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DITCHWATER REGION RUMBLE 2006 |
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DITCHWATERby Corine Jurgerson
It’s all about “persistence, the will to survive and the mind set to keep striving ahead to achieve a goal” for rockers Ditchwater.
Like many bands, the guys of Ditchwater have had their share of ups and downs, but have managed to overcome obstacles such as lineup changes and are pushing forward to spread their music to the masses.
There is strong support for this band both locally and nationally: James Van Osdel, formerly of 94.7 FM called their sound – “Honest, and honestly good, Chicago Rock.”
Grebo of Vanity Project Fanzine describes Ditchwater as – “A top quality American metal band that sound like they are ready to take on the world.”
That being said, hold high expectations for a strong performance by Ditchwater when they hit the Region Rumble stage.
Ditchwater are Mike Meadows on vocals, Mark Anderson on guitar, Mike “JR.” Friese on guitar, John O’Reilly on bass and Jason Angone on drums.
The band’s current incarnation began back in April of 2002, but really started to flourish in late 2004 when Anderson and Meadows decided to focus on establishing a new sound for the band. It wasn’t long before Friese, Angone and O’Reilly were added to the mix, and Ditchwater as we know them today hit the local music scene.
Most of Ditchwater’s lyrics are written by Anderson and Meadows and are open to listener interpretation.
“We have no specific agenda or politics,” Anderson said. “Most of the songs are just about self-experience and life. They’re whatever the listener interprets them to be about.”
While numerous demos and EP’s have been recorded by the various versions of the band, their most recent recording endeavors include Live at the Metro, which was released via emusic in May of 2004 and Persistence, a 4- song promo CD released in June of 2005.
Persistence was produced by Chris Djuricic of Wisconsin, and debuts a more diverse Ditchwater sound, showcasing the mix of memorable vocal melodies, aggressive guitars and tight grooves laid down by the bass and drums.
Their music has received airplay on local Chicago stations 94.7 FM (formerly “The Zone”), 101.1 FM Q101 and X-ROCK 103.9, as well as radio stations in Madison, Wisconsin, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts and Belgium.
The guys have also worked the Internet radio circuit, promoting their sounds on web stations such as Indie Radio Live, Scrub Radio, KNAC and more.
Such exposure has allowed them opportunities to open shows for such national acts as – Mudvayne, Soil, Brand New Sin, Adema, Otep, No One, Lennon and Shortie.
All of this promotion has been done with hopes of propelling Ditchwater to the national level. The band is currently seeking their “big break”, and have been sending out press kits to a variety of industry contacts.
Ditchwater are looking forward to participating in the Region Rumble lineup because they haven’t had the opportunity to play in Northwest Indiana for at least three years. Meadows has attended almost all of the past Rumbles and is happy that he will finally get to be on the other side this year instead of just a spectator.
“It’s the only opportunity for us to play in the area,” Anderson explained. According to Anderson, most Northwest Indiana venues do not accommodate their sound or fan base, making it difficult for them to promote their original sound.
After the Midwest BEAT Magazine’s 2006 Region Rumble, the band hopes to continue to play in the Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana area as much as possible and also have plans to head back into the studio in the spring of 2006 to record a full-length album.
“We hope that people will listen to our music with an open mind – we play a style that isn’t really popular right now,” Anderson said. “We’re simply a hard rock band. We hope that people will ignore the negativity often associated with local music and judge us on our music alone.”
For more information about Ditchwater, visit their website at: www.ditchwater.com
SATCH DITCHWATER ON JANUARY 14 AT MIDWEST BEAT MAGAZINE’S 7TH ANNUAL REGION RUMBLE AT THE STAR PLAZA THEATRE IN MERRILLILLVILLE, INDIANA
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