LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Highway 63 Concert Previews, And More From Sault Michigan!!

Today's post is all-Sault Michigan based, and it includes an upcoming album, new videos from two sources, and the rest of this weekend's concert previews, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! Without any further adieu, here's what you need to know!

Local hard rock quartet Project 906 have one more show taking place this weekend, as they'll play a special acoustic set TODAY at 5:00 PM at Crooked Music during the first day of this year's Sidewalk Sales! Apologies again for the short notice, their involvement was only confirmed via a post on their Facebook page last night, with the Ashmun Street music/record store not announcing a performer lineup publically. We've sporadically covered musical involvement in the annual Sidewalk Sales when bands like Free Refill & Tantrym Tyme signalled in advance that they were playing somewhere along Ashmun, so this isn't new territory, but with grim weather reports for any hopes of outdoor music TODAY, Crooked Music are preparing to move things into the store proper, so don't worry, they aren't being rained out! No word on why this will be an acoustic set from Project 906, or if they'll be playing short-handed, but remember that guitarist Joe Jenkins is an instructor at the former Grooves Music.

Of course, if you want to see Project 906 in full electric glory, head to Moloney's Alley TONIGHT for a more typical concert! Again, a performer lineup at Crooked Music has not been publicized, but Project 906 are headlining at 5:00 PM, and I can see co-owner Zac Crook playing solo somewhere between the 9:00 AM start time & 906's set. Lots of music will be had at Crooked Music TODAY, and this is FREE and ALL AGES as one would expect at the sales, so check the above links for more details, click here for complete non-musical details on the sales and related events this weekend, and here's Project 906 live, sort of!

Next up, here are this weekend's final hard rock concert previews (barring another short notice announcement), as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 are scheduled to return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen over a month ago at the same venue, the Monkey's Uncle successors should have a another solid weekend of fan favourite cover selections in store tonight and/or tomorrow, so if you've missed them lately or want another round, you have two chances this weekend! Note that Kewadin's entertainment page does not list these shows in their concert calendar, but Highway 63's Facebook page has publically acknowledged them a few times, most recently in a comment reply on July 22nd. Tonight and tomorrow's shows have 21+ age limits, no announced cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's some new Highway 63 videos!

Shared to their Facebook page via frontman Henry Switzer's wife/guitarist Nathan Switzer's step-mom Kristina's personal Facebook page late last month, these are practice session videos, including one of Henry singing Styx's "Too Much Time On My Hands" in-studio while testing his sequencer. Embedded below is her video of the guys covering Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", and while only Henry is visible, the rest of the band is there out of frame (why not turn the camera on it's side?) Solid covers from this talented veteran quartet, and a unique look at them playing in studio rather than on stage, so give them a look above & below!

Also today, here's the latest from Dafter hard rock artist Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton, who has announced that his 22nd official solo album is entitled "The Dogs Are Watching", and it will officially come out on August 18th (two weeks from today!) This is SweetKenny's ninth official album to serve primary intent as an instrumental score for usage in movies, video games, or television, though this one is a return to a score with an conceptual theme, this time about hackers ending excessive oversight from government watchdogs, hence the title. Though it's paid release through Waterfall Records won't occur for two weeks, you can stream all 10 songs via SweetKenny's website. I won't review the album imminently on the site, as we just reviewed Ken's February 2017 album "Epic" in May, but if it fits for a review in November once our 6 month anti-bias buffer clears, you could see it or another newer SweetKenny album then, so keep that timeframe in mind!

While this may not thrill fans hoping for a true follow-up to SweetKenny's most recent traditional hard rock album "In Your Face", this score should be another interesting listen for fans (and potential clients) of his scores, so give it a listen at the above links, and stay tuned for details on it's formal release later this month!

Finally for today, we'll come full circle with some new videos from the aforementioned Crooked Music's Facebook page, as co-owner (and Half Stupid/Plastic alum) Zac Crook is featured testing out new stock at the store by jamming some classic rock in these videos from July 28th. One video features Zac jamming Frank Zappa on a new guitar and amplifier, but embedded below is Zac playing Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills & Far Away" on a new Martin 12 string guitar. These short videos showcase this talented local musician in fine form, and this is good press for their new gear, so give his videos a look above & below, and stay tuned for more news and notes on The Sault Metal Scene soon! Thanks everyone!