A New Local Band, Tarnished Concert Preview & Updates, And Much More!!

I've got another new news post for your guys on this Friday morning, and it's packed with a lot of shorter stories from the last little while, plus a concert preview and related updates, and leading off, a brand new addition to our band links! Here's what you should know!

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, and they are named Dealing Without! Details are minimal on this band so far, but they have a promising lineup, including Isolation Sessions/ex-Half Past bandmates Jordan Rains and Arthur Lacasse on vocals & guitar respectively, alongside former Big Mistake guitarist Rick Atkins and ex-Fitswitch drummer Larry Mousseau. A bassist has not been brought on board yet, but Arthur had posted in the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday looking for one (they do have a jam spot.) Message Art at this link or above for details! It's not yet clear if Dealing Without's existence will mean anything negative towards The Isolation Sessions' status, though note that they did post on Facebook as recently as January, and remember that their nature & inception were very tied into the pandemic.

Sonic inspirations with Half Past's final lineups will be easy to make re: Dealing Without, but time will tell how they truly look and sound. Will they jump in on the social distance-regulated concert scene where available, or will their live debut wait until things are more opened up? Time will tell, but this lineup has the chops! Stay tuned to their Facebook page for more updates on Dealing Without when they rolls in!

Next up, here's a rare weekend concert preview, as Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished (minus Nathan) will perform publically in Hulbert Township for the first time TOMORROW NIGHT at The Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast! A new venue for us, this bed & breakfast at 9920 South North Hulbert Road has hosted a few live bands in recent months, and hopefully will serve to be a solid venue for Alex & Josh's unplugged cover attack! If you're up for the hour-long drive west to Hulbert, this show has no announced age limit or cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. While we're on the subject, Tarnished will also be taking a rare road trip outside of our coverage range to Traverse City today for a show at The Workshop Brewing Company (details here), and will be appearing again on The Eagle 95.1 with Tim Ellis again at 9:10 AM today for the exclusive public debut of their new single "SDR&R"!

Pre-orders for the single will proceed after the interview, though availability of it beyond the FM dial is to be confirmed. Tarnished are definitely staying busy this weekend, so follow along with all of their upcoming activities on their Facebook page or above, and to preview tomorrow's Hulbert Happy Hour gig, here's Alex & Josh live!

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

 

• I have removed Sault Ontario death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud from our band links again due to the unfortunate deletion of their known online pages & media for unannounced reasons at some point in the last couple of months. Black Cloud had previously done this in late 2019, before returning with new pages that were updated from February-July of last year. Peytan has definite potential in extreme metal, and hopefully we see Black Cloud return (again) in some form again down the road!
• I have replaced the link for local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore from their surprisingly deleted Facebook page to their Bandcamp page. As far as I can tell, C.T.W. are still active, as their other social media accounts are still up, and have been updated as recently as January, though it's worth noting that C.T.W.'s deleted page was previously Tyler's cybergrind project Malignant Neoplasm's page after the closure of their original page. Maybe it was taken down due to content flags, given their very polarizing imagery & subject matter? In any event, we'll let you know when Tyler has new music updates from any of his projects!
• Hard rock musician Mike McCleary has been moved to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, last being seen posting a single on Bandcamp in February 2020. A quickly prolific addition to our coverage, Mike released a number of digital albums to Bandcamp in the late 2010s, often dealing lyrically in his own mental health battles & national politics, but his public profile sharply decreased in 2019 due to personal concerns, including the deletion of his Facebook page & two of his more political albums. Mike's a talented guy, and hopefully he resumes his original music again in the future!
• Local post-punk duo Orange are "coming back, baby!", as per their Facebook page on Tuesday. Featuring Telephone & Address' Christopher Shoust on drums alongside Ohio-based guitarist Matt Zook, Orange initially reunited in 2014 for studio work and album plans, but aside from some Soundcloud postings, nothing came of it until their last proper public update in March 2015. Good to see Orange back after six years, and they are back in our active links!
  
• Last week, The Soo's Got Talent posted on their Facebook page to say that they're "looking into going virtual", and asked fans what they thought about the idea. We all know why the multi-week local talent competition didn't take place last fall, and with lingering uncertainty even with vaccines beginning to roll out, hosting the 2021 installment online may make sense to bring The Soo's Got Talent back in the near term. Stay tuned for updates!
  
• Veteran ska/hard rock trio Tripod The Dog have been moved to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The fan favourite band has not been seen since rocking The Esquire Club on February 9th of last year, though the pandemic & their lack of a recent online page are both acknowledged. After a successful reunion set at Rotaryfest in 2018, frontman Mark Oliverio brought Tripod The Dog back full-time in 2019 on the local bar cover circuit, though gigs were spaced out moreso than other contemporaries. Hopefully we'll see Mark and the Amendolas back at it when concerts as normal can return!

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