Clusterfolk Music Festival Fallout, A Local Solo Musician's Return, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran local bassist and Borderline radio host Mike Robillard, who just passed away after a battle with cancer at the age of 51. While not a hard rock musician, Mike will be familiar from his work performing with bands like Startlefish, The 4 Really Nice Guys, Spiderback, and Scissors For Erica over the years. More recently, he hosted The Taxi Passenger Revue on The Borderline in early 2020, which played off of his day job to interview local musicians like Tym Morrison, DJ Seith, and Colin Nelson before the pandemic complicated things. As revealed in this GoFundMe campaign, Mike was diagnosed with clear cell renal sarcoma (a form of kidney cancer) in December, and had been fighting it ever since. Having lost my mother to cancer at around the same age in 2020, I sadly know all too well what Mike's family has went through.

A lot of Mike's major musical work either predates social media or didn't produce a widespread album, but he did record with Startlefish (notably on 2005's "Regretfully Yours"), so don't bypass him if you have access to his recordings, as he was a very capable musician, not to mention a kind and funny man by all accounts. I don't know if The Borderline will repost episodes of The Taxi Passenger Revue in his memory (oddly, they had all been taken down), but it'd be nice to see them resurface in his memory. Follow local news media for details on arrangements when appropriate, and R.I.P. Mike! Today's post otherwise looks at updates from a recent concert and a local musician's return, so here's what you should know!

Here's some belated updates from the returning Clusterfolk Music Festival at The Rockstar Bar from this past Saturday night! While not held there, Gore Street arts venue 180 Projects co-organized the event, and it looks like they did the brunt of the Facebook promotion for the concert proper (I don't believe promoter Jackson Reed is on Facebook nowadays). I profusely apologize for missing this, but there were lineup variances not reported on the Facebook event page (launched by The Rockstar Bar), most notably that headlining classic/hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley did not play at Clusterfolk after all, which 180 Projects only announced the morning of the show. They cited "unforeseen circumstances" for their withdrawal, but did not go into further details. This would have been a big platform for them, hopefully nothing bad happened! As well, the planned slot from a Sudbury artist completely fell through, so what should you know there?

Original advertising had folk musician Will Powers playing on Saturday, but he was quietly replaced for unannounced reasons last week by fellow Sudbury folk duo The Bad Actors (who were not among the eight artists to get Clusterfolk music videos), only for them to also drop out for "unforeseen circumstances" on Saturday morning. Local acoustic folk duo Sainte Marie (also not filmed for Clusterfolk) were brought on as a last minute fill-in for both withdrawn bands, with guitarist Jacob Quarrell's other band Jupiter Marvelous promoted to headliners. Hopefully everything went well on Saturday, and stay tuned for more Clusterfolk coverage soon!

Finally, here's a surprise return, as local hard rock solo artist Mike McCleary has resumed working on new music! Over three years after deactivating his Facebook page (intentionally or otherwise), Mike brought it back last summer and quietly posted a "revised" version of his 2018 solo album "Weight of the Truth" to various online music platforms in August, as accessible via this DistroKid page. The revised version re-arranges the song order and includes two brand new songs ("Superstition" & "Solstice"), plus four songs were either rewritten & renamed or dropped outright. Mike is one to de-list past albums of his and re-record or rewrite them to better reflect his musical intent, talents, and messages, so I can't go back and tell you what's what, but "Wannabees" & "Be The One" are reworkings of two of these songs: "Clarity", "Snakes & Ladders", "Disease", and "Overkill", with the other two seemingly being scrapped.

Regardless of changes, "Weight of the Truth" remains a deeply personal album reflecting on Mike's mental health struggles, so it's good to see him addressing his story like this and perfecting it, as only he fully understands what he has went through! You can (re-)buy "Weight of the Truth" for $5.99 at this link or on a "name your price" model on Bandcamp. As I noted above for Mike delisting old albums, only the reworking of "Weight of the Truth" and a new version of the title track from his (former?) EP "Hourglass" are currently posted, and while I have no idea if albums like "In Ruins" and "Hourglass" will ever return in a recognizable form, he has taken to his Facebook page to reveal that he is working on a new album, specifically an instrumental album inspired by his creative pursuits outside of music. He acknowledged that this is a departure from the "controversial material" he's previously released

If you didn't know, many of Mike's prior songs reflected on his left-leaning political views and opinions therein, but such content is not (currently?) available to stream or buy on official channels. Mike does sound like he's having more fun working on his new music, but he didn't specify if he's recording or still songwriting at present. It's good to have Mike back at long last though, he's a talented hard rock musician and songwriter with interesting viewpoints and lyrics, so give his posted material and updates a look above! At press time, Facebook embed codes for videos aren't working on Blogger, but teaser clips from "Weight of the Truth" can be seen there.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next, wth more news to follow! Thanks everyone!

Mike McCleary - "Weight Of The World" Album Review!!

It's now time for our 110th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at "Weight of the World", the recent re-packaging of two albums from local hard rock solo artist Mike McCleary! We chose this album over other recent hard rock/punk album releases from the likes of Redundant, SweetKenny, and Sykotyk Rampage due to it's earlier release, as it won't be "new" much longer. Independently recorded since last year and released to his Bandcamp page on March 11th, this release unites the 2018 revamp of his debut studio album "In Ruins" with his second release/first EP, January's "Hourglass", making this review a 2-for-1 package, complete with one exclusive track! However, Mike has stated that he saw "In Ruins" as the sequel to "Hourglass" despite it's earlier initial release, and it is appropriately placed on "Weight of the World". Featuring Mike on vocals and all credited instruments, "Weight of the World" is available on a "name your price" model at the above links, a change from earlier priced copies.

Given that this album was separately released as two different albums, you can buy them apart with the same pricing structure, though remember that you won't get the closing song "Bismarck" if you buy them this way. Also, I'm not reviewing the original version of "In Ruins" here, for 3 reasons: Mike took it down and heavily changed it on purpose, this review's gonna be long enough already, and with only 3 surviving songs from the original copy, it's basically a different album now as a result. With 14 songs running for over an hour in total length, let's begin our review of "Weight of the World"!

This album begins with the five songs on Mike's "Hourglass" EP, whose lyrics and themes focus on contemporary social issues as a warning to civilization. The first track is "Be Us", which revolves around gender & racial discrimination issues like assimilation and the refugee crisis. A hard rocking number that builds nicely to the choruses, the song has a good edge to it, and Mike's melodic singing is a good match! The song's well performed, but aside from the bridge, there isn't a lot of variance to this song and it's structure once you get past the first chorus. The song is a solid rocker if you don't mind that though! Second is "Carousel", which alludes to the cycle of trying to survive with a low income despite constant inflation, though the song's name plays into the music proper, taking on a carnival music theme in the verses, complete with some more progressive guitar riffing. Points for creativity, though the choruses are a little too talky as Mike tries to fit in the lyrics.

"Carousel" is a fun listen, especially with the lyrics contrasting well with the music, but if you like radio hard rock, the experimentation here may lose you. Then we have "Fire & Fury", which is about if global conflict is necessary, complete with audio samples of political speeches by three American presidents (one of which providing the source of this song's name.) This track has two basic themes, with the verses taking on a low morose structure before Mike suddenly amps up the aggression and intensity on the choruses, and while jarring at first, it's effective! The song is well composed and the tonal shifts work well, and while this is an early highlight, less politically minded listeners may not take to the minute-long sample bridge.  Fourth up is "Lest Ye Be Judged", inspired by the West Memphis Three murder trial in 1993 and how that case was handled. While the lyrical stretches maintain a mid-tempo, serious vibe, Mike's extended guitar solo is arguably the best I've heard from him yet, showing his technical skill very nicely!

While this song is worth a listen for the guitar solo alone, the verses and choruses work well in their styles, and for someone who's followed the case and Damien Echols' art & writings, it's nice to see a local musician show their support for the West Memphis Three and the injustice they dealt with! The original EP's title track & closer "Hourglass" follows the preceding number in it's themes about looking to blame someone rather than actually finding a solution, and how the former can lead to negative consequences. The longest individual song on "Weight of the World", this song runs for it's first 5:30 as a slower, deliberate song exploring the politically charged message, with Mike's serious low singing a good match for the draw out guitar work, but he does let loose on guitar for a heavier faster close to the song, possibly a thematically reference to global conflict ahead of the sequel. Not my favourite song on the "Hourglass" half just for it's largely downbeat mood, but it ends well!

The seventh song is also the first on the March 2018 re-release of Mike's 2017 debut album "In Ruins", which was heavily re-worked from it's original form, with only 3 returning songs on the now-canon reissue. Thematically, this album reflects "the aftermath" of the events warned on the "Hourglass" EP, and it starts here with with "Interlude", which originally was part of the next song "Lost", but was broken into it's own mini-track for "Weight of the World". Running for an album-low 66 seconds, this just has various simplistic notes being played, some reminding me of a xylophone. This all suggesting a ticking clock, possibly following the global conflict alluded to on "Hourglass", and while it's not much of a song on it's own, it sets the mood for the oncoming full songs well enough!

In this re-issued form, "Lost" immediately begins with Mike singing in a sinister carnival barker style (anyone else getting a "This Is Halloween" vibe?), with the choruses shifting abruptly into a more musically driven, standard format. The politically charged, socially conscious lyrics continue in full force here, and while the verses will be an acquired taste for many listeners, Mike does showcase his guitar skill for an extended period, and the drum track is a good match on the choruses! Then we have "Naive", which is one of the hold-overs from the original "In Ruins" album. A mid-tempo, downbeat studio track aside from a heavier bridge late, this is one of Mike's better overall compositions on this album as a pure musician, with some shining guitar melodies in the instrumental stretches, but there seems to be a vocal effect that makes his singing sound too muffled and processed. Still, fans of Mike's less aggressive music should be right at home on this one!

Track #9 is another track that survived the "In Ruins" reboot, namely "Childish Leaders", a double meaning name referencing both the conduct of major global heads of state, and how we could be better off if children were leading governments. A shorter and harder edged song, this song has a catchy vibe and what sounds like a funk inspiration on the riffing, but that flute effect in the backing instrumentation is woefully out of place, and the music cadence sometimes struggles to accommodate some of Mike's lyrics. The softer last 30 seconds ends things on a happier note, and while this song isn't consistently on point, the heavy nature (musically and thematically) works well! Next is "Aylan", inspired by the death of 3 year old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, which was highly publicized in news media in late 2015. The third and final returning song from "In Ruins" 1.0, this sees Mike dive into an upbeat punk sound, which is an interesting contrast to the serious lyrics.

As a pure musical composition, this song gives Mike a nice showcase at a different side of his range, and he could definitely handle punk music on a more frequent basis! His scream at the end is also well placed, but the song fades out far too abruptly, and a more distinct chorus would have helped. Next up is "Disavowed", which is a heavier and darker song overall in it's first half and closing stretch, but the vocals don't go along with that, as Mike sings in a lower, monotone register throughout. I don't find that matches up well here, but Mike's extended guitar solos do give this song an added jolt, and are predictably well performed. I'd have had more forceful, heavier singing for a song of this tone, but the music holds up really nicely! Another heavier song follows with "Introspection", which has a steady grinding sound and better suited vocals, with the bass track particularly working well here, as does another really solid guitar solo!

While not musically ambitious compared to some earlier tracks, this delivers the hard rock goods and feels more like a complete song with all the parts falling into place nicely, and this is definitely an album highlight! The last song on the separate version of "In Ruins" is "Bad Hand", which has a more simple, laid back instrumentation in the verses, but Mike varies his singing into a more upbeat, melodic nature, albeit with more direct political references to specific world leaders, with poker references used heavily in the choruses. Another interesting contrast from lyrics to music here, this is a fun song if you can look past the political imagery, but the ending is too abrupt, and I tend to go for Mike's more aggressive music overall. "Weight of the World" ends with it's exclusive track "Bismarck", which reflects armed conflicts of World War II that Mike found interesting, though this is strictly thematic, as it's the album's only instrumental ("Interlude" aside.)

With no lyrics to worry about, this is honestly Mike's best showcase as a pure musician on "Weight of the World", with each intended battle (as seen here) getting it's own distinct musical approach, from heavy and fast to slower and dark, and the guitar, bass, and drum tracks all get moments in the sun! As such, this hardly feels like it's almost 7 minutes long, and it has a little something for everyone (except vocals), so I'd definitely get this album for this song if you have the choice!

So, what are my final thoughts on "Weight of the World" and it's original source albums? Overall, this is a solid effort with well written lyrics and some excellent musical passages, and it's great to see someone expressing themselves politically and socially in this manner! No everyone will agree with Mike McCleary's opinions on the included songs, but his opinions and stances are clear as day, and they tend to lend themselves well to hard rock music, especially with songs on the "In Ruins" re-release, which I found to be stronger pound-for-pound than "Hourglass". Mike seems to let his guitar skills fly more on that album, but as this is a combined re-release, you don't have to take sides. Songs like "Lest Ye Be Judged", "Aylan", and "Introspection" worked best for my musical tastes, while "Bismarck" is too good to be relegated to just a re-release bonus! That said, some songs struggled a bit to match Mike's well written lyrics with the music naturally, and others faded out too abruptly for my taste.

My biggest note is that some songs have too much dissonance between the serious lyrical themes and the more upbeat/casual nature of their music, and if there was intentional irony in that, it wasn't overtly obvious. We haven't heard much from Mike McCleary musically this summer, but he's a very talented and socially conscious musician, and this album continues his progression upward from the preceding CD "Weight of the Truth", so be sure to check those and his more recent albums at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, but what's coming next month? I don't 100% know, but it will be a new album review! At this juncture, three different albums are in the running (Sykotyk Rampage's "Live at the Paris Hilton", SweetKenny's "Management", and Redundant's self-titled debut EP), and while I'm currently leaning towards the original crash band based on earlier release date, Redundant would jump ahead in line if they had a September concert lined up.

In any event, stay tuned for that next month, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

New Albums From Shit Liver & Mike McCleary, Plus A Dire Setback's Album Plans!

We're back with a new news post for your Friday morning reading, and we're almost entirely focused on new albums today, including 2 (well, 3-ish) new albums on sale this week, plus one more now underway, so here's what you should know on those and related topics!

Local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver released their second full length album "Hitting the Fan" as scheduled on Tuesday! Yes, this fan favourite metal group have finally unveiled their sophomore studio effort via their Bandcamp page, and you can now buy it there for $5, while vinyl record copies of the album are also now on sale via mail order! They have 550 hand numbered discs in red vinyl stock, with a poster and lyric sheet in the package, and they are taking orders before they hit the road. "Hitting the Fan" on vinyl costs $20 + shipping, so e-mail shitliverbooking@gmail.com if you must have a copy of the album before (or if you can't attend) their tour! The album proper includes 10 songs, namely "Evacuation", "Makes Me Sick", "Just Take It", "It Won't Change", "Liverated", "Cirrhosis", "Matt Got Beat Up By Cops", "Livin' In Shit", "Wait", and the title track, which just about covers their remaining original material that hadn't made it to their debut CD!

Also, belated apologies for erroneously indicating that "Unabomber" was their own song, it was originally by the band Macabre. You can also buy "Hitting the Fan" on vinyl at The Algonquin Pub on Friday, April 6th during their local tour stop, but there has been a lineup change, as local indie/hard rock quartet Id Iota have quietly replaced Vol. on the bill for unannounced reasons, though note that Vol. never publically acknowledged this event. Hopefully all's well in Vol.'s camp, and Id Iota's addition maintains the widely varying genre spread for this concert, so see above for more details on it! Speaking of which, Shit Liver also announced the entire run of tour dates in support of "Hitting the Fan" on their Facebook page yesterday, which confirm that they will kick off the tour right here on April 6th, before heading out west to British Columbia, then across country to the Maritimes, before finishing up in Quebec and Peterborough in mid-May, with only Newfoundland and P.E.I. not covered among the 10 provinces.

Note that if a Soo encore was to be scheduled, it'd have to take place on April 26th between their planned Thunder Bay and Timmins dates, but that is strictly a hypothetical scenario on my part. It's surprising that they don't have a St. Catharine's date on the tour (granted, they tend to play there more often enough), but it's great to see everything shaping up well for "Hitting the Fan" and their upcoming cross-country trek! See above for more details, and look for our CD review next month!

Next up, here's another new album release of sorts, namely local hard rock solo artist Mike McCleary's revamped debut album "In Ruins"! Originally released in June 2017 to streaming services before being taken down for revisions (including re-recordings, new cover art, and track removals), this self-produced and recorded album now features the songs "Lost", "Naive", "Childish Leaders", "Aylan", "Disavowed", "Introspection", and "Bad Hand". Of these songs, only "Naive", "Disavowed", & "Aylan" were on the original version of "In Ruins", unless Mike renamed certain tracks, with the other songs (including all acoustic variants) being removed or shifted over to his prior full length album "Weight of the Truth." Despite being his original first album, Mike noted on his Facebook page that he considers "In Ruins" to be a sequel to his January EP "Hourglass", and as such, has released the two albums in a special combined release called "Weight of the World" also!

That release also contains one bonus track not on either prior album, an instrumental named "Bismarck" that Mike teases is a preview of styles to expect on his next album after these. "In Ruins" is now on sale on Bandcamp for $5, with "Weight of the World" going for $8 (which is cheaper than buying it's source albums separately), and you can stream both there as well! That all said, don't expect a review of either album until August at the earliest due to our 6 month anti-bias buffer, but "Weight of the World" is my preference for it's amount and exclusive track. Mike's working at a fast pace on his new material, so check out his talented array of music above!

Finally, I can't put this off any longer: Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback have begun pre-production for their debut album, and YOU can help make it a reality! The guys have launched a Patreon page to help crowd-fund the album, but unlike Kickstarter, the aim isn't necessarily for one goal, but to support ongoing creative work, with exclusive perks and content for paying regularly each month (Theatre of Night attempted a page there back in 2015.) A.D.S. indicated on Patreon that Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle is producing the album, and all proceeds from Patreon will go toward mixing and mastering their debut, with individual song releases expected when ready, plus they implied that help will be needed when picking album artwork and making music videos. If you donate even $1 a month, you'll get exclusive content on Patreon, but giving up to $30 could get you first crack at tickets, autographed merchandise, exclusive offers, name credit in the liner notes, and more.

A Dire Setback have begun work on click tracks and setting tempos for their originals, and while "exclusive video access" for Patreon backers is teased, they did post one public video to their new YouTube channel on Thursday, which features Chris, Matt, and Nick playing "Catastrophe" in studio (and in black & white.) Raw and unpolished, but the guys are on their way and very serious about getting this album complete! It's surprising that they're moving so fast despite playing live just once with this lineup so far, but hopefully this crowdfunding campaign takes off where prior local music ones didn't! See above and below for more on their album plans!



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

Mike McCleary - "Weight Of The Truth" Review!!

To help end the month, here's our 104th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at local solo hard rock musician and Northern Indies Podcast host Mike McCleary's third studio album "Weight of the Truth"! Independently recorded since last year, this album released to Mike's Bandcamp page and other online streaming services on January 29th, just three weeks after his prior "Hourglass" EP, though we chose "Weight of the Truth" for this month's review due to it's length, pre-release hype, and presence of songs carried over from his soon-to-be-revamped 2016 debut album "In Ruins". Featuring Mike on all instruments, this album features 13 songs running for about 49 minutes in length, and can be bought for $9.99 on iTunes and Bandcamp, while it can be streamed for free on the latter and Spotify, with song names linked below to their Bandcamp copies. As well, half of proceeds from sales of both this album and "Hourglass" will go to Michael Landsberg's SickNotWeak initiative, so definitely keep that in mind if you're debating a purchase of either release! Now, let's start this review!

"Weight of the Truth" begins with "So Surreal", a song that Mike wrote about his trip to the Northern Lights Festival Boréal in Sudbury. After a lengthy bass and drum intro, the song kicks in with a familiar rhythm featuring his raw, melodic singing, and it fits the song's laid back nature! The instrumentation sounds like it could use an extra guitar track, but his guitar solo is a nice fit, and the structure has a catchiness to it! Nice casual way to start the album, but he will go into more challenging territory on later tracks. Next is "The Working Poor", which Mike self-describes as "a lighthearted look at how it is living under the poverty line." That lines up with the cheerful, bouncy guitar riff to start things off, but his vocals take on a more determined grit as he makes his lyrical points. The contrast between the music and vocals is effective in this way, and with him really letting loose on the guitar solo, this all helps to put this song higher than "So Surreal" for my personal preferences so far! I just wish the ending wasn't so abrupt, it felt like there was more of this song to come.

Third up is "The Me I Once Knew", which is about being critical about your past, and deciding whether to move on from your old self or live with who you are. An alternative hard rock number in tone, this maintains a casual sing-along nature, and has a clear edge to it without losing vibrance. It's a solid track compared to the prior selections, but my biggest drawback was the layered chorus vocals over-top of the guitar solo, which just seem out of place (I'd have made them a bridge before the solo to set the mood.) The song ends abruptly again too, but this is a quality track, and the leisurely catchiness is a bonus! The album's title track "Weight of the Truth" is next, which is squarely about mental illness and the stigma surrounding it, which has hit close to home for Mike and has been a theme in much of his recent music. Very funk rock-oriented rhythm here (I got Chili Peppers vibes at the start), as Mike continues to contrast a more upbeat rock sound with serious lyrics.

He puts more power into his singing on the choruses, and you can sense the passion and importance of the song here! I don't know if the lyrics and music contrast as well here for my tastes, but for ability and performance, this is a highlight of the album in that respect! Fifth is "Roulette", one of three re-recorded tracks from "In Ruins" last year. Lyrically referencing Russian roulette and it's parallels to struggling with mental illness, this song has another laid back tone, but here, Mike's singing is a fit in tone and mood to the instrumentation, and it has a good pace to it! This is the album's shortest song, and it makes the most of that time with a solid overall performance on all instruments with important lyrics to match, but fans of Mike's more upbeat, harder-edged material may be left wanting more.

The sixth song is "Be The One", which continues recent themes by being about wanting to "be the one" who's free from stress and mental illness. Taking more of a grungy essence here, Mike's singing is at the forefront from the song's start onward, and it's a great usage of his vocal style and tone! His guitar skills get their best showcase yet here, with a lengthy blues-inspired guitar solo that shows a lot of skill and variance! It's almost a tale of two songs here, but both halves are very effective, and this is one of my favourite songs yet on this album! "Clarity" is next, with lyrics about trying to find clarity in life, and wondering if it's worth the effort. By far the heaviest song on the album so far, the pounding guitar work in the verses and melodic choruses give me a bit of a Foo Fighters vibe, and he has the chops to handle that, but the production could have been altered to emphasize the heaviness. Very catchy and aggressive song, and if this is as heavy as the album gets, it's fitting that it comes at the album's exact midpoint!

Eighth on this album is "Date Night With Darkness", which Mike says is "a quick song about ineffective coping methods." Harbouring a sound reminiscent of 1990s indie rock (if that's fair), I like the guitar rhythm and drum beat here, and the vocals are a nice even match to the instrumentation. The verses and choruses are basically one and the same here, but for a shorter track, it's not too jarring, aside from another abrupt ending. Solid song, and with another quality guitar solo to boot! Next is "Snakes & Ladders", which is another song imported from "In Ruins", and is about what can happen when one tried to understand the world. In a return to the contrast of musical tone and vocal style, this song is more of an upbeat hard rocker, but Mike's singing is quieter and more downbeat, aside from some backing vocal input on choruses. In this case, the contrast doesn't work as well to me, but it's a well-composed song otherwise with a good groove to it and well thought out lyrics! I'd just have made the vocals a little louder or passioned.

"Weight of the Truth" continues with it's longest song, "Disease", which Mike wrote about his using alcohol as a coping mechanism, as connected to his love of the shoreline pictured on the album's cover artwork. This effective ballad has more of a dramatic, grandiose feel to it, albeit with a very deliberate pace, and you can feel the emotion in Mike's singing! It's a well performed and structured song with a lot of effort put into it, but for my own personal preferences, I do prefer this album's more upbeat and musically heavier tracks. "The Other Side" comes next as the third and final song to be taken from "In Ruins" (where it was also featured in an acoustic version.) Lyrically about embracing who you really are rather than wearing a mask to cover up mental illness, this has a bluesy vibe while maintaining a hard-edged essence, as contrasted with low downbeat vocals. Again, I like the contrast of the dark, meaningful singing with the hard rocking music, and it's a solid showcase track at this late stage of the album!

Twelfth is "The Best Part", which is about Mike's wife Sara, who has supported and been there for him through thick and thin, and has co-founded the new mental health awareness organization We've Got This with him. Another leisurely paced song, this has solid melodic singing from a clear emotional place, and the lyrics are definitely nice and thankful for all she's done for him personally, so you can't fault this one at all! For the kind of song it is, it succeeds at it's aims, and is a pleasant listen! The album closes with "Overkill", which was a delayed addition to Bandcamp copies of this album, but was always included on the free Soundcloud posting. An minimalist acoustic ballad that Mike always felt connected with, this ends things on a soft, reserved note, but it's a well performed song with good gritty singing and a casual yet emotive mood! I'd have ended the album with a more upbeat song to finish on, but I'm glad this made the final cut!

So, what are my final thoughts on Mike McCleary's newest solo album? Having never listened to one of his albums full through going in, I'm glad to say that he's a very talented musician with mature lyrics and strong ambitions, and he should be able to make a big impact locally if he keeps at it! Given his very real struggle with mental illness and how he's advocated for related causes in recent months, this album's large lyrical focus on it means all the more to it's lyrical impact, so people in similar situations may want to pay closer attention! Musically, Mike takes from numerous inspirations for a sound that, while often hard rock based, could also dip into blues, funk, and alternative rock where need be, and his guitar skills in particular are a boon on these tracks! I was most struck by the contrast between his vocal styles and musical styles on various tracks, often singing in a downbeat fashion against a lighter song in tone, and more often than not, this approach was very complimentary in a positive way!

Songs like "The Me I Once Was", "Be The One", and "Clarity" were among my favourite tracks, but there's something for many tastes here, and I definitely recommend checking out "Weight of the Truth" to see what you think, which you can do at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and look for much more on Mike McCleary's recent music work in an upcoming news post, plus our next CD review of Telephone & Address' "Monster" next month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), A New Album Release, And Much More!!

Here's a new news post for your Thursday night, including our promised concert previews/(SHORT NOTICE) LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for a prominent local solo artist, but we have some extended info on a new local album release to round things out, and one more belated batch of previews! Here's what you should know, and get more concert previews in the post below!

Former Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will continue his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood and his new bi-monthly run of shows at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill this month! These include Gliss matinees TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and then on February 9th-10th, 16th-17th, and 23rd-24th, and nighttime Roadhouse gigs lined up for TOMORROW NIGHT and on February 23rd! Apologies for the short notice on this weekend's triple header, remember that we go month by month for Tym's shows on here due to their amount and longevity. Another busy weekend is lined up for fans of Tym's skilled and prolific rotation of hard and classic rock covers, including the aforementioned 10 solo concerts and his newly ongoing run as host of The Canadian Nightclub's open mic nights on Wednesdays, so keep all of these chances in mind to see Tym live this month, including TOMORROW & SATURDAY!

However, Tym has reportedly cancelled his Twitch.tv webstream "concerts" on Thursday evenings for the time being due to scheduling issues, as per his personal Facebook page, but hopefully those return in the future! As for his Gliss and Roadhouse gigs in February, expect no announced cover charge at either venue, and while the Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM with no age limit (though mind the locale), the two Roadhouse concerts are at 10:00 PM with a 19+ age limit. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!



Next up, local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary officially released his new full length solo album "Weight of the Truth" to his official Bandcamp page on Monday! When he teased last month that it'd be coming soon, he wasn't joking! Independently recorded since last year, Mike went into great detail on his Facebook page to describe some of the themes on this album, which evolved from "a fun rock album" to one that focuses heavily around mental health issues, something that he has experienced and fought, and wants to bring awareness to. Maybe releasing this in the lead-up to Bell Let's Talk Day was on purpose? Mike pledges to donate half of all proceeds from this album to TSN Radio host Michael Landsberg's SickNotWeak initiative, which is a great cause! Mike did make it clear that this isn't about money so much as creating "a positive and open dialogue about mental illness", and hopefully this helps facilitate the conversation in it's own way!

The 12 song album has entirely been posted to his Soundcloud page, though it should be noted that a track #13 entitled "Overkill" is featured there, but not in the Bandcamp sale copy for unannounced reasons, though it is more of an acoustic folk number than what did make the cut. Three of these songs had previously been on Mike's debut 2017 album "In Ruins" ("Roulette", "Snakes & Ladders", and "The Other Side", plus an acoustic version of the latter), but given that they've been re-recorded for this album, and that "In Ruins" was pulled from most services, that album appears to either no longer be in his official canon, or is being heavily reworked without those three songs. "Weight of the Truth" can be streamed on Spotify and is also available on iTunes, but I haven't found a mentioned Google Play posting yet. In any event, Mike is asking $9.99 for the album in it's sale format, but remember that he is donating half to SickNotWeak, so keep that in mind!

I am still leaning towards our first ever Mike McCleary album review on the site this month, and I will go with "Weight of the Truth" over his prior January EP "Hourglass" due to it's length, more recent release status, and presence of songs from "In Ruins", so unless something completely unexpected happens in between, watch for it this month! Lastly, Mike posted a music video for "Snakes & Ladders" to his YouTube channel on January 23rd, and it's full of creative and well edited imagery, which fits well with the song's lyrical message. Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from Mike!



Finally for today, here's our somewhat belated preview of TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT'S concerts from Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned, who will play their first gigs of 2018 at The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace! Profuse apologies for missing these shows in this post's initial version, they completely slipped me by when compiling our concert previews this weekend, and with not enough stories to compile a full news post at press time, I added this preview here and will bump the shorter assorted story block to our next full news post. They will be back very soon, I promise! Tonight and tomorrow's shows (which were previously announced last month and covered on here at the time) will be their first in almost two months, and first at The Rapids Lounge since November. Alex, Don, and Wayne should have another solid weekend of hard rocking covers in store for St. Ignace fans, so keep these ones in mind!

As usual for Banned's Kewadin shows, these are 21+ events with no announced cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Banned live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!