Seen: Steve Earle, Ghost Hunters + More

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Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Leah Michaels, GoLocalProv Contributor

The 14th Rhythm and Roots Festival this weekend provided storm-weary Rhode Islanders with some relaxing musical respite and some big names in music. Legendary acoustic guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson played a solo acoustic set and cracked jokes, while Steve Earle (who has also published a novel this spring, and has been featured on HBO's The Wire and Treme), played a long set and was seen later at the festival signing CDs and mingling with fans. Other highlights were the lead singer of The Mavericks Raul Malo, who posed with fans after his performance, and The 7 Walkers, made up of members of The Grateful Dead and The Funky Meters. The festival was a great chance for families to enjoy the nice weather while listening to some truly iconic roots musicians, and I can’t wait to see who will be lined up to play next year… 

Get prepared to be scared, because this week Rhode Island is being featured on not one, but two spooky television shows. First, on Wednesday night a new episode of Ghost Hunters will air on SyFy. In the episode, the

Warwick-based Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) will investigate some paranormal occurrences at Seaview Terrace in Newport. The group is led by RI plumbers Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, who discover some pretty compelling evidence of spirits and spooks in the historic locale where gothic soap Dark Shadows was filmed. And on Thursday, a new documentary called Haunted RI is premiering on WSBE Rhode Island PBS. Starring Brian Harnois of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International, the show looks into the legends of vampire Mercy Brown and the mysterious death of Peleg Walker at Ramtail Mill. As of now it’s being shown as a pilot for a possible series, so if it gets picked up you could be seeing the creepier parts of Rhode Island much more frequently… 

Did you know one of the best-known sportscasters of our time got his start in humble Providence? ESPN SportsCenter anchor Chris “Boomer” Berman had his first media gig while studying at Brown University as a sports reporter for local station WBRU, and last week he was in the area, but this time he was playing a sport. He participated in the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship Pro-Am golf tournament at TPC Boston in Norton, playing with pro

golfer Padraig Harrington. Also teeing off in the tourney was the GM of the Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge, along with multiple big names in golf. I wonder if every time Berman hit a long drive he would say, “back, back, back…” 

If you said that the Dropkick Murphys and Kanye West would perform at the same event, I’d probably say that you’re dreaming. But this unexpected pairing actually did happen last weekend at the Call of Duty XP Event in Los Angeles. The event let gamers play COD: Modern Warfare 3 for the first time, plus a live paintball tournament, plus a COD tournament with a big cash prize. The Irish punk rockers from Boston opened the event on Friday night, and Kanye closed it on Saturday with a surprise appearance from Kid Cudi. And if you want to see the Dropkicks for yourself, you’re in luck because they’ll be playing at frontman Ken Casey’s Providence bar The Whiskey Republic next Friday night for the Shamrock-n-Roll Festival… 

Apparently the place to be this weekend was MGM Grand at Foxwoods. On Friday night, legendary rapper Snoop Dogg hosted the First Fridays outdoor pool party. And on Sunday, Jersey Shore star JWoww entertained guests of the resort for “Liquid Sundays” with her musician boyfriend Roger Matthews. Too bad Rhode Island’s Jersey Shore boy Pauly D couldn’t be there, but he was too busy preparing to DJ Kim Kardashian’s party for Fashion’s Night Out in NY this Thursday and working on his upcoming album with 50 Cent…

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