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The July 27 edition of The Devo Rock Show featured a tribute to singer/songwriter Emmitt Rhodes who passed away at the age of 70 on July 19.

Click here to listen to an archive of the show.

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A native of Hawthorne, Calif., Rhodes, like many of his contemporaries, was heavily influenced by The Beatles and The Byrds. His joined his first group, The Palace Guard, in 1965. They would don red uniforms of royal British guardsmen when performing and became local favorites in southern California. The Place Guard briefly included drummer Don Grady who was part of the cast of My Three Sons.

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A multi-instrumentalist and talented songwriter, Rhodes would go solo, signing with ABC/Dunhill and releasing a debut self-titled and self-produced solo album in 1970 featuring songs written and performed by Rhodes on all of the instruments. The album, which reached No. 29 on Billboard’s album chart, drew critical acclaim and Rhodes was immediately compared to Paul McCartney. The song “Fresh As A Daisy” became a regional hit in the Los Angeles area and went to No. 54 on the Billboard singles chart.

Anxious to capitalize on the success of Rhodes, ABC/Dunhill released the album The American Dream which featured material recorded with session musicians during Rhodes’ time in The Merry-Go-Round. This was not received well as it didn’t sound like the material written and performed solely by Rhodes.

Two more albums of material written and performed by Rhodes were released by ABC/Dunhill including, Mirror and Farewell To Paradise. The label wound up suing Rhodes over the pace of his recording saying he wasn’t keeping up to schedule. Friends of Rhodes described him as being upset and feeling betrayed by the record company and this led to his leaving the record industry. He eventually wound up working as a staff producer for Elektra Records.

In 2000, Rhodes completed a solo record for the Rocktopia label that was set for release, but the record company went out of business. He returned to recording in 2009 and released a new version of the Merry-Go-Round song “Time Will Show The Wiser” with the Nick Vernier Band that was previously covered by Fairport Convention. In 2011, he released three songs recorded with Debbie and Vickie Peterson of The Bangles, but these were withdrawn shortly after release due to litigation and were unavailable until 2015.

In 2016, fans were finally rewarded with a new solo album by Rhodes called Rainbow Ends. It features contributions by Aimee Mann, Jason Faulker, Bleu, Taylor Locke, Susanna Hoffs and others. It was met with favorable reviews and features the classic sound of the early 70s Rhodes releases.

Featured on the program were songs from The Merry-Go-Round, his solo albums and covers by bands like The Bangles and Fairport Convention.

Multi-instrumentalist Alex Jordan was part of a feature on the July 25 edition of Greasy Tracks spotlighting music from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jordan recently released The Subtle Exhibitionist (Chicken Man Music), his debut solo album following his departure from  Midnight North last year. He spent nearly six years with the group playing guitar, keyboards and adding vocals. He was part of two studio and a pair of live releases with the San Francisco-based band.

Jordan’s album has been a few years in the making. Armed with some demos he had put together, Jordan went into the studio in November 2017. He played the majority of the instruments on the album, but has a handful of guest musicians, including Dave Zirbel (lap/pedal steel guitar), Sean Nelson (drums), Owen McInnis (bass), Steve Adams (bass) and Danny Eisenberg (Hammond organ), adding support.

He wrapped up recording in March 2019, but due to his commitments with Midnight North, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that all production and mastering on the 10 tracks was completed.

In addition to tracks from Jordan’s album, a variety of music from Bay Area bands was also be featured.

Guitarist Elgin Park was a guest on the July 18 edition of Greasy Tracks where he discussed  Como De Allstars (Knowledge Room Recordings), the just-released album by The Greyboy Allstars.

Click here to listen to an archive of the show, while a playlist is here.

The album, which is the fifth studio effort by the band, marks its first in seven years. In August, they plan to re-issue their 1994 debut, West Coast Boogaloo, which was recorded live in a single day and featured the legendary J.B. Horns trombonist Fred Wesley on three tracks.

Although they have been together since 1993, when the band started playing weekly gigs in their hometown of San Diego and making the trek north to San Francisco for weekend appearances, side projects have long been a constant for members.

Park, who focuses on film scoring, gained a lot of attention for his work on Donnie Darko in 2001 and more recently, Pete Davidson’s The King of Staten Island. Saxophonist Karl Denson records and tours with his band, Tiny Universe, and has been a touring member of the Rolling Stones since 2014 when he replaced Bobby Keyes. Keyboardist  Robert Walter records and tours with 20th Congress as well as rounding out Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s band. Bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer  Aaron Redfield are in-demand studio players.

Denson and Walter were guests on Greasy Tracks in the past. Click here and here to listen to archives.

Due to hectic schedules related to their respective projects, the Allstars appear together only a few times a year on stage. Such was the foundation for what would become their new offering which took only three days to record.

During a weekend of concerts in Texas, an Allstars appearance in Dallas was canceled due to poor weather. Not to let the opportunity to play slip away, they found some rehearsal space and challenged themselves to write new material for the first time in five years.

“Getting the physical bodies together is almost impossible, given our schedules,” says Park, “but it immediately feels like it did back then (in early days of the band). We have such a great time.”

Denson captured the Dallas jam sessions on his laptop and shared the tracks with the rest of the band. A while later, they gathered for a writing session in San Diego and determined that getting into the studio and properly recording the material would be the best approach, albeit as soon as possible and by not overthinking the project.

“This band has such chemistry that it was never hard work,” says Walter. “So it’s never that hard to get back to it, even if we haven’t played for a year.”

Apparently, the moment the band finished a take of the final song on the third day of recording, the tape machine died. “That’s a sign!” Walter remembers. “That’s it!”

The band came up for the album title based on the Spanish phrase “como de costumbre” or “as per usual” – given the Allstars’ ability to take care of business in short order.

The band Guster was featured on the May 25 edition of the Devo Rock Show with lead singer Ryan Miller talking about their new album OMAGAH! which features the Omaha Symphony Orchestra.

Click here to listen to an archive of the show.

Recorded in 2019 at The Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha, Neb., the digital-only release (Bandcamp) features a variety of songs from Guster’s nearly 30 years together, the twist to it this time is that their material is performed with new orchestral arrangements.

Miller, Adam Gardner and Brian Rosenworcel formed Guster at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., in 1991. Since that time they have released nine albums.

Veteran guitarist and songwriter Tom Guerra was a guest on the May 15 edition of Greasy Tracks where he discussed his just-released album, Sudden Signs Of Grace.

Click here to listen to an archive of the show.

In addition to playing a handful of tracks from the album, Guerra and host Chris Cowles spotlighted some of their favorite guitarists.

The album, Guerra’s fourth, features nine original compositions and two interesting covers: “Streets of Baltimore” and “Gimme Some Water.” The former, while oft-covered over the years, was one of the most-beloved songs associated with the late Gram Parsons who recorded it for his debut solo release, GP, in 1973. The later, an Eddie Money track which appeared on his second album, Life For The Taking, in 1979, had as special connection for Guerra who got to know Money over the years.

“When I heard Eddie (Money) was sick, I recorded one of my favorite tunes of his and sent him a copy,” Guerra said. Money passed away at the age of 70 last year.

Similar to earlier projects, Guerra enlisted the help of some crack musicians to help bring his songs to life in the studio, including long-time collaborator Kenny Aaronson who has worked with the likes of Bob Dylan, The Yardbirds and George Harrison. Keyboardist Matt Zeiner and drummer Mike Kosacek rounded out the backing band while Morgan Fisher (Mott The Hoople) contributed piano on “Just Like The Sun” and Scott Rath provided a sublime pedal steel to “Streets of Baltimore.”

The album, which came out on May 12, has been well received. Pete Prown, music editor for Vintage Guitar magazine wrote: “With his previous albums, Tom (Guerra) established himself as a fine rock and roll guitarist. Sudden Signs Of Grace shows his growth and new direction as a songwriter steeped in the Laurel Canyon school of songwriting.”

Since the late 1970s, Guerra has been a popular guitarist on the New England club circuit, playing with a host of leading blues, rock and R&B acts.

He first gained notoriety after being featured in the March 1991 issue of Guitar Player. Over the years, he has recorded or played with Rick Derringer, The Dirty Bones Blues Band, E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, Mark Nomad, The Easton Brothers with Muddy Waters bassist Charles Calmese, Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson of The Allman Brothers Band, Second Son, Guitar Shorty, Adolph Jacobs of The Coasters, Aaronson and The Delrays, for which he received acclaim from Buddy Guy.

He formed Mambo Sons in 1999 and the group released four albums of original music over the next 15 years.

In 2014, Guerra released his first solo album, All of the Above, a collection of 11 original rock tracks. The CD was critically acclaimed and favorably reviewed in numerous music and guitar magazines as well as mainstream media such as The Huffington Post.

He also spent a five-year period working for Johnny Winter, penning liner notes as the guitarist released a handful of live recordings via The Bootleg Series and has done extensive studio work since the late 1980’s.

In 2016, he released Trampling Out the Vintage followed by American Garden in 2018