Boston Rock Photos And Stuff
Special occasions call for special guests. How about The Pills for the On the Town with Mikey Dee 25th Anniversary show? I think Mikey Dee would have approved. I’ve still got “Pop Goes Mandy” in my head.
Various Artists
Boston Does Boston Vol. 1 & 2
2013
Boston Does Boston Vol. 1 & 2 is out. It’s 26 tracks of Boston bands covering each other to raise money for the Animal Rescue League of Boston. Read all about it right here. This is my first time through the collection. I’ve been waiting to listen until I had time to go end-to-end all at once. I’m jotting down some notes. Let’s see what happens…
Yeah, so this is great. All you have to do now is download this thing and enjoy it yourself. Oh, and maybe check out one of the live events happening this weekend.
Where to get it:
Can Corin Ashley write a great pop song? Yes, he can. He’s written quite a few of them. Sometimes he plays shows with a killer band (like this one to celebrate TT’s 40th Anniversary) where you find yourself smiling ear to ear admiring his ability to entertain you with those songs.
Corin Ashley and Dave Aaronoff play together quite a bit, so it was no surprise to find them closing out this bill. Watching them, I got the feeling that if they weren’t on stage at TT’s that night they very well could have been playing these songs on somebody’s couch. It’s just what they do.
Corin Ashley & The Chocolate Olivers
The Abbey Road Session (“Badfinger Bridge” b/w “Second Hand Halo”)
2010
What happens when you send one of Boston’s best pop songwriters across the pond to record at Abbey Road? Magic. Corin made the most of his time at the legendary studio and cut two of his finest songs to date.
The A side of this single is “Badfinger Bridge”. It’s a mid-tempo number that makes good use of Corin’s upper register and channels the energy of the surroundings. Echos of The Beatles and, yes, Badfinger are all over this thing. The song breathes. It is beautifully written and lovingly performed.
Corin cuts loose on the B side. “Second Hand Halo” takes the “Taxman” riff, pairs it up with a healthy dose of Squeeze songcraft and tops it off with a Wings era McCartney vocal. The bit at the end of the bridge that sounds like Queen blows my mind every time I hear it. And the cough! This is how you write a pop song, folks. Amazing.
Corin kept a journal about the experience of recording at Abbey Road. It’s a great read. You can check it out on his website. The vinyl is a 45 RPM, vibrant blue, small hole 7″. These songs are also available as a digital download. Get it!
Where to get it:
Ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo. Sha la la la la.
Here’s Corin Ashley doing a ukulele version of his song “Being Twelve” with a little help from Davina Yannetty. You may have noticed a little “Ram On” in there. If you didn’t, you should probably watch it again, because it’s right there in the beginning. It’s pretty obvious. They play it for, like, a minute. Hear it now? Pretty cool, right?
Corin Ashley is a man of many talents. The guy plays bass like nobody’s business. He is easily one of Boston’s best. He’s no slouch on guitar, either. Now we see Corin busting out his ukulele for this uke-themed show at TT’s.
What’s really on display during Mr Ashley’s set isn’t his ukulele playing. It’s not even his outstanding vocal abilities. What really comes out during this set are the songs. Corin can write a pop tune with the best of ’em. These songs could be played on tin whistle and autoharp with accompaniment from a middle school recorder orchestra and their appeal would still be undeniable.
Plus, he has a strap for his ukulele so you know he’s serious.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la ladybug!
Another fantastic show at Precinct. This one started off with The Corin Ashley Rock band showing off their hook-laden wares.
I think I just started a blog.
I mean, there are some pictures I took of The Russians, The Painted Lights and Sodafrog at Precinct back in January down there a little lower on the page. That was a good show. There are a lot of good shows here in Boston. I try to go to them when I can. I bring my camera with me and take pictures. I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve also been building websites for years. You’d think I would have done this sooner.
Time to get the goat by the horns and do something with all of these pictures I’ve got lying around. I’ll start by catching up on this year’s shows. Look for pictures of The Dirty Truckers, Watts, The Downbeat 5, Corin Ashley, Brendan Boogie and a bunch of other bands to start showing up here soon. I’ve got some videos to post, too. Look out Tom Baker!
Once I get caught up on 2011, I’ll start digging into the archives. I’m going to be busy…
