An Archive Local Hard Album Upload, A New Live-Streamed Concert, And More!!

Here's a new post to check out on this Saturday morning, and it includes some new videos from some familiar faces we haven't seen much of as of late, but leading off, here is a surprise local album discovery that hard rock fans of two decades ago may be very curious about!

The only(?) studio album for early-mid 2000s local hard rock quartet Redefined has finally surfaced in full online! The Oh!No Collective's Alex Moore uploaded his CD copy to his YouTube channel (which also hosts Stiffler's Mom's demo EP) yesterday, so huge thanks to him for posting it and letting me know about it in the first place! Entitled "Risk & Uncertainty", this album was independently released circa 2002, and features their classic lineup, including Parabol singer John Barber, Fort Creek guitarist Matt Sibilo, former Swamped bassist Josh St. Amour, and My Son The Hurricane drummer Danno O'Shea. The first 8 songs were recorded (locally?) at Eater Island Studio, while the last two were done at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga. Curiously, the album's liner notes do not list the 10 songs by their titles, but an archived copy of their old Geocities website features each track's lyrics, so I was able to get these to Alex, and alas, the site back-up didn't have flames or loud noises.

Note that track #3 ("M.T. Bundies") was included on Foggy Notions' 2003's "Foggy Style" compilation album. I now have everything ready for an eventual review of "Risk & Uncertainty" on the SMS, but will it be any time soon? I have no idea, but if members are playing live in some form in the near term, that could be a good sign. Give Redefined's CD a listen below for some early 2000s alternative and Tool-influenced hard rock action!

Next up, remember Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-streamed Facebook concert series from the spring? Well, it's back in a couple of ways! On July 21st, the series abruptly resumed after a two month hiatus via an outdoor set from Ottawa folk musician John Allaire, described as being held on "the Gowans Imperial Pub patio". John's a very talented musician, so if you like folk, give his hour+ set a watch at this link! The other new installment of "Songs & A Six-Pack" took place last night, and is actually a make-up date of sorts, as this one features local acoustic hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns! You may recall their severely abbreviated set in episode #4 of "Songs & A Six-Pack" in April, which ended after just 13 minutes and two songs due to technical difficulties, so it is great to see the brewery and band coming together for a do-over! Unlike last time, guitarist Jesse Cook isn't stuck outside, but drummer Jonas Gasperas is nowhere to be found for unannounced reasons

The set proper starts with this 9 minute video, which mostly features setup and talking with the live viewers, and while they do cover Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" with Rob Speers on lead vocals, the guitars are inaudible. Unlike in April, The Stallyns do launch a new live-stream feed afterwards (as embedded below), where they opted to switch to a cell phone camera. This may seem like a step down from their stationary setup, especially with the vertical camera angle that doesn't show Jesse, but at least the phone can pick up the guitars! This video features The Wyld Stallyns covering The Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner", Huey Lewis & The News' "If This Is It", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive", Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Against The Wind", Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River", The Lonely Island's "Dick In A Box", Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time", Skid Row's "18 & Life", David Bowie's "Let's Dance", and The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"

Christina Speers sings lead on the Bon Jovi, Timberlake, Skid Row, and Bowie covers, Rob handles Steve Miller and Bob Seger, and they share lead vocals on the rest. Overall, this was a good set with a nice array of tunes to hear, and the Speers and Jesse were clearly having a lot of fun, but there didn't seem to be as many plugs for Northern Superior's beer selection as in other "Songs & A Six-Pack" episodes. Check out the whole live-stream above and below, and hopefully The Wyld Stallyns return to the stage at some point!



Finally for today, have you been wondering about the delayed next installment of local/Thompson, Manitoba solo musician Mike Haggith's #LockdownLive at-home concerts? Well, Mike finally updated everyone to the imminent plans via this Facebook video uploaded yesterday (and embedded below), where he confirmed that the renovations that postponed #LockdownLive XIV last month have concluded, and episode #14 will go live on Friday, August 28th at 7:30 PM! Mike didn't reveal a theme for the episode, but he did tease that it will have new and old songs, plus updates on new studio work. Give the video a watch below for more updates!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!