Sonic Astronaut A Q&A with Billy Cobham By Geoff Gehman Billy Cobham loves taking his compositions to new places and spaces. For over 40 years the band-leading drummer has been exploring and expanding his pieces with different arrangements played by different partners, sometimes with different instruments. Whether performing with two or 22 musicians, he aims ... Read More
Chicago on a Desert Island A Q&A with Rick Johnston Of Chicago Authority By Geoff Gehman It took Rick Johnston all of 6:35 to join the Chicago Transit Authority band wagon. Then a high schooler, he was immediately hooked by “Introduction,” the kaleidoscopic first track on the group’s 1969 recording debut. Listening to ... Read More
A Q&A with Brendan Power Of The Kilmaine Saints By Geoff Gehman Brendan Power is Irish-American or American-Irish, take your pick. He was born in 1976 in County Mayo to a Mayo mother and a Philly father. Four years later he settled with his family in the States, where he grew up listening to blues and ... Read More
Hip Gypsy A Q&A with Jared Hall Of Velvet Caravan By Geoff Gehman Jared Hall learned his first unforgettable song, “Your Mama Don’t Dance,” from his piano-playing, boogie-woogie-ing grandmother. He discovered his future instrument at the home of a fellow who restores Hammond organs and Volkswagen buses. He discovered gypsy jazz, his future ... Read More
Best Seat in the House A Q&A with Corky Laing By Geoff Gehman Corky Laing was in the office of a friend’s physician, getting migraine relief from the most serious-as-a-heart-attack doctor he had ever met, a real bummer for a drummer who practices humor as medicine. The medical man’s icy manner began to ... Read More
Full Speed Ahead with Full Moon Fever A Q&A with Rich Kubicz Of Damn the Torpedoes By Geoff Gehman Rich Kubicz was a high-school freshman when he really began hanging out in Tom Petty’s musical world. The invitation came from the MTV video for “Refugee,” where Petty roams a subterranean space, swinging around ... Read More
Electric, Eclectic Gent A Q&A with Dustin Douglas By Geoff Gehman The logo for Dustin Douglas and the Electric Gentleman is a silhouetted, bowler-hatted gent leaning on a lightning bolt. Emblazoned on the band’s bass drum, it’s a suitable symbol for three musicians who play blues and blues-rock with a refiner’s fire. You ... Read More
Little Big Gestures A Q&A with Adam Ezra By Geoff Gehman Adam Ezra and his band mates treat their fans fantastically. Other truly communal groups may let followers choose an album of songs; Adam Ezra Group members let followers pick 11 tracks from 23 demos for the Boston-based ensemble’s latest record, “Hurricane Wind” (TatteredString Music). ... Read More
Going All In A Q&A with Samantha Fish By Geoff Gehman Samantha Fish is having a ball feeling like the belle. The Kansas City native’s latest album, “Belle of the West” (Ruf Records), is a slow-burning, subtly honest collection of originals (“American Dream”) and covers (R.L. Burnside’s “Poor Black Mattie”) steeped in the raw, relaxed ... Read More
A Place to Feel at Home A Q&A with John McEuen By Geoff Gehman John McEuen made exactly the album he wanted to make in a former church in Brooklyn. The esteemed string player, producer and impresario hired a dozen of his favorite musicians, all of whom he knew could nail a song ... Read More
