INsite Atlanta April 2021 Issue

APRIL 2021

C

INSITEATLANTA.COM

VOL. 29, NO. 8 FREE

9 YEARS! 2 G N I T ELEBRA

SPRING Festivals Inman Park Tour of Gardens Dunwoody Arts Festival Kennesaw Big Shanty Duluth Arts Festival Acworth Art Fest Helen Bierfest

CONTENTS • APRIL 2021 • VOLUME 29, NO. 8 music at

the fred 2021 concert season presented by:

7 SOLD OUT SHOWS THANK YOU LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR 2021 SOCIALLY DISTANCED CONCERTS tickets ON SALE NOW YACHT ROCK REVUE first show sold out - second show added friday, april 30 GEORGIA RHYTHM TRIBUTE - THE MUSIC OF THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND Saturday, july 10 WHO’S THAT GIRL - THE ULTIMATE DIVA EXPERIENCE Saturday, AUGUST 7 NATURAL WONDEr - The Ultimate Stevie Wonder Experience and BOGEY THE VICEROY saturday, august 21

FOR CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENTS AND DETAILS VISIT www.amphitheater.org

29 R AT I N G CELEB

YEARS!

Atlanta’s

Entertainment Monthly

INTERVIEWS

07 06 Peter Noone 08 Chapel 09 Fogerty Factory 10 California Music 12 Dear Bob 13 Reverend Peyton 08

FEATURES 04 Spring Patio Dining Guide 07 Spring Festivals 09

COLUMNS 03 Around Town 05 Station Streaming 05 New Releases

14 Album Reviews 13

insiteatlanta.com STAFF LISTING Publisher Steve Miller steve@insiteatlanta.com Art Director / Web Design Nick Tipton nick@insiteatlanta.com Managing Editor Lee Valentine Smith lee@insiteatlanta.com Local Events Editor Marci Miller marci@insiteatlanta.com Music Editor John Moore john@insiteatlanta.com

Contributing Writers / Interns: Alex. S. Morrison, Dave Cohen, Benjamin Carr, Demarco Williams Advertising Sales Steve Miller (404) 308-5119 • ads@insiteatlanta.com MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 76483 Atlanta, GA 30358 WEBSITE • insiteatlanta.com Editorial content of INsite is the opinion of each writer and is not necessarily the opinion of INsite, its staff, or its advertisers. INsite does not knowingly accept false or misleading advertising or editorial content, nor do the publisher or editors of INsite assume responsibility should such advertising or editorial appear. No content, i.e., articles, graphics, designs and information (any and all) in this publication may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from publisher.

APRIL 2021

© Copyright 2021, Be Bop Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Please see our Spring Festival Guide on page 7!

PG 2 • April 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

INSITEATLANTA.COM

VOL. 29, NO. 8 FREE

S! TING 29 YEAR CELEBRA

SP RIN Festi valsG Inman Park Tour of Gardens Dunwoody Arts Festival Kennesaw Big Shanty Duluth Arts Festival Acworth Art Fest Helen Bierfest

Around Town

Socially Distanced Events taking place this Month

APRIL 8 - 18

APRIL 17 - AUGUST 1

APRIL 22 - JUNE 6

MAY 1 - OCTOBER 2

Alliance Theatre Under the Tent Series

Underexposed: Women Photographers

Alliance Theatre Under the Tent Series

Peachtree City; Amphitheater.org The Fred Amphitheater is an award winning 2,500 seat venue tucked away in a forest setting. The Peachtree City facility is only a 45 minute drive from Atlanta. They are celebrating their 30th season in 2021 with a season of socially distanced limited capacity concerts.

Yacht Rock Revue opens the season on Sat, May 1. Rumours - A Fleetwood Mac Tribute will perform on Friday, May 21.

Black Jacket Symphony presenting the Music of The Eagles including the album Hotel California in its entirety takes place Saturday, June 26. Georgia Players Guild presents “Georgia Rhythm” – Hits of Georgia Artists & Tribute - The Music Of The Allman Brothers Band on Saturday, July 10. Departure - The Journey Tribute Band plays on Saturday July 24. Natural Wonder – The Ultimate Stevie Wonder Experience with Bogey & The Viceroy perform Saturday, August 21. Face to Face – A Tribute to Elton John & Billy Joel takes place Saturday, September 18. ABBA Revisited closes out the season on Saturday, October 2nd. All 2021 concerts offer only a limited number of tickets to facilitate social distancing. Visit amphitheater.org.

Beautiful Blackbird Live!

Inspired by the Newbery Medalwinning book by Ashley Bryan Atlanta's favorite feathered funk band is back. Featuring original music composed by Eugene H. Russell IV and inspired by Ashley Bryan's children's book Beautiful Blackbird, this family friendly concert will have you on your feet celebrating the uniqueness of each and every one of us. Shake your tail feathers and dance to the music! For tickets and info, visit alliancetheatre.org.

High Museum - Two new exhibits

APRIL 15 - 25

For nearly all of photography’s 180-year history, women have shaped the development of the art form and experimented with every aspect of the medium.

Conceived in conjunction with the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted suffrage for some women, this exhibition showcases more than 100 photographs from the High’s collection, many of them never before on view, and charts the medium’s history from the dawn of the modern period to the present through the work of women photographers.

Infinite Energy Arena

Our Good Earth: Rural Life and American Art

Disney on Ice Dream Big Disney on Ice celebrates Women’s History Month with Dream Big. e show encourages girls and women to Dream Big as they pursue their most ambitious passions and goals with inspiring storylines from some of Disney’s most empowered female characters, including Moana, Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, Jasmine, Ariel, Aurora, Belle and Cinderella. Seating capacity for Disney On Ice will be reduced with the Pod Seating structure in place. As an additional precaution, a face covering is required for those age 2 and older.

Since the nation’s founding, America’s national identity has been tied to rural life and the mythic figure of the humble yeoman farmer—a national icon credited with taming a vast nature. Even as the focus of American life drifted to the city from the farms, country ways remained a persistent subject of interest for artists. rough a selection of prints, drawings and photographs from the High’s collection, this exhibition will explore the many ways in which Americans imagined and engaged with life beyond the city limits over the course of a century.

PETS WELCOME

Working: A Musical

Everyone should have something to be proud of. Working: A Musical explores what makes our work meaningful across all walks of life.

Whether it be in an office, a restaurant, your home, or you’ve retired, this musical reminds us to celebrate not only what we do, but how we do it. With original songs by Lin-Manual Miranda, Stephen Schwartz, James Taylor, and more, the Alliance eatre’s concert staging of Working will premiere as part of the “Under the Tent” series. For tickets and information, visit alliancetheatre.org.

APRIL 24 - 25 Monster Jam

Atlanta Motor Speedway

e action-packed motorsports experience returns after a pandemic pause, roaring into Atlanta for a high-octane weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway from April 24-25.

Monster Jam features the ultimate mix of high-flying action and four-wheel excitement with enhanced health and safety measures implemented for fan wellness.

The Fred 2021 Season On-Sale

FREE EVENT

Saturday, April 10 10am – 6pm Sunday, April 11 10am – 5pm

AMAZING ARTISANS FESTIVAL CUISINE CHILDREN'S CREATIVE FUN If you are feeling unwell, please stay home. Mask encouraged, not required.

We ask that you maintain proper social distancing during the Art Fest.

splashfestivals.com insiteatlanta.com • April 2021 • PG 3

Spring Patio Guide

Dine Safely Outdoors on these Popular Patios Park Tavern

The Flying Biscuit Cafe’

500 10th Street NE 404.249.0001 ParkTavern.com

The Patio at Park Tavern is conveniently located on the Atlanta Beltline on the corner of 10th and Monroe. The Park Tavern has one of the best views in the city overlooking Piedmont Park and the Midtown Skyline. This amazing backdrop provides for a great atmosphere and is dog-friendly. The patio menu is available for dine-in or takeout. For dine-in patrons there is open seating on the patio.

Park Tavern has socially distanced their tables according to CDC guidelines. The large climate controlled patio also includes private cabanas and fire pits.

Park Tavern is continuing to offer 1/2 priced bottles of wine on Wednesdays and $1 drafts when it rains. Spring brings back live music with their free Sunday night concert series Sunset Sessions and Great Peach Music Series on Thursdays.

Agave

242 Boulevard SE 404.588.0006 AgaveRestaurant.com Agave blends eclectic southwestern cuisine, extensive tequila bar and wine list

find something they like. Mo’s Pizza is open for Dine-In, Take-out and Delivery.

Inside tables are spaced out and the huge dog friendly deck is always available to hang out on. Mo’s is one of the longest running pizza joints in Atlanta, come in and see why they are among the best.

1655 McLendon Ave. 404.687.8888 1001 Piedmont Ave. 404.874.8887 Catering 404.849.2283 FlyingBiscuit.com coupled with exceptional service to make this one of Atlanta's top restaurants.

Agave is open for dine-in with responsible safety precautions implemented. The restaurant has two well vented, high ceiling dining rooms as well as covered patio.

Tables are spaced out and sanitized after each seating. No contact menus and disposable service ware are used. Celebrate Cinco de Mayo May 5th. Make a reservation for dinner and enjoy special entrees, appetizers and tequila.

Mo’s Pizza

3109 Briarcliff Rd. 404.320.1258 MosPizza.com

The Flying Biscuit serves great breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner seven days a week. They are best known for their affordable, organic menu and mouth watering biscuits. Their Candler Park location is the original Flying Biscuit cafe and boasts a large renovated patio. The Midtown location off Piedmont Park allows for dining inside and out. Their corner patio, which is surrounded by windows, come off when the weather cools offering great views of the bustling Midtown scene. The Midtown and Candler Park locations are open for dinein, carryout, curbside pick-up & delivery.

Fritti Mo’s Pizza has been serving up great pizza for over 30 years. They are also known for their great sandwiches, subs, wings, nachos and salads. The extensive menu ensures that the whole family will

309 N. Highland Ave. 404.880.9559 Frittiatl.com Located in the heart of historic Inman Park just walking distance from the Atlanta BeltLine, Fritti is nationally recognized for its award winning pizza.

Here you can get an authentic Neapolitan prepared according to traditional artisan methods. The dough is made with Caputo flour and natural yeast, tomato sauce is hand milled and they use locally produced fior di latte mozzarella. Pizza is made in a state of the art wood-burning oven. This world class oven can maintain a temperature of 1,000 degrees and cooks pizza unlike anything you have ever experienced. Their patio is among the hottest places to be in Inman Park as the entire dining room opens up to the lively street scene.

Johnny’s Pizza & Subs

Multiple metro area locations johnnyspizza.com Johnny’s Pizza is synonymous with great pizza and subs in Atlanta. Their menu is affordable and specializes in NY Style pizza, which is thin in the middle and thick around the edges.

Johnny’s offers plenty of specialty pizzas plus subs, salads, sandwiches and other popular Italian dishes including calzones, strombolis and lasagna. All Johnny’s locations offer patio seating along with dine-in, take-out, and delivery.

Online ordering and location information can be found at JohnnysPizza.com.

Your Neighborhood Pizzeria!

DINE-IN! Vaulted Dining Rooms & Covered Patio

CELEBRATE CINCO DE MAYO! Wednesday, May 5th Traditional Mexican Dishes Margarita Specials

Atlanta’s Favorite Pizza!

Multiple Atlanta Locations: JohnnysPizza.com

PG 4 • April 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

TV

Station Streaming

TV SHOW REBOOT

BY BENJAMIN CARR

M

ODERN TELEVISION ALLOWS us the opportunity to revisit things that we have seen before, reexamining projects, characters and scenarios in a different way. Though the reboot has been particularly popular lately, three new projects have arrived on streaming platforms that reassemble some of our favorite protagonists in a rather unique way.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE

(HBO MAX) Warner Brother’s feature film Justice League arrived in theaters in 2017 with a thud. The production was plagued with problems, as original director Zack Snyder had to drop out of the project after the death of his daughter.

Snyder was replaced by Joss Whedon, the maker of two successful Avengers films, and the resulting film was a mishmash of two visions and two tones. Whedon’s film was shorter, lighter and sillier than what Snyder intended to do, and fans revolted.

Fan demand led to the announcement last year that the original director was going to receive the chance to deliver his original vision for Justice League exclusively to HBO Max. The director’s cut is four hours long and divided into chapters, but the episodic nature of the version also gives viewers the chance to get to know the superheroes better.

Superman’s death in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice weighs heavily upon this darker Justice League, as new superheroes like Cyborg, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and The Flash emerge to try and take up the fight against otherworldly threats.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is better than the original, but it’s still such a bleak take on superheroes. Nearly every moment happens in literal darkness. And the plot is still dependent upon these MacGuffin devices called “motherboxes” that will allow the villain to take over the world. The revisited endeavor is weightier, but it’s still a popcorn movie.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER

(Disney +) Speaking of Avengers, the Disney streaming service has followed up the success of

its Marvel superhero sitcom experiment WandaVision with this reunion of the dueling Captain America sidekicks.

After Steve Rogers ended his time in Avengers: Endgame, he handed his shield off to Sam Wilson, his trusted, flying Falcon friend. And Steve’s childhood friend Bucky Barnes was redeemed by helping save the world after spending nearly a century as a brainwashed Hydra assassin called The Winter Soldier.

This new, Atlanta-filmed show puts Sam and Bucky front and center, though not initially together, as they try to figure out what their roles in the world are now. Though the show begins with a spectacular action scene involving Falcon’s midair confrontation with some terrorists, its heart really excels when Sam is on the ground, trying to reconnect with his family. And Bucky, coping with years of trauma and violence, is trying to adjust to being a man filled with guilt, young in appearance but not spirit.

The acting of leads Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan center this show in humanity and emotion from the jump, even though it also aims to be a government-intrigue spy action thriller.

In the comics, both of these characters eventually assumed the mantle of Captain America, but the show is about their mutual struggle to feel worthy of the title. And the introduction of a new adversary at the end of the pilot episode shows just how complicated the two prickly heroes’ path is going to be.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier should prove as quality as WandaVision.

HOME THEATER

NEW RELEASES THE LATEST DVD, BLU RAY & VOD RELEASES

By John Moore

INSIDE AMY SCHUMER: THE COMPETE SERIES (Comedy Central/Paramount)

This impressive seven-disc set covers all four seasons of this wildly underrated sketch show helmed

by Amy Schumer. The show was a mix of her stand up, some politically brilliant sketches mixed with man on the street interviews and sit downs with some pretty fascinating people. Looking back on the show, its’ easy to forget the slew of guests Schumer was able to get on the show, like Paul Giamatti, Bill Hader, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey and Steve Buschemi, among others. Some of the best skits, while still deeply funny, focused on some dark topics, like sexual assault in the army.

The series was one of the best written satirical shows of the past decade. This collection also comes with more than three hours of special features, including unaired sketches.

LET HIM GO (Universal)

Add this Kevin Costner/Diane Lane drama to the list of great movies that were largely ignored this past year thanks to the global pandemic.

The revenge thriller - released in theaters last November, despite many movie theaters being shuttered at the time – focuses on a retired sheriff and his wife (played by Costner and Lane) who are trying to track down their grandson after realizing he and his mother are in

danger. Their daughter-in-law remarried a few years after their son died and her new husband’s family are a dangerous group of nuts living off the grid in North Dakota. Both Lane and Costner are captivating in this deeply suspenseful movie; one that deserves a second life now that it’s out on DVD.

CROCK OF GOLD: A FEW ROUNDS WITH SHANE MACGOWAN (Magnolia Home

Entertainment) The most surprising revelation about this documentary of former Pogues front man Shane MacGowan is that it took this long for someone to finally make a doc on him.

Springing from the same punk scene that gave us the Sex Pistols and The Clash, the complicated and polarizing MacGowan is far more interesting and talented than a figure like the head-scratching glorification of Sid Vicious or even the constant curmudgeon John Lydon.

It’s fitting then that Julien Temple, the director behind the classic The Filth And The Fury, would undertake this deeply fascinating dive into MacGowan’s early childhood in Ireland, his move to England with his family and his immersion into the 1970s punk scene. The doc gives plenty of time dissecting his formation and the seemingly improbable rise of his traditional Irish music/punk hybrid band The Pogues, a group that has inspired hundreds of punk bands in the decades since, everyone from Flogging Molly to The Dropkick Murphys. It’s clear a near lifelong addition to drugs and alcohol have affected MacGowan’s physical health – all of his dialogue is subtitled in the film.

The Real World Homecoming

THE REAL WORLD HOMECOMING

(Paramount +) CBS All Access has been rebranded as Paramount +, adding new programming from MTV and Nickelodeon. And to kick off the new service, they created a stunt series reuniting the cast of the original MTV reality show, The Real World: New York, in their original loft for six days.

Once upon a time, a gaggle of young, pretty twenty-somethings of differing backgrounds were thrown together to have their lives and their arguments about race, politics, sex, hopes and dreams - taped.

Now, the group is in their 50s, and they have families and careers. But they’re back together to hash out how much has changed and stayed the same since 1992.

Filmed in January, modern times added a lot of complications to The Real World Homecoming, as cast member Eric was diagnosed with COVID-19 before he could see any of his old friends. And an argument about racism explodes in the second and third episodes of the show, where Becky makes a spectacle of herself as she denies her own white privilege to Kevin.

The Real World Homecoming is more than just an exercise in nostalgia, as a result of this.

It’s a fascinating show. insiteatlanta.com • April 2021 • PG 5

MUSIC

PLAYBACK

HERMANIA!

Peter Noone Revisits the American Inspirations of the British Invasion

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

W

the stuff in that show represents a special time for music. A lot of it is what inspired the British Invaders.

HEN RADIO WAS KING AND rock and roll was made by - and for - teenagers, disc jockeys were That was the time when the disc jockey was some of the most powerful movers and not only a host but a trusted tastemaker shakers of popular culture. If a DJ played a and in some cases, more famous than the record, it could become a massive hit and artists he presented. quickly elevate the artist to superstar status.

In those days, the most important person in One of the most revered disc jockeys of the New York was the DJ. They were immensely early ‘60s was Murray Kaufman, better known popular. People my age, we all had a disc as his on-air guise “Murray The K.” He also jockey that we listened to in the mornings was nicknamed “The Fifth Beatle” for his before we went to school. If he played a influential support of British Invasion acts. record and we liked it, we usually bought it.

Kaufman often presented live concerts If he didn’t play it, well we probably never featuring a wide slate of his favorite heard it. programming at select venues in New York City. One of his rock and soul revues, Things changed dramatically during 1965 originally held at Brooklyn’s Fox Theatre, but shows like this one captured the fleeting was televised on CBS in June of 1965. The magic of the times. special, called “It’s What’s Happening Things changed very quickly, but this is Baby” was initially commissioned by the the time when most of the U.S. Government’s Office of songs were still romantic Economic Opportunity to WHEN YOU THINK songs. Romance and dancing encourage American youth to ABOUT THE were partners then. Music was pursue summer employment.

BEATLES FOR what took you out on dates! In As a recruitment tool, it may days, pop music was for or may not have been effective, INSTANCE, THEIR those teenagers. Rock and roll music but the footage of the historic INSPIRATION WAS wasn’t for studious, journalisticconvergence lives on - thanks to NOT ENGLISH type, 50-year old men. It was Public Television and fellow DJ, by and for teenagers.

MUSIC, THEIR created producer and obsessive oldies Somehow that changed along fan T.J. Lubinsky.

INSPIRATION WAS the way and now everybody Featuring some of the greatest AMERICAN MUSIC. takes everything so seriously. rock, soul and R&B artists of But it was once sort of naive and the ‘60s, the rare package was fresh. One thing I’ve noticed is recently restored by Lubinsky - best-known for - well, for example, my dad didn’t understand his nostalgic “My Music” specials on PBS. Last “Tutti Frutti.” And that made it much more month, for the first time in 56 years, the show important to me. So today, I would hope that aired again. Be on the lookout for subsequent people like something now because I don’t re-broadcasts over the next few months get it. Originally this music was created for because PBS utilizes the presentations as part kids to go out and have a good time with, to of their pledge-drive programming. listen to it, to sing along with it and to just Vintage performances from Ray Charles, have fun. Things got heavier over the years of Dionne Warwick, Marvin Gaye, The Righteous course and everything changed - but during Brothers, The Supremes, The Ronettes, Johnny the Murray The K period, that was clearly Rivers, The Miracles, Herman’s Hermits, The what was going on. It may come back, you Temptations and Patti LaBelle are interspersed never know. But for now, we still have the with 2021 interview segments, offering music and the memories - and thanks to PBS, brief recollections of the era. Before the great shows like this one. show debuted last month, INsite spoke with Herman’s Hermits leader Peter Noone from his The show presents a good cross-section of home in Santa Barbara. Born Peter Blair Denis what was indeed happening at that time.

Bernard Noone in England, the gregarious 1965 was an incredible year for you. entertainer proudly calls the music of America Yeah, that was our moment. We sold more his greatest inspiration. records than anybody in the world then. I’d have to say, it was not a bad ol’ year for us!

There’s a teaser trailer online but have you seen the entire show yet?

At that point, America was hungry for I’ve seen the whole show and it’s anything British. unbelievable. It’s been around for a long time, But for us, we didn’t know there was a but it was always in bits and pieces with little British Invasion. I was fortunate because I had numbers running at the bottom of the screen. an English accent and I sang with that accent, But then somebody got the masters and fixed which none of the other people were doing. So it all up. I was fascinated by watching Little we really went to the front of the field.

Anthony and the Imperials, just how brilliant they were and are. There are a lot of fine It was very much American music, but you moments in rock and roll and quite a few of added that British twist and sold it back to them are in that session. us with an English accent.

I think British musicians were far more I thought I’d seen every show from that enthusiastic about American music, probably era but this one is a new treat for almost more than Americans were. everyone who enjoys historic programming.

There’re not many people still around As was customary at the time, the UK who saw it the first time. That whole period versions of your albums were different than - things from ’63, ’64 and ’65 - was seen by the releases for the American market. people who bought 1950’s records so it’s kind But we didn’t really plan it that way. The of pre-British Invasion in a way. It’s from first album had “Mrs. Brown” on it and a disc that time just before the music changed. jockey in Philadelphia decided to play it. We’d Things were different six months later, but been doing that song for years. It wasn’t really PG 6 • April 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

made for America, it was made in England.

Then the American disc jockey discovered it and played it - because that’s how powerful they were then. We weren’t over there making records for America. How could we even know what was going on here then? We were in Manchester and knew nothing about America. We were just music enthusiasts and to go play music in America was a big thing for us.

Every British musician tends to agree that America was ‘the goal,’ the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

When you think about the Beatles for instance, their inspiration was not English music, their inspiration was American music.

Nobody lists anybody from Germany in rock and roll, you know? They list Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke and then before that, people like The Ink Spots. So when we got the chance, we were happy to be in America.

Do you remember how you felt when you first arrived in America?

Of course! Every English person remembers that. I didn’t see the Statue of Liberty but I can imagine what that would’ve felt like. We flew into Idlewild or JFK or whatever it’s called now. We drove past the World’s Fair. They’d sent a limo to pick us up and we’d never seen one before. I think it was one of those with the

seats for people to go to the airport, so there were rows of people and it was like ten feet long. But it was still a limo for us.

Great.

Everything about it was great. Every English group was taken to see Joey Dee and the Starliters at the Peppermint Lounge. I guess that’s where they thought English people would enjoy themselves. Then they took us to that place where all the drummers would play, sittin’ on the bar. Then they thought we wanted to go to an English pub. But that was the last place we wanted to go. The thing is, Americana is much bigger for people outside of America than you can possibly imagine. I think Americans can never quite understand the appeal of America. All I know is, I got here. Everybody else in every other county, they all want to come to America, too. It’s funny that so many American people want to go somewhere else. I can list 150 countries of people who’d all like to be here. I’m one of the lucky ones. 1964 and 5 were some of the best times to be here. Here I am, all these years later, still living here.

Encore telecasts of It’s What’s Happening, Baby will air soon on most Public Television outlets. Check GPB.Org listings for upcoming showtimes. For the latest Peter Noone news, links, collectible merchandise and all things Herman, visit peternoone.com.

SPRING Festivals APRIL

MAY

Acworth Art Fest

Dunwoody Art Festival

Acworth Art Fest returns to the downtown Acworth Main St. on April 10 & 11.

This joyful event in the “Lake City,” just 35 miles northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, is always abuzz with excitement over the twoday art festival. With Lake Acworth and Lake Allatoona in this beautiful, small town’s backyard, Acworth Art Fest is the perfect art-buyers destination. The City’s art scene is growing, downtown shops and galleries are hopping—and Acworth Art Fest is a true celebration of whimsical and vibrant art in the springtime. Artisans from across the country display their creative booths on the charming street with paintings, pottery, metalwork, folk art, glass, jewelry, yard art and much more. For more info visit splashfestivals.com. If you are feeling unwell, please stay home.

Masks are encouraged, not required.

Attendees are asked to maintain proper social distancing during Acworth Art Fest.

Dunwoody Art Festival is back Saturday May 8 10am to 6pm and Sunday May 9 from 10am to 5pm at their new location in Brook Run Park. Bestowed the trophy for the “Best New Event of 2010” by the Southeast Festivals and Events Association, Dunwoody Art Festival continues to attract the top artisans from across the country. Along with the partnership of the Dunwoody Rotary Club and hundreds of volunteers, Dunwoody Art Festival is a must-see. Organizers we'll be practicing CDC guidelines as recommended to help ensure the safety of everyone. If you are feeling unwell, please stay home. Masks are required to enter the festival, and attendees are asked to maintain proper social distancing. For more information visit splashfestivals.com.

Downtown Acworth

APRIL 10 & 11

Kennesaw Big Shanty Festival Downtown Kennesaw

APRIL 17 & 18

The Superior Plumbing Kennesaw/Big Shanty Festival presented by LGE Credit Union offers something for the entire family. The event features over 200 Arts & Crafts booths, 25 food booths, one entertainment stage, as well as live acoustic music in the new Food Court throughout the weekend. The festival attracts over 60,000 people from all around North Georgia and admission is free. Organizers we'll be practicing CDC guidelines as recommended to help ensure the safety of everyone. There will be no parade this year. For more information visit KennesawBusiness.org.

Inman Park Tour of Gardens Inman Park Neighborhood

APRIL 23 - 25

Due to city ordinance, the Inman Park Festival is not able to take place this year.

It will be back better than ever next year for their 50th Anniversary celebration. In the meantime, the neighborhood will celebrate spring with a Tour of Gardens. The Inman Park Tour of Gardens will take guests on a fanciful tour of some of the most eclectic and innovative yards in Historic Inman Park.

On tour guests will see quirky landscapes and untraditional additions to classic homes with finely manicured lawns with sweeping views of our city. Each garden will hold a different surprise. Some will have dance troupes, live music, art and plenty of Inman Park Charm. Come for the gardens, stay for the culture. Enjoy socially distanced outdoor event. Masks and good humor required. Limited tickets. Order online at inmanparkfestival.org/gardens.

Brook Run Park

MAY 8 & 9

Spring Bierfest Helen, GA Festhalle

MAY 8

Head to the blue ridge mountains of Helen, GA for the 5th annual Craft Beer Tasting and Spring Bierfest. There will be over 100 beers to sample with unlimited tastings.

The event takes place on Saturday, May 8. Beer tastings from noon 5pm with Bierfest after party 6pm - 11pm. Specials from Bigg Daddy’s, Cafe International, and Cowboys & Angels. Free admission to After Party with arm band from Tasting. $25 Advanced, $30 at Door. VIP Passes $35 Advance, $40 at Door. Designated driver admission only $8. Tickets available at HelenChamber.com or (706) 878-1908.

Duluth Arts Festival Duluth Town Center

MAY 22 & 23

With an emphasis on the visual arts and family fun, this two day event is presented by the Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces.

One of the most vibrant and fastest growing cities, Duluth is home to one of the largest and most enthusiastic art buying communities in metro Atlanta. The Duluth Spring Arts and craft festival is excited to bringing back the tradition to the arts community.

The festival will feature approximately 86 painters, photographers, sculptors, metalwork, glass artists, jewelers and more! The Festival will also offer artist demonstrations, live acoustic music, plus gourmet food trucks with healthy alternatives and music and dance performances. Duluth was named top 10 safest cities and top 5 in the most exciting places in Georgia. The City’s dedication to good living has made Duluth a popular destination. For more information visit DuluthArtsFestival.com.

A Socially-Distanced Celebration of Spring in Inman Park.

The Inman Park Tour of Gardens.

Tickets are limited, so get yours today!

The Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes will be back next year for a 50th Anniversary Celebration.

inmanparkfestival.org/gardens

Mother's Day Weekend Saturday, May 8 10am–6pm Sunday, May 9 10am–5pm

• New Location!

Brook Run Park • Free Event • Food & Beverages for Purchase If you are feeling unwell, please stay home. Masks required.

We ask that you maintain proper social distancing during the Art Festival.

splashfestivals.com insiteatlanta.com • April 2021 • PG 7

MUSIC

FAST FORWARD

JUST US

Chapel Celebrates the Pop Power of Two

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

F

LOWERY BRANCH ISN’T EXACTLY KNOWN AS being one of Georgia’s main hubs of creativity. But crafty pop duo Chapel lived and recorded there for several years and managed to tour both nationally and internationally on the strength of their material and support of some of altpops major players.

The band has a new EP out this month called Room Service and the indie-minded folks at Rise Records are supporting it with a video for each of the four songs of the set.

Produced and engineered by the band - Carter Hardin (vocals / guitars /keyboard) and Kortney Grinwis (drums and vocals), the collection features the group’s familiar ingenious lyrics backed with hook-laden pop melodies, propelled by raw rhythms and ‘80s-tinged synth splashes.

Chapel debuted “First Love” in February, highlighting a song-a-month promotion plan that utilizes videos shot and directed by the band themselves. As 2021 began, their track “Pillow Talk” garnered multiple spins on SiriusXM’s Alt Nation. Since issuing their debut EP Sunday Brunch in 2017, Chapel has amassed more than eight million streams across various platforms. Not bad for a band that was once based fifty miles from the nearest music scene.

INsite recently spoke with Hardin from the band’s secluded suburban studio.

Categories and labels are usually vulgar words for artists - but how would you label your music if you were forced to put a name on it?

I think it would be alt-pop if we absolutely had to define it. We do have some stuff that’s kind of out of left field but generally that seems to sort of sum it up. That’s usually the way I describe it to people if they ask about it. The newer for sure actually feels a lot more alternative pop than ever. I think that’s the way we’re leaning, with their newer stuff that we’re working on now.

You may be the first - and probably only - alt-pop band from Flowery Branch.

(Laughs) I’d say that’s entirely possible. When we first started, we got a house in Flowery Branch and we lived and worked there for a good while. Everything that’s been out, except for like the new stuff, all came from our time at that house.

This has been a good year for Chapel so far. A video each month is a pretty good track record.

Well long story short, we put out two singles in like 2019 and then last year we had a full album done. But because of the quarantine, everything changed was changed so the EP is brand new stuff. We write a lot, so we wanted to get this out.

How did Chapel get together?

Kourtney is from Michigan and I’m almost born and raised in Georgia. We’d been in some projects together before and they didn’t really work out, like seven or eight years ago. Then I had some songs I was working on down here. So one day I just asked if she would be down to come to Georgia and do some drum tracks for this one song. It turned out that we got along great and we pretty much knew right then that, yes this is going to be a band.

Did she move down here then?

Well it’s kind of like any sort of long distance relationship.

She was back and PG 8 • April 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

forth from here to Michigan. It made sense to be in the same place if we wanted to work together as a real band. So finally she did move down here and that’s when we looked around and found the place in Flowery Branch. I know a lot of people go to L.A. or New York or whatever but in our case it worked to go where we did. We could be as loud as we wanted and it was secluded with no real outside influences to distract us from working on stuff.

skipped a lot of steps for sure, right out of the gate.

What was it like for a band from a small town in Georgia to play on big, imposing UK and European tours?

It was as surreal as you can imagine! But if you ever wanna watch a live show for the first time, I always recommend that if you can, by all means, please go to Europe because it’s so different over there. I know that’s not possible for most people, but I mean it as a concept. The people over there are all so hype and I think it’s because shows don’t happen quite as much over there. We’re a little jaded about seeing big here. But over there, the markets are not quite so saturated and people really get into it.

You were playing not only to foreign audiences but many in the crowd probably had no idea who you were.

Right. It was actually kind of terrifying at times, because you never knew exactly what was going to work or what wasn’t - but we tried hard. Also I think that’s the most fun part of it in a way. Sometimes we’d get on tours that didn’t really match exactly the kind of music that we play. But that just made us try really hard to get people on our side. It pushed us to play even harder and to work harder for that moment and in the process, we learned a lot.

Has the Chapel technique of songwriting changed over the years?

Drastically. A lot of times, top to bottom it’s me with the melodies and production but then when it comes to lyrics, we’re pretty much split on it. I don’t wanna have a message that she is not behind and vice versa.

So we both give each other the green light on stuff like that and then she comes in does her drum thing. It’s pretty evenly split and mostly it’s all done in-house.

We’ve learned everything as we went along because we had to. Now it’s pretty much us doing everything.

Chapel toured extensively, which is very rare for a new band.

Yeah it was really quick and kind of an insane thing to do. We were such babies. But we got lucky. We only had like two songs out and we went out on tour with the band called Waterpark and then immediately after that we went out on tour with Sum 41. That tour was huge and so intimidating. We made a pact that, OK let’s just don’t talk to anybody ‘cause we’re young and stupid. Let’s just play our set and leave so we don’t say or do anything stupid. It was pretty intense and everything was moving so fast but it all actually worked out. We had networked with a lot of people who seemed to really like our stuff. But yeah, we definitely

Are your songs written with the idea that you’re going to eventually play them live?

No. But I should! We can use tracks if we need to, but the main thing that we keep in mind is the fact are people gonna nod off. Is this going to be boring or will they enjoy it?

Seriously if I see someone checking their phone while we’re playing a song, we usually scrap it.

I’ve seen photographs of the band playing live and there were a couple of extra people onstage. But now you’re strictly a duo, correct?

Yeah, early on we had extra people with us because a lot of it was guitar and bass heavy. But now there’s a lot more synths and pianos and stuff. At the beginning, we thought it would be a good idea to have an extra live member. We did a couple of tours with like that but it just felt sort of weird to us.

Now you’d think with just two people it’s going to be weirder but actually it’s not. It’s way more fun to do it this way, with just me and Kourtney. It’s so much easier for us because that’s how we work in the studio, so it transfers to the stage. I mean, it’s almost like the lines get blurred sometimes between live and studio because of how well we work together. But some of the newer stuff we’re working on past the EP is kinda nuts! If we have to play it live and if we get the option to pursue more live members, we might do it just to fill out the sound. But for now, it’s just us.

For info, music, videos and all things Chapel, visit the band at chapelusa.com.

MUSIC

COSMIC FACTORY

The Psychedelic Odyssey of the Brothers Fogerty

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

W

HILE MOST MUSICIANS ARE CONTENT WITH a few well-intentioned living-room livestreams, Shane and Tyler Fogerty have buoyed the pandemic by releasing an incredible debut album and accompanying their legendary father - Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer / Creedence Clearwater Revival founder John Fogerty - on a popular series of You Tube videos.

Hearty Har is the sly band name for the brothers’ arrival into the world’s collective consciousness. Their recently released album, titled to honor their Radio Astro studio, is a kaleidoscopic swirl of baroque, late ‘60s-style pop, fused with vibrant, Morricone-inspired cinematic landscapes.

The collection is driven by garage rock (“Don’t Go Looking for Me”), hallucinogenic blues (“Waves of Ecstasy”) with unapologetic doses of Brit pop (“Fare Thee Well”), highlighted by a complex instrumental (“Canyon Of The Banshee”) stretching the band’s reference points far beyond the usual Beatlesque leanings of their peers.

Guitarist-vocalist Shane, a member of his father’s band since 2011, and singer-songwriter-producer Tyler also comprise half of their dad’s pandemic-born Fogerty’s Factory, a widely popular You Tube video project. The series earned the group a plethora of views. A recently issued audio collection features their renditions of some of John’s greatest hits, packaged with a cover that cleverly revisits CCR’s classic Cosmo’s Factory album - again photographed by their Uncle Bob - to fully complete the familial circle.

INsite spoke with Shane and Tyler by phone from their recording studio in southern California.

It’s always interesting to see how artists have been handling the pandemic. We definitely know one project you’ve done during the shutdown, but what else have you been working on?

Tyler: A lot of just listening to music and working on some gardening stuff. I’ve started growing gourmet mushrooms, actually. I’ve also been reimagining the studio because I’ve been putting it off for a long time, but I think I’ve made it easier to work in here.

Shane: I’ve been doing a lot of gardening and listening to music as well. Like everybody else, I started making bread at the beginning of the pandemic. I still have the sourdough going. I haven’t bought bread since last year! I’ve just been taking time to get my writing space in order. I hadn’t had free time to do much of anything because of Hearty Har and touring with our dad.

It’s been fun to do a lot of dog walks and spending time with the iancé.

experienced that. We wanted it to be just homebrewed, from us.

Our vision.

As you know, it’s not easy to be in a band with your brother.

Tyler: That’s true but I think it’s easier for us. We share a common musical language and it always seemed like other people didn’t quite have that same bar or something. So it created problems. Not personally, but just artistically. I think it’s actually easier for us to create together than to work with other people.

The more people in the mix, the more diluted the vision.

Shane: When we were doing other people’s ideas, it didn’t quite fit right. You can only concede so much and then the whole thing becomes a compromise. Why even listen to that? You have to serve the song and do it right. As an artist, I think that’s your duty.

The album is all over the place stylistically, You have the bases of the pandemic covered: yet it still sounds like a band effort. That’s EVER SINCE WE STARTED not easy to accomplish. baking, gardening and music. And like a number of artists, you have new music on IN 2012, WE DIDN’T WANT Tyler: But it all starts out with the same the market. Two very different projects. mentality, throughout. Ever since we started Shane: Yeah, getting our album out has been TO LIMIT OURSELVES TO in 2012, we didn’t want to limit ourselves to JUST BE THIS OR THAT just be this or that sort of band. We weren’t a long process.

Tyler: It’s taken a while but we were on SORT OF BAND. WE trying to fit into a mold at all. what we thought was the traditional band WEREN’T TRYING TO FIT trajectory, we were doing shows and went a little bit of everything, which is the very INTO A MOLD AT ALL. It’s into the studio to record. It was ok but it just definition of psychedelic music. But how do didn’t turn out the way we thought it would. you categorize it?

It took a while to figure out why it wasn’t what we wanted. It Tyler: I think it’s rock and roll at its core. I think the whole late was four more years to get a studio going and finally transition ‘60s Abbey Road sound is the pinnacle for me. We love that kind into what we were actually looking for. Then we kinda sat on this of baroque, orchestrated pop. album for a while.

Shane: We didn’t want to just put it out there and then nobody Including an instrumental is a bold move. “Canyon Of the would hear it, especially after working so long on it.

Banshee” is an unexpected highlight.

Tyler: Yeah, we did that with our first album that we eventually Tyler: When we were nearing the end of the record, I felt like pulled down from the internet. there was another side of us that we hadn’t really explored. It was really concise but we wanted to add a kind of a sound odyssey / Radio Astro pre-dates the pandemic, obviously. western thing to it.

Shane: Most of it. We did one song this past June.

Shane: I think it shows a lot of our influences because it’s like Tyler: I think it was good timing, because we’d been holed up three different songs in one. in the studio for most of the past couple of years. I wrote the last song on it with a drum machine because we couldn’t have You rely on each other in the studio, but how can you replicate any people coming over. So while I was in here all alone, I had to some of these sounds in a live setting? Even the Beatles couldn’t figure out how I could orchestrate it by myself. It turns out that it play some of their later stuff as a four-piece. really worked.

Tyler: With the band that we had before the pandemic, some of the songs were just too hard to do. So many layers and Right, it wasn’t diluted by band decisions and compromises. orchestral things - so we may have to expand when we go out Shane: Yeah, that totally changes things and we’ve definitely on the road.

Shane: We have some stuff in the vault now, but I think the next thing we want to do is get out and play because we never actually toured as Hearty Har. We want to get these songs in front of people and see how they connect with an actual audience. We’ve been in the studio for so long, we really haven’t experienced much of that live side of the band yet. Actual shows for actual people!

Tell us a bit about the origins of the Fogerty’s Factory pandemic band.

Shane: I think it started with just our dad doing “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” all by himself. It got a really good reaction from everybody stuck at home and online. Then the next week, we were all at the house and our mom asked us to play “Down On The Corner,” and our sister Kelsy joined in on it. That was the first time she’d really jammed with us as a family. It seemed to really catch on.

The productions got bigger and bigger as time went on.

Shane: It did and we’d spend the week rehearsing with our dad then we’d usually film on a Thursday and then it would be released by that Friday. It turned out to be a nice little family tradition to have, spread out over last summer. Just getting together with the family and playing music. It was fun and I think it shows in the videos.

What was it like to do “Centerfield” at centerfield in an otherwise empty Dodger Stadium?

Shane: I think they were just setting up the Covid testing site there that week. So it wasn’t completely empty but just walking out on that field, it’s pretty hard to describe. We’d been to a Iot of games there and it was just crazy to do that song there and hear it echoing back at us.

Tyler: (Laughs) And we got yelled at for walking on the infield.

As we discussed, Hearty Har is a true collaborative effort but did Fogerty’s Factory ever become a democratic band as well?

Shane: Well, those are his songs so he was definitely calling the shots. For us, we just wanted to play the best we could so it wasn’t a collaborative thing, really.

You didn’t take over and go, ‘Ok, next week we’re doing Hearty Har songs and here’s your part’?

Shane: (Laughs) I can just imagine the look on his face if we’d said that.

Hearty Har’s Radio Astro and Fogerty’s Factory, both from BMG, are available via most retail music outlets. Visit heartyhar.com and johnfogerty.com for more details and special bundles. insiteatlanta.com • April 2021 • PG 9

MUSIC

GET TOGETHER

The Beach Boys and Family “Add Some Music To Your Day”

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

S

INCE 1965, ANY FULL GATHERING of The Beach Boys has been rare.

When co-founder Brian Wilson left the rigors of touring to devote more time for his increasingly intricate studio projects, the band’s live lineups changed while their music evolved from innocent, sun-drenched pop to thoughtful ruminations on the human condition.

By 1970, the nation was in a complicated state of unrest. The Vietnam War raged on, political affairs were in turmoil and the promise of Woodstock withered into the darkness of Altamont, ushering in a decidedly jaded new era of artistic consciousness. The Beach Boys had left their clean-cut, stripedshirt ‘60s image and corporate harbor of Hollywood’s Capitol Records for an intriguing, counter-cultural journey of experimental music on their own Brother Records imprint via Warner Brothers’ forwardthinking Reprise.

In the wake of culture’s newly expanded awareness, they rose to the occasion and created some of their best material. The band’s impressive ‘70s catalog began with Sunflower (1970), continuing with Surfs Up (1971), Carl And The Passions - So Tough (1972), Holland (1973), 15 Big Ones (1976), The Beach Boys Love You (1977), concluding the era with the often-overlooked M.I.U. (1978) and L.A. Light Album (1979).

Last spring, while focusing on the 50th anniversary of Sunflower, music historian David Beard, editor and publisher of Endless Summer Quarterly, was moved by the message of the record’s rousing lead single “Add Some Music to Your Day.” Inspired by the album’s iconic cover, featuring a photo of the band posed with their children, Beard thought combining members of The Beach Boys with their next generation was an ideal way to assist a charity during today’s assorted difficulties. Choosing Feeding America (www.feedingamerica.org) as the appropriate recipient, he proceeded to corral most of the group’s far-flung family for an incredible new project under the cleverly

PG 10 • April 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

descriptive moniker California Music. in the air right now. Last year was the 50th The resulting project, California Music for Sunflower and later this year is the 60th Presents Add Some Music (Omnivore for The Beach Boys.

Recordings) includes new and rare tracks Love: So much to celebrate, yeah. I’ve by the Beach Boys’ Mike Love, Al Jardine, been thinking, back when we did the 50th Bruce Johnston, David Marks and longtime anniversary Beach Boys shows. We did the band associate Jeffrey Foskett. Additional song “Add Some Music to Your Day,” just all appearances include vocal turns from Brian’s of us gathered around the piano. Brian, Al, daughters Carnie and Wendy Wilson; Mike’s Bruce, David Marks and myself. That was a kids Christian, Hayleigh and Ambha Love; and really sweet song for us to do. So when David Al’s son Matt Jardine.

Beard initiated the re-rerecording of it and The historic project was co-produced by getting everybody in the family, just about, to Beard and Omnivore Records’ founder Brad participate, I thought it was an awesome thing Rosenberger with contributions the whole concept of THE MUSIC IS tothedo.song‘Cause

by Carnie Wilson’s husband Rob is so inclusive. And, like Bonfiglio, who serves as musical A WAY OF, YOU I said, it’s just a very sweet song director and guitarist for Wilson on its own. To be able to redo it Phillips in addition to his pivotal KNOW, GETTING with so many family members, it US ALL role in Brian Wilson’s band and was just a very sweet message to occasionally as a touring member TOGETHER AND everyone. of the current Beach Boys lineup.

HARMONIZING, Absolutely. And it’s good that The result is a celebration of the intricate familial bonds of the proceeds go to Feeding LITERALLY some Southern California music scene.

America. You did a pandemic AS WELL AS song for them last year. How did The lead track “Add Some Music to Your Day,” - originally written one come about?

FIGURATIVELY. that

by Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Love: That’s right, “This Too Joe Knott - is the harmonious centerpiece of Shall Pass.” I was sitting around and figuring, the collection. we’ve seen lots of ups and downs, oh, in the On the day before his 80th birthday, Mike last 50 or 60 years. Even as bad as things Love spoke with INsite by phone from his can seem, they always turn around and home in Lake Tahoe about the new album and the pendulum swings in a more positive the enduring legacy of The Beach Boys. David direction. I think it’s beginning to do that in Beard moderated from Chapel Hill. the live music scene right now. We’re starting to get more and more offers through the Mike, before we start, I want to tell you that summer and fall and on into next year. And my very first celebrity interview was with you, there’s pretty much a fundamental need of 40 years ago. Now here we are again. everybody for food, so Feeding America is a Mike Love: (Laughs) Oh my gosh. Wow, it’s great organization. I’m glad David chose to like clockwork, every 40 years. get reinvolved with them and keep it going because that need hasn’t gone away yet.

Speaking of achievements, happy birthday.

David Beard: Yeah, Mike was actually the That’s 80 big ones. inspiration for me to choose that charity, Love: Yeah. It’s a big milestone, it’s pretty because of his song. amazing. To be able to still perform and go out and just feel good about playing live and stuff We spoke with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is a good thing. last month and they’ve also recorded a special song for Feeding America. It’s good There are a number of exciting anniversaries that a number of legacy artists releasing new

projects to benefit that organization.

Love: That’s great and it’s not all relegated to musical artists. I mean, Michael Jordan did a massive contribution to them. So that’s a nice thing. It’s awesome that people are all kicking in from all angles of the entertainment field.

Beard: And they did something, even on the Golden Globes. I think they donated $2 million dollars.

Love: Really? I didn’t know that. That’s great.

I take back everything I ever said about the Golden Globes (laughs).

Well, you don’t have to take it all back. But really, this project is a good example of what it’s all about, getting together for a good reason. In the case of this particular project, it’s a literal - albeit virtual - get together.

Love: It sure is. And it’s all thanks to technology. Even in spite of COVID, we were able to do “This Too Shall Pass” remotely with everybody doing their thing on their own computer, or in their own studio with their own mic. We did that with “Add Some Music” in the same way. It was pretty interesting.

We were able to get everybody, or just about everybody, involved.

Beard: A big shout-out to Rob Bonfiglio, Carnie Wilson’s husband. I guess I was the architect in a way, but Rob really was the guy who pulled it all together and made it sound so great.

That’s a lot of work to do with all those voices, to make it still sound harmonious. In the wrong hands, it could just be a big mess. But it sounds great.

Love: It does. It really came out nice. Well, you know, Brian and I wrote that puppy for the most part. So it was really nice to see a new incarnation of it, so many years down the road.

Let’s talk about the original for a moment.

It came from such a tumultuous time in culture, in the band and just in general. In 1970, the Beach Boys were an embodiment of the social shift, internally and externally.

Love: Yeah, but the music is a way of, you know, getting us all together and harmonizing,

literally as well as figuratively. So I think the unifying message of that song is as needed now as it ever was. Perhaps even more so.

Even the cover of the original album hinted at harmonious transition.

Beard: That’s really the inspiration for this whole idea. I was doing the Sunflower edition of Endless Summer Quarterly and I was looking at the cover. The guys are lounging around on a golfing green, I guess pretty close to Dean Martin’s house, because the picture was taken by his son, Ricci Martin. And there’s Christian and Hayleigh sitting on Mike’s lap. And Carnie sitting on Brian’s lap. Little Matt Jardine is standing next to Al and Jonah Wilson is on Carl’s shoulders.

That’s great. And for the Beach Boys to ever have that many people on the same page at the same time is a miracle.

Love: (laughs) Um, yeah. A miracle of music.

Absolutely. It came from a period that opened up a very progressive period for the group. You didn’t have anything to prove at that point, so you could take it in any direction.

Love: Yeah, we’d gone all over the place, with different people taking the lead in production or becoming more active in writing than they normally might have. So a lot of great things came as a result of us doing that.

Individuals, you know, seeking out their own self expression.

What was your personal take on the band’s direction? You were way past the ‘surf, cars and girls’ thing by then.

Love: You know, there’s an album compilation that’s due to come out pretty soon called Feel Flows. And the song “Feel Flows” was written by Carl Wilson together with Jack Riley, who managed us for a few years. On that record Charles Lloyd, who’s an amazing musician, was on sax and flute. That’s him on the instrumental part. It’s amazing. It’s unlike anything we ever did. To me, that’s the beauty of some of those albums - where the individuality I spoke of started to manifest.

And I mean, the sky’s the limit. There’s such diversity. I love all the original stuff that Brian produced, but then when he - not retired, but receded a little bit from the overall production - it was awfully nice to hear the other guys come forward with some brilliant things.

It was really interesting to see the rise of Carl during that era.

Love: Oh, yeah. Well, you really don’t get any higher than “God Only Knows.” But songs like “Feel Flows” is awesome - and so is “Long Promised Road,” and “The Trader.”

Several songs that are completely different in substance and subject matter than what came before. But I think that’s all welcome, it’s all good. In retrospect, it was quite a diversity of creativity.

It’s an incredible and wholly unique legacy.

Beard: The 10-song set gave me that opportunity to kind of give the listeners that diversity that Mike’s speaking of, by getting an individual song from each of the guys. He mentioned the range of a song like “Long Promised Road.” We actually have a David Marks recording of that song on the collection.

That’s also where Mike’s contribution of “Ram Raj,” comes in as well. It’s so mystical and different than what most people would probably associate with him.

It’s as transcendent and psychedelic as anything from the era that inspired it.

Love: Well, it’s inspired by a temple in Southern India and it’s mystical, all right. It’s been around for at least 10,000 years, this temple. It inspired the story of that particular song and you’re right, it is way far afield of the normal subject matter but it’s cool.

I remember that song from your Unleash The Love album from a few years ago.

Love: Yeah! That’s right.

Always Fun. Funky. Unusual.

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It’s also good to hear “Get Together” on the new collection. Several different California bands have had a go at that song. The Youngbloods had the hit, of course, but even the Jefferson Airplane did a version of it.

Beard: Since Jeffrey Foskett plays guitar on so many projects, I wanted to include his voice on there. It really works because it speaks to the same message of “Add Some Music.”

Mike, before I let you go I want to ask about the massive new Beach Boys intellectual property licensing deal with Irving Azoff. That’s a monumental achievement in itself and several major acts [including Linda Ronstadt and David Crosby] have signed on for similar deals.

Love: Yeah, it’s pretty cool because he has a great organization [Iconic Artists Group] and he brings a lot of experience and wisdom. You know, he has so many of the right connections to take the legacy on from where it is and to further enhance it, embellish it, or however you wanna describe it. And as a closely held corporation, Brother Records, um, was not the most functional company ever to meet the planet. So I think it’s great, and because of all the good things that Iconic brings to the Beach Boys, it’s really constructive and positive for us.

From the way it sounds, he’s planning to certainly expand the overall brand for many years to come, right?

Love: That’s the general idea. I mean, they’ll be doing all kinds of things that are in the works and planned, and if even one or two of them happen it’ll be great. But there might be half a dozen things that happen and it will carry that legacy on. Even if just a couple of them happen, like a Broadway play, for instance, that could be huge.

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The Jersey Boys, the Four Seasons production, seems to have a life of its own at this point.

Love: Oh, it’s phenomenally successful. And I think Beach Boys music is right for that kind of presence.

To read the rest of the interview, please visit insiteatlanta.com. California Music Presents Add Some Music is available from most retail platforms and from omnivorerecordings. com. More information is available from feedingamerica.org, esquarterly.com, mikelove. com, aljardine.com, brianwilson.com and thebeachboys.com. insiteatlanta.com • April 2021 • PG 11

BOOKS

THANKS FOR THE MEMORY

New Book Offers an Emotional Glimpse of Bob Hope’s WWII Correspondence

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

“A

Author Martha Bolton knew the comic for years during her tenure as his first female staff writer. She wrote material for Hope’s television specials, live appearances and military shows for fifteen years, from the ‘80s until his death in 2003. INsite spoke with the Emmynominated journalist from her home in Nashville.

NYWHERE WE WENT, WHENEVER WE landed, we would always do an impromptu show. We’d go into one of our little bits. Then we’d go to the next place. The troupe was constantly on, constantly entertaining-whether it was three people in the commissary or the entire unit.” - Bob Hope According to the press release, you’ve written eightyFans of classic comedy know Bob Hope from his series eight books. That’s an impressive amount of work. Is of television appearances and film roles. Baby boomers Dear Bob your eighty-ninth project? fondly remember his variety specials on NBC, often I think it’s the 89th. It’s interesting because once you highlighting his visits to war-torn areas during the start, you don’t really realize the number. If you’re doing Vietnam war. His travelling USO shows, with comedic three books a year, it adds up. foils such as Jerry Colonna and Joey Heatherton were consistently highly rated TV events on NBC. That could fill an entire library. Do you display them But Hope had been entertaining the troops for many all in order? years before his successful ‘Nam tours. Last year, as Right now, I’ve them sorted by size, I haven’t put them the 75th anniversary of the end of in order yet. But it’s from a long career.

WWII passed, an intriguing new book I have a biography that’s pretty much ANYWHERE WE was being compiled. The resilient spread out over the course of doing all relationship between Bob Hope and “The WENT, WHENEVER WE these books.

Greatest Generation” is examined in a LANDED, WE WOULD What a legacy of work and it mirrors new collection from University Press of Mississippi, Dear Bob… Bob Hope’s ALWAYS DO AN Bob Hope’s lasting heritage as well. He Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.’s a true pioneer of television, film and IMPROMPTU SHOW. was of World War II. Veteran comedy writer even stand-up comedy.

Martha Bolton and Hope’s daughter Exactly. He’s credited with being one Linda have assembled a rare look at the personal of the first stand-up comics. It was just him and the communications between the comedic actor and the men microphone. and women who fought in World War II. People latched on him as a touchstone of a number of Personal letters, cards and packages were traded different genres. The book shows that bond in great between Hope, the troops and their families. Because detail. of his live appearances and radio shows, he became a That’s right and he was aware of it, too. He kept upvital link to home for many military members. Long to-date with all the generations. When he’d do a show, before email and texts, a letter was the main method of he’d have the legends on, but he’d also have the up-andcommunication for the deployed vets. coming stars too. The hottest stars of the day, no matter In a press release, writer-producer Linda Hope, Bob’s what day it was. He was very deliberate about that and eldest daughter, explains, “The people back home loved he had fans that just couldn’t get enough of him, or do hearing something from a base from where one of their enough for him, because of that connection. loved ones was stationed. Handwritten letters were cherished. Dad received an average of 38,000 letters a You can definitely see that admiration in the letters. week. He would often dictate responses to be typed and That was our goal, to bring out we saw in the letters. It mailed off by his secretary. The letters were amazing. became very evident that this wasn’t a typical celebrity/ They had to deal with a variety of topics, asking when fan relationship. It was far more than that. These were they were going to be coming home, could they visit with friends. They called him the GI’s best friend and he really him on the set or meet Lana Turner or Rita Hayworth.” was. They could tell him anything, they could ask for Though many of the letters frequently contained anything and he’d do his best to send it. They’d tease him lighthearted banter, some were much more serious. and he’d tease them right back. It went beyond anything Families of fatally wounded GIs would often write to any usual celebrity interactions with fans, before or since.

Hope. The grieving relatives would note that the last They were like family to him. thing they heard from their loved one was that they had seen his show and were thankful he had given them a bit Even more remarkable is this wasn’t like today’s of a distraction from the war. instant-gratification, electronic communication, it was Dear Bob… resonates with the pathos of battle and old-fashioned snail mail. Equally impressive is the fact the humor of an era. The communications remain as that he actually kept the letters and replies. That was stirring today as they were when Hope received - and some thorough bookkeeping by his secretary. meticulously saved - each letter. Now preserved at the Right, I believe his secretary Marjorie Hughes had the Library of Congress, the thoroughly entertaining volume foresight to know that this was going to be of historic offers a rare perspective on the fragile, funny and often significance. Not only did she keep the soldiers’ letters, heart-wrenching correspondence. she saved Bob’s responses on onion-skin carbon copies.

She saved it all, the air-letter and Bob’s response. At the height of the war, he was receiving 38,000 fan letters a week, can you imagine? He did his best to answer as many as he could. The soldiers, when they’d receive it on their end, not only did it make their day, but the other soldiers would follow them back to their tents so they could pass it around. Then they’d send him souvenirs from wherever they were stationed. It wasn’t like today’s instant mail, sometimes the letter would follow the soldiers around and it could take weeks, months or even years to get to them. It was a whole different world then you could go weeks or months without hearing any news from your family. On his tours, soldiers would sometimes slip him telephone numbers of their family and ask that he call them. When he got home, he’d sit by the phone and go through them one by one.

How did the tradition start?

He started entertaining troops before the war. His producers had suggested it. He found they were so PG 12 • April 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

ready to laugh they became his favorite audience and he started doing his radio show at military bases. He’d say something like, ‘Just drop me a line, and it started organically.

It grew fast to get up to nearly 40,000 a week.

It did and the responses are so touching. You see some that say, ‘This is the first fan letter I’ve ever written and you’ll probably never read it.’ But he did! It’s touching to see the level of gratitude that really comes through on the pages. He gave them Hope.

Literally. And you knew him personally. What was he like as a boss?

I did. It was a pleasure to know him. I wrote for him for fifteen years and he never said an unkind word to me in all that time.

Growing up, I thought of comedy show writers as they were depicted on The Dick Van Dyke Show, but you were writing for Bob in the ‘80s. The times had obviously changed.

When he’d have his television specials, we’d meet at his house and talk about what the show was going to be about, different sketch ideas. Then we’d go home and do our versions of what he wanted. Then he would put it all together, sometimes taking some or all of a sketch, sometimes combining them. For the monologues, he’d call us and give us topics or ask for our ideas. When we’d read the news, we could usually tell what could become a good Bob Hope joke.

He famously used cue-cards on television. Did he ever memorize any of his bits?

He used the cards on television, but when he was on the road, he’d call and we’d give him lines. Then he would go straight onstage and do them, having just heard ten or fifteen jokes on the phone. I don’t know how he did it.

He must’ve had a photographic mind. In WWII, when he did his USO shows, he’d have a writer along with him and a team at home. They’d give him new jokes for wherever he was and he’d go right out onstage and do them all, no cue-cards. The man had a memory.

Dear Bob… Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.’s of World War II is available from most retailers and from University Press of Mississippi upress.state.ms.us.

MUSIC

MUSIC FOR NOW

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band Rocks the Blues

BY REVEREND L.V. SMITH

I

F YOU THOUGHT YOUR 2020 WAS bad, it could’ve been worse. Just ask Reverend Peyton. The leader of the Big Damn Band had a particularly trying time.

In addition to the general malaise of the pandemic, the Reverend’s wife, the vivacious “Washboard” Breezy Peyton and one-third of the band, suffered a long and debilitating ailment and his father was enduring cancer treatments. Then the volatile weather of rustic Southern Indiana knocked off the electricity at the Peytons’ 150-year-old log cabin for days.

But the good news is, being an astute bluesman, Rev used his pain and worry for inspiration. The results are released this month as the basis of his latest album, Dance Songs for Hard Times (Family Owned Records/Thirty Tigers). Written mostly by candlelight during the blackout and recorded with the finest retro equipment in Nashville.

Captured by Grammy-winning producer Vance Powell, the front-porch blues band rocks and wails with vibrant abandon.

Highlights of the eleven selections include the pertinent, captivating and wholly appropriate “No Tellin’ When,” “Come Down Angels” “Ways and Means” and “Too Cool to Dance.”

As 2020 progressed, Breezy recovered and the Reverend’s father was declared cancer-free following surgery. The band, completed by Max Senteney on drums, hasn’t toured in a year but they’ve maintained a regular schedule of popular livestream performances that originate from the rustic cottage.

INsite spoke with the gregarious singersongwriter by phone from his Brown County, Indiana studio.

Besides being ordained reverends, we both started out with old Kay guitars. The only difference is, you got better and better and I never progressed at all.

(Laughs) I tell you what man, that first Kay I had made my hands strong. It was hard to play.

I still play a Kay almost every day. I’m using one on “Too Cool To Dance.” But I sold my first one to buy a better guitar. Not too long ago, the guy I sold it to reached out to me. He said, ‘I still have your first guitar and I’d like to give it back to you.’ He’d kept it for years. So he gave it back to me and I gave to back to my dad for Father’s Day a couple of years back. Now he’s got it hangin’ up in his house, that old Kay. I spent a whole lot of time with that thing.

How long did the guy keep it?

Let’s see, I’ll be 40 in April – I don’t even know where the last ten years even went – so he must’ve had it for at least twenty-five years.

My dad was so surprised to see it. He thought I’d found one like it, but I said, ‘No, this is the one you bought for me!’

Tell us a bit about the title of the new album.

We call it Dance Songs for Hard Times because ninety percent of it was written in a very short time, during the beginning of the pandemic. From the end of March to the beginning of April, when things were at their darkest, gloomiest and nobody knew what was gonna happen.

The album turned out great, even though some especially hard times inspired it.

I appreciate that. It’s hard to convey just how proud we are of it. I always tell people that I don’t think my best record has been made yet. Every time you hear a new record from me it’s gonna be better than the last one. But I do think one is a major jump forward for us.

I don’t know how many artists probably tell you that, but honest to God, I work on stuff every day and I try to be better, every single day, than the day before. Not just with music, but everything. I have this belief that if you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse. So you have to fight it. Everything single thing we do as human beings, the Earth is tryin’ hard to turn it into rust and dust. Including us! So that’s why I keep working at it.

You certainly rose to the occasion.

I had some songs that I was proud of so I was determined that we do them as good as we could. I really think we did it without betraying who we are and what we’re all about.

One thing about it, it’s all us. We didn’t bring in anybody, we just did it live to eight-track analog tape.

The way God intended rock and roll to be recorded.

Absolutely. I told Breezy, I want to try it one more time like this but I didn’t want to produce it myself. I got to talking with Vance and I just loved his vibe. I loved what he wanted to do with it. He wanted to do it on sixteen tracks, but I said, ‘No let’s just go with eight.’ That’s takin’ it way back. But he understood what we wanted and he didn’t want to change us.

He just wanted to capture us live. That made me excited because I knew he trusted us. I

even though it’s a little different. But that’s the challenge. There’s only so many notes and a there’s a whole lot of guitars out there.

don’t think we didn’t let him down. I could just pony right up to the microphone with my guitar - because I sang and played at the same time - and just be myself. It felt good because I knew he wasn’t gonna try to make it something it wasn’t. We were in good hands. I knew he wasn’t going to come in and add horns or electronic drums or something crazy like that.

With seven full-length records under your belt, it’s not easy to sound fresh.

Yeah, plus the Record Store Day stuff and EPs, so it’s a lot of stuff. We’re gettin’ pretty deep into it now. But I still feel like we’re gettin’ better as we go along. We’ve spent the last few years doing a lot of festivals and blues cruises with Taj Mahal, getting to hang out with him

and his band and crew. One thing about him that really inspires me is that whatever he does, it’s always the blues. It’s always Taj Mahal, no matter how he does it. So that has inspired me to do whatever I want to do that feels cool to me. If I think it’s cool and awesome and it’s what I want to put out into the world, then so be it. It’s from me. Take a song like “Too Cool To Dance.” It’s one of the songs on this record that I’m most proud of. At face value, it sounds like a song that might have gotten lost from 1956 or something. But all of that guitar is me, live. All the bass, all the lead. It’s all me and it’s all played live. If somebody would say, ‘Well it’s not really country blues, it’s more like Chuck Berry,’ I’d have to disagree. I’m still playin’ finger-style and I still think it sounds like us,

The unknown factor of it was the scariest part.

Totally freighting. Breezy was sick and she just wouldn’t get well. We never got confirmation if she had the Coronavirus, but she had a 102 temperature for three weeks.

I was the first one that got sick, but she got the worst of it. Our last show was March 11 and she was sick, but the show must go on.

No one knew how widespread this thing was at the time. The next day, I took her to the hospital and they sent her back home. I was afraid to go to the grocery store or anywhere because I didn’t want to spread it around. So while we were here quarantining, the power went out. She couldn’t even get out of bed.

During that time, I was writing. One night she finally felt like getting up and I played a little concert for her by candlelight. I played all these new songs I’d written while she had been so sick. She said, ‘These are the best songs you’ve ever written in your whole life.’

So I worked on honing ‘em down and sent them to Max who was up in southern Illinois.

We only had one real rehearsal before went to Nashville to record them. We all had to get to tests and be extra careful in the studio because Vance was really taking it seriously, too. We pretty much lived in his studio, which was weird. Breezy cooked for us. To be in Nashville and not go to any restaurants was different but that’s how we had to do it. We just got right to work and put it all down - really quick and dirty. But I’m sure glad we did because I just felt like it was the time to do those songs.

This is music for now. Right now. I just can’t wait to get back out and play these songs for everybody.

Dance Songs For Hard times is available from most music retailers and from bigdamnband.com. insiteatlanta.com • April 2021 • PG 13

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Jason Ringenberg

Rhinestoned (Courageous Chicken)

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Detox

Seattle-based trio Cheap Cassettes turned in a phenomenally addictive album in 2017 with All Anxious, All The Time, and since then have been slowly dripping out singles via 7” s and digital releases. Their latest, the 5-song See Her In Action!, is a physical CD release of a 2019 effort by the same name, along with two new live cuts.

This set, as frustratingly brief as it may be, encapsulates all that is great about this group: the frenetic energy of power pop, the unpredictability of a group like The Replacements and the sheer, unabashed enjoyment of a band like Cheap Trick. The EP’s three studio tracks include the opening title song, the equally poppy “Only Lovers Left Alive,” and the two -minute hit and run “Lil’ Bit of Everything.” The set also includes an appropriately sloppy, but no less great cover of The Replacements’ “Valentine” and a live version of “Red Line Blue,” a new Cheap Cassettes song that has yet to show up on a studio album.

See Her In Action! is a stellar placeholder until the band gets around to record another LP, and that effort could not come soon enough.

260 Highway 53 East Calhoun, Georgia 30701 (706) 383-8033

As fontman of Jason & the Scorchers, Jason Ringenberg, along with bands like The Blasters, Lone Justice and Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ helped pioneer that potent blend of punk rock and country.

As a result, they laid the foundation for everyone from Old 97s and Nashville Pussy to Mike Ness’ entire solo career.

It’s been decades since Jason & the Scorchers last put out a record, but Ringenberg has managed to carry his career into two seemingly divergent, but just as interesting paths over the years. He’s put out four albums as Farmer Jason – a gleeful eclectic children’s musician - and put out half a dozen solo efforts in similar vein to the music he played fronting The Scorchers. His latest solo album, the sublimely titled Rhinestoned is easily one of his best.

His distinctive vocals - a wild sound that is created by taking a guy from Southern Illinois and having him live in Nashville for decades are front and center, outshined only by his stellar lyrics, that can straddle the line between witty (“Nashville Without Rhinestones”) to poignant (“The Freedom Rides Weren’t Free”). The mix of topics here are all over the place making for a scattered, idiosyncratic and deeply fun listen.

He does an addictively catchy, rocked up version of “Christ The Lord Is Risen” that had the song stuck in my Atheist head for days.

Surprisingly, the album was one Ringenberg didn’t set out to make this soon, but the global pandemic shifted everyone’s plans and gave the singer plenty of time at home, with nothing to do but write music.

“I was faced with the same decisions everyone else in the world faced: how to connect with folks in a disconnected world. I decided to create a new record,” he said. Rhinestoned was birthed in masks and social distancing.”

The Luka State

Fall In Fall Out (AntiFragile Music)

The English four-piece The Luka State are proving that guitar rock – despite countless of

obits that have been written about its demise – is far from dead.

On their bombastic, guitars-to-11 debut, Fall In Fall Out, the band are fighting the good fight for rock music with machine gun drumming and feet on the distortion pedals. The result is an impressively lively collection of a dozen tracks (including the minute-long seemingly one note “Outro”).

The band does run the risk of sounding redundant on a couple of tracks, but those moments are few and far between. Songs like “Kicked in the Teeth,” which perfectly shows off Conrad Ellis’s range as a vocalist, and tracks like “Fake News” and “Girl” brings to mind a time when bands like Fall Out Boy still played pop punk music.

The band is not exactly forging new ground on their debut, but rather are reminding us about a well-trodden path that leads to music being fun again, spiked with driving bass lines, thundering drums and ear ringing guitars.

Alice Cooper

Detroit Stories (Alive/earMusic)

Alice Cooper is certainly no stranger to concept albums; just look at Welcome To My Nightmare, Alice Cooper Goes To Hell, From The Inside… hell, just say listen to half of Cooper’s 1970s output and you realize he digs a theme.

So, it shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise that his latest, Detroit Stories has a strong thread throughout connecting all of the tracks. Taking inspiration from his hometown - the city that embraced Cooper and his band long before anyone else would - he pays tribute to the Motor City in a raucous, endearing loyal album. The set kicks off with an inspired take on Lou Reed’s “Rock & Roll,” complete with a Detroit shout out in the first verse. The album continues with 14 more tracks all paying homage to that distinct 1970s Detroit hard rock sound, a scene that launched everyone from The Stooges to MC5.

He also covers, fittingly, Bob Seger’s “East Side Story” and the MC5’s “Sister Anne.”

Elsewhere, Cooper’s trademark dark wit and snark are showcased on songs like “Hail Mary” and “I Hate You.” At 15 tracks, not everyone here is a keeper, (“Drunk And In Love” sounds like one of Cooper’s 1980s strays) but taken as a whole, this is one of his best records in years.

With this obvious nod to nostalgia, it seems fitting that Cooper brought back Bob Ezrin to produce – a legend responsible for working on some of Cooper’s best, early records, as well as albums from Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails among many, many others. He also brought in Detroit greats like Wayne Kramer (MC5s) and Johnny Badanjek (Detroit Wheels) to serve as part of his backing band.

The guitar-heavy sound and the lyrics here certainly sound like a throwback, but that’s essentially the point. It’s easy, and lazy, to write off musicians that have been around for decades as dinosaurs, but there’s a reason why people still listen to songs like “Welcome To My Nightmare” or “Only Women Bleed,” almost five decades after they first came out – they’re amazing songs that sound just as good now as they did a generation ago. It’s hard to picture many of the biggest songs of the past few years aging this well over the next few decades.

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