What is a man to do after a career spent touring with such rock
‘n’ roll royalty as David Crosby, Tom Petty and Bob
Dylan? In the case of former Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, the next
logical direction was a merry band of best-selling authors known as
The Rock Bottom Remainders.
“The Byrds were just a stepping stone so I could get into
The Rock Bottom Remainders,” McGuinn said. “I’ve
never done anything more fulfilling. The Remainders take music to a
whole different level than The Byrds ever did.”
Billed as “the literary world’s answer to The
Rolling Stones,” The Remainders feature rock star wannabes
who know less than three chords and practice a song less than three
times. Yet they have somehow recruited a folk-rock pioneer in
McGuinn to join their Fire in the Belly Tour. McGuinn and The
Remainders will deliver foolishness, fun and maybe a little music
to the Festival of Books Saturday at 4 p.m.
The brainchild of former literary publicist/part-time musician
Kathi Kamen Goldmark, The Remainders was born in 1992 at the
American Booksellers Association convention in Anaheim. This
one-shot gig developed into an institution that currently features
all-star writers Stephen King (unable to perform due to schedule
conflicts), Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, James
McBride, Roy Blount Jr., Ridley Pearson, Greg Iles and “The
Simpsons” creator Matt Groening.
“The way I got to know them was through Carl Hiaasen, a
part-time Remainder,” McGuinn said. “He wrote a book
called “˜Sick Puppy’ a few years ago, and he named the
dog after me, McGuinn. I got to know him, and he mentioned to me
that he went on the road with The Rock Bottom Remainders sometimes
and what great fun it was. He put me in touch with them, and I went
on tour with them two years ago.”
McGuinn’s music influenced everyone from The Beatles to
R.E.M., but classics like “Mr. Tambourine Man” and
“Turn, Turn, Turn” are in danger of being butchered by
lead guitarist and humorist Dave Barry.
“The people who tune our guitars can play better than I
can,” Barry said. “We still do attempt to play rock
‘n’ roll in the sense that we’re loud. We succeed
on a loudness level.”
Remainders fans break into frenzy during the band’s
rendition of “Wild Thing” and Amy Tan’s
dominatrix-inspired “These Boots are Made for Walking.”
The group will expect greatness out of McGuinn as well.
“They call me a “˜ringer,’ somebody who really
knows how to play,” McGuinn said.
“We bring Roger out to sort of shock the audience,”
Barry added. “”˜Oh, that’s what music sounds
like.'”
The soft-spoken Barry believes McGuinn is following the path
that all driven musicians follow.
“When (musicians) really want to make it, they play with
The Remainders,” Barry said. “In 1994, Bruce
Springsteen played with The Remainders. He got on stage and did
“˜Gloria.’ If you look, his career took off after that.
He is now very famous. I’m not going to take all the credit
““ he’s a very talented individual ““ but he did
play with The Remainders. I think he would be nothing today if it
weren’t for us.”
Though the promise of stardom is enticing, McGuinn is satisfied
just to tour with some nutty and highly delusional authors for the
sake of raising funds for the charity program America Scores.
“It’s very much like touring with musicians, but
(authors) are a lot funnier,” McGuinn said. “It’s
constant crack-up from morning to night. It’s for a great
cause, and we just have a lot of fun.”