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For Immediate Release |
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LOCAL
MUSIC NEWS COLUMN
by Tom Lounges LOCAL
MUSIC NEWS COLUMN
BEAT
BASHES & EVENTS ON TAP…
Hard to believe that summer is already waning...or maybe that
should be “raining”...since that is all it has done these last
several weeks! Regardless,
the fact of the matter is that Fall is just around the corner!
We never did get around to doing that BEAT
Golf Outing (next year!), so we are going to host a real musical wing
ding to usher out this soggy summer.
Join us at The Sandbox
Lounge in Roselawn on August
16 for our seven band -- “End
Of Summer Sand Bash!”
The event kicks off with with three artists
–– Dog & Butterfly, The
Heavies and Steve Vansak
–– playing “in the sand” outdoors from 6-9 p.m.
It will carry on from 9p.m. to 2am inside with
full sets by four great bands –– The Mack Creek Band, Dayna Malow,
Pete Berwick & The Renegades and Eat A Peach.
Somewhere in between all the music we are going to host a Wet
T-Shirt Contest for cash prizes and also give away a couple pairs of
tickets to the August 29 Lynyrd Skynyrd concert at the Lake County
Fairground and other prizes! SOME
ENCHANTED EVENING… ABATE of Indiana are hosting their “23rd
Annual Ride For A Cure,” which raises money for Muscular
Dystrophy research. This year’s ride
takes place on August 23 at
the Porter County Fairgrounds in Valparaiso. An evening concert by one
of America’s fave biker bands, Blue
Oyster Cult, will conclude the ride. Call for ride and/or show information: (219) 345-2906, (219) 759-5193 or (219) 931-4652. Support this event! SMOOTH
“MILES” AHEAD FOR JAZZ FANS… •
Hoosier and South Side jazz fans will be happy to hear that “Miles
Ahead,” the mainstream jazz radio program that originates
out of Chicago, is celebrating its third year of broadcasting by
adding two more hours of live programming by host Mark
Ruffin via 1470 AM (WCFJ), which begins at 2:00 p.m.
The earlier show hours will take effect on August 4th.
Ruffin, a former jazz host for national public radio outlet, WBEZ, is currently an Emmy Award-winning jazz correspondent for WTTW-TV’s music program, “Artbeat Chicago.” Ruffin is also jazz editor for “Chicago Magazine” and a freelance radio program and record producer. For more info on the program, log on: www.MilesAheadJazz.com “BEAT
BUZZ” –– The Summer’s Latest Fashion
A long-time supporter
and fan of Midwest BEAT, Reyna showed up at the gig with our magazine name
shaved into the side of his head.
Ya gotta love a dedicated guy like Mike...and we do!!! Now if only he would invite us over for some of those
legendary Tamales that gave the band it’s name...
Now to see if others
will follow Reyna’s lead and make our name/logo part of their own
fashion statement. Ladies…
Consider custom carving some clever “Beat Beavers” instead
of those Hitler mustaches and you could win something besides our
undying appreciation…
Along with Tamallicka, helping us rock the night away at the
“Mid-Summer Bash” last month was Closed
World and The Bones.
Each of the six twentysomethings who
constitute the talented ensemble
contributes remarkable chops to their live show. Their
individual and collective talent, combined with their strong original
songwriting, enticed former Kansas violinist David
Ragsdale, to contribute two guest performances on the young
group’s self-titled debut CD.
BAND
BITS… •
Former Tamallicka/Dirty
Dreams guitarist, Mike
Rapchak, has put together a brand new original hard rock group
called, Diktater. The
four-piece group has been locked away writing and recording for
several weeks and have completed a 13-song demo CD.
They are now ready to add a few cover songs to the mix and
start flexing their musical muscles on local club stages.
For more info and dates: www.Diktaterband.com
•
Local heavy metal guitarist Stevenvy
has officially parted ways with regional club band, Mas Kaos. The
parting gives the string bender more time to focus on his two other
band projects, the all original Satanic
Cowboys, and Ronnie James Dio tribute band, Lady
Dio. • Vocalist/frontman
Jason Fosnaugh is leaving
local hard rock favorites, Trauma, to join up with the Michigan
City-based -- Killjoy.
Killjoy –– dual guitarists Mike
Tanber and Lee Scott,
bassist Chris Glanz and
drummer Mike Richards
–– are a mostly original hard rock band with two CDs to their
credit, who have opened shows for national acts such as Alice Cooper,
Motorhead and Jackyl.
Trauma bassist/band leader, J.D.
Leap, announced veteran rocker, Jef
Sarver, as his band’s new singer.
“Jef is an incredibly talented guy who sings, writes and
plays guitar,” said Leap. “We’ve already revamped about a third
of our live set list since we’ve been rehearsing with Jef.” •
Northwest Indiana’s Highway
Band will pump out two hours worth of their original
Southern-fried bluesy rock on August 8 at the Tweeter Center.
The group will perform from 5-7p.m. on the Tommy Jeans Stage
prior to the “Rock
Never Stops” concert featuring ‘80s MTV rockers -- Whitesnake, Warrant, Slaughter and Kip Winger.
Catch Highway live at Lake County Fairgrounds on Sept. 20 with Steepwater
for a Hasbrooke Entertainment concert.
More info: www.thehighwayband.com •
Drummer Bill Fisk
and guitarist Dan Kurzydym
announced that they will soon be leaving local pop cover band Bittersweet
to form their own harder rocking group.
Bittersweet will continue on from all reports, though no
replacements have been named. •
It seems that “musical chairs” is being played once again
by local classic rock group, Smokescreen,
in their guitar department.
Rejoining the band is original lead guitarist Dave
Tucker, which brings them full circle and back to square one. www.smokescreentheband.com •
After local rock combo Sound
Gypsies disbanded in the Spring, guitarist Colin Peterson and bassist Rene
Garcia, carried on as the acoustic duo, Ghetto Fabulous.
The two are evidently ready to plug in once again, and have
recruited former Sound Gypsies drummer Aron
Schurke for their new group, Signal
Eight.
Rounding out the line-up are vocalist/percussionist Natasha Sturgeon and guitarist/keyboardist Andy Britt. The band
debuts Aug. 15 at Bone Dry in Highland, followed by an Aug. 16 gig at
Buddy & Pal’s in Crown Point. • Veteran region bassist Mark Vasquez will soon be “moonlighting” with a side project when he’s not performing with his all original punk/metal combo, Soulvasq. Vasquez (ex-Power Opera) has assembled a Faith No More “tribute band” called, The Fake Thing.
“The name is a take off on the title of Faith No More’s
breakthrough 1991 album, ‘The Real Thing,’” explained Vasquez. Joining him in this new project are drummer Eric “Rico” Tymbale, guitarist Dave
Cohen and keyboardist Tim
Swanson. Supplying
the trademark Mike Patton vocals is local singer, Dave Solar. • South
Side bluesman, Little Johnny
Moore, is making plans to start rolling tape again this fall on
his second full-length studio recording.
His last audio adventure was a “live bootleg.”
Several special guests that read like a Who’s Who of Chicago
blues are expected to appear on Moore’s album, but I’m sworn to
secrecy on who they might be...so keep watching this column for
updates. For information
on Little Johnny and his roving “Blues Jam Nights”, log on at: www.littlejohnny1.com •
Robot Hero, an emo/alt
teen group from Northwest Indiana, completed work last month on their
first CD, Semi-Organized
Noise. The disc
will be released in the Fall and the group will be showcasing its
songs at an all ages concert on August 29 at The Muse Cafe in Lansing.
That show will be their first with new female drummer, Rachel
Komar, who has replaced former beat keeper Jordan
Cox. According to Robot Hero’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Collin Magdaz, the recording experience at Hammond’s Thunderclap Studio was so enjoyable, that they are already budgeting time and funds to record more original songs this winter. THIS
‘N’ THAT… •
Hammond native Jason
Elkins, best known for hosting an outrageous local cable show
called, “Crazy
J’s Metal Mayhem,” has new Hollywood digs. •
Along with pursuing a career in filmmaking and acting, Elkins
will soon be resurrecting a West Coast version of his heavy
metal/underground culture cable program.
He wrote that he is very open to having hardcore, goth and
heavy bands from the Chicagoland area as guests on the weekly show.
More more info, contact him via email at: jasontalent2002@sbcglobal.net
The super sexy alt-rock mama was back in her old hometown
stomping grounds to tape a “Private
Studio Session” with Eric
& Kathy on 101.9FM /
The Mix on July 8. BEAT
staff photographer, Rob Grabowski, was at that private session and
captured the fabulous Ms. Phair in action for the loyal readers of
this column.
Currently in the midst of a full on national tour, Phair will
be back in Chicago to rock ‘n’ roll The Metro for three
consecutive nights on August 21-23. Not
surprisingly, from sales reports viewed at press time, tickets to all
three of the scheduled Metro shows are going fast!
Could a fourth be added?
One can only hope… |
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Tamallicka 
Closed
World is a fast rising and praise-worthy young group from Munster,
Indiana who write and perform some damn remarkable original songs that
straddle the alt-rock/alt-jazz genres.
The Bones
