The Sharp Notes with Evan Toth

Can you remember the first time you heard the song, “Cars”? At that moment, it must have been obvious that Gary Numan looked at things a little bit differently than you or I do; that he was full of a wisdom and intellect that we mere Earthlings do not possess. The good news is that Gary Numan is still putting his unique insights to music. Gary’s new album is titled Intruder and it is an exploratio...

If you’re hoping to be a rockstar, you’ve got to have drive, ambition, a sense of luck, faith and - perhaps, most importantly - you’ve got to have a great sense of humor. Gina Schock has all of those attributes, and more, and she needed those tools to hold down the backbeat for the most successful all-female band of all time: The Go-Go’s.    If you saw the recent Allison Ellwood directed documenta...

“What are you about, man?” That’s the question Frank Ene asked himself when writing and recording the music for his latest EP, No Longer . Hearing Frank explain it, this was his opportunity to gaze into the mirror and paint a musical portrait of who he is, or who he was.  The music on No Longer is dark, and the 90s kids in the room might hear some influences in the way of Enigma, or late-stage Dur...

Pete Krebs is a musical chameleon. It was the 1990s when his career began in the band Hazel which was a very popular alternative rock and roll group on Sub Pop Records. In those days, Krebs even formed a friendship and musical partnership with indie rock hero and legend Elliott Smith. Yes, I’ve been trying to track down their split-single for many years, but that’s another story. He’s also been in...

Some of us were just born to do the things we do; it’s in our blood, in our genes. Jon Klages is one of those folks whose lineage belies a musical connection. His grandfather was a popular and successful producer during the latter half of the 20th century, Enoch Light. Light was known for his exciting and fun recordings on his own Command Records label. Often his productions were worthy of an audi...

Tracy Bonham can do it all. You might remember her from the late 90s when she released The Burdens of Being Upright album and screamed right into the faces of the alternative rock world. Or, maybe you learned about her through her terrific albums and career that followed over the course of the last twenty years, but now, she’s back and she wants to teach you a lesson! No, like a real lesson. Tracy...

It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while, I drop the needle on a record and can feel something special happening; a sort of groundswell. As if something is growing, or getting ready to burst. This was my experience when listening to Sunny War’s new album, Simple Syrup (Hen House Studios). I won’t even pretend that I’ve fully immersed myself in the album yet, as there is a lot left for me...

It’s not often we get to throw around the phrase “legend” or “trailblazer” without hyperbole, but that’s exactly what we’ve got on this week’s program. Suzi Quatro is credited as being the first instrument playing female to lead a successful rock and roll band which - when she came upon the male dominated music scene in the early 1970s - was no small feat.  Suzi has done it all: several top ten hi...

2021 marks the golden anniversary of the band America. That’s 50 years of unique and carefully crafted rock music that was always adorned with strummy acoustic goodness, the best harmonies this side of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and sui generis lyrical content. The band has released 18 studio albums (many produced by George Martin of The Beatles) and they still have a formidable presence on t...

Judee Sill was a California-based songwriter who came of age during the peak of the Laurel Canyon scene in the early 1970s and she mingled with the likes of Jackson Brown and Joni Mitchell. In fact, Sill was even the first artist to be signed to David Geffen’s Asylum Records label. But, Judee - and her music - generally tapped into something a little darker; more dangerous than her colleagues did....

Let’s start with the bad news, so we can get it out of the way. Musician A.J. Croce lost his father - famed singer-songwriter, Jim Croce - before he was two years old. As if that weren’t enough, A.J. went through a long period of blindness as a child, and - in 2018 - he lost his wife from a rare heart virus. Faced with those challenges, most of us might not be able to find the strength to carry on...

The path to success for most successful people in the entertainment business - or any business, for that matter - is rarely a straight one. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns, but it's all about keeping one’s cool and choosing directions that make sense, even if there is a bit of risk involved. Jim Keller knows he didn’t just wake up one morning to become the longtime manager for Phi...

The good old days of record collecting are over; the cat is definitely out of the bag. You don’t need me to tell you how sales of vinyl records have been increasing in the last few years. There used to be a time when one could walk up to a garage sale, or into a thrift store, and buy grails for a dollar, or less, but those days are now gone. Additionally, Discogs has created an environment where r...

It’s not always about money and it’s not always about fame; sometimes an artist has a desire to just share the music that they can’t help but create, but every so often the industry gatekeepers also have more of an interest in art and creativity than just dollars and cents. Meet Howie Klein, a writer, concert promoter, disc jockey, music producer, record label founder, record label executive, prog...

Some people refuse to look back, not wanting to see what’s happened in their past, not wanting to question their decisions or reopen old wounds. Most of the time, this is good advice; the past is a cashed check. However, every once in a while, we allow ourselves to wallow in a bit of nostalgia, to crack open the old high school yearbook and pass through the faces and memories of many years ago.  W...