Frets with DJ Fey

Send us Fan Mail Peter Holmström and his family moved from Portland to the UK during his school years. After that, he attended college in New York. While living there, another native Portland guitarist, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, along with his band, crashed at Pete’s apartment after a gig. Upon returning to Portland, Pete learned that Courtney was no longer in that band. The two guitarists formed The Dandy Warhols, very popular in their hometown, soon after gained praise and recognition nationw...

Send a text Martin Belmont was about 11 or 12 years old, a kid growing up in England, when he asked his parents to buy him a guitar. The first record he got was “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley. Around that time, The Shadows, out of London, were a popular instrumental group. America had The Ventures, England had The Shadows. Young Martin was fascinated by the look and sound of Hank Marvin’s Fender Stratocaster. In art school, Martin made friends with other guitarists and musicians and after ...

Send a text Back in 2022, I talked with Ben Vaughn, whose music and radio show I’ve been a fan of for years. Ben has enjoyed a great career as a performer, songwriter, composer for film and TV, and record producer. He’s produced records by Ween, Arthur Alexander, and Charlie Feathers, and also collaborated with Alan Vega, Alex Chilton and Los Straitjackets. His songs have also been recorded by artists including Marshall Crenshaw, The Morells, and Deer Tick. Needless to say, Ben Vaughn has enc...

Send a text “Wasted Wonderland” serves as the title of a great compilation of songs by Bob Collum. A singer-songwriter and guitarist, Bob grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then spent a couple years in Chicago before making a big change. In 2001, he moved to the UK. Bob’s music had already been getting airplay in Europe and not long after moving there, he formed The Welfare Mothers. He also made a lot of friends and connections in England’s music community. The list of artists Bob has supported incl...

Send a text John McFee formed San Francisco-based band Clover in the ’60s. Their first, self-titled album on Fantasy came out in 1970. Several years later, they came to realize some key people in the UK pub rock scene were big fans of their music. Nick Lowe, Brinsley Schwarz and also drummer Pete Thomas, who called Clover to see if they would audition for the up and coming Declan MacManus, who would soon change his name to Elvis Costello. Clover got the gig, backing Elvis on My Aim is True an...