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!
You know the summer is on the horizon when we're starting to get more LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and not necessarily traditional ones, so some new shows make up most of today's post! Rounding things out are some new videos, so here's what you should know on this Saturday afternoon!
Online page-less local indie rock/punk supergroup Bookclub and funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the musical entertainment at the 10th anniversary installment of the Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, taking place on Saturday, May 6th at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! The idea of both bands playing at a beer-heavy event is not a new one, as they were both at Outspoken Brewing's Oktoberfest last year, followed by a LopLops Lounge gig in December, and as luck would have it, LopLops put on the Festival of Beer, so that's a natural move! Music is not entirely new to the Festival of Beer (White Cowbell Oklahoma headlined a kickoff event for it last year), but this time, bands will be playing during the event, not unlike pre-pandemic, with Bookclub and the Stallyns also joined by young local indie rock band The Hollow Heads here. This SooToday article details much about the Festival of Beer in 2023, including what craft breweries are taking part and this year's goals.
Timeslots for the bands are not out, at least not that I have seen publically, but the festival runs from 1:00-7:00 PM at the Bushplane Museum on May 6th. Expect a 19+ age limit (obviously), and tickets run for $35 apiece ($38.15 with processing fees and such) at this link. This is more for the beer aficionado than a concertgoer, I'd imagine, but this eclectic group of live musicians should provide a fun soundtrack in three weeks, so do visit the above links for current details on the Festival of Beer!
Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Friday, May 26th & Saturday, May 27th! The band has yet to confirm these dates on their Facebook page (late notice announcements there are not unheard of), but Kewadin's entertainment page has confirmed the gigs as part of their Rapids Lounge dates through the end of next month. These will be Tarnished's first shows at the Soo Kewadin since early March, and will mark their first announced local dates since their Savoy Bar encore three weeks ago. Of course, these are also over the Memorial Day long weekend, so keep that angle in mind too, but Tarnished's hard hitting covers and originals should be a solid soundtrack to end May 2023 with no matter what! If you're up for a road trip, Tarnished will also be downstate in Grand Rapids next Sunday, which you can get details about here.
That show will see them open for Southbound Beretta and Card Reader at Turnstiles, so good to see them spreading their wings, H.L.T.C.-style! They'll also return to the Grand Marais Music Festival in the central U.P. on August 11th, which will be much closer than Grand Rapids if you're up for it, so click here for full lineup details! As for next month's Rapids Lounge dates, expect them to be 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more on Tarnished's mid-2022 plans!
Back to Sault Ontario now for another downtown community event, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to the Queen Street Cruise for concerts on Friday, June 16th & Saturday, June 17th! Recently taking a break from the stage while working on original material, these will be Bone Yard's fourth straight appearances at the Cruise, which debuted in 2016 and has been held annually since, barring 2020 & 2021 due to the pandemic. However, things will not be as you're used to, as the cruise will actually not be down Queen Street and ending at GFL Memorial Gardens this year. Planned construction work on Queen has led organizers to have the event based at the Roberta Bondar Pavilon with vehicles shown off along Foster Drive, though the final route for the classic car cruise proper (possibly still including part of Queen Street) is to be unveiled. This Sault Star article by Brian Kelly will fill in details about changes to expect this year.
As best as I can tell, Bone Yard will now be playing on the stage at the Pavilion, so they're at least protected from the elements under the tent this way! Like last year, their Friday show will be the nightcap at 6:30 PM during that night's actual cruise. while the Saturday gig will be a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show. Attendees can also expect a swap meet, the Sault Area Hospital 5 car draw, vendors, and more as usual. Unless registering for the car show, the Queen Street Cruise is a free & all ages event, and if you love cars and some family friendly entertainment, this should do the job, so visit the above links for continuing details!
Let's close with some new videos from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT, including some new "Reels" on their Facebook page! Alas, I'm not a fan of these short, vertical, and unembeddable videos, let alone ones that won't play in a different browser tab, but if you detect me being dismissive or snarky about them, it's all on Facebook for the conceit, not the bands for using what's offered on the platform. This "Reel" from Thursday features drummer Tyler "Jeeb" Reiner at an unidentified concert (no beer mishaps like in J.D.'s earlier one), while this "Reel" posted yesterday features guitartist Daniel Horton playing a solo live, and today's "Reel" has bassist James Roy Daley (a.k.a. KillRoy) playing mid-song, albeit with very muffled audio and a stippled dot filter. If the plan is to post one "Reel" per band member per day, then expect one of guitarist Jay Sarrazin tomorrow.
Is it bad that I wish these were full videos of the song(s) in question? I digress. We do have a full performance video of Spades GT to check out though, featuring the guys playing their newer original "Hands" at the Road To Lockdown Fest at The Rockpile in Toronto on April 7th! Filmed by attendee Jake Disman for his YouTube channel, the video is heavily filtered into what kind of looks like the thermal camera vision from the Predator movies, but darker and exclusively using warm colours. The audio quality is very rough too, with J.D. almost inaudible under the music, so while this isn't an ideal way to see or hear Spades GT, at least it's a full embeddable video that you can watch below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!
Today's post is devoted to new or upcoming concerts, both to preview this weekend's slate and to announced LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS ahead! We're mostly looking at E.U.P. gigs here, with a Sault Ontario stop for good measure further down, so here's what you should know!
Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for concerts on Friday, May 12th & Saturday, May 13th! Announced via this concert calendar shared to their Facebook page earlier this month, these have since been confirmed on Kewadin's entertainment page's listings of lounge bands through the end of May (we will address Tarnished's return to the Soo Kewadin in an upcoming post). These will be Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' first shows at The Rapids Lounge since playing there in late January, and will hopefully prove to be another entertaining weekend of hard rocking covers for fans and lounge regulars alike, so don't miss out on next month's action! Peril will be on both nights at 9:00 PM with no cover charge and a 21+ age limit, as usual. Visit the above links for more details, and we'll look at their sister band's Kewadin gigs this weekend in a bit!
Next up, let's dive into this weekend's concert previews, starting with the return of Manistique hard rock duo Fyrbird to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino themselves TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, but that's not all from them! Last week, band representative Shannon Hider posted their current schedule through the end of the year on their Facebook group (we had previously known about their E.U.P. gigs through next month), so when else can you see Fyrbird in our neck of the woods? The next new-to-us gigs within an hour of the Soo will see them rock The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on September 22nd & 23rd, before returning to The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie on November 17th & 18th. More spread out, but they will be back! Also, note that they'll be seen often in Paradise, Newberry, Gould City, Curtis, and Naubinway as well, which are not in our coverage range.
Remember, we stop at an hour's drive from Sault Ste. Marie, but of course, those towns are in Chippewa, Mackinac, or Luce County, so don't disregard them if you happen to be in the area, as they play there more than under the Kewadin umbrella. Tonight, tomorrow's, and this fall's Kewadin gigs from Fyrbird are at 9:00 PM with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Hopefully Fyrbird's hard hitting two-man cover attack goes over well for Yooper fans this weekend and beyond, so visit the above links for more details, don't miss them tonight and tomorrow in the Soo, and here's Rick & Jamie live and in concert last year!
Also, let's head further south in Michigan for the aforementioned shows this weekend from Peril's sister band, namely Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm, who will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace branch TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT themselves! Fresh off of rare gigs in Indiana this past weekend, these will be the Peril sister band's first shows in St. Ignace since February, so not a huge time between gigs there, but definitely still another fine opportunity or two for their hard hitting yet fan friendly covers & originals on a local stage awaits local fans this weekend! Like with Peril in the Soo next month, Scarkazm's concerts tonight and tomorrow have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details on Scarkazm's St. Ignace shows this weekend, and here they are live!
Finally, let's head north to Sault Ontario, as Toronto-based Kiss tribute band Destroyer will make their (at least) fifth local concert appearance here TOMORROW NIGHT, when they rock Soo Blaster
for the first time! Fans of Kiss may recall last seeing Destroyer give
rock n' roll to you at the former Canadian Nightclub in March 2019 (with
a planned May 2020 return cancelled due to the first pandemic
lockdown), so it'll be great to see Destroyer's faithful take on Kiss'
classic original hard rock sound and stage show on a local stage again,
and fans should be in good hands after their prior gigs here went well!
Support will come by way of local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek,
who are stepping out of the studio for their first set since their
headlining weekend at Jay's last month and their first appearance at Soo
Blaster since playing there in December. With Fort Creek's
long-gestating new album still in the works, look for new studio
material mixed into tomorrow's high profile set!
Sponsored by Sessions Cannabis,
this 19+ concert has doors opening at 7:00 PM, and tickets run for $20
(up from $15 in 2019) or $25 for VIP passes, perks unclear, though note
that on Eventbrite,
the only advance tickets there cost $27.96 with taxes/service fees
already applied. If you're a fan of Kiss, you owe it to yourself to
check this show out, as Destroyer are the next best thing to the real
thing, and Fort Creek will be a good match to kick off the evening, so
don't miss out tomorrow, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Destroyer live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Here's a new news post on this Hump Day, as it were, including the latest from high profile bands on both sides of the border, and first, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS tied in to a brand new band full of familiar faces, so here's what you should know!
We have a new local classic/hard rock cover band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Double Down, the new project from former Bone Yard bandmates Brad Stephen & Ric Datson! As live rock music goes, we haven't heard much from Brad & Ric since they left Bone Yard in January of last year, but you may have seen teasers about Double Down in recent months, with the band launching their Facebook page last month, though note that it's formatted like a normal personal page that you can add as a friend, not a band page. Regardless, the guys encourage you to follow it for updates, and it's not 100% private. Brad (on bass) and Ric (on drums) are joined here by former Griphook/100 Gran singer/guitarist Joel Syrette and former Hollow/Mustang Heart guitarist Adam King (who guested with Griphook at that band's final show in 2016). Set-wise, what can we expect?
In a comment reply to this photo two weeks ago, they cited covers of everyone from Kiss and Whitesnake to Big Wreck and Royal Blood, and even Steely Dan and Daft Punk, so they are certainly not far from Bone Yard in tone, if with less of a southern rock theme. In our teased LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, Double Down will debut at Reggie's Place on Friday, April 21st and Saturday, April 22nd for shows that are presumably 19+, starting at 9:30 PM, and cover-free. It'll be interesting to hear how Double Down sound next weekend, but the talent is certainly there, so visit the above links for more details on them and their first gigs!
Next up, let's hop to St. Ignace, Michigan for more recent updates from local metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown's Facebook page! Yes, their recent interview is still coming soon, but I am behind on their own Facebook posts as it is! In this post on March 29th, the band said "videos wrapped up", but it's not clear if they mean multiple videos or if they forgot an apostrophe. In any event, photos are included from what appears to be a music video shoot, and based on the (hopefully) fake blood being applied on set, it'll be quite a video when released! After acknowledging on March 31st that "A Sold Soul" is inspired by the Spawn comic book, they asked fans to vote on Opnr to suggest H.L.T.C. as openers for the Taproot-headlined concert in Grand Rapids in November. Still a five hour drive to get there, but click here if you want to show your support for another downstate trip for a big concert opportunity!
After a week-long break from Facebook, the band returned with some new videos, including this "Reel" of singer Brandon West modeling his Heavy Lies The Crown hockey jersey. In other unembeddable content, they shared another Opnr campaign to see if they can get on the bill for the Oceano-headlined concert in Grand Rapids in June. For videos that we can embed here, Brandon starred in three short newer ones, starting with this video on Friday of him holding a long box and asking if fans can guess what's inside. Don't worry, there isn't any grim Se7en-esque items inside it, as he revealed in this video the next day that it contained a one-of-a-kind H.L.T.C. skateboard! If you don't watch the clip, the art on the board is of their duck mascot Iggy smoking a cigar (not unlike their song "Cigar With The Devil"). The text calls this "merch", but if they plan to sell it, I haven't heard details.
Lastly, Brandon posted this video on Sunday of him walking indoors with his band jersey and sunglasses to wish everyone a happy Easter... eventually (he said this took a few takes). Good updates from their camp, and hopefully we hear much more from Heavy Lies The Crown shortly, but check out their new videos above & below, and that audio interview will be next on the site from them, I promise!
We'll wrap things up back in Sault Ontario (well, by way of Barrie) for some of the latest from local crossover thrash quartet Spades GT! The former Jack Spades actually just played at the multi-band Road To Lockdown Fest in Toronto on Friday (click here for details), which followed previously announced gigs in Guelph and Newmarket in the preceding week, so the guys are definitely staying busy in Southern Ontario now that their album recording sessions are, if not completed, at least not being plugged regularly. Their next show will be in Barrie when they open for The Anti-Queens on April 27th (moved from the 24th), so visit the official Facebook event page for details on this kinda-sorta rebooking of the planned Anti-Queens/Jack Spades show in the Soo during lockdown #1! The guys also shared this new band logo that, while less derivative of the Skull Skates logo, is somewhat boring to me, if I'm being honest. If it's here for the long haul, it may grow on me yet!
One new Facebook video was also uploaded earlier today, but alas, it is a "Reel" and therefore unembeddable on external sites like this. It was filmed at an unidentified concert from last year and features frontman J.D. Pearce singing and accidentally showing us what happens when you try to drink a little too much at once mid-song. He saves himself well, I found! Note that the end of the video features logos for various social media pages, including Spotify, though their only content there so far is their Jack Spades material from the mid-2010s. Visit the above links for much more on Spades GT's recent activity in the GTA, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more next! Thanks everyone!
It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, letting us spotlight another inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk band from our links, randomly selected as usual, at that! This month, we're heading across the river for a look at one of the more recognizable local cover rock bands of a decade ago, so here's what you should know on them!
Chris Leask (Highway 63, River Witch), vocals/bass Chris Gurnoe (River Witch), guitar Bob Helsten (I.S.O.M., Clownsack), drums
Audio/Video: A covers-only band, public Power Slug media is pretty much limited nowadays to videos uploaded to their Facebook page, which was only launched over two years after the band's inception. Two videos were posted there, both from a June 2014 gig at The Savoy Nightclub, including covers of Eric Clapton's "Cocaine" and (as embedded below) Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning", so check out both to see what Power Slug brought to the table in their heyday! Their range of covers did lean heavier than these videos may suggest, bearing some similarities to Chris Leask's later work with Highway 63 in particular.
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Info/Analysis: Succeeding the two Chris' short-lived band River Witch upon their debut in late 2011, Power Slug would become a fan favourite sight at E.U.P. nightclubs in the early-mid 2010s, despite not having a Facebook page to promote themselves with until mid-2014, and often playing shows with limited or no public notice there. Fans may recall seeing Power Slug at larger vents like the I-500 and LemmaFest, alongside sets at venues like the regional Kewadin Casino branches, the former Dan's Place in Rudyard, and Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird), among others, while also hitting the road for gigs in the western U.P. and downstate. Power Slug last advertised playing live in Manistique in May 2015, with Facebook updates quietly ceasing in July of that year, though Chris Leask & Bob would perform together in later bands. Chris, Bob, and Chris had a good thing going during their run, and while surviving videos have distorted audio, you do get a sense of their chemistry and talents!
Their hard hitting, down-to-earth brand of rock covers definitely found an audience of fans willing to chug their mugs with Power Slug during their run, and they easily could have ran longer as a band with success, but hopefully members are still active music and/or are doing well nowadays!
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! We're heading back to Sault Ontario for our next randomly selected band of the past in this series, and we're going way back for a look at early-mid 2000s hard rock quartet Redefined! Look for that on or around May 10th, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
After a one year hiatus for his Facebook live-streamed concerts, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith held his newest one on his Facebook page on Tuesday, March 28th! Now explicitly called a "live hangout", it marks his first such live-stream since he moved from Thompson, Manitoba last fall, and it runs for over two & a half hours, so there's lots to take in here! At the start of the video, Mike addressed what he's been up to in the past year (personally & professionally) before addressing his initially planned guest for the show, namely Ryan Jensen of the Denver, Colorado alt-rock solo project Surrender The Tides. Due to a scheduling conflict on Ryan's part, he's been pushed back to Mike's planned April live-stream, with Mike's replacement guest being Manny Attanasio, the frontman of the Australian indie/electronic rock duo The Lillypillies, who was originally planned to be the guest(s) this month.
No doubt their wires crossed when both The Lillypillies and Mike were featured on episodes of Your Music Live with Pete Johns and the community that arose through that series. The discussion begins about 3 minutes in with Manny asking about Mike's wedding and how Tianna's handling his musician/pilot life, before Mike acknowledges that technical issues on Facebook's part curtailed his April 2022 live-stream there (that one was only on YouTube). Mike next acknowledges the return of the share contest to determine a fan-decided cover that Mike has to cover the next time out (whoever gets the most engaged share of the live-stream wins). Manny gets to talk about himself and The Lillypillies proper next, including his recording setup and musical background, which Mike does connect to some of his past catalog (like how he loves his "Neighbourhood Watch" material but not the recording quality).
Mike & Manny talk about their musical abilities and such next, with Mike even talking down his own guitar abilities and noting that he had asked guitarist friends if they could guest on a guitar solo on his upcoming album. If you're in this for the actual performances, Mike is up first at the 24:10 mark when he covers The Lillypillies' own song "We'll Be Together", after which Manny praised Mike's rendition and talked about the inspiration of the song, including how the pandemic influenced it. Mike performs again next via his own original "If Ever Comes The Day" 36:15 into the video. After Mike criticized Facebook changes and social media in general, perhaps with a rebrand of some sort to follow, he asked Manny about his musical influences and his Lillypillies song "I'm Hypnotized", which Mike plays 55 minutes in, followed by him addressing his next album "All The Best In All You Do", which will have ten songs.
We move quickly to another song next, namely another of Mike's songs from the album "If Ever Comes The Day", namely his label namesake "MorningStar", which you can hear at the 1:04:10 mark. Mike next discusses the feedback that he's gotten from that song and his higher profile concerts that he took part in last year (particularly Rotaryfest, where he hopes to return this year), while also praising the talent of musicians in Sault Ste. Marie and how connected the community here is. He then asks Manny about The Lillypillies' future plans and upcoming material, before Mike tackles the first two planned songs from "All The Best In All You Do", namely "All You Do" and "Twist of Fate", which run into each other from 1:20:40 onward to end the first half, before Mike engages with commenters, especially ones that he's working with behind the scenes as a producer or collaborator.
The second half of the hangout continues with Mike asking Manny about his/The Lillypillies' planned return to Italy for some upcoming work, which links into Mike giving some insights into his Steeltown Sessions jam video with his live Rotaryfest band from last year, with Manny also talking up the advantages and drawbacks of technology towards his music, among other related topics. Mike tries another Lillypillies song next, namely "When We Were Young", which kicks in at 1:46:50, though Manny forgot to mute his video as he's singing along with Mike as he's playing and it doesn't sound great on a technical basis (too many halts and pops on Manny's end). If only the technical side of it was more level! Some casual discussion leads to Mike doing a brief new original song named "Love Will Light The Way" at 1:59:00, though he teased playing a song named "All For You" prior that was not performed on air.
The studio version sounds very lush compared to the acoustic guitar version heard here! When Manny asked about the release date for the new album, Mike didn't have a firm date in mind, but he did throw ideas out about possibly having five bonus tracks on physical copies only, with Manny offering his input on the idea and the creative process. After asking about what Manny does for fun and in his spare time, they discuss physical albums (Mike shows off a framed copy of "Bridges" on vinyl) and Mike's label MorningStar Records, of which American musician Tobias H. Reese has already signed on to release material through. The live-stream gets to thank yous, acknowledgements, and plugs before Manny signs off, with Mike hosting solo for the last 10 minutes, where he performs one more new song ("I've Seen It Before") at the 2:23:15 mark, complete with abrupt breaks to talk about the song's themes... very personal ones, at that!
Things end here (including a plug for the return of his YouTube album review series), but Mike did not play the winning song of his share contest from the March 2022 live-stream. That month's winner was not available to watch the April 2022 live-stream, so Mike postponed it to the next one, which was this installment, and there was no sign of it. Did it vanish into the ether? In any event, this was an entertaining live-stream with a good casual feeling, and while it was unfortunate that Manny didn't perform any songs himself like we saw in prior live-streams with guests, he is a talented musician and Mike did his songs justice! Check out all of the festivities for yourself below, and look for his next live-stream soon!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more from Mike (including his recent radio interview) and more on the site this week, including this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!
Let's get some more recent news and notes on the site on this Saturday morning, and they include some new videos and recent updates from bands on both sides of the border, but leading off, here are some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for you punk fans to check out next month!
While
Shooters Downstairs Lounge recently addressed April concerts in their Facebook concert schedule poster
(the already-occurred Eugene Gassi show on the 1st aside), we do know
of a pair of SMS-relevant gigs next month, as local punk trio Vanity First will make their Shooters debuts on May 19th & 20th, preceded by their Reggie's Place debut on Saturday, April 29th! Announced via posters on their Facebook page
(neither venue has confirmed these dates yet), I believe these will be
Vanity First's.... first true solo concerts at nightclubs, where they'd
be doing the four sets/covers-heavy thing not unlike Soundcheck at
Shooters this weekend. Hopefully Andrew, Mikhal, and
Keeghan make a strong impression at these two downtown nightclubs with
their modern punk attack! No word on why they're not playing at Reggie's
on Friday the 28th, we'll let you know if someone else is confirmed for that night or not.
All three of Vanity First's newly announced shows have 9:00
PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Should
be a good time for punk fans and bar patrons looking for something newer
compared to their usual roster, so visit the above links for more
details!
Next up, here's the latest from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, who do have an interview that we'll address in an upcoming post, but they have been busy for posting enough new Facebook content in the last few weeks as it is! On March 25th, the guys hit the road for another downstate gig, this time at Skelletones in Grand Rapids for a headlining concert, if you can believe that, featuring openers Ruin , I Decide I, and Minus Two. Skelletones' Facebook page even posted (black & white) pictures of H.L.T.C.'s set, so you know it went well for bands and venue alike! Singer Brandon West recorded this video while en route to Grand Rapids to hype the event, where he apologized for the impromptu promotion given their recent behind the scenes work to better themselves, and their set apparently had all but three of four of their existing originals.
A "new/old instrument" was brought back for this gig as well, and he encouraged attendees to meet the band at the merchandise table. The day of the concert, Brandon starred in another video (well, a "Reel") featuring him punching at a speed bag in preparation for the show. Not sure that there's a direct correlation, but his technique is good! During the event, Brandon and guitarist Ted Olson starred in this 9 second video (not a "Reel", believe it or not) that basically has them mugging for the camera when they realized they didn't switch back to camera mode, which is amusing! On March 27th, Brandon posted a video to announce that the "new/old instrument" is the turntable, while also talking about how the Grand Rapids concert went, which included a couple of songs where he and drummer Jaxon Massaway traded roles. Apparently, Brandon played drums on their debut EP, not Cale Krist, which is news to me!
Brandon said that the band is taking a break to work on new studio material, with added backing vocals from band members planned going forward, but he did hype up how things went in Grand Rapids, and bassist Christian Bailey (referred to as Christian Cook in the video) apparently cut himself by accident mid-set. Hope he's alright, of course, but with how Brandon described it, the incident would at least look metal! Give this one a watch below, and stay tuned for much more (including that interview) from Heavy Lies The Crown in due course!
Finally for today, here's some updates from Sault Ontario alternative/hard rock band Handsome Sandwich! First off, you may know that bassist Rafael Medina (full name Rafael Medina Cruz) came to the Soo from his native Colombia to take part in Algoma University's music program, and he was recently spotlighted in this SooToday article by Chris Belsito, where he and classmate Brandon Ruch were feted for their recent graduation. The two performed at Algoma's Jazz Ensemble concert on Thursday at The Loft (the site of Handsome Sandwich's album release show next month), while their proper graduation concert for the music program takes place at The Loft on April 12th (click here for tickets if you are so inclined). Rafael's bandmate Johnny (credited as John) Belanger will be among the guest backing musicians. Good article to learn about both Rafael and Brandon, but also the Algoma music program, so check it out above!
In terms of Handsome Sandwich directly, the band revealed on their Facebook page on March 28th that former Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno filmed their upcoming music video for "No Entry" at Spacebag Productions, and the video is slated to be released on Wednesday, April 19th, so stay tuned for that! Lastly, a new Facebook video was posted on Thursday of the band "being lame" (their words), with singer Taylor Emlaw hyping the release concert on May 6th and the band proper clearly having fun in the moment, assuming Jesse didn't hurt himself in his tumble off the chair. A clip of an unidentified new song can also be heard throughout the 33 second clip. Good stuff, so see more from the Sandwich above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
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.
