A New Local Concert Promotion Agency, New Videos, And More!!

For our first news post of the new year, we have new video finds of the "newly posted" and "newly found" varieties, along with some assorted recent news items, but first, here's news on a new concert promoting group to watch out for (and check out our preview of 2014 at large in the local metal scene in the post below this one!)

Remember how Pillory/Social Suicide bassist Tyler St. Amour promoted the Devil's Night concert for Blood Shed Productions at The Oddfellows Hall in October? Well, it looks like he is following through with plans to promote more concerts on a larger scale, as he launched the Facebook page for Heavy North Entertainment yesterday! The aim is to promote metal and grindcore concerts in the Soo and bring in out of town bands for them, and the Facebook description is optimistic concerning plans to make sure that planned events take place and requested bands will come here.The page also includes pictures of many bands that played at the afrorementioned Devil's Night show, along with a company logo, but further information is not there yet in terms of concerts. I will note that there was early indications of Tyler bringing North Bay metal trio TheKillingField back to the Soo after the success of the Devil's Night show, but it remains to be seen if that's still in the cards. I'm very curious to see where Heavy North Entertainment goes from here, especially if they can live up to some of their hype!

I would assume there's going to be more collaborations with Blood Shed Productions at future H.N.E. events, which is great for their exposure, but be sure to stay tuned to the SMS and the above links for more details on Heavy North Entertainment, who are now in our Other Local Metal Links on your left!

Next up, remember on Monday how I alluded to videos that I'd seen of new Griphook frontman Joel Syrette's old band 100 Gran? Well, they've never found their way here before (despite being over 6 years old), so now's as good a time as any! 100 Gran was a classic/blues rock band that was active in the Sault area in the 2000s, with Joel appearing to be their only constant member, though surviving online information is minimal on them. YouTube user Ojib07 uploaded 12 videos of them in action at two late 2000s installments of Hempfest in nearby Ophir onto her YouTube channel, including a 2008 cover of a Traffic song featuring bassist Dan Beaupre (also of Griphook) and former Huckster drummer Cliff Alloy. The rest are from the 2007 Hempfest, and there are a few heavier covers within! Joining covers of everyone from The Black Keys to Indigenous, we do see 100 Gran's then-lineup (featuring ex-Driving Dave Home bassist David Grawbarger & prolific local drummer Ed Young) covering a pair of Jimi Hendrix classics!

The Hendrix covers include renditions of "Red House" and (as embedded below) "Manic Depression", and on these and other videos, we get a solid sense of both 100 Gran's skill and Joel's vocal & guitar abilities! I like the soulful qualities and smooth singing voice, and he does know his way around some tough guitar parts, so even if he has Jim O'Leary's shoes to fill, he should do a solid job of it with Griphook! Check out 100 Gran covering "Manic Depression" in 2007 below, and don't miss the new Griphook this weekend at The Roosevelt Hotel!



Also in new video finds, Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's newest cover video was posted onto his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's a cover of John Mayer's "Heartbreak Warfare"! Continuing with his trend of multi-camera videos with him on vocals & guitar (though featuring drums this time), it's again well done and put together, but I'm not sure if this song is the best showcase for Alex's vocals, given it's structure. Solid work as usual though, so check it out below!



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

• An aspiring local metal/hard rock drummer named Brett Norton is currently looking to jam or join a local band project, as per his post on our Facebook page last week. If you're interested in trying him out, message Brett on Facebook at this link!
• According to their Facebook page yesterday, Sault Ontario hardcore punk quintet Destroilet are going to "take a little live break" and plan to return with new material for a new album (which would be their third total, but second if you count last year's full-length as a reissue of their original EP.) As long as this break doesn't last two years again, all should be well, so stay tuned for updates!
• Though broken up for 9 months now, defunct Central Algoma death metal quartet For All That Is Lost posted a new audio recording of guitarist Brook Moreau jamming their song "Black Ritual" onto their Reverbnation page last week, which sounds good, so check it out at this link! Note that I have no clue if this is just a posthumous bonus, or if it's a precursor to a reunion, but just in case, keep an eye out!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for both this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post and weekend concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!