Sound Advice: Jonathan Richman to Bring His Ever-Expanding Musical Style to Antioch College

This story is featured in CityBeat’s Feb. 21 print edition.

One of the most unique and original voices in modern music, Jonathan Richman makes a local appearance at the end of the month at the Foundry Theater in Yellow Springs.

Richman has generated a cult following over the course of his career that began with influential punk precursor band The Modern Lovers and has continued in an ever-expanding body of work.

Originally from the Boston area, Richman formed The Modern Lovers as a teenager in 1970 with Jerry Harrison on keyboards, who was later a member of the Talking Heads; drummer David Robinson, who later joined The Cars; and bassist Ernie Brooks. Richman and the band began under the influence of bands like The Velvet Underground and The Stooges and early rock and roll.

Their self-titled album, The Modern Lovers, is regularly ranked on “Best Of” lists and considered a building block of punk and many alternative styles that came after. The record is made up of demos recorded by John Cale of The Velvet Underground and other sessions with producers throughout 1972 but not released until 1976, though the band had broken up by 1974.

Richman went forward with Robinson and another iteration of the group with the self-titled Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers (1976) before Robinson left and Richman worked solo with different backing musicians, starting with the fantastical and softer-edged Rock ‘n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers in 1977.

The songs maintained the originality of the first recordings, continuing his loose, often infectious writing style that is all innocence and originality.

He continued with releases throughout the ‘80s before formally going solo with another self-titled album, Jonathan Richman, in 1989.

Richman began performing with longtime collaborator, drummer Tommy Larkins, in the early ‘90s. The two are featured throughout the Farrelly Brothers’ 1998 cult classic comedy There’s Something About Mary, accenting points in the story with song. Richman also makes an appearance in the Farrelly Brothers’ Kingpin (1996) and Fever Pitch (2005).

His seemingly ever-expanding interests know no boundaries and have added more and more styles and coloring to his work, including elements from music from around the world, like Impressionist composers Debussy and Ravel.

Richman’s recent work — the full-length album Want to Visit My Inner House? (2021) and 2023 EP Yatasamaroun — again features Harrison on keyboards.

Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins perform at the Foundry Theater at Antioch College on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Info: antiochcollege.edu/events.

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