Rich Tarbell- Scene Profile

Rich Tarbell was there from the jump. Like, the actual jump — first shows, floor sweat, all of it. Then somehow he ended up with a camera pass and a direct line to more rock stars than you can shake a setlist at. (Spoiler: they were mostly lovely. Except for one guy from the ’80s who clearly never got the memo that it stopped being the ’80s.) Rich sits down with us to talk Hold Steady history, the beautiful chaos of those early shows, and how a fan becomes the guy with the best seat in the house. Photo credit: Rich Tarbell Buy Rich's book here: Check out Shagwuf here: Please send us a voicemail: Please contact us at: