U-Haul the Music
While I grew up in Waltham, Massachusetts, my musical heart was in Newport, RI and the fantastic scene there. It was where I discovered punk rock via an old record player in a third story bedroom. My mom grew up there and we were lucky enough to spend many summers and school vacations there hanging out with the families of my mom's two sisters, Pat and Nancy, who lived on Aquidneck Island, in Newport and Portsmouth, respectively. During my time away at college, my parents moved to Newport full time and have lived there since. The city by the sea continues to be a great place for music to this day. My cousin Johnny D, who was hip-deep in the Newport music scene, and I were close and went to many shows together. I cover some of our escapades in my Johnny Thunders piece but many of our adventures entailed going from Newport to Rhode Island's shrine for independent music, The Living Room in Providence, for shows with many of our favorite punk rock acts like Black Flag, Hus