Acoustic Heartstrings Concert Videos, Plus A Solo Musician's Return!!

As we did yesterday, this post is largely devoted to musicians who played at Acoustic Heartstrings at the now-closed Room 21 this past Friday night, but in this case, we're actually looking at the show proper, courtesy of videos live-streamed from the venue's Facebook page that night! We also have a video to close from a resurgent local solo musician, but to start, let's relive that Valentine's Day unplugged concert at Room 21, albeit without videos of pop rock quartet Big Mistake. Even if they tackled a hard rock cover, they weren't filmed that night for Room 21's page, alas. We'll start with local punk/alternative trio Handsome Sandwich, who were filmed twice that night, including covers of 'N Sync's "Tearing Up My Heart" (you read that correctly) and, as embedded below, Blink-182's "Aliens Exist". Much more casual than their regular sets, especially in regards to Johnny's drum setup, but the guys are clearly having fun with these renditions, and that 'N Sync one took me a bit to register, so good work on their part! Give these a look above & below!



Next up, Room 21 also filmed debuting local hard rock quartet The Bridge Heads covering System of a Down's "Lonely Day", which won't be a shocking development for fans of these musicians, given that their predecessors Eclipse's last show was as a one-off S.O.A.D. tribute band at J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party in 2017. A short 78 second clip, this won't be representative of their electric sets to come, but everyone adapts well for the occasion, and they are well dressed too! Unlike Handsome Sandwich's Johnny Belanger, drummer Chris Thompson played his part on a cajon. Give The Bridge Heads' first public video a look below!



Finally from Acoustic Heartstrings, this isn't of any of the actual scheduled bands, but this video was filmed before Big Mistake's headlining set, and it's of Handsome Sandwich bassist James White in a rare vocal/guitar appearance! Here, he and an uncredited percussionist are covering the second half of Alice In Chains' "Nutshell" followed by Rise Against's "Hero of War". The vocals are a little rough, but this has an authentic yet laid back nature despite the heavy lyrics, and it'd be interesting to see James in this mode more frequently! Give both covers a look below, and see more above!



Finally for today, a prolific local progressive/hard rock solo guitarist has re-emerged with new music, namely Mike Cliffe! While his Audiofumes podcast remains on visible hiatus, Mike has quietly been uploading new music onto his Reverbnation page over the winter, and while Reverbnation's usual lack of providing dates on material and posts is one of my pet peeves of that service, the first four listed songs there appear to be new. The songs include the experimental "Space Junk", the self-explanatory "Blues-In-T", and two songs with out of town collaborators. If I had to point to one for hard rock fans, it'd be "BWH1" featuring Washington drummer Bill Ray, but if you recall Mike's diverse influences and technical nature, there will be a lot to like if you crawl through his posted songs, new and old. As well, Mike posted his first new video in almost two years onto his YouTube channel last week, and it's entitled "Rock Funk Fusion", which features four different small windows of Mike recording separate tracks.

I like the funk sound and upbeat melodies here, and this is an easy track to like, but is this just the tip of the iceberg for Mike's return to his solo music in 2020? In any case, he's back in our active band links. Give Mike's new songs a listen above and below, and stay tuned for more from him and/or Audiofumes when any news rolls in!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll on the site next!

Half Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews, Plus An Apparent Venue Closure!!

Before we begin today's weekend concert preview post, just two quick notes. One is that The Rad Zone re-opens at 721 Queen Street East (the former Foch Cleaners) TOMORROW at 10:00 AM, so head downtown to see how the new storefront looks and to buy some wares once again! I hope to be in myself shortly. The other note relates to this busy weekend's concert previews, as we'll be holding this weekend's Theory of a Deadman, Eric Martin, and Peril concerts for tomorrow's post due to their relatively later scheduling. Look for them then, and now, here's what you should know for half of the hard rock shows this weekend, all with advance notice!

We'll start in Sault Michigan, where local hard rock band Tarnished (or members therein) are expected to continue their "every Thursday" run of matinee concerts at Biggby Coffee TODAY! Alex and company have yet to post an update on their Facebook page in the month of February, and the venue hasn't newly plugged an acoustic matinee for this week either, but "every Thursday" means what it means unless otherwise stated, and both band and venue have went weeks between advertising gigs in this arrangement. As such, expect Alex (and Josh or Nathan?) to be on hand with more unplugged hard rock covers for tips and coffee, so don't miss out on their well received tunes this afternoon! As usual, this show has an early 12:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit, but mind the locale. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!



Next up, a handful of familiar faces will gather at Room 21 TOMORROW NIGHT for a Valentine's Day-themed concert called Acoustic Heartstrings! What originally began as just a seasonal concert has developed extra resonance this month, as Room 21's sister barbecue restaurant Low & Slow (located downstairs) have announced that they are leaving 480 Albert Street West after Friday. The restaurant will re-open on February 21st at 648 Queen Street East (the former J. Caroline's location), and while their announcements did not elaborate on Room 21's future, Acoustic Heartstrings co-promoter Daniel Horton indicated on the Facebook event page that he believes that "this is the last night for Room 21", which has been open since the fall of 2017. I don't know if Low & Slow plans to host concerts in some form in their new location, but hopefully the downtown locale is a boost for their business and operations, even if concerts don't continue there!

As for the concert proper, the three acts are advertised to take part, with the advertised headliners being Big Mistake, the new local acoustic pop rock quartet featuring the aforementioned Daniel Horton on guitar alongside singers Robert Nevitt (ex-Re:Born) & Taylor Emlaw, plus fellow guitarist Rick Atkins. You can hear Big Mistake cover Justin Timberlake's "Say Something" at this link, and while they are a big departure from Dan & Rob's better known projects, they have a lot of talent on hand! Resurgent alternative/punk trio Handsome Sandwich are fittingly sandwiched in the middle slot for this rare unplugged set, and the guys should adapt themselves well to the more intimate setting! Finally, the advertised openers are another debuting new band from Daniel Horton, they being his new hard rock quartet The Bridge Heads, reuniting him with his old Haggith and/or Eclipse bandmates Curtis McKenzie, Caleb Cachagee, and Chris Thompson after 2+ years apart.

While not a fully representative debut set for The Bridge Heads (see them plugged in opening for First Jason in April), this should be a fine way for them to shake off the stage rust, so don't be late! This 19+ concert has a $5 cover, and doors open at 9:00 PM tomorrow. It's sad to see Room 21 close up shop after 2½ years as a reliable source for live musical entertainment in a more casual locale, but hopefully Acoustic Heartstrings sends the venue off on the right notes! See the above links for more on the move/closure and this concert, and here's Handsome Sandwich live!



Finally for today's previews, we'll head downtown to Gliss Restaurant, where prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return for his usual acoustic matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! After a busy weekend with four shows at three locales, Tym is only visibly scheduled to play at Gliss over the Valentine's Day weekend, and given that the big day is tomorrow, might Tym have some love songs ready to cover for the occasion? In any event, his covers always deliver a positive reception, so if you want some dinner-time cover action, you know where to go! As always, tomorrow & Saturday's Gliss shows are 6:00 PM matinees with no cover charges or age limits, but mind the locale, this isn't a nightclub. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live last year!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Theory of a Deadman, Eric Martin, and Peril concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Acoustic Heartstrings), The Tripod The Dog Concert Preview, And More!!

As promised, we'll wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews today with one more Saturday nighter, but to fill things out, I've cobbled together some more stories to make this a full news post, including some assorted shorter topics, a new cover video, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

A special all-unplugged Valentine's Day concert at Room 21 will go down on Friday, February 14th featuring some familiar faces! The event is entitled "Acoustic Heartstrings", and despite the private Facebook event page, this is absolutely a public concert. Three bands will rock the stage with acoustic sets, including alternative/punk trio Handsome Sandwich, who should adapt their diverse and amusing sound well in this setting, so don't miss Johnny, Jesse, and James then! Also, this night will see the live debut of new local acoustic cover band Big Mistake, whose lineup features ex-Re:Born singer Robert Nevitt, Jack Spades guitarist Daniel Horton, guitarist Rick Atkins (who played with Robert at The Soo's Got Talent in 2018), and singer Taylor Emlaw (who guested on a couple of songs from Daniel's old band Haggith.) As best as I can gather from online postings and teasers, Big Mistake will be much softer in tone compared to Robert & Daniel's past local band work.

A third act is to be announced, which appears to involve Daniel's long-time musical colleague Curtis McKenzie, based on a comment on the event page, while their Project 421/Eclipse bandmate Chris Thompson and fellow Haggith alum Caleb Cachagee are also credited as event hosts. Is a new/relaunched band from these artists playing too, or are we being thrown a curveball? This 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge, and doors open at 9:00 PM. Very unique concert that will set the mood well for Valentine's Day celebrants, so visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's our last known local hard rock concert preview for this weekend, as veteran ska punk/hard rock trio Tripod The Dog will return to The Rockstar Bar for one night only TONIGHT! Allegedly "back by popular demand", this show will be the first for Mark Oliverio, and John & Jonny Amendola since playing a full weekend at the same venue four weeks ago. 2019 was a good year for Tripod the Dog in their return to the live scene, and hopefully tonight's concert is another smash hit as they enter this new decade! This 19+ concert has no cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time, as usual. It's always good to see Tripod the Dog back at it, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's their song from "Local Steel"! We await videos (and a newly updated online page), which would help keep our coverage up to date.



Also today, here's a new video from ex-Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel last week, and it's a cover of.... Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself?! The surprise rendition was compiled for a friend as a birthday present, and the video is humorous in tone, featuring appearances from his fiancee Shelby Kerns (of the benefit concert in June), their daughter Lyric, and their dog Mayan. This isn't the first time that Cory has featured his family so heavily in a YouTube song upload, and while I'm not high on the original song, his well-done cover has a pleasant honesty and appeal in it's own right. Give it a look below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Local beatboxer Robert "Killabeatz" Drolet has been added to next week's Bon Soo opening night concert at The Machine Shop, joining four other Soo's Got Talent finalists on the bill (The Apocalypse Afterparty among them), as per the official Facebook event page. Fitting addition given the theme, so don't miss him there on Friday night! However, note that the previously announced Lock Cities Chorus of The Sweet Adelines are not advertised there.
• Mustang Sally guitarist Mikhal Muto (the son of Issues/Band Camp Rejects alum Michael Muto) is looking for a singer and drummer for a punk/metal band he's currently working on. Guitars and bass are already filled, an age range of 14-19 is specified, and they cover bands like The Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Megadeth, among others, while also incorporating original songs. If you're interested in trying out, message Mikhal at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from January 12th!
• This will be old news if you saw them live last year, but local punk trio Redundant have finally confirmed online that Andrew MacDonald is their new bassist, replacing James White. The reveal was made on their biography for their upcoming Bout at the Hideout set in Toronto in March. Andrew is an extremely logical choice, given that he and his new bandmates were all in Fitswitch at one point, while he was also a bandmate of Justin's in their immediate predecessors The Scary Uncles, so things should continue to work out fine!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!