Thomas Crone's Posts


Thomas Crone's Photo I'm a veteran KDHX programmer and host of Silver Tray every Friday afternoon on 88.1 FM. You can also hear me with Amanda Doyle on Topic A every Monday evening. I'm editor and publisher of 52nd City Magazine in Saint Louis and you may read me here and here as well.

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A Night of Blondie

This coming Friday, March 13, the Wedge’s fancifully-named, second-floor music venue, the Iggy Ziggy Room, will host a night of Blondie music, in two, very distinct formats. For starters, the omnipresent burlesque queen Lola van Ella, will lead a troupe of her associates through the a series of live performances accompanying the music of Blondie; with her will be Whiskey Kiss, Lily LeBlanc and the show-stealing Sturdy Gurlesque.

The second half of the so-called “Screw-U Blondie-Q” evening will be a performance by Blondiegrunt, aka the Blondie-playing alter-ego of Bunnygrunt. Amazingly enough, the promotions about the night note that this gig will be a 16-year-anniversary show for the group. Despite a short, mid-life respite, the band’s been playing around town (and, more impressively, around the country) longer than most St. Louis bands, in any genre. So, much respect to the various ‘Grunts, especially Matt Harnish and Karen Ried, who’ve been the group’s backbone since formation.

In honor the altered Bunnygrunt set this week, we’ll feature the music of both Blondie and Bunnygrunt on KDHX’s “Silver Tray,” this Friday, March 13. Let’s say that the show’s sixth segment, roughly 1:40 – 2:00 p.m. CST, will be given over to the sounds of these two unique American groups.

And here’s a bit more information on the gig at The Wedge, a 21-up experience, as you might imagine:

The Wedge
442 Bates Street
St. Louis, MO 63111
314-351-1200
myspace.com/thewedgestl
www.thewedgebar.com

Posted by | March 8, 2009 | Concerts, Local | Comment 

Music at City Art Supply

A lot has been written about the (generally) positive changes along Cherokee Street, on the City’s South Side. Art endeavors, of all sorts (galleries, workshops, studios and even a comedy troupe) have found the place an ideal spot to call home. City Art Supply has been a relatively new arrival on the block, situated a little bit west of the main hub of new artistic activities, or just a hop/skip from Fort Gondo, Snowflake and the Tin Ceiling. Owned-and-operated by Dana Smith, the place is attempting to fill a niche in the community: a mom-and-pop art supply shop, in an area now brimming with artists.

While his efforts on that end are to be commended, we’re citing Smith’s work here because of his musical interests of late. Formerly a guitarist and drummer in a handful of local acts, Smith’s put aside his public playing for now, in lieu of raising two young children and nurturing the even younger City Art Supply. Instead of playing gigs, he’s now booking them in his space, which is the definition of a grassroots venue.

In fact, when bands come in, Smith’s usually found there early, situating a large, movable wall, which backs into the studio space of painter/City Art Supply associate Jeremy Rabus. He has to adjust Rabus’ area, while setting up a portable PA and any other artist needs, the whole right-side of the light-strewn storefront transforming into from a minimalist art gallery, into a small performance space.

Smith’s got two shows coming up at City Art Supply, one in the very near future:

.e (pronounced “dottie”), Saturday, March 7, 7-9 p.m. (with an art opening by the performer, as well)

Gringo Star with Birdleg, Sunday, March 22, 8 p.m.

City Art Supply is found at 3215 Cherokee, 314-771-5375. Hours can be found at their site.

You can read more about Smith and City Art Supply via St. Louis Magazine’s recent feature.

Posted by | March 6, 2009 | Concerts, Culture | Comment 

Mr. Michael on Silver Tray + Reunion Mania

Last night, while glancing at the headlines on STLtoday.com, I noticed a “frontpage” article on the band Pale Divine, penned by longtime Post feature writer Diane Toroian Keaggy. The piece caught up with the two principal members of the group in most folks’ (ahem) eyes: guitarist and vocalist Michael Schaerer and lead guitarist Richard Fortus. The piece deftly portrayed the differences in current lifestyles for the two, as well as the long-time-coming reconciliation that allowed for next week’s PD reunion at the Pageant.

After reading the article, it dawned on me that Schaerer’s a working musician around town, and might just have time to drop by the KDHX studio for some mid-afternoon chat and acoustic play. Within minutes of finding his e-mail address, he responded in the affirmative and he’s now booked for Silver Tray, on Friday, December 26 (the show airs from noon – 2 pm CST); he’ll come in for the last half-hour, or so, of the shift and will be bringing his acoustic guitar, so expect some PD chestnuts among the cuts he’ll be performing and discussing.

Because of the amount of local groups reuniting over the weekend, I’ll devote the balance of the second hour of the show to a recap of bands in town over this oncoming, packed weekend. As a primer, here’re the highlights after the jump.

Read more

Posted by | December 21, 2008 | Concerts, Music | 1 Comment 

For STL’s Old-School Rockers: Two Days of Holiday Nostalgia

As noted in the previous blog posting, there’s a bit of nostalgia on the KDHX airwaves over the holiday break, as I, ol’ Thomas Crone, get to spin in two rock slots: as a fill-in host on Doug Morgan’s “The Record Sto’,” from 2-4 p.m. on Thursday; and with my new(-ish) “Silver Tray” on Friday, from noon-2 p.m. On tap will be a couple dozen cuts from St. Louis rock bands, both contemporary and defunct. If things go as planned, we’ll zoom through materials from the 1970s all the way up to unreleased recordings from still-active groups, with a big chunk of new wave found in between.

This is (luckily for me) the third T’day in a row I’ve gotten to cover for Doug Morgan on his popular Thursday show, and with each of those slots I’ve been joined by the endlessly entertaining Scott Randall, the frontman of Fragile Porcelain Mice. His band will continue a Thanksgiving Day tradition of its own that night, with a show at South City’s Lucas School House; they’ll be joined onstage by a just-reunited local band, Celery. FPM’s last show at the stately School House was one of the rowdiest in their recent career, with FPM’s members being forced to stop playing, in an attempt to calm the amped-up crowd.

Would imagine that the scene in the KDHX studio will be only a little more sedate on Thursday afternoon, as Scott and I play tracks by a host of STL groups, past and present, like: the Unconscious, the Urge, Uncle Tupelo, the Eyes, Stranded Lads, Corporate Humour, the Nukes, Judge Nothing, Aviation Club, the Barking Aardvarks, the Finns, Enormous Richard, Be-Vision, Somerville-Scorfina, et al. While Scott won’t be riding shotgun on Friday, the format will be repeated at noon, as I try to squeeze in as many of STL’s best as the 120-minutes of programming will allow.

If you remember catching shows at Kennedy’s, Cicero’s Basement, Mississippi Nights, the Bernard Pub, Furst Rock, Billy Goat Hill and countless other lamented venues in town, do consider dropping by 88.1 for a listen this week. If you do, the tape hiss you’ll be hearing will be… tape hiss, compliments of authentic, period-piece audio cassettes. Enjoy.

Posted by | November 25, 2008 | KDHX, Music | 2 Comments 

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