Id Iota & Highway 63 Updates, Plus Lots Of Assorted News & Notes!!

As we approach the middle of the month, let's clear out most of our backlogged news items on this Monday morning, so what's on tap? Lots of assorted updates from recent days, and a new live cover video, but let's begin with the latest EP and concert updates from a local band!

Local alternative/hard rock quartet Id Iota have confirmed that their debut EP will be titled "Maudlin Fair", and that it will officially be on sale during their upcoming tour dates! As per a post and video on their Facebook page this morning, copies of "Maudlin Fair" will first be available on Thursday during the Toronto stop of Tidal Records' Skate By Day, Rock By Night "tour petite", while Sault fans will have to wait until next Thursday (April 21st) during their local return show at LopLops Lounge, unless you contact members directly, one assumes. It's also not clear if "Maudlin Fair" will be available digitally or in stores in some form, but for reference, Id Iota's predecessor band Habitat Shuffle's only EP was released to Bandcamp, so Id Iota are familiar with putting EPs out there. It's great to see that Id Iota's long hinted EP is nearing it's release, and just in time for their long awaited return to the stage, so stay tuned for more on it, but how about the video that accompanied the reveal?

While this is the first public video of bassist Dan Linklater playing with Id Iota, it's just a short 15 second clip featuring the band playing part of an original track, with camera work by frontman Christian Lemay spinning around to each band member mid-song. Sounds good, if brief, so check it out below, and we'll keep you posted when more comes out on "Maudlin Fair"!



Next up, here's a new video from Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63, courtesy of their gig at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday! Posted to their Facebook page last night, it's a 79 second clip of them covering John Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good", and while it's obviously incomplete, this side-stage angle captures a strong rendition, with Henry Switzer's deep vocals adding some power to the proceedings! And yes, this confirms that they are still playing their announced Kewadin dates, despite not publically promoting shows on their Facebook page in the past couple of months. Give it a look below!



Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, company, or event name:

• Tyler Gibson's local goregrind projects Crucify the Whore & Rotopsy have both been added to the lineup of THIS THURSDAY'S Metal Massacre house show on Anna Street, as per promoter Josh Amendola on the Facebook event page yesterday. This will notably mark Rotopsy's first live concert appearance since July, but it's not clear if these were the hinted "other guests" or not. Solid choices, especially with Tyler & Dylan's past sets at this location, so see above for more details!
• Have you ever wanted to own a seat from the Sir James Dunn Collegiate auditorium where Dunnplugged concerts were held? An online liquidation auction is being held at this link where various paraphernalia from the inside of the now-closed high school is being offered to the highest bidder, and three lots of chairs from the auditorium are up for bids there! Two have no bids, one has $25, so if you're interested in some Dunnplugged memorabilia, see above for full details on how you can potentially bid!
• Three years after Village Media purchased local news website Local2 and turned it into an all-video site, the former SooNews.ca is being merged with it's sister news website SooToday in the next few weeks. In this press release, Village Media CEO Jeff Elgie cited this as "an important step in the evolution & expansion" of SooToday's local coverage, so videos can better compliment SooToday's existing work and reach a wider audience. This won't affect most existing Local2 programs (like Tuned), so we'll have to see how things continue to shape up, and we'll alter/remove necessary links on the site when appropriate!
• After a successful relaunch concert earlier this month, The Rednecks Saloon is apparently interested in hosting similar multi-band events on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, with Saturday, June 4th tentatively planned for the sequel, which may be longer with a partial all ages format. Co-promoter Terry Eaton revealed the news on two Musicians Wanted Facebook group posts yesterday, where he's looking for bands interested in playing this time around. There's already visible interest from many artists, so if you or your band want in, see the above links for full details!
• We have regrettably deleted local/London deathcore band Saints & Serpents from our band links due to the deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page at some point in the past year. The Valentine's Day Massacre successors were active from 2013-2014 & only played one show (in London) before quietly dissolving. I wish bands wouldn't delete their online pages like this, but given that The V.D.M.'s Facebook page was also taken down posthumously, I guess I should have expected it. Hopefully everyone stays active in music!
• We've also deleted The Searchmont Music Festival from our local concert festival listings due to the deletion of it's own Facebook page, and expiry of it's website. The festival (which only featured metal bands in it's inaugural year) ran from 2011-2014 before quietly being cancelled last year. Hopefully organizers can bring an event like this back to the ski resort in the future, as it's a great setting for concert events in the area!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as this month rolls along! Thanks everyone!