Before we get to news as usual, I wanted to wish you guys a happy Remembrance/Veterans Day. Pay respect to your veterans today and wear your poppies with pride! Now this isn't something we see often, but I actually have THREE newly discovered local metal/hard rock projects to share with you guys in this second post today! We have a local solo artist, a brand new band, and a "mystery" project that we could use info on to share, as well as some local Reverbnation pages never featured before on the SMS, so let's get right to everything! We'll go through each new band in alphabetical order.
The first new local act that I discovered recently is a local solo artist named
Mike Haggith. Originally from Windsor, Mike has a long history in both solo and band work dating back to his early work in the late 1990s. He's primarily a guitarist, but also supplies bass and vocal tracks on his original material. His band credits include such Windsor-based groups as
The Thorns and
S.C.A.R., among many others. I won't go into too much detail on his specific bands, as they aren't locally based, but Mike is personally based out of Sault Ontario at present, and continually records and releases solo material along with his bands. This may seem surprising by volume, but Mike has recorded and released over
100 albums since 2005 in his different projects! Over 40 of these are solo albums, but I should note that I don't believe most of these have been sold as "albums". I'm not sure how distribution of most of them was accomplished, but I only see one (
"Ace" from 2009) for sale on any of his pages. I think his albums are distributed similarly to the albums from Sault Michigan solo artist
Mike Libertoski, but I could be wrong. Mike's local connections are overshadowed by his Windsor past, but
his Reverbnation page does indicate that he is among the artists who work with fellow local musician
Mike Cliffe's
Audio Fumes venue, and it lists an upcoming solo open mic performance at
The Outback at
Sault College on Wednesday!
Mike Haggith's genre of music is described as "alternative/grunge/rock", which is about right for what he plays! Many of his internet pages, including ones on
Reverbnation,
Facebook,
YouTube,
Soundclick, and
ImRadio feature many of his more recent solo songs recorded through his independent label Rotten Records, and I have to say, I'm digging a bunch of them! His style isn't too experimental, but he tries different things and different styles in his solo songs, and there's enough heaviness to go around! His singing voice is deep and in control, and his riffing and notation are pretty good! The production quality varies greatly depending on the album each song is from, so make note of that. On songs like "The Institution" and "The 113 Suite", he makes good use of heavy darker tones, and he also has some affecting slower songs too, like "The Day You Left Me"! But really, this is the kind of project that will have a little something for everyone, and you'll have to browse his pages to find a song that suits your preferences! I've done some cherry picking and found some favourites of my own, I recommend you guys check Mike's stuff out for yourself at the above links and see what's there! He's got some real talent, and maybe a review of his "Ace" album is in the cards for the near future!
Secondly, here's a project that I, frankly, know next to nothing about. In recent Google crawling for Sault Michigan concerts, I came across a project from across the river named
Mugwort. Now, this page has very little to speak of. The page was launched in December 2008, there are seven friends, one wall post, and little else. I also know that mugwort is a type of plant, but that's all. There's just one thing that made this worth posting on the SMS: A song! This artist or band posted a song titled "Hunter's Moon", and it's honestly of good quality! Solid melodic death metal kind of tune, with decent production and good singing, and a nice orchestral tinge! The singer sounds a bit like Orb Hearthstone of
End of Existence fame, but no musicians in this project are listed. Definitely check this song out, it's a surprising discovery, if nothing else! But who are/is Mugwort? The page is friends with
Integrated System of Machines and
Clownsack bassist Slappy, but does that mean anything as to the members? Mugwort's profile picture is also the profile picture used by "
Andy Bord", a MySpace friend who also has many connections to local band members. Is Andy in Mugwort, or just a friend? If someone out there can help, e-mail me at
robertfigures@hotmail.com, and check out the above links for more!
The final new band that we have today is the only band that is actually "new" in terms of when it was formed. They are
The Quims, and they're a new band featuring three local music veterans, including
Scary Uncles frontman Justin Langlois,
Frightlight guitarist Rick White, and
Browbeat bassist James White! A drummer is not listed as of yet. Justin and Rick teamed up in the defunct local bands
Scattered and
The Pisstanks, whereas the White brothers recently paired up in a recent incarnation of
Browbeat, so they are quite familiar with each other! The Quims have a listed genre of "raunch hillbilly redneck rock n' roll", and list some interesting influences and likes on
their Facebook page that suggest a grimy Southern influenced hard rock sound! Of course, we don't know for sure what they sound like yet, but as their newest wall post says, they're coming, be patient! I have a feeling that The Quims might be close in sound to The Pisstanks judging by the descriptions on
The Pisstanks' MySpace page, but we'll have to see! Check out the above links for more, and I'll keep you posted as updates roll in from the Sault's new raunch n' roll band! And yes, The Quims, Mike Haggith, and Mugwort are now in the band listings on the SMS!
Closing today's post are three newly discovered pages on
Reverbnation, that I discovered in the same browsing session that I found Mike Haggith in. Let's go through these quickly in alphaebtical order, as none have anything majorly different from their primary pages. The links to the pages are in each band's name.:
- I can't believe I never mentioned this on here, but local punk/metal band Destroilet are on Reverbnation! The page hasn't been updated in months, but they're there, so become a fan today! Little is there that we haven't seen before from their other pages, so keep that in mind.
- Sault Michigan hard rockers Elipzis also have a new Reverbnation page, which is updated! It lists them as being from the Sault & Grand Rapids, and it features photos, a bio, upcoming shows, and four original song samples! Nothing too different from their other pages, but become a fan today!
- Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has launched his own solo Reverbnation page as well! It features an updated biography, all 10 songs from his "Solo Project" album, and a bit more! This is the newest of the three pages, so become a fan and stay in the loop!
That's all for today, but stay tuned this weekend for more news, my Garden of Bedlam concert review, and more! Thanks everyone!
Next up, here's some more videos from last week's Sky's the Limit mental health benefit concert at The Tech, courtesy of performers Electric Church, the new blues/classic rock outfit featuring young local guitarist Spencer Pine! Given the apparent 15 minute set times, their entire set was seemingly uploaded to Spencer's YouTube channel earlier this week, and within, the band covered Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy", Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", and as embedded below, Hendrix's version of the blues standard "Rock Me Baby". The video descriptions confirm that Spencer is joined by Elijah Nielsen on bass, and Beau "The Beast" Whitfield on drums (though I'm not 100% on if I have Beau's last name right.) I've only seen Electric Church cover Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, and I have yet to find an online page for this band, but they have a good sound & clear talent, and Spencer's vocals fit the material and are suitably melodic! Give Electric Chuch's videos a look!
