The America’s Got Talent BBQ: Games, Good Food And Great Talent!

By: Anne M. Raso

About 50 journos descended upon the legendary NBC Studios Commissary (now named NBC Studio 9C) last night for a fabulous BBQ that included games, prizes (that included AGT merchandise), classic BBQ food and show talent.

Howie Mandel

The Smithereens At BB King’s: A Legendary Gig Gets Better Every Year!

By: Anne M. Raso

The third Saturday of every January marks a special event for Smithereens fans young and old---the legendary group’s annual show at BB King’s in Times Square. (This year it falls on Saturday, January 18th.) What makes the gig special is not only the intimacy of the space but the fact that this is the show the international ‘Reens fans fly in for from all continents; the foreign fans enjoy “meeting and greeting” with the New York tri-state area fans and often form enduring friendships! It’s also a show where the band pulls out many of their “deep cuts,” often speaking to fans in the weeks prior to the show about what they’d like to hear.

BB King's marquee for last year's Smithereens show

Muscle Shoals: A Rock Documentary With "Muscle"!

By: Anne M. Raso

I am a real aficionado of rock docs, and director Greg "Freddy" Camalier's Muscle Shoals covers the story of FAME Studios in--you guessed it--Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The studio is right along the banks of the Tennessee River, which is also known as the "Singing River." Native American folklore claims that musical spirits live in the river and that their talents spread to all who believe!

Muscle Shoals Movie Poster

Elvis' "Axe Man" James Burton: A Guitar Legend Bites The Big Apple!

By: Anne M. Raso

This is going to be a big weekend for fans of James Burton, Louisiana native who is most famous for being Elvis and Ricky Nelson's lead axe man and for inventing what has come to be known as the "chicken pickin' style." Burton never seems to play in New York and when I asked him about it, he joked that they don't offer him enough money up here (well, I am pretty sure he was joking, LOL)! The only times I can recall that Burton played here in recent times was when the TCB band--Elvis' backup group from the 70s who still tour together on occasion--played at Radio City as part of an Elvis tribute back in February 2011.

James Burton

Still Happy After All These Years: Howard Kaylan Talks About The Happy Together Tour And His Book, Shell Shocked!

By: Anne M. Raso

I was lucky enough to catch up with the legendary classic rocker Howard Kaylan in New York recently when he was in town promote his revealing autobiography Shell Shocked: My Life With The Turtles, Flo And Eddie and Frank Zappa from Backbeat Books (available on amazon.com). Howard and longtime Turtles partner-in-crime Mark Volman are currently touring all summer long as headliners on the Happy Together Tour where they mix their megahits like “Happy Together,” “You Baby,” “It Ain’t Me And More” along with their comedic chatter about everything from the primetime talent shows like American Idol to recent celebrity scandals to joking about what it is like to have lived through the 60s.

Graham Nash's Visual Harmony: Rock Photographer on the Inside Looking Out

By: Anne M. Raso

The Morrison Hotel Gallery in Soho and the Americana Shopping Mall in Manhasset, LI, are both currently proud to be hosting rock legend's Graham Nash's Virtual Harmony photography exhibit. I was lucky enough to attend the opening night celebration at the Manhattan location at 124 Prince Street and got some of Nash's own views on his photography. The photos are not your typical live, sweaty "rock star" shots but show vulnerability like the humble Nash himself has. He likes to portray a rock star having "a thinking man's moment" with no concern for vanity.

Graham Nash (second to left) and Friends

Once Upon A Dream: The Rascals Groovin' On The Great White Way

By: Anne M. Raso

I was lucky enough to get seats for the first night of the Rascals' 15-night reunion run called Once Upon A Dream at the Richard Rogers Theater in New York City. Outside of one private charity show at the Tribeca Grill and a run in Port Chester, NY, back in December, the original four Rascals have not performed together since lead singer and lyricist Eddie Brigati left the group in 1970--the same day the group made the transition from Atlantic to Columbia Records. It was said that he was not happy that he was not happy that singer/songwriter/keyboardist Felix Cavaliere sold the publishing rights to the group's body of material for only 200K (and it is not estimated to be worth 20 million)! Everyone has put their differences behind them thanks to actor/musician Steven Van Zandt and his wife Maureen having, what he calls, "a lifelong dream to reunite The Rascals." Van Zandt told me "they are like the American Beatles" and indeed The Fab Four's promoter Sid Bernstein was the group's manager back in their heyday from 1965 to 1970. At the final sound check before opening night, guitarist Gene Cornish told me that there would be lots of surprises in the show, "There are 28 songs so there is something for everyone. It goes from covers we were doing back at places like The Choo Choo Club (in Garfield, NJ, which is Brigati's hometown) and The Barge (in East Quoque, LI). There are the hits and the more psychedelic stuff and the covers and everything in between."

Classic Rock’s Favorite Jersey Boys Get Ready To Blow BB King’s To Smithereens…Again!

By: Anne M. Raso

The Smithereens annual BB King’s Times Square concert is coming up this Saturday, January 18th at 8PM and it’s always a bit of a homecoming concert for the Jersey born and bred band who are one of the few that are in their prime in every way after close to 33 years of pretty much the same lineup—Pat DiNizio on lead vocals/guitar, Jim Babjak on lead guitar, Severo “The Thrilla” Journacion on bass (who replaced original bassist Mike Mesaros when he retired to be a chef in 2006) and drummer Dennis Diken. You can go to www.bbkingblues.com for tickets and more details but one thing is certain—the famous club is lucky that it’s roof is still intact one the ‘Reens have blown the place to (you guessed it) Smithereens.

The Smithereens

Come as You Are: Jesse Frohman's Kurt Cobain and Nirvana Photo Exhibition Preview Party

By: Anne M. Raso

Because NYC is all about hitting multiple parties every night, the same night as the Rica Swimwear launch, I went to the press preview party at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in Soho for a wonderful series of Kurt Cobain pics collectively titled "Come As You Are" by popular music photographer Jesse Frohman. The night was actually the 18th anniversary of the Nirvana frontman's death, so it was a bittersweet night. The large photos all taken in November 1983 are pricey (most are $12,000) and several are "colorized" a la the famous Andy Warhol style.

Groovin’: A Musical Journey Of Stories And Sounds: Dennis Diken’s Love Letter To The Golden Age Of Rock!

By: Anne M. Raso

If you are a Smithereens fan, you already know that drummer Dennis Diken's talents on the toms are enough to make Ginger Baker shake in his boots way down at his current home of South Africa! I first saw (and met) Dennis at Rock Con in East Rutherford, NJ, a year ago and have been one of his most fervent followers ever since. He could easily be rock and roll's greatest skinpounder (at least in my humble opinion)...but did you also know that he is a rock historian and journalist with endless liner notes (including compilation discs by Louis Prima and The Lovin' Spoonful) and major rock mag articles to his credit?

Pharrell Williams Goes Hollywood: Q&A about Scoring the Despicable Me Movie!

by: Anne M. Raso

Creating the original songs and themes for the animated family film Despicable Me (being released on Friday July 7th 2010) is Grammy Award-winning artist and blockbuster music producer Pharrell Williams, who composed the score with Heitor Pereira (of It’s Complicated and Beverly Hills Chihuahua).  We caught up with Pharrell by phone a few days ago, and we have to say that he seems more enthused about scoring a major motion picture that producing a #1 hit for a major recording artist. Apparently, scoring a film is something he has been dreaming about for at least 10 years now!

Pharrell and Heitor (L-R) discussing music

Lips Unsealed: Chatting with Belinda Carlisle

by: Anne M. Raso

Belinda Carlisle recently made a special appearance to promote her autobiography Lips Unsealed: A Memoir (Crown Publishers, $26) at the Barnes & Noble at 150 East 86th Street in Manhattan, and to make things super-special for fans, she let longtime gal-pal Sandra Bernhard grill her with issues covered (and not covered) in her book in front of over 400 fans! We here at financefoodie.com were lucky enough to get a few minutes of alone time with Belinda while she signed about 100 copies of the book to be sold in the store and for promotional purposes. (She is the only author we have ever seen sign ON THE COVER, with the exception of RuPaul, so she's in good company!)