Guitarist for The New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Hot Tuna, The Englishtown Project: The Very Awesome Michael Falzarano

Interview By: Ginger Coyote

Michael and I have been pals for years. I have known him from playing the club circuit in San Francisco to seeing him play auditoriums, winning all sorts of acclaim, and recording internationally. I am very proud of Michael and do hope you enjoy my interview with him

Punk Globe: Thanks for the interview. We have known one another for years, I believe we met when you were in Vauxhall. You and the band played a lot of Punk Globe Benefit Parties Those were the days. Are you still in touch with any of the guys in Vauxhall?

Michael: Well, there were two versions of Vauxhall. The first version was with Elias Ragues, Scott Spencer, and Cort Willson. I haven’t heard from them in decades. The second version of the band was with Steve Ricablanca and John Binkov from the VKTMS. I stay in touch with them on FB. I have to say that I think and have always thought, that John Binkov is one the best guitarists/musicians from the San Francisco scene.

Punk Globe: How did you come up with the band name and what was the reason for Vauxhall to call it a day?

Michael: We were hanging out trying to come up with a name for the band. I had a book about vintage collectible cars and there was a picture of an old car completely made out of chrome. It looked really cool so we just went with it after jettisoning all the other silly names we came up with like “The No The 4” I didn’t want a band name with the word “THE” in so someone came up with “The No The 4” . In retrospect, it sounds cool to me now.

As far as calling it a day, I guess it had just run its course and it was time to close up shop! We had a great run playing all the Bay Area venues multiple times and opening for many major bands that came through town like UK Subs, REM, The Alley Cats, Nick Lowe, Billy Idol and others. We also played many shows with local bands like The VKTMS, Silvertone, Romeo Void, and others.

Punk Globe: I believe I introduced you to Nyna Crawford (Truly underrated as a musician), although Vauxhall and The Vktms played a few shows with each other. How did Smashed Weekend come about? I loved both The Vktms and Smashed Weekend. I know the band consisted of you, Nyna, and Ben Cohen, and who played drums? I remember Zippy Pinhead playing with you at The Stone.

Michael: Yes you did introduce me to Nyna and we did play a bunch of shows with the VKTMS. Man, Smashed Weekend was a fun band to be in. Smashed Weekend came about at a time when Vauxhall had come undone and The VKTMS had broken up. Nyna and I had rehearsal studio rooms next to each other. Ben Choen and I were just starting a band called “The Sacred Cows” which never got off the ground because one day Nyna stopped by to take a listen and hang out. We took a break, drank a few beers, and after talking for a while Nyna said “Falz we should start a band”. I immediately said yes. If the best frontwoman/singer in the Bay Area wanted to start a band with me, I’m in! By the way, Nyna was the first person to call me “Falz” which many people call me now.

Punk Globe: I also remember Smashed Weekend playing at The Full Moon Saloon and Jorma Kaukonen showing up and Nyna singing a fabulous version of ‘White Rabbit’ by The Jefferson Airplane. Jorma was very impressed, So you were friends with Jorma when you were playing in Smashed Weekend?

Michael: Yes, Jorma Kaukonen and I were, and still are, close friends. Smashed Weekend had a show booked at the Full Moon Saloon and I knew Jorma was in town so I called him up and asked if he’d like to come by and sit in. I told him “You gotta hear this woman Nyna sing.” So he rolled by and the rest is history. And yes he was impressed!

Punk Globe: What clubs did you enjoy playing in those days and what bands did you like to play with?

Michael: Mabuhay, On Broadway, The Stone, The Keystone Berkeley, and Keystone Palo Alto are at the top of the list but I also loved playing the smaller gritty clubs like The Sound of Music, The Chi Chi Club, The Deaf Club, and so many others. It’s a shame they’re mostly all gone now.

Punk Globe: How did you begin playing with Hot Tuna? How did you join The New Riders Of The Purple Sage? Were you friendly with my long-time pal Spencer Dryden? I had introduced him to Nyna and he went on to manage them.

Michael: Yes, I knew and was friendly with Spencer Dryden. We played together a few times at the Chi Chi Club. The last time we talked it was about how he was the drummer in both The Jefferson Airplane with Jorma and Jack and The New Riders of the Purple Sage and how I wound up playing with Jorma and Jack as well as being in The New Riders! Go figure!

My time in Hot Tuna from 1983-2003 came about in the sort of “I didn’t even know” kind of a way!

Hot Tuna broke up in 1977 but in 1983 an agent asked if they wanted to get together. Jorma was thinking about it and invited Jack Casdy down to a studio in Berkeley where Jorma and I were recording. When Jack got there we took a break and Jorma and Jack talked about getting back together, I sat in on the conversation. I was excited to hear that they might get back together and play some shows because I was a huge Hot Tuna fan and played many of their songs in my bands growing up in NY. So when Jorma turned to me and asked “What do you think?” I enthusiastically said, “You guys should do it, It’ll be great”! Jorma thought about it for a minute and said “Yeah we should do it”. What I didn’t understand was that the “we” included me.

The next morning, his manager called me up and asked how much I wanted. I asked, “for what?” He said, the Hot Tuna tour. I was confused and thought maybe he was offering me a job as a guitar tech or something. So I said I don’t know what you’re talking about. He said he just got off the phone with Jorma who said I was now in Hot Tuna and to find out what I needed to do the tour. I was shocked. Hot Tuna had always been a power trio and now it would be a four piece. Anyway, that’s how I found out I was in Hot Tuna. I was still in Vauxhall at the time playing small clubs in the Bay Area but a few weeks later I was on a plane headed to the East Coast to start the tour. The very first show was at Keane College in NJ. The place held 6,000 people and it was sold out! A few days later we played The Nassau Coliseum, also sold out, with 20,000 people there along with sold-out shows in places like the Philadelphia Spectrum and many other giant shows. It was a wild ride!

My time in The New Riders came out of the blue. My time in Hot Tuna had come to an end when Jorma went back to doing the acoustic duo thing in 2003. For the next two years I played shows around NYC and went on the road with Garth Hudson of The Band until one day I got a phone call from Buddy Cage, The New Riders pedal steel player. Buddy said he and David Nelson, two of the original members, were putting The New Riders back together and wanted to know if I’d be interested in joining the band. I immediately said yes. Because once again along with playing the music of Hot Tuna growing up, I had also spent a lot of time playing the music of The New Riders of the Purple Sage. That I wound up in two iconic bands from the Bay Area is still mind-boggling to me. But it happened!

Punk Globe: You know my drummer’s wife Angel Borst, correct? She is tight with Jorma and Jack.

Michael: Yes I know Angel and yes she’s tight with Jorma and Jack. If I remember correctly she was the one that took over Brotherhood of Light after Brother Ed passed away. I don’t like that the current people running Brotherhood of Light never mention Ed’s name. It’s like he never existed. I remember the first time he came out of retirement to do a Brotherhood of Light show. Steve Ricablanca, my wife Claudia, and I were hanging out late at night at his storefront where he lived and we got to talking about the light show and how no one was doing it anymore. One thing led to another and the three of us tried to get him to agree to do a show with us. It wasn’t an easy task as he had no interest in revamping the light show. We had a show coming up at the On Broadway Theater with SVT which was a band that Jack Casady from Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna was in. Ed’s ears were beginning to open to the idea once he heard that another old schooler would be on the show. But still he was like “I don’t think so.” But then Claudia turned on the charm and he had to agree. He loved Claudia and couldn’t say no! Claudia was the last person he spoke to before he passed away. His last words to her were “See ya on the other side”.

Punk Globe: No, that was Lady Trash and Lou until Brother Ed sold the rights to those jerks. Around 30 years back I caught Hot Tuna when I was playing at a show at The Ottobar in Baltimore. I can’t remember all the details but we saw each other that time It was hotter than hell in Baltimore both our shows were packed … Chester Simpson came to our show that night and shot some killer photos. Has he photographed you when you played? Julie Stein got some great photos back in the day.

Michael: As I recall we came by the Otto Bar to see you and hang out. I think we were playing the Marble Bar in Baltimore the next night which was owned at the time by filmmaker John Waters. John and a whole crew of crazies came by the show. It was madness in the most fun way!

Punk Globe: I was confused yes I know I saw you, Jack, and Jorma in Baltimore. I Love John Waters. Tell us about The Memphis Pilgrims.

Michaela; Memphis Pilgrims was the second band I formed after I moved back to NYC after living in San Francisco for ten years. The first band I was in shortly after moving back to NYC was a band called Throttle. It was a similar lineup as Smashed Weekend, with two guitars, bass and drums with a woman front person named Ginny. I don’t remember her last name but she was very much in the mold of Nyna. After that band came undone I started The Memphis Pilgrims. Just like with Vauxhall, there were two versions of the band. The NYC version and a later version from Woodstock, NY which is the version of the band I recorded on the CD Mecca as Michael Falzarano and The Memphis Pilgrims. You might be wondering why two versions of the band. Well, Claudia says it’s because I’m a Gemini so maybe that’s it! What actually happened was a few of the guys in the first incarnation moved away and I went back to playing in Hot Tuna full time who was sort of based out of Woodstock for a minute.

Punk Globe: Who was in that band?

Michael: Version 1 NYC photo = Steve Sacher (bass),Michael Slater (guitar), Skip ? (drums), me and legendary slide guitar player from the Bay Area, Billy Goodman.

Punk Globe: Tell us about your releases. One track was dedicated to The Allman Brothers. Were you friends with them?

Michael: I have released five albums over the years: Mecca, The King James Sessions, We Are All One, I Got Blues For Ya, and my latest release, A Kaleidoscope Christmas. And yes, I was friends with The Allman Brothers. Hot Tuna and The Allman Brothers toured together for two summers in the mid-’90s. After bassist Allen Woody passed away, I wrote a song for him called “Last Train Out”. It’s on two of my albums with two different versions. The King James Sessions has a semi-acoustic version that features Jason Crosby from Jackson Brown’s band, and on We Are All One there’s a full electric version that features Garth Hudson from The Band.

Punk Globe: Which leads to a question about a trip to Hollister California to visit Brother Ed the creator of The Brotherhood Of Light from the 60’s. There was you, Claudia, Louie Gwerder, Meri St. Mary, and myself riding with you. We stopped at a grocery store where they had those machines for kids. One was a pony that Meri and I rode on. We got food for a cookout. I hope you remember that trip. We were out in the woods with these tall trees and I finally shot a gun on that trip. It was a long bumpy haul but was a lot of fun.

Michael: Our trip to and from Hollister is one of my fondest memories from my time in San Francisco. If ever there was a bunch of city dwellers that shouldn’t have been out in the backcountry, it was us! I remember strapping on a gun belt and almost shooting myself in the foot and then shooting and cooking a rabbit with Brother Ed. I hope I never have to do that again! But I must say it was fun. The reason we went up into the hills of Hollister was to help Brother Ed pack up his bus and drive it down the mountain. As I recall after a long day romping around in the hills we were set to go. Ed wanted to leave after dark as the bus wasn’t registered and he didn’t have a driver’s license. What could go wrong? I think Lou drove my van down the mountain and I drove with Brother Ed in the bus. One of the scariest drives I’ve ever had as the brakes on the bus were iffy at best and coming down the mountain in the dark with one headlight was something of a challenge! I miss Brother Ed and his crazy wisdom.

Punk Globe: Do you remember there was a big earthquake after that and we could not contact Ed? But like old faithful he finally returned to Lou’s place.

Michael: Yeah, that was crazy. I’ve lived through several earthquakes in California, New Jersey, and New York. Yes, they have earthquakes in NJ and New York. It’s always a little unsettling. Yeah, Ed loved Lou and held Lou in high esteem. So it made sense to land back at Lou’s house!

Punk Globe: Tell the readers who you are playing with now.

Michael: Currently I have two projects up and running: The Englishtown Project and Falz and Friends. Again doing two things at once! The Englishtown Project is a band I started 6 years ago. I spent 12 years on the road with The New Riders of the Purple Sage and at almost every show we played someone would come up to me and say something like “I saw you guys at Englishtown or ”Englishtown was my first show.” So I decided somewhere along the way to put a band together and play the music of the three bands that played the original show way back on September 3rd, 1977 where over 100,000 people showed up to see The Grateful Dead, The New Riders of the Purple Sage and The Marshall Tucker Band. The first show we played was supposed to be our only show. It was on a rainy Memorial Day weekend so our expectations for attendance were low but much to our amazement 500 people showed up. So we decided to keep it going and we’re now over a hundred shows in. With Falz and Friends, I play songs I’ve written along with whatever covers we choose to do from the Ramones to Bob Dylan!

Punk Globe: What is in store for you in the future? Recording Touring

Michael: Well, I’m constantly on the road playing shows with either The Englishtown Project or Falz and Friends. And when I’m not doing either of those bands I’m sitting in or playing shows with other friends. As far as recording goes I just started working on a new album which is as of yet untitled but should be out later this year.

Punk Globe: Do you have any Internet addresses you would like to share with the readers to keep up to date with you?

Michael: Yeah, you can follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/michael.falzarano.10 or https://www.facebook.com/michaelfalzaranomusic, on Instagram at @mfalznyc or my website www.michaelfalzarano.com.

Punk Globe: Now the hard question. Describe yourself in three words.

Michael:Rockin’, Rowdy and Genuine. Well at least I try to be!

Punk Globe: Any final words of wisdom for the Punk Globe Readers?

Michael: First off I want to thank you Ginger for asking me to do an interview for the magazine. Interviewing with an old hippie/punk rockish/new waveish guy from the jam band world could be risky. I’m sure there will be some who say “He’s not punk rock. Why do an interview with him?”

I‘ve been a fan of punk rock and the magazine from the very beginning! Back in the day, my bands weren’t punk rock per se. I’d say we were more on the fringes of it but I loved the energy of it and how it opened the door for many musicians to be heard. Some who never even thought they could be musicians!

I have done many interviews over the years and people are often surprised when I tell them I’m a fan of punk rock being from the jam band world. When I tell them that The Sex Pistols at Winterland in San Francisco was one of the best pure rock and roll anarchy shows I’ve ever seen, some interviewers think I’ve lost my mind and others love it. I often connect the jam band world and punk rock worlds. Most people might think there’s no thread but I see it differently. I can tell you about the time I ran into Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead backstage at a Clash show or the time I went to see Elvis Costello playing with Jerry Garcia at Sweetwater in Mill Valley, CA. Also, I always felt that although the music is very different, the attitude that created Punk Rock and the Jam Band scene are pretty much the same. Both started as a sort of rebellion against what was the norm at the time!. So keep the faith and rock on! Thanks for reading this and I hope to see some of your punk rock fans at some of my shows. As I like to say, “I hope to see ya down the road”!