Heavy Lies The Crown Updates From Last Month!!

After the USA men's hockey team's gold medal win this morning, it's only fitting that today's post is 100% related to the Eastern U.P., specifically St. Ignace deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, so what have they been up to since we last left off with them early last month? Well, on January 14th, frontman Brandon West starred in another vertical update video for their Facebook page, where "Bad Lighting Brandon" hyped their previously announced March tour loop in the Lower Peninsula. That same night, another video was posted where Brandon was literally mixing and mastering a song on a laptop while waiting for his daughter. Brandon was back in the vehicle for another update video the following day, where he revealed that their new single "Notions" would be released on major streaming services tomorrow (January 16th), while also saying that it is "definitely a different vibe and a different take on Heavy Lies The Crown for sure."

No definitive word on whether the song being worked on in the vehicle on the 14th was "Notions" or even new songs, but regardless, the single dropped as scheduled in all of the usual streaming haunts, with artwork provided by then-bassist Christian Cook (a.k.a. Christian Bailey). In their next major updates, Brandon and guitarist Jaxon Massaway starred in videos linked here, here, and here where they asked fans in the Bay City, Chesterfield, and Battle Creek areas if they knew of haunted or spooky locations that they could visit when they arrive there for their shows in early March. Paranormal tourism, scouting music video shoot locations, or something else? Whatever the case, message the band above if you have any ideas! Grand Rapids didn't get their own similar video, but Brandon asked in this clip for suggestions for all locations in that regard as well as for arcades in the four towns.

Each of those videos features the opening to their song "Road To Detroit" as background audio, which continues in this clip featuring Jaxon tracking music. Mostly shot from behind or at close angles (with a cameo from Brandon's hand, I assume), this teases the band's recent studio work well, but the last clip in the video is horizontal and pillarboxed where the rest is vertical. I know it's 9 seconds long, but commit to one orientation! Give it a watch for yourselves below!

On January 23rd, Heavy Lies The Crown confirmed that the previously teased "Notions" EP would drop on major streaming services the following week, calling it "a glued version of what we have to offer at this moment". Two days later, Brandon starred in this update video (horizontal, at that) where he noted that their newest released music is all a year old, and they went through a phase of not liking the songs but ultimately decided to put everything out, with certain instruments and vocals re-recorded to perfect the final product. Brandon did tease possibly posting behind the scenes content to show the evolution, which would be interesting! Before the EP could come out, H.L.T.C. announced big lineup changes on January 26th, as they have parted ways with guitarist/drummer Kaycee Mason and the aforementioned Christian Cook, though they left the door open to guest appearances in the future.

Given their location, the band cited "finding member(s) that are dedicated and to be fair spending a lot of money to go to a single show" re: their lineup changes, but did not elaborate on the reasoning further. Christian had been Heavy's bassist since replacing Danny Tucker in 2022, though he missed their most recent Lower Peninsula gigs in mid-November, while Kaycee replaced Nathan Switzer on guitar in mid-2024 and also took over on drums during Blaze Beairl's live absences for much of last year. Surprising news to hear of their departures, especially as Kaycee played drums in November, but hopefully we hear more music from them soon! Announced as taking over as their "permanent fill in on bass" was Rob Vandewiele from the Detroit metal band Nothing After This, who sat in for Christian in their November concerts, but the band recently confirmed one more lineup change that we'll get into next time.

When we next get into Heavy Lies The Crown on the SMS, we'll talk about the "Notions" EP, their newest lineup change, and their newest tour announcements, so stay tuned for more from them in the coming days, and give "Notions" a listen below in advance of the whole EP! Thanks everyone!

Double Down & Oz Concert Previews, New Videos, And More Recent Updates!!

As promised, we're wrapping up this weekend's known hard rock concert previews today, along with clearing up some loose ends re: preview videos that I couldn't use yesterday, and some more recent updates, so here's what you should know on this mild Friday night!

We'll start in Sault Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will play their first local dates of 2026 TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino! Last seen in the Soo over two months ago, this veteran outfit have proved to be a reliable favourite sight in their mid-2020s trips east, and hopefully tonight and tomorrow's shows provide more hard rocking classic hits from Ryan, Kevin, Joe, Todd, and Dave once again! And you know they put on a good live show, as Oz noted on their Facebook page that they brought two trailers with their gear and equipment! Tonight and tomorrow's concerts, as usual at The Rapids Lounge, are 9:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Oz live!

Next up, we'll wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews at The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will take the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! This show will feature the long awaited return of bassist Dan Beaupre for the first time since last summer, after taking a six month break for health matters and foreign travel, so if you've missed this local rock mainstay, don't be absent tomorrow! Double Down were last seen with fill-in bassist Lori Reinholtz at Beck's Bar last month, and they kicked off 2026 at The Water Tower Pub on January 3rd. Remember, this venue does not host bands on consecutive nights, and Generations are playing there tonight (more on them in a second). Tomorrow's show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Double Down (and Lori) live at Beck's last month!

This clip sees the band covering Our Lady Peace's "Starseed" with guitarist Beej Syrette on lead vocals, and it was uploaded three days after their initial batch of videos from that night. Alas, like with the prior three, this is both incomplete (75 seconds) and vertical, but it's a soundly handled cover that O.L.P. fans should like! I think that there are songs that suit Beej's vocal range better though. Give it a watch for yourselves below!

Also today, this extends from our weekend concert previews, as two of the bands playing this weekend have posted new live videos to their Facebook pages that I am unable to embed here, so I held discussion about them from yesterday's post so it didn't get overlong. Two are from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' Facebook group, where new guitarist Joe Miller posted videos from their Full Throttle Saloon gig this past Saturday! One is a cover of Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy", and the other appears to be the guitar solo from ZZ Top's "Tush". I'd have embedded the former here if able, but I can't embed either video externally, and I don't know whether that's a changed setting in the group or if that was Joe's call. Regardless, both are vertical and incomplete, seemingly filmed from a cell phone set down on the side of the stage. What we hear sounds good, but they aren't optimal in a few regards.

The other unembeddable video is from hard rock quintet HeadF1rst's Facebook page, and it's a highlight video compiled with InShot featuring three tiled windows of them playing at Beck's Bar last month, overlaid with post-production lighting effects and the Beck's logo. I can't embed the video here because Facebook content matched the backing music (the band's studio track "Stay For The Show"). I'd really prefer seeing the raw unedited live video with the music as performed that night, but at least it's an attempt to do something artistic with vertical cell phone videos! Give all three videos a watch above, and don't miss Generations tonight at The Water Tower Pub or HeadF1rst TOMORROW NIGHT at Beck's!

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

 

• A tribute concert in memory of late Rebel Priest/Glass Statues guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds (named Blitz Fest) will be held at The Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver on Saturday, April 4th! Friends and former bandmates of Benny's, including Rebel Priest and reunions of The Lust Boys and Roadrash, will be on hand to perform songs from his B.C. bands & his own favourite artists. West Of Hell singer Chris "The Heathen" Valagao (who fronted that band at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2012) will be the host of Blitz Fest. Not a local event, but it's great to see friends and colleagues putting on a proper memorial concert for Ben, so see above for more details!
• In clarification for the performers on local death/thrash metal trio Pillory's new full length album "Old Soul", their Bandcamp page confirms that 2015-2017 bassist Jordan Leach did indeed perform the low end on the final product, not his replacement Blair St. John or current bassist Devon Lucier. What's unsaid there is whether these are archival recordings from his stint in the band a decade ago or if he tracked his parts remotely in the past year (he lives and works out of country now). Regardless, it is neat to see Jordan in a new context again in local music! The album was recorded at Mission Control Studios with producer Dustin Jones.
• The Soo's Got Talent is looking for a band to perform at this fall's seventh annual installment, where they would perform a guest set during the semifinals and be the house band during the finals, backing up the last performers on their chosen covers. Handsome Sandwich (in 2022) and Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band (2023-2024) did the honours previously, before T.S.G.T. went without a live band last fall during its "Soo Voxx" format change. This is a paid role and will garner wide exposure for the chosen group. If you're interested in more details, message The Soo's Got Talent at this link!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Generations, And HeadF1rst) & Weekend Concert Previews!!.

We have another busy weekend for local  hard rock/punk-leaning concerts, so this weekend's previews are being broken up into two posts. As such, look for our Oz and Double Down previews tomorrow! Also, we have concert cancellations to take note of, as Tym Morrison's solo matinee dates at Misty's Fifties on Saturday, next Saturday, and on March 14th have all been cancelled due to suffering a broken pinky finger, which would understandably impair guitar playing. His concert at Reggie's on February 7th was also cancelled the day prior, with Sam Spadafora replacing him. Hopefully Tym mends up on schedule, and I apologize for missing the Reggie's cancellation! Tym's regular run of Misty's gigs is slated to resume on Saturday, March 28th.

Now, here's what you should know to start the weekend, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but we'll start with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, who have a busy weekend ahead. Including their previously announced Jay's Piston Broke Pub concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, those shows will sandwich a rare matinee gig from them on SATURDAY at The Tap Room at Northern Superior Brewing Co.! Apologies for the short notice on the Tap Room matinee, it was only announced yesterday via their sister band Separate Wayz' Facebook page. The reason why that band announced it is because this is the first teased "epic crossover" between the two groups, meaning that both Soundcheck singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe and Separate Wayz frontwoman Nicole Thibodeau will join Terry, Jim, and Johnny for a concert featuring songs from both bands. If that's not a hook to come out, I don't know what is!

No word on if Travis and Nicole will be trading off, splitting sets, and/or sharing dual vocals in this setting. Of course, tomorrow's Jay's concert will be the reunited Soundcheck's first since Travis officially returned to replace the Nashville-bound Cameron Oliver in the band he co-founded in 2016. Whether you want nighttime classic and hard rock covers in the west end, or daytime ones downtown (and with Nicole), you have options! The Jay's shows are both at 9:30 PM, the Tap Room gig on SATURDAY runs from 3:00-6:00 PM, and all have 19+ age limits and no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Separate Wayz (a.k.a. 3/4ths of Soundcheck) live!

Next up, here's another late notice show announcement, as local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will return to Beck's Bar on SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced via the venue's Facebook page on Monday, with the band only corroborating that yesterday. Last seen six weeks ago (also at Beck's), their second show of the year will be the nightcap of a long day for frontman Red Jettison, who will be pulling double duty as the acoustic matinee performer on SATURDAY under his real name Carson Hiltz. This is the one time where you could argue that the 3:00 PM matinee act at Beck's is kinda sorta "opening" for the nighttime band, two hour gap acknowledged! I don't know if this will basically be HeadF1rst unplugged, if it will be closer to his side project Bards With Beards, or if he's going really off script. Find out for yourself if you come by early!

For the record, Beck's are hosting rare live music tomorrow night also, but they don't typically double up weekends when they do, and tomorrow's band is classic rock cover trio The Sidekicks. The show is on SATURDAY at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's HeadF1rst live!

 

Also, here's some shows that did have advance notice before Monday, starting with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT, but before we get too far, their originally announced Saturday nighter at The Kiln at Searchmont Resort is no longer taking place. Drummer Tony Santoro said on the band's Facebook group that "a booking error" was to blame, but he didn't elaborate if that was on the band's end or the venue's (I have not heard about a possible musical act there on Saturday otherwise). However, Tony did confirm that Generations will return to The Kiln on Saturday, March 21st, so keep that new booking in mind in four weeks! In the meantime, tomorrow's Water Tower Pub show breaks up their alternating pattern of Kiln and Full Throttle Saloon gigs to start 2026, and marks their first Great Northern Road concert in two months.

Tomorrow's Water Tower Pub show and next month's Kiln gig will both be 8:00 PM affairs with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

Lastly for this post, local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will return to The Whisky Barrel for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at Bon Soo for a special outdoor concert this past weekend, this will be their first publically advertised indoor concert since rocking the Tap Room last month, and if you enjoy the long-running musical collaborations from BookcluB/ex-Inner City Surfers bandmates Dustin Jones and Mikey Hawdon, seeing them in action tomorrow on Gore Street may be just the idea for your Friday night plans! This one-nighter has an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new-to-me video of Mikey & Dustin! This comes from Dos Amigos' Instagram page, but it was actually uploaded there in June to promote a Whisky Barrel show last year (remember, they rarely update Dos Amigos' social media, hence why we often hear of their shows late).

This video sees Mikey & Dustin covering Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros' "Coma Girl", which you may recall seeing the two tackle back in 2020 for a "quarantune" vocals/ukelele cover for what became Mikey & His Uke. Uploaded in black and white for one reason or another, this outdoor performance is sound and melodic in the right ways, especially for Joe Strummer/Clash fans, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

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That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Oz and Double Down previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Viscera), A New Local Band, And Two New EP Releases!!

Tonight's SMS post is 100% focused around Sault Michigan, specifically two small-lineup metal bands with new EP releases, one brand new to our coverage and prominent in our latest LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know on this windy Wednesday night!

We have a new local metal band to add to our links, and they are a hardcore punk/metal duo named Viscera! Presumably getting the name from human internal organs and not the late wrestler, Viscera's lineup consists of former Small Town Society guitarist "Blind" Bob Quinn (credited as "Bobert Quinn") alongside drummer Mitchell Leon, with Bob on lead vocals. The idea of a minimalist two man metal band will appeal to a lot of Blood Shed Productions-tested Sault Ontarians, so Canadian readers may not wanna bypass them on that basis! While I only just learned about this band in the past week, they have been active since at least last fall, and they released their debut EP on major streaming services on October 30th! Entitled "From Feast To Famine", you can check it out for yourselves on Spotify and Apple Music (as helpfully linked via Distrokid) as well as on YouTube Music and Bandcamp.

The EP is on sale in mp3 format on iTunes for $4.95 and on Bandcamp for $9, so if you really want to support Viscera, buy and download everything! Five songs are included on "From Feast To Famine", with track #1 ("Disassociate") being released prior as an advance single. I'll hold comment on the EP itself pending our eventual review (in release order, it's now scheduled for June), but a jam session video is circulating on personal Facebook pages, albeit uploaded sideways. Viscera have a promisingly intense and sludge-inflected sound that gives the E.U.P. something rawer and heavier than you tend to see nowadays, especially an original band playing such music, so hopefully we hear lots more from them in 2026! If you want to see Bob & Mitchell live, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as they are headlining a St. Patrick's Day weekend concert at Three One Three On Ashmun on Saturday, March 14th!

Two bands will open for Viscera's local debut set next month, one being a touring group, namely veteran Marquette doom/stoner metal duo PonyWorm, who I have never heard of as a live act this far east. They've been a reliable presence in the western U.P. since at least 2012, and as it turns out, Viscera's proper live concert debut was in Marquette last month with PonyWorm opening (here's the poster). Now E.U.P. fans can see what the fuss is about! Fresh off of their unadvertised Savoy gig on February 7th, local punk/metal band About:Blank are slated to open at the former Back Door next month, and while I don't know if their guitarist/bassist vacancy will be filled in time, Parker & Kade may want to hold off for now to keep the two-man-bands theme going! Music aside, the poster promises "trippy visuals", so keep that in mind if you're coming out. This has the hallmarks of a Serious Business-promoted concert but I don't immediately know if it's their doing.

This presumably 21+ concert goes down on Saturday the 14th at 7:00 PM, and admission will be $10 in advance or $15 at the door. I don't know if there will be a public location or online link for advance tickets, but contact Bob, Mitchell, Parker, and/or Kade to inquire within. Here's hoping this show is a smash hit for all involved, and Viscera sure got off to a fast local start, so see above for more on them, the EP, and this concert, and here's "Dissociate"!

Finally, we'll stay in the realm of Sault Michigan metal acts with studio material. Do you remember when local metal solo project X's & Y's announced plans to release an EP named "Face The Moon, Forgive The Stars" last week? Well, it did come out on CD on February 13th as planned, and if you want a copy, contact project leader Jason Mills via the band's Facebook page! Given that it's a shorter EP, discs only cost $3 apiece, though with Crooked Music closed, I don't know if he has plans to have CDs on sale at a retail storefront elsewhere. When we last left off with the Life's Eclipse successors last month, Jason had posted both versions of the title track on their Bandcamp page, but at press time, the other two songs ("Hands Of Cydonia" and "Crater") were not streamable there. However, if you want to hear the songs without buying the EP, the whole thing is on X's & Y's' YouTube channel!

On the release date, Jason posted the EP as one batch video, and while I'll hold comment on the final product pending our review of "Face The Moon, Forgive The Stars" (Viscera's EP bumped it to September), definitely give everything a listen above and below to hear what X's & Y's have been cooking up in recent months! Where else will you hear a metal band using a tremoloa?

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (BookcluB), Without Compromise Updates, And Much More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran local musician Paul Leclair, who passed away yesterday of complications from cancer at the age of 74, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. While not a hard rock or metal musician, Paul will be familiar to many from his work as singer/guitarist in local bands like Midway, Moonshadow, and (most recently) Dorian Grey, who played classic rock at local venues for over a decade and were gigging as recently as last summer. For many years, Paul was the secretary-treasurer and vice president of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 276, and was a key asset in helping local musicians of many stripes to work through business, contract, and insurance dealings, as well as to get work visas put together to be able to perform/tour in the United States. He was occasionally referenced in SMS posts via his union work.

While I never had the honour of meeting Paul, we were briefly slated to judge a battle of the bands together alongside Soundcheck's Terry Eaton at the former Rednecks Saloon (Nicolet Tavern) way back in February 2015, but it was cancelled when the larger VM Radio Battle of the Bands was scheduled to begin less than two weeks later. He was a good and very knowledgeable person who helped so many local artists over the years through the union, and he will definitely be missed. R.I.P. Paul!

Today's post otherwise catches us up on some recent news, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local alternative/punk cover band BookcluB will rock The Machine Shop TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for online page-less local Tragically Hip cover band The Luxury as part of the Bon Soo Winter Carnival! Apologies for the short notice, we first learned of this show late last week via Bon Soo social media advertising. Modern day concerts outside of the opening ceremonies at Bon Soo rarely cross our radar, but this is an exception, and this special mid-week concert is reportedly being held "to show our appreciation" to Bon Soo supporters. This will be BookcluB's second publically advertised gig of 2026 (last seen at The Kiln last month), but you may have seen frontman Mikey Hawdon and bassist Dustin Jones playing outside of The Machine Shop as Dos Amigos this past weekend!

Alas, I only heard about this outdoor gig via a Facebook "story" (one of the posts that vanish from that strip on your news feed after being viewed once or twice), so here we are. I wish bands wouldn't rely on "Stories" (a couple have been posting new videos as "Stories" that are impossible for me to link to in posts), but I do apologize for missing that here. You can see the full BookcluB experience with their fan friendly and unique range of covers TOMORROW NIGHT! Note that the picture attached to the band's Facebook post plugging TOMORROW'S show includes guitarist Brandon Ruch, who moved out of town last fall, so I don't 100% know if they just used an old band photo or if he is actually returning to the Soo for this gig. As for The Luxury (featuring Tripod The Dog, Billy Bastards, Redefined, Sidekicks, and Late Shift alumni) they deliver a faithful and talented take on Hip classics from the 1980s and 1990s, so don't bypass them!

While tickets were reportedly briefly on sale early, TOMORROW'S indoor show will be FREE with a Bon Soo button ($12) or jacket tag ($8), and if you don't have one yet, they will be on sale at Mill Square if you come out. This is an all ages show at 8:00 PM. Should be a fun mix of covers (especially for Tragically Hip fans) TOMORROW at Bon Soo, so visit the above links for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Finally for today, here's a band we haven't talked about in way too long on here, namely local rap metal project Without Compromise! I admittedly slacked in covering them for months on end, and I apologize for that, but it didn't help that project leader (and former Winkstinger guitarist) Jason Ladouceur quietly left Facebook last year. However, Jason is still working on Without Compromise, and has continued uploading music for the former Less Than Zero to its Bandlab page and YouTube channel! A lot of his newer music and art has been along the lines of the evolution of intelligence and consciousness, and he has seemed to embrace AI as tech, so keep that in mind. In listening to Jason's newest material, the music is getting more varied, with metal songs mixed in symphonic and electronic elements, and while his vocals are still a work in progress (and sometimes buried in production), he is applying them in different roles and methods of singing.

 

I won't pretend to understand the artistic ethos of Without Compromise in the past year, but there is definitely talent on display, and Jason can still shred when the song calls for it! He has seemed to play down the rap aspect (at least for his own vocals) in his newest songs, but note that his song "Todayz" seems to include an AI model of Eminem rapping. There's promising music to check out here, so dig through their Bandlab and YouTube content above to see what he's been up to, and here's one of Without Compromise's newer uploaded songs, "In The Darkness"!

 

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Even Flow) And More Recent Updates!!

Before we get too far today, we have another missed concert to acknowledge on the site, from Saturday, February 7th in Sault Michigan, albeit one that had no public advertising that I can find. On that night, local hard rock bands About:Blank and Crush joined forces at The Savoy Nightclub, and for a show that About:Blank plugged after the fact on Facebook & thanked attendees for coming out to, why didn't either band mention it on their public pages? Especially as it was both bands' first gig of 2026, though Crush haven't even posted on their Facebook page in over a month. I do apologize for not covering this show on here, but alas, it's hard to when no one publically advertises it online, especially from the Ontario side of the border. However, About:Blank did post two new videos to their Facebook page from Saturday's show of them playing their original songs "Hearse", and as embedded below, "Unheard", so what can we glean from them?

The video quality of these videos isn't the greatest (the vertical orientation and The Savoy's lighting don't help), but the performances are solid and have a good energy that fans of Parker's past work with Tarnished will appreciate! Note that this set appeared to be as a duo following Nathan Webber's departure last month (I knew Nathan isn't in Crush, cold bug-induced error, sorry Alex), and hopefully the guys find the right guitarist and/or bassist to refill their ranks soon! Check out Parker & Kade rocking out at The Savoy above and below, and apologies again! I'd have happily promoted this show had someone said something publically!

Today's post otherwise features updates from a rising young metal band and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll an hour west in Eckerman, where local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will play The Strongs Tavern for the first time this year on Saturday, February 28th! The band just announced this concert earlier today via their Facebook page when thanking everyone for seeing them in Cedarville last night, and it will mark their first show at The Strongs Tavern since July, an unusually long wait given that they historically play there often, especially compared to other regional hard rock bands. Hopefully the guys deliver a fun batch of rocking covers for fans out in Eckerman to end the month! If you're wondering, the picture is from the Cedarville show, but I don't know if hand drummer Brian Duford missed the gig, was just not present for the photo, or if he was one of the Snowsfest Bigfoot mascots in disguise.

If things go identically to 906's prior Strongs concerts, this will be a 21+ event with no announced cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more news and updates from Project 906!

We'll head north to Sault Ontario for the back half of this post, starting with one more new show announcement, as new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will play their second concert on Friday, March 27th at Soo Blaster! Coming almost five months after Even Flow debuted on Halloween at Beck's Bar, you know that the guys have high aspirations when they're already headlining a larger venue like this, and while public media of them performing isn't on social media yet, the talent is certainly there! And yes, their singer is indeed Barbarians/ex-Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers, as per personal Facebook postings (the band's bio doesn't give his last name). Also featuring Papa Fogals Chair and Odd Man Out alumni, this grunge and alternative tribute goes down at 8:00 PM on March 27th, it will presumably be all ages, and advance tickets cost $10 at this link or through band members. See above for more details on this event!

Finally, here's the latest from local metalcore duo Hollow Sky, and while they just resurfaced for their first Facebook page update since June of last year, observant fans may have noticed recent activity on streaming services attributed to them. In December, an album named "Echoes Fade Slowly" by a band named Hollow Sky surfaced on major streaming platforms, and the local band's Linktree page kicks to this album on YouTube Music. The three red flags here were A. the genre (indie/pop rock), B. the singer (female), and C. the online footprint (minimal, I have suspicions that this Hollow Sky is AI-generated). I reached out to the local band to tell them about this so they can address the links and attribution as needed, and they confirmed that they are 100% not behind "Echoes Fade Slowly". I fear that this isn't the only time that such a name/credit issue will crop up on streaming, so be observant!

In terms of actual content by Liam and Adam, their new posting is of a cover-ish of the riff from "1. The Many Names Of God", a new song by Birmingham, Alabama progressive metalcore band Erra that isn't even coming out until Thursday. However, Erra posted the tabs for the main riff of the song on social media, encouraging fans to try to perform their own interpretation of the riff to guess how it will sound. The video (with Liam on guitar and Adam on bass) sure sounds good with a nice technical crunch, but it's a hypothetical teaser of another band's song. Check out Erra's new song when it drops later this week, and give Hollow Sky's interpretation a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Brad Example's Afterparty Episode With Dustin Jones & Mikey Hawdon!!

As some readers may be aware, former Room 206 bassist/Role Models frontman bassist Brad "Example" Lacell has been hosting his own live-streamed interview/performance series on his YouTube channel named The Afterparty since 2024, where he jams and talks with musicians remotely from his current Atikokan homebase. Brad is among the local musicians who has gotten involved in the "DIY independent musician networking" community and has made friends and connections from far flung locales (some you'll recognize from Mike Haggith interviews and appearances), but Brad has done episodes with local talent before, like Frank Deresti and Jay Case. Brad's rootsier, country-inflected solo material largely doesn't cross our radar on its own, so that has kept me from covering Afterparty episodes in the past, but that changes today, as 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers reunited last week!

This unites Brad with singer/guitarist Dustin Jones and drummer Mikey Hawdon (alas, no Dave) for a 58 minute acoustic jam, and despite the AI cover image, they were filmed remotely and not around a campfire with a bear in the lake behind them. In fact, Mikey & Dustin were together at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios, so things in familiar in that respect! The episode starts with Brad playing the late-era Surfers original "Excess Express", followed by "Been Done" from their debut self-titled "blue album". Brad hands things off to his old bandmates next, with Dustin starting with a solo rendition of "Screwed" from "Laughing On The Outside" (later re-recorded for their self-titled "black album"). After some light conversation, including pondering why Brad wasn't wearing a shirt, Mikey performs his first song, and rather than do a Surfers cut, he instead covered Sloppy Seconds' "Human Waste".

Remember, Mikey was the Inner City Surfers' drummer, though him switching instruments with Dustin was a common occurrence live. Afterwards, Brad returns for his first covers of the live-stream, specifically Sebadoh's "Rebound" and John Prine's "Souvenirs" (Brad is a massive John Prine fan and it shows in his solo music). We return to the Soo for the next songs, and in a surprise, the aforementioned Frank Deresti (of Lake Effect fame) joins in on mandolin for a rendition of "Father Time" from Dustin's inactive solo project Jonesy Land, which Frank collaborated with Dustin on in the first place. Mikey takes the spotlight next for "Clouds Float By", which is a more recent solo composition of his. The second half of the episode begins with Brad playing two more Surfers originals, including "Get High" from "Laughing On The Outside" and "Rollin'" from their oft-forgotten third album "Time To Travel On".

Dustin (and Frank) return to the forefront next for Dustin's first outside cover of the episode, namely The Commodores' "Easy", and it's definitely not the Faith No More cover given the presence of the second verse here. Mikey's next song actually is a collaboration with both Dustin and Frank, so finally, we can technically say that Dos Amigos played here, albeit with guest mandolin! This song was "Whole New Day", a song of Brad's from The Surfers' "Laughing On The Outside", and if you like that particular album, you'll like that Brad plays "TV" from it when he begins his last chunk of the stream! Brad's last song of the episode is "Backwards", one of the first songs that he and Dustin wrote for the "blue album". The episode closes with Mikey & Dustin (with Frank hopping back in midway through) covering Poison's deep cut "Look But You Can't Touch", followed by thank yous.

Not an interview series here, just an unplugged reunion of most of one of the Soo's biggest punk bands, and fans will like that eight of their songs were tackled here, albeit nothing that 100% originated on the "black album". While mostly an even split between the Soo and Atikokan, I would have liked to have seen Mikey involved a little more, as he only performed on four songs, but Dos Amigos proper did emerge in the back half! There were occasional flubs, and I do miss Brad's beard, but if you love The Inner City Surfers, check out this fun and loose Afterparty episode below, and see much more from Brad and various guests at this link! Thanks everyone!