Where The Living Room Used To Be

Chrissy Stewart shares some of her Rhode Island faves in this mini-episode including where she shops for records, her special spot to hang in the Ocean State, and a favorite benefit show she does with PVDlive! I've included one of my favorite songs by Chrissy, which is "Dissolve" (as you may have guessed if you heard the full episode) from her album House of Christina ! // Interview recorded May 1...

Chrissy Stewart shares some music advice that gets to the core of humility and trust... as well as the often unspoken rewards of booking shows and festivals. Episode includes a live song from Chrissy's performance at The Columbus Theatre on March 30th, 2018 (audio credit: Eddy Bills ). The song is "Truth Of Your Love" from her album House of Christina and I love that this is an alternate version t...

Chrissy Stewart is a gifted musician and the owner of PVDlive. In our interview we talk about how she got into booking shows, what she's looking to create with her production company, Zydeco dancing at Rhythm & Roots Music Festival, how she created her record House Of Christina and the more than serendipitous way that title came to her. Make sure to check out PVDlive's Roller Disco Concert Series...

Leland Baker shares why Newport Jazz Fest is so special, he shouts a great local music store that's helping to keep the scene alive, and we talk seafood* in the ocean state! (*he's not a fan of pizza... can you believe that? Maybe he's a robot and that's why he's so good at playing the sax? 😂)  Plus, this episode includes one of my favorite Quarter Water songs, "Refresh", off their EP, Flavors //...

Acclaimed jazz saxophonist and music educator, Leland Baker , shares some wisdom he's learned along the way from his mentors, how he's found a way to keep moving to stay in the game, and the spirit that drives his inspiration.    Includes his original piece " Black Lives Maintain " (audio credit: Vertygo ) that he wrote last year to bring attention to the ongoing and absolutely unnecessary tragedi...

My guest on this episode is saxophonist, Leland Baker ! In our interview, we cover so much from his career including his time studying music in New Orleans and at the University of Rhode Island... connecting with Quarter Water in New York City, how he founded his teaching program Bridging Gaps , and of course all the jazz projects he's working on! Interlude song order: "I Wish" by Quarter Water fr...

Providence rapper and beatmaker, ToadStool has a new solo album entitled "eARTh 1" coming out this week... so on this episode, we have a track by track discussion across the entire album, as well as talk about how this multiple piece concept project has evolved over time. Plus, we get into how the artwork for the cover and individual songs was created, and you'll even find out what my walk-up song...

On this special edition episode, I catch up with the esteemed bass player, Joe Potenza to talk about Evening Sky 's new album "One Mic, Two Weekends". This is an interesting album as it was literally recorded using a single mic that - as you'll hear us get into - taps into both one of the earliest ways of recording... all the way to some of the most modern technology utilizing a high definition au...

Charlie Marie and I talk RI drinks, RI pizza, RI places... so give a listen to find out her favorite places to hang out, dine, and play shows in The Ocean State Includes my favorite song by Charlie, which is "Shot In The Dark" from her live-take album Chucktown Takes: Live from St. Philip // Interview recorded March 5th, 2021 via Zoom // Intro music by  Cedros // Hosted by James Toomey // /// If y...

Charlie Marie shares some insight she learned at music camp while in high school, and what she feels you need to do to be able to give and share with others. She also tells a fun story about what it was like for her growing up in the woods of Burrillville .  I also share a live song of Charlie's recorded at her cd release show at Askew in May of 2019 for her latest self-titled EP. The song is "Cou...

For this episode I got to chat with RI country artist, Charlie Marie , about her new album, Ramble On, which is coming out on May 7th but is available now for pre-order ! We talked about the making of this record, how fellow Rhode Islander Tyler-James Kelly of The Silks came to be involved with it. Plus, we discuss her overall songwriting process, how a couple of her recent music videos were made,...

John Difruscio tells us about how great a certain record & tape store used to be, some of the cool things they do at the bar at Askew, where he hangs out when he's not at the clubs he owns, and reflects back on some of the more memorable shows he's booked throughout his career.  Also included at the end are a couple of live songs from one of my personal favorite bands, Verse , recorded at their 5t...

John Difruscio shares some advice he's picked up throughout his decades-long career in the music industry, what's needed to have longevity in this business, and with this once again... it's hard to escape the impact that Randy Hein from The Living Room had on our Rhode Island music scene. John also shares a fun story of one of the earliest parties he ever put together! This episode ends with a pie...

John Difruscio has been a nightclub and concert promoter in Providence since the early 80s. Starting as a radio DJ at Rhode Island College he's gone on to book shows at The Living Room and Confetti. He's also run venues such as Club Hell and Firehouse 13. In our interview we talk about the ups and downs of the music business from his experience and what he has planned in the future for the Askew a...

Duke Robillard takes us through a bit of the history of Providence's record stores, plus a tip of the hat to the drinks of RI and his experience at The Guild, where he gets his pizza these days, and more about the overall love he has for his home state!  I do have to say that in my opinion this was probably Duke's favorite part of the interview. I'm so happy we got to reminisce about some of this...

On this bonus episode, Duke Robillard talks about the value of a good music education, what you need as the core motivation to be a person in the arts, and a possible reason why playing guitar came to him so easily that's quite interesting! Also, as you heard in Episode #29, Duke shared that the first release Roomful Of Blues ever did was a song of his called "Don't You Want To Roll With Me". They...

Duke Robillard is literally one of the best blues guitarists in the world! (I'm not just saying that... he's got the awards to prove it) In our interview he takes us back to the first time he heard music, how he taught himself to play guitar, plus the start of his many bands such as Roomful Of Blues and The Pleasure Kings, and all the way up to the records he's working on right now which is about...

You may know Mike Jencks and Dan Pomfret as the frontmen for Toad and the Stooligans but with their new duo project, Ronald Raygun, they went with a different approach to writing and took a little inspiration from a 90s hip hop mixtape feel with the production. We dive into all of this in our interview, as well as learn more about both of their prolific solo careers. Ronald Raygun's debut album co...

For those of you that may not be familiar with Blitzen... they are a band of reindeer that seem to magically appear every holiday season to play the Wayward Christmas event at The Parlour . In our conversation we cover some of their inspirations, the charity they're involved in and some of the others bands they've played in such as Reindeer Tick (their members have also been in Deers For Fears, In...

Gail Greenwood and I chat about being intimidated by rockstars when buying records, how great a certain pizza establish is... especially when they catered Belly 's listening party for Dove at POP a few years back, her place to connect with nature, and it's possible I may have helped name her new dog!!! Included at the end of this bonus episode is Benny Sizzler 's song "Shed" from their 2017 EP Ina...

Gail Greenwood passes along a bass playing technique that she learned from record producer, Glyn Johns, that he originally learned from Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones... which I have to say is pretty cool and she also shares an often overlooked way to interact with the world. Since Belly has done quite a few television performances over the years on shows such as The Late Show with David Letterm...

In our interview Gail Greenwood discusses her start at some local clubs in Providence with her band The Dames, as well as the unique practice spot Boneyard had, the serendipitous way she joined Belly, some of the logistics of playing in L7, and why her latest band, Benny Sizzler, got it's start. We cover a lot of things like such writing, recording and touring with these bands, and the long list o...

Lewis Morris shouts out the underdogs, shares a place to clear your head and a spot to have your creativity fostered on this bonus episode! I've also included the track " Get A Job (feat. Slitty Wrists) " from Lewis' latest album " Don't Be Nice " available now!!! // Interview recorded October 12th, 2020 via Zoom // Intro music by  Cedros // Hosted by James Toomey // /// If you enjoy the episode p...

Lewis Morris shares a piece of advice from a boss he had at MassArt on a good way to live life. We also discuss what authenticity means in music and he explains his thoughts in cynical optimism!  Also, as you've heard us talk about... Lewis is a well respected beat maker that's worked with many other artists. He recently did the all the beats for ToadStool 's latest album " A Reptile Dysfunction "...

Hip hop artist, producer and prolific beat maker, Lewis Morris, is the guest on this episode where we talk about how his move from poetry to rap came about and his experience recording at B08 Studios  in Pawtucket for this latest album " Don't Be Nice "... which came out earlier this year and is fantastic!!! Plus, we cover the list of collaborations he's built during his career and we get into the...