Rafay Rashid of Ravi Shavi
PHOTOGRAPH : COURTESY OF CHAN ’ S / PHIL RICCHIUTI PHOTOGRAPHY .
CHAN ’ S
267 Main St ., Woonsocket , 765-1900 , chanseggrollsandjazz . com Located in downtown Woonsocket for more than 120 years , Chan ’ s is a destination for blues and jazz in Rhode Island . It ’ s also the only place in the state where you can get some of the best Chinese food while enjoying live music . “ Chan ’ s is geared up for our sizzling ‘ Egg Rolls , Cool Jazz and Hot Blues Summer Series ,’” says owner John Chan . The venue has a lot going on this summer with spotlighting blues phenoms , while Rhode Island jazz legend Dan Moretti will perform with former “ American Idol ” contestant Elise Testone as part of his Soul Jazz Collaborative on Aug . 18 .
GREENWICH ODEUM
59 Main St ., East Greenwich , 885-4000 , greenwichodeum . com East Greenwich ’ s Main Street is one of the quaintest roadways in Rhode Island . A part of that charm is the historic Greenwich Odeum where national acts take the stage . “ We ’ re looking forward to another summer of great entertainment ,” says general manager Amanda Ronchi . “ Whether you ’ re a fan of rock ,
Blues at Chan ’ s .
roots , jazz , pop or reggae , we have something for everyone .” The Odeum will continue to host “ Upstairs at the Odeum ,” a curated night of jazz performed by local artists in the balcony lounge , every third Wednesday .
GALACTIC THEATRE
440 Main St ., Warren , galactictheatre . com Upholding the “ Keep Warren Weird ” promise , owner David Podsnap knows how to reel in city and small-town folks with open mic nights , live bands and impromptu comedy acts . The Galactic Theatre started out softly by showing silent movies and acoustic acts , followed by the steadily increasing volume of bluegrass , rock and blues musicians , and bands with genredefying sets . The bar is known for quirky kitchen concoctions like $ 3 hot dogs and grilled cheese , plus potent $ 8 craft cocktails and beer . There ’ s never a cover charge and you might just see Sasquatch and the Sick-a-Billys ( whose frontman is Podsnap himself ) take the stage .
NEWPORT BLUES CAFE
286 Thames St ., Newport , 841-5510 , newportblues . com The circa-1892 brownstone and
Q & A :
Rafay Rashid of Ravi Shavi
The frontman has performed with Ravi Shavi for more than a decade , but gets a bit more personal with his debut solo album , Kitchen Weapons . BY JAMIE COELHO
How did you first get involved in the local music scene ? I was born in Pakistan but came here when I was eight . I grew up in Warwick , and started my first band in high school . I was in the band Yelling Game and another band , and we would play our earliest gigs at the Living Room . I started to get immersed in the music scene when I graduated from SUNY Purchase . I started Ravi Shavi around 2011 . We played every show we could hop on . I wrote all the demos , which would become the first Ravi Shavi album while I was at Purchase . Around here , we played an awesome release show with Roz Raskin ’ s old band the Rice Cakes at Firehouse 13 . That was in 2012 . Ever since then , I ’ ve been doing Ravi Shavi and all these other side projects .
I know the genre that best describes your music is garage rock or what would you say ? Genres are always a tricky thing . We are also indie rock . We ’ re probably less genre-bound than a lot of garage rock acts I ’ ve come across .
Who is your music most inspired by ? I ’ ve heard Iggy Pop references from locals . For Ravi Shavi , it is a lot of late-seventies , earlyeighties punk rock and new wave music . I think we ’ re a lot less heavy and abrasive than a lot of the punk bands from that era , but we generally try to channel some of that spirit .
I know your stage presence comes into play with your music , so can you tell us about that energy and why you think that ’ s important ? I think there ’ s something primal when you channel the punk energy in a live performance . People respond to it , but then I ’ m also trying to combine that with old school showmanship , like James Brown . That ’ s why I am a big fan of David Byrne as well . It ’ s a visual thing when you play a show . For me , a big part of it is uncontrollable . It ’ s not something I think about consciously . It just happens .
This is your first solo album , even though you have been performing for years . What took so long ? Ravi Shavi started off as a moniker , then it became a band , especially when our guitarist Nick Politelli joined . We co-wrote everything from 2013 or so . I think when it became collaborative in that sense , anything I did solely on my own would end up as demos . The ones Nick really responded to we ended up bringing to the band . And I think for this solo album , this was the first time that the subject matter was so personal . It is essentially a breakup album , but it ’ s also about personal themes ,
92 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2023