Happy 75th birthday to Garland Jeffreys – a true original, an absolute treasure of a songwriter, and an ASCAP member for 48 years. May you forever stay wild in the streets…
Younger generations of musicians have heard Jeffreys’ call. He’s been covered by everyone from LA punkers The Circle Jerks (who gave his song “Wild in the Streets” a hardcore makeover, turning it into an unofficial anthem of the skatepunk community) to neo-folk act Vetiver. And he continues to be a staple for TV and commercial placements. As but one example, a recent episode of 13 Reasons Why features both the Circle Jerks cover of “Wild in the Streets” and a raucous reinterpretation by the Peruvian-American psych-punk band Los Huaycos.
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The Nighthawks
What sustains a band for more than three decades? Not a hit radio band, but a roll-up-your-sleeves/drive to the next gig overnight/carry your own gear up the steps and night after night make people happy kind of band. One that makes them dance; sends them home to come back again—and again. What makes that kind band stay together through relatively few personnel changes? Answer: A good idea; a universal yet somehow unique, good idea.
The Nighthawks sought not so much to reinvent rock and roll, but simply to have it reinvent itself by taking the original ingredients and following—if somewhat loosely—the original recipe. And like good cooks, the individual personalities involved ultimately affected the outcome.
The band was over 10 years old and had baffled the mainstream industry before the term “roots rock” was coined to explain the likes of West Coasters like Los Lobos and The Blasters. By then, the affiliation with many of the living blues greats seemed to brand The Nighthawks a “blues band” despite the fact that they played with Carl Perkins as well as Muddy Waters.
The Nighthawks had its genesis when lead singer-harmonica player extraordinaire Mark Wenner returned to his native Washington, D.C. after six years in New York City, lured back by the success of his friend Bobby Radcliff’s local acclaim with a blues band. Mark joined forces with a then very young Jimmy Thackery and formed The Nighthawks in 1972. They spent a couple of years building The Nighthawks’ reputation with a revolving cast of characters until, in 1974, they decided to get the best rhythm section the area had to offer: Jan Zukowski on bass and Pete Ragusa on drums.
The Nighthawks set off on a musical mystery tour that took them to 49 states and a dozen countries. They played with nearly all the living blues legends as well as a new generation of bands, sometimes called “the Blue Wave”, and released several important albums including the best-selling Jacks and Kingswith Pinetop Perkins, Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, Calvin Jones and Bob Margolin. (Servern Records 2017)
Could not resist the throwback video..enjoy
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How To Find New Rock Artists You Might Love
Everybody gets in a musical rut once in a while. Are you on the hunt for something new to capture that feeling you had way back when? Just clicking through Spotify or Pandora may not be enough due to how our brains work. While allowing a streaming service to choose songs for us can sometimes work, it’s not the best way to find new jams. Read on to learn more about some tips to find new music so that you can lift your mood with some new rock artists and shake off that routine! Roaming The Arts is a music curation platform whose goal is to promote other musicians/authors/artists. Visit Roaming The Arts to discover some new rock, classical, and indie musicians today!
Try Roaming the Arts Radio – check out the 2020 Time Capsule
Finding New Rock Artists
The first thing we should get out of the way is that old music isn’t always better, you were just younger and more impressionable when it came out. Many people have the mindset that modern music is “not good,” which is not the case. The real story is that newer music just isn’t hitting you emotionally the same way that stuff you liked in your youth did. Older brains are quite resistant to forming new connections to music, and tend to prefer music from our formative years to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. When you look for new music, it’s important to clear your head and eliminate as many distractions as possible. There’s no wrong answer on how to find new music; your goal should be just to consume as much new media as you can, while enjoying the tunes. Kick back with your favorite drink in a comfortable pad, and let the tunes take you back to your happy place. Some useful implements include music streaming service and some way to enjoy the streaming service such as good speakers or headphones. Of course, while you’re going through this music discovery process, make sure to be mindful of your surroundings and those who live in you.
Our world of 2020 is offering very limited live performances, so check out BandsInTown for a daily guide to nationally known artists who are streaming a performance.
Tips To Find New Music
When finding new music, make sure to check out our reviews of each streaming service in order to figure out how to find new music with each. For many streaming apps there’s a “radio” setting, and sometimes you may want to continually make new radio stations when you find another song you enjoy in that same auto-generated playlist. Keep repeating this process until the radio station you make begins to match your mood. Some other tips to enjoy are:
- Change how you listen, such as using Amazon Music or Tidal rather than Spotify
- Watch your favorite movies and add their soundtracks to your library
- Check out the background tracks to your favorite YouTube videos
- Find artists that work with your favorite bands
Of course, these suggestions can only point you to where to look for- putting yourself in a situation that lets you form a fond memory or connection to the cues that would bring back a positive emotional response.
Contact Us Today
Are you looking for ways to fall in love with some new rock and indie artists? Roaming The Arts is a place for you to find new music anywhere in the US. Email Roaming The Arts to find out more today!
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Shannon McNally
Shannon McNally
For those who have followed McNally’s nearly twenty year career the thing that most sticks with the listener about her, is the timeless effortlessness that she brings to all she does. With a long catalog and longer list of peers with whom she has written, recorded and toured, McNally continues to turn out great music that defies blatant genre-fication.
At home across the American (Americana) music spectrum, the Grammy nominee who’s live music career began on the jam band circuit of the 1990’s with bands like Robert Randolph and Derek Trucks, writes as well as she interprets the songs of others, has a top tier musicality to her craft, a soul stirring voice that immediately grabs one by the heart strings and a troubadour’s wanderlust, not to mention as it turns out, she is also an excellent electric guitar player.
Note: Embedded video goes back a few years to Shannon’s Bobby Charles Tribute recording. With so much new McNally music since and readily available online we thought this video might be missed. Enjoy.
