boston rock

Rob of Mission to Sleep. talks with Trev about the band, strategizing for the digital age, how less is more,  The mind set needed to be successful, and more.

Tickets for Jan. 5th at the Bank  of New Hampshire stage in Concord NH
Jan 6th Free Street Portland, ME

Mission To Sleep Website
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State Line Records

Right when I first started ATB in 2016, emails asking to be a guest were few and far between.  One of the first requests I ever got that year was from my next guest, who I never actually met until this past summer.

Musician Justine Covault had herself just started her band Justine and The Unclean.  She’s someone who gets stuff done.  From co-founding female-fronted rock festival

WhistleStop Rock to starting a monthly residency at The Plough And Stars with 'The Mess Around', Justine has ventured into new territory with her new label Red On Red Records.

Her support and enthusiasm for the Boston music community and for her roster of (mostly) Boston bands are infectious, so much so that the great Sir David Minehan of The Neighborhoods and Woolly Mammoth Sound is collaborating with her to offer Red Mammoth Concerts.

I’ll let her tell the story. I just wish she had an extra swizzle stick to give me.

Juliana Hatfield!    

If you did not know, Juliana is a Boston native and still resides in the city. You may see her finishing up her 10…ok maybe 5k run if you can pick her out from the crowd of masked runners.  She likes the anonymity and this isolation in the time of COVID fit her very well – or at least it didn’t change much for her - as she is a restless artist and will always find something to do with her creativity.  

With 26 or so albums under her belt, 19 of those solo studio albums, as well as her latest album 'Blood', she is a terrifically prolific songwriter and artist. If you haven’t heard her Police and Olivia Newton-John cover albums, you are in for a treat.  

From her previous bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, The Lemonheads, and her own band The Juliana Hatfield Three, Juliana is a constant force. Her latest album 'Blood' is, and I quote, "...a brutal and critical look at modern human psychology and behavior; at personal and societal sickness." While that sounds pretty deep and dark, Juliana says, “But it is fun, musically”.  

So there you have it.  

You should check out her live performances streaming from Q-Division Studios she has been doing once a month.  

My co-host this week Ike Walker and I had a nice chat with her and she is really fantastic.  

What is a Jamoke? Is a chump a jamoke?  We really have no idea.  But we love the question and will begin using the word Jamoke on a regular basis.

These are the deep questions we dove into when talking with Jennifer D’Angora and Ed Valauskas. 

Plymouth native Jennifer D’Angora, also known as Jenny Dee, has been on the Boston music scene long enough to be in more bands than we can count. The Dents, Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents, The Downbeat 5, and the fantastic group of musicians that make up the equally fantastic Band of Their Own which performs mainly to support Hot Stove Cool Music, the annual benefit show supporting the Foundation to be Named Later.

Ed Valauskas is the studio manager of the infamous Q Division studios. Ed’s also an accomplished producer and bassist. He plays bass in The Gravel Pit, The Gentlemen, Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents, Abbie Barrett & The Last Date, The Prenups, and far too many other bands to count.  Chances are if you are a regular on the live music scene in Boston, one of these two musicians and great people were on the stage.

These are also only our second married couple to have on ATB.  We’ll let you listen to find out the first.

Musician Barrance Whitfield has only been one thing in his life: one of the best regarded by fellow musicians, hardest working, and never giving up the love he brings to the stage. You cannot say he has just one style of singing. From a soul ballad, to a country crooner, the classic shouter and an all out rock assault - Barrance gives 100% of himself.  Everyone he meets and everyone who has watched him perform are lifetime fans. I know because I am one. 

We had a remote conversation with the Boston band The Devil’s Twins, who we’ve wanted to have on for a while.  We do not like remote conversations, but we did find it was better than having them in person with masks on.  First of all, it is obviously safer to do it remotely, and also it is much more difficult to have a face to face when you can’t even see their faces.  So, we will continue to be remote until it is safe to see people in the flesh.  

That said we were lucky enough to have on Nicole Coogan and Jeremiah John Louf, as well as band members Ryan Manning, Eric Ortiz and Aitan Ben-Joseph.  These great people also have a great clan of fans called the 2Crew, of which I am proud to be a member – some of them even getting a 2 crew tattoo to support the band, which is what I hope Ronnie will do one of these days to support me by having my name tattooed on his chest.   

You should know, the first rule of the 2Crew is: You do not talk about 2Crew, Except you should talk about them all the time.    I will let you decide what that means, but I like it.  

They recorded their last album Bad Karma and have been releasing it a piece at a time, including some great videos that you can see on their website thedevilstwins.com.  Last year they had a fantastic show at GBH’s Fraser room that you can see at wgbh.org.  They are such a great live band and I have been encouraging them to get a graphic novel started with each of them a superhero character.