LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rhythm & Brews), A New Video Interview, And More!!

I wasn't planning to double up with posts on this Saturday, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT came to my attention, and we'll fill things out with a lengthy new video interview with a familiar face, and the surprise cover songs he was involved with! Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill (well, outside of it) in nearby Barbeau to cap off their Oktoberfest celebrations TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced their involvement via their Facebook page on Wednesday, but the venue's Facebook page had been plugging the band as headlining for well earlier than this week. Rhythm & Brews debuted at The Cozy Corners at 6800 East 15 Mile Road in July for the Dunbar Dirt Road Dash, and TONIGHT's show will similarly be for a special event, with this Oktoberfest being a fundraiser for the Hospice of the E.U.P. in Sault Ste. Marie, so don't bypass that wonderful cause! Rhythm & Brews' established hard rock covers and likely Van Halen flourishes will be capping off Oktoberfest TONIGHT at 9:00 PM outside of the venue, and a bonfire, cornhole tournament, stein hoisting contest, and more will be ongoing from 2:00 PM onward

Also don't forget the smoke-off that began this morning, and again, sorry again about the late notice! I believe admission is free for Oktoberfest, with donations and funds from the smoke-off and internal events going to the Hospice, and of course, expect a 21+ age limit given the beer emphasis. 9&10 News is calling for cloudy weather from 9:00 PM-11:00 PM before showers are projected to set in, so hopefully Rhythm & Brews and the crowd escape the rain! No preview videos of Rhythm & Brews yet, alas, but visit the above links for more on TONIGHT's festivities!

Next up, here's a 50 minutes long video interview with former Gates of Winter/Woods of Ypres guitarist Bryan Belleau! Conducted remotely last month by Tyler Fleming of the Pensacola, Florida doom metal band October Noir, he hosts a YouTube interview series called The Noir Hour, which launched in the summer and has roughly posted an interview a week since. The interview is primarily based around Bryan's two year stint with Woods of Ypres (though Gates of Winter come up), and includes questions about Bryan's life in British Columbia nowadays, how Bryan met David Gold & joined Woods of Ypres with the rest of Gates in 2008, experiences working with & learning from David, Woods' influence and reach in the past decade, how he got involved in a cover of "Wet Leather" featuring Bam Margera (more on that at post's end), his folk/jazz music with his wife Melinda out west in the last few years, seeing bands cover Woods of Ypres songs at the Ypres Metal Fest in the Soo in 2012, ...

...his reactions to David's death the previous year, his relationship with David after leaving the band, Bryan's thoughts & perceptions of his album with the band (2009's "Woods IV: The Green Album") and some songs individually, the emotional impact of Woods of Ypres' late-period songs, the personal qualities & positive impact of David's mother Esther (a.k.a. Mama Gold), his musical development while recording with Woods, what Bryan knew about the "Home" single (he was told that the songs were "Woods IV" leftovers), the personal reasons that led to Bryan amicably leaving the band before their 2010 American tour, the wide-ranging friends Bryan met through Woods of Ypres, his views on the impact of his stint with the band, and how involved he wants to be in metal nowadays, especially now that he is a father with different priorities.

Solid interview with Bryan coming across as very humble & appreciative of both his time in Woods of Ypres and the kindness he's felt from fans of his, the band's, and David's in the past decade, and while Tyler was an acknowledged late bloomer to Woods fandom, you can tell he was thrilled to talk to Bryan and get his insight! Some more talk about Gates of Winter, even if just some more details on the Gates of Ypres 2008 tour and/or why Lee, Brian, and Steve progressively left, would have been interesting, but Bryan definitely hit most notes non-local Woods fans will wanna hear. Give the interview a watch for yourself below!

To close, what was that about Bryan recording a cover of "Wet Leather" with Bam Margera that I mentioned earlier? I assume this flew under the radar because Bryan isn't locally based anymore, but in April of last year, Bryan collaborated with Matt Lidwin of the Milwaukee goth metal project 616 to remotely cover "Wet Leather", with Bryan on guitar and Bam (formerly of Jackass fame and his band Fuckface Unstoppable) singing chorus vocals, alongside former HIM drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen. 616 have strong HIM overtones, and Bam was a major fan of theirs already, so the shoes fit! Clearly a good working relationship was also established between Matt and Bryan, as the two worked together on another 616 cover earlier this year, tackling Type O Negative's "Everything Dies" last month, a song that Bryan mentioned in the Noir Hour interview was tentatively planned for a Woods of Ypres covers album that never made it to the studio.

Both 616 covers are on all major streaming services, I have them linked/embedded here via their YouTube channel. Great hearing new metal material from Bryan for the first time since Gates of Winter's last public "Perhelion" teasers in the mid-2010s (I miss them), both songs suit Matt's (and Bam's) vocal ranges well, and the covers are faithful but with some extra flourish and effects to help them stand out a little. Well recorded and produced, and if you don't mind the lyric repetition of "Wet Leather", it'll be easy to hop on board with that cover. Give them a listen above & below!

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