December 19, 2006

Jonny Dubowsky, Lead Singer of Jonny Lives!

Sofitel Hotel, Tues., Nov. 21, 1:30pm.

On Philadelphia:“I grew up in New Jersey. My dad went to Penn for dental school. We used to go to Geno's and Pat's all the time. I've become ‘Pat's only' because of the whole Geno's thing. That really disappointed me. I have a crazy memory from when I recorded one of my first EPs here in Old City. It was in this guy's basement studio, and it was totally haunted. I saw a couple of really weird things. He said there were some battles that had gone on in that property and a lot of deep Philadelphia history. It didn't surprise me. It felt really spooky.”

Jonny Lives! plays Wed., Dec. 20, 8pm. $8. Khyber, 56 S. Second St. 215.238.5888.

Posted by jfusco at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

Graham Parker, Musician

Tin Angel, Sat., Dec. 9, 6:30pm.

On Philadelphia: “I played at the Tower Theater in ’77 opening for Thin Lizzy. I did the TLA in about ’88. I recorded it, and that came out as a live album. I used to walk up and down South Street just to dig the funkiness of it. There were all these burned-out buildings on one part of it. I remember looking inside and there were comic books that were kind of charred on the ground—the kind of thing that sticks in your head. Philly’s a real place. It’s not like going to Dallas where all you see is glass, and there are no people. I’ve walked around and looked at a few historical things—the big bell or whatever. I went to see G. Love one night. In fact, G. Love played harmonica on my last studio album. We did it in Bryn Mawr, and Pete, the bass player of the Figgs, said I needed a really good harmonica player. He said, ‘G. Love does that,’ and I thought, ‘All right.’ So he came down.”

Graham Parker is currently working on a new album that will be released in March.

Posted by jfusco at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2006

Art Alexakis, Lead Singer, Everclear

Sofitel Hotel, Tues., Nov. 21, 1:30pm.

On Philadelphia: “I’ve been here probably about 50 times. Played here in ’96 and it was like 20 degrees below zero. So I went outside and much to the chagrin of Electric Factory I brought about 100 kids inside, because they were out in T-shirts, freezing. I’ve always had an affinity for Philly. But I’ve gotta say something that’s going to be inflammatory: The best cheesesteak I ever had was in Portland, Ore. The last time Everclear played here was Nov. 4, 2004, the day after Kerry lost. It was a dark day. I was really depressed, just coming off a divorce. But now, being here on this sunny day, this is good for me.”

Everclear’s CD Welcome to the Drama Club is out now.

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