Amy Rigby Underrated singer songwriter

Well, I'm spoken for but not married.

Welcome, Kenny. You should check the rolling country thread. Not that there's much Rigby love there, either -- a certain anti-middlebrowism pervades. But at least you'll find folks there who care enough to discuss singers like her. It might even replenish your dwindling stock of bands you're excited about.

I didn't like the Joey Ramone song very much but the last album was pretty wonderful.

Not sure about the relationship of Rigby to country, which I listen to a little, like any rock and roller. I mean, it's not just that I knew Will & the dB's before I knew Amy, but when I saw Amy Rigby in Knoxville, Tennessee -- obviously a country kind of town -- in 1996, she was playing with Bob Mould. That's who her fan base (including me) overlaps with.

But if there are specific current country acts you'd recommend to an Amy Rigby fan, I'd love to hear 'em. Got wind of Miranda Lambert because of Chrsitgau's praise, and like it well enough. But country for me means Merle Travis, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, early Dolly Parton, whatever songs Jon Langford has covered recently, and not too much else. And Amy Rigby means alt-indie rock grown up.

Even someone in a happy marriage could relate to "Beer and Kisses."

Anyone in a long-term marriage, no matter how happy, has experienced a period of time like "Beer and Kisses."

My 18th anniversary is next weekend. Grammy's taking the kid and we're going to the mountains :)

and what Miranda Lambert mean?

* and what DOES Miranda Lambert mean?

It seems, Kenny, like your definition of country doesn't allow much room for pure rock 'n' roll; it's more like folk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Lambert

I didn't give a definition of country, nor intend to. I indicated mostly that I don't know much about it, and that's not the route I took to find Amy Rigby.

I just think she's a great songwriter with a really charming voice! She inspires a lot of sympathy. I even thought the Joey Ramone song was cute, I know lots of women that would be happy to dream about dancing with him, not sure why people don't like it.

Why people don't like "Dancing With Joey Ramone":

1. Because they think Sleater-Kinney already did it.
2. Because they are troubled by the forthright, talky way Rigby acknowledges desire for things that hurt her.

Of course, #2 cancels #1: Sleater-Kinney don't desire things that hurt them, they desire the power of the thing itself; Rigby is gendered in a much more traditional way. She's also 10 years older. That's exactly why "Dancing With Joey Ramone" is such a powerful song.

Both songs are dreams about power. But Sleater-Kinney's is easier to take, joyous, because it's easy to acknowledge that you share that particular dream. And much harder to acknowledge that you (or someone you love) shares Amy's dream.

I even thought the Joey Ramone song was cute, I know lots of women that would be happy to dream about dancing with him, not sure why people don't like it

I can't think of a good reason either! All I can muster is minor grumbling about how Joey's too obvious a subject? too cute? I dunno. I would have preferred Ricky Wilson or Chris Frantz.

I recognize, however, that dancing with Frantz might entail bearing with lots of infectious grins and him shouting "BOHANNON!" in your ear.

I dig her blog from France: http://www.littlefugitive.blogspot.com/

I lost interest in her sometime after 'Mod Housewife.' She seemed to be spinning her wheels. I have not heard her most recent cd, and did not realize she's living in France now, so maybe she's gotten a second wind.

lol, i once called amy's number in williamsburg like 11-12 years ago, she was listed (not like anyone besides avid Village Voice readers knew who she was anyway). she answered too.

Actually, as long as this has been revived, anyone ever heard her ancient band The Stare-Kits? Allegedly Siouxsie sounding.

Anyone heard her latest, with (new hubby) Wreckless Eric?
I love how he still goes by that name at the rip old age of 54.

er, "ripe"

The album is OK... It has a ragged/frayedness to it that's kinda endearing. I read her blog more though (it's at http://amyrigby.blogspot.com/ now)

Amy Rigby is underrated.

I used to think that, but have gotten less enjoyment from her music in recent years then I did in the past. Maybe it's me.

Hey Josh, She's playing a house show in the suburbs later this month. I'm hoping to make it. Look it up!

Byron Coley was tweeting favorably about her new album The Old Guys. I haven't heard it yet.

Christgau gave her a kinda favorable review but portions of it (rightly so) aggravated Amy and she responded on her blog.

https://diaryofamyrigby.wordpress.com/2018/04/06/dont-follow-him-hes-lost-too/

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/kzx77n/robert-christgau-on-the-refuge-of-yo-la-tengo-and-the-audacity-of-amy-rigby

Couple that Christgau review with his U.S. Girls blurb and you have his shittiest week ever.

i was digging into the archives to check out his old Breeders reviews, and the one for Last Splash (and the one for the Amps!) i found a little off-putting...

He's got some issues.

I need to listen to the new Amy Rigby album some more.

Didn't realize this, but Diary of a Mod Housewife was released for the first time on vinyl several years ago, and Rigby will sign it on request. Nice to find out - I was going to buy this for a relative after recommending it and realizing it wasn't streaming anywhere.

I get the free version of her Substack and see that she and her husband Wreckless Eric are going to be moving from the Catskills in NY to England. I think she also has been working on a new album that will be out soon.

she's been working as a bartender i think? i know my brother sees those guys around.

so if she has been working as a bartender: yes, she is underrated.

i came to her albums only a couple of years ago and i love them! she should make a duet album with courtney barnett.

https://rachaelherron.com/amyrigby/

good interview.

Just saw her play a great house concert in R.I. on Saturday. Eric didn't join her this time. She got very emotional, knowing she would soon be leaving a lot of friends behind.
I've seen her play this same place about 4-5 times, and the last three times she read an excerpt from her Girl to City memoir (she's working on a sequel). All three times she read the same story, about one of the first friends she met in NYC — a guy named Bob who loved Lou Reed and egg creams.

BTW the new songs she debuted sounded great. Looking forward to the new album.

I have to say she's underrated because I can count on one hand how many people I've ever heard in life (not in print) mention her name. Which is a real shame because Diary should connect with EVERY generation, it's basically what was starting to unfold for everyone I pretty much knew in NYC before the pandemic hit. (I had the album for years but barely played it until then and was like "holy shit, this is otm")

yah, it was definitely a pandemic fave for me.