Frets with DJ Fey

Brinsley Schwarz met Nick Lowe at school in the 1960s. They played in various bands with different group names and different members. In 1969, the band took the name of their lead guitarist, Brinsley Schwarz. On their studio albums, all from the 1970s, the band was made up of Brinsley along with Bob Andrews, Nick Lowe and Billy Rankin, with the addition of Ian Gomm on guitar and vocals, starting with their third LP, Silver Pistol. After releasing their final studio album The New Favouri...

In 1968, St. Louis band The Aerovons were getting noticed in clubs around town. Still in high school, their leader and singer, Tom Hartman, was composing their songs. The band was being managed by Tom’s mother, Maurine. She was determined to see her son and his bandmates make it big. Tom was 16 years old when he, his band and his manager mom made their first pilgrimage to England with demos in search of a record deal. They signed with Parlophone, but were asked to head back to St. Louis and w...

Rick Holmstrom has played guitar in and with many bands over the years, backing West Coast blues and soul bands including William Clarke, Smokey Wilson, Johnny Dyer and Booker T. – He’s also enjoyed a very long run with the great Mavis Staples, who he’s touring with again this year. An amazing guitarist. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with Rick.Photo by Greg Vorobiov. Greg is also a guitarist and his photography is fantastic. You can check out his work here.Find or Sell...

You might know her from some of the bands she’s been in or collaborated with, Pink Slip Daddy, The Friggs, Bubble Gun, Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang, The Coolies and more as well as her solo songs and albums. You also know her from her very fun and fantastic radio show Trash Pop Treasures on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. On the show today – the one and only Palmyra Delran.Photo by Albert MitchellSave on certified Pre-Owned iPhones, Androids, AirPods, Macs, Smartwatches, acces...

A founding member of the profoundly influential band Television, Richard Lloyd has led a fascinating life. He covers a lot of that life in his book Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll: The Memoirs of an Alchemical Guitarist. In addition to his time with Television, he played on albums by Matthew Sweet and John Doe and has produced many albums. It was great, and a great honor to talk with Richard Lloyd.Find tickets for Richard’s upcoming shows by lin...

Tyler Armstrong grew up in Springfield, Illinois and as a young kid, started banging on pots and pans, developing a love for percussion. Through his parents, he was exposed to both Contemporary Christian music and also secular music. Through his older sister, he also heard a great mix of pop and punk. Tyler appreciated good music, no matter what the genre. His dad was into classic rock, which opened another musical window. He got a guitar, and over time, became an incredibly great guitarist. ...

In the early 1980s, Rick Miller formed the first lineup of Southern Culture on the Skids. Rick had grown up dividing time between his father’s home in North Carolina and his mother’s home in California. Mary Huff, from Roanoke, Virginia was a cello major who also played bass guitar. Upon hearing that Rick’s band was looking for a replacement bass player, Mary joined and also recruited her long time friend Dave Hartman on drums. The trio of Rick, Mary and Dave would go on to become a much-love...

Obeid Khan, founder of Khan Audio, has been building high quality recording audio devices since 1991. He’s the man behind St. Louis Music’s Ampeg revival and Vintage Club series, Reason Amplifiers and the highly successful Magnatone revival. Throughout the years of his career as a guitar amplifier designer, Obeid has always had an appreciation for the recording medium and its tools. His love for music and the finest audio reproduction was apparent with the launch of Khan Audio. In Obeid...

If you’ve either listened to, or experienced live performances by Midwest area bands including Stillwater, Waterloo, Magnolia Summer, Rough Shop and Cave States, you’ve heard music by Chris Grabau. Chris has composed songs and provided guitar work and vocals for all of those groups and his band Cave States is now in its tenth year of recording and performing. There’s also a long list of bands that he’s shared the stage with and also lent his musical talents to in the studio. He’s appeared wit...

Before her family moved from the Philippines to California, a teenage June Millington heard a girl playing guitar at school. Soon after, June and her sister Jean were playing acoustic guitars and ukuleles at variety shows. Before long, they were playing in bands, now with electric guitars. After several personnel changes and band names, The Svelts and Wild Honey, they landed a recording contract. They changed the band name to Fanny. People took notice, including David Bowie who referred to Fa...

After moving from the Chicago suburbs to St. Louis in the late ’80s, Adam Reichmann met Todd Schnitzer at Washington University. Both were wanting to form a band. They did just that, and the two became an early version of what would become Nadine, a group that would not only get a lot of attention in the Midwest, but in Europe as well. Nadine received critical acclaim from major music publications after releasing some very fine records. Adam Reichmann continues to write and record solo. His n...

Over the last couple decades, Sarah Borges has built a loyal following, playing live shows and releasing several albums. Her first record, Silver City, was praised by NPR’s David Dye for showcasing “an unusual knack for mixing alternative rock with country” She stays very busy writing, recording and touring – but in early 2020, Sarah, like many musicians, became isolated from concert halls and even recording studios. Missing that audience connection and camaraderie of working with other artis...

In the early days of the World Wide Web, former Rolling Stone senior writer and associate editor Michael Goldberg published an online music magazine. Addicted to Noise, or ATN was the first online magazine to include audio samples with new album reviews. The list of bands and artists interviewed include Neil Young, R.E.M., Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Paul Westerberg and Prince. Michael conducted many of the interviews but also enlisted music cr...

When playing solo, or when playing with her full band, multi-instrumentalist Molly Healey is a looping extraordinaire. She creates a piece of music, loops that piece, then skillfully plays accompaniment, on instruments including cello, violin and guitar. That sound, combined with her classically-trained voice, produces atmospheric music – often with full string arrangements performed entirely by Molly, multi-tracking in the studio. She’s opened for and played with many bands – and in ad...

His radio show begins with – “Broadcasting from Parts Unknown…” but we do know that Ben Vaughn grew up in the Philadelphia area on the New Jersey side of the river. When he was only 6 years old, his uncle gave him a Duane Eddy album. That record would have a profound impact on young Ben, who was playing drums in a garage band by the time he was 12. His interest then turned to the guitar.In the early ’80s, his band, the Ben Vaughn Combo recorded and released two albums and did a few tours of t...

Florida native Walter Parks was part of the folk duo The Nudes with cellist Stephanie Winters. He would later serve as sideman guitarist to Woodstock legend Richie Havens, and then form his own trio, Swamp Cabbage. He’s performed with R&B drum legend Bernard Purdie and with Judy Collins. He’s currently based in St. Louis and continues to perform and record both solo and with his Americana spirituals project, The Unlawful Assembly. I’ve never met anyone quite like Walter. He’s a great stor...

Murray Attaway and high school friend Jeff Walls formed a band in the early 1980s. Initially calling themselves Emergency Broadcast System, they would become Guadalcanal Diary, a band who became a fixture in the Athens, Georgia music scene. Their live shows were incredibly popular and before long they signed with independent label DB Records. After a tour of the states and a lot of airplay on college radio, they were signed by Elektra. They recorded and released albums throughout the ’80s pla...

While living in Columbia, Missouri, Deke Dickerson formed the much loved garage rock band, The Untamed Youth. He was 17. In the early ’90s, at the age of 22, Deke moved to L.A. and has enjoyed great success as an excellent guitarist. He once had a regular column in Guitar Player, has written several books on guitar, he’s even scored and contributed songs to film soundtracks. Two of Deke’s songs are featured in the newest Disneyland ride, Cars Land, at Disney’s California Adventure theme park....

Kip Loui has made music in his hometown of St. Louis for years. He’s a co-founder of the annual music festival Twangfest, an event that’s brought music performers from all over the country to St. Louis for 24 years now. Kip has played in some great bands. Belle Starr, The Rockhouse Ramblers, The Transmitters, The High Dives, In recent years, Kip has teamed up to play and record with Diesel Island, a band whose often rotating lineup has featured Brian Henneman, Mark Ortmann and John Horton, al...

Jon Langford was a founding member of The Mekons, a band formed by art students at The University of Leeds. After moving from Newport, Wales to Chicago, Illinois in the early ’90s, Jon formed The Waco Brothers, a country-punk group. In addition to playing music in many bands, he works as a producer on many records. Jon also writes books, has a comic strip, and creates a lot of artwork. It was great to talk with one of my favorite musicians and artists, Jon Langford.Many thanks to This Am...