LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns) & The Soo's Got Talent 2022 Finals Recap (Part 2!!)

Two topic post today, including the continuation of our coverage of a major local competition (that'll need a third post to complete), but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for (literally) the end of the year!

Local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will open for fan favourite Toronto funk/dance collective My Son The Hurricane when they return to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, December 31st at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! The Wyld Stallyns confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday, and are listed on this promotional image. A rare appearance for The Stallyns in a support slot for a touring act in city limits, one has to assume that Josh Norling will be present to match M.S.T.H.'s horn section-laden brand of "brasshop", so look for The Wyld Stallyns to set the tone well with their lively and fan friendly brand of covers at year's end! Still featuring former Rising Tide/Redefined drummer Danno O'Shea in their ranks, this will be My Son The Hurricane's third local date of the year, after previously rocking the Bushplane Museum in April and LopLops Lounge in September, following numerous prior gigs here.

Hopefully there won't be a need for the fire department to be called down again like that one time (you had to be there), and that any smoke and heat comes the natural way from their set! I am unsure if LopLops are promoting this one too (they did for the first two 2022 dates), but tickets run for $64.67 at this link, and there is an 8:00 PM start time. No word on in-person availability and a possible age limit, let alone any New Year's Eve frills, but the Saturday timing for that holiday is quite fitting. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun & funky way to end the year!

Next up, let's finally continue our look at The Soo's Got Talent's final round coverage from October 21st at Soo Blaster! For our coverage of each finalist's first song and the guest performances, click here or scroll down to our post from Sunday. All six finalists performed a second song for the judges' evaluation that night in the exact same performance order, with the twist being that they sung with Handsome Sandwich (minus Taylor) backing them up! It's not clear from the videos (again filmed by Passion Video Productions) if the songs were limited to things that the band knew already or if they learned them for the finals, and/or if these happened to be judges' picks like in prior years, but props to Jesse, Mitch, Rafael, and Johnny for giving some live instrumental heft! The first full-band performance had Nanette Garcia & Handsome Sandwich covering Patti Smith's classic rock staple "Because The Night".

Nanette does come off a little unsteady here, perhaps not as familiar with this song as others she did in the competiton, but she carries it well, so give her second final round song a watch below!

Next on the 21st was singer/guitarist Colin Gasparelli, who did play acoustic guitar for his song here (as a result, Jesse Cook sat this one out). The theory that the finalists were limited to songs that Handsome Sandwich knew already may be accurate here, as Colin goes way off board for his second song, a cover of "When A Hero Cries" by German power metal band Edguy. The song is slightly re-arranged, but still, very unexpected! "When A Hero Cries" is a ballad, so it better fits Colin's wheelhouse than most Edguy songs, and while I don't think it's the right fit for his vocal range, he puts his all into it and you can tell. Check out Colin & Handsome Sandwich below!

We'll close this post with the third performer in the finals, namely Xavier Pelletier LeBoeuf, who joined Handsome Sandwich (with Jesse back) for a cover of Pink's "Raise Your Glass". Xavier even gave each judge a glass before the song began for them to raise, so points for thinking outside the box! Of the first half of the finalists, Xavier fit in the best with Handsome Sandwich for cover choice and on-stage comfort, and while she did have some shakiness on the choruses, you could be believed if you thought she was their singer for a second. Give their cover a look below!

We'll tackle Ali, Amanda, and M.J.'s final performances with Handsome Sandwich (plus the final results) in an upcoming post, but with weekend concert previews and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile ahead, we may not finish everything off until the weekend. Stay tuned in any event, and weekend concert previews are next! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal/Punk Video Showcase!!

Before we resume our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage, let's tackle some other recent videos from unrelated events on the site today, so we don't fall too behind on everything else going on! These include live footage from two big concerts that took place last month, but first, here's a new cover song featuring a very familiar face... and his uke!

After skipping October, local/Toronto punk covers project Mikey & His Uke's newest collaboration was posted to their YouTube channel earlier today, this time being a cover of AC/DC's "Shoot To Thrill"! In their fourth video since project leader Mikey Hawdon moved back to the Soo, he plays ukelele (at first) and guitar here, alongside Mikey's old Merves/Gabba Heys bandmate Amy Zuccheto (a.k.a. Amy Gabba) on lead vocals. If you haven't followed her since her last turns covering Joan Jett and The Runaways with Mikey's otherwise Ramones-centric cover bands in their local gigs, Amy has since fronted an AC/DC tribute band named AMY/DC that Mikey also played in while still living on Toronto, so she's a natural choice for this cover! Other performers are Frenzal Rhomb guitarist Lindsay McDougall (who also featured in August's NOFX cover), Chats bassist Eamon Sandwith, and past Frenzal Rhomb touring drummer Kye Smith.

As usual for the Mikey & His Uke series, this video is very well edited, and everyone is clearly having fun with this remote collaboration! Amy handles the verses slightly more leisurely than the original, but she has a great voice for Bon-era AC/DC, and the instrumental performances are all exactly what you'd hope for. Nice to see Mikey dip into heavier waters here too, so give the newest Mikey & His Uke cover a watch below!

Next up, let's dive into a pair of videos that I'm three weeks late to talk about on here (my apologies), as prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci was in attendance for the two closing bands at Outspoken Brewing's second annual Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 15th, uploading four videos to his YouTube channel the next day! No luck on The Wyld Stallyns, Nein German Guys, or Frankly Speaking, alas. Chris' videos at The Rink outside of The Machine Shop include two of headlining psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley, who he filmed covering Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and as embedded below, the back half of their original song "Stuck In Rotation". The audio is a little tinny, but Chris got a good vantage of the stage, and it looks the like the crowd turnout and the weather were both good for Oktoberfest! Solid performances from Adrian & crew, so give The Uncanny Valley's new videos a look above and below!

The other new videos take us back to the aforementioned Mikey Hawdon, as his new local old school indie rock cover band Bookclub made their live concert debut as the Saturday co-headliners at Oktoberfest! Still online page-less, this band features 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers in mostly shuffled roles (Mikey on vocals & guitar, Dave Bahun on guitar, and Dustin Jones on bass), plus Dave's old Room 206 bandmate Al Watson on drums, as well as trumpet player Erin Antonello. Very odd seeing a trumpet in a non-ska band, but as we've seen with Josh Norling in numerous local rock bands, a little brass never hurt anyone! Despite early teasers of Bookclub covering 1980s-1990s indie rock bands that you don't tend to see tackled around here, both of the songs that Chris filmed are ones I've seen performed locally, including The Refreshments' "Banditos" and, as embedded below, Cheap Trick's "Reach Out".

While not a full-on punk band like we're used to seeing from most of the Bookclub members, power pop like Cheap Trick specialize in is not far removed, and their established talents are on full display on both songs! The recording quality is similar to the Uncanny Valley video, so keep that in mind, and Erin wasn't always very audible in the mix, but it'll be interesting to see where Bookclub go from here, especially as Mikey is actually in town full-time again, not commuting from Toronto steady. Give their videos a watch above & below, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close today with some more recent live cover action, this time from local classic/hard rock quartet Obsession, who made their local & public debut with new lead singer Jessica Amadio at The Esquire Club on Halloween weekend! Two videos from the Halloween party on October 29th were posted to their Facebook page since, including a 44 second clip of them covering Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell" that was posted yesterday bunched in with live photos, but embedded below is the longer 90 second clip of them covering Poison's "Nothing But A Good Time". Yes, Obsession had costumes for the occasion, with Jess going as Kiss' Paul Stanley and Gabe as AC/DC's Angus Young, but I am not 100% positive on if Jim and Steve had a specific person that they were dressed as. This video was edited with Capcut and has lots of professional cuts to different camera angles with post-production effects, and views of the costumed attendees.

The Achilles heel with this video is that it was compiled and uploaded in portrait orientation despite a heavy use of landscape footage, so big chunks of it are tiny unless they fill the space with post-production effects. That said, Obession sound good in both videos, and Jess is definitely at ease on the stage and has a strong voice to match! Good first public outing for the new lineup, so look for them back at The Esquire Club next weekend, and give their Halloween weekend clips a look above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our continuation of our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage next! Thanks everyone!

The Soo's Got Talent 2022 Finals Recap (Part 1!!)

At long last, let's begin looking at the final results of this year's Soo's Got Talent competition, which ended on Friday, October 21st with the final round at Soo Blaster as expected! I do apologize for the delays in this making the site, Passion Video Productions uploaded their videos from the event on October 25th, but life and other SMS posts got in the way over the past two weeks. Everything pertinent from the six finalists, guest performers, and announcements can be seen on the T.S.G.T. Facebook page, so if you weren't in attendance on the 21st, what went down? Enough material for at least two SMS posts, that's what! The first video features introduction of the judges from co-organizer Barbara Rajnovich, and out first guest performance of the evening, courtesy of judge/ex-Obsession frontwoman Valerie Powley covering The Motels' "Only The Lonely". Not as hard rocking as Obsession often got with her, but strongly sung as you'd expect!

The opening performance of each of the six finalists (all singers only unless otherwise stated) and their respective judges' remarks were held next, starting with Nanette Garcia covering Adele's "Rolling In The Deep", followed by singer/guitarist Colin Gasparelli playing an apparent original song, possibly named "It's Alright". Xavier Pelletier LeBeouf (who was also a finalist in 2019 under a different first name) covered Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" next, with Ali Nisbett covering "Rolling In The Deep" again as the fourth performer, but with a twist. Here, she's singing the song overtop an instrumental backing track of Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger", a mash-up that has existed online since not long after the Adele song came out. At least this way, Nanette and Ali didn't verbatim do the same song, so hopefully there was no conflict, but the slower intro for Nanette's is also a variation.

"Eye of the Tiger" is a hard rock song, overplayed as it may be, so hearing a totally different song fit it so well is neat, and Ali sings this one very well! Remember that she did cover Journey in the semifinals too, so classic rock is not entirely unexpected from her. Give Ali's mashup cover a look below!

Fifth up was Amanda Phillips covering Andra Day's "Rise Up", and the first half of the finalist performances ended with Maharlika Joy (or M.J.) Servillon covering The Fugees' version of "Killing Me Softly". Next we got the intermission performance by local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich, who played two original songs, namely "No Idea" (which is brand new unless it's only been played live) and their early, pre-Rafael original "Bitter". Very fun and lively performances from Handsome Sandwich, which will no doubt continue the good momentum towards the release of "Lettuce" (albeit allegedly not coming until May), and this gives Taylor a chance to sing before handing the mic off to the other finalists! We'll save those performances for our next post due to the amount, as I want to spotlight all six on the site, but give Handsome Sandwich's intermission songs a watch below!

To close today's post, let's jump ahead to the judges' deliberations, where 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan returned for two guest songs! This mirrors that year's event, when then-reigning 2018 champion Daniella Brewer returned for a guest performance at the finals, so might this year's winner do the same next fall? At the time of his win in 2019, Adrian was working on his to-debut local band The Uncanny Valley, whose psychedelic-tinged hard rock has become a popular rising sight at local concerts, but neither of his songs here ("Carry On" & "Bleeding Soul") are familiar as Uncanny Valley originals. That said, you can hear "Carry On" and many other early solo songs of Adrian's on his Soundcloud page (under the name "Adrian Taylor"), which he updated through the spring of 2020. As acoustic performances, neither is overly heavy in this form, but both are well done!

Adrian has a good handle on 1970s singer-songwriter type music, and if these were adapted to The Uncanny Valley, they could easily be pumped up to match! Good stuff, so give Adrian's performance a look below! Full disclosure, returning guest judge Tim Murphy did not perform a song as advertised on the event posters (if he did, Passion Video didn't upload it).

Our next T.S.G.T. post(s?) will cover the second song from the finalists, where they all performed with the instrumentalists in Handsome Sandwich for a song each, so how do they do with a live band? Find out then, with other news and notes to follow on the site also! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns & The Bearded Lounge), New Videos, And More!!

Today's post was supposed to start our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT fell into my lap, so this is now a standard news post with the T.S.G.T. coverage now planned for tomorrow. As such, today's post has one more new concert (with a related apology) and new videos, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic southern hard rock duo The Bearded Lounge will reportedly play a matinee concert at Jay's Piston Broke Pub (née Reggie's West) TOMORROW! Apologies for the short notice, the band has not confirmed this booking on their Facebook page, and the venue only mentioned it on their Facebook page yesterday. Surprisingly, this will be The Bearded Lounge's first advertised show at 306 Korah Road since January 2020, when they played a Saturday matinee during the final triple header weekend there featuring Bone Yard nighttime shows & their old sister blues rock band Mojo's Thursday jam night duties. Pre-pandemic, The Bearded Lounge were primarily seen at Reggie's West, so this is natural, especially given the Sunday matinee timing used elsewhere. You can enjoy Greg & Alex's old school unplugged hard rock TOMORROW at 1:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and here's The Bearded Lounge live!

Next up, here's another apparent new show (and a related apology for missing one), as local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns will apparently perform at Outspoken Brewing's on-site Taproom at 350 Queen Street East on Friday, December 2nd, after previously playing there yesterday! I profusely apologize for missing yesterday's show, it completely fell through the cracks when writing this weekend's concert preview post, and it was on short notice on both the band's and venue's ends (the venue first plugged it on Tuesday). If you believe the Facebook description for the event poster, The Stallyns will be playing at the Taproom "the first Friday of every month", so clearly their Oktoberfest sets went well to get a regular arrangement! That said, much like Tym Morrison's old weekly runs at atypical venues, I'll take these a month at a time, especially if there are any schedule changes to note.

If this continues into the spring, they likely couldn't play on the first Friday in April, as that's a statutory holiday next year (Good Friday). For what it's worth, the above-linked poster only shows an early Rob/Christina/Jesse lineup, but the full band (including frequent guest saxophonist Josh Norling) was advertised in Outspoken's November events calendar. Their expected return on December 2nd will have an 8:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and a suggested $10 cover, but "pay what you can" is also offered, a standard offer for Taproom events. Visit the above links for more details, and I apologize again for missing yesterday's show, hopefully it was a big hit!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with our first look at the interior of the aforementioned Jay's Piston Broke Pub! This comes from their Facebook page at midnight today, and it features local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck (minus Cameron) at their weekly jam night on Thursday, which is continuing uninterrupted under the new regime. In fact, SooToday spotlighted the ownership change in this article last night, which didn't get into why Reggie Daigle sold the former Roosevelt Hotel, but we did learn more about new owner Jay Scott's plans. Jay (who also owns Scootz) explained how he came up with the Piston Broke Pub name, his plans for gradual (but minor) interior changes, and how he's bringing back Sunday karaoke nights and hoping to host events mid-week along with what sounds like an unchanged weekend band slate. In many respects, he's not fixing what isn't broke, so existing patrons should be happy!

As such, the video looks about the same as Reggie's West did, but fresh paint and new flooring are plans for the future. In the video itself, Soundcheck are seen performing with two jam night guests (a singer and a saxophonist), and while the song sounds like a country cover, the 10 seconds long runtime doesn't leave a lot of time to identify it, but it is the ending of the song in question. Good view of the interior and fans dancing, if not band focused, so give it a look below!

Finally, here's three new live-streamed videos from The Bearded Lounge's plugged-in sister band Bone Yard's Facebook page! All filmed at their Shooters Downstairs Lounge concert last night, the videos include covers of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (with guitarist Alex D'Ettore on lead vocals), and embedded below, a much closer shot video of them covering Golden Earring's "Radar Love" that gives us some nice angles of the guys rocking out. The audio quality isn't super crisp on these videos, but Bone Yard have good energy and rock out as strongly as you'd expect, so give these a watch, and catch them back at Shooters TONIGHT!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our delayed Soo's Got Talent finals coverage beginning tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

To cap off this Thursday, here's this weekend's hard rock concert previews! Barring any sudden late notice gigs, everything on the heavier end of the spectrum is covered here, including one band with a new live video, but first, here's some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band announced TOMORROW'S on their Facebook page on Tuesday, but Shooters confirmed yesterday via this Facebook event page that Bone Yard have agreed to play on SATURDAY too! If they're replacing someone, the venue never confirmed who. In any event, I held Bone Yard's Shooters booking from Tuesday's coverage of their upcoming dates for this weekend's previews to avoid a redundant second write-up in three days. After taking October off, these will be Bone Yard's first shows at the Dennis Street nightclub since a one-nighter in mid-September, kicking off a busy six week period where they're playing at least one public show each weekend. Always good to see Bone Yard staying busy, so don't miss their old school rocking attack over these two nights!

As usual for Bone Yard's trips to Shooters, expect an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and of course, if you would rather go elsewhere or can't easily make it downtown, check their packed schedule for the next month+ to see where else they'll be playing. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Next up, here's shows that had lots of advance notice, starting with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Announced as part of the Second Line West nightclub's concert calendar for the fall season (though this weekend's shows were originally advertised for L!me before being corrected), this will be Soundcheck's second concert weekend at The Esquire Club of the year, following shows there in late September. Of course, the guys (minus Cameron) will continue their weekly jam night hosting duties at the former Reggie's West (now Jay's Piston Broke Pub) tonight, but just as a reminder, I don't cover them as concerts on the site due to the unpredictability of such events. Good to see them continuing under the new regime though! As for Soundcheck's Esquire Club shows this weekend, they are business as usual now that nighttime gigs are back.

Soundcheck (all one word) are on tomorrow and Saturday night at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Should be fine opportunities to check out Terry, Cameron, Paul, and Glen's old school and country tinged hard rock covers for fans in the west end, so don't miss out tomorrow and/or Saturday, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Soundcheck live earlier this year!

We'll next head south to Michigan for the remainder of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, starting with the return of Manistique hard rock duo Fyrbird to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Yes, it's in the Soo, ignore the Northern Pines Lounge part on the picture. After playing two concert weekends at the St. Ignace Kewadin in mid-2022, these will be Jamie & Rikk's first shows in the Soo since January, and also their last advertised dates here of 2022, though they will return to St. Ignace over Christmas weekend. Fyrbird's two-man, grounded but freewheeling brand of hard rock should find another audience this weekend, so hopefully lots of Yoopers come on out for their return dates tomorrow & Saturday! As usual for the Kewadin lounges, this weekend's shows have 21+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Fyrbird live!

Finally, we'll head west to The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman, where local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Quietly announced last month, this show will coincide with Strongs Tavern staffer Heather's birthday (if not four other people if you believe this poster), and it will be 906's first show at this venue since September. Should be a good one as usual at one of the guys' favourite venues, and hopefully Heather (and "everyone"?) has a great a birthday! Saturday's show has a 21+ age limit, 8:00 PM start time, and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video from Project 906's Halloween weekend gig at The Islander Bar in Hessel this past Saturday! Uploaded to their Facebook page yesterday, it features the guys dressed in their best Village People costumes (Billy's the cowboy, Joe's the cop, Dustin's the construction worker, and if Odin had a costume, he had removed it by this point)

The 32 second video features The Village Project (how's that for a hybrid name?) covering Creed's "What If" (one of that band's better songs), and what we hear of the song sounds good! The straight-ahead, close camera angle helps too, but the lighting can be overpowering at times. Give it a watch below, and look for more from Project 906 (presumably out of costume) in Eckerman on Saturday night!

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

Where Are The New Albums? November 2022 Update

It's now time for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, continuing our monthly check-in on albums from Sault Ontario metal, hard rock, and punk acts who have publically confirmed that studio sessions have begun for new albums, in order to see where they are for public updates! No additions this month (PROV3RB5's EP was announced and released between installments), but four of our six existing entries have updates, as noted with their titles in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chase James Wigmore's new albums

Rumoured Songs: Multiple

Background: Ever the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore posted on his eponymous Facebook page in August 2020 to announce two more distinct acoustic albums and the long-gestating completion of his 33 part rock opera "A Story About A Kid Named Todd". In 2021, one of those acoustic albums ("Ruins Of Life") was posted for free on YouTube, with Chase belatedly posting most of his back catalog for sale on his Bandcamp page by March 2022. In April, Chase released a brand new album named "Sonic Apocalypse", and teased in May that he started a new album in January that he was taking his time with so he could "make music actually worth listening to." From that album (since titled "Is This The End Of..."), Chase posted four songs planned for it in mid-2022. Chase also posted a lengthy elaboration of his rock opera, now titled "The Chaotic Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release timeline, and clips of songs from both have surfaced on Facebook & Bandcamp, as well both albums' cover artwork.

Current Release Status: Regarding "Is This The Name Of...", Chase had planned to release it on Sunday, but he has since confirmed on Facebook that it was postponed due to "circumstances beyond my control". Alas, your guess is as good as mine for when both albums will finally come out, but remember that Chase is very prolific and varied in his musical interests, and not every album of his has seen a formal paid release, either by finishing it's lifespan as a demo, or by being released online for free. In any event, stay tuned for updates from his camp when they roll in!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's fourth album

Rumoured Songs: "Lost & Found", "All Broke Down", "No Control"

Background: Local Celtic punk veterans Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide began recording sessions by October 2018 at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios, as per their Facebook page. In January 2019, the band confirmed that they were indeed recording a fourth studio album (and first since 2012), which will presumably be released through Tidal Records, and will also be their first album with second guitarist Liam Seymour & drummer Chris Johns. While "All Broke Down" was initially cited as the first single in December 2018 (source here), the first two released singles were "Lost & Found" in March 2019 & "No Control" in December 2020. Credits on the above songs' music videos note that Kyle Whittaker at Strange Pumpkin Studios in St. Catharine's is mixing the album, as he has done for multiple Tidal/Mission Control releases. Dustin posted a handful of solo songs on Tidal Records' YouTube channel in 2020, but it's not publically known whether or not they'll also be used as new Tide originals.

Current Release Status: When The Tide shared a teaser clip for "Lost & Found", they mentioned that the album was "coming soon", which doesn't tell us much, especially as the band has only posted sparingly on Facebook since the end of 2020. This may be partially due to fiddler Sheldon Jaaskelainen's recent out of town commitments, with Dustin focusing on side projects Jonesy Land and The Cover-Up since. Still, with recording sessions well along the way, and two music videos now public, it's likely that Dustin and company aren't early in the process, but we'll let you know when more comes out on the album!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fort Creek's debut EP

Rumoured Songs: "Hammer Down"

Background: Local southern/hard rock quintet Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to record an EP since February 2020, and while the pandemic lockdowns may have gave them more time to record, they wouldn't release a sample from the sessions until almost two years later when they shared this snippet of their single "Hammer Down" their Facebook page. The guys debuted it at their headlining concert at Soo Blaster in June, and have played it live regularly since, but they have yet to release any full tracks online.

Current Release Status: Fort Creek originally planned to release the EP in "late summer", but their Rotaryfest Stage 1 write-up says that it will come out in "late 2022". We're there now, and the band will return from a three month hiatus next weekend, but whether the break was to work on the EP isn't publically known There are a lot of unknowns either way, especially given the 2 years of production time and that this is a band primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit (though some members do have experience in name original bands, especially Matt and Tony). It will be interesting to see how things develop, so follow Fort Creek on Facebook for continuing details!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handsome Sandwich - "Lettuce"

Rumoured Songs: "All or Nothing", "Bitter", "No Entry"

Background: After taking a year+ long hiatus during the pandemic, local "no genre" band Handsome Sandwich reunited last summer with a new lineup, with Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger now joined by singer Taylor Emlaw, guitarist Mitch Sirie, and (as of this summer) bassist Rafael Medina. Via their new Facebook page & YouTube channel, the band almost instantly began teasing a debut album (after previously being covers-only from 2017-2020), posting videos of new original songs live and in jam sessions. In June 2021, Handsome Sandwich revealed that the album will be titled "Lettuce", and it began pre-production then, with recording at Unsalted Audio with producer Dustin Goodall. As of April 13th, drums, rhythm guitar, and bass tracks had been recorded, and Taylor was pictured in studio at the end of May, with further teasers relating to post-production. The band also confirmed in July that guest saxophonist Josh Norling will appear on their new song "No Entry".

Current Release Status: No clue, especially given that we have no prior Handsome Sandwich albums to go off of, but the new look band has definitely hit the ground running since resuming activity last year! Recent teasers on Facebook have hinted that "sandwich #1 is almost ready for consumption", and that they were undertaking "late night demo edits" last month, so things sound like they're nearing the end. Stay tuned for updates from Handsome Sandwich's camp when they have them!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Haggith - "All The Best In All You Do"

Rumoured Songs: "I've Seen It Before", "Twist of Fate", "If Only You Could Hear Me"

Background: During his live-streamed Facebook concert in February, local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith revealed that he was working on his newest studio album, entitled "All The Best In All You Do". Like his other Thompson-era albums, this will have an overarching concept, this time about the transition out of depression and being manipulated by others, into a happier personal life. At the time, Mike was 35% done with the album, and he has played two new originals planned for it in live-streams and in his 2022 concerts in both Thompson and the Soo, as well as "If Only You Could Hear Me", a still-unreleased song from early in his time in Thompson. A single version of "Twist of Fate" was unveiled in July, and live videos of all three songs can be found on Mike's Facebook page and/or YouTube channel.

Current Release Status: Given Mike's day job and personal commitments, he hasn't been as active on social media in recent months, but he is playing live dates and presumably working on recording the new album where time allows. Hopefully things are progressing naturally in studio, and we'll let you know when Mike gives some progress updates!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike McCleary - Fallout From Midnight Tides

Rumoured Songs: Unknown

Background: After taking a couple of years off from public updates on his solo music (and taking down much of his prior back catalog from streaming services), local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary announced on his Facebook page in January that he was working on new original music. In April, Mike clarified that this would be an instrumental album (his de-listed albums all had vocals) inspired by his own curiosity and creative thinking. Mike has since posted a sampler video featuring the planned album artwork and title, and he also revealed the album's planned track structure (seven songs, three being 7+ minutes long), but has kept most specifics close to his vest.

Current Release Status: Mike was very optimistic about the album's progress, but was intentionally not putting a public timetable on when it will be completed, and things were complicated when his hard drive containing his new music crashed last month (the files still hadn't been recovered as of the 10th, and no updates have followed). Hopefully he can recover everything and that this isn't a huge bump in the road towards his new album, but we'll keep you posted when we hear more!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Uncanny Valley's debut album

Rumoured Songs: "The Uncanny Valley", "Glowin'", "Middle Man", “This Love is Psychedelic”, "Stuck In Rotation", “Sweet Like Sugar”, "Fumbling Through"

Background: The new classic hard rock band from 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan, fans will have seen original material of theirs right from the start, as The Uncanny Valley debuted their own songs in their first live concert at The Canadian on New Year's Eve 2019. Live concert & jam session videos have followed on their Facebook page featuring their own material as well. After posting a teaser audio clip of "Sweet Like Sugar" in September 2020, they posted the full studio version of "Middle Man" last October, finally confirming there that they are working on their first album. The guys did record a studio version of "Stuck In Rotation" at Unsalted Audio for the Clusterfolk Music Festival and a related compilation album in April, but whether that exact recording will be included on the band's own album is unclear.

Current Release Status: No clue, which isn't helped by The Uncanny Valley's age and relatively unfamiliar profile for many readers, not to mention the complications of the pandemic, but they have played a number of local concerts in the past few months. That said, they are a talented group who seemed to be taking the right steps for the future, and hopefully more updates on The Uncanny Valley's debut album follow in some form or another when ready!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This series will return for one last go-around in 2022 on or around December 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile one week from tomorrow. That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next, and much more to come! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard), The Future Of Reggie's West, And PROV3RB5 Updates!!

For our first post of the month, we're diving into two topics that each kinda branch into some interesting subtopics, one being updates from a local original metal project, and the other being LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks! Here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard have announced a batch of upcoming concerts taking place in the next month+ via this photo on their Facebook page earlier today, so what should know here? Not counting the Esquire Club dates and Toystock (which were already announced by the venue & organizers respectively), seven newly confirmed shows lie ahead, but we'll save the one on SATURDAY NIGHT for this weekend's concert previews to avoid redundant coverage. Otherwise, Bone Yard will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for concerts on Friday, November 11th (yes, Remembrance Day, no word on any memorial tie-ins) and Saturday, November 12th, before returning there three weeks later on December 2nd & 3rd! Next weekend's shows will be Bone Yard's first at the downtown Reggie's in over a month, and hopefully Greg, Alex, and Warren deliver more solid weekends of southern rock and heavier covers ahead!

All four dates have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, so visit the above links for more details! The other two brand new Bone Yard shows will take place on Friday, December 9th and Saturday, December 10th when they perform at.... Jay's Piston Broke Pub?! As it turns out, this is the brand new name for Reggie's West (née The Roosevelt Hotel) at 306 Korah Road, which did indeed get sold by Reggie Daigle to new ownership, as Soundcheck confirmed in their promotion for their gigs there this past weekend. Reggie's West's Facebook page hadn't been updated in almost two weeks before today, but Jay Scott is the new owner of the venue, and rather than stick to the existing name like Reggie's Place did or throw back to The Roosevelt Hotel, Jay's going with new vehicle-themed branding. Full disclosure, there is a Piston Broke Pub already in Brantford, no word on if it was an inspiration, but it is locally unique compared to other bars.

Unlike the sea change of 2014 when Reggie bought The Rosie, things look like the status quo for Jay's as far as bands go (cosmetic changes aside), with Jus' Chillin playing first this Friday & Saturday night, followed by Fort Creek next weekend, and Thursday jam nights will reportedly continue as well. Of course, I hope things go well at the pub in this new era! Sad to see Reggie divest himself of both of his bars (he sold Reggie's Place to separate owners in 2020), but hopefully he's doing well and it was just time to step back. Bone Yard will rock Jay's at 9:30 PM on the 9th & 10th with no cover and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's the latest from local/Toronto progressive metal project PROV3RB5, who we haven't talked about on here in way too long, so what's new to report from them? Over the summer, much of their updates on their Facebook page were about milestones for views and followers, plus the reach that their first three singles were getting from djent-friendly outlets, including video reviews from JMR Music Reviews and I Built The Sky guitarist Rohan Stevenson. In August, a band member(s?) guested on "Distant", a new song by Minnesota progressive metal solo project Stelliferous, whose leader Kevin Xiong previously guested on PROV3RB5's third single "Particles". The links are obvious as such, but the technical prog metal attack will absolutely appeal to genre fans! The Chinese company Dimension Music also interviewed them for this article.

Benjamin & Bryan are asked about the meaning of the band name, how they formed, their lyrical messages, how the music scenes in Canada & China differed (Ben lived in China for five years), and their future plans, among other topics. Not the best formatted review, but there are good insights that many fans won't have known, so give it a look above! Last month, they announced plans to re-issue their first three songs as instrumentals with no vocals (original singer Josh Ratliff left the band in April), and those evolved into what they're calling their debut EP, entitled "What Dreams May Come", which was posted onto Spotify & Apple Music earlier today! Links for both can be found at this Distrokid page. While streaming platforms are emphasized (i.e. no Bandcamp or Amazon availability yet), you can buy "What Dreams May Come" on iTunes for $2.97, so it is on sale!

As such, I can confirm that this EP will be reviewed on the SMS this month! Originally, I had pencilled in Chase Wigmore's new album, which was slated to be released on Saturday, but he has since confirmed that it was postponed, more on that in the coming days. Give "What Dreams May Come" a listen above, stay tuned for more proficient prog metal from PROV3RB5, and check out this new teaser video featuring the instrumental version of "Sea of Tranquility"! Alas, I can't embed it here because Facebook content matched the song to PROV3RB5' own streaming copies of it. That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!