Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico

On this episode we are joined by long time music journalist and author, Brett Milano. Brett has written for numerous publications, authored several books, and even worked at some record labels including the legendary Rhino Records. Mostly he is a big fan of music! Music The Charms "So Pretty"(theme song) The Nervous Eaters "Loretta" The Atlantics "Lonely Hearts" Inter...

Jim Weeks and Mike Kelly of the Jim Weeks band perform two songs live in the studio and talk about the road that brought the band together which led to them making a great record with Producer David Minehan at Woolly Mammoth Studios. If you are from Central Massachusetts, you will especially enjoy this episode of the three of us talking about every stinking town in Worcester County. Music The Char...

Mike Skill(Bassist/Guitarist) of the legendary Detroit New Wave band The Romantics joins the show to talk about his new solo record and growing up in the "Motor City" a town that has produced some of the biggest bands in the world and of course Motown! Plus two brand new songs from Mike, including his collaboration with MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer! Music The Charms "So Pretty"(theme song) Mike Skil...

Originally a Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico podcast YouTube zoom exclusive interview, here is the full episode of our show with Spencer James of the North Carolina based band Special Messages, who talks about the song "Donora" and the Donora Smog Museum located in Donora PA. An incident that happened in 1948 that changed the Pennsylvania town forever and fantastic the lo-fi song that has caught o...

Bob Nalbandian is one of the original behind the scene dudes of the 1980's Los Angeles Metal Scene. His documentaries are a great starting point if you want to find out the real history of the LA metal scene, since Bob was writing about the scene when it all began. Starting with 2014's "The Pioneers of LA Hard Rock and Heavy Metal", Bob's documentaries have always included interviews with the peop...

Welcome to another episode of the "Ellie Vee and Nicole A. New Music Review"! Nicole and Steev talk about a wide variety of new songs by Adele, Iron Maiden, Idles, Ministry, Teezo Touchdown, Zack Fox, etc.  Nicole also tells us about her experience of running the Chicago marathon and her love for the band WEEN. We missed having Ellie with us on this show but we somehow survived and covered a...

Boston 80's rockers Shake The Faith(Casey Lindstrom, Todd Erickson, Jesse Mayer) do a zoom interview with us and talk about how the band got together and spent several years as one of the cities top live rock bands. We also talk about how two of the band members have battled Cancer along, with their upcoming reunion gig. In our new music trends segment, we get into Algorithms and their role o...

Muck And The Mires joined us in the studio on this episode and we had a blast talking about their fantastic twenty year career as a band. They shared their experiences about working with Kim Fowley, Producer Jim Diamond, sharing a trailer at The Underground Garage festival with Pete Best, and how Pedro Muck (Peter Sjostedt) joined the band. And of course since Pedro was in the room, we revisited h...

This is a special bonus episode of the podcast featuring Musician/Photographer/Spoken Word Star Duncan Wilder Johnson. We recorded three episodes together in which we call "We're Coming For Your Band". This the second one, a critical review of one of our all time favorite bands - Dag Nasty! Music The Charms "So Pretty"(theme song) Additional music by Duncan Wilder Johnson Recorded by Mike Nash at...

Fun time with two original members of the legendary Boston hardcore band Slapshot, as we are joined by drummer Mark McKay and guitarist Steven Risteen, along with the bands longtime roadie Rev. Hank Peirce.  We talk about the band's beginnings and anniversary weekend planned for November including "SlapNot" an afternoon of karaoke and special guests on Sunday November 21 at The Middle East in Camb...

This is a special bonus episode of the podcast featuring Musician/Photographer/Spoken Word Star Duncan Wilder Johnson. We recorded three episodes together in which we call "We're Coming For Your Band". This the first, a critical review of one of our all time favorite bands - Black Sabbath! Music The Charms "So Pretty"(theme song) Additional music by Duncan Wilder Johnson Recorded by Mike Nash at V...

Rob Potylo aka Robbie Roadsteamer joined us in the studio for a fun and lively session as we covered a myriad of topics. As a producer of the recently released documentary about former WWE Wrestling star Joanie Laurer, known to most as "Chyna", Rob shared a lot of stories about his relationship with his former roommate and departed star. We also spoke about Rob's successful Boston ba...

Jon Butcher has paid his Rock N Roll dues and shared his plight from Philly to Alaska to Boston and LA with us on this episode. We talk about Jon's early days in New England club favs Johanna Wild, all the way though his long career which included three major label deals, and multiple years of touring as both a headliner and with bands like the J. Geils Band, Def Leppard, and Rush.  And yes we eve...

Aerosmith road manager John Bionelli stopped by to talk about his rise from working with bands for free to becoming Joe Perry's right-hand man. He's got incredible stories spanning Aerosmith, The Hollywood Vampires, Velvet Revolver, Black Sabbath, and his early days with Boston underground legends Boys Life and The Outlets — plus an unbelievable encounter with President Barack Obama. Don&#...

Hilken Mancini came by the studio on an early Saturday morning for our interview, just before opening her vintage clothing boutique (40 South Street) in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, to talk about some of her many accomplishments. After moving to Boston from Syracuse in the early 90's, her band Fuzzy created quite the buzz and were signed to Atlantic Records. From there she has played in a...

It was a honor to have our old friend Bill Metoyer on the show via cel phone from Los Angeles California. Bill has been a permanent fixture along side Brian Slagel at Metal Blade Records since the early 80's as not only a Producer, Engineer, Mixer, and Mastering Wiz, but as a part of the growth of one of the best independent labels in American history.  We talk about many of the great bands that B...

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...