Ron Asheton, the mega-influential guitarist with the Stooges, died yesterday at age 60 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's sad news, but at least Asheton was able to experience some much deserved acclaim in his last few years, when the surviving Stooges reunited for a new album, entitled The Weirdness, and a tour that brought the band to the Fillmore Auditorium for a satisfyingly twisted performance. Read a review of that April 2007 gig by clicking here.
I was fortunate enough to interview Asheton f
​According to Cymbals Eat Guitars 20-year-old frontman Joseph D'Agostino, Lou Reed didn't want a lot of cymbals on the first three Velvet Underground albums because "cymbals eat guitars," which explains the copious amounts of floor toms on those early discs. While that might have inspired the band's moniker, there's still a fair amount of cymbals on the band's debut, Why There Are Mountains, but they get lost the thickness of D'Agostino's J. Mascis-esque guitar tone. The band, which D'Agostino
