Rich Restaino & The Obits - ProfilesArchive

About Me

View Rich Restaino's EPK
Rich Restaino is a songwriter and musician based in Austin, TX. A man of eclectic tastes and talents, he divides his time between his solo work, no fewer than two performing bands at a time, recording, cooking kick-ass food, and working a day job.
Current projects include The Late Fees , Sara Shanksy, and The Lennings . Restaino has also played with acts such as Mr. Brown (reggae), Zach Whitney (country rock), and The Boxcar Angels (folk). He runs and produces records for his own tiny indie imprint, madhouse! records. He has been hard at work on material for his next solo record, and rehearsing a band for his solo material. He is available for bookings through requests to this site and here .
“Will Rich Restaino be Austin's version of Randy Newman? Just listen to his new CD, Revisionary Man, and you will see what I mean. Rich is intellectual (he's on his way to becoming a certified history teacher) and funny (well, he has a song written from his dog's perspective—‘Good Boy'), and well versed in the disconnects associated with too much drinking. . .”
—Duggan Flanakan, Flanfire
“Revisionary Man is the work of a man struggling to find his footing in both the musical and physical worlds. Restaino's work is all over the place inspirationally, and as a result the record seems like an Ellis Island for musical and lyrical themes. Bring us your country, bring us your pop, and bring us your rock n' roll and folk. It's all here and though it was an extremely ambitious undertaking that could have resulted in a train wreck by a less talented artist, it works beautifully here.”
—Whoopsy!, Feb. 2006
Click on the links to check out madhouse! records releases
Rich Restaino at Flipnotics, Austin, TX, Jan, 2007
"So it Goes" by Rich Restaino -- inspired by Kurt Vonnegut

Add to My Profile | More Videos
Rich Restaino, “Good Boy (Bailey's Song)”

Rich Restaino, “Grand Old Party”

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/29/2005
Band Website: myspace.com/richrestaino
Band Members: THE OBITS:
Rich Restaino: electric, acoustic, & baritone guitars; lead vocals
Dave Wylie: drums
Zimmy 45: bass
Sara Shansky: backing vocals
Elizabeth Ivey: backing vocals
Roz Mandola: backing vocals
Lloyd Wright: keyboards
Hunt Wellborn: guitar

Pre-Order New CD by Rich Restaino & The Obits

Read About Our Premiums Below and Select the Level That Matches Your Budget and Committment.
Then Click Here to Send a Message of Your Interest $10: "Entry Level"

For less than the price of most CDs, you will receive 1 copy of the new CD by Rich Restaino & The Obits PLUS: Your name will be listed in the liner notes! (That's sweet!)
$20: "Bonus Level"

This level gets you 1 copy of the new CD by Rich Restaino & The Obits Your name will be listed in the liner notes, plus A bonus CD of demos and unreleased tracks of Rich solo, The Late Fees, and other friends
30: "Honor Roll Level"

This level gets you 2 copies of the new CD by Rich Restaino & The Obits (give one to a friend) Your name will be listed in the liner notes Take your choice of a copy of my last solo CD, "Revisionary Man," or "The Late Fees" CD. A bonus CD of demos and unreleased tracks of Rich solo, The Late Fees, and other friends $50: "Executive Level" This level gets you 2 copies of the new CD by Rich Restaino & The Obits Your name will be not only be in the liner notes, but you will receive an album credit of "Executive Producer" (the money people!). Show it off at parties to prove you're "in the music business." Your choice of a copy of my last solo CD, "Revisionary Man," or "The Late Fees" CD. A bonus CD of demos and unreleased tracks of Rich solo, The Late Fees, and other friends. A personalized song by Rich, depicting you as the heroic character you are (please allow up to 6 months for the song to be written, recorded, and sent!)
Influences: MUSIC:
First is my family (Pop, Uncle Steve, Bro Steve, Melissa, Bro Matt.) Second are my buddies through the years (Danny, Nehal, KDB, Adarsh, Puneet, Jarrod, Jason, Jay D, Matt Beer, Quirk, Caywood, Alec, Zach, Neil, KB, Rubin, Daniel Serrato, Buddha, Bigga, Leary, all the Fees, Lennings, & Dubkids, etc. ) NO.3 are the "famous folk": Elvis, Carl, Cash, Roy, Jerry Lee, Bobby D, The Beatles, Joe Strummer (& The Clash), Tom Waits, The Band, Leonard Cohen, Warren Zevon, The Stones, Ween, Randy Newman, Elvis Costello, Doug Sahm, Tupelo/Son Volt, Springsteen, David Byrne (& Talking Heads), The Pogues, Neil Diamond, Stephen Malkmus (& Pavement), The Ramones, Hank Williams, Mr. Bungle, Zappa, Beck, Cody ChestnuTT, Ani DiFranco, Taj Mahal, Dan Reeder, Michelle Shocked, They Might Be Giants, The Damnations, Prescott Curlylwolf, The Gourds, Redd Volkaert, Eliza Gilkynsen, The Wailers, Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff, Mark Ribot, The Meters, Marvin Gaye, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Sam Cooke, Dion, Buddy Holly, doo-wop, hard bop, syrupy pop, ad infinitum.

LIT:
Chalres Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, Franz Kafka, Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Kerouac, James Baldwin, Ernest Hemmingway, Will Self, Tom Robbins, Gwaith Mulligan, etc., etc.

POLITICS:
Che Guevarra, Paulo Freire, Ludvik Valcluik, Noam Chompsky, John Brunetti, Eugene V. Debs, Al "I Ain't Your Pal" Sharpton (I met him a few times, and he's a formidable mofo.)

LIFE:
Every mad, wonderful fucker I've ever had the pleasure to meet, observe or hear about over the din of some noisy bar.
Sounds Like: Peanut butter on the roof of a dog's mouth—in four-part harmony, with angry cat accompaniment.
Record Label: madhouse! records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

THE OBITS Op/Ed or Why I’m Up for Work at 6:30AM and Still Excited

It's the morning after the latest rehearsal of The Obits (or, as Neil has taken to calling us, Dick & The Danglers. . . or Rich & The Grudge Fucks). All good names, and I can't say I'm not tempted by ...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:38:00 PST

Race and Power: Debunking the "Thats Right I'm White" Screed. (Please Repost)

Recently I became re-acquainted with a little diatribe that attempts to make a case that whites are somehow oppressed by a society that calls them racist while not holding minorities accountable for s...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Mon, 07 May 2007 01:27:00 PST

SXSW: Austin at its best (and worst)

There are many things about Austin, TX that are great, and most of them take place throughout the year and are appreciated (and taken for granted) on a daily basis by the locals. I count myself ...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:49:00 PST

The many musical sides of RFR

So far I'm booked for three shows in November, each of which with a different group and in a different kind of performance space. If some adventurous spirit were to attend all three, is is what ...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:42:00 PST

RECORDING THE LATE FEES ALBUM!

Recording has begun at madhouse! studios for the upcoming album by The Late Fees, which has been teased, promised, threatened, etc. for some time now. There had been negotiations with a new upst...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Tue, 20 Jun 2006 06:54:00 PST

End of an Ear show Cancelled / New Show instead

Because we had nothing to sell or give away, The Late Fees decided to cancel the in-store at End of an Ear Records for Friday. We had expected to have some copies of the demos to give away, but ...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Sat, 03 Jun 2006 03:30:00 PST

NYC trip

Elzie and I will be leaving for NY soon for the occassion of the wedding of my sister Melissa to Matthew Kourie. It's going to be a great trip, emotional for me, since Missy is my kid sister.&nb...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Wed, 24 May 2006 02:01:00 PST

Playing Restaurants

OK, so I played two shows this week, both at restaurants, and I had two pretty distinct experiences. Let me lay out the scene for you:Tues. 4/4, El Mercado: This South Austin joint is a re...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Thu, 06 Apr 2006 01:45:00 PST

Solo shows coming up

For the last couple of months all of my musical efforts have been directed towards The Late Fees and making sure our debut shows came off like a prom dress. Well, mission accomplished. Zim...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Wed, 08 Mar 2006 01:08:00 PST

The CD - Thanks and Spanks

I reallize that I never properly thanked everyone who helped me give birth to my CD, and I'd feel crappy if I didn't, so here -- in no particular order -- is the madhouse! honor role:Elizabeth: my lad...
Posted by Rich Restaino & The Obits on Thu, 19 Jan 2006 07:21:00 PST