Matt Connarton Unleashed 3-14-26 hour 3

Speaker 1: Oh man, look at my life farm a lot like you were.

Speaker 2: Oh man, look.

Speaker 1: At my life, farm a lot like you were, old man.

Speaker 2: Look at my life twenty four and.

Speaker 3: There's so much more.

Speaker 2: Live alone in a paradise. It makes me think to

Speaker 2: love lot such cars.

Speaker 3: Give me things.

Speaker 2: It won't get lost like a corn, it won't get guitars.

Speaker 4: Rolling holding you, Oh dan, take a look at my life from.

Speaker 5: A lot like you. I need someone to love me all day. Look in my eyes and you can tell that.

Speaker 2: Stroll lullabies, look in your eyes, run around the same old town. It doesn't mean not much to me, to me, not much to you. I've been the first to last. Look at how the time.

Speaker 6: Goes past now a long man.

Speaker 4: All about.

Speaker 2: Take a look at my life.

Speaker 6: I'm not like you.

Speaker 2: I someone love me the whole.

Speaker 7: Day through.

Speaker 5: One.

Speaker 2: Look at my eyes.

Speaker 6: And you can tell that's true.

Speaker 1: Oh man, look at my life farm alone like you.

Speaker 2: Oh man, look in my life fum l like you.

Speaker 8: It's so good. That is Neil Young's Old Man, as performed by Rust Never Sleeps, And we have Rust Never Sleeps here with us, live in studio, and we're gonna talk with them in just a moment and they're gonna play for us. But welcome everybody. We have entered our number three New Marrow trace of Matt Connorton Unleashed and we are live from the studios of wm NH ninety five point three FM and Glorious Manchester, New Hampshire. Of course, you can stream the show from anywhere. Go to Matt connorton dot com slash live for all of your live streaming options, social media links, contact info, show archives, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 8: It is Saturday, March fourteen, twenty twenty six, and let's get those mics up here as we welcome Rust Never Sleeps. Hey, everybody, good morning, good good, all right, Rina, let's start with you. What I'd like you each to do is introduce yourselves. It also gives me a chance to check here Mike's and tell us who you are, what you do in the band, and many other pertinence you want us to know about. Oh wait a minute, I cannot hear you at all. Hey, there we go, there we go. See Guess why I do this?

Speaker 9: Yeah, no, hi, everybody. I'm Rina and I've been with Rust Never Sleeps for going on twenty years, and I sing vocals in the band. Started with some great background vocals and do some solo numbers too. That love playing with these guys.

Speaker 8: Outstanding, outstanding, and you, sir.

Speaker 10: Chuck Mimitz here. I was referred here by my kid who was on a couple of times. Yes, he plays in a band called Sick Dude. Hell yeah, yes, yes, anyway, I love being here, and I've been with Kenny since the onset of this project, some close to twenty five years ago.

Speaker 8: No kidding at this point. Yeah, you has been around a while.

Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, I also got them in just quick so I don't forget. Is that Reena is also playing with a wonderful Tom Petty tribute, Oh kidding called Petty Larceny.

Speaker 8: Okay, Oh that's.

Speaker 10: Now, I'll pass it over to the band leader, the ring leader.

Speaker 11: Ah, yeah, I'm Ken. That's me. I'm the ring leader okay, or the cat herder. Yeah, been doing it for about you think our band archives says it's twenty five years okay, this coming up next year.

Speaker 8: I think it's twenty twenty five years. Wow. Wow, So that's you sinking an old man of course.

Speaker 11: Yeah.

Speaker 8: That's uh. That track that we played sound amazing. Thank you absolutely. That is so so good. Actually, you should tell us about that, because people should if they go on YouTube and check the video. The video of that's really cools. It looks like you're playing in a Barneah.

Speaker 11: Yeah, my nephew is an independent filmmaker and he did that for us.

Speaker 8: Oh, no kidding.

Speaker 11: Pretty cool.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, I like to because I found two versions of it, because the color version in a black and white version. Oh okay, that's right. Yeah yeah, so yeah, that is pretty cool. Is he? Uh you said he's an independent filmmaker.

Speaker 11: Yeah, his name is Mark Battle. Okay, He's made some pretty cool films. He won some awards, no kidding. Yeah, really passionate about it.

Speaker 8: Oh, very cool.

Speaker 11: I'm lucky to have him around.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Yeah, oh wow, that's awesome. That's awesome. So how did this start? How did this project begin?

Speaker 11: Oh? Man, you want the short story of the long story?

Speaker 8: We got time for the long I like I like long stories. We got we got time.

Speaker 11: I'll try to not make it too long. I've got a good buddy that lives up in Rochester, New Hampshire, New York, New York, right, New York.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Speaker 11: Uh. He was playing in a Dave Matthews tribute band way way back, you know, before if tribute bands were really popular. Yeah, And I have to say, you know, when I was in high school, we didn't call them tribute bands. We call them clone bands. Really, we looked down on it. We did, well, that's interesting. It's not cool to be in a tribute band. It was not something I wanted to do. But I am a Neil Young fan. Yeah, yeah, playing his music forever. So he made me come down and see these guys, and I just couldn't believe it.

Speaker 11: There was people were going crazy for it, So that planted the seed. Interesting story. Chucky had a kind of a relationship with Brad Delp from the band Boston. He did some recording in his home studios years ago. So one late night I was in Duncan Donuts and Lawrence Mass at like two in the morning, and who walks in but Brad Delt the guitar player, and he was doing the Beetlejuice thing. Oh no kidding, So true to his reputation, he sat and talked to me for thirty forty minutes.

Speaker 8: For people who don't know, Beetlejuice was, of course, the tribute to the Beatles and the.

Speaker 11: Bread did and Who's the Least Thing or Boston in a tribute band. Yeah, so that kind of opened up my you know, my mind to say, well, you know it is cool because he was a huge Beatles fan. So we came into it that way. And I had to I had to round up Chucky because we played in the band when I was eighteen and I hadn't seen him for years.

Speaker 8: Oh no, kidding him down.

Speaker 11: He was doing a gig in Boston and oh wow, hey, would you be interested? He says, I would. He says, I'm not leading any more bands, but if you want to lead it, then we'll do it.

Speaker 8: Oh no, kidding. Yeah.

Speaker 10: I had taken on my first day job at that point, so I you know, I used to play full time but then had a kid.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 10: Life changes.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 11: Yeah.

Speaker 10: That kid was Nate, who was here in your studio perfect.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Well I'm glad you had them.

Speaker 10: Yeah too, And I'm glad the bug bit him too.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 11: Kind of the story for us. You know, It's like, because I went to Berkeley for three years and Chucky was out there write in original music, and you know, we wanted to do it, but we were also starting to raise families. It's not really a practical lifestyle. So we're I think we fall into that category of you know, I don't know if i'd even call a semi pro, but we just we want to do it. We still want to do it, yeah, even twenty five years later. Yeah, So we just make it work the best way we can.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 10: We do it because we love it, not to make a living doing it.

Speaker 11: Yeah. Back back then it was about that, but then we smartened up. We had to get kicked in the head a few times along the way.

Speaker 8: I did anything.

Speaker 11: What do you mean, just like you can't make it's hard to make a living? Yeah, yeah, to make big sacrifice.

Speaker 10: Right, I missed a chunk of Nate's earliest years. I was still full time going at it, and I missed so much. Let's choice you gotta make.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, of course I know I made the right one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so Rena, how did you? How did you come to be in the band?

Speaker 9: Yeah, A really good friend of mine, Rob Hamilton. He's the pedal steel player in the band.

Speaker 10: Okay, keyboardist, keyboardist.

Speaker 9: He's a multi talented instrumentalist, and we were good friends we were playing in a band that was kind of starting to disband a little bit, and so they were looking for some harmonies while Chuck was on the road with a Bow's gig, and so I came in to start singing some harmonies. And I was just doing a couple of songs a gig, hanging out, you know, showing up at gigs and filling in, and then these guys kind of adopted me in and I've been with them ever since.

Speaker 8: Outstanding, Yeah, outstanding. I'm done to hear you play something. Let's see, so I want to Chuck, can you play a little bit? I want to make sure we can hear you? And is there a gate on that I'm gonna well or is that might.

Speaker 10: Be getting from my vocal my kids? You're getting any level on that?

Speaker 8: Yeah? I kind of want to.

Speaker 10: This is the beta that I'm tapping now, and I'm not hearing it. I can all right, No I'm not either, No more tech talk.

Speaker 8: No, I'm sorry. PRIs actually tap tap that mic a little more? Would you? I'm not hearing it either.

Speaker 10: We'll just go with what we have and Kenny's guitars plugged in. Why don't we get a level on that.

Speaker 8: Yeah, is that there? Oh, that might be the room Mike. I think it is. No, that's not. This is the room Mike. Here, I'm thinking about moving that.

Speaker 10: Uh sounds like kind of a pretty tight gait on that.

Speaker 8: And I just I'm just surprised that that's you know, what we might do? I have an idea, but I'm wondering if while I do this, I could play something else from your because you got some great recordings on YouTube. I think I could play another one from there. I love that. I love that old man. Well, let me see what else we got here, and and then we'll because I have an idea for how we can because I want you guys to sound I want to do right by you. You know what I mean? What about Oh? Should I play? Oh?

Speaker 8: Wait, that's the same that's the same thing the sky about the rain from Oh? Yes, yes, yes, I saw that on there and I did watch it.

Speaker 11: That's to be cut. We love our bee cuts.

Speaker 8: Yeah, let's play this. Let's know this is this is really good too? Yeah? Oh and actually before I play it, tell us about this? How did how did you guys get to play it at Darryl's House club? That's so cool.

Speaker 11: I don't. I don't remember somebody reached out to us. I kind of think somebody did.

Speaker 10: Yeah, oh it was yeah, it was in their early going.

Speaker 11: Yeah, we were. We played at the Iron Horse, Northampton, and and the guy that used to book that room room yeah, oh okay, yeah, and that was a big I mean it was a throw for us. It was because I watched I've watched the show. To be in that room was pretty cool.

Speaker 8: Yeah. So for people who don't know, of course, well everybody knows live at Darrel's House the show, but Daryl holl owns a club called I guess it's called Darrel's House Club club. Yeah, and and uh and so you guys got to play. Yeah that's awesome a couple of times.

Speaker 10: Oh really Yeah, masterful job producing those video and aud was like top not.

Speaker 8: I can imagine.

Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah, you know what everybody asked us after that show? It was Darryl here.

Speaker 8: I know. I was wonderingbout that, like how often is he actually there?

Speaker 9: He actually played the night after us because we played New Year's Weekend. Oh no kidding, played the night after.

Speaker 10: And I've heard from others who have been there that he does pop in quite frequently.

Speaker 8: Oh okay, okay, interesting, interesting, all right, so let's give this a listen. So this is See the Sky about to rain. You played this at live at Darryl's House Club, so yeah, we'll give this a listen and we'll figure out the mike situation. And because I'm dying here you play live, but so stick with us. But yeah, Russ never sleeps. Here it comes. See the sky about to rain.

Speaker 12: Okay, see the sky about to rain.

Speaker 13: Broken clouds and rain. Loco mode to pull the train

Speaker 13: whistled low and through my brain.

Speaker 6: Signals coming on the bad rolling down the track again,

Speaker 6: see the sky.

Speaker 3: Bowing to rain.

Speaker 14: Some are bound for have been as some my bound for a blown rad.

Speaker 2: S my bound to lind with.

Speaker 15: Lass who can.

Speaker 2: Tell your story?

Speaker 4: Or rain?

Speaker 2: See the sky about.

Speaker 6: Rain, working clouds and rains.

Speaker 3: Look on.

Speaker 2: For the train. Mistle through that rain.

Speaker 6: Signals turning on it, old band, going down the track, up the gall.

Speaker 15: See the sky by I was down in Dixie, la

Speaker 15: plaid a silver feet way in loud and then the mon.

Speaker 16: Brokey down on me. See the sky.

Speaker 8: Oh that is so good, that is so good. See the sky about to rain. Russ never sleeps live at Darryl's House Club. Yeah, and I encourage everyone to check out the video. You know, we were kind of talking off here about what a professional job they do there, and yeah, fantastic. Well we have Russ Never Sleeps here live in studio. Done hear them play live. So we had a little issue with the microphones. But I think we're good. So let's let me get that one up and let's see. Oh you know what, hang on, I'm sorry here it is?

Speaker 8: Oh that sounds nice. What do you think?

Speaker 3: Perfect?

Speaker 8: Perfect? All right, Kenny, let's get your guitar up there. Oh that sounds really nice. Do you want to play a little bit of something just so I can get make sure our levels are h are good? Here? Oh, I know that soun Oh that sounds good. I want to get a little vocals in there too. Just make sure.

Speaker 2: I wanta gill.

Speaker 3: I ban a minor four A horror of gold.

Speaker 2: It's banning mine my talk? Fine, keep me searching for.

Speaker 3: I'm getting all right.

Speaker 8: I think we're How does the sound to you?

Speaker 11: All good?

Speaker 8: I think we're good. All right? All right, Russ Never Sleeps This year they're gonna perform live for us. What are you uh, what are you gonna play for.

Speaker 11: USNA sing Dylan tune?

Speaker 8: Okay?

Speaker 11: And now you know, we've only been doing the Dylan thing for about a year and a half added into the Neil, so we're doing a the music of Dylan and Young show.

Speaker 8: Okay.

Speaker 11: There's there a lot of reasons that works and goes together.

Speaker 10: Which is what we're doing at the Rex by the way.

Speaker 11: Right we're gonna be at the Wreck.

Speaker 8: Oh we gotta plug that too. Yeah, yeah, we'll remind people later, but yeah, let's plug that right now too for people just tuning in.

Speaker 11: March twenty eighth, okay, two weeks from today.

Speaker 8: Oh wow at the Rex Theater.

Speaker 11: Yeah, seven thirty excellent. We've been there a few times. It's a great venue. Yeah, intimate, intimate theater.

Speaker 10: One of the coolest green rooms, if you want to call it that. It's like this area right behind the curtain on the stage. Yeah, and you know, and then a couple of dressing rooms but a little unique in that regard.

Speaker 11: Yeah. It's a good nice real nice stage. Good sounds.

Speaker 10: Yeah.

Speaker 8: Okay, yeah, so.

Speaker 11: Get out and get those tickets.

Speaker 8: Absolutely all right. The Rex Theater on the twenty eighth March twenty March twenty eighth, outstanding. All right, Russ never Sleeps is here with us, here with us, live and studio, And what are you gonna play?

Speaker 9: We'll do knocking on Heaven's stone.

Speaker 8: Oh nice, knocking on Heaven's door, all right, whenever you're ready, right.

Speaker 17: In, Mama, take this patch of them be. I can't you use it anymore? Scared and dark to dark to see feels my I'm knocking on heavenstore. Don't not knocking on heaven'store. Do nothing knocking on heavenstorm. Nothing not knocking on Heaven's store. Now, nothing knocking on heavenstone. Mama up, put these guns in the ground. I can't shoot them anymore.

Speaker 17: That long black cloud is going down, now down. Then I'm knocking on heaven'store. I'm not knocking on Heaven store.

Speaker 17: I'm not knocking on Heaven store. I'm not knocking on Heaven store. I'm not knocking on the Heaven store. Why not knocking on Heaven's store. Why'm not knocking on evenstore.

Speaker 17: I'm not knocking on Evens store. Why not knocking on Heavens store?

Speaker 8: M good, Lord, those harmonies, oh so good. Absolutely fantastic. Oh, if you're just joining us, we have rest never sleeps here with us live in studio and uh oh that sounded so good. And Chuck, now, I now I know what you meant, because you know you were saying when we were kind of getting set up and trying to figure everything out as far as Mike's you know that the harmonies are the main thing. Indeed, and I see what you mean.

Speaker 10: That's what we work the most on for sure.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, No, the three of you sound amazing together when you when you play live with the full band, is it always the three of you harmonizing or are there other band members also singing with you?

Speaker 10: Or there are like our bass player kicks in a lot of times, like Kenny O vamp on a melody thing while we're doing a three part harmony in the background. Okay, so much fun.

Speaker 8: Okay.

Speaker 9: And does Rob ever sing No, no, now, he's too busy.

Speaker 10: Right yeah, both hands and both beat.

Speaker 9: Mikey Garren, he's that bass player and he does he does do some vocals with us sometimes.

Speaker 8: Okay, Okay, very cool. Kenny, So you had said earlier that you know, incorporating Dylan into the Neil Young material that that works really well for several reasons. So I'm curious if you can expand on that.

Speaker 11: You know, I think mainly the singer songwriter thing. Those two artists really respect each other, I think, And you know, Neil has kind of not hidden the fact that he's kind of based his career in many ways off of Dylan sure, and in his work ethic and you know, kind of his approach. These guys kind of approach it like a painter. They put on a lot of material and they don't expect it all to be good, but you know they're going to hit gold with a lot of it. So oh yeah, when you think of some artists that have three, four or five albums and these guys have like thirty some odd albums and they're just putting it out and they're they're they're following the muse.

Speaker 11: Man, they're looking at the inspiration. And I mean that's and in a lot of ways, I think for us as a live band, that's that's why we I wouldn't be able to do it for twenty five years if we were trying to do exact renditions of the songs. Sometimes it kind of pans out that way. A little bit or people think it does, but more often than not, we do what they do. They play their own songs in very different ways. So well, you know, we're still six musicians that are expressing ourselves through that music, like a bunch of people sitting playing in the you know, symphony orchestra right.

Speaker 10: Playing there, or a bunch of people sitting in a living room somewhere. It is often how it feels to me when we're playing in a theater, even just like we could just as well be gamming in someone's living room. And that's I think what our audience appreciates as well, a very intimate thing.

Speaker 9: You can always tell that we're that we're loving it, so it really brings them in with us. We've always had that vibe with the with the audience.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, excellent, excellent in terms of you know, because you mentioned Kenny that you know they're there's still active. When when you're choosing, when you're figuring out what to cover of these artists like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, do you ever i mean, do you kind of say, okay, we're just going to do the classic stuff or are you ever is it ever a question of Kenny's a vault man.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Speaker 10: Yeah, he's also the king of audibles. We never know what we're gonna play, really, yeah, no kidding.

Speaker 11: Yeah, you know, I kind of I go by this rule because I kind of because I have to. Yeah, I have to be inspired to want to play those particular songs.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 11: So if we have a show coming up, I'm starting to think about it, I might sketch out a set list and I'm thinking listening to different things and and that's how I come to it. And I'm really if I ever going to do a song because we should. Okay, now I've taken some heat for that really, and you know, and I get it. I get there are certain songs that people like to hear. But yeah, but for the most part, I mean, that's been us, that's that's that's that's just who we are, you know. Yeah, And in that way, for me, it can be authentic every time we play it.

Speaker 9: I never played the very rarely have we ever played like the same show twice. I've no Sea tribute bands, and you can almost tell and I know what's next, Yeah, I've and this one's very different. This one you always and then you've got some classics in there and people that people love, so they always get a chance to hear something that they love.

Speaker 10: They also get to hear obscurities that you don't often hear on the radio or on you know, live.

Speaker 11: I say, you have tell a funny story about that.

Speaker 8: Uh.

Speaker 11: There's a a Neil tune that we like to play called big Time and it's it's influenced by the kind of or guitar guys, especially link Ray okay, and link Ray was famous for a song called Rumble, Yes, Yes, Okay. So and I kept hearing it. I'm going that, man, Rumble is in big Time. So we started doing shows. We would open with Rumble and we go right into big Time. So one of our biggest fans, who's a big Neil young fan, has seen Neil on hundred times.

Speaker 8: Yeah, he calls me up one night and.

Speaker 11: He goes, hey, I saw that Neil tune on a commercial on the radio, and that's not even possible Neil. And it turned out it was Rumble on a on a lawn seed commercial. But we tricked him. We tricked the guy that knows Neil really well.

Speaker 8: You know, yeah, Oh that's wild, that's wild, do you I mean for the most part. Well, let me ask it this way. Are there any songs Neil Young songs or Dylan songs that you've done where they become very different? I mean you obviously you kind of do them in your own way, but I mean, are there any of that? Like, I guess what I'm getting to is, has anyone ever had a problem with like coming up to you at a show and saying, hey, you really you know you shouldn't mess with that?

Speaker 11: But never heard it?

Speaker 1: Well?

Speaker 11: No, because I think I think anybody that comes to most people to come to a show to see either of Neil or yylling yeah music, they know that the original artist is famous for doing just.

Speaker 10: The exact same that like the record.

Speaker 11: Yeah, Well there's a there's a very famous story about Neil toured on Time Fades Away album and seventy four.

Speaker 8: Yeah he was.

Speaker 11: He went out and he toured and he hadn't released the album yet. Okay, so he's out there and he's playing an album's worth of songs. Yeah, oh can you hear me? Okay? Uh so somebody, uh, somebody's pissed off and they yell from the front audience play something we know. So so he stops for a minute and he huddles with the band. Yeah, comes back to the mic coast. We're gonna play something you've heard before. And they launched it to the song they just played a minute.

Speaker 8: Oh that's fine, that's wild.

Speaker 11: Now we're not we're not looking to do anything like that, not looking to spite anyone.

Speaker 10: But we haven't gotten No, I've never heard anybody. They seem to enjoy that. We're just running with it. This is tonight's version, and I think that's part of why we got some folks like Natt and a few others that come to near every show. They don't get bored because they're not hearing the same thing over and over again.

Speaker 9: We do have people that come and come back and it's just awesome, and they've come they've become part of like our family too, like some really good friends. Out of some of the fans that have come.

Speaker 10: Shut Yeah goodness. Yeah, well we Mark and Eileen.

Speaker 11: Yeah we don't. We mentioned you mentioned. I want to shout out the rest of the guys. Yeah, yeah, absolutely piano, and we mentioned Mike Garrene on bass. But we have a new drummer this past year, Matt Smalley and he's a young guy. Yeah, and he's kicking us right down the highway. It's good to have young energy in the dance.

Speaker 9: I used to be the youngest. Now I've been really But the cool thing about.

Speaker 11: Him is he is really deep into this type of music.

Speaker 8: He knows.

Speaker 11: He's a real student of.

Speaker 10: He's shedding too. You can tell he's listening to, you know, all the different people that like crazy horse versions whatever, Like he wants to really know this stuff. You can tell when he comes to rehearsal that he's been shedding.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Oh wow, Now what what happened to the previous drummer? Because I know that it seems like it's become a running theme on the show. Every drummer is in like ten different bands. Yeah, I'm wondering.

Speaker 10: We had a spinal tap.

Speaker 11: Yeah yeah, yeah, our longtime drummer Jeremy was, you know, amazing drummer. And it's a great guy around Yeah, Western Mask.

Speaker 10: Okay, he plays with Danny Klein.

Speaker 9: Yeah, he plays with the bass player founder.

Speaker 8: Oh wow, Okay, so.

Speaker 11: That's I think the travel got to be a lot. Yeah, so you know it's I wouldn't be surprised if we played with him. Again in the future, but.

Speaker 10: I hope so. But yeah, it's no offense to Matt just the way.

Speaker 8: It is now. Yeah.

Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah, he put in He put in twenty years.

Speaker 8: So okay, he put in some time then, yeah, put in some time. Wow. Wow was it so after twenty years? Was it scary having to find a new drummer.

Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, because it worked so seamlessly. Yeah, it might have been scary thinking about it to do it.

Speaker 9: There are just certain fills and stuff that you get used to, yeah, you know, in certain drives and now, but it kind of brings this new energy, you know, playing with Matt and kind of feeling a new way of of doing interpretating the songs. He definitely Matt has this like classic feel, like you said, you can tell he's been studying this stuff. So but definitely, like over time you start to kind of expect certain fills and things like that, Right, So that's changed, but Matt's holding it down really well for us, And you know, it's a.

Speaker 11: Huge part of being in this band is not just your musicianship. It's like, are you a good hang right?

Speaker 8: Right?

Speaker 11: You shit with us? Like the vibe is it just uh, whatever our vibe is I could, I could describe it, but I mean it just has to kind of fit.

Speaker 8: Yeah, of course.

Speaker 11: Yeah, that's probably as important as a musicianship.

Speaker 8: Oh not more, but equal. Yeah, yeah, no doubt.

Speaker 11: We've been lucky that way.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Oh that's really good. That's really good. If you are just joining us, Russ Never sleeps is with us? You want to play another one? I'm dying to here, I'm dying to hear more of those harmonies are just incredible to me.

Speaker 11: Okay, we'll do a little uh Long May you Run?

Speaker 18: All right, we've been through some things together.

Speaker 3: With trunk thumb memories, still calm.

Speaker 11: We found things to do in stormy.

Speaker 3: Weather, Long Maid, Long Maid Road.

Speaker 19: Long made You run, Although these changes have come?

Speaker 7: If you chrome hard, shine in the sun, Long May.

Speaker 4: Run?

Speaker 18: Back in Blind River in nineteen.

Speaker 8: Sixty two.

Speaker 3: And I last saw you line.

Speaker 2: Well, we missed that ship.

Speaker 20: The long Decline, Long May Run, Long, May You Run.

Speaker 7: Long Made Run, Although these changes have come?

Speaker 19: Did you chrome hard, shine in the sun, Long May Long?

Speaker 19: Maybe the beach boys have got you now.

Speaker 3: With all those.

Speaker 2: Waves singing Caroline.

Speaker 19: Running down those empty ocean roads, get into.

Speaker 3: The surfon tie roun Ma Run.

Speaker 16: Long may you run, Although the these changes have come.

Speaker 7: You chrome hard shine, and in the sun, long may run,

Speaker 7: Long made run, Long.

Speaker 2: May you run, although these changes have come.

Speaker 3: With you, chrome hard shine, and in the sun, long may.

Speaker 4: Run.

Speaker 8: Oh my god, so good A Russ Never sleeps live in studio here and that's amazing. By the way, you got a compliment from Peter White, who just texted me. Peter is of course host of the Morning Show with Peter White, but you can hear weekday mornings from seven to nine am here at w M and H. But he also is the program director here and yeah, he just texted me and said, you guys sound really good. So Peter, thank you, absolutely absolutely. If you are just joining us, of course we have rest Never sleeps here with us alive in studio.

Speaker 8: And is there a favorite like within or maybe you each have your own. I'm curious if if you have favorites that you play live that you're.

Speaker 11: That's a common question. It changes for me a lot. But I guess the tune I mentioned before Big Time is kind of really just because of the message of it.

Speaker 10: Yeah, it's like asking what's your favorite color. It's it's really hard to pin it down like you. It changes from moment to moment.

Speaker 9: Yeah, and it depends like what we're playing at the time. If something news coming up and we've really meshed on it and stuff, we get excited to play it.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 9: For me, yeah, yeah, this is our new favorite. For my classic favorite, I would say comes the time, just because it's the first one I did with the band, and it's just kind of, you know, always stuck with me and my kids too. So my kids were like babies when I joined this band, and so they grew up with it, so they you know, it's just it just became like this family song, but because of me being a rusted So it's pretty cool.

Speaker 8: Oh, very cool. Is there anything that's been particularly challenging to learn?

Speaker 9: How many? Sometimes? Yeah?

Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah, I'm going to say actually with the Dylan stuff, really well not playing it, but it's ten verses.

Speaker 2: Okay.

Speaker 8: You know what's funny about that because this came up on you know, in the second hour when when we had the Pop Farmers on and you know they do all these Irish songs for for St. Patrick's Day, and they were talking about how some of those some of those classic Irish songs are very wordy because they've got like, you know, there's one I think they do. It's got like seven to eight verses to it, and and and how that can be challenging.

Speaker 10: So so that's trying trying not to do it karaoke style, you know, right right?

Speaker 8: That is good.

Speaker 9: We do have some eight ten verses long my god.

Speaker 21: Yeah.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 10: Fortunately they are stories, which makes them easier to remember. And you know most cases, you know, you know I Tangled Up and Blues a great example. Yeah, yeah, a lot of verses, but it's a great story. Yeah, you've heard it, and you know the stories, yeah, tend to stick a little easier.

Speaker 8: Yeah, Like like what's the one, like the wordiest Dylan's from The.

Speaker 11: Hard Rain?

Speaker 9: Yeah yeah, definitely.

Speaker 8: You ever you ever play them live and forget the words?

Speaker 11: Oh you know, I'm gonna little aids.

Speaker 1: Ye.

Speaker 11: And you know, years ago I saw Elvis Costello doing a show.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 11: It was yeah, two big music stands with books on him. You know, it was his own music. Yeah, so he had some aids. Said that's not such a bad thing if you.

Speaker 8: Oh yeah, yeah, of course of course. And then like what's uh so the songs that you started because again you've been is twenty five years thereabouts. The way that you play some of those because I assume the songs that you played in the beginning you're still playing, right, Yeah, a lot of them. Have those kind of evolved in terms of how you approach.

Speaker 10: Them, sure, a little bit, not in huge ways, but.

Speaker 11: I mean we're testing went off for the next show that we haven't played in a long time. Really, yeah, that'll be surprised.

Speaker 10: You're not giving them a way Okay, okay, yeah, but by that, I mean they don't change drastically. But tonight I felt different than I did the last time we played it. So my little part is going to be different, right, right, And that's going to everybody in the band's playing off of each other. Rights their nuances to change, but not major ways. Sometimes we've come up with a different groove trying to yeah.

Speaker 9: Differently, rhythm will change. We'll play around with the rhythm sometimes and sometimes we have a slow version.

Speaker 10: We have a fast for yeah, yeah, yeah, and sometimes that's not on you know, that's not planned.

Speaker 14: Right.

Speaker 8: I'm also curious if any of the Neil Young stuff is hard to play from a guitar perspective, because I don't know, like the solos. Some of his solos are so weird.

Speaker 7: I love it.

Speaker 9: Kenny.

Speaker 10: Kenny does a lot more shutting on how Neil would approach that, and then he lets me do what I do. Oh really, I don't feel like a crazy horse guy when I get to a solo. I just play what you know, I don't read, I don't you know. I just wing it because I've been doing that since I was a kid. And uh, it's nice to have that kind of and you do the same.

Speaker 11: Yeah, but I tend to. I tend to in the rock tunes anyway. I have that sound you hit.

Speaker 10: On your black lest Paul, You're hitting that Bigsby and I'd swear sometimes and I'm listening to Neil playing Yeah.

Speaker 9: It's one of my favorite parts of this of when we play out listening to them play yeah, yeah, yeah, it's definitely a tree yeah yeah. But Kenny gets that sound, that raw, you know, dirty Neil Young tune, and it's just really good.

Speaker 10: A lot of folks just compare it to the Stills Young okay interaction from back in the day. Really, but when we listen to it back you know, recordings or whatever, I get the similarities, but it's so different. It's us.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 10: Yeah, we're not trying to be them.

Speaker 8: Yeah, of course.

Speaker 11: And I think that's the testament to that we we get we captured the vibe. Yeah, because you know, like I don't sound like Neil Young, but a lot of people think it's dead on, but no, if you listen to it side by side, it isn't. But there's something about it that I get.

Speaker 8: Well, that's what I was curious about, because I mean, it's one thing to get the tone, but it's another thing to actually play like him, right, because I don't know. I can't think of anybody else who plays like him, you know what I mean? Right? And I don't even know how to maybe you know you probably do. I don't even know how to describe. Like if somebody were ask me, well, how does Neil Young play a guitar solo? I wouldn't know how to even describe it. Well.

Speaker 11: There was a Rolling Stone interview or not Know. It was a review of of his albums back in the day. It was one of his rock tones. I think it was like a hurricane, okay, and the person writing the article said it sounds like down power line snapping off the ground, you know, like that. That sounds pretty good. And I found out later that he had been listening to a lot of John Coltrane, Okay, and it's very kind of anastic that that got into his and got.

Speaker 10: Into you can hear that intro City pics.

Speaker 11: Yeah, sure, absolutely, And I think his musical beings were all like that. We kind of absorbed different things and it comes out in our own little way, you know.

Speaker 8: Yeah. Absolutely. Is there a crowd favorite? Is there? Is there anything particular that you all play that you notice?

Speaker 10: Harvest Moon? They love Harvest Moon.

Speaker 9: They always asked for it.

Speaker 11: Sure, we don't always play that one now, but.

Speaker 9: One one crowd favorite too is Cowgirl in.

Speaker 10: The Sandy because of the jam.

Speaker 9: Yeah, because of that jam. Sectually, Old Man Hard. We do play this mostly, okay, okay, Yeah, and then once in a while they'll get a treat. We'll do Rocking in the Free World and oh no, everyone.

Speaker 10: Digs that we've done that acoustic handle liqu that's right, really yeah, and I love both of them, but yeah, that can go twenty minutes.

Speaker 8: Yeah really yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 11: And there's the first thing about Neil, because he's got those two versions out there, yeah, they're different from me, John.

Speaker 9: Yeah, everybody knows that. That's a popular one that we do.

Speaker 8: Yeah, Oh, very cool, excellent, excellent, So we should remind people too as we get close to the top of the hour. So the show at the Rex, it's on the twenty eighth, March twenty eighth, Yes, yeah, okay, And and it's just you, right, it's just Russ Never Sleep.

Speaker 10: No opener that we're aware of, because that has happened, so you know what, You've got an opener tonight.

Speaker 8: Yeah.

Speaker 11: And they can go to their website or they can go to our website and link over to it. We're never sleeps dot net.

Speaker 10: Okay, okay, No, we're on Facebook? Are we on Instagram? I'm not just the social media at all.

Speaker 8: It's a nice website by the way, too. And that might sound like a random compliment, but I'm a I'm a web designer, and so I noticed websites and my.

Speaker 11: Filmmaker, oh yeah he did.

Speaker 8: He did a great job because a lot of a lot of musicians have terrible websites. So I commend you for good pro.

Speaker 10: You're a lack of a lot of trades. I've seen your bio on the radio site and elsewhere. You're up to a lot of cool stuff.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, I never sleep either. I I do have to ask you this because you mentioned it, because I love stories like this, he said. The thing about you. You were presented with an opener that you didn't know you were going to have at a show.

Speaker 10: That was recently thanks for example, that wonderful room and mad Massa And.

Speaker 11: I apologize later, but it wasn't the end of the world. But no, you'd like to know about that.

Speaker 10: Well, yeah, yeah, and so would our patrons.

Speaker 8: Well, yeah, I like to know. But we do every now and then.

Speaker 11: We throw a curveball in here. I mean we had Arena's daughters. Yes, yes, that was a lot of fun, you know.

Speaker 9: Yeah, please, she'll get to do She's actually sat in with the band.

Speaker 10: Before for me to one night and killed it.

Speaker 11: Yeah, great musicians. He's going to be graduating from Berkeley this year.

Speaker 9: Oh actually, yeah, she graduates in May from from Berkeley. And but yeah, she sits in for me from time to time.

Speaker 8: And oh cool, Well who is she? Let's give her a plug?

Speaker 9: Yeah, Elizabeth Valley. We call her Bess, and uh yeah, she does an excellent job. She plays around locally right now, though. It's she's real busy finishing up at Berkeley. She's got her first album release coming out in April called Sounder, and uh, yeah, she's beautiful listen to.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker 9: She just played the Pink showcase at the VPC and she was one of the chosen soloists there. And she's got another showcase at Berkeley for George Martin and she's doing Linda Ronstadt's Moon so Ours Mistress, so wow, yeah, it'll be a treat.

Speaker 8: So well, we'll have to get her on the show. We've had Chuck's son on the show Your Daughter Family Guy.

Speaker 10: I love it.

Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Uh do you have any any children who are musicians?

Speaker 11: They're not musicians?

Speaker 8: Okay, no, Well, although actually I would like to get your filmmakers son on the show too, because that sounds interesting. Okay, Yeah, we don't. We don't just do music. I mean we do mostly music, but but you know, I just love talking to creative people in general, you know.

Speaker 10: Just I have three kids, and only one of them got the bug the music, Pug. The other two are hockey players, probably not interviewing hockey.

Speaker 8: Yeah, I don't know anything about sports ball.

Speaker 9: My son doesn't play, but he loves it and he's listening to us today too, So well, good.

Speaker 8: Very good. Hello Gus, Hello guys. All right, so we are about out of time. I do want to play one more thing from your YouTube though.

Speaker 10: Real quick. Before you do, I've got a guest shout out to Sick Dude. Hell yeah, my son, Yes, and and uh. I love both of your interviews here and thanks for pointing us in this direct.

Speaker 8: Oh yeah, we love Sick Dude. Hell yeah, absolutely, it's it's.

Speaker 10: A death metal duo. They're nuts. They recorded in my basement and I had a blast doing it anyway.

Speaker 8: Oh yeah, you were the engineer on that, right, correct? Yeah? Yeah, what was that? Have you ever done anything like that before, recorded anything like that before?

Speaker 10: Power duo like that?

Speaker 1: No?

Speaker 10: No, no, it was the coolest thing too. I mean I have a home studio. Yeah, and we had to put both of Why am I blanking on the bass guitar player's name?

Speaker 8: I can't remember?

Speaker 10: See I'm old. I'm getting old.

Speaker 8: Anyway, if you meet so many musicians, he.

Speaker 10: Takes plays a four string bass through a guitar amp and a bass ampe by way of a little splitter that octaves it so yeah, you'd swear you were hearing two guys that are just locked in.

Speaker 8: Oh yeah, yeah, right, you.

Speaker 10: Know what I'm talking about. And in order to pull that off and not just kill the overheads on the drum kit in my meager little space, we used this little cedar storage closet behind my studio. Yeah, stuck them in there and ran a bunch of cables from there, and it worked like a charm. So I got to learn by way of their project that I have a lot more capability in at me get a little space than Yeah. Yeah, I loved my listening space. It's mostly like I got. I did some acoustic treatment and all that, so I can sort of believe what I'm hearing.

Speaker 10: Yeah, before we put it out there, and uh, that was just such a fun project. It really was.

Speaker 8: Oh that's really cool.

Speaker 10: Yeah, they were very well prepared. Yeah to give them that.

Speaker 8: No, that's awesome. That's awesome. Uh what should I play from your YouTube? You got so much good stuff? Do you have any uh any suggestions? You had a lot of good Uh. We played that.

Speaker 11: I've looked on there for a long We played the.

Speaker 8: Darrel's House video. Uh, rest O Resleeves performs Motorcycle Mama do that one? That's one that's also and that's also from uh Live at Darrel's House. Yeah.

Speaker 10: Another one featuring Arena on lead vocals.

Speaker 8: Yeah, very cool, very cool. I know that song? Whose song is that?

Speaker 10: Is that a Neil news?

Speaker 8: That is a Neil song. I'll probably recognize it as soon a time album.

Speaker 11: Okay okay, originally sung by nico Let Larson.

Speaker 8: Oh gotcha, gotcha? All right? Oh I should mention too, just to remind people before we go, because Jenny's not in the room, but tonight from five to seven pm the Woman Wise Showing exhibition or whatever the term would be at the event at Mosaic Art Collective on Hanover Street. Jenny and I will be there tonight five to seven pm, So if you're listening live on Saturday, please come join us. And Jenny as always has art featured in the show, So very proud of her and all that she's doing. So that is tonight from five to seven pm Mosaic Art Collective on Hanover Street, and it's a wonderful place, so come down and say hello and thank you everybody who joined us today on the show.

Speaker 8: Of course, cognition and the pop Farmers, and of course Russ never sleeps. Thank you all three of you very much, thank you having so much. Thank you absolutely this has been wonderful and we'll close out with this. This is their rendition of Motorcycle Mama Live at Daryl's House Club Russ never sleeps.

Speaker 22: The cycle won't you lay your fans fight down? The cycle Mama, won't you play your.

Speaker 3: Bags fight down?

Speaker 4: I get in trouble when I bring you down?

Speaker 18: Or the cycle Mama, won't you lay it.

Speaker 23: Down on the words that keep the food.

Speaker 2: Away a place to say?

Speaker 15: Or the cycle Mama want you lay your bits fin down?

Speaker 6: Or the cycle mama want you lay your bads fine down?

Speaker 2: You is gending trouble.

Speaker 15: When you're bringing that out a round all the cycle want you lay it down?

Speaker 6: I hope the children lead.

Speaker 3: I think this game out.