popular thinking

ROBBY ROADSTEAMER'S BEST WEEK EVER?

Ha! Just ask the comedian/musician, as I did.

When VH1’s "Best Week Ever" writers looked for a way to make fun of Kevin Federline’s aspiring rap career, they linked to Robby Roadsteamer’s online music video "I Put a Baby in You!"
But don’t expect Roadsteamer to claim this is his best week ever.
"Every week is the best week ever," he said. "I’m blessed. I have the best band in Boston. I have the best body in Boston."
And the women.
"Look at this month alone. We cut our first album, which will be out through Mass Appeal. We’re putting out our first DVD. I’m doing WBCN (104.1 FM). I’m doing the Middle East downstairs New Year’s Eve with my band. All I have to do is blink at a girl and I’m at third base.
"I used to have to take girls to Hilltop . . . now I can go to Arby’s."
No one ever accused Roadsteamer, who put the rumble in this year’s WBCN Rock ’N’ Roll Rumble, of being a nice guy.
He antagonizes both his audience and his keyboard player, Nick D’Amico, while belting out tunes with a growling swagger.
"I’m the type of guy, I walk into a room . . . I’m not leaving unless I’m working somebody’s windpipe or I’ve gotten some girl pregnant," Roadsteamer said. "Johnny Cash went to some prison with a bunch of guards to protect him? I once performed a show in a VFW hall in Chicopee, Mass. You talk about a show that should be put on record."
Roadsteamer performs this weekend with only D’Amico as musical accompaniment, then next weekend with the full band at the Middle East downstairs for a Hurricane Katrina benefit.
He prefers solo work "because I keep all the money."
"Everybody wants to bring up their stupid ideas with their stupid instruments," he said. "The audience doesn’t care. They just want to see my body. The guys could play the wrong chords with chocolate guitars. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about me."
Which means Thanksgiving in the Roadsteamer household won’t be all gravy.
"There’s a lot of awkward eye contact at the dinner table," he said. "My uncle wants to talk about why I’ve got a tattoo of myself on my chest. I want to talk about why I didn’t get to have a dog when I was a kid."
Roadsteamer has other plans.
"I think Thanksgiving, I’m just going to be bulking up, working on the Soloflex, making sure I look good for (the show)," he said.

Robby Roadsteamer, tonight and tomorrow at The Comedy Studio, 1236 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. 8 p.m. Tickets: $10; 617-661-6507. For more Roadsteamer, go to www.roadsteamer.com