Midwest BEAT Magazine

FEATURES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE...

(Regional Music News)

TIS THE SEASON...

Hey you headbangers!!!! It's Christmastime and that means it is again
time for me to host my now annual (and quite legendary!) HARD 'N HEAVY
CHRISTMAS BASH!

The hard hitting gala will take place at the only South Side home for
heavy metal ~ J.J. Kelley's (2455 Bernice Rd) in Lansing, IL. We will invade
the place with lots of goodies for all you boys and girls on Dec. 18...so
write it down! Your absence will NOT be forgiven!

Haunting us again from our Christmas past will be Gravelbone and Fatal
Order. Christmas party virgins heading to the slaughter this year are -
Soulshine, Inzane, Mindshaft (formerly Godspeed), Motherload and Dope Sick.

Oh yeah...everyone gets a free chance to win tickets to see Motorcity
Madman - Ted Nugent - when he performs at the Star Plaza Theatre in
Merrillville on Dec. 28. We will also have some freebies for a select number
of early birds thanks to our good buddy Anthony Muzick at Concrete Marketing
in da Big Apple. We will be putting out free eats for those arriving with the
munchies! It starts at 9 p.m. Don't dare be late...or I'll tell Santa!

CRAWL UP WITH MY MISTRESS...

My webmistress that is! Log on our site and say "Howdy!" to our groovy
new web chicky, Kelly Calton of Outtasite Web Design, who made us Millennium
ready!

Our Midwest Beat web site has been completely revamped and updated to meet
with the demands you have been making. We now have an Online Edition of this
'zine (but it just can't replace the printed copy when you hit the can...now
can it?), updated local band listings, a 24-hour chat room (with celebrity
guests in the works), and we have...oh, the hell with it! If you want to
know about all the cool stuff...you will just have to log on with us to find
out! Do it today at: www.midwestbeat.com

MANCOW GIVES UP HIS PANTIES...

December 7 is truly a day that will live in infamy! Not just because of
the 1941 invasion of Pearl Harbor, but because thousands of Mancow Muller
fans are expected to invade local music retailers for White Cotton Panties!
I'm not talking about the radio star's skivvys, but about his latest
full-length CD. Q101's morning man, adds to the insanity of Christmas
shopping with the Dec. 7 release of his fourth CD of clips and excerpts from
his nationally syndicated program, "Madcow's Morning Madhouse".
A portion of the CD's sales will benefit "Alternative Means", a special
Q101 fund that distributes money to local charities. Guests on the CD
include: the late Chris Farley, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Bobcat Goldthwaite and
rocker Sammy Hagar. Of course most of the radio show sidekicks like Turd,
Freak, Cowboy Ray, DJ Luvcheez, Bob Noxious and others are here as well.

STYX THIS IN YOUR STOCKING...

Styx fans will be happy to learn that the group's singer/front man, Dennis
DeYoung is feeling much better these days. DeYoung, the heart and soul of
the band had been stricken last year with a strange viral-type ailment that
has prevented him from touring with Styx, much to the disappointment of fans
nationwide.

I spoke at length with DeYoung just prior to press time and Midwest BEAT
will be doing a full feature on this tremendous hometown talent in our
February issue which promises to be a very interesting read...I'm not saying
anything else...just plan to read it!

Meanwhile, the good news is that many of the songs from DeYoung's solo
albums (long out of print) have been released for the first time ever on CD.
Titled, The Ultimate Collection, this 15-track set from Hip-O/Universal
Records lives up to it's name. Included are choice songs from all three of
DeYoung's '80s solo albums, Desert Moon, Back To The World and Boomchild.

DeYoung concludes the CD by teaming up with a small rock combo and an
85-piece Symphony for a rousing take of the Styx anthem, "Grand Illusion".
That track, available only on this CD, was originally recorded for the
Omni-Max film, "Siegfried and Roy: The Magic Box".

STILL SURVIVING...

Omni-talented singer/songwriter/musician, Jim Peterik, just keeps coming
back stronger and cooler every time people count him down and out. The
former Survivor star will debut his brand new all-star project, World Stage,
on Jan. 15 at The Norris Center in St. Charles, IL. The project features a
bevy of brilliant musicians such as Dennis DeYoung, Kevin Cronin of REO
Speedwagon, Johnny Van Zant of Skynyrd, Don Barnes of .38 Special, Kelly
Keagy of Night Ranger, blues god Buddy Guy, among others. Some of these
guys are expected to be there to jam...so don't miss this event. For more
info, See there the web site at:
www.norristheatre.com

BAND BITS...

. The West Coast-based Dwell Records release, Land Of The Wizard...A Tribute
To Ozzy, to the international CD-buying market late last month. Our area is
well-represented on the set by Ion Vein, who covered Ozzy's classic "Mr.
Crowley" on the collection. This is the third such tribute album that Dwell
has contracted Ion Vein to perform on in nearly as many months. The band
previously appeared on the October release, Awaken The Demon...A Tribute to
Dio and August's A Call To Irons...A Tribute To Iron Maiden. You can bet the
band will be doing these tribute songs when they rock our "Slamming Into The
New Century" Beat Bash at the Port Offshore in Portage on Jan.15! Joining
them are Fatal Order and Cryptic Vision (who also have a new CD to hawk!).

. Calumet City's Winterkill is once again down for the count and
undergoing internal changes. After being on hiatus for four months while
working in a new guitarist and drummer, the group seemed ready to return to
the clubs in time for the holidays. Singer Randy Barron, has announced that
the group has decided to add a full time keyboard player. Adding Andrew
Furgal (ex-Freud's Toybox) to the line up, means Winterkill will remain
M.I.A. from local stages for several more weeks as they work him into the
band and begin writing new material for their third album.

. Dean Presley of the early '90s club faves, Gynger Lynn, is back in
action and at the helm of the new pop combo, Karma Lava. The
paisley-flavored, all-original band went over gangbusters when they opened
the show for Enuff Z'Nuff last month at Sidetracked in Lemont. Assisting the
band is Dolton's Joe Rega, former soundman of Cheap Trick and Loudmouth.

. Vocalist Jim White (of Unkle Nutsy) and renown area guitar journeyman
Ken Bronowski (ex-Skafish) have teamed up to record a dozen original blues
songs with assistance from a bevy of musical buddies under the name,
Bron/White Project. The CD, Labor Of Love, features such notable guests as
bassist Jerry Clemons II (of The Nick Danger Band), drummer Mark Garris, and
backing vocalist Karen Bronowski. Blowing harmonica on a track is Larry
Mazalan (ex-Skafish).

. Former local musician turned recording studio engineer, Jef "1F" Moll -
(ex-Down) who filled in with Alison's Mailbox for a short spell before
hanging ups his guitar in favor of twisting knobs - has been keeping busy at
Chicago Recording Company these last several months.

Moll just wrapped up assisting on mixing sessions for the new Veruca Salt
record with Brian Liesegang (ex-Filter) producing. Prior to Veruca Salt,
Moll spent seven weeks assisting on the mixing of the new Smashing Pumpkins
record with Flood (U2, Depeche Mode, etc.) producing and Alan Moulder (Nine
Inch Nails) mixing. Other artists he has worked with recently include:
N'Sync (with Babyface producing), R. Kelly, Kid Rock, Collective Soul and
Mariah Carey.

So now Jef...explain to me again why it was you wanted to stop playing the
same five clubs in local cover bands? Good job dude...the best of continued
success!

. Dropswarm is the new name of an N.W. Indiana musical vehicle being driven
by two old names from the local club scene. This rhythm-heavy alt-metal
(i.e. Korn, Clutch, Rage..., etc.) band is the new musical vehicle of bassist
Mark Vasquez (ex-Power Opera) and drummer Phil Goodrich (ex-Gruesomes).
Filling out the combo is guitarist Jeff Piekoorcheck and vocalist Dave
"Wiseguy" Solar.

. Local blues/rock troubadour, Eric Lambert, has completed his sophomore CD,
Just The Way I Feel, sans his longtime live band, The Laughing Gnomes.
Recorded at Hammond's Thunderclap Studio, John Carpenter (of The Ledge)
co-produced the new 12-song set with Lambert which is on his own imprint,
Skydog Records. For info, log on at: www.ericlambert.com
. N.W. Indiana pop rockers, The Nomad Planets, in conjunction with Borders
Books in Highland, Indiana, are sponsoring a holiday food drive to benefit
the Greater Hammond Community Services Food Pantry. Bring cans of food to
the show on Friday, Dec 10, and receive a free drink coupon for Borders Cafe.
The band will also donate two bucks to the pantry from the each copy of
their album, The Indestructable Drop. Nomad Planets will perform free of
charge from 7:30-9:30 p.m. For more info, call Borders @ (219) 922-1103.

Our favorite Lansing songbird, Tristen, flirted with small screen stardom
last month, when she was called back for auditions for a role in the daytime
drama, "Days Of Our Live". On a whim, the teenage singer/songwriter tried
her luck at an open casting call and managed to be one of 21 girls called
back out of 352 hopefuls.

Not having to fly to Hollywood leaves Tristen more time to concentrate on
writing for her first full-length CD, which is being planned for a Spring
release. Tristen was our publication's pick as "Most Promising Artist of
1998" at our Midwest Beat Music Awards last year and I am sure she is going
to prove us right.

On Dec. 16, you can catch her on "The Big Fat Nude Hippo Show", a Chicago
cable program on Channel 25. Tristen will be the musical guest. Other local
celebs on that day's show are WCKG's Teri O'Brien (Sidekick) and WMAQ-TV's
Dick Kay... Jeez...if I write any more about this chick...she'll have to put
me on payroll at her publicist! Just check her out on the web for other
stuff. www.tristen.com

. Ever since we started distributing in the Michigan City area, we have
been finding out that there are a lot of good bands out that way... Starman
Jones from that area has been keeping busy the last few months laying down
tracks. The group reports that they have just finished an 11 song CD of
pop-oriented original music. Contact the band via email at:
pullmail@yahoo.com I'm looking forward to hearing it, because afterall, The
Merkins are from that neck of the woods and they released one of my favorite
(albeit quirky) albums of the year, A Pony For Leo.. So who said you can't rock 'n' roll if you're from Black Oak? Not me...

Wet Snooze and the Electric Shock Box, who hail from that charming
locale, is busy recording their debut CD. The end result will be a 13-song
set of original music that they say ranges from blues to funk to polka...
uhhhh...okay... Word is that a single CD of the song, "Trailer Park Polka"
has been released to Black Oak juke boxes and is a hit with locals... go
figure. Dying to hear this guys...drop us a copy!!!!

.    Forty Piece Choir is actually a five-piece N.W. Indiana band, despite
the misleading name. The group has just released their debut disc, Salvo,
nine cool acoustic-based pop rock paeans with strong elements of T-Rex, Mott
The Hoople and very early David Bowie glam. Rich in reverb and echo so as to
evoke a strong neo-psychedelic texture, this well-produced CD is unlike
anything else released on the local scene.

   Well...that's about all there is for this century! My wishes are for
Happy and safe holidays to all rockers everywhere!    See ya in 2000!