Drew-Who.com: June 2007

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Dallas, '85: Hail Mary I'm Movin to Boston!

The Beloved BU Hoodie!

Before I actually made my move from The Lone Star State to the Lob-Ster State in Sept. of ’85, I paid a brief visit to The Hub. I’m guessing it was February or March. It’s pretty much a blur, but I got a tast of the raging Boston rock scene. I know one place Lisa took me was Jumpin’ Jack Flash in the Fenway, and I’m pretty sure Scruffy The Cat was playing. While I was here I bought a hooded Boston University sweatshirt; white with red letters. (I had been accepted by BU in 1978, but had opted not to go there).

Back in Dallas, sweatshirt weather was almost over, but I wore that sucker like a uniform, pretty much every day. One such day I was walking down Greenville Ave, daydreaming as I usually do, when a voice awoke me from my reverie. An odd shout. “Hey Flutie!” I looked up to see this dude walking my direction, but on the opposite side of Greenville. “Flutie!” Dude shouted again. It took me a minute to get it, but then it hit me. The BU shirt! Dude was referring to Doug Flutie, the Hail Mary Hero of The Orange Bowl. His Miracle in Miami was still fresh in America's mind. Now you and I and everyone knows Flute went to Boston COLLEGE, but it’s doubtful that Dallas Dude knew the difference between BC and BU. My reaction? Pretty lame. I think I said, “Yeah! Boston! WooHoo!” or something to that effect. I focused forward, quickened my pace, and walked on. Wow! I guess you could say it was my first “Flutie-Call!”

For years to come and almost right up to this day, I have heard the familiar chants of “Floo-tie, Floo-tie!” and "Flutie did it! Flutie did it!" For a while it actually became an inside joke among myself and a few close friends. Back in ’85, walking down Greenville Ave, it was all new. I was excited to be moving to Boston!

*An interesting footnote to this blog: Myself and all other life-long Dallas Cowboy fans know that the term “Hail Mary Pass” was coined in 1975 by our all-time great QB, and an amazing scrambler himself, Hall-of-Famer Roger Staubach.

Friday, June 29, 2007

The Final Power-down, June 29, 2007

Well, for all intents and purposes, it’s over. I’m powering down the Flying Scotsman studio at my house for the last time. Don’t know when I’ll be doing another recording project. My priority is to now focus on baby, family and work. In Vermont. I’ve had this studio here in the house for six years, and some really good projects have come out of it -- mixes for bands like Muck and The Mires, The Fathoms, Grand Evolution, and Temper have been printed to my old reel-to-reel master machine here. I have to say the old Otari and I went out on a high note, having just-this-minute finished nine songs for Mike G. & Associates. Mike is the most rockin’, most soulful Americana artist I’ve had the pleasure of working with in years. He’s the lead guitarist for Grand Evolution, as well as the front man in a Neil Young tribute called Young Rust. That experience has served Mr. G. very well, as he has concocted an original sound that encorporates the best of old-school and modern rock. The guy’s got IT. I mean he really has it; great lyrics, singing and guitar-work. It's real organic with little or no studio trickery involved! Be on the lookout for this CD when it comes out. It was tracked at my old Altitude studio (now called 37’ Productions) by MY great associate, Sean Mclaughlin, and mixed by me here at the house, surrounded by moving boxes. So it’s done, I love it, and I’m proud of it. The last couple of days in the sweltering heat was melting both the equipment AND my brain, and you can hear it in the tracks...they're hot...overdriven. Appropriate that the last album I did was one very much after my own heart. Here’s Mr. G’s page: http://www.myspace.com/mikegsolo The tracks up there now are pre-studio demos of the songs. He’ll be putting up the finished mixes soon, so check in and give a listen.

Here’s Seany Mac’s site: http://www.37ft.com/

Bern's Turn!

I used to call Drew “The Absent Minded Professor”. Yeah. His keys? He never knew where they were. More often than not, they were in his pocket – in his pants – on the floor. Wallet? Forget it! Found it in the trash a couple times. Then there’s the time we found his checkbook – after looking for days – in a snow bank across the street from our apartment on River Street in Hyde Park. One time our new kitten went missing. Drew had been home alone with the kitty, and when I came home she was no where to be found. Until we opened the refrigerator. Yep! There she was, cold but OK, after a three hour “vacation in the arctic”. The only harm done was that she ate our tuna salad that was in there. Naturally!

Muthah Effin Theresa, that’s me! You have to have the patience of a Saint to hang with this dude.

And dogshit? The bottom of Drew’s foot was like a magnet for the stuff. There could be one pile in the whole Sahara Desert and he’d step in it. Later, we’d be driving along and we’d both smell something foul and he’d go, “Oh crap! Fucking A! There’s shit all over my fucking boot!” Then there’s Drew-time versus actual time. Maddening! He’s on about a sixteen minute delay from the rest of the world. I am one who likes to show up a half-hour early, even to work. Drew is not, never was and never will be a morning person. He’s accident-prone beyond belief, and can and will spill every liquid he touches. Because he talks with his hands – sometimes very animatedly – he smacks the full beer on the table and guess where it goes? That’s right. All over me! We’re talking an entire pint!

But in the end, I love the big dope. He’s the funniest, most charming, and most handsome guy in the world. He’s also a pretty fucking amazing guitar player. He may be a bull in a china shop, but he’s my bull, dammit! Without his endless shenanigans and Tom-Foolery – and I will report on these events from my point of view – my life would be far less entertaining!

Drew Who, right?

I showed up here on a hot late-summer day in 1985 with a hundred bucks and big major-label dreams. The reason? Well, there’s no way around it; I followed a girl. My girlfriend and band-mate from Dallas, Lisa Traxler, had become a WBCN Rock-Jock and was already swimming in the deep end of the rocking mid-eighties Boston scene. She had arrived in late ’84 and kept calling me, saying, “Get out of Dallas, it’s nothing. Boston is hot! Boston is on fire. There are so many great bands and clubs and live music is everywhere. You’ll have plenty of work as a recording engineer and we’ll start our own band. Everyone’s getting signed. So get your lazy ass up here!” Being a ‘BCN air personality, she was well-connected. ‘BCN was important then. ‘BCN was on top. And she was right; in 1985 Boston was a city on-flame with rock and roll. So I came. I remember the incredible energy Boston had; I felt it the second I pulled my little pickup in to the Fenway. It was undoubtedly the biggest decision I ever made. There are times when I do question that choice. There are days when I rue that day. Was coming here a blessing or a curse? Sometimes I think, “I gave Boston everything I had and more, and in return, Boston kicked sand in my face. Cold, dirty Dorchester Bay sand. Boston gave me nothing. Boston doesn’t even know my name.” Boston can be hard -- Whitey Bulger hard. Even though I worked my arse off, I never ended up with the success of a Slade, a Kolderie, a Giordano or a Deneen. My band never got signed. I never won The Rumble. Back in Dallas, I had just worked with—heck, pretty much had discovered—a band called New Bohemians (later re-named Edie Brickell and New Bohemians). I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed there and played-out that hand?

So, what did I contribute, really? Was it a valuable time? Did I do good things? Did I make good friends? Did I make good records? Did I influence people in a positive way? Did I leave my mark? Did I rock? Did I actually accomplish anything at all? And perhaps most importantly, do I have much to show for all that?

Looking back, I think the answer to those questions is yes. In truth, it was a prolific venture. When I see what’s behind me, it surprises even me. I can say this for sure; I met some great people and had a helluva lot of fun!

What Bern and I would like to do is recall, recount and reminisce about the last twenty-plus years. I’ll tell a story of a gig, or a session or a funny thing that happened. I’ll talk about favorite characters from the scene. I can’t do it all at once, but every so-often I can jot down an experience, and it need not be chronological. She'll add a sidebar about what is was like to be caught up in my crazy life. We’ll call it “Drew Who: Boston Rock Stories, 1986 – 2006 "

Drew, Bernadette and Drew-bear, June, 2007

Artists I’ve worked with at one time or another (in no particular order):

Peter Wolf, Gang Green, Seka, Cobalt 60, The Vic Morrows, Trona, Heretix, Tribe, Anastasia Screamed, Band of Planets, Bison, Aimee Mann, Scarce, Delta Clutch, Digger, Hank, Jon Brion, Delusions of Grandeur, The Swinging Steaks, TH and The Wreckage, Serum, Nisi Period, The Raindogs, The Cavedogs, House of Joy, Hothouse Flowers, Roger Waters, The Bags, Stu Kimball, Bim Skala Bim, Jehova Starbelly, Mistlethrush, Tanya Donnely, The Uninvited, Mick Mondo and Streaker, Muck and The Mires, Sidewalk Gallery, The Next, Treat Her Right, Sleepy Hollow, Doug Thoms/Fleshflower, The Moors, Common Ailments of Maturity, Sleep Chamber, Patty Griffin, Laurie Geltman, Ronnie Earl and The Broadcasters, Duke Robillard, Greg Piccolo, Roomful of Blues, Bobby Radcliffe, Micki Honeycut, John Lincoln Wright, Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, Vision Thing, Delta Clutch, The Ray Corvair Trio, The Strangemen, Tidal Wave, Ten Star General, Underball, Scratch, The Speed Devils, The Fathoms, Charlie Chesterman, Miss Xanna Don’t, The Derangers, The Nines, The Voodoo Dolls, Angelo Petraglia/The Immortals, Vibralux, The West End Blues Band, The Blue Hornets, Sugar Ray and The Blue Tones, Walston, Lucky 57, The Tullamores, Grand Evolution, Young Rust, Mike Gendren, Jeff Pitchell/Texas Flood, RSO Crew, Still Home, Dogzilla, Grand Evolution, Adam Steinberg, Billy Conway, Jim Fitting, Paul Simon…and more more more…Drew’s On-line (partial) discography:
DrewDiscs

Bands I've played in:

LP/CD Releases I have appeared on:

House of Joy, “A Kick at The Cat” 1987; House of Joy' “Slings and Arrows” 1989; Various Artists, “North by Northeast:Roots Rock, etc” 1990; Various Artists, “Boston Gets Stoned” Rolling Stones Tribute 1991; Various Artists, “Son of Godzippah” 1992; Various Artists, “Rock for Wood” Walden Woods benefit 1993; Various Artists, “Crush” 1994; Various Artists, “Thirteen” 1995; Various Artists, “Tube: Atlantic Surf Essentials” 1996. In addition to appearing on these CDs with bands like House of Joy and The Derangers, I also produced some or even all of the content. The “Tube” surf CD is the highlight of my career, having recorded the majority of the tracks and producing the compilqtion itself. It was released in May of ’96 on Cherrydisc, and as far as I know is the only document of the Boston surf-revival scene of the mid 1990’s.

Places I've played:

Club Bohemia aka The Kirkland Café, The Hard Rock Café, The Kendall Café, The House of Blues, The Channel, The Tam, Necco Place, The Paradise, The Rat, The Rat Balcony, Avenue C, Bunratty’s, Bill’s Bar, Axis, DV8, The Linwood, TT The Bear’s Place, The Causeway, Chet’s Last Call, The Middle East (all rooms), Jack’s, Catch a Rising Star, Jacque’s, E.M. Lowe's Theater (opening for B.B. King!), The Plough and Stars, Nightstage, Sally O’Briens, O’Brien’s, The Abbey Lounge, The Lizard Lounge, Venus de Milo, Mama Kin, Dodge Street, The Wellfleet Beachcomber, The Living Room, The Ocean Mist, The Stone Church, The Iron Horse, The Sea Note, The Met Café, The Century Lounge, Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, Ralph’s Diner, The Blackstone Tavern, Joe’s American, Toad, Toad’s Place, CBGB, Under Acme, The Rodeo Bar, Club 3, Johnny D’s, Edible Rex, The Overdraught, The Rockpile, 24-city US Tour, 1996…