Bongo Richard Barone Joins Pylon Reenactment Society
Richard Barone by Michael Stahl
As if Richard Barone of The Bongos couldn’t get any busier, he’s joined the noise-pop, punk-funk Pylon Reenactment Society on a tour supporting their Magnet Factory album. It starts Saturday in Nashville, continues Sunday in Arkansas, then this Monday in Mississippi, June 18 in Alabama, June 19 in Atlanta, and ends June 20 in Savannah. The new live album of The Bongos—The Shroud of Touring: Live In ’85—was released May 23 on Jem Records. (See our “Busy Bongos” story from April 17.) Pylon Reenactment Society is spearheaded by Vanessa Brisco Hay of the post-punk Pylon.
We caught up with Barone, who everybody seems to love anew from his appearance in The Jersey Sound documentary, who told us the following. “It's such a different world now from that summer of 1985 when The Bongos recorded The Shroud of Touring. But, one thing I felt onstage while performing with The Bongos recently in Woodstock, Asbury Park and New York City is that the songs and sound still feel relevant, real, and pure. I'm looking forward to going on the road as a special guest with Pylon Reenactment Society, as it will give me the opportunity to play these songs as an electric troubadour. The Bongos have a lot of history with Pylon. When we first heard them, we were blown away. We considered the Athens music scene like a parallel universe to our scene in Hoboken. We spoke of the Hoboken-Athens axis: both scenes being super friendly and supportive of the other. Since then, Pylon's singer Vanessa and I have shared the stage many times, and it's always amazing. Vanessa is truly like a sister to me, and anytime I have the opportunity to share a stage or bill with her and her band, it is truly a thrill!”