Matt Connarton Unleashed: Tom Rousseau
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I do love that song. That is sing Hallelujah, and that is Tom Russo. Jenny is here, of course at the news table, back this week after after not being here last week. Welcome back, Thank you, thank you. I'm glad I traveled back before the chaos. Yes, yes, before the massive tech outage everybody about Southwest I saw a funny post about them because they're using a Commodore sixty four. Their system's running right, yes, well, very good, very good. And of course today is Saturday, June twentieth, twenty twenty four.
Thank you to our first guests we had on of course day to attend in the first hour and second hour purging Sin. And we also of course did the world radio premiere of not a Player, the newest single from our friend Hope the Rapper and joining us right now live in studio, Tom Russo returns for I think was this your third time on the show, Tom, I believe it is. Yes, Yes, you've got your guitar and plugged into a little amp. Pretty sure. I'm gonna get a robe pretty soon, like you're gonna get members members ze.
Oh yes, yes, a member's only jacket. Yes, absolutely, you're all plugged in and ready to go. Do you want to play something and then we'll talk a bit maybe. Uh, I know we have a we had, we had an experiment that we might even attempt on the program. But uh, I'm curious to hear you play that. I haven't heard you play with an electric before. Yeah, I'm kind of getting used to it a little bit. I've been playing acoustic for a long time, so it's a little different. So I'll try this. Uh might kind of skip some parts and do how I want, but you won't know.
We won't know the difference. Right. It's tough this time of year. They close a highway down and they don't the town. And I've been fighting second gear for fifteen miles or so, trying to beat the angles. And I know every town worth passing through. But what good does no one do with no one to show it to. I've drawn child of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone. I've drawn tied the traveling alone. Won't you ride with me?
I've drawn tide of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone? Won't you ride with me? Won't you ride? Won't you ride? And I quit talking to myself and listen to the radio A long long time ago, so high I didn't know myself, just looking for a day to come when I'll be free. So high the street girls wouldn't take my pay. They said come back on a better day, and they just walked away. And I've gone tired of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone. I've gone tired of traveling alone.
Won't you ride with me? And I've gone tired of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone? Won't you ride with me? Won't you ride? Won't you ride?
Mountains? Up? This time of year, they shut the highway down,
and they don't warn the town. And I've been fighting second year,
for fifteen miles or so, trying to beat the angry snow. And I know every town worth passing through. But what good does no one do with no one to show it to. I've gone tired of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone. I've gone tired of traveling alone. Won't you ride with me? And I've gone tired of traveling alone, tired of traveling alone. I've gone tired of travel alone. Won't you ride with me? Won't you
m I love it. I love it. That is great. That's one of yours. Oh no, I wish I was. Oh no, who who does that? That's Jason isbel Oh okay, yes, so I kind of skipped the bridge. I played one of his songs on the show a long time ago, Have I for Me Up? And you did a song called have I Done Enough? Or have I Done Enough? Or something really good songs. Yeah, yeah, I like him a lot. No, that's uh, that's great if you're just joining us. Tom Russo is here with us live in studio. I don't know if you wanted to try to write something live or we don't have a lot of people in the chat room at the moment unfortunately, So I don't know if you wanted to.
But I'll play this, I'll play another one you are playing. Yeah, yeah, whatever you want to do. Yeah, it's kind of good one. Here, here we go. All right. There's a bottle on the dress and by your ring, and it's empty. So right now, I don't feel a thing. Come tomorrow, when I wake up on the floor, I'll be a wolver by noon. That's a difference between whiskey and you.
Come tomorrow, I can walk in in a store. It ain't a problem.
They'll always sell me more. But your forgiveness, well, that's something I can't buy in a thing I can do. That's the difference between whiskey
and you. Wan's a devil and one keeps driving me insane at times. I wonder if themble the same, and one's alive it tries to hide me from my pain. One's alone gone, be the truth. That's the difference between whiskey and you. I've got a problem, bud in what you might think. Will I drink because I'm lonesome? And I'm lonesome because I drink, But if I don't break out and hit it on the head. That's a difference between whiskey and you. Wan's a devil and one keeps driving me insane at times. I wonder if they bold the same, and one's a live trying to hide me from my pen one's alone gone A bit of truth.
That's a difference between whiskey you. Oh that was beautiful, beautiful, well done, Thank you? Now what is that yours? No? I wish I could say that's Chris Stapleton, which, oh, I can't do anything close to him. Somebody else had played I think it was. Do you know Taylor Hughes, he's been on the show. I think he played a Chris Stapleton song when he was here too. Yeah, Like, I just get inspired by people that are really good and yeah, yeah, I can't do it half as well. No, that sounded great to do everything my own way.
No, I love your voice in a school here you play the electric Yeah, thank you. That's that's really good. That was a good idea. Glad you brought them. Yeah, it's a little bit more, you know. And I know your rock and roll really well. I'm all kinds of stuff. Yeah, I gotta kick it up and not right right if you're just joining us. Tom Russo is here with us live in studio playing some tunes. And now, what have you been up to? Have you been recording new music since the last time you were on. Do you have a you have a new album or what have you?
I'm actually, uh, I have quite a bit of stuff ready to go, probably enough to you know, ten to fifteen song album kidding. Yeah,
so I'm pretty much ready to do that. Yeah. Yeah, and I'm gonna I want to write some new stuff and but yeah, that's kind of my mission. Right now? Now will you be when you go to record? Are you going to do? Who did you work with or where did you record with the other the previous Oh so like Mike Clark and Amherst, Like, I'll probably do a lot of stuff. I want to get better at doing my own stuff and recording, like so I can take it yeah there and be like halfway there's yeah, yeah, but yeah, I do a lot with Mike Clark Clark creative.
How you doing, Mike, if you're listening, is that where you did? Uh? Like should I be Afraid and sing Hallelujah and everything? Or should I be Afraid? Was Pete Peloquin, which from Roots of Creation. He does a lot of work with them, right, and then all the other stuff I've done with Mike okay,
and should I be Afraid? Was that song that I wrote in that one day. I don't know if you knew the story of that, right, I remember you talking about that. We'll tell us a story again. I just kind of set a mission to actually had studio time like the next day with Pete, and I kind of wrote the song the night before. Yeah, maybe wrote the bridge on my lunch break, and that's when it ended up being so yeah, but I wanted to challenge myself just to make myself do that. It's like, oh, I already have studio time before I even know what I'm going to do.
Yeah. So and this song, of course, it's got a bug out yeah at the end of it, which is a cool surprise because when we played it on the show before, I remember saying, you know, it's like you don't you don't see that coming. It's a twist and yet it fits. Well. Yeah, it was Mike Doyle. He called in and he was and he was complimenting you on it. Yeah, yeah, definitely, I'd say play that one if you like, yeah, yeah, let's do that. I actually have it. Uh, I've got it ready to go because this is also another one of my favorites.
So let's give this a listen and then we'll we'll come back and uh, Tom will play with us, and we'll play some more and we'll talk some more and all that good stuff. If you are just joining us, Tom Russo is here with us, live in studio, and this is where's bug out from? By the way, is he from? Is he local? I think he's now in Keen like I worked with him before, but I think he's from Exeter. Oh okay, gotcha, gotcha? You know that region? Yeah? Yeah, all right, let's give this a listen. This is really really good.
This is called Should I be Afraid? Featuring bug Out, and this is Tom Russo where do I begin to tell you all of mysel I'm not a perfect man. I'm hard to understand these days, and it's taking most of me. What's left? It's hard to see Stier. Now it's time to sink or s I'm not afraid to start again, so saying I'm wasting time. But it's only mind here. But you are making up your mind. I decide that to live. Should I be afraid what I do not know? I left the sun shine is dance with my soul? Should I be afraid everything I hold?
Everything I left the sun shine in Shint is where I go now? The realest we all have a difference in I'm not a perfect man. Just be the best that canst He's taking most of me, what's have it's hard to see today. Should I be afraid what I do not know? I'm never stop shines, dance with my soulf got me a friend? Everything I know everything letting the sun shine in Shinese wear, Rascal, you know it all the time, so many dating before the sun ross and can't hide it ever put it feel like it's talked to fund trying to keep focus, to see holdless of fin notice in my getting up in the house and holdest to try to hold this moment is gone, going with the can before the storm is home, pice thest and reminded when they came to among a pondus in mind search of predominance and we mean it in the silence home that is should I be afraid?
That's Tom Russo featuring Bockoutoops, and then something else started playing. Sorry about that, but yeah, great track, Tom, I love that. Thank you and I got a really positive response to the last time we played it when you were on the show with us. If you are just joining us on this Saturday morning, Jenny and I are here with Tom Russo live in studio. Hey, is is bug out ever come and perform that live with you now? Actually I must thought about today telling him to come here. Oh that would have been cool.
Yeah we should. Yeah, we'll do that in the future. It would be fun. I'd love that. Yeah. Yeah, we've had people, And we've had people rap live on the show, like Cody Pope and By they've been on a few times and they'll they'll do a lot. Bug Out was in Granite State was his band Okay, which I think they're all kind of related or not related, but in the same gang of people. Yeah. Yeah, so I think, like even today when I saw you had Hope on, I'm pretty sure they know each other pretty well. Yeah, yeah, most likely.
Well Hope the rapper too. I mean, he's very good at networking, so he's yeah, he probably knows everybody. Yeah right, yeah, yeah, you want to play you want to play something for us? Yeah? Play a cover song? Why not? All right? Here we go,
close your eyes and I'll kiss you tomorrow. I'll miss you, remember always be true. And then well I'm away. I'll write home every day and I'll send on my loving to you. I'll pretend that I'm kissing the lift side, missing and I pray that my dreams will come true. And then well I'm away. I'll ride home every day just to send on my loving to you. All my loving I will send to you, all my loving darling. I'll be true all my loving I will send to you all, my loving darling. I'll be true all my loving all my love.
I will send to you very nice, very nice. That's a different take on that, Yeah, probably the wrong one. No, I like it. I like it. You could just say that wasn't very good. No,
No, it's cool. Last night on Retrospectrum radio show that I'm a co host on on Friday nights from my eight to eleven Polly See the hosts, he played McCartney doing let It Be at Live Aid. Oh wow, because it's like the fortieth anniversary of Live Aid and or thirty ninth anniversary, I should say. And it was interesting because when McCartney played that, you know, just him and the piano, and then he had a few people come out and sing backups, like David Bowie. But but you know, but he really kind of does it differently, you know, when he's just sitting there, you know, he's loose with it.
He's kind of playing with it all the time, like I mean, and Paulie see, he didn't like the way McCartney did it, But I thought it was cool. I liked it. I thought you know, it was because he never he hadn't had a chance to actually play it out with the Beatles, right because they never you know, they broke up before they had a chance to go on tour or anything and play that live. But but I liked his take on it. No. I think it's cool to, you know, take songs like that and kind of put your own what's your own spin on it?
You know. I mean probably most of the time I put my own spin. It's just I don't know all the chords, right, so I just adapt them to how I do it. Yeah, yeah, but no, I I like I played that song, you know, and it's hard still to do like and you design people, Well, it's not really hard, but you remind people like it's like, that's a simple song. But he sings it right, Yeah, when I sung myself, you know, but when it comes up to the high part, yeah yeah, yeah, it's a pretty high note. Actually sang that once at a vocal recital.
Oh you did. Yeah, I didn't do it very well probably, but I want to try it again. No, come on, I do not.
I do not. It was a long time ago. But now so the electric do you do you play that live usually or you've only just started to do this, So I got a bunch of these these Fender Telecaster acoustica. I think it's called Okay, but it's kind of a hybrid like half acoustic. You know. So I haven't done this yet, but if the difference that sound, if I wanted to kick it down, yeah, so I can get a dirty sound like yeah. So, but I've been playing that acoustic for you know, twenty something years, so it's really weird for me to get used to this.
But right this is probably only in the last like three months. Ohkid, Yeah, so I'm really trying it out. Yeah. No, it sounds great. It sounds great. It gives a little more uh, it just gives a little more soul, I think you. Yeah, are there songs that you play on that that you don't play on the acoustic because they just work better on that. No, I kind of play everything on everything, but it's it's it took me a bit to get used to. The strings are a little different, right like so, and you know with the acoustic, I'm used to just kind of beating on it, and this this I kind of have to be a little bit more precise.
Yeah that makes sense. Yeah, I don't know if you can sing this one? Rescue me? Come full the speed to me, raise me up and let me fall. No man is mine and me my own hands and prison me. Love rest to me. Many strangers have I met on the road to my regret, Many lost who seek to find them selfs in me. They asked me to reveal the very thoughts they would conceal.
Love redsking me. Then the sun in the sky makes a shadow of you and I stretching out to the sun in the sea. Yeah, I'm here without a name, in the palace of my shame, love ray excuse me. Sha la la cha la lah sha la lau ja la lah sha la lah sha la la. Yeah, palace, oh mash as love really excuse me? Hm, that was really good. I was tempted to come in on the shallas, but I didn't. I'm gonna tell you I wrote all the I'll be more impressive. That was you should man. Yeah, yeah, I thought about it for a second, but I skip.
All the verses get meshed into each other, like so do people ever notice, like when you play live, does anyone ever come up to you and say, I noticed you played that like way different than than the original? Yeah? Yeah, And sometimes I just take they think they give it to me as a compliment. Yeah, like, but for the most part, it's probably like, well, I just don't want to keep the verses arranged, right, No, I think it's cool because it makes it It makes it more interesting, you know, right to just I just kind of still do it however I want.
Yeah, then nobody can tell me I'm doing it wrong. Really, yeah, Well, because I think it's more interesting. You know, if I'm hearing a song that I've heard a lot, you know, and obviously you played a couple of things that I wasn't you know, that I hadn't heard or hadn't heard enough to remember who they were. But if I'm hearing something I've heard a lot, I think it's cool to hear a different take on it. You know. It's kind of like how I've always felt about like cover bands, you know, they they try to play things exactly like they sound when the original artists, because that's what people seem to want.
Just tapping yourself really yeah, to me, it's like, I know how the original goes, I want to hear your interpretation of it, you know, right, and if you're if you miss a note, like uh, I did have one, Lady that was really mad at me one time, really for turn the page. Apparently I screwed up a lot of those lyrics. Oh you know versus here I go or there I go, and she's like, you're singing it all wrong. She did not punch me. But that's good, you know that type of thing, you know. Yeah, yeah, I go, you know, because I'll kind of bumping that up.
Really, Yeah, you hear that one. I'm curious now, Yeah, let's do it. I do want to hear it. Yeah. Oh, I was gonna say, if you can't find it, we can probably dig through those dig through those seat cushions. I bet there's pics in there. If you're just joining us. Oh, I bet that's a million. If you're just joining us, Tom Russo is here with us live in studio, might as well do it. Yeah, No, I want to hear it now. Definitely. All along Lonely Highway east of Omaha, you can listen to the Engine Morning How is one long song.
You can think about the woman, the girl you knew the night before.
Your thoughts will soon be wandering, weir they always do. You're riding sixteen hours, there's nothing much to do, don't feel much like traveling. You wish the trip was through. Here I am on the road again. There I am up on the stage. There I go, playing star again. There I go turn the page, walking to restaurm strung eye from the road, you fill the eyes upon you. It's just shaking off the cold. You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explode. Sometimes you can hear him talking.
All the times you can't. It's the same. More cliche. Is that a woman or a man? You all whispere live numbers. You don't tell me. Here I am on the road again.
There I am up on the stage. There I go on the stage again. There I go turn the page. Later in the evening, if you lie awaken bed with the echo from the amplifiers ringing in your hand, you smoke about seven hundred and sixty five cigarettes, you forget what she said. What Here I am on the road again. There I am up on the stage. There I go playing target. There I chearing the page.
There I go, there I go in the page. Oh I love it. Thank you. That is my favorite version of the page that I've heard. For real. Really, that was really cool. That was really really good. Bumping everything up like you just gotta bump bumping. It's like dazzling stuff, you know. No, that was amazing. That was amazing, and I certainly like it better than Metallica's version. Of course I didn't like Metallica's versions. I just have to keep the beat. And I don't have anybody in my band just other than me.
No, but that was was really good and I didn't notice any wrong lyrics. Oh well, we could go back and study and we could. I can show you like uh. But so speaking of that, and by the way, you have an invitation in the chat room here. But first I want to mention so Dan Fallon from the band Run Like Thieves. They've been on the show Jenny and I went and saw them and conquered not long ago. A great, great band, and Dan is amazing. But he was saying that means you did a good job if someone is mad regarding the woman who is mad.
So there you go, there you go. But Dan also said, Matt, can you tell Tom that this Sunday night and and next from six to eight pm, I'm hosting an open mic at Keys Piano Bar, and Grill would love to have him featured at the next one and oh and uh Dan also said like like Tom Petty. Oh, it's like Tom Petty meets Bob c love it, Tom Petty one. If you'd like to hear another, are you? Yeah? We can? I think we can. We can do one more, yeah, if you want to do it. But but anyway, yeah, so I wanted to make sure I pass along that invitation for you.
Yeah, yeah, I'd love We'll do it if you're just joining us. We have Tom Russo live in studio with us on this Saturday morning. This is You inspired me because I like this song excellent will do? I saw your face cut my lifeline wins in through space, I saw an angel,
I saw my fate. I can only thank god it was not too late. Over oceans A flooded away and I wished only things are better than today. I fall loot an angel down through the gates. I can only thank god it was not to lay. I can only thank god it was not to lay. Sing a little song, a loneliness, sing one to make me smile for another round for everyone. I'm here for a little while.
Now she's with me everywhere did I go? She took my lifeline,
She took it to go, I sawn angel, I saw my fate and I can only thank God that it was not too late. Well done, sir, Well done. Tom Russo here with us live in studio. By the way, Dan Fault says he's the real deal, and Isaac Banks says he is rocking it so very good. Very I like to think that the great thing is like I really my whole life really don't know what I'm doing. Like so I kind of half know what I'm doing, but I feel if you can do it with heart, Yeah, yep, those people will make those comments.
There you go, there you go. Absolutely, We're just about out of time, Tom, You got any shows? Just you played anywhere this weekend? You want people to know about this time? Because oh, like I felt very bad, Like you asked me, I felt like pretty unprofessionally, yeah, said, what do you got going on? That's it? I don't know. Yeah, just yeah, just give us a couple of sorry. July twenty seventh, Blue Bear, Francis Town, New Hampshire, Okay. Up by the crotch of Mountain, all right. August eighth, Hampshire Hills in Milford, Okay, Come on down.
August twenty fourth, Blue Bear and Answers Town August twenty fifth, Stella Blue and Nashalla. All right, yeah, so you got some some summer shows coming. I made all these up, and you might be I don't know, plan and you might be appearing at an open mic. It sounds like you have an infestation to do that from h our friend. Now, message me the information and I'll I'll be there. Very good, very good. Does he know my lip sync? I don't know, but well he knows now. Oh, it's all lip syncing this whole show.
Oh, Dan says, A great show. Matt and Jenny, thank you so much, Dan, thank you. Jenny. You want to plug your website before you go. You've been very busy. I do. I have to catch up on the website. Actually, it's Jencoffee dot com j E n n c O F f e y dot com. You can also find my email there. And if you want to be on Mack cron Iton Unleashed, I am now booking August, so give me a holler. Yes, yes, and Tom, we should probably spell your last name for people who are looking to keep up with everything that you're doing.
Yes, r O U S s AU. Wonderful. This has been great Tom, I appreciate you coming in. Thanks for bringing the electric That was a cool that was very cool. That no, no, of course not no, that was great. And well, actually we got to go, but if you miss any part of today's show, and we'll be up in just a little bit at wmnhradio dot org and in my website Matt Connorton dot com. Thank you again to our friend Hope the wrapper for the World Radio premiere. I think this was week six, and uh, let's see. Of course day to attend, wonderful as always and purging sin and of course Tom Russo and we'll leave you with a little bit of h I love this track too.
Greet the Sun Studio version of this play us out as we say, all right, Thanks Tom, Thanks everybody. We'll talk to y'all, talk to j'all next week.
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