Bob Comtois

I was working a Saturday at Harvard Sq.'s Briggs and Briggs Music.
It was busy. CD's were relatively new. My manager asked me to get the tribal CDs by me (Pygmies of the Ituri Forest), I reached for them on…

I performed for years on Boston's streets. 
In 1983 part of my band backed a woman singer, 
just  bass, drums, bkp vocals and my beautifully 
electronic sounding  electric mandolin, 
Some big dramatic moves I did occasionally.
We played in front…

We started our second of four sets on a beautiful Summer eve, 
playing in front of Ann Taylor's Fasions.
I sang the first song and the crowd was already so big we had to back up.
We played that first…

Our band, The Verbs, that often played on the street in Boston/Cambridge 
got a gig opening for Richie Haven at Nightstage.
Two shows and when it came for our second set, we were introduced by a woman
dressed entirely in…

     "Me and Andy Kaufman"  

I attended the now defunct Graham Junior College and studied radio and TV broadcasting.  

Muffler, a kid from my hometown, attended Graham as well. I ran into him after the holidays and he told me that…

My sound

So, I was laid off from a bookstore chain. I decided to get a Boston Street singing permit. Somehow I don't remember getting one, but at Park Street Station I saw this fellow singing "Please come to Boston"…

Back in the '80's, girls would come into the record store I worked at and would say, 

"Excuse me, Tearsssssssssss for Fearsssssssss." 

"Right here", I might say. 

"Oh, like... cassettesssssssssss..." 

"They're uptairssssssssssssss", I was known to say. 

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Tell yourself that you will write a song in the morning (when you are not busy. 

Wake up and make your coffee. Having that, grab your notebook, a pencil with eraser. 

Drink your coffee. 

No TV or computer on. 

Sit…

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For years I sold and reordered folk music records then CDs at Harvard Sq.’s Briggs and Briggs music. They referred to me as “Folk Expert”. We no doubt did our word play on that  (Tom Lehrer would listen in…

After my glory days of playing on the streets of Boston and  Cambridge for 2 million people in ten years, not to mention the gigs we got when people saw the crowd around us, I would hang on my lunch…