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For Immediate Release |
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LOCAL
MUSIC NEWS COLUMN
by Tom Lounges BEAT
BASHES ON TAP… Hey folks!
We’ve got TWO cool BEAT
BASH events happening in the coming weeks!
The first is at N.W.
Indiana’s swankest and largest night club – Second Dimensions – on July 26 with a colorful line up of bands
that includes THE BONES and
TAMALLICKA. Be sure to log on to the home page of our website
–– www.midwestbeat.com
–– for all the details and/or listen to X-ROCK/103.9
The second Bash will
be at The Sandbox. This
will be our first ever venture into Roselawn/Demotte.
We’ll have two stages! A small outdoor PA is
where The Heavies will play
surf music ankle deep in sand...so wear your bathing suits and get
into the mood! Also
performing outside between 6-9 p.m. will the smokin’ classic rock
acoustic duo The Dog & The Butterfly and local singer/songwriter Steve
Vansak. After 9 p.m. the club will be rockin inside with
full electric sets by The Mack
Creek Band (country rock/classic rock), national touring group Eat
A Peach (Southern rock), and Dayna
Malow, a sensational new country singer from Chicago who’s been
featured on WLS-TV’s “190 North” and “The
Kevin Matthews Show” on Chicago’s WCKG. CONGRATS
TO THE WINNERS…
•
Kudos to the local heavy bands, Denyal
and to Psychomancer –
who took top honors in “The South Haven Showdown” and the “Battle Of The Backdoor
Lounge,” respectively.
Both band won a chunk of cash and other cool prizes from such
sponsors as Need Ink Tattooing, Broadway Music and Black Dog Studio.
Closed World took first place and
landed some cash and prizes as well over at Cronies Gin Mill in Kouts
as their “Original
Music Showcase” wrapped up late last month. Catch Closed World in an all-ages show on July 12 at The Muse
Cafe in Lansing, IL and at Bookies Sports Bar in Dyer on August 9. Finally, Pete
Berwick & The Renagades came in first in the June 28 finals of
a “Battle of The Bands”
held at City Limits in Schaumburg to benefit Chicago’s Rainbow
Foundation.
Congratulations to all four of these original local recording
artists. COLGATE
COUNTRY SHOWDOWNS… Local Communications
One country station, “Indiana
105,” will sponsor three preliminary regional rounds of the
annual “Colgate Country
Showdown.” The
dates are July 20 at the Porter Country Fairgrounds and August 3 and
10 at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
Dozens of Chicagoland country artists will
compete and Yours Truly is one of the judges for all three of the
dates. Music begins at 11
a.m. each day. To find
out the talent roster for each round, log on at: www.Indiana105.com.
BIKERS
& B.O.C. RALLY FOR MDA… The hard working, hard
playing and hard riding members of 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 __ and will culminate at the
Porter County Fairgrounds in Valparaiso with a concert by one of
America’s fave biker bands, Blue Oyster Cult. Call for ride or show information: (219)
345-2906, (219) 759-5193 or (219)
931-4652. Support
this event! BANGING
OUT THE BIRTHDAY BLUES…
Mouths were agap as
the blues-rock group rip through some of the tastiest original
guitar-driven blues music this writer has ever heard from an unsigned
band. Second Childhood wisely used the high
profile night as the platform to officially release their 13-song CD, “Answer The Call.” I urge every blues fan who reads these words to do just that! Get out and pick up this stellar set of songs – NOW! For more info, email guitarist Jym Van Loon at: jympatty@aol.com BAND
BITS… •
Southern-flavored rock combo, Soul
Pride, has parted ways with co-founding rhythm guitarist Chad
Janik. The four
remaining members are currently auditioning for a replacement.
Interested parties
should contact bassist Chris
Karpinec via email at: SoulPrideMusic@aol.com
• Meanwhile,
the open guitarist slot has been filled at long last within country
singer Shannon Raye’s
backing group, The Diamondback
Band.
A Hobart family man named, Albert
Mendoza, is now be bending strings for the country chantuese. Raye has been spending an awful lot of time in Nashville
lately, where she is being mentored in the studio by none other than
superstar, Clint Black.
• Chicago
tribute bands Vasoline
(Stone Temple Pilots) and Weathered
(Creed) will be teaming up for a joint tour of the Midwest in the
fall. • Acoustic
duo Tony Klimczak and Cheryle
Mihal will be more than musical partners soon.
The long-time Northwest Indiana rockers are tying the knot on
July 11 just hours after tearing down at Coachman Inn from a July 10
gig. Their first gig as husband and wife will be on July 19 at
Mighty Micks in Crown Point... so bring some rice to throw! •
Northwest Indiana drummer Randy
Peterson’s musician friends contacted this column with the very
happy news that the well known and well liked Crown Point beat keeper
is heading down the road to recovery after undergoing a pancreas and
kidney transplant last month. The 38-year-old
Peterson, who is best known for his work with the local bands –– Blind
For A Day and Force Five
–– has been battling Diabetes since childhood and the many years
of dealing with the disease caused the need for this surgery.
I am very happy for Randy, his family, friends and his fans and
would like to use this joyous opportunity to underscore the importance
of people becoming organ donors, because taking just a few seconds to
check a box at the BMV and sign a line on your driver’s license can
result in giving someone a new lease on life. •
Very sad to report that after only one live performance
together, K Factor, has
opted to disband. I caught that promising first gig when they played
the second half of my annual “Birthday
Bash Weekend” at
the Backdoor Lounge in Griffith. Internal stress over the band’s
direction, material and goals seems to be the reason for the
implosion. Best of luck to all. That June 7th bash was
also the first chance I had to hear two other recently resurrected
local bands –– Overdue
and Crushed. The former has new members and the latter is a new band
formed by ex-members of local faves Concrete
Suits and Out Of Time.
Both groups gave
strong performances and both mix contemporary alt-radio hits with
classic rock favorites and could wear the label “party rock,”
because of the high-energy stage presence and dance-inspiring
selection of covers in their respective repertoires.
I look forward to our “Street
Beat” writer, Ernie
Thomas, profiling both of these great bands in upcoming issues.
•
Local rock bands raised a couple thousand dollars at a benefit
concert held late last month at Leroy’s Hot Stuff in Porter for Jason Nosker, a young Hobart man who was recently shot and
paralyzed. Donating
performances were The Nick
Danger Band, Supernatural and The
Glow. A second local music concert to aid
Nosker will be held at The Backdoor Lounge on August 16 featuring the
bands Trauma, Portrait Of
Shadows, Blue Voodoo
and others. Organizing
the events to help Nosker is his close friend and local singer, Mimi
De St. Jean. For more
information, contact her at: mimi2360@aol.com •
Husband/wife musicians Mike
and Chryse Lubecke have put
together a new duo as a side project to their respective full time
band gigs in Eat A Peach
and Scratch (a new all female rock combo). The new project is
called, The Dog & The
Butterfly. Both sing
and play guitar, while Chryse supplements the sound further with
keyboards and flute.
Their repertoire is rather eclectic for a duo, covering
everything from Tori Amos
and Evanescence to Queensryche
and Jethro Tull. The two previously gigged together in Wicked City,
during the late ‘90s. •
Wookie Luv will be
opening the show on August 1 at Martyr’s for ex-Refreshments
vocalist, Roger Clyne, who
is now fronting a new band project called, The
Peacemakers. •
This just in at press time!
Several area bands will donate their time and talent for a July
26 benefit concert to aid 5-year-old Lake Station boy, Alex
Rodriguez, who is suffering from Leukemia.
The event will be held from 3pm to midnight at the Lake Station
American Legion Hall (1899
Central Ave.) and confirmed to perform thus far are –– the
country groups Double Shot, High Noon and Mesquite;
along with hard rockers Common
Hatred and Doors tribute band, The
Doors of Perception. •
Here’s a little tit for tat...
Lightning fingered local guitarist Stevenvy
of Mas Kaos, has been
invited to perform an instrumental rendition of “The
Star-Spangled Banner” at 7p.m. on August 2 at the Lake Station
High School Football Field for a game by the Northwest
Indiana Hitmen football team.
The game and his performance are supposed to be broadcast live
on N.W. Indiana PBS station, WYIN-Channel
56. AREA
GROUP DISHES UP “ALL THAT JAZZ”…
The 19-piece band (with two stellar vocalists Mary Kay Steele and Charlie Blum) does an outstanding job on a wide repertoire that consists of vocal tunes made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett, along with vintage big band numbers immortalized by the Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and Count Basie. When I caught the group last month…they had a scaled down dance troupe from the “Cabaret” cast performing with them. That is not usually the case at most shows, but you can catch the leggy lasses live this month on July 12, 13 & 19, when “Cabaret” plays at Merrillville’s Star Plaza Theatre. More information, call (219) 769-6600 or (773) 734-7266. ROLLIN’
TAPE & RETAILIN’… • New
Element has been working hard for the last few months at Thunderclap
Studios in Hammond on their latest album of progressive Celtic
rock. A September release date is planned. Highland teen band, Robot
Hero, are likewise in Thunderclap laying down their emo/punk
originals for what will be their first CD, “Semi-Organized
Noise.” Thunderclap’s owner, John Carpenter, is also lead guitarist of Nomad Planets. They are working between studio bookings to complete
their new CD after losing all the tracks from the nearly completed
project when a computer hard drive crashed last month.
Ouch! FREE
MUSIC… •
Local music fans should make note of this shift in the
entertainment schedule at The
Woodhollow Loft which is located at Omni 41 in Schererville.
Local Griffith
retailer Dynamite Music,
which has long been sponsoring the free local concert night at the
venue on Wednesday evenings, moves it to Thursdays beginning July 10.
All performances at 9 p.m. Dynamite Music is once
again presenting “DYNAFEST,”
their annual free day of local music in Griffith Central Park.
The line-up of this all ages Aug. 9 event will feature live
sets by –– The Kinsey Report, History’s End, Freek Johnson, Triple Dose, John
Kuiper, Dynamite Bluegrass Band, Scamp, Timepeace and The Glow. That’s all the room
there is for this month! See you all on July
26 for our BEAT BASH at
Second Dimensions! Have a Happy and Safe Fourth of July!!! |
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My now annual “Birthday Bash” held on June 6 at Soprano’s was a
spectacle to say the least.
The hit of the night was hands-down the remarkable performance given
by Second Childhood, a new band of veteran region players who up until
that night had been only a studio project. 