Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Newest Podcast Interview With Brian Tremblay!!

Remember when local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith was interviewed by local folk/country musician Brian Tremblay for an episode of Rock 'N Roll Heaven on The Borderline back in March 2023? Well, the two have united for another podcast interview almost two years later! However, this one isn't affiliated with The Borderline, rather The Lonesome Cowboy Podcast, Brian's own independent series that you can check out episodes of via Substack. This podcast debuted in November of last year, and you read more about its raison d'etre at this link, and while an allusion is made as to why he seemingly left The Borderline, new Rock N' Roll Heaven episodes were still being released this month, so who is to say what's going on. Regardless, this new interview with Mike is exclusive to The Lonesome Cowboy Podcast, and it is much shorter (37 minutes as opposed to the almost 2 hour long interview from 2023).

If you want to hear their Rock N' Roll Heaven interview from 2023, click here, but one plus to the February 2025 interview is that it was uploaded in video format with Mike interviewed via Zoom! To that end, Brian hosts in front of a green screen of a western sunset, but the chroma-keying isn't perfect, and often blends with his shoulders. The interview here differs from 2023 beyond length and visuals by focusing mostly on Mike's work as a do-it-yourself independent musician and owner of MorningStar Records (which was still in the works during his last interview with Brian), with Mike first discussing how MorningStar fully came to be and why he decided to start his own artist-friendly label, with information about the label operations and amenities being given on air. Mike even has copies of Brian's output with MorningStar to show on camera, so there's your proof as to the label's success with releasing physical albums for affiliate artists!

This leads into Brian drawing comparisons between Mike's music career and the discipline of his day job as a pilot, as well as the pilot/flying references made in Mike's Frequent Flyer newsletter program, including a rare public reference to Mike's "Frequent Flyer" studio album that is being released piece by piece to newsletter subscribers (I'll mention it on the SMS when unequivocally completed in its release there). At the midpoint of this interview, Brian asks about Mike's lack of pushiness when promoting his artistic endeavours, before asking about Mike's plans for future concerts, with Mike explaining why most of his modern concerts are in the Soo and not elsewhere, but he does hope to play solo dates in other markets, possibly in conjunction with where he travels as a pilot. Brian then asked how the pandemic affected Mike's live concerts and the audience turnout after things re-opened and shows resumed in earnest.

After talking about Mike's live concert experiences and feedback, Mike spends the last few minutes by promoting his music directly, particularly his post-2011 output and his Din albums, and where you can hear/buy everything. While much shorter than 2023's interview and completely lacking in songs of Mike's, this is an informative watch that covers lots of ground in a nice casual manner, and it's good to see Mike & Brian talking about music again like this! No word on if we'll ever see the teased "Face To Face" live album from the two of them though. Unfortunately, I'm unable to directly embed the video proper on the SMS, just as a shared link from Substack, but click here to watch the 2025 interview, and if Mike does have new content to tease, it doesn't sound like another interview with Brian will be far off! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Greig Nori's Interview On The Borderline From June 2023!!

With the recent announcement of a Treble Charger reunion concert at The Machine Shop on March 7th, now's as good a time as any to finally cover an audio interview that singer/guitarist Greig Nori took part in last June! I profusely apologize for the delay in this making the site, it fell through many cracks, but the timing is right given the reunion concert! This was for an episode of Rock N' Roll Heaven on The Borderline, as hosted by veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay, and it runs for 76 minutes, albeit including eleven Treble Charger songs during the runtime, starting with "Takes Me Down". If you want to skip past Brian's introduction and this song, the interview proper begins at about 4:40 into the episode. Brian first asks Greig about when he decided to move back to Sault Ste. Marie full time and how his relationship began with the Algoma Conservatory of Music and The Loft, of which he is the general manager.

If you're only familiar with Greig as a musician, his work as a producer in Toronto comes up here, including where he got the idea to merge a studio with a live performance venue rather than his high-end studio in Toronto that was seeing a declining usage into the 2010s, with emphasis on bands taking advantage of the setup for social media purposes and promotion. The next two songs are "Don't Believe It All" & "Friend Of Mine", which sandwich more studio equipment talk. Greig next goes into his apparent involvement in an upcoming film soundtrack featuring some surprising attached names, before Brian begins asking about Treble Charger (if you're looking for that part, jump to the 20 minute mark). Greig brings up how Treble Charger formed, why they changed their name from nc-17, and how they technically weren't from the Soo originally, having formally joined forces down south.

After "Morale" is played on air, Brian asks about why Treble Charger broke up in 2004 (quite a leap in the timeline!), with Greig even admitting that he didn't really want to continue playing the pop punk-leaning music that Treble Charger was playing at that point. Their reunion show in Toronto in 2012 (Greig was off a couple years on the date) is brought up next before "Motor Control" is played. Next, they discuss the end of Greig's work with Sum 41 (he produced both "Does This Look Infected?" & "Chuck"), his time working on disBand on MuchMusic from 2008-2010, and why that show ended. We next hear "Red" to cap off the first half of the interview, after which Brian reads some statistics about how many songs get uploaded to (and heard from) streaming services, with Greig offering his advice to musicians hoping to get discovered. Treble Charger's biggest punk-era hit "American Psycho" is played on air next.

The discussion about helping rising newer musicians get noticed is continued afterwards, with Greig suggesting some specific routes that bands should take (he recommends the Canadian Musicians Co-operative), with this segment interrupted by a playing of "Brand New Low". After we hear "Business", Brian asks about Greig's current songwriting plans, albeit not attached to a specific project yet, along with his individual work songwriting with musicians who record at the Conservatory/Loft (the teased new Treble Charger album from the late 2010s is not brought up here). This is where the interview ends, but the episode ends with playings of "Favourite Worst Enemy" and "More's The Pity", sandwiching Brian's episode closing plugs and thank yous. Solid listen that, if a little heavy on industry talk, lets us hear from Greig on a wide range of topics! You don't hear him interviewed much nowadays.

This may be a perception thing more than reality, but the episode feels over-edited, like how the Treble Charger discussion leaps from their beginnings to their end without really talking about their heyday, while the Sum 41 chunk is only how that relationship ended. Is there an unedited cut with this stuff intact? I still think Brian should either place the songs in more natural spots or have more obvious transition markers so they don't come in so abruptly, but fans of Treble Charger will definitely want to hear this whole interview from last summer at this link or above! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith & Brian Tremblay's "Face To Face" Concert!

I apologize for this being so late to hit the site, but as you may recall, local/Barrie alternative/hard rock solo musician Mike Haggith and folk/country singer/songwriter Brian Tremblay joined forces for a special acoustic concert at The Art Hub on Spring on May 26th named Face To Face, which emphasized storytelling about their original music in between live performances. As I alluded to a bit on the site in the ensuing month+, Mike live-streamed the concert (all 2 hours & 50 minutes of it!) to his YouTube channel, but between other posts and life in general, this got pushed back and back and back, and I figured that I better get to it A.S.A.P. before Mike's album release next week, especially as the new album likely came up during the concert! So, if you weren't able to make it to The Art Hub on Spring (actually at 504 Queen Street East), what all went down at Face To Face?

The camera was set up in a stationary spot, directly pointing at (but not completely in front of) where Mike and Brian performed. The stage area for this show is well lit, and if you were in attendance, this would be fairly reflective of your view if you were where the tripod was! The show is introduced by Brian's fellow Borderline radio host Adrian Vilaca (who interviewed Mike for Across The Tracks in 2021), and while everything was introductory and more for live attendees, his remarks are sometimes hard to hear. Brian does deliver the initial remarks from the two performers, but Mike is the first to perform. Structurally, each song is preceded by Mike or Brian outlining the songwriting process and/or inspiration of the song in question, much like the old VH1 Storytellers series/albums, and rather than have an opener and a closer, Mike and Brian trade a song each throughout the night, playing nine songs apiece (with stories to match).

When I link to song names here, I'll link to when the stories are told rather than the song's beginning, so you get full context (plus, it'd be too much wasted text if I linked twice for each song), but both do get linked on the YouTube description. I won't spoil the content of the stories, which I could never do justice to, but they are titled on YouTube. Also, the woman who sits on stage and interjects in Brian's stories is his wife Lynn, who guests on backing vocals, tambourine, or shaker for most songs. Mike's first song is his label namesake "MorningStar", with Brian's first song being his 2000 original "By My Time". Mike next plays "The Best You Never Had", and Brian followed things up with "The Junction Inn". A trifecta of opening songs from Mike's 2020 album "If Ever Comes The Day" is completed with "Into The Setting Sun", with Brian playing a newer song named "I Knew You'd Be Alright" next.

Mike dips into his newest (for another week) album "Bridges" with a rendition of "Come On Home" for his fourth song, followed by Brian playing his own "Last Stand Hill". The last songs before the intermission include Mike's song "I've Seen It Before" from next week's "All The Best In All You Do" (featuring a guest appearance by Mike's old Din bandmate Brandan Glew), then Brian's more downbeat original "Let It All Out". A 25 minutes-long intermission takes place next, which Brian and Mike introduce by outlining contests/the door prize and revealing that they'd both be playing at Rotaryfest next week (this was a new announcement at the time). The second half of the show begins with Mike playing the title track of "If Ever Comes The Day", which was his last Thompson-era original of the evening. Brian returns with his song "Grey Bar Hotel", inspired by a surprising past day job of his.

Fans of Mike's old power pop/hard rock band The Din will be excited by his closing songs, starting with the title track of their last album "Suburban Dream" from 2017, before Brian took the mic for his song "Road Hockey", whose story will naturally pique the interest of hockey fans. Mike's penultimate song is "Out Of My League" from 2015's "The Warinside" (which was covered on "Give In To The Din" one year later), followed by Brian's second-last song, the more recent & harmonica-infused "Steel Man". For their final numbers, Mike brought back "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device" from 2014's "A Place Of Our Own" (titled under its revised "Give In To The Din" name "Potato (Should Have Known Better)"), while Brian played his new song "Wine, Whiskey, and Weed" with Mike guesting on guitar and the audience at large guesting on the sing-along choruses.

Mike gives closing remarks to plug their merchandise sales and announce the winners of that day's contests & door prize. While the storytelling aspect was inconsistent depending on the song's inspiration, this was a fun show that fans of Mike's and Brian's will enjoy, and the loose & casual atmosphere was to its benefit! It was teased before the show that Face To Face would be released as a live album through MorningStar Records, which has yet to occur, but if it does get such a release, we don't know if Mike and Brian's songs would be divided between their own streaming/sale links or not (plus, if they were included together on a Kunaki-enabled physical CD or LP set, it'd have to be a double album at the very least). In any event, you can hear the whole thing free and on demand on YouTube below, but stay tuned for details on a possible "Face To Face" live record, and look for this weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Interview On Rock 'N Roll Heaven On The Borderline!!

Four days after the return of his monthly live-streams on Facebook, fans of local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith were spoiled again with another lengthy interview involving him, courtesy of the March 31st episode of Rock 'N Roll Heaven on local internet radio station The Borderline! While you may be more familiar with Sev's Cellar in terms of shows there interviewing heavier or punk musicians from the area, host and veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay has interviewed some impressive names in recent years from both the Soo and far flung locations, so click here for the full archive of past episodes! Mike's interview with Brian runs for an hour and 54 minutes, and starts with Brian setting up the interview and key notes about Mike as a musician and re: his day job as a pilot, before playing "The Nature Of The Times" at the 1:37 mark. The interview proper begins next around 6 minutes in.

Conducted by phone from Mike's current Barrie homebase, it starts with Brian asking about Mike's work as a pilot, the origins of him wanting to fly airplanes (much earlier than you may think), moving to the Soo to enroll in Sault College's aviation program, his extended stay here helping his musical career (The Din are promoted here), his move to Thompson, Manitoba in 2017, and his move to Barrie with WestJet, which abruptly cuts to his song "From The 55th Parallel" at the 12:30 point in the interview. When we come back to the interview, Brian compares Mike to major musicians who fly airplanes, and they stick to airplane talk next, including preferred planes to fly, if Mike brings guitars with him on flights, and his penultimate goal as a pilot, with "The Best You Never Had" playing next at 21:27, if less abruptly. Mike next talks about his marriage and recent one year wedding anniversary, before diving into his music career proper.

Brian asks Mike about his early beginnings with writing and recording music in his hometown of Windsor (this section has lots of amusement), as well as the early albums of Mike's that he has digitized and kept but never plans to release. At the 31:39 mark, we next hear Mike's song "2145", which is incorrectly labelled as "12" in the track listing on the episode page, before Brian asks about Mike's past bands and if some could ever come back. Mike did reveal that there were "limited talks" about The Din reuniting, but will likely leave that to archival releases now, but he did note that his old Windsor band S.C.A.R. could reunite, time permitting. Brian also asked if Mike would ever consider focusing on music as a 100% full time career rather than flying (Mike answered in the negative), before we next hear "Twist of Fate" at the 41:48 mark, which is from Mike's forthcoming album "All The Best In All You Do".

Yes, this is the studio take of the song, so if you're looking forward to that album, note this preview! Afterwards, Brian asks about Mike's work doing the soundtrack for the independent film Ashes of K (whose soundtrack featured existing songs from his solo and Din catalog), which actually ties in with talk of the Windsor Express basketball team, as Mike moonlighted as a broadcaster for them once! The first half of the interview ends with "Into The Setting Sun" at 51:26, before Brian asks about how Mike' family supported his music career, The next song is "Back Away Slowly" at 58:33, before we next get discussion about Mike's planned indie label MorningStar Records and his planned artist-friendly aims for the label, especially knowing what it was like as a local musician looking at contract offers and knowing that better can be done for the artists. "Blue Highway" is the next song up at 1:09:09.

The interview continues with Mike elaborating on print-on-demand methods for physical albums, and how Mike has used Kunaki for his solo catalog in recent years, extending into Mike's sales of his albums online and how this all ties in to the MorningStar Records plans. After we hear "Bridges" at 1:18:44, the MorningStar Records talk continues, including the optimism about the far flung artists who have expressed interest in signing on, before Brian asks about Mike's album "Bridges" and why it had such a delayed and eventually abrupt release. Mike talks about the songwriting and his moving to Thompson initially, broken up with the song "To Be With You" at 1:26:52, which ironically is not from "Bridges" (it's another new track that premiered on The Borderline). Afterwards, Mike outlines the recording of "Bridges" and his work in the Thompson rock band Between The Ditches.

Mike doesn't go into great detail about the personal matters that led to recording "If Ever Comes The Day" and releasing that in lieu of "Bridges", but he does address his decision to finally put that album out in 2021 in conjunction with his new website. The next song heard at 1:36:12 is "The Catalyst", which is from "Bridges" this time! He next discusses his new album "All The Best In All You Do", where he comes back around to the themes of "If Ever Comes The Day" and how it inspired the more optimistic & personally influenced album ahead. This wraps up the interview proper, before Brian plays "All You Do" from the new album at 1:45:47 (this might be that song's public premiere but don't quote me on that). After thanking Mike again, Brian teased that he and Mike will apparently be playing a "very intimate singer-songwriter evening" together next month, but details on the event are forthcoming. We'll keep you posted when more comes out!

After signing off, the Sinister Hearts frontman plays one more song of Mike's at 1:49:54, namely "MorningStar". This was an entertaining interview with lots of interesting tidbits and reveals throughout, and Mike came off well when talking about his musical and aviation careers! I would have took more time to gameplan which song plays where, let alone with the often abrupt jumps from interview to song and back (I'd have Brian introduce them on air for the songs to be added afterwards), but aside from that, fans will want to check it out at this link! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Rock & Roll Heaven On The Borderline's Episodes On Sault Memorial Gardens Concerts!!

With news remaining very slow for the local metal, hard rock, and punk scenes, today seemed like a good day to dive back into local internet radio station The Borderline, so what else is available to hear there that would fit our coverage range? Let's start with veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay's series Rock & Roll Heaven, which focuses on musical acts that have played in Sault Ste. Marie in the past, either through personal and guest recollections, or interviews with musicians who have came here on tour, and there are a lot of episodes you can hear on demand now on The Borderline's website. Last month, episodes of Rock & Roll Heaven were posted that explore the history of live concerts at the former Sault Memorial Gardens, which was our major concert venue and hockey arena from 1949-2006. While Brian's musical tastes can stray from our usual coverage, hard rock concerts there do come up, so what can you find within?

The initial Memorial Gardens episode runs for 63 minutes, and it is entitled "A Garden of Music", which primarily explores classic rock-leaning musical acts that played there through the early 1980s, and Brian does play DJ by airing select studio tracks from bands discussed during the show (a full playlist can be seen at this link.) At the 17:24 mark, Brian talks about being in attendance progressive hard rock legends Rush's third and final Sault Ste. Marie concert from 1977, which he fondly recalled, despite being poorly attended. In this segment, Brian played the live version of "Closer To The Heart" from their live album "Exit Stage Left", followed by "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want" by Toronto hard rock band A Foot In Coldwater, who opened for Rush on this tour. Fun 10 minute segment overall, and it's nice to hear some first-hand context about Rush's last local date from someone who was there!

The second episode (entitled "A Musical Hockey Barn") can be heard at this link or above in the second (lower) file. It's formatted very similarly to part 1, and runs for almost as long, but it does creep later into the 1980s in the second half, and thusly talks about more hard rock acts. There's also more recommendations from friends and listeners than in "A Garden of Music", for what that's worth. Hard rock fans will be most interested in segments from 18:02 on, starting with Brian's recollections of Vancouver hard rock icons Prism's local stop, including their songs "Spaceship Superstar" & "Flyin'". At 29:08, Brian looks back on Canadian guitar icon Kim Mitchell, who played the Gardens solo and with Max Webster, and he played his classic song "Lager & Ale" in this segment. Next, at 34:13 in, Brian talked about Alannah Myles, who opened for Kim locally at the show Brian attended.

Rather than go the obvious route by playing "Black Velvet", Brian chose her track "Still Got This Thing For You" to play on air. The last show Brian talked about in this episode was a triple bill from Canadian hard rock legends Moxy (not Moxy Fruvous), Goddo, and Trooper that he saw at the Gardens in the late 1970s. Moxy's segment begins at 40:04, and he plays their song "Ridin' High" here, before switching to Goddo at 45:01, from whom he plays "Walk On", and gives some extra detailed information on meeting and helping frontman Greg Godovitz much later on. Fitting of the headliners, he covered Vancouver hard rock favourites Trooper last at 52:52, and he plays their two first singles to close, "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" & "General Hand Grenade". A third episode was teased, perhaps diving into Gardens concerts in the 1990s, but it sounds like it's dependent on listener recollections and requests, so contact Brian if you can help.

I enjoyed listening to these episodes, especially when Brian had unique thoughts on specific concerts to share beyond just if he liked the bands in question, and his biography details in between were also welcomed! Re: a third episode, I wonder if getting a hold of Duane Roy (author of the Soo Stories book about Memorial Gardens concerts) would be worth considering? He definitely had strong recollections of shows there. Even if a part 3 isn't imminent, there is more to discuss from Rock & Roll Heaven (now linked on the SMS), so give both of Brian's Memorial Gardens episodes a listen above, and stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Saturday! Thanks everyone!

New Facebook Video Postings, Plus More Recent News & Updates!!

After taking the weekend off while seeing family out of town, I'm back with a new news post on this Monday morning, including some assorted recent updates, but first, here's some new Facebook videos, starting with one from local blues/hard rock trio Electric Church! Filmed by an uncredited attendee during their set at Odeno at Sault College for their reunion events on Friday, this video is of their cover of Gary Clark Jr.'s "When My Train Pulls In", and while incomplete and containing no vocals, it captures Spencer, Elijah, and Beau in fine form on this more modern selection! Give their newest video a look below, and stay tuned for more on their upcoming EP!

Next up, here's some interesting "new" videos of local author George Case (Led Zeppelin FAQ, Whole Lotta Zeppelin, etc.) from his Facebook page on Friday, courtesy of the launch party of his book "Arcadia Borealis: Childhood and Youth in Northern Ontario" at LopLops Lounge back in early 2008! That evening, George picked up his guitar to play some songs, including an original named "The Bartender Is My Friend", while he was also joined by future Turner Up guitarist and then-Rad Zone mainstay Len Ward for some covers, like Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free" and, as embedded below, Kiss' "Hard Luck Woman". These aren't bad, and I like the laid back feel for the book launch, complete with a LopLops stage that's nigh unrecognizable compared to it's state nine years later! It's nice to see Len performing here, and while George's singing voice isn't the rangiest in the world, he makes it work on these performances. Give them a look above & below, and see above for details on his bibliography and how to purchase his books!



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

• After a six month hiatus, local black metal solo project Abhorrent Forest re-emerged with a new single on their Bandcamp page yesterday, entitled "Thorn of Torment". Wyrn says that this won't be on any albums "since I haven't been home in months", and it's been "collecting mildew" while other songs were cut. The song delivers more brutal instrumental death metal action, despite being somewhat repetitive, so give it a listen at the above links!
• I have removed Brian Tremblay Photography from our links of local concert and musician photographers due to the closure of his website, the last remaining substantive link to his work in this field. Brian had indicated prior to December 2016 that he'd left photography to move on to another career, but we left him in our links as he still had an active website at the time. Best of luck to Brian in his current endeavours!
• I've also deleted Joe's Bar & Grill in Rudyard from our listings of Sault Michigan-area concert venues, due to the deletion of it's Facebook (and only online) page at some point earlier this year. As it turns out, Joe's was bought by new owners, and after a period of renovations, it re-opened in June as Huck's Pub & Grill, with concerts booked so far appearing to lean towards country acts. Hopefully Huck's finds continued success, and we'll be sure to cover hard rock and/or metal shows if we hear that they're booked there!
• Former Bear Hunters guitarist & Skull After Betrayl frontman Mike Vincent has revived his solo project (again!) After over a year's hiatus for personal reasons, the Sault Ontario mainstay posted a new instrumental song on his Bandcamp page on Saturday named "Filters of Fire", and while the recording quality isn't perfect, the song isn't bad, and it has a good bite to it, with elements of groove metal with some doomier stretches! Give it a listen above as well, and Mike's back in our active band links!
• Ride For Sight Northern Ontario planning committee chairman Dave Ostrowski-Gallant and his wife Nicole have announced that they are stepping down from organizing the annual blindness motorcycle rally (and related concert), as per the event's Facebook page on Friday. Dave cited their personal lives getting busier and heading "down a different path of good change" for their reasons, but he thanked everyone for helping put on the rally for the past 6 years, and to message him on Facebook if you're interested in taking over as chairman next year. Good luck to Dave & Nicole in their next projects, and hopefully the rally continues on!
• Room 21 co-owner Billy Blackula is looking for artists to play weekends at the new nightclub above Low & Slow on Albert Street West, though he's specifically looking for trios and smaller (possibly due to space concerns or sound limitations.) Best known to our coverage from recent Tym Morrison shows, it'd be nice to see Room 21 expand further with a wide array of artists, but message Billy at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday if you're interested in playing there!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as this week continues! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden of Bedlam), Plus Lots Of Assorted News!!

The news keeps rolling in, but before I mention that, just a reminder that we will shut down our current poll on Monday and unveil our new monthly poll that same day. It's no secret what the topic will be, if you've followed us over the last couple years, as July is typically for the poll on best concert of the first half of the year, so get speculating! Now to the news, as we have a new song from a local solo artist, some new Woods of Ypres articles, a cool photo series from a local photographer, and lots more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

It's finally happening: Garden of Bedlam are playing a Roosevelt Hotel metal night! The high profile local metal quartet will make their first ever appearance at The Rosie on Thursday as the headliners for what should be an awesome night of metal! Believe it or not, this will be Garden of Bedlam's first local show at a venue outside of The Rockstar Bar since they opened for Kiss in August, but a change of scenery is never bad! The co-headliners were originally supposed to be Saskatoon hardcore quintet Harmful Effects, but they can no longer make this concert. I'll note that their MySpace page indicates they're playing a show in Toronto on Thursday, so that could be why. Still, they're a solid band, hopefully they come here in the future! In their place will be The Bear Hunters, once again returning to The Rosie to deliver a brutal set of melodic death metal! Opening will be Winkstinger, the extreme quintet who always deliver an intense and chaotic blast of metal whenever they take the stage, so they'll fit right in on Thursday! As is usual, there will be no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM-ish start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This will be an awesome concert, and I will absolutely be there to rock out and have a great time! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's some long overdue Woods of Ypres-related articles I've been waiting to share with you guys! Firstly, an interesting interview with frontman David Gold was posted onto the blog Musical Immigrant on June 26th, where the blog's creator asks David a series of questions on his musical tastes, purchases, and influences! The interview, which is part of a series called "Press Play >", doesn't delve into too much Woods of Ypres discussion (save for his opinions on the band's albums for one question), but it's a cool look into David's diverse musical tastes, so check it out at the above links! The same man who interviewed David there also posted a short article on May 21st detailing his CBC work in Windsor, and how he was instrumental in Woods of Ypres' appearance in this 2003 CBC Television report! Very interesting, give that a look too at this location! Finally, correspondent Kirk Maltais of the Virginia-based Magazine 33 interviewed David via e-mail before their June 9th show in Richmond, Virgina, and you can check out the review at this location as well! Posted on July 1st, the interview features David talking about how the Pain & Piss tour was going, their Earache Records signing, the sounds of "Woods IV", what to expect with "Woods V", the meaning of their name, and much more! Another nice interview, well worded and thought out, definitely check it out (along with the rest) at the above links!

Thirdly today, here's a brand new original song from Sault Ontario solo artist Mike Cliffe! Entitled "Thaule Birth", it's an instrumental rock song that seems to mix a slower classic rock vibe with oriental synthesizer sounds, which is an odd combination, but well played! It gets repetitive after a while, but it's a nice soft number that shows Mike's diverse musical range, even if it's not heavy! If you want heavy, you'll get your fill at his Reverbnation page, where "Thuale Birth" is now featured (check the bottom of his total song list.) He also uploaded the song to his YouTube channel on Monday, accompanied by video footage of a bike ride he took down the local hub trail and some of the recent fireworks from the holiday weekend. Irrelevant, but relaxing, so check out Mike's newest song "Thuale Birth" below, and at the above links!



Fourthly, here's a cool note from a local photographer we haven't featured much on here. I'm talking about the talented Brian Tremblay, who's one of the best known photographers in Sault Ontario. Why mention him here though? Well, aside from some scattered band photography, including a nice shoot with Turner Up's Brent Royer-fronted lineup last year, he did a series called "So You Want To Be A Rock N' Roll Star" last summer, which featured solo photographs of various prominent local musicians! The photos are all in a stylized black & white colour scheme, featuring numerous musicians and band members by themselves with their instruments, and the shots are great! But are there hard rock musicians? Indeed there are! The two albums in the series include (among many others) Full Circle frontwoman KT Antler & drummer Scott McClurg, Late & Loud guitarist Brendan Christie, That's Chester drummer Ric Datson, and former Driver guitarist Joel Poluck (now of Mora Lee Sound), just to name a few. Outstanding work, they (and the rest of the talented artists shot) look great, and hopefully Brian does more work like this with other musicians! Check the above links for much more, including this link to see the photos on Facebook! And yes, Brian's now in our "Other Local Metal Links", he's long overdue!

And finally, here's some assorted shorter stories from the last little while, in alphabetical order by band or site name:

• Local progressive rock quartet Machines Dream have been added to "The Sinister Stage" TONIGHT at Foggy Notions! They're actually replacing RedD Monkey on the lineup, who were briefly reported as being on the show last night before dropping out. The official poster has been updated to reflect the addition, so go see Frightlight, Greg Callaghan, and Machines Dream TONIGHT at Foggy's, which is just seconds from the Tenaris Second Stage!
• If you didn't notice, we've resumed using custom banners on The Sault Metal Scene's main page itself! With more room to work with now, it made sense, so I started by adapting Gates of Winter's album "Lux Aeterna" to the banner, while incorporating our current logo in a blended sort of way. Hopefully it looks good! My plan is to update it weekly, so stay tuned, and give me feedback if you have any cool ideas!
• Sault Michigan metal project Traces (fronted by Swayze Train drummer Tyler Tidwell) have a Facebook page too! It's barely updated, and hasn't been touched since September, but become a fan at this location, cause you never know when Traces could re-emerge!
  

That's all for today, but I have some big stuff on the horizon, including our "favourite shows of the first half of 2011" poll on Monday, the debut of our YouTube Channel Profile Series on Friday, two concert reviews next week, and the likely reveal of which CD we're reviewing this month, so stay tuned for all of that, plus news as it happens! Thanks everyone!