Dan Zanes "Rough Spot"

Here's another Weekend Post:

I know that for parents out there, when you hear the name Dan Zanes, you think about music for kids---and you have a positive or negative reaction based on that image.

But his first release after the Del Fuegos broke up, was a really great, rocking-rootsy solo effort under his own name featuring this tune, which I always loved to play on WABN and we still spike in on mvyradio.

Dan Zanes And Friends plays the Kids Stage at Life Is Good this weekend.  Follow our coverage on the mvyradio Facebook page.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy "Television Drug Of The Nation"

Here's another Weekend Post:

Looking at the Life Is Good line-up, I realized that a number of the artists on the bill are folks I've been following for a long, long time.

My first awareness of Michael Franti came through this tune, with his early 90s, pre-Spearhead group, Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy.

Michael Franti plays the main stage tonight at Life Is Good this weekend.  Follow our coverage on the mvyradio Facebook page.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

R.E.M. "World Leader Pretend"

When I realized what was happening this weekend (that is, the Life Is Good Festival), I immediately went to look at Bob Dylan's tour schedule.

Not because I expect Mr. Dylan to be at the Festival.

No, I was checking to make sure that he was not out with The Never Ending Tour right now.

And while checking, I started humming R.E.M.'s "World Leader Pretend."

Dylan IS on the road next month, but right now he's not touring.

And that means I'll get to see Ben-Ben!

Brendan was my next door neighbor for the first two years of college at UMass.  Our gang of friends spent many many night (and let's face it, days and weekends and dinners and dawns) listening to and talking about music.

And while I spent my time at UMass exploring the media end of the business, Brendan (or Ben-Ben, as his roommate called him) got involved with the University productions, which put on a slate of amazing shows all year long, that culminated in a big Spring concert.  At every concert, while we'd be wandering through the crowd (most likely drunk) he'd have the thrill of working behind the scenes, as part of Load-In/Load-Out or Stage managing and such.

Brendan and I lost touch not long after college, but the advent of Facebook put us back into each other's orbit.  And two years ago, I saw him post a status about being in Canton, Massachusetts on a mid-September weekend.

I wrote him.  "Are you working at Life Is Good?"

He was!

We made a plan to meet, to see each other for the first time in about 17 years.

After college, Brendan continued to pursue a career in the touring business.  And---as these things work---he had a combination of talent, good fortune and timing, to land a gig with none other than Bob Dylan.

You can say what you want about Mr. Dylan being inscrutable and mercurial and whatever, but if you've been paying attention, in the last 20 years, he's become remarkably consistent about who he works with.  His touring band has changed very little, and, unlike much of the 70s and 80s, his touring band is largely the group of musicians that play on his records. 

Apparently, this extends to the people Dylan employs on The Never Ending Tour.  Ben-Ben and much of the core crew have been with Dylan for many, many years.

So that's Ben-Ben's life.  If Dylan is on the road, then so is Ben-Ben.

It's quite a thrill to live vicariously through Facebook and see Brendan post pictures from far-flung places around the world.

And it's nice that Mr. Dylan has happened to be off the road for the weekend of the Life Is Good Festival in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

When Ben-Ben is not on the road with Dylan, he's with his family in Massachusetts, and will pick up a job here and there if it won't interfere with the start of the next tour.  So he's picked up a gig running Good Vibes side stage at Life Is Good.

And while he grew up to be a roadie, I grew up to be a disc jockey, who gets assigned to introduce a few of the acts at the Festival.  So for the last couple of years, I've been sent to introduce some of the acts on the Good Vibes stage. 

It's pretty funny, and wonderful, to know someone from when you were practically a kid, and get the opportunity to work with them as a professional.

Saturday at 2:15, I'll be standing in the wings waiting to introduce Katie Herzig.  Ben-Ben will have given me the standard speech he has to deliver to misbehaving DJs, about keeping my shtick short and sweet and getting the hell out of the way.  And when he's ready, he'll give me the cue to send me out to center stage.  We'll be interacting as the professionals we work hard every day to be---He's touring with perhaps the greatest musician that has ever lived; I am running a beloved, heritage, independent radio station. 

This is hardly the kind of thing we could have imagined 20 years ago, when we were sitting around a UMass lounge, eating Bruno's pizza and listening to R.E.M., thinking we were terribly clever to change the words of the song so that we were singing, "I am, World Leader Ben-Ben . . ."



Hear the song on Youtube.

The Hold Steady "Sequestered In Memphis"

I had an interesting back-to-back concert experience. Nothing profound here, I just took note of the different approaches.

I went to see Wilco last week (yes, I seem to be going on, and on, and on about it).

In their nearly 90 minute regular set, they only played only one song that had ever been a radio single. And that was "I Might," their newest (and therefore, least familiar) single. Everything else was an album cut.

In contrast, I went to the Life Is Good Festival, and the one band I went out of my way to see, was The Hold Steady.

The Hold Steady opened the show with the beat poem/song "Positive Jam" and then launched into single after single after single.

I think they played every single off their last 3 albums ("Sequestered In Memphis," "Lord I'm Discouraged," "Hurricane J," "Stuck Between Stations"), filling the first half of their set. The effect was that every song was familiar to any mid-level fan. It was only later in the set that they dug a little deeper into their records.

I can only guess as to why each band approached their set list in such a way.

Wilco isn't really all about singles. They make some great ones, but they've really been an "album" band for a long time. Their singles are hooky, but the real power of Wilco is the artful noise and sonic dynamic the six guys on stage can make.

The Hold Steady, meanwhile, puts on a live show that seems designed to win you over by whipping you into a frenzy. They unload the magazine from the get-go, but have the power to keep up that pace even after delivering their hits.

Again, no agenda here. I just found it interesting.


Plus it gives me the chance to point out one of the funniest lyrics of the last several years, from "Sequestered In Memphis":

We didn't go back to her place.
We went to some place where she cat-sits

See the band on Letterman, on Youtube.

Toubab Krewe "TK2"

The Life Is Good Festival happens in Canton, MA this weekend. So this week's blog posts feature artists appearing on the bill.

I saw these Carolinians at Merlefest a few years ago, which is generally attended by folks who tend to favor traditional country, Americana and roots music.

It was just wonderful to see these crunchy young dudes, who had delved deeply into the music of Africa, become the darlings of the festival that year, winning folks over by simply playing their amazing music.

You can hear three different sets and an interview with the band in our archives.

Toubab Krewe performs today at the Life Is Good Festival. Their new album is out this week.

Mavis Staples “Wrote A Song For Everyone”

The Life Is Good Festival happens in Canton, MA this weekend. So this week's blog posts feature artists appearing on the bill.

It’s a testament to John Fogerty’s songwriting that this 40 year old tune sounds as relevant in 2010 as it did when he wrote it.

And it’s a testament to Mavis Staples gravitas that she can sing Fogerty’s tune, and leave no trace of the fact that this was written by a young white-bread Californian, and that it wasn’t just one of those tunes she and Pops performed during those marches with Dr. King.

Mavis Staples performs today at the Life Is Good Festival.

Ben Harper "Voodoo Child"

The Life Is Good Festival happens in Canton, MA this weekend. So this week's blog posts feature artists appearing on the bill.

I already knew Ben Harper was hungry.

He’d made it through a whole receiving line of fans, and had been extremely engaged and generous with his time, with each of the Meet-and-Greeters. He’s one of those guys who makes full, sincere eye-contact and seems to shut out the rest of the world when he’s talking to you.

But when he got to me, his Record Label rep, said “PJ is here to interview you,” and you could see him sink just a little bit, knowing that it’d be another 10 minutes or so before he’d get that burrito.

I was young. I was nervous. I had a list of questions. And I now know from experience, they were questions he’d answered 1,000 times before.

He was patient. He was kind. He tried to answer thoughtfully. And I now know from experience, that when he was asked the obvious question about Jimi Hendrix, he was on auto-pilot.

I asked him about his recent cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” and what was it about that particular Hendrix tune that drew him to it.

He talked about what a great and challenging song it is. Then he said:

“Hendrix had a lot to say about fantasy, fiction and . . . . . .”

He lost his train of thought.

“Fantasy, fiction and . . . . . .“

Nope, still not there.

“Fantasy, fiction and . . . life.”

In retrospect, I’m sure Ben had a great, stock line about Jimi Hendrix in his back pocket.

But the “. . . . . .” was mind wandering off to the food court. He couldn’t say “fantasy, fiction and burritos” so instead his mental gears ground to a halt.

So I jumped to the end of my list and asked him the obligatory question about “the next album,” thanked him for his time and let him go.

By this time, I was hungry myself.

Ben Harper And The Relentless 7 perform this weekend at the Life Is Good Festival.

Dan Zanes "House Party Time"

The Life Is Good Festival happens in Canton, MA this weekend. So this week's blog posts feature artists appearing on the bill.

How important is Dan Zanes in my house?

(Well, first, if you don't know Dan Zanes, then you probably don't have young children, so I'll fill you in. Dan Zanes was in the very hip Boston roots rock band, The Del Fuegos, in the late 80s/early 90s. In the mid-90s, he had a kid, and started looking around for good records to play for a small child. Not happy with what he was finding in record stores, he starting making home recordings, featuring songs that adults might know, but that kids could enjoy. These homemade tapes became a neighborhood sensation, leading Dan to start making studio albums and to tour. He's recorded multiple albums, with cool guest turns from Lou Reed, Aimee Mann, Matthew Broderick, Bob Weir and dozens more. It's not twee or cute or cartoony. It's rock n roll for families. All this to say, he's big with the kids.)

So it was the last day of President Obama's visit to Martha's Vineyard. And I was saying to my 2 1/2 year old:

"Let's keep an eye out for helicopters flying over our house today."

"Why?"

"Because The President will be flying over our head today."

"Who is the President," she asked.

"Well, he's the leader of our country. He's the big boss. He's, like, the most important person in America."

"Oh," she said, "is Dan with him?"


Dan Zanes plays this weekend at the Life Is Good Festival

Hear Dan in concert and check out this interview and performance from the mvyradio studio, both available in the mvyradio archives.