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For Immediate Release |
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LOCAL
MUSIC NEWS COLUMN
by Tom Lounges SUMMER
TIME FUN AHEAD... With summer finally
here... we at Midwest BEAT is gearing up to sponsor a lot of events and be a
part of many great summer shows! Our event calendar
starts on June 6 & 7, when we double the fun at my annual “Birthday
Beat Bash” (turning 44 this year...ouch!) and make it an entire
weekend of rock ‘n’ roll partying in the town of Griffith.
On June 6, we will be
at Soprano’s (840 S. Broad St.) celebrating the official release of Second
Childhood’s first CD by sponsoring the band’s first public
performance ever. These cats are old school players and guaranteed to
impress with their brand of bluesy Allman-esque rock.
Also performing that night will be a couple of local favorites
–– Wookie Luv and Soul Pride
–– and I expect some special guest jammers to pop in that night as
well. Right Jimmy? Right Dave?
Crushed features ex-members of Out
Of Time and The Concrete
Suits. While K
Factor features former members of
No Sentz and marks the return of drummer Pat
Carroll (ex-Jr. Finn &
The Sharks) to the scene. A third band will be announced for this
date as well.
Looking ahead... Midwest
BEAT will welcomes Quiet
Riot and The Smithereens
to the 2003
Hobart Jaycee Fest on June 29 and July 2, respectively.
Watch for us to also sponsor a special “Retro
Chicago Night” there with the debut performance of the newly
resurrected M&R RUSH!
What a blast from the past!!!
We will welcome the stellar singer/songwriter,
Michael McDermott, to Valparaiso’s Chicago Street Theatre for an
intimate concert performance on Sunday, July 13 with Acoustic X
opening the show.
We will also be hooking up with our friends from Hasbrook
Productions for some more summer shows at the Lake County Fairgrounds
in Crown Point. Watch for details.
We are also in the process of planning a big indoor/outdoor
bash at The Sandbox in rural Demotte that will include multiple bands,
wet t-shirt contests and possibly a pig roast. Look for that in
mid-August! And that’s just the start of things! There is even a promoter talking to us about doing a Midwest BEAT Golf Outing sometime this summer that will conclude with a big bash at the end of the day. More details as we know them... BAND BITS…
Okay, that’s enough
hype on our happenings. Let’s
get into the – “Who, What
and Where” – on the regional music scene shall we?
•
Renown Chicago music icon Dennis
DeYoung taped his April 4 gig at the Chicago Theatre for what will
be a 2-CD live concert album (as yet untitled).
“I’m just starting to work with the tapes and let me tell
you, we’ve got some really good stuff here,” said DeYoung at
press time.
The former STYX leader
has really started to move on with his solo career at long last.
Aside from his own project, DeYoung said he is getting ready to
go in the studio to produce the local Chicago rock band, Mama Green, for which his son Matt
DeYoung is drummer. •
Dave “Wildman”
Currier, who has been voted
“Favorite Local Drummer” in our annual Midwest
BEAT Reader’s Poll three years running, parted ways last month
with his longtime band, Inzane. Currier is now on the throne with Terminal Fix, the heaviest Hoosier band in years!
Fronting this rabid pack of rockers is Q-Ball (ex-66 Stitches),
who is more foreboding and powerful than ever behind the mic, even
while covering the childhood field trip classic,
“99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall.”
These guys thoroughly assault the senses and have a DJ who
actually contributes mightily to the band’s sound and is not there
just for show. •
Regional roots rockers, Urban
Twang. released
their latest CD, “Vintage,”
via Chicago indie label, Sweet Pickle Music.
Their song, “If Liquor
Were A Woman,” from their 1996 debut album – Go Call Delia –
can be heard on the soundtrack of “Almost
Salinas,” a new indie film released to theaters this month.
More info: www.UrbanTwang.com • Stone
Temple Pilots tribute band, Vasoline,
are back in action. The band was on hiatus for three months after
losing guitarist Aaron Riehl to marriage. Their new string-bender is
Bill Dorsch. STP fans can find out date info at: www.Vasoline.net
•
After completing a string of radio showcase performances which
has helped them get considerable radio exposure for their current
single, “Sorry,”
Chicago’s modern hard rock outfit,
From Zero, return home on May 9 to officially kick off their
summer tour with a CD release party at The Metro.
The band’s second album for Arista Records ––
“My So Called Life” –– also includes a smoking cover of Phil
Collins’
“I Don’t Care Anymore,” that may be their next radio single.
While it still has
some powerfully rocking moments, the band’s sophomore CD is more
textured and considerably mellower than the band’s 2001 debut disc, “One Nation Under.”
Watch for a full feature on From Zero in next month’s issue! •
Northwest Indiana rock singer Bob
Feddersen (ex-Loudmouth)
recently flew to Dallas
and auditioned to be the new frontman in Drowning
Pool. He also recently stepped up to the mic in auditions for a
new project featuring ex-Guns
‘N Roses members. He’s
still awaiting word back at press time. • Well known Chicago air personality Bob Stroud (currently on the radio waves of WDRV/The Drive), has officially been named as the new lead vocalist
of Chicago’s Cryan Shames.
And by the way, ol’ Joe was not only in super fine form vocally that night, but also in fine spirits. He hung out at the “after party” and mingled for quite some time with the WDRV staff, as did the guys from the Shames. A classic night of
rock ‘n’ roll fun was had by all lucky enough to be there,
including Midwest
BEAT’s own Kent
and Jules Follett, who
snapped pix for us. •
Journeyman musician, Eric
Lambert, has parted ways with perennial Chicago country rockers, Heartsfield. Lambert
cites the split as being “strictly business” and contends all is
well with him and the Heartsfield camp.
Lambert simply desired to resume his solo acoustic career and
is now working on a new CD –– “Eric
Lambert & Friends.” Among
the “friends” guesting on Lambert’s new album are
Heartsfield’s Elmer Quilles
and Dave Nelson, Greg
Cahill and Tom Dishman of Special
Consensus, and former Allison Brown sideman, Keith Baumann. www.ericlambert.com •
Lead guitarist Randy Anderson of pop cover band, Wookie Luv, has formed of a new harder-edged side band called –– Resist
–– with drummer Jon
Escue and rhythm guitarist Kevin
“Bones” Cox of classic rock combo, Tamallicka.
Also in the band are vocalist Joe
Kasper of Backwater fame, and bassist Rich Bohn, a newcomer to the region
music scene. Their
repertoire includes covers by Godsmack, Tool, Trapt, Disturbed and
System Of A Down. •
With popular punk/ska band O’So
E-z on hiatus, band leader/guitarist Josh
Drake is keeping him busy with two new music projects that are
both completely different from each other and from O’So E-z.
The first is the “emo” band, Amber,
which got some attention last month when they tooksecond in the
Highland Park Department’s “Battle
Of The Bands.” Drake
is also now part of a new dance/techno duo called My
Mountain with fellow Amber member, Dave
Lubarski. The two ply
“steel wheels and a DJ mixer” to keep the beats groovin’.
•
Chicago Kingsnakes
completed their latest CD of original blues music –– Grass
Roots –– at The Spot Studio with owner John
Huber engineering and co-producing. Others tracking songs
at The Spot recently include: the Chicago pop band, 3 Minute Mile; Rensselaer’s heavy rock combo, Core; the acoustic husband/wife duo of Kevin & Annie Kincaid; country singer Karen Darnell; and Lowell High School teen group, Trauma
Silence. The Spot will host a
free “Open House” on May
17 with various gear/recording demonstrations.
More info: (219)
552-0722. •
South Side techno metal band, Dumpstar,
will have their song “Static”
featured on the soundtrack for, “Judgement
Day 2,” from Barracuda Films in association with X-Factor
Video. The direct to DVD
film is the sequel to “Judgement Day,” a
popular extreme sports film featuring death-defying, high-speed street
bike stunts. •
Original Indiana bands are needed for the “Second Annual Coffee Creek
Original Music Festival” currently being planned for this
summer. The deadline for soliciting for one of the six remaining slots
is May 31st. All styles considered.
Those interested in the gig can contact Stormy
via email at: coffeecreek@hotmail.com
For info on the fest itself, log on at:
www.ccfestival.2ya.com RANDOM STUFF…
•
Not only is the Northwest
Indiana Welcome Center (7770
Corinne Dr./located just off Kennedy Ave. at I-94 in Hammond)
playing homegrown, Indiana-based music on its classic lobby juke box,
but they are now a retail point for many unsigned Indiana artists,
like TimePeace, Kuul Hand,
Stormy Weather and Nomad
Planets. Indiana artists with original CDs, should contact Christine
Drapac at (219) 989-7770.
That’s almost as
cool as when Rick Neilsen
of Cheap Trick wore his on “The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno” a couple years ago.
It would be just as cool if Udo were not wearing a jacket in
both photos. But was representing the region in Russia and it is cold
there, so we’ll let him slide.
Smith, who is married
to a native of Merrillville and a former Miss Indiana, was in town as
part of his first U.S. concert tour in more than 30 years. He has a tight combo called, Rock Engine, that gave a sensational live performance at the Star
Plaza Theatre. Despite being in his sixties, Smith’s voice is better than ever. It has more depth and character than we heard on those old DC5 songs. This guy is NO moldy
oldies act… He should be out on the road supporting some artist like
Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen
or John Mellencamp.
He’s really of that caliber as a performer and his band is
really that good! I
can’t wait for Rock Engine to rev back into the region!
That’s all the room I have for now.
More local music news next month! |
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The
next night find us down the road at Backdoor
Lounge (811 Ridge Road)
where we will also celebrate the birthday of the club’s owner, Jen.
A
long time friend of the venerable ‘60s pop band whose hit singles
include, “Sugar And Spice,”
Stroud performed as the band’s “guest vocalist” when they opened
the show for British rock icon Joe
Cocker in mid-April at the Rosemont Theatre.
