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Live Review: Andrew Geano at Chopps

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photo by Geoff Wilbur

Andrew Geano

Chopps Italian Steakhouse & Bar, Burlington, MA

July 25, 2025

First of all, it’s probably becoming obvious that I like this restaurant. Tonight I went with a pizza. Delish! But, of course, it’s not just the food I appreciate about Chopps. It’s the fact that they reliably book excellent singers to entertain their restaurant patrons (and guests passing through the Boston Marriott Burlington hotel lobby). Of course, if I’m unfamiliar with the singer, I still check them out. This is a bit of a drive for me, so I don’t take any chances.

Now, it’d be cool to catch Andrew at a venue where he’d play more of his originals, as songs like “Head Voice” and “Wanna Be Right” are pretty cool. A dinner show with lots of folks just passin’ through, though? Well, that’s gonna pretty much be covers. With a top-notch vocalist singing ’em, that’s still plenty good.

I caught only really caught the tail end of Andrew’s performance tonight – less than one of his three hours behind the mic. But he covered a lot of ground, nearly all of it while leaning into the insistent edge of his vocals, which is particularly good at slashing through background noise and restaurant chatter. The first song I sat down for was his version of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.”

Andrew began his final mini-set with a heavy strumming-driven rendition of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me,” then transitioned into a rendition of “Teenage Dirtbag,” on which his vocals sported a ’90s alt-pop-rock flavor, chameleonically speaking.

He added some whoopy squeals, fittingly, to the Beatles’ “Come Together,” then followed it with a nod to new hitmaker Chappell Roan with “Hot to Go!” And the Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.” That was actually a pretty good transition. Who knew?!

Speaking of “who knew?”… I wouldn’ta believed it, but Andrew does a good Taylor Swift. On his rendition of “You Belong With Me,” sure, maybe his vocals are a little deeper than Taylor’s, but he nailed the tone.

Andrew went back to the ’80s to officially close his final set with his lively rendition of Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True.” It was a song with a “woo!” or two, and Andrew’s good with the “woo!”s.

It had become clear that Andrew had won over a table or two of devoted fans, at least for tonight, even before the end of his performance, so it was no surprise they called for an encore, and he obliged. I mean, he wrapped up five minutes early, so this was one of those planned encores, but still, the audience called for it. The song of choice? Blink-182’s “All the Small Things.” And talk about giving an audience exactly what they wanted – several tables were singing along!

It was definitely a good choice to catch some Andrew Geano tuneage tonight. As I noted in my last review of a Chopps performance a few weeks ago, you will occasionally upcoming performances occasionally mentioned on the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram pages. As for Andrew’s upcoming performances, the “Shows” page of his website shows that the next month packed with gigs in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and even a gig in Maine, so look there for upcoming performances near you.

Publisher’s Corner: March 16, 2024

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Yesterday, March 15, 2024, Natalie Joly released her latest single, “My Home”; image courtesy of Natalie Joly

Publisher’s Corner

March 16, 2024

It has been a few weeks since we’ve shared the latest news about some of the artists we’ve covered at the blog through the years. So let’s dive right in and update you on what’s up with some of your favorite artists (we hope).

News and Releases

We hope you enjoy our “News and Releases” section, which helps you stay up-to-date with artists we’ve reviewed at the blog.

Natalie Joly has been busy on the release front lately. Her single “My Home” was released on March 15th. Natalie talks a bit about this song here, in this Facebook post. You can see my reviews of a couple of Natalie’s prior releases here and here.

image courtesy of Major Moment

Major Moment recently released its latest single, “Victim,” the seventh single from the band’s album The Pain That Makes Us Grow, which I recently reviewed. Official release date for “Victim” was February 23rd, with a premiere on Sirius XM Octane Test Drive on February 22nd. The band has also been teasing the accompanying video, which is yet to be released.

Falling Doves recently released a cool new single, “City of Dreams.” The song became available on Bandcamp on February 28th; official release date was March 1st. You may recall reading my review of the band’s Electric Dove album here a few years ago. Well, with the new single, it’s the same band, same sound, similar vibe, totally laid-back tempo. Very cool.

Rusty G’s: I first caught power duo Rusty G’s as the opener for iconic guitarist Bernie Tormé during my “Five Nights in London” live review series. I then reviewed their album Low nearly eight years ago. The duo’s new album, Set You Free, just dropped on March 2nd. I actually haven’t had a chance to give it a listen yet, but I’m looking forward to it. While their two-person line-up might be minimalist, Rusty G’s powerful sound is huge!

image courtesy of Joe Kidd & Sheila Burke

Joe Kidd & Sheila Burke released new single “Last Time I Looked (Live 2023)” on February 14th. Several years ago, blog contributor Eric Harabadian reviewed Joe & Shiela’s “Everybody Has a Purpose.”

Chris Moreno: On March 3rd, Chris released this lyric video for “Shot At Your Heart.” Then, just yesterday, March 15th, Chris released “Chasing Sunsets.” As is so often the case with Chris Moreno’s songs, “Chasing Sunsets” is soaring pop-country that’s smooth, heartfelt, and powerful, featuring a voice that’s perfectly suited to that sub-genre. We’ve been Chris Moreno supporters for a while now – we reviewed Chris’s Into the Sun album several years ago.

Circuline: On February 23rd, cinematic progressive rock outfit Circuline released its new single “Third Rail,” the second single from the band’s upcoming album C.O.R.E. Perhaps it’s because the song is so vocal-driven (and less than five minutes long), but this is a really cool song with great flow, interesting even for those of us who aren’t full-on prog-heads. I’ve never reviewed Circuline myself (well, not until I wrote the preceding sentence), but Blog contributor Eric Harabadian reviewed the band’s Counterpoint album back in 2017.

Axminster: On February 17th, Axminster released this lyric video for “Thick N’ Thin” from the band’s Bada Boom! EP. You can see my review of Bada Boom! here, and my review of Axminster’s previous EP, Tightrope, here.

Reality Suite needed to bump back the release date of its upcoming single, “Legendary,” from its previous March 1 expected release date. No worries, though, it was just delayed by three weeks. You’ll now be able to hear the single when it’s released by DI Records on March 22nd. (It has now been two years since I reviewed Reality Suite’s hook-laden single “Triggers.”)

Haroula Rose: Yesterday, Friday, March 15th, Haroula Rose released the video for her song “Spades,” which, she notes in this Instagram post, appeared in an episode of The Brothers Sun. Of course, several years ago, I reviewed Haroula Rose’s ethereally cool Here the Blue River album.

Ashley Jordan‘s “I Haven’t Given Up Just Yet (Live)” dropped on March 2nd. She shared this video a few days earlier. Then, on YouTube on Wednesday, March 13th, Ashley released the video for her new, original song “Who You Need,” co-written with Deborah Allen. The voice, the songwriting… there’s a reason she was chosen to headline the 1st Annual Local CountryFest. Of course, you’ve also seen our review of Ashley’s album He’s Crazy here at the Blog, in addition to a couple more live reviews.

Looking Ahead at the Blog

Well, I’ve been on a bit of a writing spree lately. As you all know, that doesn’t necessarily last, but I hope you’ve discovered some of the awesome new music I’ve shared with you the last few weeks. I’m still reviewing music I received months ago, so there’s plenty more amazing music in the review queue that I can’t wait to share with you.

Publisher’s Corner: February 17, 2024

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Kristian Montgomery

Kristian Montgomery has been nominated for Listen Up music awards in three categories. Photo by Stephanie Bartik; photo courtesy of Kristian Montgomery

Publisher’s Corner

February 17, 2024

Time again for another “Publisher’s Corner” column. Last time, in January, I added a “News and Releases” section at the end of the column, with news from previously reviewed artists, making it easier to see what some of your favorite blogged-about artists are up to. This wasn’t a “coffee-and-YouTube” morning in my home today, so this “Corner” will be solely “News and Releases.” I received a little feedback that suggested you seemed to enjoy the “News and Releases” segment last month, but what do the rest of you think? Is previously-reviewed-artist news a good addition as an occasional Blog feature?

News and Releases

We hope you enjoy this new occasional feature, where we fill you in on what’s happening in the careers of old Blog favorites. You can expect some of the releases mentioned to be reviewed in upcoming blog posts, but as time and space are limited, many will not be reviewed, not necessarily governed by our fondness for the songs/albums, either.

Kristian Montgomery & the Winterkill Band: Kristian is up for a few awards at the Listen Up Awards, featuring the best artists in and around the Capital Region of New York. Kristian has been nominated in the Best Country Artist, Best Americana Artist, and Best Dressed categories. Voting for the Listen Up Awards continues through the end of February via the link on this page. Here at the Blog in recent years, we’ve reviewed three of Kristian’s albums and one of his singles.

Fondatsiata: Bulgarian supergroup Fondatsiata has announced the initial dates of the band’s Bulgarian tour, with dates scheduled from early March through early April in Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Karlovo, Haskovo, and Smolyan. Of course, here at the Blog, I reviewed the band’s metro Boston performance during its 2017 U.S. tour.

Eliza Neals – "Something's Better Than Nothing"

image courtesy of E-H Records

Eliza Neals: Decorated blues singer Eliza Neals released her latest single, “Something’s Better Than Nothing,” on February 1st. Here at the Blog, you’ve seen contributor Eric Harabadian’s reviews of Eliza’s album 10,000 Feet Below in 2017 and of her single “Sugar Daddy” in 2021.

Ayla Brown and Rob Bellamy: Congratulations to Boston-area country music favorites Ayla and Rob, who recently announced that they’re expecting baby number two. (Of course, I’ve reviewed this dynamic duo once so far, at the 3rd Annual Local CountryFest in 2019.)

Jennifer Tefft: Boston-area rock singer Jennifer Tefft’s new single “Caffeine” is slated to drop on February 23rd, with a single release show slated for the following night in Roslindale. We reviewed two of Jennifer’s singles at the Blog last year.

Carissa Johnson: Carissa’s new melancholy-meets-angsty rockin’ single “I Surrender” just dropped yesterday, February 16th. Of course, several weeks ago, I reviewed Carissa’s last single, “Congratulations.” So, Carissa, congratulations on a new kickass single.

Twisted Rose: I reviewed Twisted Rose’s melodic hard-rockin’ album Cherry Tales just a few weeks ago. Yesterday, the band released its fifth music video from the album, this one for the emotional ballad “Crossing the Line.”

Chris Moreno – "Austin"

image courtesy of Chris Moreno

Chris Moreno: Last month, Blog favorite rock/country singer-songwriter Chris Moreno released his cool new single “Austin,” on which Chris shows he hasn’t lost his touch for writing engaging songs that take full advantage of his emotional, grainy, hint-of-a-rasp voice. Here at the Blog, you may have read our review of Chris’s early album Into the Sun in 2017 and my review of one of his electric live performances shortly thereafter.

Red Sammy‘s new album Holy Fluorescent Light dropped earlier this month, on February 9th. A Blog review of the album is planned, though it currently sits buried in a months-long backlog of reviews. This is Red Sammy’s tenth studio album. A few weeks ago, we reviewed Red Sammy’s single “Some Days I Feel Crazy,” which appears on the new album.

Reality Suite: The band’s upcoming single, “Legendary,” is currently being mixed and is slated for a March 1st release by DI Records. (Two years ago, I reviewed Reality Suite’s insanely catchy single “Triggers.”)

Mark Wilkinson: Australian guitar-slinging singer-songwriter Mark Wilkinson, who starred at an incredible house concert I reviewed several years ago, has released dates for his big Australian tour in April and May of this year. I’m pretty sure all of my readers in Australia already know who he is, but even so, considered yourselves forewarned, this is a tour not to miss!

Natalie Joly – "Paint the Picture"

image courtesy of Natalie Joly

Natalie Joly: Natalie’s new single, “Paint the Picture,” dropped in January; then the video hit YouTube on February 9th On this new single, Bostonian-in-Nashville Natalie delivers a pop, rock, and perhaps just slightly country mix that’ll appeal to a broad range of music fans. Regular Blog readers may remember my reviews of Natalie’s singles “Will You Ever Stop” and “Yours to Stay” a couple years ago.

Lisa Bastoni: Yesterday, February 16th, Lisa Bastoni released “Let’s Look at Houses,” the first single from her upcoming On the Water album, which is scheduled to be released on March 8th. Back in 2021, I reviewed Lisa’s 2019 album How We Want to Live, while regular Blog contributor Eric Harabidan reviewed her 2021 EP Backyard Birds.

Kelsey Blackstone: Boston-based singer Kelsey Blackstone has announced her move to Nashville on March 1st. Congratulations to Kelsey and good luck in her new city. And Nashville, you’re really going to dig this unique new addition to your music scene. Get out and enjoy her talent once she arrives! Of course, I reviewed Kelsey’s video-award-nominated single, “When I’m With You” (with Jason LaPierre), last fall.

If you enjoyed any of the above artists when we originally reviewed them, please check out their new releases (if that’s what the “news” is). And if you’re unfamiliar with any of these artists, check them out; I’ve included links to our write-ups in each of the paragraphs so you can go back and take a look. Congrats to all of the artists featured in today’s column and to any of the Blog‘s other favorite artists whose new news I’ve missed.

How do I get included in future “News and Releases” segments?

The news items above have been pulled from e-mail newsletters and press releases (a few of you have us on your e-mail lists) and from the artists’ social media accounts (because I follow many of the artists we’ve reviewed on social media). So please make sure I’m on your mailing list. If we’ve reviewed you but you don’t have my e-mail address, you can always use my contact form until we exchange e-mails for the first time.

What if I’ve never been reviewed at the Blog?

Sure, I’m only including news about artists we’ve reviewed in these segments, but if we haven’t reviewed you yet, please make sure we’re getting your music. The “How to Send Me Music” section on my contact form explains how to send music to be considered for review. We get a lot of great music and write about only a few of our favorites each month. So if we choose to review your music, that means we really like it, but if we don’t, then it could just be because we don’t have the bandwidth to review all the great music we get. Maybe the timing wasn’t great. Maybe it’s a great song and just didn’t connect with us. (And yeah, also, maybe we just didn’t like it.) Note, too, that it can take weeks or months for your music to work its way through my review queue, so even if I select your music for review, the review will probably be published just a couple weeks after you’ve given up hope that it’ll happen. Especially now. (My backlog is insanely long right now!)

Thanks for reading! I know there wasn’t a “Coffee-and-YouTube” playlist in this “Publisher’s Corner.” Maybe next time.