Ice Cold Chili Pepper

by Damian | Aug 18, 2016 | Music | 0 comments

Have you ever read a book and then almost immediately wished you could un-read it? That’s what happened to me when I read Scar Tissue, an autobiography from Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Bottom line: he should stick to performing in a band.

The book is called Scar Tissue because the better more fitting title wouldn’t fit on the outside cover: I Took Tons Of Drugs, Had Sex With A Lot Of Models And Groupies, And Occasionally Sobered Up Enough To Sing In A Band.

Mr. Kiedis spends 455 long-winded pages talking about his debauchery, and about 10 pages talking about his sobriety. And occasionally they overlap. Here’s a (thankfully) brief passage that gives you a few clues about the type of person we’re dealing with – the “meeting” he mentions is an AA meeting:

Did you follow that? AK cuts the line (because he’s like this guy) to chat up a “extra-fine girl” at a club (she lives with Paris Hilton and a lesbian Playboy centerfold, btw), one who had a dream about them being together, and she becomes “his girl”… until he goes to an AA meeting a month later and sees his ex, who he points out in his flashback was a leech. And he winds up making out with her.  Classy!

Save yourself the time and trouble, don’t read this dross. Here’s an Amazon review that sums it up quite nicely:

Big. Damn. Band.

by Damian | Aug 13, 2016 | Music | 0 comments

Met some old radio buddies last night at a free outdoor concert in downtown Cincinnati. The headliner was The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. And damn were they good!

You can be a three-piece and be a Big Damn Band when you play like they do. Reverend Peyton is a killer guitar player, his wife Breezy plays washboard, and drummer Ben plays a kit that has an upside down pickle barrel on it.

Not quite sure how to describe their music… it’s “old-timey” but newfangled. It’s bluesy, but it’s a highly caffeinated version of the blues. Here’s the blurb from their bio:

The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band has always been strong on authenticity, playing music that blends blues, ragtime, folk, country and other traditional styles with the sleek modern energy of do-it-yourself, homespun, punk fueled rock. 

Yep, that sounds about right.

Reverend is from Brown County, Indiana, the least populous county in the entire state. Nashville, Indiana is in Brown County, and for more than 25 years it housed the Little Nashville Opry, an Indiana venue that hosted hundreds of legendary country music stars. The Reverend and his Big Damn Band could teach the folks in “Big Nashville” a thing or three about authenticity.

Here’s the Rev playing 18 different instruments during John Henry:

And here’s the band raising a little hell:

The band puts on a fantastic, high energy show, so if you ever get a chance to meet the Reverend Peyton, it’ll do your soul a lot of good.

Hockey Dads and Blind Pilots

by Damian | Aug 7, 2016 | Music | 0 comments

NPR Music has a couple of fine forthcoming albums streaming right now on their “First Listen” page.

One is from an Australian guitar-drums duo called Hockey Dad. It’s fun, punky pop.

The other is from a Portland band called Blind Pilot. Even if you don’t care for their music, you have to admire the fact that they did a couple of tours traveling by bicycle.