Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico

Ken Cmar stopped by to share the story of how a kid who moved to Boston for school ended up launching Summit Records — later rebranded Wonderdrug — and building it into a home for some of the city's most iconic heavy bands of the '90s. We're talking Stompbox, 6L6, Sam Black Church, Scissorfight, Tree, and more. Music The Charms "So Pretty"(theme song) Stompbox "Pick It U...

Ed Valauskas, known to most as Ed V. has played an intricate part in the Boston music scene since the 90's. Aside from playing Bass in The Gravel Pit, The Gentlemen, Jenny D & The Deelinquents etc. he has been managing one of the areas top recording studios - Q Division for the last 15 or so years and producing and playing on a ton of records over the years. Ed joined us on the show to talk ab...

Steve Martin has gone from playing the Hardcore Punk circuit with bands like The Straw Dogs and Agnostic Front to building his company Nasty Little Man into a Public Relations firm that represents some of the biggest acts in the world, including Paul McCartney, The Foo Fighters, Metallica, St. Vincent, Beck, and Arcade Fire. We covered a lot of the bases with Steve who was very candid about his in...

Justine Covault took time from her busy schedule to talk to us! She not only fronts one of the coolest bands around - Justine And The Unclean - but also started her own label(Red On Red Records) during the pandemic.  Red On Red have already released a bunch of cool recordings and have also put together some solid events both virtually and live. During the interview we hit on a myriad of topic...

On this episode of the show, we are joined by our friends Ellie Vee and Joe Wizda of The Charms for a lively discussion on New Music as we discuss Clairo, Torres, Fauve etc. Also news on the upcoming "The Town and The City" festival which will be held in October in Lowell MA...   Music The Charms "So Pretty"(theme song) The Paybacks "Stranger In The House" Classic Ruins "Little OCD" Recorded by Mi...

Author/High School Teacher Nancy Barile ("I'm Not Holding Your Coat: My Bruises-And-All Memoir of Punk Rock Rebellion") joined us for a great conversation on her upbringing outside of Philadelphia, where she played a huge role in the early eighties punk/hardcore scene. She also talks about the road to Boston which led to true love and a career in Education, where she has earned many awards and acc...

Legendary sound engineer, tour manager, and all-around nice guy "Nite Bob" Czaykowski stops by for a hell of an interview, sharing rock & roll road stories from a career spent working with the likes of The New York Dolls, The Stooges, Kiss, Steely Dan, Aerosmith, Ian Hunter, and more. Music The Charms "So Pretty"(theme song) The Charms "Touch" The Neighborhoods &q...

Rick Jones and Craig Adams from LOVELY join us in the studio for a fun interview about the band and also answer every stinking question about their past and other projects as well as their bandmates bands as well. We cover Jerry's Kids, The Dents, The Freeze, The Choir Boys, Mung, DYS, Stranglehold, and more. Drummer Jack Clark gets stuck in traffic and shows up late for the interview but manages...

Thalia Zedek has been a force on the independent music scene since the early '80s and shows no signs of slowing down. It was an honor to have her on the show as we covered as much ground as we could of her storied career — from her early days with White Women and The Dangerous Birds, to Uzi, Live Skull, and the amazing Come, through to a solo career still going strong, including a new record a...

On this episode of the show, we are joined by Tom Wilson, who spend most of his adult life on the road working for tons of artists including The Cure, Depeche Mode, Janet Jackson, Shakira etc.. He started his career as an underage teenager sneaking into shows in Boston by carrying equipment in with mostly hardcore bands and soon found himself working at clubs and local Boston bands and before long...

This week we have an interview with Chris Porter, who started his music career in college radio at WJUL, has managed artists, run a record label, booked clubs, and has put together massively successful festivals, including the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle and "The Town And The City Festival" in his hometown of Lowell MA! Chris has pretty much done it all in his 30+ year music career, and oh did...

Detroit's Troy Gregory has pretty much done it all as far as musicians go. He joins us on the show to talk about his time playing with Flotsam & Jetsam, Prong, The Dirtbombs, The Witches, and his many solo releases including the incredible "Xaviera" double album. We also hear an exclusive edited version track entitled "I Want To Thank The Academy" and hear how his new material is influenced by the...

Our friend Ted Williams, who played in Pittsburgh bands like Eviction and The Volcano Dogs, has made a whole new career for himself working regularly on films and TV shows like Wonder Woman and Gotham, and it all started cause he had "the right look". Ted joins us for an interview and we also talk about how being an Indie Artist these days is not a bad thing in our New Music Trends segment, plus n...

Ellie Vee (The Charms) and Nicole A. join the show to talk about new music and we hit on a variety of artists such as Beach Bunny, The Voidz, Olivia Rodrigo etc. Nicole also throws us a disco curveball and raves on about Donna Summer. We also talk about music documentaries which are a bigger musical trend than ever and review "Echo In The Canyon", a fantastic film starring Jakob Dylan and friends...

This episode features a fun interview with Tracey Noel and Susan Lutin of New Jersey "Riot Ladies" 50ft. Furies who talk about their amazing debut album "Miss American President", the impact of The  Linda Lindas, Bikini Kill, living through the pandemic, and more. In our music trends segment we hit on whether or not TikTok is breaking new artists and if thats not enough our hosts tells us wha...

Fun episode as Eric Martin, Phil Caruso, and Ace Of Hearts Owner/Producer Rick Harte stop by the studio to talk about one of the best bands from the Boston 80's scene, The Neats. In our music trend of the week we explore how The Linda Lindas became the buzz band of the week after a live performance at the LA public library and its subsequent signing to Epitaph Records.  And yes our host does...

On this episode of Blowing Smoke With Twisted Rico, we interview our old friend and hardcore punk legend Chris Doherty, who holds absolutely nothing back as we share some incredibly funny stories from the past. We talk about the early days of Gang Green, Jerry's Kids, and Chris' recovery from a stroke he suffered 3 years ago.  We also take a look at Finn Askew, a 20 year old English musici...

Darren Hill started his career in New Orleans as bassist for punk legends The Red Rockers, then went on to play with The Raindogs, Klover, The Stardarts, and Paul Westerberg. He later made the jump to management, founding Ten Pin Management and working with Westerberg, David Johansen, The Dropkick Murphys, Roky Erickson, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Along the way, he played a key role in the r...

This is a special BONUS episode of the show recapping many highlights of past shows dating back to our debut in January 2019 when we started this journey back in Pittsburgh PA! If you like name dropping and shouts-outs, you are gonna love this one! We also play a brand new song from Margaret Garrett (Mr. Airplane Man) putting the lovely icing on the cake.  Music The Charms "So Pretty" (theme...

On this episode of the show, we are joined by Keith Bennett, who shares some insanely funny stories about his youth including how the KISS "Rock And Roll Over" album changed his life and led him to be the rocker he still is today. We also talk about the Boston hardcore scene, Wrecking Crew, PanzerBastard, Motorhead, sitting in with the Gang Green all-star band, and what recovery has been like for...

On this episode of the show, we are joined by one of our favs Margaret Garrett and chat away about her new recordings, play an obscure Mr. Airplane Man track, share our mutual love for The Lyres, and remember the old days in Inman Sq in Cambridge MA. where she met Morphine's Mark Sandman and how it all started for her...and yes...the 1369 Coffee House....  Music The Charms "So Pretty&quot...

On this episode of the show, our good friend Rev. Hank Peirce, who's path in life took him from a being a punk rock kid in a sleepy Southeastern Mass town to becoming a roadie for bands like Slapshot and The Straw Dogs(The FU's) to his current and ultimate life as the ordained Minister he is today. On his encore appearance on the show, Hank talks current affairs and tells us an insane story on how...

On this episode of the podcast we are joined by Nat Freedberg, who has been playing in bands and delivering great songs since the early 80's. Nat tells us about his latest project Freeloader and we go back and discuss some of the legendary bands he has played in, including The Flies, The Titanics, The Satanics, and of course his internationally known and loved band The Upper Crust! We also talk ab...

On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by Leah Callahan, who has played in some really cool bands over the years such as Turkish Delight, Betwixt, The Glass Set, and has just released her second solo album entitled "Simple Folk".  We touch all the bases leading up to the release of "Simple Folk" and what lies ahead for the talented singer/songwriter.  Music The Charms "So Pretty"...

On this episode, we're joined by "Malibu" Lou Mansdorf, the man behind RumBar Records — and quite possibly the biggest name-dropper in podcast history. Lou lights up the room with great stories about growing up in Astoria, NY, navigating the music business, and building RumBar into what it is today. We dig into the label's roster too, talking up some of its coolest acts: Geoff Pa...