We've seen our fair share of interesting use of guitars and related gear, but, honestly, the idea of a classical six string associated with garage rock never even remotely crossed our mind. Enter Tall Juan from Queens, NY, who begs to differ! Read what he has to say about it in our Delicious Audio post. Tall Juan will open for Beverly's record release show at Baby's All Right on May 5th.

Far Rockaway, Queens resident Tall Juan wears his Ramones influences well on the most recent EP “Why Not.” Moving from his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina to NYC's borough that gave birth to the original garage rockers shows an admirable level of devotion. Though Joey Ramone may be the obvious initial point of reference, there are elements of Richard Hell’s vocal inflections sprinkled throughout the tall young man's songs. In keeping with that era’s proto-punk ethos, all songs are approximately a minute and a half in length: opening track “Why Not” may reflect Johnny’s quick chord change progressions, but are delivered instead on an acoustic guitar. “It’s True” (streaming) channels the buoyant rhythm of “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” with lyrical content closer to “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” Third track “I Don’t Know What To Do” clocks in at barely over a minutes and leans a bit closer to Hell’s legendary and overlooked Voidoids. Final track is a cover of the Dee Dee penned “Chinese Rock” that playfully interprets its lyrics. Tall Juan will be playing one more show in New York at Berlin on January 9th, before heading out on a European tour that will continue on through the month of February. by Dave Cromwell

I wonder how many musicians move to NYC just because of their love for The Ramones. It feels like garage rock has been in vogue in NYC since the beginning of time, and Baby's All Right tomorrow night will celebrate the most NYC centric of all genres with a trio of quality local artists. The Britanys (Deli Artist of the Month earlier this year and recently part of our CMJ shows) will headline the bill, sharing the stage with psych-garage rockers Acid Dad, another band that's getting some deserved buzz these days. But in this post we'll focus our attention on opening artist Tall Juan (pictured), since he just released a new EP entitled "Why Not?," where his mercurial and whimsical songwriting reaches new heights. The Queens via Buenos Aires artist got his EP recorded and mixed by Mac DeMarco, with whom he shares a bizarre attitude, an uninhibited vocal delivery and a preference for clean guitar sounds. 

Blending garage and rockabilly, Tall Juan plays music that's unpretentious and fun. The Brooklyn via Buenos Aires musician also enjoys relevant connections: after recording (streaming) single "Falling Down" with Mac DeMarco, he left for a few east coast gigs with friend and Captured Tracks' artist Juan Wauters, who also happens to play drums for him (to reciprocate, Tall plays bass in his band). You can see Tall Juan live at Shea Stadium on March 8.