Jonathan Richman
Biography
“Richman is one of America’s most unique and dynamic songwriters…” – Nashville Scene “Richman didn’t need much else besides a beat to work his magic.” – New York Daily News
“Buy tickets early. Buy tickets often. This is just good general life advice, but even more so when you’re talking about Jonathan Richman. Don’t get denied at the door, don’t leave things up to chance: You will regret it.” – Nashville Scene
“Rhymes worthy of Ogden Nash.” – The New York Times
“Richman has spent decades removing barriers between himself and his audience, cultivating an intimacy that is almost extinct in modern music.”- Nashville Scene
“As of a few years ago, I was going to just play theaters, cabarets and such, but we ended up by mistake at the Zebulon in Los Angeles and had such a fine time that those kind of shows have to happen too. So, you might see us nowadays in theaters, cabaret-style places, or the right club or bar. The theaters have the best sound, usually, and under-21s can get in, but in the clubs people can dance and get close in to ya, like we like. We’ll keep trying things.”
Video & Press
Spy Review: Jonathan Richman at the Avalon by Mark Pelavin
[The Talbot Spy] By Mark Pelavin Rock icon Jonathan Richman, who delighted an appreciative crowd at the Avalon Theatre last week, was dancing like no one was watching long before most of us had ever heard the phrase. In addition to writing a slew of great songs about dancing, including the crowd favorite Dancing in a […]
Jonathan Richman’s Zebulon Love-In
[LA Weekly] By BRETT CALLWOOD Jonathan Richman’s Zebulon Love-In: Modern Lover Jonathan Richman might still be best known for proto-punk anthems “Roadrunner” and “Pablo Picasso,” but his career has taken him in all sorts of weird and wonderful directions since then. He’s a glorious kook — known for his wide eyes and childlike wonder (as written on Wiki), […]
Show Review: Jonathan Richman at Le National
[RX Music] By Matt Lipson Few performers would thrive on the minimal setup Jonathan Richman brought to his intimate show in Montreal on June 6, but the cult icon needed little more than an unplugged nylon string guitar and his drumming sidekick Tommy Larkins to charm the intimate audience. Richman, long known for his childlike […]
Jonathan Richman: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
[Aquarium Drunkard] I heard Jonathan Richman’s last full-length record, SA, about a year after it came out. It was not that I was avoiding it, I just missed its release. I had bumped into Jerry Harrison at a party at our mutual friend Jon Blaufarb’s house soon after he recorded with Jonathan. Their recordings would become […]
Muses: Jonathan Richman on Vermeer, Monet, and Custom Chords for Matisse
[ARTnews] By The Editors of ARTnews Jonathan Richman came up as a songwriter in the 1970s and has been noted for his love of art. In both his solo work and with his band the Modern Lovers, he has cited artists he reveres—e.g., in the Modern Lovers’ “Girlfriend”: “If I were to walk to the […]
Jonathan Richman Brims With Local Memories at the Middle East
[Boston Globe] By Rebecca Ostriker Jonathan Richman remembers being 16 and standing in Harvard Square, a portfolio of “pretentious artwork” in his hand. He misses Schoenhof’s Foreign Books, which closed the doors of its Cambridge shop last year — his “favorite bookstore,” the singer says, where he collected Italian adjectives and idiomatic expressions for a […]
Having a Party With Jonathan Richman
[Nashville Scene] An expert’s guide to enjoying one of rock’s great enigmas By Sean L. Maloney You’d think, by now, that I’d have run out of things to say about proto-punk prophet and great American troubadour Jonathan Richman. But nope. After my contribution of half a dozen articles of varying length and style, as well […]