Details On The Fox 104.3's Saturday-Sunday On-Air Schedule!!

Today on the SMS, we're outlining the weekend schedule on The Fox 104.3 FM, which is quite different than what listeners to CJQM will be accustomed to from Monday-Friday! Remember, there is no "Shows" tab on the station's website yet, but the schedule is more or less verbatim to what you'll hear on Q92 in Sudbury and their sister stations in North Bay, Timmins, and Kingston. After spending much of Saturday mornings on autoplay music rotation, the first scheduled program of the day is This Year In Rock, which airs from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM with a re-airing from 6:00-7:00 PM. Hosted by Adam Kane of 92.1 CITI in Winnipeg, he looks at ten notable rock songs from a given calendar year, while he also outlines historical events and milestones from the year in question, often with a Canadian slant. The local premiere episode from January 11th was on 1976, while this Saturday's episode focused on 1978.

This show is roughly comparable in purpose to the syndicated Time Warp with Bill St. James on Sault Michigan's Rock 101, though Time Warp is four hours long and has more of a sonic collage of audio clips beyond just songs (also, the two shows do not conflict, as Time Warp runs on Saturdays from 6:00-10:00 AM). I like hearing more modern tunes than what This Year In Rock has focused on so far, but classic rock fans should be into it, and Adam's trivia and facts add some spice! From 12:00-6:00 PM on Saturdays, you'll hear Dan Koo (the Country 104.3 holdover in the 2:00-6:00 PM weekday timeslot) back in the booth, and after the This Year In Rock replay at 6:00 PM, the last scheduled program on Saturdays from 7:00-9:00 PM is The Biggs & Barr Show with Pastey Jamie, the Ottawa-based zoo crew show heard on The Fox weeknights from 6:00-8:00. Less unique programming, but there's lots to enjoy for rock fans!

For the record, Biggs & Barr were followed on Saturday the 11th by the syndicated Greg Beharrell Show from 9:00 PM-2:00 AM, but Greg's show has not visibly resurfaced on the former Q104 since that night. If you liked what you heard on the first three nights after the format change, or are curious as to how Greg is on air, click here to find his current affiliates!

Lastly for the regular schedule on The Fox 104.3 is the biggest diversion of all, as Sundays there are Classic Rock Sundays! From 6:00 AM until midnight, CJQM and their sister rock stations devote 18 consecutive hours to music almost entirely from the 1960s-1980s, which will please classic rock fans and former The Bear listeners to no end! In terms of scheduled programming, Sunday's first show (from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM) is the Church Of Rock, which is hosted by Cosmo Grant out of CHEZ 106 in Ottawa. This program is loosely themed around being an actual Sunday church service, with Cosmo's "sermons" being trivia and context on certain songs. Informative program with a good range of classics, and I even heard a couple of 1950s songs on air during the Church of Rock! Note that the show's first hour does run opposite the last hour of The Chop Shop with Steve Black on Rock 101, in case you're planning what to hear.

From 12:00-8:00 PM on Classic Rock Sundays, DJs are in the booth, with the first being "Big" Kris Bawden (a.k.a. BK) until 4:00 PM. BK isn't otherwise an on-air personality on The Fox or Q92, but he is also out of CHEZ in Ottawa. The Fox's weekday afternoon DJ Lew MacDonald takes over from 4:00-8:00, and he is definitely well tuned to classic rock, as he also hosts the Classic Rock Lunch from 12:00-1:00 PM on weekdays. The last scheduled program of the weekend is the Sunday Night Vinyl Series, which airs at 8:00 PM and seems to have a somewhat variable end time. Each week, host Howard Manshein (also out of CITI in Winnipeg) plays a notable rock album in full, from front to back, while adding trivia and context before and afterwards, as well as at the midpoint when the vinyl would be flipped over from side A to side B (nice touch!) For the local premiere episode, the album played was Rush's "Moving Pictures".

Last night's album was Van Halen's 1978 self-titled debut, and if you noticed that both albums were by the band who was spotlighted with their very own "week" of coverage and extra songs played on air, you're not alone! I don't know whether the Sunday Night Vinyl Series selection is made prior to or as a result of what band gets the weekly focus, but keep that in mind going forward! It does go head to head with the second hour of the modern hard rock-focused hardDrive with Lou Brutus on Rock 101, so make note of that as well. Beyond the possibility of the Sunday Night Vinyl Series album being post-1989, I did catch at least one instance of a 1990s song being played during Classic Rock Sunday (Colin James' 1990 hit "Just Came Back" was definitely played one week ago), so the 1960s-1980s focus isn't 100% ironclad. Personally speaking, I honestly prefer The Fox's general rotation to Classic Rock Sundays, but there are still lots of good tunes then!

Myself, I do want to hear modern stuff along with older songs, but 18 hours of classic rock will have a lot of appeal for many listeners, especially with the Canadian content factor. If you want songs from the 1990s or this millennium though, you'll have to tune in before 6:00 AM Sundays, or wait until Monday. Barring future programming changes or hosts/DJs coming & going, this concludes our look at The Fox 104.3's on-air schedule, so hopefully this helps give a better look at what you're hearing on Sault Ontario's new rock station, and whether you're all-in on The Fox or if you like bopping between it and Rock 101 or any other stations as songs/shows dictate, enjoy this new variety on the local dial! Thanks everyone!

Details On The Fox 104.3's Monday-Friday On-Air Schedule!!

After a few days of double checking the on-air schedule, here is our second post all about new Sault Ontario rock radio station The Fox 104.3 FM! In our post from this past Sunday, I looked at general information about CJQM's switch from country to rock, and gave some insights into their playlist rotation, but today's post looks at the on-air programming lineup during the work week (we'll look at the different weekend schedules in a post early next week). At press time, The Fox's website does not have a "Shows" tab like its sister stations to reflect the shows and DJs on air, but you don't need one, as the local station shares a nearly identical schedule as The Fox 101.9 in North Bay, Q92 in both Sudbury & Timmins, and (where all four stations get their base playlist and schedule) K-Rock 105.7 in Kingston. The only programming exceptions from those markets are a North Bay Battalion talk show and the "Friday 6pack" in Kingston.

The Fox has two different zoo crew programs during the week, including The Brock & Dalby Show from 5:30-9:00 AM and The Biggs & Barr Show from 6:00-8:00 PM, bookending overnight autoplay with no hosts or DJs. The former show is hosted by Brock Lewis & Drew Dalby out of K-Rock in Kingston, while Chris Biggs & Jason Barr (alongside Pastey Jamie) host the latter from CHEZ 106 in Ottawa. Both shows are formatted similarly, in that their host segments pop up between the station's music rotation, though only Brock & Dalby introduce songs. If you just want to hear the hosts and their on-air segments (like The Draft and The Quiz on Brock & Dalby, or OttaWHAT?! and Lights Out on Biggs & Barr), you can hear both programs sans music/commercials and with some additional exclusive content on major podcasting services, plus Rogers' Seekr application.

Which of the two zoo crew shows that you like more will be subjective (let alone if you factor in Scott Cook In The Morning on Rock 101 in the morning drive timeslot, which runs from 6:00-10:00 AM), and while I have laughed a little more at Brock & Dalby, both shows have certainly had their moments. I do like when radio hosts have someone to play off of and react to, so keep both shows in mind if you haven't tuned in yet, and if you like what you hear, catch up with their podcasts!

From 9:00 AM-6:00 PM weekdays, The Fox enters normal rock radio airplay with DJs in the booth, plus weather and news reports. Mid-week, you'll hear three DJs, including Heather Williams from 9:00-11:00 AM, Lew MacDonald from 11:00 AM-2:00 PM, and Dan Koo from 2:00-6:00 PM. Heather is out of CHEZ in Ottawa, and also hosts the Today In Rock interstitials, where she names off three major events in rock music history on this day in the past. Lew is out of K-Rock in Kingston, and his time in the booth encompasses the Classic Rock Lunch, featuring an hour of just pre-1990 rock songs from 12:00-1:00 PM (call it an appetizer for Classic Rock Sundays, which we'll outline early next week). The 2:00-6:00 DJ changes in every market in this five station loop, so Dan is the only locally-based on-air personality, and also the only on-air holdover from the hosts/DJs on Country 104.3.

If you're tuning in online to Country 600 in North Bay (which shared the same playlist and schedule as 104.3 until last week), Dan is still on air there too, so things will be familiar regardless. I suspect Dan will also be the primary conduit for local promotions and interviews for The Fox, but we will see how that bears out in the coming months. I'm not one to compare and rank DJs on a given station, but all three have handled their spot well on CJQM, so continue getting familiar with all three if you have the former Q104 on during the week! Lastly, if you were tuning in to The Fox from launch, you may have heard a different host/show at nighttime during its first three days on air, namely the syndicated Greg Beharrell Show, which has been heard on dozens of rock stations across North America and isn't exclusive to Rogers. It aired last Thursday & Friday from 6:00-10:00 PM and this past Saturday from 9:00 PM-2:00 AM, but was not on this week.

From what I can tell, episodes of Greg's show (which used to air on Q92 and in North Bay) were used as a stopgap until Biggs & Barr episodes were ready to run on CJQM, though that's just how I read it. As far as I know, Greg Beharrell is not related to Luxury/ex-Billy Bastards guitarist Greg Beharriel. In the event that he resurfaces on The Fox, Greg's show is similar to The Fox's zoo crew programs, in that host segments were dropped in between the music rotation, including light-hearted conversations with callers, and he came off kinda Ryan Reynoldsy, if that's fair. If you're curious, click here to see what other stations that Greg airs on! We'll leave things there for now, but the variety of on-air content, musical or otherwise, is very noted for local rock music fans, so hopefully this post helped outline the weekday schedule! Weekends on The Fox is very different, so look for our coverage of what airs on Saturdays & Sundays on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Tym Morrison's Live-Streamed Twitch Concert, New Covers, And More Updates!!

Let's keep things rolling on the SMS to close another supposed work week, and we have some assorted shorter topics and surprise covers to check out today, but leading off, here's what you should know for an extended live-streamed concert set from a familiar (if shorter-haired) face!

With his regular weekly acoustic shows at Gliss and elsewhere still on hold until further notice, former Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is adapting to the times by resurrecting his Twitch page and beginning to play live-streamed concerts from home, with the first one being recorded on Tuesday! A Facebook event page for the Twitch streams implied that he was going to be doing this yesterday as well, but no such video is uploaded, though he also scheduled sets for streams next Tuesday & Thursday as well. Tuesday's stream is entitled "Live Guitar & Singing Of All Mightyness 7th Show" (even though there weren't six preceding shows), and it is embedded below to watch, but what is on offer? First off, ignore the near-3 hour running time, the "Starting Soon" screen and initial setup takes up the first 48 minutes, but fans will still get 2+ hours of Tym in action! In performance order, Tym covers Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" ...

...Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love", Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)", Night Ranger's "Sister Christian", Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle", Yes' "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", Cheap Trick's "The Flame", Phil Collins' "One More Night", A-ha's "Take On Me", a familiar sounding instrumental, Amanda Marshall's "Trust Me (This Is Love)", Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud", The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun", Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise", Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad", Richard Marx's "Hold On To The Nights", The Animals' "House Of The Rising Sun", The Travelling Wilburys' "Handle With Care", Fleetwood Mac's "Never Going Back Again", Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", Kansas' "Dust In The Wind", Tesla's "Love Song", and Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven", before closing with his original ballad "Say That You Care". There's a lot to take in here, but Tym's vocal & guitar talents are on full display!

It's rare to see such an extensive lengthy video of his acoustic solo act, so savour this one, even if it leans more to classic rock than metal, and he performs to his usual standards! That said, the echo on his performance was very noticeable during breaks, and at times, the audible Facebook notification sounds on Tym's computer made me think that I had messages. Time will tell if he does this again on Tuesday as scheduled, but give Tym's 2+ hour live-streamed set from home a look below!

Next up, here's a pair of recent videos posted onto SooToday's YouTube channel (with accompanying articles linked here & here) featuring Rising Tide/Inner City Surfers frontman Dustin Jones and his daughter Jett covering some country classics at Mission Control Studios! Friends of Dustin's may recall seeing him post videos on his personal Facebook page where he and Jett sing together during this pandemic, but these two are publically shared, and they include a cover of Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" and, as embedded below, Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere", which fans of Dustin's will recall him performing with both The Surfers and The Tide in the past, such as in this video. The new covers are cute and lively, and are definitely worth a watch if you've missed Dustin's bands on stage as of late! Give them a look above & below, and look for Dustin's son Jaycee in a late cameo during "I've Been Everywhere"!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these quicker items, these are in alphabetical order by band, show, or company name

• In a bit of foreshadowing for a future installment of our WLSO 90.1 FM retrospective series, I have added an old show of theirs to our Other Sault Michigan Links Section, namely Classic Rock Nights With Gerard, which aired on Lake Superior State University's college radio station during the 2013-2014 school year on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM. Hosted by Gerard Guysky, their Facebook page still features a number of episode previews and even a couple of full playlists that heavily feature hard rock in them, so see more above, and look for part 3 of our WLSO series in the near future!
• Sault Ontario punk/metal quintet Jack Spades' song "They Live" will be featured on independent Hamilton record label Lockdown Records' fourth punk rock compilation, which will be released on May 20th on their Bandcamp page! It will be on sale there for $10, and while the most familiar band on this compilation (from past local shows) are Broomfiller, many other name acts can be found on the preceding three compilations. Very solid exposure for the Spades crew, and see above for more details!
• The Music City Sault Ste. Marie program is moving into it's next phase of municipal development in music and the arts, as per this SooToday article from earlier this week. Plans now include a music industry assessment survey, interviews with takeholders, and coordination of a task force to develop a future strategy regarding building the city's music and cultural sectors. There's a lot of technical details to take in, but things sound like they're well thought out and planned, so see above to dig into the Music City plans so far!

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

A New Local Solo Project, New Video Finds, And More Assorted News & Notes!!

As we continue our busy stretch of posts this week, here's another new post for your Friday morning, which includes some assorted recent updates, a pair of new video discoveries, and leading off, here's a new local solo project!

We have a new local solo artist to add to our active band links, and he is Mike McCleary, who you may see performing live TODAY at Sault College's reunion concert! Though I was unfamiliar with Mike until yesterday, he has a lot to talk about, so what should you know? First posting audio material onto his Soundcloud page in May, Mike launched his Facebook page last month, and has already hyped plans to release a solo EP and a music video for his song "The Working Poor", so how's that for a fast start? Actually, Mike's been a self-taught musician since he was 15, as noted in his extensive Facebook biography, where he indicated that he played in some bands while in high school, but he took a break from music for a while due to "the responsibilities of adult life" and starting his family, though he credits music for inspiring him during that time. With his wife's encouragement, Mike has restarted his music career, but how does Mike sound so far?

Inspired by everything from political punk bands to hard rock/metal acts, and even some roots and blues rock, Mike is a talented musician who seems adept at handling multiple genres, whether it's the hard rock bite of "Fire & Fury", the funkier "Weight of the Truth", or emotional ballad "Aylan", and many more (including some early covers), and while his singing voice fits more rock-based material better, I like where he's going! Mike says that he wants to write thought provoking songs that "evoke a response", and you get a sense of that lyrically in many originals. Solid work so far, so check out Mike McCleary at the above links!

Next up, here's one more archival That's Chester video that I came across on YouTube, courtesy of user Robin Joanisse's channel, as filmed when the inactive local classic/hard rock cover quintet took a road trip out to Hawk Junction (15 minutes east of Wawa) to play at the community's homecoming reunion event in August 2008! Robin was a co-organizer of the reunion, and also uploaded this video of a remembrance ceremony there that same month. In terms of That's Chester videos on YouTube, this will be extra notable as it may be the only one publically viewable one featuring then-singer Jim O'Leary, who also brought the other band he fronted at the time (Flat Stanley) to Hawk Junction for the festivities, as cited here. The video features That's Chester and a guest harmonica player covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" with some occasional lyric changes to suit the locale, and while it's a solid cover, loud cymbals can get in the road, and much of the song was cut from the final copy.

Also, you get a long stretch of Gabe Tessaro talking to the crowd before the song proper begins, but overall, this is some fun and light action from That's Chester Mark II's run in the late 2000s, and I wish that there were more videos of this lineup online! Jim was a good fit, as we later saw with Griphook, and he can adapt his voice to many genres well! Unfortunately, the video was uploaded with settings blocking it from being embedded on external websites, but definitely give it a look at the above links!

Also today, here's a new video of Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's rehearsals for their upcoming Christmas tour, this time courtesy of their YouTube channel on Tuesday! This exclusive video features guitarist Steve Giles rehearsing numerous familiar carols for the tour in quick cuts, like "The Little Drummer Boy", "Carol of the Bells", and "What Child Is This?", among others. Featuring pre-recorded tracking audio with recently added performers, this is a solid sample of what's to come, despite the vertical camera angle, and again, nothing too substantial is being given away pre-tour! Check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night!



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

• Sault Ontario doom metal trio AlgomA have unfortunately pulled out of their upcoming split release tour with Shit Liver due to "some unforeseen medical circumstances", as per the band's Facebook page yesterday. This may be related to the same medical occurrence that scuttled their Toronto show in April, but the band hasn't elaborated other than to say that "it's (not) in our best interest" to do the tour, but will be back "in no time." Shit Liver will still headline the tour in full and sell the "Trading Faces" tapes, and while there has been no direct confirmation or denial yet, we'll let you know if AlgomA can still play the local stop at The New A!
• Classic Rock: The Bear (which gets fringe reception here at WCHY 97.7 FM in Cheboygan) has officially dropped the syndicated Bob & Tom Show in favour of a new local morning drive show from former KLT hosts Steve “Omelette” Normandin & Rick Coates. Music & branding aside, this cuts the last tie to what aired on The Bear's 2002-2010 local affiliate in Newberry (WIHC 97.9 FM), with Bob & Tom having been a constant on The Bear's network since the late 1990s. It's great to see Omelette & Friends back on the radio, but hopefully Bob & Tom return to a regional FM dial elsewhere!
• Sault Ontario promoters Choose Maxx announced on their Facebook page yesterday that the annual Toystock fundraiser concert will return for it's sixth installment (and third at the Northern Grand Gardens) on Sunday, November 26th, and to private message them if you or your band are interested in playing! No word yet on who might be playing Toystock VI, but remember that this Christmas Cheer event features 10 (typically covers-centric) bands in 10 hours, and lineups largely don't stay the same year to year, with only Bone Yard and the inactive Lucky 13 playing Toystock three times to date. Stay tuned for updates as they come in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the Sault Metal Scene in the near future! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Jason Mapes

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, where we once again spotlight a YouTube channel whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk videos, be they from artists or concerts1 This month's randomly selected choice will be slight deja vu from a channel featured in this series back in 2011, but there's even more content in this installment from the band and channel creator each, so here's what you should know on this month's YouTube Channel Profile!
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Jason Mapes (http://www.youtube.com/viciousmusic)

Owner: Former Bad Side guitarist & local radio DJ Jason Mapes, now a Nashville-based solo musician

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 29th, 2006; Videos posted from August 2007 through May 2016

Channel Summary: Originally intended as the official YouTube channel for defunct Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Bad Side's independent label Vicious Music, it later became a personal use channel for guitarist Jason Mapes, focusing many post-2008 videos around his own solo music and other ventures. 31 of Jason's videos are of Bad Side audio tracks, music & live videos, advertisements, interviews, and video diaries, with his 10 non-band videos including 5 solo performances, 2 clips regarding his local radio career, and 3 songs by recent collaborator Rob Jones.

Why You Should Watch: This channel is a must watch source for fans of Bad Side from their mid-late 2000s heyday, with Jason posting lots of media back when he and Melissa ruled the microphones on stage and at Northern Star Broadcasting radio stations! It's also far more substantive of a source for Bad Side videos than the band's actual YouTube channel, where all but one video (among current content) saw an upload on Jason's/Vicious Music's channel as well. Fans curious to hear Jason's music in the 2010s since moving to Tennessee will also get some solid material, if not as prolific as we had previously seen, though activity has not been visible there in over a year.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

Bad Side - Hit Me - mixed by Beau Hill (Ratt/Warrant/Winger): Jason's most viewed video is the music video for Bad Side's song "Hit Me" from their final CD, 2008's "Bad Things Come In Threes...", which is no longer in print but available online via iTunes and Spotify. A solid sing-along number with nice bluesy vocals by singer (and fellow relocated radio DJ) Melissa Krahnke, the well-edited video looks to have been filmed at an uncredited Dreammaker's Theater concert on multiple cameras, and it's a nice way to spice up this quality original, mixed by noted producer Beau Hill! Six more music videos are featured on Jason's channel, including two more tracks from this album and four songs from 2007's "Bad Side II".



Ace Frehley interviewed by Jason Mapes: Jason will still be familiar to many readers as a DJ at Northern Star Broadcasting radio stations 97.9 Classic Rock: The Bear, 99.5 Yes FM, and Talk Radio 1400 in the 2000s, plus a prior stint at Rock 101. In the wake of the massive local radio buyout of February 2010 that led to Northern Star's exit from the U.P. & The Bear's closure, Jason uploaded a demo reel of his on-air work & this audio interview with former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, which aired live on The Bear in advance of Ace's solo Kewadin Casino concert in November 2009. The interview features Jason interviewing Ace about his tour, his new CD "Anomaly", what to expect at the show, his influence on young musicians, and Kiss moving on without him, among other topics. Solid interview that showcases Jason's natural ease as a DJ and interviewer, so fans of Ace/Kiss, and who miss Jason and the local Bear will all want to take notice!



Bad Side - Dig That Hooch Live at Summerfest 2010 Milwaukee: Bad Side's final concert appearance took place at the annual Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 2010, where they opened for Nonpoint on the CoolTV Rock Stage on the festival's fourth day. This set was the site of two videos on Jason's channel, including a music video for their original song "I Could Make You Want Me", but this full-colour video is a live recording of fellow "B.T.C.I.T." track "Dig That Hooch". Filmed on multiple professional cameras, the guys sound great as usual on this somewhat faster number! I still wish they'd have played one final Soo show before breaking up, but this was a huge stage to go out on, and best of luck to Jason, Melissa, and other former band members in their current ventures!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we have randomly drawn another stacked YouTube channel to look at next, this time from Sault Ontario goregrind/rap label Blood Shed Productions, featuring numerous audio tracks and live performance clips from their roster, so look or that profile on or around August 26th, and stay tuned for more news and updates soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Blackwood Sinners), Local Fringe Rock Radio Updates, And More!!

Let's get our first news post of October up on the site, and yes, if you're wondering about why we haven't covered the Project 421 or Moon Tan shows yet, they are coming in this weekend's concert previews! They weren't covered last week in the midst of a slow news period, forcing their delay. In this post, we have some friendly information for fans of rock radio stations on the fringe of this market, and a new video from a local band, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next week! (Updated at 1:42 PM)

A double whammy of Sudbury hard rock is hitting The Rockstar Bar on October 15th (one week from Saturday), as rock & roll quartet The Blackwood Sinners and alternative rock quartet Vintage Slang will each make their local debut! Sudbury bands don't make their way out west nearly like they used to, so kudos to both bands for hitting the Soo next weekend! Featuring alumni of Set in Stone and Long After Dark, The Blackwood Sinners' bluesy hard rock sound has been making waves in the past year, including from many high profile concerts and album plans. Similarly, Vintage Slang (replacing fellow Sudbury rockers The Fortunate Losers) harbour an entertaining alt-rock sound inspired by mamny Canadian artists, which helped them win this year's Q92 Rock Rumble, so don't miss either band next week! A local band is advertised to open this show as well, but they have not been publically announced yet.

Doors open at 9:00 PM for this 19+ show, which has a $7 cover charge. This should be a fun concert for hard rock fans, especially if you want to see Sudbury bands playing here, so check the official Facebook event page for more details, stay tuned for updates, and hopefully nothing bad happened with The Fortunate Losers, it'd be nice to see them play here!

Next up, here's a new Facebook video from local alternative hard rock trio The Din! Uploaded to their Facebook page on Wednesday, it's another of their comedic clips that doesn't feature a live music focus, this time as a black & white parody of charity commercials for helping feed the poor (a'la UNICEF or The Christian Children's Fund of Canada), only the needy here are starving musicians (The Din), with frontman Mike Haggith portraying the representative talking to the camera. I'm sure some viewers might not entirely agree with the parody basis here, but if you can take it lightly, it has it's moments, so check it out below, and watch for the surprise ending!

Finally for today, I wanted to give a long overdue update to our listings of Michigan rock radio stations that, while not locally based, get fringe reception in the Twin Saults. Fans familiar with Northern Michigan radio will likely recall the Cheboygan stations Classic Rock: The Bear (WCHY, 97.7 FM) & Rock 105 (WGFM, 105.1 FM), and Petoskey's KLT: The Rock Station (WKLZ, 98.9 FM), but in recent months, I've discovered through bandscans that two more classic rock stations in Michigan can be received here on a typical FM radio if all lines up the right way. One is WRUP in Manistique, which airs at WRPP 92.7 FM (not to be confused with the former Q92 in Sudbury), repeating from it's main station in Marquette. WRUP airs "real classic rock", and from what I've seen, it's playlist is a little heavier than The Bear, plus it broadcasts Green Bay Packers games if you're a fan of that team. I picked it up locally on a smartphone's FM radio last night (Ozzy Osbourne was playing), and it might be worth checking out if you want some variety!

The other fringe classic rock station that you might want to take note of is Thunder 100.7 (WWTH) in Oscoda, which has broadcast classic rock since dropping their country format in 2013. Information isn't too prevalent online on Thunder 100.7 (their online pages are largely assimilated into their parent company's True North Radio Network sites), and it's tougher to pick up here reliably, but I have heard and streamed it a few times in the Soo, and if you're closer to St. Ignace or have a larger antenna, you may have more consistent luck. WWTH notably airs the syndicated morning drive show Free Beer & Hot Wings, which has aired on Rock 105, 93 Rock in Marquette, and on AM radio in Petoskey, so keep that in mind too. I don't believe any other non-local FM rock stations will pick up here without a big external antenna or atmospheric quirks, but for fans who don't like Rock 101, wish WLSO aired heavier stuff more frequently, or just want some rock radio variety in this market, it's well worth remembering these 5 stations!

From my experience, the easiest of these to pick up in the Soo is KLT, followed by The Bear, Rock 105, WRUP, and then Thunder 100.7. The Bear is similar to it's old local affiliate in Newberry (no more Nights with Alice Cooper though), KLT reminds me of Rock 101 mixed with The Bear, and Rock 105 airs a heavier and more modern selection (a'la WRIF in Detroit), in case you need a refresher on those three. You may need the right antenna, weather, or position, but don't let these pass you by for some rock radio variety on the FM dial! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Suicide Kings & Tym Morrison), And Much More News & Notes!!

We had a lot of news in the cache that I didn't want to postpone until Sunday (we have two posts lined up for tomorrow as it is), so here's a second post to kick off March! Of course, check out this morning's post for a new Sault Ontario metal band and label, previews of this weekend's Nudge concerts, and a flashback look at a defunct local band's expired website. This afternoon, we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this month at two Sault Ontario venues, a new local concert photographer, a new slideshow video, and much more, so read on below for what you need to know!

After a month away from the stage, Sault Ontario hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings will return for a show at The Nicolet Tavern one week from today! The news was broken in a comment reply on their Facebook page on Wednesday when asked when their next show was, so it's not yet clear if this is a one night only gig. The guys have been busy in recent months shoring up their setlist and working on plans for their debut EP, but with a repertoire ranging from Megadeth to Sublime covers (and yes, some originals), there's sure to be something for everyone on March 8th for their next concert! Full details have yet to be announced, but I imagine there'll be no cover charge, a 10:00 PM-ish start time, and a 19+ age limit. Check the above links for current details! It's great to finally see The Suicide Kings back on stage, especially with the frequency of their late 2012 shows, so this is definitely a long break for them. Hopefully some of you guys can make it out, and keep watch for new Suicide Kings updates!

Also in new shows, Tym Morrison will return to The Road House Bar & Grill on Trunk Road two weeks from today for another solo acoustic concert! The Caveman Morrison frontman has been a frequent favourite of The Road House in the past few months, and his unplugged metal & hard rock covers always draw some good attention no matter the venue, so if you can't make tonight's show, why not reserve March 15th on your calendars for a night of Tym Morrison hard rock and metal classics? Like his other recent Road House gigs, admission would likely be free, with 19+ age limits and a 10:00 PM start time in place. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tym's solo shows, prolific as they may be, are great sources of metal & hard rock hits, so keep a trip east to The Road House in mind on the 15th if you won't be there tonight!

Thirdly, here's a new video posting from defunct local grunge trio No Arrow! Relocated frontman Dann Pichette uploaded this video slideshow set to the band's song "Ashes in the Rain" onto his YouTube channel yesterday, which features a bunch of random photos, including many from their 2005-2011 run featuring their various lineups, so it's a cool flash back on that basis alone! The song itself (which was already on their online pages, but would not have been on their unreleased "Souls For Sale" CD) has a trippier psychedelic jam feel that calls to mind Dann's later SBD work, and it's worth checking out, so give it a look below!



Also today, we have a new local photographer that's done some great recent work with heavier local bands to talk about on here! Her name is Dayna Radawetz, and she's a freelance photographer under the RAD.imagery branding that's been doing photo shoots in the area since the end of 2011. While her repetroire includes a wide variety of subjects ranging from racing to nature, she has done photo shoots at three local music events, including last July's Anvil concert at The Canadian Nightclub, the headlining bands at last year's Rotaryfest stages (Garden of Bedlam & BonJourney Canada), and Lucky 13's show at The Rockstar Bar this past Saturday, so click the above links to give them a look! I really like how the photos have improved since last year, as the Lucky 13 ones are especially nice looking with nice colour choices, and Dayna's got a great thing going with RAD.imagery so far!

There's a lot of photographers locally who do work with musicians and at concerts, but hopefully she continues to make her name, and this is a great start! See more of her quality work at the above links and at her Facebook page!

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

• If a new Northern Michigan radio station trade goes according to plan, Classic Rock: The Bear might have better local reception later this year! As outlined at this link, the Mackinac City classic rock station (which picks up here on better radios) has changed call signs from WLJZ to WOEZ in advance of a planned trade, where it and The Bear's feed in Mio would be swapped with 106.3 FM out of the more eastern Onaway, which would have a slightly larger coverage range that would hit more of the Eastern U.P.. I'm all for it, but keep this plan in mind!
• Former Blackberrys drummer Frank Cuglietta is looking for a lead guitar player for his new music project, which would play "everything from Tool and stuff." If you're interested in trying out, give Frank a shout at this location, or check out his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from this past Saturday!
• Frightlight rhythm guitarist Kevin Powe is looking for a local singer (either gender works) to complete a new metal side project band he's working on. The band's lineup is complete otherwise, and the group's sound would be "heavy & downtuned with some groove." If you're interested in trying out or getting more information, message Kevin at this location, or respond to his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from Wednesday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for this month's Where Are The New Albums? post and our review of TONIGHT'S Apocalypse: The Musical concert! Thanks everyone!

The End Of That's Chester, Weekend Concert Previews, And The Return Of Weekly Classic Videos!!

Keeping with our recent daily pace of new posts at the SMS, we have another update to share on this Friday morning, so what's on the docket? Today, we have the return of an SMS feature to our news posts and previews of this weekend's select metal & hard rock concerts, but first, here's news on a prominent local hard rock band's breakup that you guys should know about!

Sault Ontario classic hard rock quintet That's Chester have surprisingly announced that they are parting ways, as per a posting on their Facebook page yesterday. A direct reason for their split was not announced, other than saying that they've "decided it's just time", but the lack of new concerts since June might have been a hint about their status. The band thanked family & friends for their support over their lengthy 8 year run, while indicating the bands that their now final members can also be seen in, such as Bone Yard, Agave Blue, Stiffler's Mom reunions, and Fusion (who drummer Ric Datson recently joined.) That's Chester had became a popular sight at local concert venues and events since their 2004 launch, and no matter who was singing for them (be it Rich Fullerton, Jim O'Leary, or Greg Simpson), they delivered a lot of well played classic & newer hard & classic rock covers in their sets, and fans ate it up pretty well! It is somewhat fitting that their last recorded public concerts in Sault Ontario were at the Ride For Sight and Relay For Life events in June, as they wrapped things up on bigger scales, which suits their profiles & talents well!

It's still disappointing to see That's Chester break up, but with all of the members working on other musical projects, this might be best to free up their schedules towards their other active bands. Still, lasting 8 years together is incredible compared to many of the other hard rock/metal bands of the present day in Sault Ontario, so kudos to them on that alone! Everything sounds amicable, at least, but best of luck to Greg, Gabe, Eugene, Aubrey, and Ric in the future, and hopefully this isn't the absolute last of That's Chester we'll see in the area!

Now, to the weekend concert previews, and though it's a quiet weekend overall on the metal/hard rock front, we do have a few notable concerts to address, starting with the return of Tym Morrison's solo acoustic concerts! Last seen breaking out unplugged covers in July, the Caveman Morrison frontman will make his first appearances at The Steamy Bean at 357 Great Northern Road (just down the road from Staples) TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT for what should be entertaining concerts of acoustic metal and hard rock covers! Note that we accidentally only covered one show over this weekend when we originally plugged these shows, which I apologize a ton for, as that's my own error. While a frequent venue for local acoustic performers (and a popular coffee shop), The Steamy Bean isn't traditionally known for attracting heavier acts, so might Tym help shift the tide there? Time will tell, but if you've missed his solo gigs, head down to The Steamy Bean tonight or tomorrow!

Both shows will take place at 8:00 PM (changed from 10:00 PM), but indications are that he's only playing for two hours tonight & tomorrow, which is a lot shorter (and earlier) than we're generally used to from him. A cover charge hasn't been announced, nor has a possible age limit, but as this is a coffee shop, there might be none. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Tym bringing his acoustic solo concerts back this weekend, and hopefully The Steamy Bean works well for his music and covers, so if you want some proficient unplugged metal covers, you know where to go! For a preview, here's Tym covering Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" at Bossy's earlier this year!

The other known heavier concerts in the area this weekend (and I stress "known") are tonight & tomorrow night as well, as Charlevoix metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for two shows this weekend! Though the band curiously doesn't have a custom poster online for these gigs (as they often do for their concerts), their classic metal covers will go over well as usual with their Sault Michigan fans in their latest Eastern U.P. concert weekend! Both tonight's & tomorrow's shows should begin at or around 10:00 PM, with no announced cover charge and a 21+ age limit. For more details, check the above links! Peril's proficient and entertaining metal covers should go over as well as ever this weekend, so if you don't want to wait until next weekend's St. Ignace shows, make your way to the Soo Kewadin this weekend for all of the action! For a preview, here's Peril covering an Ozzy Osbourne classic a few years back!

And finally for today, I wanted to reintroduce a weekly feature at the SMS, that being our weekly classic videos! We had uploaded one older (and off-YouTube) local metal-relevant video a week to our YouTube channel since the start of 2011 through June 2012 before I sort of drifted away from uploading them. I never outright cancelled them, I just forgot about them for a while, but with the recent slowdown of news, I thought bringing them back would help supplant some posts and create some interesting spotlights like they had last year & early this year! With that said, I thought we should reintroduce the weekly classic videos with a bang, and a good way to do that would be with a new Woods of Ypres video that's only now on YouTube! Though late frontman David Gold uploaded most of his videos to his YouTube channel, some were Facebook-exclusive, including a few from their fall 2008 tour run with their "Gates of Ypres" lineup. We already uploaded that incarnation playing "Awaiting The Inevitable", but this time, we're focusing on Woods' song about the Soo, "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground"!

Filmed by an attendee of Woods of Ypres' concert at The New Bayou in Ottawa on November 21st, 2008, the band (at the time) featured David on vocals & guitar, plus their final live drummer Evan Madden, and David's then-Gates of Winter bandmates (guitarists Bryan Belleau & Lee Maines, bassist Steve Fµrgiuele, and keyboardist Brian Holmes) completing their then-sextet lineup. The audio quality's solid, and the side angle captures the band fairly well, if darkly (but I did try to correct the lighting after uploading it.) I like the more aggressive take on the song, even if Brian's keyboard playing was a bit loud at points, but overall, it's great to see another video of Woods of Ypres' largest (and most local) lineup in action! The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=42138275671 and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Woods of Ypres & the original filmer, I'm just trying to share it with a deserving wider audience! This is a solid clip for sure, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more classic videos in the coming weeks!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes hopefully over the weekend! Thanks everyone!

Lion Ride's New Song, The Bear's Sort-Of Local Return, Bret Michaels Update, And New Woods Of Ypres Videos!

Packed update for today, including some pretty big stuff all around! New material from a prominent local band, very encouraging news concerning Bret Michaels, the return of a greatly missed local radio station, and some cool new local videos! Let's begin!

The first brand new studio material from Lion Ride's forthcoming full length album was posted online yesterday, and is now available for streaming! Entitled "Stick It In", it's currently available to check out on the band's official MySpace page! Of course, this will be one of the many songs on their new CD, tentatively scheduled for a summer release! I highly recommend checking it out, seeing as it's the first new studio material from them that we've heard since 2008. What do I think of the song? I'll hold judgement until the album comes out, I try to do that with new studio material from local bands. I wonder what you guys think though, will your opinion differ from the mostly positive feedback I've seen so far? The band even started a Facebook event page to hype the new song's unveiling, click the link to "join" and post your opinion! As I hear more on Lion Ride's new album and recording sessions, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Next up, are you classic rock fans missing 97.9 Classic Rock: The Bear still? Well, here's some news that I'm positive will get your attention: It's back in the Upper Peninsula, and a good radio here can pick it up! WLJZ out of Mackinac City (94.5 FM) is now broadcasting The Bear, basically replacing our old local WIHC feed from Newberry. The switch was made late last month, the latest format change for a station that has had a bit of an identity crisis. WLJZ was a soft rock station from 1989-1992, then an adult contemporary station until 1995, then playing a smooth jazz simulcast until 1998, then simulcasting with Northern Michigan's Modern Rock: The Zone out of Traverse City until 2006, then becoming a variety station (to my chagrin) until 2008, when it became Big Country Gold. And NOW, the Big Country Gold feed has been moved to 1240 AM (WCBY), replacing the old adult standards format on that station, paving the way for The Bear's return to U.P. FM radio on 94.5 FM!

Though I honestly wouldn't have wanted to have disrupted a station's format to get The Bear back (I feel bad for old fans of WCBY), I am glad to see it return to the area! Now it will pick up about as well as Real Rock 105.1 out of Cheboygan, if not better, and it gives us four local hard rock/metal radio options in the Sault area: The easy to pick up Rock 101 and WLSO, and The Bear & Real Rock 105.1 from the Mackinac Bridge area, which are admittedly patchy to recieve in the Sault, but can still be picked up! Great news, hopefully you guys take notice, be you fans of Bob and Tom, Alice Cooper, the great classic rock, or all of the above! When I get home, I'll be listening to 94.5 FM! And for your reference, The Bear now has a feed in Mio, Michigan too, giving them four Michigan affiliates at present!

Thirdly today, great news concerning Bret Michaels' health, and this will definitely be encouraging for those of you still hoping to see him on July 22nd at Kewadin Casino! At yesterday afternoon's press conference in Phoenix by the doctors who are treating him, it was revealed that Bret has been discharged from his initial hospital and is currently recieving physical therapy at another location. His hemorrhage is by no means completely cured, but his doctors believe he will make a 100% recovery! According to his doctor, he's talking well and is completely aware, but is having trouble walking. He also is suffering from a sodium deficiency and has some back and head pain from blood drainage, and will be monitored closely in the event that there's a downturn in his condition. Great news mostly, I want you guys to keep Bret in your thoughts still, cause he's not out of the woods yet! No guarantees he'll be here as scheduled in July, but things are looking up! Check the links below for more news on Bret Michaels' health, and to watch the doctors' press conference:

Sister: BRET MICHAELS 'Not Faking' Illness

BRET MICHAELS Will 'Make A 100 Percent Recovery'

Doctor: BRET MICHAELS Has Been Discharged From Hospital

BRET MICHAELS' Sister Says Singer Is 'Starting To Walk A Little Bit'

BRET MICHAELS Making An 'Amazing Recovery'

(P.S. If anyone is wondering why we've donated so much coverage to Bret Michaels lately when he's not a local musician, the reason is because of his health's potential impact on the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival. There is a clear local connection, and Poison/Bret Michaels fans definitely want to be kept updated. Besides, when's the last time a major hard rock musician got sick/hurt before a planned concert? Probably David Lee Roth and his back injury before his planned 2005 show at Kewadin, and if the SMS was alive then, you'd bet I'd be covering that! So in short, this has a local connection, and many people do care!)

Closing today's post is new local metal videos from local blackened doom metal mainstays Woods of Ypres, and no, they're not continuations of the vague Krankenhaus Records shut-down/merch sell-off video from last week. In fact, they're five new concert clips from shows 2008 onward, and one that's a bit lighter hearted! Four come from the band's Western Canada tour from last August, including a clip from their Regina show of the band playing "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)", one from their Toronto show of the band playing "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground", and most excitingly, two videos from their most recent local show during that tour, when they rocked The Speakeasy! One is also a performance of "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground", the other features the band playing "Crossing The 45th Parallel"! Among the new uploads, there's also a lighthearted 15 second clip from their time in Edmonton on that tour as frontman David Gold played air drums with barbeque ribs to an Amon Amarth song! Amusing!

But the one I'm going to link here comes from the band's tour in the fall of 2008, during the brief period where the Woods of Ypres lineup included the entire 2008-09 lineup of Gates of Winter (or as I affectionately call it, the "Gates of Ypres" era!) This clip comes from a show in November 2008 in Sudbury, of the band playing the songs "Shams of Optimism" and "Crossing The 45th Parallel"! Check it out below, the rest of the videos by clicking the above links, or by visiting David Gold's YouTube channel! Great stuff, good quality for all the videos, hopefully there's more lurking around!



That's all for now, tomorrow's update WILL include previews of this weekend's Derelict, SBD, Destroilet, and Blind Baby concerts, all of which I hope you'll consider hitting! I'd try and be at at least a couple, so I'm counting on you guys to make them successes! Also look out for a new video from a major local metal concert from way back in 2007 that recently made it's way to YouTube! Stay tuned everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sykotyk Rampage), The End Of The Bear, New Videos, And More!

Now the SMS is back in the full swing of things, I'd say! Today, we'll get to lots more stuff that I missed during my Detroit trip! Lots of cool stuff to get to, including some new local metal-related videos, but first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Sykotyk Rampage have scheduled another upcoming local concert! This time, they'll be back at The Outback at Sault College on March 20th! It will be their first show at The Outback since October, and their first set of any kind since their podium finish at the Sault College/Scotties Tournament of Hearts Battle of the Bands last month! But this show isn't just to enjoy some live music, as it's the 8th annual Tyler Yuke Memorial Night. Tyler Yuke was a 21 year old Sault College student who suddenly died from a fall in Gros Cap in April 2003, and ever since, the college has held memorial concerts or open mic nights in his honour. There's a nice online memoriam to Tyler online that you can check out here! It's great to see Sault College continue to remember Tyler all these years later, I remember hearing about the memorial shows when I went there, but I rarely heard what bands were playing. Nice to know this time, and it's a metal band to boot!

Sykotyk Rampage are scheduled to take the stage at 10:00 PM on March 20th, with a yet-to-be-announced cover charge going to the Sault College Music Chapter. No potential student restrictions have been announced. So whether you wanna enjoy harsh music for harsh minds, remember Tyler's memory, or both, this show should deliver the goods! I'll keep you guys posted with updates! Confirm your attendance for this show at this location!

Next up, it looks like we can confirm the worst about the fate of one of our few local rock stations. It appears that in late February, 97.9 Classic Rock, The Bear shut down. It looks like February 23rd was the last day that The Bear was operating. I can't verify if The Bear's sister stations in Cheboygan, Traverse City, and Cadillac shut down too, but for what it's worth, they're all under the same ownership. No official announcement has been made about the shutdown, but I have tried to listen to 97.9 FM since I heard the news, and sadly, it only picks up static or faint mixed signals from an unrelated station. The writing was on the wall for this, with Sovereign Communications not buying The Bear in their station purchase from Northern Star Broadcasting, and Northern Star's apparent plans to exit the radio industry. But part of me was hoping that someone, anyone, would buy all four of The Bear's stations and at least make use of them somehow. The music was always solid, the DJing was great, and fans of Bob & Tom In The Morning and Nights With Alice Cooper will surely be disappointed. Plus, now we're down to just two FM radio stations that air hard rock/metal (Rock 101 and WLSO sometimes.)

This just sucks, hopefully someday in the near future, we'll get another rock station up here, we need the variety! The link for The Bear's website has been moved to the Other Local Metal Links as well. R.I.P. Bear, we'll miss you!

OK, happier news now! As you may remember, Pop Evil and three other bands rocked out at Kewadin Casino this past Saturday in memory of Kim Rogers and Kelsey Raffaele, and from what I've heard, it was a huge success! Scott Brand from The Soo Evening News posted an article about the show at this location! Promoter Dave Atkinson believes that the show raised more than $14,000, which will go towards scholarships in Kim and Kelsey's names! More than 1,600 concertgoers showed up, most of them area high schoolers who received donated tickets purchased elsewhere, and the concert was indeed sold out as a result! Also, the bands played free or at reduced prices, which is a nice gesture! Now by all accounts, it looks like the attendees had lots of fun, and we can get a glimpse of what we missed, thanks to YouTube! Although I can't find a video of Graveyard Tan from the concert, I have found video of every other band! Going in performance order from Saturday, here's video of Nixxon Dixxon performing their original "One Shot Woman", Evans Blue performing their song "A Step Back", and Pop Evil playing an acoustic rendition of their song "Hey Mister"! (Thanks to myangels1266, KrisJamieson09, and KFNightFire23 for the uploads!)







Also, as it turns out, Nixxon Dixxon DID play at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino on February 27th too, hitting the stage there after opening the Pop Evil show! I didn't figure they'd pull double duty, but hey, we all make mistakes! I bet it was a good show! My apologies!

And finally for today, more video has surfaced from Bring The Fallen's Algoma Hope4Haiti show at Nite-Life Dance Club! Nine minutes of hard hitting death metal here, nice to get so much in a clip! I like the video and audio quality, especially the fact that this person's camera let him/her zoom mid-video, mine can't. Check it out below, and thanks to YouTube user flightmaster for the upload! Great stuff!



I think we're mostly caught up on local metal news I missed now, maybe a few scattered things to get to that I haven't seen yet, but I'll find them! I'll have more news and updates before you all know it!

Gates Of Winter Are BACK!!! Plus News On Stillbroke, Half Past, And More!!

Huge news here to kick off today's post, this has me VERY excited, but let's see what you guys think! Some other news stories after this, but you'll find this very intriguing! Do you miss Gates of Winter? Then check this out:



They're baaaaaaaaaack! This is, in case you couldn't tell without clicking, a short 2010 demo clip for a NEW GATES OF WINTER SONG! It's called "The Stars Call My True Name", and it was just uploaded to frontman Lee Maines' new Youtube account this morning! It appears to have essentially the same lineup they've always had, save for the drums, which sound programmed (just like on their first E.P.) The song sounds really cool, well, what we hear of it! Lee's definitely gotten better at death growling and the rest of the guys are playing some really heavy stuff! Just listen to it, it's 86 seconds of promising awesome stuff! What a way to open my morning, I was NOT expecting this at all! At the end it just says "Coming Soon", I wonder how soon? After their 2009 hiatus, it's great to see them back, even if it is just in-studio, but I have no clue. I'll keep you guys posted!

Continuing with the big news concerning local bands, here's something that should affect fans of Stillbroke. The band have announced the departure of drummer Jenny Hooper, apparently to "move on to her own endeavours." Well that was unexpected! I liked her drumming, and she gave the band a unique quality too! But hey, there must have been a reason, hopefully she'll get into a new band down the road! Replacing her behind the drumkit is existing rhythm guitarist Sam DeDominicis! Never heard him on drums before, I wonder how he'll do? And of course, with his instrument change, the band have a new guitarist replacing Sam, and his name is Chris Villeneuve! (That's him on the left of the picture.) I don't recall him from any other local bands, we'll have to see how he sounds! All of this was announced on the band's Facebook page, so there's my source. I wonder when the new look Stillbroke lineup will be back live, I'll wanna check them out!

Next up, I have recently been in contact with Yes FM DJ John Gilbert on Facebook, and he tells me he's back on the air with 97.9 Classic Rock: The Bear! Not sure how that works when he's a Sovereign employee, but hey, I'll take any sign of life there is for The Bear! He told me he doesn't know what they're going to do, but if bringing a DJ back is any sign, there might be hope for saving the station yet! I had wrote on the wall of the Boycott Yes FM group (now with 1,848 members) before John messaged me, to bring up The Bear as an issue to be concerned about, amidst the furor of the Yes FM DJ firings. Throughout all this, The Bear has indeed been a lesser focus. Yes FM may lose DJs wrongfully, but us classic rock/Bob & Tom/Alice Cooper fans could lose a whole station! Fingers crossed that things work out for both stations! Melissa and Jason from Bad Side & the rest of them don't deserve this, join the Facebook group to show your support for bringing them back!

Alright, now do you guys remember when I talked about newer young local band The Curtis J. McKenzie Project? Looks like Curtis is keeping that for his softer material, as he's transferred all the heavier songs to a new band, entitled Restricted Illusions! Both projects share the same website, so the link for the new band isn't wrong. Same lineup as The Curtis J. McKenzie Project, except for Daylan Dorricott in place of drummer Darren Vlassoff. So songs like "Happy Trails" and "The Married Massacre" will now be songs performed by Restricted Illusions! With that in mind, I've swapped the two bands in the band links on your left! So here's a live Restricted Illusions performance from a recent Dunnplugged concert at Sir James Dunn Collegiate, of the song "Kiss Me Goodbye"! Definitely heavier, I'd love to hear it with clearer audio though. Check it out, and thanks to Curtis for uploading this!



And finally, Half Past drummer Chris Thompson has uploaded a handful of new live clips onto YouTube from the band's recent weekend sets at Foggy Notions! Among the clips are covers of Shinedown, Tool, System of a Down, Helmet, and this clip, of Half Past covering the Godsmack song "Keep Away"! Nice cover, check it out below, and the rest of the clips at this location!



That's all for now, hopefully we'll have news on the rest of the Algoma Hope4Haiti lineup and much more very soon! Hope the Who Made Who show went well, homework got the better of me last night. And, for those of you who celebrate, have a great Valentines Day! I'll be watching the Daytona 500 instead! Cheers everyone, lots more stuff in the near future!