Frets with DJ Fey
No lessons, no technique info. I just talk to people who play guitar.
Episodes
Vicki Peterson played lead guitar and sang vocals for The Bangles. Vicki was also in The Continental Drifters and the Psycho Sisters, both with Susan Cowsill. John Cowsill is the youngest brother in The Cowsills, a family band who had a string of hits including “The Rain, The Park & Other Things” for which they received a gold record. John went on to play percussion and provide backing vocals on “867-5309/Jenny” w...
Rebecca Pidgeon has enjoyed a long, successful career as a singer-songwriter and guitarist as well as a very successful career in film as an actress. Her songs have also appeared in major motion pictures. Born in the U.S., she moved with her family at a very young age to Edinburgh, Scotland and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She became lead singer of the band Ruby Blue, but left and releas...
Crispian Mills was born into a family of actors, film producers and directors. He was exposed to a wide variety of music, but when he heard “You Really Got Me“ by The Kinks, it was an epiphany – he knew he wanted to play guitar. Through determination and practice, he became a great guitarist. He loved Deep Purple. He loved The Ramones. He played in bands including X-Ray Spex before forming Kula Shaker in 1996. Their d...
Chris Stamey’s new album Anything is Possible releases Friday, July 11. Musicians who contributed to this record include The Lemon Twigs, Matt Douglas of The Mountain Goats, Marshall Crenshaw, Don Dixon, Probyn Gregory and more. It features long-time friend and collaborator Mitch Easter – Chris sings, plays keyboards, guitar and bass and…he wrote the orchestrations.
It was great to talk with Chris about his e...
Jefferson Hart and his stepdaughters Lila and Ella are Secret Monkey Weekend, a family band who were the subject of an Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary. Jeff plays guitar, Lila plays drums, Ella plays bass and all three provide wonderful vocals and harmony. The documentary tells the story of how the band came to be, through loss and heartbreak – but also of a family coming together and bonding over their love of mus...
Over the years, Don Dixon has produced some of the greatest albums of all time. Records by R.E.M., Marshall Crenshaw, The Smithereens, Guadalcanal Diary and Let’s Active. He’s also produced albums by his wife, Marti Jones. Marti is a wonderful singer songwriter as well as a fine artist whose work graced the cover of White Noise & Lightning: The Continental Drifters Story. Don and Marti are great musicians and I’ve...
I was a big fan of Guadalcanal Diary, so when Murray Attaway appeared on Frets back in 2022, I could hardly believe I was talking with their lead singer and main songwriter. The band released four major label albums throughout the 1980s and Murray went on to record In Thrall, a solo album that features Jackson Browne, Nicky Hopkins, Jim Keltner, Aimee Mann, Steve Nieve, Sid Page and Benmont Tench among others. Murray ...
In June of 2024, I talked with Peter Holsapple about the reissues of two classic albums by the dB’s – “Stands for Decibels” and “Repercussion”. I had the pleasure of talking to Peter again recently, this time about his soon to be released solo album, The Face of 68. The song you’re hearing, “Larger than Life” , is the first single from that album. It was great to catch up with Peter to hear about his very busy 2024, t...
Paul Rappaport is an accomplished guitarist who first heard guitar when he was a kid in California, watching a live local TV show featuring country guitar players…a show that was broadcast from a huge L.A. car lot. He learned to play, fell in love with the instrument and by high school was playing in bands. While attending college at UCLA, Paul got a job offer. A very appealing offer from Columbia Records. The positio...
Steve Wynn has released well over 30 albums during the last 25 years, with his bands The Dream Syndicate, Danny & Dusty, Gutterball, The Miracle 3, The Baseball Project and more with quite a few solo records in the mix.
He’s played over 2,000 shows in more than 25 countries and his songs have been recorded and/or performed by R.E.M., Luna, Concrete Blonde, The Black Crowes, Yo La Tengo and Eleventh Dream ...
When Chuck Mead was a young boy, he and his sister moved with their parents to Lawrence, Kansas. He got a drum kit as a gift when he was 12, and soon after started playing in the family’s band. It was made up of his mom, his dad, his grandparents and uncles who played country and western, and Chuck would also sing songs by Carl Perkins and Elvis.
An uncle taught Chuck how to play guitar and by high school, h...
It was a wonderful experience talking with someone I've admired for so long. I love her songs, I love her voice. And she’s just incredibly cool. In additional to her solo work, there’s such a long list of great bands and artists she’s performed with.
A list that includes – Pat Benatar, The dB’s, The Del-Lords, Dave Alvin, The Golden Palominos, Marshall Crenshaw, Van Dyke Parks, Vic Chesnutt, Wilco, Richard Thompso...
While growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a young Beth Bombara took piano lessons in grade school. By the time she was entering high school, she had become interested in another instrument: her Mom’s electric guitar. She formed a punk band, Green Means Go, wrote some songs with her bandmates, and before long was playing for local audiences and gaining a loyal following. After attending college in both Michigan and ...
The dB’s debut album Stands for Decibels was released in 1981, the album was praised by critics and over time, came to be loved by many fans who consider it a landmark power pop jangle classic. Stands for Decibels has now been reissued through Propeller Sound Recordings digitally and on CD, but also for the first time in the US on vinyl. My guest today on Frets is singer-songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, multi-instr...
Brinsley Schwarz met Nick Lowe at school in the 1960s. They played in various bands with different group names and different members. In 1969, the band took the name of their lead guitarist, Brinsley Schwarz. On their studio albums, all from the 1970s, the band was made up of Brinsley along with Bob Andrews, Nick Lowe and Billy Rankin, with the addition of Ian Gomm on guitar and vocals, starting with their third LP, ...
In 1968, St. Louis band The Aerovons were getting noticed in clubs around town. Still in high school, their leader and singer, Tom Hartman, was composing their songs. The band was being managed by Tom’s mother, Maurine. She was determined to see her son and his bandmates make it big. Tom was 16 years old when he, his band and his manager mom made their first pilgrimage to England with demos in search of a record deal....
Rick Holmstrom has played guitar in and with many bands over the years, backing West Coast blues and soul bands including William Clarke, Smokey Wilson, Johnny Dyer and Booker T. – He’s also enjoyed a very long run with the great Mavis Staples, who he’s touring with again this year. An amazing guitarist. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with Rick.
Photo by Greg Vorobiov. Greg is also a guitari...
You might know her from some of the bands she’s been in or collaborated with, Pink Slip Daddy, The Friggs, Bubble Gun, Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang, The Coolies and more as well as her solo songs and albums. You also know her from her very fun and fantastic radio show Trash Pop Treasures on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. On the show today – the one and only Palmyra Delran.
Photo by Albert Mitchell...
A founding member of the profoundly influential band Television, Richard Lloyd has led a fascinating life. He covers a lot of that life in his book Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll: The Memoirs of an Alchemical Guitarist. In addition to his time with Television, he played on albums by Matthew Sweet and John Doe and has produced many albums. It was great, and a great honor...
Tyler Armstrong grew up in Springfield, Illinois and as a young kid, started banging on pots and pans, developing a love for percussion. Through his parents, he was exposed to both Contemporary Christian music and also secular music. Through his older sister, he also heard a great mix of pop and punk. Tyler appreciated good music, no matter what the genre. His dad was into classic rock, which opened another musical wi...
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