SPARKS

[Toughest Girl In Town]

[Buckeye Randy]

A couple releases today by some honest to goodness heavyweights in the industry.

Van Morrisson - Remembering Now
You want some old sounding Van? Try the song "If It Wasn't For Ray", great song. Most of the rest falls into the personal ballad category but Van's voice is in top form.

Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts - Talkin To The Trees
Neil's new band falls between the raunchiness of Crazy Horse and the (mostly) gentleness of Neil's solo work. I swear, this music could be decades old because it just feels like an old flannel shirt.
Raunchy song - Big Change
Tender song - First Fire Of Winter
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Billy, Don't Be A Porter

[Buckeye Randy]

Who: Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter
Where: Kent Stage (Kent, OH)
When: June 27, 2025

Don’t pretend like you don’t know Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, I know you do. He was an original member of Steely Dan appearing on their first three albums. When Walter Becker and Donald Fagan decided to turn Steely Dan into a studio only band, Skunk needed a band that liked touring as much as he did. It wasn’t long and Baxter found himself in the Doobie Brothers whom he had earlier provided studio work for. When Doobie’s front man Tom Johnston fell ill in ’75, it was Skunk that suggested Steely Dan session musician, Michael McDonald.

Since leaving the Doobie Brothers in ’79, he has produced and appeared on tons of albums including work with Eric Clapton, Barbara Streisand and Dolly Parton. He’s been in touring bands with Elton John and Linda Ronstadt. On the resume is also a movie soundtrack (Curse The Inferno) and plenty of songs for TV.

Oh yeah, lest I forget that music isn’t his only interest. Skunk has also dabbled in U.S. defense and in ’95 was on the Civilian Advisory Board for Ballistic Missile Defense. In 2005, he joined NASA Exploration Systems Advisory Committee.

In 2022, Skunk released “Speed Of Heat” which has original compositions with guest appearances plus covers of songs he as appeared on over the years. On the current tour, Skunk is backed by a band that is featuring songs from this album in a storyteller format.

Before any show at Kent Stage with Mrs. Buckeye, a walk around downtown Kent is a must. I’m not immune to being drawn in by small town charm and peeking in the shops as we walk around. However, the walk is just a means to get to one of my favorite places which is an Italian eatery, Belaria. Mama mia!

The 650 seat Kent Stage in downtown Kent was originally a movie theater that opened in 1927. About 20 years ago, the venue changed ownership and began hosting concerts. Recent years have seen renovations to the stage, lobby and restrooms and these improvements have transformed the dusty relic into something very functionable and appealing with the mix of old and new. The lobby has over 100 framed concert posters from shows spanning the last 20 years, it gives a ‘hallowed halls’ vibe.

Every pre gig crowd has it’s own personality. This older crowd was not sporting many concert tees from yesteryear which usually supplies a fun flair. However, the music conversations were pretty informed so it all balanced out. I’m fairly certain it was a first for a conversation about Randy California.

Expectations? I’ve seen two other shows with a similar format at Kent Stage. Martin Barre (Jethro Tull) and Kasim Sultan (Utopia) both did highly entertaining shows with informative stories about themselves and bands they had been involved with. I basically bought tix for Skunk based on my enjoyment of the two shows. Good songs, good musicians and fun stories. Expectations are reasonably high.

The four piece band (drums, bass, keys, guitar) took the stage and show started well with a Doobie cover (Take Me In Your Arms) followed a Steely Dan cover (My Old School). Skunk was not the primary vocalist for this show but that’s not a problem for me. I’m here to enjoy some good music.

Things started coming off the rails when a seated Skunk questioned the sound man and the stage monitor tech about problems with the phase on his guitar. This conversation spanned minutes and occurred between a couple songs before the issue was resolved. The overall sound was very bright with hints of feedback on several occasions. The cymbal sound was up in the mix from where I sat, there was what I believe a splash and a china cymbal that were cringe worthy every time they were hit (which was often).

Between what seemed like every song, Skunk took time to plug the excellence of the musicians he assembled. He would also issue a disclaimer of how they are not a cover band, “Do not expect songs to sound like the originals”. He was right about that!

There were no recollections or anecdotes about Skunk’s career and acquaintances. Skunk did go into a physics seminar about vibrations per second and their relevance to musical notes and the invisible color spectrum of gamma rays. Honestly, Skunk was in the wrong building; the university is four miles up the road but I bet the students there would have dismissed him as arrogant and full of himself. It was the single most annoying thing I’ve ever seen at a concert.

Wait! I forgot, Skunk did have some stories about other musicians. All three stories were about artists (Clint Black, Michael McDonald, Johnny Lang) wanting to appear on Skunk’s solo album. Skunk told each that they could only appear under his conditions and each willingly agreed.

At some point, Mrs. Buckeye and I looked at each other and gave slight grins through shared pain. We realized that dinner and the ride home would be the highlight of the evening. It was just a waiting game of when we would leave. When the show was over, the mostly seated 250 people applauded while we stood and walked before the encore started.

I chalk it up to a ‘live and learn’ type of an event. It’s shows like this that make you appreciate the good ones.
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Billy, Don't Be A Porter

[Buckeye Randy]

Band: Dropkick Murphys
Title: For The People
Released: July 4, 2025

“For The People” is the 13th studio album by Dropkick Murphys. I haven’t been on board since the very beginning but I’ve been tuned in for about 25 years.

I’m a fan of DKM but I’m not a fanatic. They have never made a perfect album but every album contains a couple of perfect songs. I don’t go to every show they play in my area but I have seen them seven times. Clearly, I’m a DKM fan but clearly, I’m not fanatical. However, I do feel I’m qualified to be objective when listening to their new release.

First, (flat) caps off to the boys for only pre-releasing one song before the entire album was released. I nearly forgot what it was like to judge an entire release in one fell swoop and not by piecemeal.

There are guest appearances on five of the 12 tracks. The Scratch with whom DKM have toured are on two and there’s one each by The Mary Wallopers, Billy Bragg and Al Barr.

“Longshot” with The Scratch is a candidate for best track on the album. Traditional Celtic sounds in patented DKM style with plenty of shout along lyrics. The track is punky but nowhere near hardcore. The other track with The Scratch is the album finale, “One Last Goodbye”. A traditional sounding dirge intended for swaying with mug held high and a tear in the eye.

Bury The Bones (feat. The Mary Wallopers)…this song sounds a whole lot like 2003’s “Kiss Me I’m Sh*tfaced” from the album ‘Blackout’. My son and I had fun mish moshing the lyrics as we listened. “School Days” (feat. Billy Bragg) kicks up one of Billy’s time tested themes about education not preparing people for life. This fits in with the DKM rhetoric of political allegiance. It’s a nice medium tempo rant and I’m sure it will be much more convincing in a live setting.

For longtime fans, “The Vultures Circle High” with former vocalist Al Barr is much anticipated. Al left a few years back due to family health issues. Hopefully, this appearance means that health issues are resolved and Al will be back in the music world again. The song isn’t remarkable but it is certainly catchy and hearing Al makes it essential for fans and fanatics alike.

Best from the rest. “Who’ll Stand With Us” is a DKM rabble rouser that will be a concert fixture for years to come. “The Big Man” is a tribute to Pennywise vocalist, Fletcher Dragge. It’s a straight-ahead rocker with a great groove. If I liked Pennywise more this would possibly be my favorite! “Fiending For The Lies” comes real close to recalling the hardcore energy of the early releases from the 90’s.

Even the songs I haven’t mentioned are listenable as they run the gamut of traditional to shout-abouts in varying mixtures and degrees. The album has a near perfect balance of everything the Dropkicks do well. They also don’t have any jangly piano led songs that always seemed like grabs for a wider audience.

This is the first DKM album of new material since Al Barr left the band. I think the album displays how the band have morphed into a more focused unit. Very similar to when I last saw them live when I thought they resembled a rock band instead of a street party on stage.

How good is the album? The two previous albums were mostly acoustic and heavily influenced by Woody Guthrie poems; I prefer this return to the classic and stomping DKM. I also think it’s better than 2021’s “Turn Up The Dial” and 2017’s “11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory”.

It’s tough comparing this with albums that are over ten years old. I won’t even try because time and future set lists will take care of that for me! I will say…Well Done!
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Billy, Don't Be A Porter