

Photography by Rachael Skinner.

 

 

More from Rachael Skinner …

Jukebox – Music News Cuts – 8/30

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Jukebox

Jukebox.

Bad Religion

Bad Religion’s Fall 2024 North American tour has been cancelled. The reason given was an “unforeseen family circumstance.” The tour was set to begin September 17th in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and conclude in October 19th in Sacramento, California.

The tour would have been the second part of their North American tour, the first part earlier this year with Social Distortion. It was shaping up to be the band’s most active year since 2021, with a belated celebration of their 40th anniversary, 2020, put off by COVID. They also released their autobiography, DO WHAT YOU WANT: The Story of Bad Religion.

About the cancellation, the band had this to say on Instagram;     “We apologize for any disappointment and disruption this may cause. For ticket refunds, please visit the point of purchase. A sincere apology to @niis.losangeles for your willingness and support. Go check them out, they are fantastic!”

Bryan Ferry

Bryan Ferry has released a new single, “Star.” It’s his first original song in 10 years. It features Amelia Barratt and was inspired by a sketch by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The instrumental groove runs counter to Ferry’s and Barratt’s deadpan vocals.

“‘Star’ is a collaboration with the painter and writer Amelia Barratt,” Ferry said about the song in a statement. “A couple of years ago I helped her record an audiobook here in my studio. I was very impressed by her writing, and this is the first song we did together. I’m very excited about this new work — there’s a lot more to come.”

The song will be a part of Ferry’s upcoming box set, a collection of his solo work from over 50 years.  The 81-song collection Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023 will hit the public on October 25th.

Kim Deal

Kim Deal, of The Breeders, has announced a solo album, her first ever, called “Nobody Loves You More.” It will hit the shelves on November 22 from 4AD. She produced it herself, with help from the late Steve Albini, who engineered most of the songs at Electrical Audio.

“Nobody Loves You More” features her twin sister Kelly Deal, fellow Breeder Jim McPherson, Josh Klinghoffer, Savages‘ rhythm section (drummer Faye Milton and bassist Ayşe Hassan), Teenage Fanclub‘s Raymond McGinley, Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) former Breeders Mando Lopez and Britt Walford, and more.

The Album features a single from earlier this year called “Coast,” and that’s been followed up by “Crystal Breath.”

Nobody Loves You More
1. Nobody Loves You More
2. Coast
3. Crystal Breath
4. Are You Mine?
5. Disobedience
6. Wish I Was
7. Big Ben Beat
8. Bats In The Afternoon Sky
9. Summerland
10. Come Running
11. A Good Time Pushed

 

 

Candy Ambulance (10th Anniversary show) @ No Fun, 8/23/2024

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Wiring, Retail Drugs, and Joetaurone helped support the 10th anniversary of Candy Ambulance.

 

Photography by Timothy Reidy.

 

 

More from Timothy Reidy …

Jim McArdle – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

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Jim McArdle

Jim McArdle – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

We caught up with Jim McArdle. This is what he had to say.

RRX: Playing out is tricky because you never know what’s going to happen when you get there. Sometimes everything goes wrong. What was your worst show like?

JM: My worst show I played was the last show I played. May 27, 2023 at Frog Alley Brewing in Schenectady. I was in the midst of battling liver cancer and my energy was drained. From the first note, I knew it was going to be a hellish night. My focus was off and all I wanted to do was get out of there, go home and go to bed. I knew I had to suck it up and finish the show the best I could. I remember afterwards on my way home I started welling up with tears thinking that I may have just played my last show. Uncertain as to when I was going to receive a liver transplant that would save my life, I was just plain scared. I cancelled the remaining gigs I had for 2023 and into early 2024 so I could focus solely on my health. I received a call from Westchester Medical Center on May 26, 2024 that a qualifying liver donor had just passed and their liver was available for me. On May 27, 2024, exactly one year from my worst show, I received the gift of life. Fast forward to today, I’m cancer free and recovering quite well. On October 18th, I’ll be playing my first gig back from surgery at the place I played my worst gig, Frog Alley Brewing. Everything happens for a reason.

RRX: Is there a favorite time of year? What time of year does the band have the most shows? Is there a recurring thing in the year that’s particularly memorable?

JM: Easy. Summer! Summer brings warm weather and people love coming out to the establishments to hear live music. Especially in Saratoga Springs!!

RRX: It’s a lot of fun living in the present, but we all collect memories and give birth to dreams. We’re talking dreams here. Where you see yourself next year? In the next five years?

JM: I’m hopeful to getting healthier and building up all of my gigs again. I was averaging 80-100 gigs a year so the number might be significantly smaller now that I have to focus on not overdoing it, as I also work a full-time day job in health care. As far as where I see myself in five years? I’m a recovering alcoholic with 11 years of sobriety, I take things a day at a time, so I really can’t see myself anywhere other than in “today.”

RRX: We all get a little support from those around us. And we also can be impressed by our fellow performers. Who do you admire in your community, and why?

JM: I’m going to have to say Rich Romano, lead guitarist for the local country band Skeeter Creek. Rich is an insanely talented musician and a great friend who has helped me become a better musician through our lengthy chats and shared experiences. He played a huge role in encouraging me to practice playing guitar after my surgery so I didn’t lose myself in laziness.

RRX: Is there a song you wrote that really died on the vine? Something you all like but somehow just couldn’t make it work. You swear never to play it live, that sort of thing?

JM: Being that I’m a solo musician, I’m answering in the “me.” I wrote a tune about 18 years ago that I fell in love with but the more I rehearsed it, the more I added to it and subtracted from it so much that it became a nuisance. This went on for about 15 years. I finally broke it out live one night on a whim. I immediately fell back in love with it. It’s now a setlist staple.

RRX: Like songs, every artist has a unique feeling about their first show. What was your first show like? Was it your best show? If not, what was your best show like?

JM: I don’t remember my first show. I was extremely drunk and I made an ass out of myself. The band I was playing with at the time didn’t care too much for that because I was the lead singer as well. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to our second show or any other show after that. My best show? Too many to mention. Playing sober for the past 11 years has made shows more enjoyable.

 

 

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