As our slow clear-out of the backlog continues, here's a new news post on this Saturday afternoon that takes us from the EUP to Southern Ontario before finally coming home to Sault Ste. Marie, but we'll start in Michigan with another recent full set video, so here's what you should know!
In a follow-up from our coverage of last month's Superior Whitefish Festival battle of the bands in Brimley, Michigan, you may recall that there was a separate Music In The Park concert before the battle featuring acoustic-leaning performers. One was 8th Fire frontwoman Molly Escherich just hours before she led her new band to a second place finish, and like with the main band, her solo matinee set was shot in full for her YouTube channel! I have been more selective with acoustic singer/guitarists in our band links in recent years, as for metal, hard rock, and punk, it doesn't play in as well for song choices, and anyone with a guitar can play a set live and call it a day, but what does a 56 minute set of Molly's entail in 2026? In performance order, the 14 year old Dafter native covered Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Still The Same", The Eagles' "Take It Easy", Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", ...
...The Doobie Brothers' "Listen To The Music" (which The 8th Fire covered in their battle set), Carole King's "It's Too Late", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" (briefly), and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", before playing the original song about the perfect boat day with her dad that led off The 8th Fire's battle set. Covers resume with Noah Kahan's "The Great Divide", The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive" (also covered by The 8th Fire that night), another attempt at "Proud Mary" that was more successful than previously, Zach Bryan's "Something In The Orange", Coldplay's "Yellow", and Little Big Town's "Boondocks", before Molly ended her set with two more original songs named "Cheap Cologne" and "Always Known". Molly definitely has some other hard rock covers in her back pocket from past solo gigs that I want to look at in the future, but her solo set is definitely more varied.
Regardless, she is a very talented singer and guitarist who is still rapidly improving (being at Interlochen will help in that!), and for her age, she has an ease about her on stage and a good audience rapport already! If you saw her battle set with The 8th Fire, the three common songs from Molly's solo set (one being an acoustic solo performance too) will either be an interesting contrast or feel redundant, but remember that a lot of early festival attendees didn't stay for the battle, or vice versa. Good stuff, and with a dash of the hard rock to come that night, so give Molly's Music In The Park set in Brimley a watch below, and we'll have more from her soon!
Next up, let's head north of the border (and yet still south) to Barrie, Ontario, where local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith returned to Athletic Kulture Stadium there on July 4th to sing "O Canada" at a Barrie Baycats baseball game! Now competing in the renamed Canadian Baseball League, the Baycats welcomed Mike to sing the anthem at games in each of the past two seasons, though rain delays got in the road of his original 2024 bookings. For Mike's game this season, he sang before Barrie's clash with the Hamilton Cardinals on the Fourth of July, and regrettably for the home team and fans, the Baycats lost 8-1. As always though, the game was live-streamed on Barrie's YouTube channel, and if you want to just check out Mike's performance, he is introduced by the PA announcer at the 7:42 mark. Mike sings well, as you'd expect given his talents and pedigree!
I just wish the game went better for the Baycats, but they are in fourth place in the nine-team league, which would guarantee them a playoff spot if the season ended today, so best of luck for a strong run over the rest of the CBL season. Give Mike's performance (and the game) a watch below!
Finally for today, I wanted to mention the local comedy/art rock band The Floor Between Us, who have came up sparingly in our coverage in recent years. If you're not familiar with them, their lineup features one-time Soo's Got Talent finalist Colin Gasparelli on vocals & guitar alongside singer Ivy-Rose Morrison, Stones & Crows bassist Nicholas Gingras, and Spaceship Opening/ASDP drummer Ralph Barber (an "Andrew M." played keyboards for them once too). Their music is very eclectic, experimental, and has more in common with a lot of 1960s pop rock and bands like They Might Be Giants than heavier styles, but there's a joie de vivre and clear sense of humour across their original music, so I do recommend checking out their material on maior streaming platforms to see what you think! However, they do occasionally cover some songs that cross the SMS' radar in concert.
The Floor Between Us are fans of the English anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba, best known for their one mainstream hit "Tubthumping", which they have covered live (here they are playing it unplugged at a Korah talent show featuring Ralph's ASDP bandmate Mikhal Muto on cajon). However, they haven't just gotten up again after being knocked down, as they covered their 1994 b-side "The Day The Nazi Died") at one of their Sault Theatre Workshop fundraiser concerts in November. More of a politically charged folk song that would definitely fit an English pub (complete with Nicholas on added percussion), this is well performed with sharp lyrics, so give it a watch for yourselves below!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS shortly! Thanks everyone!
