In a little over a week, the Providence Performing Arts Center will come alive with the sounds of “Cool Summer Nights,” a series of concerts at the downtown theater featuring ticket prices as low as $10.
Kicking off the series on June 22 is the world’s #1 Bruce Springsteen tribute band, Bruce in the USA. Then, on Saturday, July 13, a pair of legendary local bands, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band with special guests Steve Smith & the Nakeds take the PPAC stage. The series wraps up with yacht rock favorites Yachtley Crew on Saturday, July 27th.
Long-time Rhode Island music fans won’t want to miss the July 13th show with RI Music Hall of Fame inductees Beaver Brown, a group known for their epic live shows. I spoke with Cafferty, who continues to tour, playing well over 50 shows a year more than 50 years after rising up out of the beach bars along the East Coast. “It’s a roller coaster ride of a schedule,” he noted.
“There’s a great wealth of talent around here, a lot of them are in the RI Music Hall of Fame, including my cousin Steve Smith,” said Cafferty. “Me and Stevie grew up in the same house, played in our first bands together. To be in our 70s and to be headlining at PPAC is quite a thrill for both of us.”
“We played PPAC a few times back in the day, coming home from our first big tour, we played a few sold-out nights there,” recalled Caffery. “What a thrill that was, having grown up in North Providence. We played with Southside Johnny there a couple years back, we’ve known those guys forever, we played the Jersey shore a lot.” That concert in August 2021 was the first event held at PPAC after the pandemic.
The band played to devoted fans throughout the 1970s and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s when their songs were featured in the film, Eddie & The Cruisers. The hit single “On the Dark Side” was #1 on the Billboard Rock charts and the MTV video charts for five consecutive weeks. And the album, Eddie & The Cruisers- Motion Picture Soundtrack sold over 3 million copies. Not too shabby for a bar band from Rhode Island.
Cafferty still gets excited about playing live. “All these years later, to have a guitar in front of you, and a great band beside you is still a dream in the making,” he said. “It’s something that I wanted to do when I was a kid, and I’ve been able to do it my whole life. I got to make music, travel and meet people from all around the world. Other than getting married and my kids being born, some of the greatest nights in my life have been with a guitar in my hand. Its amazing to be still doing it after all these years.”
Eddie and the Cruisers was a big break for the band, and the exposure led to the band appearing on numerous movie soundtracks including Rocky 1V, There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber. “We got a lot of recognition for the work that we did for Eddie and the Cruisers; you sort of become one of those guys that people recognize for being able to write a good tune or two for film, and we started getting calls. Sly Stallone really liked us, we did a couple of songs for his films.”
In recent years, RI’s Farrelly Brothers have used the band’s music in their films. “Whenever they can, they try to get local talent involved in whatever project they are working on, whether with music and bands or actors, or extras,” said Cafferty. We just had a song ‘Day in the Sun,’ which Peter Farrelly put in his new movie, Ricky Stanicky.”
Meanwhile, the band is close to completing a new album. “We are finishing a new album as we speak,” Cafferty shared. “It’s all new stuff, we released a couple of singles last summer, we’ll a little behind schedule, but after all these years, it will be done when its done. We just want it to be great. We’ve gotten a great reception so far.”
The band has enjoyed remarkable staying power, particularly in the age of digital music.
“There are more than a handful of bands in Rhode Island that have lasted decades, it’s just who they are, they weren’t in it for the short run,” said Cafferty. “They’re lifelong musicians, they’re craftsmen. As the years go on, you get better at what you’re doing, of course you can’t do it seven nights a week anymore, like you used to. But you have a deeper understanding of what you are doing, and your skill level is more refined.”
Click here for tickets to the show.
My husband and I met at a club where Beaver Brown was playing. We followed them when they played at the cape and all throughout RI. We still go to their concerts when they play at PPAC and the Stadium. We’ve been married for 46 years and it all started with our meeting dancing to the bands music.