LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), Plus More Updates & Videos From Sault Michigan!!

As we settle into another lockdown on the Ontario side of the border, let's focus solely on Sault Michigan and the Eastern U.P. for today's post! Mostly, this relates to one band in particular (who have a surprise LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the summer), but we do have some solo videos to cap things off with. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock band Tarnished will return to the Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast in Hulbert Township on Saturday, August 14th when they open for Grand Rapids country band Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys! Odd genre mix, but it would appeal to a wider audience. The band has yet to confirm this date, but the venue's Facebook page announced the show last week. Time will tell how pandemic restrictions impair this event, but Hulbert House postponed it from a planned April 14th date to work out further details. Note that while Tarnished's previous appearances at Hulbert House were indoors (more on them in a bit), the venue's Facebook page has been teasing that Tarnished will be playing outside of the B&B at dates to be announced this summer, so will this be outdoors too? Details on time, admission fees, and potential age limits are to be announced, so stay tuned to the SMS when we hear more!

While we're on the subject, Tarnished have been busy of late, including releasing their new single "SDR&R" (short for "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll") on Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, and Spotify on March 29th! Assuming it won't be on an album (at least imminently), I will give my thoughts on it here, and it's an effective 1980s metal throwback with a modern hard rock bite and strong guitar work, but ending the song with a solo did feel like a slight anticlimax. Fans should enjoy it, so give it a listen! The black & white photo at the top right is from a new shoot Tarnished did with Jay London Photography, but new bassist Donald Alexander is not included for unannounced reasons. Hopefully he was just unavailable that day! Lastly, remember their Nathan-free live-streamed performance on Friday, March 19th? Well, here's some more details on where that took place!

As it turns out, the March 19th video was filmed at the aforementioned Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast, so they must have returned less than a week later, despite neither the band nor venue advertising the return engagement on their respective Facebook pages. Assuming this wasn't a private event, I do apologize for not covering it on the SMS, but again, neither Tarnished nor Hulbert House plugged it in advance. An implied Alex/Josh acoustic set may also have taken place at Hulbert House, based on photos the venue shared on March 18th (again, apologies if we did miss something, but it wasn't announced beforehand.) One more concert video was shot during the March 19th set, as uploaded on Hulbert House's Facebook page two days later, where Alex, Donald, and Josh covered Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water".

Capturing the full song (if short a guitarist), Tarnished handle this classic hard rock standby with ease, though Alex does put some extra oomph into the vocals at times. Again, the lighting seems overkill when the indoor stage setup there looks so plain (hence why I didn't assume the prior video from this set was from a scheduled concert at first), but if the gang at Hulbert House see an opportunity to host live music during a low time, and can do it safely, why not give it a shot? Check out Tarnished's other new video below, and stay tuned for updates when they roll in!

Finally, have you been wondering what St. Ignace progressive metal band Heavy Lies The Crown have been up to lately? We're nearing a month since their last update relating to actual band activity (allegedly, they are waiting for mastering to wrap up on their upcoming CD), but two members have been working on some solo endeavours in the past month! Singer Brandon West has been supplying vocals for a couple of far-flung musicians' original projects that have been shared on H.L.T.C.'s Facebook page (both via YouTube postings and Brandon's TikTok page), but will these provide any sonic hints towards the band's upcoming album? They're brutal enough to match, for what it's worth! Meanwhile, guitarist Ted Olson quietly resumed his dormant solo project over the winter, and has posted a handful of original composition playthrough videos to his new YouTube channel (largely filmed by Brandon), with an outdoor video for his own track "Odin" posted yesterday.

Embedded below is Ted's solo song "Just Chill", uploaded almost a month ago. Excellent progressive metal guitar work from Ted, who is an underrated player locally, though whether you consider his solo to be as "insane" as advertised is up to your preferences. Hopefully Ted's YouTube videos will help tide everyone over while we wait for Heavy Lies The Crown's album, so give his videos a look above and below, and Ted is back in our active Sault Michigan band links! Here's hoping he has some more content in the works!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site by the end of the work week! Thanks everyone!