Above The Basement - Boston Music and Conversation

In our conversation with Austin’s Darden Smith​ last year, we covered some of the history of Americana. Recently Ronnie was on a call with Mr. Smith who highly recommended getting in touch with Rob Bleetstein - who we shall learn had co-coined the term Americana in the 90s.

Rob has been a connoisseur of several genres of music since he was a kid, and they all share one common thread: Culture.

Rob entered the radio world with guns blazing, becoming an archivist for New Riders of the Purple Sage / NRPS​. In recent years he became producer of Pearl Jam Radio​ while sharing his ongoing expertise as host of Grateful Dead​ Radio, both on SiriusXM​.

Ronnie mentioned to his brother-in-law Cory that Mr. Bleetstein would be a guest on ATB, and Cory, being a Pearl Jam​ super-fan, simply stated, “Wow, you’re going to talk to The Rob.” That certainly set our expectations high for this conversation.

Rob highlighted his love for the live experience, and how the common thread of music fandom culture transcends genres. He also gave us a perspective on just how important Pearl Jam fans are to the musicians and how the fans in return emulate their missions and causes.