By Larry Claflin Jr.
In "Riverboys," the title track from Thomas "Satch" Kerans' new solo CD, he tells the story of a "ragtag gonzo choir" — four characters who occupy the only alley in a small town and do their business down by the river. As with other songs on the CD, "Riverboys" has fleshed-out characters, mature themes and lyrics that give the listener a sense of place.
"I kind of go for that cinematic thing sometimes — kind of conveying a picture," Kerans of Rockport said of his writing style, which is also evident on his first solo CD, "Elliot Street," (2005) which was centered around the fatal 1984 Elliot Street fire in Beverly.
The rest of "Riverboys" includes songs about racism, death, immigration and politics, all sung in Kerans' distinct vocal style, a mix of Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, three of his musical influences, along with Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen.
"Lyrically, I tried to stretch myself; I tried to challenge myself and get out of the boy-girl thing," said Kerans, who referred to the songs as "street scenes."
"I'm influenced by Beat poetry," he said. "I'm a fan, a little bit."
Kerans, a Danvers native, said he started as a harmonica player before taking up singing and guitar. An early influence was his older brother, Steve "Wah" Kerans, a local guitarist.
In 1987, Satch and his band, The Catalinas, lost to Treat Her Right — who went on to become Morphine — in WBCN's Rock 'n' Roll Rumble. Satch didn't take it personally, though — he hired Billy Conway of Morphine to produce "Riverboys" and Dana Colley, also of Morphine, played saxophone on the title track.
While "Riverboys" is the CD's title track, two other songs have been getting radio airplay: "Little Black Dog" is in rotation on The River and "Holy Man" is on WAAF, where Satch recently performed live on-air.
Satch is a teacher at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School during the school year, so he spends more time recording and playing out during school vacations and in the summer.
His next scheduled shows will be at In a Pig's Eye restaurant in Salem tonight and Dodge Street Bar and Grill in Salem on Aug. 14.
Features editor Larry Claflin Jr. writes his "Music Notes" column regularly. He can be reached at lclaflin@salemnews.com.
