A New Addition To Our Band Links, Plus New Videos From Both Sides Of The Border!!

We have a new news post to check out on this warm Tuesday, and while we're half focusing on videos from a recent Sault Michigan concert, let's stay in Sault Ontario to start, courtesy of a new teaser video and a newly added solo project to our full coverage! Here's what you should know!

We have a new local solo musician to add to our local band links, namely Kush Wood (real name Kristien Woodcock), an alternative/grunge musician who has actually had his solo Facebook page up and running since 2015! Apologies for the delay in finally rolling Kush Wood into our band links, of course, but let's make up for lost time! Kristien is not familiar from past local bands, but you may have first heard of him via his run of grunge and alternative-leaning unplugged videos posted to his YouTube channel through 2017 (partially uploaded when he was working in Costa Rica), plus his entry into the Stone Temple Pilots singer contest that you can still hear on Soundcloud. In March 2020, Kush Wood returned with long hair after a three year public hiatus, and has continued posting new and re-recorded videos and original singles over the past year, with many now available on digital platforms like Spotify, Bandcamp, and Apple Music.

The grunge influence is very prevalent in Kush Wood's originals, and while Kristien seems to have Scott Weiland as a vocal inspiration, his own songs are closer in spirit to "Jar of Flies"-era Alice In Chains, if more optimistic. Production can be a work in progress, especially with the obvious drum programming, but Kush Wood is on to something, and it's nice hearing a grunge-inspired solo act like this around here! Give Kush Wood a listen above, and here's his video for "Love Replace This"!

Next up, here's a very brief teaser video for something that local party metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty were recording with Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno's Spacebag Productions in March. Uploaded to drummer Amanda Stanghetta's personal Facebook page and subsequently shared publically to the band's own Facebook page, this features frontman/Amanda's husband Paul covering Saul Williams' "List of Demands (Reparations)" in a bathroom, with Josh manning a very professional camera at a close angle. No one else is playing the song proper in this 13 second clip, but given the setting, there might not be room for everyone anyway! If this is going to be a professional multi-angle video of this cover, other band members will have been shot separately, but so far, I don't believe it's out yet. We'll let you know when/if the video is released, but give Amanda's teaser clip a watch below!

Let's head to the Sault Michigan area to close, via new live videos of local hard rock trio Tarnished's "summer rock party" concert outside of Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast in nearby Hulbert Township on Saturday night! The venue's Facebook page uploaded or live-streamed five videos of Tarnished's set, which allow us to see their outdoor stage setup, which will also be used for their set opening for Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys in August. Looks professional enough to do the job, though it's placement sideways along the slope of a hill is definitely an interesting visual! As for the videos proper, two are from later in the night from a closer zoom of the stage, with Tarnished covering Seether's "Remedy" and Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn". The other three are in daylight and are thankfully much longer, including covers of Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black" and Everlast's "What It's Like".

 

The other video is over 9 minutes long and captures songs from near the start of their set, including the end of frontman Alex Traynor's solo track "Life Is Made Of Lies" and covers of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" and Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust". This video has definite audio quality difficulties, so I'd be embedding another one here, if Hulbert House hadn't blocked external embedding of these videos, alas. Given that the two full songs in the 9 minute clip are very bass heavy, who is playing bass in Tarnished now? Alex himself (and on a five string bass, no less!) It is surprising to see him not on guitar, but if him switching instruments allows them to play live short term, go for it! Unfortunately, only the Everlast cover is on a horizontal camera angle, but the filmers do zoom in and get closer to the stage on the other clips. Performance-wise, Tarnished are on their game!

Despite not having a high turnout (remember, the band didn't plug this date until Wednesday, and Hulbert is an hour's drive west), they're in good spirits and clearly happy to be back on an E.U.P. stage for the first time since March! And again, this will be a preview of what to expect when they play Hulbert House's outdoor stage again in August, pandemic willing. Give these videos a look via the links above, and that's all for today, but look for our next Defunct Local Band Profile by Friday! Thanks everyone!