The Truth Can Now Be Told!  What can the daughter of a video storeowner, a 13-year-old, and a Hanson lookalike tell me about the Blues?  Not a damn thing!  I have no respect for "Non-dues" paying blues musicians.  The Blues aren't something that you can imitate, it must come from years of playing in dives, getting ripped off by promoters and labels and actually feeling the music, not just mimicking. 

What ever happened to Rhoda?  They left with the "great Madison band exodus of 98" [along with members of Jr. High and Fez Petting Zoo – who are now The Returnables] to Chicago.  They've gotten a new drummer and have changed their name to the puta-pons.  I've had the honor of hearing a tape of their live shows and their studio work for their upcoming CD.  It's excellent.  Watch for their upper Midwest tour around the end of the summer.

R.I.P.

It's been a pretty bad month for musicians, especially Reggae musicians:

Agusto Pablo - Natural Causes (5/18/99) Reggae musician and producer

Jr. Braithwaite – Shot (6/2/99) Original member of Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Chadda Scott – Shot (6/2/99) Reggae Singer.

Eddie Kurdziel – Od'ed (6/7/99) Guitarist for Redd Kross

Screaming Lord Sutch – Hung Himself (6/16/99) Pioneer English Rock Singer and perennial political candidate.  The founder of the Monster Raving Loony Party.  Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, Charlie Watts, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Nicky Hopkins all started their careers in Sutch's band.

Frank Starr – Was in a coma for 4 years due to injuries from a motorcycle accident (6/20/99) Singer for The Four Horsemen.

Brian O'Hara – Hung himself (6/27/99) singer/guitarist for The Fourmost.

Dennis Brown – Upper Respiratory Failure (7/1/99) The Crown Prince of Reggae.

Mark Sandman – Heart attack while performing in Rome (7/3/99) Bassist/vocalist of Morphine.

Michael Wallace – Shot (7/6/99) Keyboard player for reggae group. Third World.