New Hard Rock Videos, A New Local Recording Studio, And More!!

With a lot of backlogged news items in our queue, I thought we should keep things rolling with a second news post today, before we dive into weekend concert previews, but check out some new show announcements and concert video below! We'll start this post with local alternative/hard rock trio The Din's fourth installment of their Cover of the Month series, as posted to their YouTube channel yesterday, as they covered The Killers' "While We Were Young"! Described as "a more production heavy tune", the video features two camera angles from the main performance, as well as insert footage of guitarist Tammy Hill playing guitar and keyboard in studio, and tracking material on a computer, plus segments with Mike singing layered background vocals. This is a well done cover that had a lot of work put into it, and Mike's singing is dramatic and deep, so give The Din's newest cover a look below!



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!

Also today, here's some recent updates related to local alternative hard rock quartet Id Iota, who have finally posted a digital download copy of their debut EP "Maudlin Fair" onto their new Bandcamp page! Prospective fans may be inclined to buy "Maudlin Fair" here rather than in physical copies given that the price is just $4, down from $5 on CDs. It's great to see the option is now available, and you can stream it free there too, so check it out and consider buying it above! As well, their Bandcamp page revealed the name of guitar/producer Dustin Goodall's home recording studio (which wasn't given in physical copies), as it's called Unsalted Audio, repurposing the name of his short-lived concert promotion agency Unsalted Records. To formally kick off the studio's public launch, Dustin posted a lengthy press release onto the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Monday to note that Unsalted Audio is the product of his "exceptionally high standards" of getting quality music recordings locally without breaking the bank.

As a result, Dustin is aiming to have his full studio operating by the fall, but is offering a special deal for the summer for prospective local musicians: $1,000 flat for a 10 song album with mixing and full production, which he says would cost 4 times that in a bigger city. Dustin's proven to be a very reliable producer (as also seen with AlgomA's split, and via mixing The Pixo Control's CD), and hopefully musicians take him up on Unsalted Audio's summer deal, so click here for full details on the studio's launch, and stay tuned for our "Maudlin Fair" review this month!

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

• Troubled Mind drummer Mike Vincent has posted another new solo instrumental to his Bandcamp page, entitled "Sacred Sins"! The song has a fast paced metal groove and better audio quality than "Shoah" had, though what the 9/11 picture means towards the song isn't clear. Give Mike's new solo track a listen above!
• We have restored defunct Sault Michigan/Japan metal project Mugwort to our band links, after discovering that their thought-deleted MySpace page was still up! The page's URL had been a string of numbers now used by another page, but it always had http://myspace.com/mugwort too, and I only realized that the other day. Be sure to follow Bob Helsten's other bands to see what he's been up to since!
• In the newest episode of SooToday's music webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper, local artist, accordion player, and Ye Olde Mold Pickers alum Rihkee Strapp discusses her musical background & influences, upcoming open mic night at The Gore Street Cafe (footage of her opening for Dirtfight there is also included), and she also reiterated her recent desires to start a doom metal band with her singing lead vocals (message her above if you want in!) Solid feature of this multi-talented artist, so give it a look above, but note that Donna is nowhere to be seen, with the episode resembling Shaw TV's music pieces as a result.

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

New Videos From (Mike) Haggith, An Inactive Band, And More!!

First off, I want to apologize for not getting a proper plug/preview of Saturday night's Mourning Wood concert at Reggie's West on the site, as the band didn't confirm it on their own Facebook page, and it's personal Facebook page announcements by band members weren't timely for us to add them to a post. Don't miss them this coming Thursday for the Rednecks jam night though! Now, today's news post features new videos from two linked projects, a local band that we're moving to our inactive links, and more, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with new videos from local grunge/hard rock quartet Haggith, though this time, not YouTube uploads of original studio recordings. Since the recent return of Caleb Cachagee on guitar, the guys have posted two new videos to their Facebook page, including this video of the guys hanging out watching a King Crimson DVD, making soup, and freely talking about anything that comes to mind in the process. Light but amusing, so give it a look to see the new lineup, who definitely seem to be in great spirits! Note however that there is some swearing present. The other new video is musical in nature, as it features drummer Mike Haggith playing along with the studio track for their original "Road Rash" (from their upcoming EP "XIV") in order to try out the band's new studio simulator. Nice energetic performance, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from Haggith!



Next up, we have a band to move to our inactive band links on the site, that being local punk/metal quartet T-Rex Manning. While the band has never publically confirmed anything regarding their status, they haven't played a public concert since the last Heavy Thursday at The Roosevelt Hotel last February, while every member of the band has since been focusing on other projects (J.D. Pearce & Tiffany Stocco with Jack Spades, Rick White with Redundant, and Bill Bennett with Stereo North), and it could be argued that Jack Spades have replaced T-Rex Manning given the common members and similar sound. Active since the fall of 2011, T-Rex Manning's punk and metal covers were a familiar sight at local concerts for over two years, wherein they opened for the likes of The Ripcordz, The Saigon Hookers, and Diemonds, along with winning "Best Sound" at 2012's Humane Society Battle, while unleashing their fan favourite original "She Banged The Mayor" in the process.

T-Rex Manning were a fun band that delivered lots of entertaining concert sets in the early 2010s, and while Jack Spades deliver a more original-oriented take on their sound, hopefully we'll find Rex Manning Day on our calendars again down the road! Best of luck to J.D., Tiffany, Bill, Rick, and Daniel in the future!

Also today, here's another new studio original song from the aforementioned Mike Haggith's solo project! To be included in his upcoming album "The Warinside", this newest song (posted on his YouTube channel on Wednesday) is titled "Candy Is A Hooker's Name", which Mike said was both "comedic and personal" on his solo Facebook page last week. We won't review the song here, as we're waiting for our full review of this album to come upon it's release, but give Mike's new solo track a listen below, and hear more above!



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

• Recording for Jack Spades' chunk of their upcoming three-way split album with Destroilet and Montreal's The Ripcordz will apparently begin tomorrow! Our source is the band's Facebook page, where they also revealed plans for a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the release that would see "wicked rewards" for people who pitch in. We'll keep you posted when more is announced!
• Ye Olde Mold Pickers frontwoman Rihkee Strap is reportedly interested in singing in a local doom metal band this summer when she moves back to the Soo, which she mentioned came from a recent vision that she had. A female fronted doom band would be intriguing on it's own, but if you're interested in more details, message Rihkee at this link or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday!
• As previously mentioned in our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post, local goregrind duo Rotopsy recently posted a new song onto their Bandcamp page towards their next demo, but I won't give the 24 word long title here due to potentially offensive content. Featuring a groove metal sound with spoken word vocals, it continues their recent evolution, so give it a listen if you want!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!