Details On Dustin Jones' Interview On Across The Tracks On The Borderline!!

Back in June, two veteran local punk musicians were separately interviewed for radio shows on local internet radio station The Borderline, and I do apologize for both being so late to be covered on the SMS! We'll start with the June 23rd interview with Jonesy Land frontman/Bookclub bassist Dustin Jones, marking his second long-form interview with the station, following an episode of Sev's Cellar three years ago. This time, Dustin featured on Borderline founder Adrian Vilaca's interview series Across The Tracks, which focuses on detailing original songs, and the episode runs for 53 minutes. Conducted in studio, it's clear from the off that they've known each other for years, which helps for the comfort level! The interview started with Dustin explaining why he launched the Jonesy Land project apart from his bands, as well as the overall lighter/reserved tone of the project's debut album "Zoom-Out".

Like in past episodes of Across The Tracks, Adrian asks about the origins and themes behind songs by the interview subject, and while he does not stick to the release order of the album, the songs in question are played after that segment wraps up (though they are rarely directly introduced by Adrian, so that can catch you off guard at times). "Father Time" comes up first, but "Ode To The Boys" is discussed next, and it's neat hearing some insight as to The Inner City Surfers' heyday! The song actually wasn't directly about his old bands, moreso old friends, but Dustin does also give some advice to current musicians to start their careers, especially with how easy self-promotion and networking is compared to when he was younger. The debut single "Old Man" is next to be outlined, though note that the interview predates the music video for the song. Next, they discuss his love for Sault Ste. Marie and the Algoma District.

That ties directly into their discussion of the Jonesy Land track "Superior Sons" and some of his surprising inspiration in that song's composition. Adrian next asks about Dustin's own Mission Control Studio and his experiences working with musicians who record there, leading into talk of "Keep Trying", which featured Shannon Moan on guest vocals. Dustin next talks about his views on the local music scene at present, as well as his experiences running a local songwriters competition with Greg MacLachlan pre-pandemic, while explaining how he's approaching music as he gets older, and how this album has a different edge than on his prior albums. This led into "Lonely Boy", before Adrian asks Dustin about fatherhood and his experiences with his kids, while also noting the experience he had making this album and some of the (largely) positive reaction that he received from listeners.

Given the talk about his family, this naturally led into "Shine On" (written for his daughter Jett), and the interview naturally wrapped up with "Summer's End", which was written for his late stepfather and written in the style of music that he loved. The interview ends with Dustin thanking Adrian for all he does locally, as well as plugging Jonesy Land, Mission Control Studios, and Tidal Records, though no sign of a dedicated band page for Jonesy Land yet. Fun interview that really explores the "Zoom-Out" album in depth and Dustin's maturity as a songwriter, and while the album proper is light on "punk" content, you can see how his life's experiences as a whole shaped things on the final product! I'm kinda surprised that he didn't talk about Bookclub though, as they are is current live band, past teasers about Jonesy Land playing shows again acknowledged. Check out this Across The Tracks episode at the links above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next, and that other June interview with a local punk icon on The Borderline will be covered in an upcoming SMS post! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rotaryfest Stage 2) And More Updates!!

Strike while the iron's hot, as they say, so let's wrap up our LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS concerning this year's Rotaryfest lineups, as well as some shorter recent updates to round things out. Here's what you should know!

As promised, here's what you should know about Rotaryfest's Stage 2 lineup for 2023! After a two year pandemic hiatus, the Second Stage returned to the Clergue Park stage beside the Art Gallery of Algoma last year with a new two night format, featuring the 2015-2019 Saturday lineup of original indie/alternative-leaning bands supplemented by a Friday Night Blues lineup curated by the Sault Blues Society. That appears to have went over well, as it's happening again in 2023! Like last year, there's no heavier bands playing on Friday, July 15th, with the expanded five band roster (revealed in this SooToday article) including the returning Rusty McCarthy Band (in Rusty's fourth topline appearance on Stage 2) at 8:30 PM, blues/rockabilly quartet The Steeltown Playboys (who played the drive-in Rotaryfest in 2021) at 7:30 PM, reunited local progressive rock band The Hyperion Effect (new to any Rotaryfest stage) at 6:30 PM, ...

...2022 Stage 1 performers All The Tired Horses (featuring Treble Charger's Bill Priddle) at 5:30 PM, and blues rock veterans Smokehouse (also returning from Stage 2 last year) at 4:30 PM. Should be a fine way to embrace the blues and support the Sault Blues Society, so consider checking that out if you like the sounds of this lineup!

As for the main lineup on Saturday, July 16th, eight acts will take the stage (down one from last year), and like on Stage 1, half of these bands are festival newcomers! Fresh off of their high profile album release, local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich will headline Stage 2 at 8:30 PM in their second year on the bill, and it'll be good to see their momentum continue with a strong placement at Rotaryfest! Local progressive rock mainstays Machines Dream will co-headline at 7:30 PM, just over a month after the two bands perform at the Sault Community Theatre Centre for Soo Soundcheck. Counting their 2010 set as The Craig West Band, 2023 will mark Machines Dream's record sixth appearance on the Second Stage (seventh at Rotaryfest period counting 2021), so that'll be worth noting for fans! As well, it has since been revealed by Machines Dream that their original lineup is reuniting for gigs this summer, Rotaryfest included.

While not a metal band, Machines Dream are ultra talented, so don't miss them in July either! Young local indie rock band The Hollow Heads will return from last year for a set at 6:30 PM, while fellow Clusterfolk alums Distich will bring their folk/indie originals to Rotaryfest for the first time at 5:30 PM. Veteran local folk singer/songwriter M.D. Dunn will play his fourth Stage 2 set and first since 2018 at 4:30 PM, and the opening three acts are all Second Stage newcomers. Rising local folk musician Matthew James (who just moved here last year) gets the 3:30 PM slot, while veteran singer/guitarist Brian Tremblay will surprisingly make his first ever solo appearance at Rotaryfest at 2:30 PM. The opening band at 1:30 PM will actually be new local hard rock quartet Far From Fine (née Ravencore) in their first announced show of 2023, though you'll have seen 3/4ths of the band play Rotaryfest on both stages in the past.

As always, Stage 2 is FREE and ALL AGES, and this year's lineup has a nice balance of new faces and familiar standbys to take in, plus some heavier counterweights to bookend the proceedings! Weather permitting, this should be all be a fun time for local music fans, so visit the above links for more on Stage 2, Stage 1, and the rest of this year's Rotaryfest festivities!

We'll close today with some assorted recent updates, and as usul, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• In a clarification of their announced summer concert schedule, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard (who are not playing Stage 1 this year) have confirmed that they will be subbing in for Soundcheck as hosts of the Thursday jam night at Jay's Piston Broke Pub in all three of the weekends that they're booked for this summer, now including June 29th and August 17th. Reasons for the switch were not announced, but if Soundcheck's okay with the breaks, hopefully fans and jammers will be too! In a comment reply in a personal Facebook share of the updated schedule, frontman Greg Simpson confirmed that they are not playing at Jay's next Saturday due to a private booking elsewhere.
• The aforementioned Far From Fine confirmed on their Facebook page yesterday that they are currently recording at Mission Control Studios, sharing a picture of drummer Austin "Mickey" McCrae laying a track down. This is presumably for the debut album that they have been teasing since the then-Ravencore mentioned said plans in this SooToday article after last year's Toystock. Definitely good to see and hear, so stay tuned for more from Far From Fine when it's announced!
• SooToday contributor Chris Belsito posted this article on May 18th in the wake of the latest Mikey & His Uke cover video (covering Nine Inch Nails' "Wish" with Tony Hawk on vocals), which confirms new details about the video. Tony's scenes were filmed in his San Diego hometown, and yes, that was Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor in a cameo! The man welding behind Mikey Hawdon in his scenes is actually Mikey's dad Ken, who is a steelworker, and Mikey has gotten to know Tony well through online chats around their four collaborations so far. Fun read, so check it out above!
  

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Vanity Updates, And New Cover Videos!!

I wasn't expecting to have a new post on the SMS today, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT came to my attention, so I wanted to get this up just in time before I missed the show entirely! To fill things out, we have a couple of new cover videos and big updates from a rising young punk band, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for a matinee concert TODAY! I profusely apologize for the short notice, this show was originally announced via its Facebook event page on February 27th, but it completely slipped us by at the time (note that the event page was through his personal account, not his proper solo project's Facebook group). Tym was last seen at the downtown Reggie's exactly one month ago, and if you're familiar with his unplugged classic and hard rock covers and very prolific setlist, you should expect lots of entertaining music from Tym TODAY! Yes, this is a matinee as usual for his Sunday gigs at Reggie's, and everything starts at 3:00 PM (again, I'm sorry for the late notice!) Expect a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and while this will be Tym's first public show since vaccine passport rules were lifted, face masks are mandatory for one week longer, with that mandate lifting on March 21st.

While restrictions are loosening, please respect any posted health guidelines and recommendations at Reggie's to ensure that everyone has a safe time TODAY! See above for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's the latest from local punk quartet Vanity, who have quietly modified their name to Vanity First circa March 6th, as per updates across their online pages & channels. A reason for the name change was not announced, but it could be related to the Vanity name being extremely common, with eight bands on Bandcamp using the name Vanity alone, including two who give punk as a genre. Tags used on Facebook since seem to indicate that they might use Vanity as a shortform name still, and the name change does not apply to their demo EP from last month. I'm cool with the extended name, especially as it's more distinct! While still just Vanity, the guys had been teasing recording a song at Mission Control Studios with producer Dustin Jones last month, and they confirmed on Monday that the song in question is their existing original "Playboy Magazine", as featured on their demo.

The proper studio version of "Playboy Magazine" will be released on Wednesday at 11:00 AM, and it will be Vanity First's Spotify debut, so keep that in mind in case it's not imminently posted elsewhere! The guys documented the sessions on their TikTok page, with videos including this slideshow of the guys recording in studio alongside a very chipper backing track and a female announcer (and a katana?!), plus this short clip of them recording backing vocals. Most recently, they posted this preview of the "Playboy Magazine" re-recording, so let those 15 seconds tide you over until Wednesday! The vocal recording clip aside, all were cross-posted on their Facebook page, but Vanity First have uploaded a couple of Facebook exclusive videos in the past week, including a black & white clip of guitarist Mikhal Muto covering the guitar solo from Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls". I love that song, and he did a good job with it, shame the video doesn't have the whole track!

Embedded below is Vanity's last video before announcing the name change, a multi-camera music video cover of Green Day's "When I Come Around" from March 4th featuring multiple angles of the guys performing in studio intercut with frontman Andrew Beggs singing the verses while walking to the right, destination unclear. I wouldn't have had the aspect ratio switch from landscape to portrait orientation for the Andrew walking scenes, and the colour of the clips is too inconsistent as cameras change, but the editing and performance are solid otherwise! Give all of Vanity First's updates a look above & below, and look for their new single on Wednesday!

Finally for today, here's a new cover video from prolific local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page on Wednesday, here featuring Chase tackling Black Sabbath's "N.I.B."! This video features heavy post-production filtering, adding a green tint and a mirrored background layer, with the performance proper being acoustic with reserved yet increasingly ominous vocals and lots of crazy fingerwork on the solo (alas, out of frame). Solid and creative stuff again from Chase, so give this cover a watch below, and visit Facebook to see his detailed response about what his musical background and influences were!

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

Oh!No 2017 Music Festival Fallout, Plus More New Video Finds!!

Here's another new post for your Wednesday morning, featuring a few familiar recent subjects for regular readers! This one is another video-heavy post, this time featuring a solo cover, a studio sample, and a concert performance from last year, but first, here's some of the first fallout from a major debuting festival earlier this month!

We'll start today with some of the first fallout from Saturday's Oh!No 2017 Music Festival in nearby Leeburn, and while we still wait for promoters Six, Two, Oh.'s teased footage of every band, the Facebook event page has became a hub of sorts for media from the concert, including a fair amount of photos showcasing Robbie's Church, the scenery around the venue, and many familiar faces either performing or attending. Fellow promoters Live705 were also on hand to do sound for the event, given that A Dire Setback were already playing that afternoon. Aside from two videos from Bear Hunters singer Nik Deubel focusing on Jack Spades' guitarist Daniel Horton's adventures with a canoe near the venue (which are amusing!), the only videos on the event page come from attendee Janette Wallace, including this video featuring the camping area and scenery around the church, and as embedded below, a video of funk/hard rock quartet The Elements' set from early in the day!

Filmed at a nice overhead angle (I like when venues are formatted with that option), I believe this is 24 seconds of an Elements original, but the video was uploaded in intentionally inverted colours as part of a contest, where the first person on Facebook to guess the band would win two tickets for the rest of the Oh!No Fest (congratulations to Abbey Lynn Ridley by way of Martin for winning!) Friendly tip, paste a screenshot of Janette's photos & video into Windows Paint and press Ctrl+Shift+I to see everything in proper colour, but The Elements sound good from what we hear, so give this video a look below, and see more from Oh!No 2017 above!



Next up, here's the third and final video of inactive local classic/hard rock cover quintet That's Chester from guitarist Gabe Tessaro's YouTube channel, this time from their farewell set at Rotaryfest last year! This clip is of their rendition of April Wine's "Roller", though the band will look slightly different than you may be used to, as original singer Richard Fullerton came back home for their set & handled solo vocals here, while Dan Belanger took over second guitar for their set in place of the late Eugene Orlando. Regular frontman Greg Simpson & fellow guest vocalist Jeannine Jefferson sat this particular cover out, but Greg rejoined the band at song's end to give a shoutout to Rich and Dan, and the two singers did share the stage during the set. This is a fun cover of the classic April Wine number, and Richard's back in his element with his old band, plus I like the visual of the filmer walking down the aisle between the seats to begin the footage, which you can see below!



Also today, here's a video that we missed back in July for acknowledgement on the SMS (apologies for that), and it's a preview video of a studio track from The Bear Hunters forthcoming second studio album "The Dead Testament"! Filmed at Mission Control Studios by producer Dustin Jones and shared to the studio's Facebook page, this is a 45 second sample of the studio version of "Servitude", via filming the tracking computer with cameos of the band (minus Josh) at the end, and they seem happy with the results! Of course, this isn't an optimal look at "Servitude" in audio quality or length, but it's great to see that work is progressing, so give it a look below!

 
Finally for today, here's another new video from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's Facebook page back in August that we hadn't previously shared here, though this one predates their public unveiling of any Christmas tour plans. This is a solo vocal cover by keyboardist Craig Harrison of "Come As You Are" by the Christian folk artist Crowder, as filmed with a vertical camera angle in monochrome. This is another solo cover of Craig's where he holds the camera out himself and definitely looks like he's in the groove once again, and while I'm not familiar with the original song, Craig's singing's is on point and has emotion to it, so give this one a look as well!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this weekend's concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rotaryfest Second Stage), Plus The Latest From The Suicide Kings & Haggith!!

As promised, today's post is headlined by a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this year's Tenaris Second Stage at the Sault Ontario summer music festival Rotaryfest, where as usual, local original musicians and select out of town bands will grace the outdoor Queen Street East stage (outside of The Grand Theater) in three weeks time on Friday, July 19th & Saturday, July 20th! Now, the amount of hard rock-leaning bands has fallen from two last year to only one this year, but it's still more than the Second Stage had in 2011, so read on below for full lineup details, and check out our coverage of the Main Stage lineup in yesterday's second post!

As usual, the Friday lineup on the 19th is smaller, and it will feature out of town headlining band Jaill, an indie/pop rock trio from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (interesting to see an American band at Rotaryfest!) They'll be on at 9:30 PM, and they'll be preceded by four local acts, including blues rock standouts Blues Harvest at 8:30 PM, local/North Bay folk trio The Faraway Neighbours at 7:30 PM, solo folk artist M.D. Dunn at 6:30 PM, and folk/country rockers The Porter Band opening at 5:30 PM. Talented lineup overall, so if you like the above genres, be there on Friday!

As for the main Saturday lineup on July 20th, that's where you'll find this year's only heavier band on the Second Stage, that being local hard rock quartet Sailor's Tongue, in their first live show since last year's Rotaryfest! Though this isn't technically a one off reunion (they've even recorded original material in the interim), it's great to see the McKey brothers & company finally back for another live show, and hopefully their classic-influenced and varied hard rock originals will be welcomed back for another Second Stage go-round! This year, they're the highest slotted local band on Saturday night at 8:00 PM, with two out of town bands (Toronto reggae collective The House of David Gang & Guelph "indie-afrobeat" band The Minotaurs) taking the headlining slots at 10:00 & 9:00 PM respectively. Local news media credits a "surprise guest" in the 7:00 PM slot, but Rotaryfest's own official schedule credits Sault Ontario native & prolific Sudbury blues artist Sean Poluk as playing at that time (no word on why there's partial secrecy, or if something's changed in that slot.)

The remaining Saturday bands in descending order include local folk musician Guy Smith at 6:00 PM, jazz/blues artist Rusty McCarthy at 5:00 PM, progressive rock quartet Machines Dream at 4:00 PM, folk quintet The Mulch & The Mire at 3:00 PM, and returning indie rock trio Cowboys & Indians opening the stage at 2:00 PM. This is a very different lineup than last year's Second Stage, with only 3 bands (Sailor's Tongue, The Faraway Neighbours, and The Porter Band) returning for this year, so the diversity & newer names are appreciated, but metalheads are bound to be disappointed with the decrease of heavier acts. Nonetheless, there's a wide array of talented sounds to be had, so check the above links for more details on the FREE & ALL AGES action going down in three weeks!

Next up, here's some big upcoming news from Rotaryfest main stage performers The Suicide Kings, as they're looking to add a new bassist to their lineup! The news has been plugged on their Facebook page, the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, and members' personal Facebook pages in the past week, but I will stress that they are NOT replacing any existing members. Instead, current bassist Mitch Sirie is planning to move to second guitar full time with the band, as part of an impending expansion to a quintet, which should be interesting in itself! Personal Facebook posts indicate that there are already some interested musicians, but the Rockstar Bar Battle winners won't begin formal auditions until after Rotaryfest in three weeks, so if you're a bassist, there's still time to let the guys know that you'd like to try out! Knowing how fast The Suicide Kings have rose locally in under a year, this could be a huge opportunity, so message the guys on Facebook and at the above links, and stay tuned for more on The Suicide Kings' bassist search!

Finally for today, you may have read on Facebook that local grunge/alternative rock band Haggith's next shows will be part of a private Canada Day bash up in Goulais Mission from yesterday through tomorrow, mirroring their live debut last year, but things will be on a larger scale this time around. Not only will Haggith play, but this will also see the live debuts of Haggith side projects Mike Haggith & The Din and Sound X, as well as a number of newer acts on the band's independent label PaperClip Productions, including Haggith guitarist Daniel Horton & recent backing singer Kristi-Lee Marshall in a joint set, a performer named Frank McGillivray that PaperClip Productions has listed as a signed act in recent months, and two newer acts that I know nothing on named Purple Core and The Nirvanabees (my source for the full lineup is Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie's solo Facebook page.) Even though this bash is not publically attendable, PaperClip Productions will be recording full sets from the performing acts, and have plans to release live albums from the show at some point down the road, so stay tuned for more on these intriguing plans & new acts!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news either tonight or tomorrow as we continue to clear out backlogged news stories! Thanks everyone!