Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished got a nice article from The Sault Evening News on Thursday, so what should you know from it? Actual newspaper copies aside, the online version of the article is officially behind a paywall (open to online subscribers only), but if you switch to newspaper mode on your browser quick enough upon opening, you can freely read the article, which explores how they launched and got their name, their musical influences both before & since joining Tarnished, their fan interaction and keeping a public profile during the pandemic, and their future plans & aspirations. The article is informative and a fun read for fans, and it's great to see an active hard rock band in the E.U.P. getting some local press attention! Scoops include a likely return to outdoor acoustic gigs on Portage Avenue this summer, a show in Grand Rapids in two weeks, and more at undisclosed locations in late June.
Note that bassist Donald Alexander is not featured in the article whatsoever, while Josh Fair is credited as being their bassist again rather than drummer, so did Donald leave the band? As "Donny Wayne", he was credited on bass in this Facebook event page for their Royal Oak show last month, but the venue wrote that up, and Tarnished themselves last acknowledged him via Facebook videos from their Hulbert gigs in March. If Donald is gone, it's a shame, as he seemed to fit in well with Tarnished, but we will let you know if that is inaccurate or if they announce a new drummer or bassist. In any event, read Tarnished's full Sault Evening News article at this link or above!
The video also includes a clip of Treble Charger playing "How She Died" at the University of British Columbia, and it ends with the full video for the version of "Red" from their third album, 1997's "Maybe It's Me". I feel like there's missing context in this interview that would have been cleared up in prior segments of this Much West episode, but it's a fun look back at Treble Charger in their transitory phase before going punk, and the discussion's loose but professional! It is a shame that Bill wasn't part of the interview though, given that he was still their primary singer then, including on "Red". Give Treble Charger's 1997 Much West interview a look below!
Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
- I have moved local acoustic punk solo project Ashoka At The Show to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. Darren has updated their Facebook page frequently in the past year to promote his e-gaming exploits with NHL 21, but he has not promoted Ashoka At The Show as an active musical act since May 9th of last year, ironically noting his plans to work on more songs. Hopefully we hear from Darren musically again in the future, he's a multi-talented guy!
- Former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchison posted a new original song named "Love's Countryside" onto his YouTube channel last week! The song was originally written for his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, and he added instruments to it for this new version as a gift for his mom on Mother's Day. Due to the hyper-personal nature of the song and attached slideshow, I opted not to embed it here, but Cory put solid emotion into this well composed track, which you can hear above!
- New local noise/industrial metal project Molten Imp now have their own Facebook page, where they revealed that they will have a new single to unveil on May 25th (one week from Tuesday), and are also planning to release a full length album on CD this fall. Promising early news to be sure, and see above to hear what Boyd's up to!
- The annual CBC Searchlight competition is back for 2021 as CBC Music looks for the next great undiscovered Canadian talent, so click here for full details on this year's competition and if you want to throw a late hat in the ring! As best as I can tell, the only locally based band of any genre to enter so far is indie rock quartet Man Feelings, but this year's Searchlight interface is not fun to navigate, especially when you can only narrow down bands by province or territory. The top 100 voted bands move on as of Thursday with huge prizes on the line, so see above for full details!
- As you may have noticed, the annual Sky's The Limit fundraiser concert for Children's Mental Health Week did not take place (virtually or otherwise) this month, and I could not find a public statement from Algoma Family Services about why it was cancelled in 2021. Held at the auditoriums at The Tech and later Korah Collegiate from 2016-2019 before going virtual due to the pandemic last year, The Sky's The Limit sought to raise awareness for mental health among local youth, with artists like Mike Haggith & Electric Church among the lineups. Hopefully The Sky's The Limit comes back next year, as it served an important purpose!
- Defunct local black/doom metal band Woods of Ypres were ranked #1 in Metal Hammer magazine's list of the 50 greatest cult metal bands, as seen in the current May 2021 issue! They even got a full page write-up that you can (partially) read at this link via the Woods of Ypres fan club Facebook group, though parts are out of frame. It's amazing to think about how big Woods of Ypres have gotten in the decade since losing David, and hopefully getting this kind of press in a major metal magazine will only help expose them to a wider audience! If you have this issue, give it a read!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new post of some kind on the site by Wednesday! Thanks everyone!
