SOMERVILLE, MA.-August 25 - Somerville is notorious in Boston area modern crime history. Convicted FBI Agent John "Zip" Connolly cleverly exploited the wider underground troubles brewing between the Boston Mafia and a gang James "Whitey" Bulger, FBI's number 4 Most Wanted Felon-at-Large, had signed on with in neighboring Somerville. Bulger, racketeer king of South Boston, had hooked on with the Somerville crime boss Howie Winter. The gang operated out of a garage in the Winter Hill section of the small city just across the Charles River to the west. To maintain a gambling and loan-sharking franchise based in Somerville but extending south to Cape Cod and north into New Hampshire, Howie Winter had to pay the North End and Providence, RI, $20,000 weekly. Now THAT'S the heart and soul of Somerville.
Davis Square is located in the section of Somerville that abuts the area of Cambridge that houses Harvard University. You're technically in Somerville but you may as well call it North Cambridge. Johnny D's is in the center of Davis Square.
Not one to take any chances with inevitable fate, such as leaving an operable motor vehicle parked anywhere in Somerville, I set out on my sojourn to Davis Square from just outside of Harvard Square in Cambridge, which included a short ride on the Massachusetts Transit Authority Subway Train. Naturally, none of the multi-levels of escalators at the Davis Square station were operational. Why should the MTA feel pressured to repair anything in Somerville, after all, including the relatively fashionable Davis Square?
Johnny D's Uptown Restaurant and Music Club never had doormen in the past, so I was pleasantly surprised to see two gentlemen doing the honors that evening. It turns out that the distinguished Hawk and Travis were passing out flyers on behalf of Ryanhood in Davis Square. I conducted the appropriate men-on-the-street interviews with them chiefly due to my fascination with anyone who identifies himself as "Hawk." I eagerly anticipate meeting up again with the likes of Hawk and Travis at future Ryanhood shows.
The musical evening began with a short set by a talented a cappella group called Back in Five. Their versatility ranged from medieval chants to American standards and modern-day songs. Back in Five are very good and I wished their set had been longer.
The remainder of the evening belonged to Ryan and Cameron, who were able to do two long sets. The audience was treated to Ryanhood's entire repertoire. They were able to perform not only all their original material, but all their great covers as well ("Dear Prudence" and "Two of Us" by The Beatles, "The Prince of Bel Air Theme"), and a lot of brand new material. They even did a terrific cover of Nickle Creek’s "This Side" and a short rendition of the Chuck Berry classic "Johnny B. Goode." One song harked back to Ryanhood's embryonic days in Tucson, AZ, and was something that Cameron wrote for a band he was active with there.
Audience reaction was fervent and immediate. Similar to most Ryanhood shows I have observed at Boston's Faneuil Hall, ovations were heard after every Ryan Green guitar solo, and some of Cameron's as well. For the first time, however, I witnessed a standing ovation for Ryan, immediately following the most memorable guitar phrase from his tune "Jasmine."
Ryanhood isn't what you would define as a "folk" act. They are an electrified acoustic duo with energy to spare. Survey the photographs closely and it becomes clear. They are both impassioned players, and broken guitar strings are not an anomaly by any imagination. Ryanhood fans wouldn't have it any other way. I've never seen them simultaneously bust a string, and in those precarious moments the survivor is always able to perform for a couple of minutes as a more-than-capable solo act. For the record, it's usually Cameron entertaining as a solo artist whilst Ryan replaces a guitar string with lightning speed and precision. This evening the roles were reversed. Ryan chose to fill the time space with a mainly one-man performance of "Something That She Saw" from their Sad & Happiness CD, with only Cameron's vocal assistance on the song's choruses. After hearing this tune so many times both on CD and in their performances, I wouldn't have expected Ryan to pull it off with any success. This is proof-positive of my ineptitude and myopia. The song sounded as good as ever, not surprising as how Ryan's playing most often sounds like two or three guitarists performing anyway. The visual enhancement of Cameron singing chorus backing while in the process of replacing a string should not go unmentioned, either.
All of which leaves the Jokelopedia. That's right; the official Jokelopedia. Ryanhood brought one on stage at Johnny D's and introduced those unawares such as yours truly to its magical content. Look it up on amazon.com if you've never heard of it. It was my understanding that the Cameron Hood inter-song allure steeps its foundation in extemporaneous humor based on proximate occurrences. Although it behooved me what a "Jokelopedia" was all about, it didn't strike me as containing anything the always-lightning-quick Cameron could use to his advantage or benefit, especially with a 21+ age audience.
I was right for once. It didn't help him. His Jokelopedia material bombed. Fizzled. Detonated. However, guess who did pull it off? Yes, the usually silent Ryan Green. Perhaps his style of delivery is ideal for Jokelopedia-type material. Maybe his wise and prudent decision to try only the short jokes on the back cover--usually the best--can best explain his success at evoking Jokelopedia laughs from the Johnny D's audience. Once again, for the record; the Ryanhood Jokelopedia scores to date--Ryan, 3 - Cameron, 0.
Desperate to stage an immediate comeback, Cameron reverted to an all-time favorite Ryanhood anecdote; to wit, how some distraught woman flung a quarter at them last year--while they were entertaining onlookers at a subway station--so they could "call someone who cared." That never fails to please and entertain the multitudes.
David D.
