River Gods January 20/New Show January 22/The Retrobaits/Jittery Jack U.S. Tour

Easy Ed Spinning at Brass Union in Somerville, MA, January 13, 2016. (Photo courtesy Poison Ivy, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hey folks!

I hope you are all faring well this month. If you're bugged by the winter blues we've got a few things coming up to boost your spirits (and put some groove in your Sacroiliac)! Read on!

Primitive Sounds January 20

In addition to the radio show, "Easy Ed's Variety Hour," I DJ around town and also promote musical events in the Boston area. The longest standing of my DJ gigs is "Primitive Sounds," which I cohost with P.J. Eastman at River Gods in Cambridge (125 River Street). Each time we invite a guest from the local music world to join us. This Wednesday (January 20) I'll be spinning the hot wax with James Reed, and we're thrilled to have him back as our guest in the DJ booth. A longtime Boston Globe music critic and all-around roots music aficionado, James always spins the sounds that astound. He and I will alternate sets throughout the night. River Gods is a fun and friendly room with excellent food and cocktails. The records spin from 8:00 PM to closing. You can learn more here!

New Show This Week

On Friday January 22 "Easy Ed's Variety Hour" will be back with two big hours of rockabilly, hillbilly, R&B, and rock 'n' roll! We roll from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern, and you can listen live on WMFO 91.5 FM (streaming worldwide at wmfo.org). Archived episodes are always promptly posted to easy-ed.net so you can catch the show whenever you want! And, if you like what you hear on the show, please drop us a line at our Facebook page--we love to know who's listening. Thanks!

The Retrobaits

On my last two radio broadcasts I’ve played songs by an exciting English band called the Retrobaits—the original “Your Squeezes Don't Leave Me,” and an excellent cover of the Bob Doss Starday classic “Don't You Be Gone Long.” These tracks have a traditional rockabilly sound balanced with freshness and energy that really caught my ear. If I had the dough I’d bring these guys on over to Boston for a huge rockin’ show! For now, though, I was able to interview bass player Stuart Bates to learn more about the band.

The Retrobaits, from Daventry, are David Yates (guitar and lead vocals), Stuart Bates (upright bass and backing vocals), and Darren Webb (drums and backing vocals). These guys have lots of experience in other bands, but the Retrobaits formed just two years ago—and they’ve done a lot in that short time. Initially they got together informally to play a party and things took off from there. According to Stuart, they knew right away that this band was special: “We just played a few songs that we all knew, but there was something about it that made us think…we have something really great here! There was just a fab vibe and a kind of powerful punchiness to it, so we decided to carry on gigging and the rest is history as they say.”

The Retrobaits play carefully selected covers and originals, most of which are written by David Yates. Of his songwriting he says “I try and come up with catchy riffs and patterns that don't follow the normal structure, then I kind of keep them in the memory bank. When I get the feel of the song I build them together. I normally have a flash of inspiration and write a song in a few minutes. ‘Your Squeezes Don't Leave Me’ was written in the time it took me to eat my breakfast cereal one morning. Stuart came up with the title and I wrote the song.”

So far the band has recorded four songs (two originals and two covers), which are out now in limited-edition CD release. They recorded at Western Star Recording Studios and credit engineer Alan Wilson for helping them get the sound they wanted. The band will be back in the studio in March to record a full album, which is due out on the Western Star label later in 2016. David Yates: “The material for the forthcoming album will be a band collaboration consisting of a mixture of life experiences, our conversations with people along the way, and a bit of nonsense all thrown in!” For now you can check out the band’s Facebook page for information about purchasing their recordings.

The Retrobaits are a fantastic addition to the rockabilly world, and are clearly going places fast. I only hope that a U.S. tour happens someday, and that Boston is the first stop!

Jittery Jack and Miss Amy: Upcoming U.S. Tour

Speaking of tours, Boston rockabilly sensations Jittery Jack and Miss Amy are heading out on an extensive U.S. jaunt that kicks off in February. See the dates below, and be sure to go see them when they come your way. These are fantastically talented musicians who always put on a great rockin' performance. I want to thank these guys for inviting me to DJ at their February 26 show at O'Brien's in Allston. We're gonna send them off in style!

2/25/16 KOTO, Salem MA
2/26/16 O'Briens - Boston, MA
2/27/16 Ottos Shrunken Head, NYC
2/28/16 JV's, Falls Church VA
2/2916 Pour House, Raleigh, NC
3/1/16 Jack of the Woods, Asheville, NC
3/2/16 TBA
3/3/16 Wormholes, Savannah GA
3/4/16 The Volstead, Jacksonville FL
3/5/16 Will's, Orlando FL
3/7/16 The Big Top, Houston TX
3/8/16 The Amp Room, San Antonio, TX
3/9/16 Carousel Room, Austin TX
3/11/16 Chopper Johns, Phoenix AZ
3/12/16 Artifice, Las Vegas NV
3/14/16 The Barkley, Pasadena CA
3/15/16 Tower Bar, San Diego CA
3/16/16 Joes Bar & Grill, Burbank CA
3/17/16 94th Aero Squadron, Van Atta CA
3/18/16 Night Light, Oakland CA
3/19/16 Landmark Saloon, Portland OR
3/20/16 Albatross, Ballard(Seattle) WA
3/21/16 The Emerald Room, Vancouver BC
3/22/16 Slims Last Chance, Seattle WA
3/23/16 TBA
3/24/16 Salt Lake City, UT (Venue TBA)
3/25/16 Goosetown Tavern, Denver CO
3/26/16 Johnny's Navajo Hogan, Colorado Springs, CO
3/28/16 Palmers Bar, Minneapolis, MN
3/29/16 Malarkeys Pub, Wausau WI
3/30/16 Honkytonk BBQ, Chicago IL
3/31/16 PJ's Lager House, Detroit MI
4/1/16 Al's Beer Garden, Lexington KY
4/2/16 Hank Dietle's Tavern, Rockville MD
4/3/16 The Ale House, Troy NY