Sunday, December 9, 2012

Pheaturing Kevin Graham From Dress Rehearsal


Hello, kids, welcome to another entry of the Phile on a Sunday. What's up?  Prince William's wife, Kate, has been released from the hospital after suffering from severe morning sickness. Doctors told her take it easy, no strenuous activity, and don't go to work. In other words, just act like a member of the royal family.  According to The Associated Press, China will soon overtake the United States as the world's number one global trader. Which is actually good news for most Americans. Didn't you think China overtook us already?  Tough news for Yankee fans. Alex Rodriguez will have to undergo hip surgery and could end up missing half the season. And even worse news: He could be back in time for the playoffs.  Congratulations to ESPN reporter Samantha Steele and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder... they are now engaged. You can't blame Ponder for wanting to get married. He's on the Vikings. This is his only chance to get a ring this year.  Just a few weeks until Christmas. CBS got into the Christmas spirit by showing the heartwarming family classic, "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show." Some people say "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" serves no purpose other than showing sexy women and using them to bolster ratings. Those people are called "correct." "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" usually gives CBS a big boost in the ratings. That might get CBS to start sexing up some of their other shows, like putting the cast of "60 Minutes" in bathing suits.  Mitt Romney got a job at a Marriott hotel. President Obama's trying to stop us from going over the fiscal cliff. Mitt Romney is trying to stop people from stealing towels.  Hugh Hefner is engaged. Hugh Hefner is 86 years old and his fiancée, Crystal, is 26 years old. Police are already ruling it a suicide. Hugh Hefner has been married many, many times. Twice to Richard Burton.  A list of the world's best cities came out and the highest-ranking American city is Honolulu at number 28. They got points taken off for bad public transportation, but apparently it's a great place to get fake birth certificates.  I have to say Happy Hannukah. Yesterday was the first night of celebrating... and misspelling... Hanukkah. The miracle of Hanukkah is that there was only enough oil to keep the menorah lit for one night and it lasted for eight nights. As far as religious miracles go, it’s not exactly the resurrection of the Easter bunny, but it’s fun for the kids. Speaking of Hannukah, I was at the store the other day... just play along, and this is what I saw. I was kinda confused.


I mentioned Mitt Romney now has a job at a Marriott, but before he got that job he applied for another job. And here on the Phile I have proof...


One of my favorite new shows on TV that my son and I watch is "The Regular Show". Who else watches that show? If you didn't see it, here's a screen cap, and an Easter Egg.


Well, Christmas is around the corner, and some of you might be having a hard time trying to figure out what to buy for someone as a gift. Well, have no fear, kids, I'm here to help. So, once again it's...







There are few geek gifts directly oriented towards women, but here is a very welcome and wonderful exception. This copper distiller is designed exclusively for making perfume, allowing female geeks to practice their chemistry skills while creating a one-of-a-kind signature fragrance sure to attract all the nearby scientists. You can buy it right here: hammacher.com. And now, from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York, here is this week's...


Top Phive Breaking Phactoids About Prince William And Kate Middleton's Pregnancy.
5. This fetus already has as much work experience as an member of the Royal Family.
4. Prince Harry is just happy to have someone to run around naked with.
3. When asked how many months along Kate is, Camilla Parker Bowles stomped her foot three times.
2. William and Kate really have to get serious about saving for college now.
And the number one phactoid about the pregnancy is...
1. The couple has registered for baby shower gifts exclusively at Lord Mercutio's Shoppe of Shiny Baubles for the Young Miss or Mister.


Alright, it's that time again. Our phriend of the Phile, who is a surfer, singer, and renaissance man. Please welcome back to the Phile, our good friend Laird Jim in a pheature called...


Good morning, humans. There ought to be a law against playing that "I wanna buy these shoes for my dying mom" song. Uggggggh.. I'm a pretty rough and tumble kinda guy... That song gets me every time. I cry like a 5 year old who just dropped his ice cream cone in the sand.  Driving around NYC after finishing work... checking out the sights... guy in a black Audi with diplomat plates on it is driving slowly... swerving and almost hits a family walking across 53rd on Broadway. I catch up with him at the light and honk. He rolls the window down and I say, "Those diplomatic plates are great, huh? You can get away with anything." He smirks and says, "Yes... pretty much anything." I reply, "But it won't stop a guy like me from choking you to blue with your own necktie... will it ?" He rolled his window up and went through the red light. What a dick.

Laird Jim, everybody. That guy is so fucking cool. You know, there's a lot of blogs out there, on Blogspot. Not all have over 560 entries, and not all have great guests like Laird and are as funny as this one. Well, some are. Anyway, I think it's time once again...


Today's award goes to... and this is all random...



Here what the blog looks like...


Go to adventuresinvegantravel.blogspot.com and let them know that Adventures in Veganism received a Peverett PhileBlogspot Hall of Fame. But not til you have finished reading this entry.







Today's pheatured guest is the lead singer for the Canadian band Dress Rehearsal whose new album "Somewhere Under The Weather" comes out next month. Please welcome to the Phile... Kevin Graham.


Me: Hello, Kevin, welcome to the Phile. I have been wanting to interview you for a long time. Well, at least a few months. How are you?

Kevin: I'm full of coffee and fantastic. Thank you.

Me: You're from Canada, right? What part?

Kevin: All four band members are originally from St. Marys, Ontario, which is about 2 hours south-west of Toronto. Three of us now live in Toronto.

Me: Let's get this outta the way first, I always ask my guests from Canada if they like one of my favorite bands ever, Barenaked Ladies. Are you fans of them?

Kevin: I like certain songs of theirs, though my favourite is their cover of Leonard Cohen's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time". "Brian Wilson" and "Jane" are pretty wonderful. I don't have any of their albums but have about 8 songs on my iPod, so I guess I'm a casual fan.

Me: I have interviewed many bands and musicians from Canada and most of you know each other. Do you know the guys in Dark Mean?

Kevin: I've met some of the members a couple times at shows, but more than anything we're just huge fans of theirs. We've talked several times of playing a show with them but so far that's been unsuccessful. My buddy showed me the original version of "Happy Banjo" on their first EP and I was immediately hooked.

Me: Okay, let's chat about your band, Dress Rehearsal. Where did that name come from, Kevin?

Kevin: I was driving around outside my hometown and had recently listened to The Tragically Hip's "Ahead by a Century" and then listened to The Weakerthan's "Left & Leaving" almost immediately after... both songs referred to a dress rehearsal and it just seemed to fit the project at the time, which was Sean (my brother) and I writing songs as a two-piece, kind of pretending that we were these prolific songwriters but never actually going through with any actual presentation or production. We used to play cover shows in University and would play our own songs on occasion, so that was kind of the dress rehearsal.

Me: Didn't the band used to be called Tiger Zebra or Zebra Tiger? I like Dress Rehearsal better.

Kevin: Yeah we used to go by Tiger Zebra. It's kind of funny that that name seems to be more congruent with the band names I see in the concert listings. That's good to hear that you like our current moniker. A lot of my friends think it sucks.

Me: Who is in the band as well as you, Kev? Isn't your brother in the band?

Kevin: He certainly is, he is the drummer and has been very helpful with back-up vocals and harmonies. There's four of us. Our guitar player, Ryan Watson, is affectionately known as "Ye Ol' Watson" and our bassist Joshua Doherty is the coolest cat this side of the tracks. Josh has a band as well, Among Millions. Check 'em out!

Me: You guys must really get along, am I right?

Kevin: Very, very well. Especially when Jameson's is involved.

Me: So, who started the band first, he or you?

Kevin: I started writing songs acoustically in 2004, and Sean eventually started writing drum parts to certain ones, so I guess I started things.

Me: How long has Dress Rehearsal been around?

Kevin: We kind of formed the band during/immediately after releasing "Greens & Honey" so it's been exactly 3 years.

Me: You guys went to the University of Guelph, right? Where is that? It sounds like something from Harry Potter or something.

Kevin: Guelph is near the Tri-City area (Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge), almost exactly between St. Marys and Toronto. Someone told me once that Guelph sounds like something you step in. It's a great town though.

Me: Let's talk about your new releases, which is a two sided single. I love the song "The Lazy River Road". Are the songs gonna be on a new album that's coming out?

Kevin: Yes they are. It wasn't my intention at first, as I didn't know if they would fit in with the mix, but it seems that they both embody all the things that are going to make the album worth listening to. We're proud of them.

Me: You had two albums released prior, right? "Greens and Honey" you mentioned and "Covers a Hillside". The second one is full of covers, hence the name. How did you choose which covers to do? 

Kevin: "Covers a Hillside" isn't so much an album as much as a collection of songs that I keep adding to whenever I'm feeling motivated to do so. I choose covers based on my affection for the song itself, the influence that artist has had on me, and my vision of what might work as a cover.

Me: You do a Smashing Pumpkins cover and a Bon Iver cover, two bands I am aware of, but the others I don't know. Who are some of the other bands you covered?

Kevin: Blind Melon? The 90's most underrated band. I've also covered Joanna Newsom, Beirut, Fionn Regan, and The Knife. All over the board really. Not sure what I'll do next but I'll probably but a few up as we near the release of our next album.

Me: "Greens and Honey" is all original music, as well as the new single, right?

Kevin: Yes.

Me: Who does most of your songwriting, Kev?

Kevin: I do most of the songwriting. Ryan wrote "Morning Grey" and there are some songs that we've worked on together on the new album. The guys do a great job adding different dynamics to the band with their respective instruments that I would never come up with.

Me: When your new album comes out, will you please come back on the Phile?

Kevin: You can bet your bottom dollar on that.

Me: Thanks for being here now. Is there a website you would like to mention?

Kevin: Hmmm. Cetainly not Myspace. I guess the best one as far as keeping up with us is dressrehearsal.bandcamp.com... also follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Me: Take care, and please come back soon.

Kevin: Thank you kindly.





That's about it, kids. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Kevin Graham. The Phile will be back tomorrow with Hammond B-3 child prodigy, an amazing kid... Kevin Coelho. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.


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