Fall for Great Shows this Season The best alternative shows in RI all season plus an interview with Hope Anchor I’d figured with Hope Anchor-a-mania about to run rampant through the city, a fun person to do an interview with would be the band’s guitarist, Terry Linehan. Known as Terry Dread back in the day, he has literally seen it all from being on a major label with Waterdog, touring as a guitarist for Green Day, and even being in a Green Day side project called The Frustrators with Mike Dirnt. He got a shout out from Billie Joe Armstrong at Green Day’s recent appearance at The Dunk. Terry co-owns a punk bar in Providence called The Scurvy Dog where the music is always loud and there’s a great selection of beers. To kick off the Fall Guide, I figured I’d ask him a few questions to get the dish on Never Gonna Let You Go and his thoughts on the music scene. MC: How would you compare Never Gonna Let You Go to your debut release, Pile on the Dirt? TL: Firstly, Pile on The Dirt was recorded in three spurts over four years and I think it sounds like that. Even if you’ve been doing this for as long as we have as musicians, it takes a while to feel the direction out as a band. After we did Pile on The Dirt, the songs on Never Gonna Let You Go are the next nine songs plus bits we wrote that we threw against the wall and stuck. So it has more of an immediate feel and is less calculated. I think it’s more visceral as well. Music should be physical and I think this record has that. MC: How do you feel Hope Anchor as a band has evolved in the last couple of years? TL: Well, you got enough copy for that? We started with a bunch of music I had written, assembled the group and tested what worked that I had written and what didn’t, then hit the studio. Since Pile on The Dirt there have been three major changes. 1) Eric Fontana left the band as he had his first child and we respect his decision and admire his contributions during his tenure, 2) we added Pip’s brother Matthew as a violin player, which makes us sound like a haunted house! 3) I switched from playing Gibsons to Fender Jazzmasters, which allows me to use the whammy like My Bloody Valentine, but use it in hard blues, which I’m not sure has been done before. MC: As a longtime fixture on the music scene, how would you compare the music scene of today to say 10 or 20 years ago? TL: The scene today has a lot more information, a lot more bands, and a lot less music fans. Local bands used to draw 800 people on a Friday at the Promenade St. Living Room. It seems like bands are mostly playing to other bands these days. I think the internet has made it so people don’t have to go out and see bands live to know what they’re getting anymore. Also there are obviously way less record stores anymore. I admire the ones we have, but I feel bad that kids don’t go to a record store to learn about music anymore. MC: What are the three things you are most proud of in your music career? TL: This’ll sound corny, but I’m most proud of our new record. Like everything else, it’s the culmination of a lifetime in music. Besides that, I’m super proud of playing guitar for Green Day on the American Idiot tour. It was a special record at a special time. We were in the middle of the Bush years and very publically rallying against them. Thirdly I’m very proud of the last Frustrators record and tour. Mike and I wrote the record in five hours, recorded it the next day and hit the road the next year having not played together as a band in 10 years! MC: What were some the influences or types of things you guys were shooting for making this record? TL: The new record was more influenced by time and place than other artists. I can’t speak for the other guys, but R.L. Burnside is the only palpable thing I tried to channel on anything. We were lucky enough to get flown to Oakland last summer to play some shows, and while we were there, we laid down the drum tracks for the album. We came home and did overdubs with Kraig Jordan and then flew back to Oakland to mix with Denny Muller. Also Pip playing the harmonica was a big part of shaping these new songs. Having other instruments that can make a racket without just adding more and more guitars allows things to breathe and still be loud and raucous. Pip and I had a conversation and decided to make our version of a blues record. We also wanted the record to be listened to beginning to end as one thing, so we added the blues bits between the songs to connect the dots. We recorded the blues bits on a handheld recorder in Pip’s living room. We wanted to sound like two old blues guys playing. Hope Anchor will be playing during intermission at the Providence Roller Derby bout at the Rhode Island Convention Center on September 14th. Doors are at 5 pm with the bout between the Old Money Honeys and the Mob Squad scheduled to start at 6 pm. Mean Creek Mean Creek are considered by some to be the best local band going in Boston right now. They mix in a little American, but are basically just full tilt rock & roll music wise. This is a strong bill for straight ahead rock & roll between Northern Lands, WBRU Rock Hunt champs Torn Shorts, and Dylan Sevey and The Gentlemen. I know there is a lot of competition on this night, but if you’re going for the rock & roll, I guess this show would win out! Mean Creek, Northern Lands, Torn Shorts, Dylan Sevey & The Gentlemen, and The Ya Beautifuls rock The Spot on September 6. The Gaslight Anthem New Jersey bred rockers; The Gaslight Anthem return to Lupo’s to play their blue collar anthems. As far as an audio description, they’re pretty much modern day cookie cutter alternative rock. They do wear it well though, as I caught them last time they were in town and it was pretty much a love fest with the crowd singing along with the band on every song. The Gaslight Anthem, The Sidekicks, and Gates rock Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel on September 6. Biz Markie Biz Markie isn’t sitting at home counting all the money he made from those Heineken commercials using “Just A Friend.” He’ll be coming to Fete and no doubt bringing the party with him. I love all that late 80s/early 90s hip-hop. It was just a fun era in music before everyone started fronting. Come down to Fete and take a trip back in the time machine to that era with Biz Markie. Biz Markie plays Fete on September 6. Pere Ubu The other day I realized that Pere Ubu have been around for 38 years and found it mind boggling. They get classified as an experimental rock band on Wikipedia, largely because the categories for “alternative” or indie rock” had yet to be invented. Pere Ubu started from the ruins of the Cleveland punk band, Rocket From The Tombs (the other members formed The Dead Boys). Since then Pere Ubu have hit marks all over the spectrum and been a major influence on bands like The Pixies. I haven’t heard about them touring and have been eagerly anticipating this show for months. Pere Ubu, Gagarin, and Atlantic Thrills will rock Fete on September 23rd. D.O.A. Hardcore punk legends D.O.A. come to town on what is being billed as a farewell tour. If that is true, D.O.A. have had one hell of a run. To celebrate their arrival, Firehouse 13 is re-opening for a night. In addition to D.O.A, local legends Neutral Nation and Drunk Robb and The Shots open the show along with The F.U.’s from Boston. If punk rock is your thing, this will be the show to be at! D.O.A., Neutral Nation, The F.U.’s, and Drunk Robb and The Shots are at Firehouse 13 on September 13th. Rocktucket Rocktucket returns for its 5th annual takeover outside 250 Main Street in Providence. This year’s festival features something for everybody with acts geared more towards kids early in the day and then shifting to singer songwriters, then going full tilt rock ‘n’n roll, and then on to hip hop to close the party right. Of the rock portion, I’m stoked to see the Atlantic Thrills, Gavage, Malyssa & The Liberators and Ants in The Cellar. All great bands and what’s better than getting to drink out in the street while listening to some great music. Rocktucket will take over Main St in Pawtucket on Saturday September 14th. The event happens outside 250 Main Street and runs from 1130AM to 11PM as part of the Pawtucket Arts Festival. Performers include KRIS HANSON, NATURAL ELEMENTS, FUNKY AUTOKRATS FEATURING MARK LOVE, ATLANTIC THRILLS, ANTS IN THE CELLAR, MALYSSA AND THE LIBERATORS, GAVAGE, BLESSED ENERGY, SIDY MAIGA AND THEAFRIMANDING, CASED CLOSED, DIRTYDURDIE, MILEZ GRIMEZ, THR33 PIECE SUIT, BLOCK MCCLOUD, BLACASTAN, TERMONOLOGY, and APATHY.