Sept. 2, 2023

S6E307 - Mad Season 'Above' with Tony Cuchetti

S6E307 - Mad Season 'Above' with Tony Cuchetti

Minnesota-based singer/songwriter Tony Cuchetti brings us the lone 1995 release by grunge supergroup Mad Season, 'Above'. When Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and journeyman bass player John Baker Saunders met at rehab, they decided to form a...

Minnesota-based singer/songwriter Tony Cuchetti brings us the lone 1995 release by grunge supergroup Mad Season, 'Above'. When Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and journeyman bass player John Baker Saunders met at rehab, they decided to form a band and brought in Layne Staley of Alice In Chains primarily because they thought he would benefit from being around some clean musicians. With Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin rounding out the band, they crafted this dense record of slow-burning jams that is as bleak a document of drug addiction as you're ever likely to hear.

Songs featured in this episode: River Of Deceit (Live at the Moore, Seattle 1995) - Mad Season; Lay It On Me, The After - Tony Cuchetti; The Rooster - Alice In Chains; Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees; Wake Up, X-Ray Mind, River Of Deceit - Mad Season; Better Man - Pearl Jam; I'm Above, Artificial Red, Lifeless Dead - Mad Season; Hunger Strike - Temple Of The Dog; I Don't Know Anything, Long Gone Day - Mad Season; Voodoo - Godsmack; November Hotel - Mad Season; Riders On The Storm - The Doors; All Alone - Mad Season; Stubborn Bones - Tony Cuchetti

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Tony Cuchetti

musician/songwriter

Minnesota-based singer/songwriter Tony Cuchetti is following his debut studio album, Hid It On The Sly (2020), and Live From Drum Farm Studio (2020), with Freer Street, a collection of original songs punctuated by a couple of beloved cover tunes. Cuchetti returned to home turf at Drum Farm Studio in Menomonie, WI to record, joined by fellow Minnesotan Erik Koskinen, who produced and played both rhythm and lead guitar, as well as co-writing many of the tracks. Through recording several projects at this studio, Cuchetti became one of the first artists signed to studio owner John Richardson’s recently formed Farm To Label Records which is releasing Freer Street on August 3rd on 12” vinyl LP,limited quantity CD, digital download, and streaming platforms.

The album’s title refers to Cuchetti’s late grandfather who lived on Freer Street in Detroit, MI where much of Tony’s family hails from. An old black and white, sepia-toned picture of him is the album’s cover. “Just the vibe of the album made me remember good things about hanging out with him and some of the stuff that he taught me,” says Cuchetti, “so I thought it was fitting.”

Tony and Erik gathered seasoned musicians, and friends Blair Krivanek (Sonny Knight and The Lakers) on lead and rhythm guitar, bassist Nick Salisbury  (Ryan Bingham, The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon), drummer JT Bates (Taylor Swift, Michael Stipe, Trampled By Turtles, Bon Iver), and Gregg Inhofer  (Bob Dylan) on Hamond B3 organ. They recorded the majority of the album with everyone in one room, live-in-the-studio to capture as ra… Read More