Hard as it is to believe, the lone surviving member of power-pop legends Big Star, original drummer Jody Stephens, is in town tonight at the Brighton Music Hall in Boston for a “Boston Tribute To Alex Chilton.” The evening includes performances by Sister Lovers, an actual Big Star tribute band, and guest vocalists ranging from Christian McNeil, Dennis Brennan, Ruby Rose Fox, and Will Dailey, among others, as well as veteran “Rolling Stone” music journalist and author Holly George-Warren, who will read passages from her new book on Chilton entitled, “A Man Called Destruction.” (go here for tix: http://bit.ly/1IGcl4d). Some years ago, I had the opportunity to interview both the man of the hour himself as well as Stephens when the latter was touring with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris and the rest of the alt-country super-group, Golden Smog. Of course, we chatted a bit about his first band and its profound influence on the dudes in the Smog. He was supremely modest, as usual. All these years later, Jody remains one of the most genuinely nice, forthcoming guys you could ever hope to talk to. Here’s the bulk of my Q&A with him for Rolling Stone. There are also several other Big Star-related links and pieces for those of us who, as the Replacements’ Paul Westerberg once sang, “never travel far without a little Big Star.” Please feel free to share with the Big Star fan(s) in your life!