The Ripcordz Concert Cancellation, A Reunited Local Band, And More Recent Updates!!

Let's dive into some recent news and notes on the SMS on this Sunday afternoon, including a Tuesday night concert preview, a well publicized concert cancellation from this weekend, a recent (and long awaited) album release, and a surprise band reunion, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with the big story that was all over Facebook late Friday night and into Saturday, as The Ripcordz' concert at The Distraction on Friday was abruptly cancelled when the police and fire department arrived to shut the show down. This may sound ultra fitting in a way for the Montreal hardcore punk icons, but the plug was actually pulled during the late stages of Hails' set in the middle of the program. The Ripcordz were open about what happened on their Facebook page, and frontman Paul Gott spoke by phone with SooToday's Darren Taylor for this article about everything. There, Paul indicated that he was told that someone called the police with a complaint about the concert, and while his assumption was over noise (makes sense given what the former Foggy Notions nearby dealt with), Ha!ls' set occurred before the time that a noise ordinance would have been in effect.

Based on what I have read from those in attendance on Friday, it appears to have been related to concerns over permits or the fire code, possibly due to the single door access to the basement. I won't speak further as to what happened, but the discussions ran fast and furious on Facebook (for what it's worth, The Distraction haven't posted on their Facebook page in almost three weeks). Hopefully this is just a stumbling block for The Distraction, which has gotten rave reviews for the basement space since moving downstairs last summer, and that The Ripcordz try here again soon, as they love playing here! No word on if they can on this tour run, but we'll let you know when they get a chance to return to Sault Ste. Marie!

Next up, here's some surprising news, as local hard/classic rock cover band Quite Frankly have reunited! Well, their Facebook page is treating this as a new debuting band, but three band members from their original 2009-2010 run (2000s local metal guitarists Frank LaTassa and Joe DelBasso and former No Arrow/Half Past bassist Harley Syrette) are back for 2025, though Joe has shifted to electric drums in lieu of the departed Adam Pettenuzzo. Original singer Jack "Jacklyn Hyde" Alisat has been replaced by 2024 The Soo's Got Talent semifinalist Haley Alopaeus, and while keyboardist Vince LaTassa (Frank's brother) isn't back either, he did guest with his old band in their first gig back, which was at a private function at Venue on Queen Street East. In their first public video from July 14th, you can see them covering Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" in a jam session, which does sound good across the board!

As for the Venue gig, this 3 minute video (which features both vertical and horizontal camera orientations) is a compilation of clips of cover songs from that night, including The Black Keys' "Gold On The Ceiling", Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues". Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", The Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner" (with Frank on vocals), Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Sun", Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care Of Business", Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine", Chris Stapleton's "Tennessee Whiskey", and Collective Soul's "Shine". Not long clips of anything, but a good sampler of the new Quite Frankly, who definitely still have talent, and Haley has a nice voice, so check things out above & below!

Speaking of Harley Syrette, his old 2005-2011 grunge band No Arrow's unreleased studio album "Souls For Sale" was finally released this past Monday! As detailed here, Mike Haggith's indie label MorningStar Records has belatedly given this album a professional physical release, and you can now order it via ElasticStage at this link for $17.90 on CD or $43.90 on vinyl. As best as I can tell, the album is not currently officially available through MorningStar on major streaming services, but you can hear the unreleased free demo version at this link. The album's track listing is mostly the same to what was presented on the demo, but "Cuts" was moved from the end of the album to track #6, the final two songs were flipped in the order, and the original track #7 ("Most Of All") was dropped from the final product for unannounced reasons. I'm only going off of the song previews here, but they sound largely identical to how they did in the late 2000s.

It may take ordering the album for potential liner note details (remember, they broke up in 2011), but No Arrow are represented here by singer/guitarist Dann "Wayek" Pichette and drummer Joe Falco, with Harley and Brad "Gortium85" Griffith supplying bass tracks. This has to be exciting for No Arrow alumni who couldn't get this album out at the time, so kudos to Mike for getting things completed and published all these years later! I wonder if Dann & Brad's successor band SBD's limited print album "Sonic Experiments" could get a similar reissue next? Given our immense backlog of album reviews, "Souls For Sale" is pencilled in for December, so 2025 is now booked solid. In the meantime, buy it for yourselves above!

Finally for this news post, here's a special preview of a show on TUESDAY NIGHT, as local punk/alternative cover band Bookclub will rock The Roberta Bondar Pavilion as part of the City of Sault Ste. Marie's Summer Concert Series! Annually, local musicians (typically covers-centric ones) take the stage under the big tent downtown on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer, with BookcluB being the fifth of eleven with the honours in 2025. Last seen at Rotaryfest Stage 1 this past weekend, Tuesday's show should see the return of saxophonist Josh Norling, who was out of town and missed their Saturday evening set at Clergue Park. Hopefully a strong crowd turns out on Tuesday for BookcluB's eclectic mix of unexpected rock covers! Mikey, Dustin, Brandon, Allan, Erin, and Josh take the stage from 7:00-9:00 PM, and this concert is FREE & ALL AGES, as are all others in the Summer Concert Series, which runs through late August.

As the show is kinda sorta outdoors (tent acknowledged), 9&10 News is currently calling for mostly cloudy skies with a high temperature of 23° and a 10% chance of rain, so not quite as warm as it is today. That said, we're not close enough for an hourly forecast, so check in closer to for updates on the likely conditions. Visit the above links for more on BookcluB's Tuesday evening gig downtown, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

The Ethereal Tomb Concert Preview, A Surprise Upcoming Album Release, Pillory Updates, And More!!

Keeping things moving on the SMS, let's begin a very busy string of concert previews with a special Wednesday night metal show, while also looking at a surprise upcoming album release, a new full concert set video, and more assorted updates, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday morning!

If you want something a little heavier than what Rotaryfest is offering this weekend, you may want to consider hitting up Soo Blaster TOMORROW NIGHT, as three touring metal/hardcore bands will take the stage there for a special Wednesday nighter! The bands in question are Barrie/ doom metal outfit Ethereal Tomb, Brampton hardcore band Mile End, and Chilliwack, B.C. hardcore punk quintet Smuther, Solid mix of abrasive styles here, with Ethereal Tomb's slow and sludgy originals sure to contrast well with the faster intensity of frequently tour mates Mile End, let alone Smuther, so don't miss this touring trifecta tomorrow! Local support will come by way of crossover thrash quartet Hails in their first show since releasing their self-titled album late last month, and while this may seem like the de facto release party, note that they said on their Facebook page that they are working on physical copies for "Ha!ls", though they didn't give a timeline there.

Also, I wanted to briefly apologize for any erroneous mentions in past posts about the relationship of Hails guitarists Mikhal & Carmen Muto, as they are cousins, not brothers. Thank you to the Rotaryfest program for clearing that up! They debut on Stage 2 on Saturday. Despite teasing that online tickets would go on sale, this Mikhal Muto-promoted concert will instead have a $15 cover charge at the door. It is all ages, and doors open at 6:30 PM. Should be a solid night of hard hitting metal and hardcore action, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Ethereal Tomb live!

Next up, here's a surprise impending album release, as defunct local grunge/alternative trio No Arrow are belatedly putting out their unreleased album "Souls For Sale" on Monday! This was announced last week via Mike Haggith's label MorningStar Records' website, in a press release outlining the 2005-2011 band's run & posthumous plans. As you may recall, No Arrow featured singer/guitarist Dann Pichette (later of SBD) and drummer Joe Falco (ex-Faithless Sin) alongside a handful of different bassists, with Harley Syrette (Quite Frankly/ex-Half Past) and Brad Griffith (ex-Bizotic) handling the low end on the "Souls For Sale" sessions. What's unsaid there is that Dann, Mike, and Brad's paths have crossed multiple times over in recent years via those "independent DIY musician promotion" YouTube programs and their related communities, with Dann (Wayek) and Brad (Gortium85) often submitting solo material to the same outlets that Mike does.

In terms of local grunge bands, No Arrow's heyday never crossed the timeline with Mike's eponymous band Haggith (who formed in 2012), but given Mike's work as an indie label head, he is doubly fitting as someone to help get No Arrow's only album finally on sale as originally intended in the late 2000s! Specifics on the release (price, streaming availability, if it will be largely identical to the free demo copy or not) are to be revealed, but Mike has confirmed that it will go on sale on Monday at this link in both CD and vinyl, which may have blown No Arrow's minds had that been a realistic option back then! Very exciting news for Dann, Joe, bassists, and fans alike, so stay tuned for updates on the album as they roll in!

Also, apologies for the delay in this making the site, but a full set video of local death/thrash metal trio Pillory's set opening for Sentiment Dissolve at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on May 19th was posted to drummer Bret Shuttleworth's YouTube channel two days later! In a minor shock, Bret said in the description that this was the first time that Pillory has ever played at the former Roosevelt Hotel, which sounds hard to believe, but I think he's right! One of their last shows with Blair St. John on bass (more on that in a bit), Pillory were seen here playing "End Of Small Sanctuary", "Specimen Of Egotism", "Abhorred Apprehension", "Sculptor Of Cadavers", "The Passing", "A Drop Of Shame In An Ocean Of Guilt",  their cover of Sepultura's "Territory", "The Curse Of Eternal Sickness", and "Exhaustive Incarnation". While re-ordered, this is largely identical to what they played at The Pit at Soo Blaster in April.

The only exception is that they replaced "The Angst Of Existence" with their closing song "Exhaustive Incarnation". Things sound sufficiently brutal and technical to my ears, which is what you want from Pillory, though the Soo Blaster video may be preferable for the lighting and angle of the camera, especially given that that cursed support beam on the stage at Jay's is still there, and frequently blocked Blair from view (Bret said that the camera was placed where it was to avoid distracting fans in attendance). The Pillory logo watermark was well placed given where speakers were! Good stuff overall, so check out Pillory's May concert set in full below!

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

 

• In a late lineup addition for the first annual WestFest at Anna Marinelli Park on July 26th, local classic rock duo Frankly Speaking have been added to kick off the day's musical entertainment at 1:45 PM, as per the festival's Facebook page on Wednesday. As such, Frank & Frank will be the only act at WestFest that has never played at Rotaryfest Stage 2, though they did play at Stage 1 last year. See above for more on this debuting Jamestown/Steelton-area community festival next Saturday!
• After going this long without listing their full lineup in text on social media, we can now confirm that local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush's lineup is rounded out by Fusion alum Frank Mannarino on rhythm guitar/keyboard and veteran local musician Gino Pulente on drums. Credit to the 2025 Rotaryfest program (as delivered in local mailboxes last week) for finally filling in the blanks for fans who haven't been out to see them live yet. Don't miss Headrush as the closing band on Stage 1 this Saturday!
• The aforementioned Pillory have reportedly welcomed back Devon Lucier on bass, replacing Blair St. John, as per a quiet update to the intro on their Facebook page. A reason for Blair's departure was not announced, but things are definitely still amicable, as he still plays with Pillory frontman Robert Sartini in the cover rock trio All Over The Map (among other varied projects, so you'll see him around!). Best known as the frontman of 2010-2013 death metal band Crimson Crusade, Devon was a member of Pillory at the end of their original thrash run in 2014, and it will be neat to see how he factors back in with Robert & Bret after 11 years!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the beginning of our Rotaryfest concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith & Red Jettison's 2+ Hour Video Interview From Last Month!!

Apologies for the three week delay in this making the SMS, but local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and HeadF1rst frontman Red Jettison took part in a 2+ hour long video interview on June 16th! This was for The Community Pulse, a series out of Scarborough hosted by musician Frank Terzo, and while his name would seem very appropriate for a local musician to have, this is one of those "do-it-yourself indie musician" feature programs that Mike has gravitated to in his modern day solo era. If you've followed his interviews and appearances in this realm since 2018, you'll recognize names among prior episode guests that have either worked with, interviewed, or spotlighted Mike. This episode of The Community Pulse actually begins with a Frank Terzo music video (he promotes his own music in this series as well as via guests and collaborators), before the introduction, which includes specifics on the format.

While interviews are definitely most of the story, The Community Pulse features artist spotlights, song premieres, indie music news, and more, so it's a good catch-all if you're in this oeuvre of DIY indie rock artists helping out other DIY indie rock artists! The actual show begins 7:34 into the 2:28:23 episode, with Frank setting things up, acknowledging Father's Day, and plugging some independent musicians and hosts featured in the introductions. We finally see Mike and Red on camera at the 13:50 mark, but I want to preface things by noting that Red is also referred to by his real name Carson Hiltz in the episode, by Mike, Frank, and in text (the Red Jettison stage name is exclusively used in the band's own promotion though). Also, Red is referred to as the "co-host" rather than a guest, which goes along with prior episodes of The Community Pulse, in that Frank always has a remote musician credited thusly, even if they don't ask many questions themselves.

After Frank asks how Mike and Red met, he promotes Mike's own indie label MorningStar Records (more on the No Arrow mention soon) and does some plugs and shoutouts, before he played "Tour Bus Fantasy" from HeadF1rst's new album "Road Trippin'" at the 27 minute mark. Once it concludes, Frank highly praised the song's retro rock vibe, and Red discussed the songwriting process for it, heavily crediting guitarist Rainey Rancourt's contributions there. After discussing the deadlines and time crunch for getting physical copies of "Road Trippin'" pressed and shipped, Red noted that HeadF1rst are already working on new original songs, before Frank does some more shoutouts. We next transition to talk about Mike's music, where he plugs his Frequent Flier fan club/newsletter program, and how you can get his new studio album "Frequent Flier" for free (eventually), while also explaining his thought process beyond releasing it for sale.

Basically, Mike wants to keep the album special for Frequent Fliers, hence why only three songs are posted to stream for free, but he also wanted to offer the whole thing to people who buy physical media and/or non-subcribers interested in buying the songs. The lead single "Brand New Day" is played at 47:57, and when we come back to the interview, Frank immediately calls it a "killer track", again complimenting the retro classic rock vibes of it (I'll hold comment until our review of "Frequent Flier" later this month). Mike next outlines the recording process for this song, particularly the backing vocals. Following more shout-outs, Frank asked how Mike first got into music, leading into Mike discussing his extensive discography, noting that "Frequent Flier" is not one of his "mainline" solo albums, and is one of nine in his back catalogue that is "off to the side". He next outlines his aims for MorningStar Records and promoting other independent acts there.

Red jumps back in next to discuss his feelings on MorningStar and his hope to do a concert featuring just MorningStar-affiliated acts. Frank next sets up Mike's original song "Hot & Cold" from 2023's "All The Best In All You Do", as prefaced by Mike's songwriting process for it and the inclusion of Southern Ontario-based metal guitarist Hetriani (another indie musician who pops up on The Community Pulse and similar shows) as a guest. The song proper (via its lyric video) is played at 1:08:19, capping off the first half of the episode. After strong praise from Red and Frank, another guest pops in on the livestream, namely Laurie Pepi Igo, a pianist out of Massachusetts who also frequents this indie music sphere via her channel Laurie's Mishmosh. After more shout-outs from Frank, Laurie (a Frequent Flier cardholder, no less), praises Mike's program and its offerings, while Red elaborates more on HeadF1rst's lineup and plans for the future.

Laurie gets the spotlight next, with a short song by pianist Donna Mitchell played at 1:31:40 (I guess Laurie features regularly to showcase an independent pianist). After Laurie signs out, Red asked how soon Mike knows what will make his albums (especially given his extensive discography), before we transition to talking about the next song played on air, namely Mike's song "All The Best" from his 2023 album, and you can hear it at the 1:40:55 mark. More discussion about art and songwriting follows, before Frank asks Mike about the freak accident at Rotaryfest 2023 when Mike dislocated his knee while playing "Hot & Cold" on Stage 1, and played on while laying on his back until the ambulance arrived (read our initial coverage of that at this link). At least at this point, Mike can look back and laugh about everything, but he was a trooper for getting through all that two years ago! Frank next asks Mike about how he devised the Frequent Flier program.

The last song played on air in this mammoth episode is the namesake for Mike's label, namely "MorningStar" from his 2020 album "If Ever Comes The Day", as prefaced by Mike elaborating on the song's inspiration and recording process, especially as he started using GarageBand for iOS with that album. You can hear that song at 2:08:19, with 15 minutes to spare. This Community Pulse episode continues with Frank asking about Mike's live music plans, with Mike noting that he and The Big Finish Band were hoping to return to Rotaryfest, but they weren't selected for 2025, though he is hopeful that they might be picked for next year. He did promote their return to the Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir next month, while a pro-shot, multi-cam, full concert video of Mike & crew's set at HeadF1rst's album release party in May is planned to be posted on YouTube soon, along with a live album of that entire concert!

Not all of Mike's announced/teased live album plans have seen their intended conclusion ("Face To Face", for one), so that will be neat if it does come out thusly! Red also plugs upcoming HeadF1rst gigs, including a short notice show to be previewed on the SMS tomorrow, a teased return to the Loud & Proud family fun day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion (we await confirmation on that event), and their Rotaryfest and Northern Vibe sets ahead this summer. After final words and plugs from everyone, Frank closes by playing "Family" by Liz Aday over the end credits. Entertaining and casual interview/hangout that painted Mike and Red in strong lights! Red was less "co-host" and more "co-interviewee", with Frank asking way more questions, but this is Red's first real toe in the water to this community (unless I missed something). It's always neat to see all of the live-stream commenters and interactions in videos like these too, including many repeat names!

There's a lot to take in, but check out the full Community Pulse episode for yourselves below, and we'll have more from HeadF1rst and Mike Haggith on the SMS this month, starting with a short notice show preview from the former tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

HeadF1rst's New Album Details, Plus New Videos!!

Today's SMS post features some new videos from some familiar local faces, but leading off on this Tuesday evening, here's what you should know about a brand new local album release!

It's been over a week since it was released, so let's spend some time talking about local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst's second CD and first full length album "Road Trippin'"! Launched on May 4th when they headlined the Steel City CollectorCon's pre-party at Soo Blaster, CD copies were on sale there for $20 and continue to be available through band members (I do not know if any brick-and-mortar stores are selling them). In an announcement perhaps foreshadowed by Mike Haggith's opening set that night, HeadF1rst have signed with Mike's indie label MorningStar Records, and you can read more about them and their signing in this press release from the label's website. If you didn't know that singer Red Jettison and bassist Claire Jeffrey were siblings, you do now! With Mike's backing and print-on-demand album methods, "Road Trippin'" is far more professionally packaged than their 2024 debut EP "Head Trauma", which is great to see, but it does not have a proper album booklet, so there are no song lyrics this time.

"Road Trippin'" has nine songs, all of which were played on May the 4th at Soo Blaster, and the album was produced by Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle at Unsalted Audio, with studio head Dustin Goodall credited for mixing and mastering the album. The band confirmed on social media that Bill plays additional guitar on "Slay The Dragon", but the lack of an album booklet means that I don't know if there are other guest performer credits. In the band proper, guitarist Rainey Raincourt is credited thusly (he had previously omitted the Y), drummer Anthony Boudreau is listed with the nickname "Moosejaw", and Claire is also credited for playing some guitar on the record. Beyond physical copies, you can hear "Road Trippin'" on "all streaming services", and by "all", the guys mean YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify. As well, mp3 copies can be bought on iTunes for $8.91.

After a brief dip into archive album reviews last month, we will be looking at "Road Trippin'" for this month's CD review at the SMS, so look for that in the next few weeks, but the professionalism in sound and packaging are good omens for HeadF1rst's sophomore effort, so do buy or stream it at the above links, and here's the album's opening song "Tour Bus Fantasy" courtesy of their YouTube Music upload of the full album! 

We'll close today with new videos, starting with a new clip of local folk punk solo project Agnosticism live! This comes from the April 12th concert that Mikhal opened in the kitchen of former Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno, who played here with (half of) his current country/bluegrass band The Golden Scoundrels alongside Ottawa folk band Bastards & The Buzzards. Now, thanks to Agnosticism's presence, I did briefly acknowledge this show here but did not actively cover it on the site because I don't cover concerts without public addresses as a rule (it was said to "ask a punk" in that regard), but it was publically advertised, and it does look like the gathered punks had fun with this acoustic folk concert! One attendee was Piecing It Together Shows head Nicole Dyble, who filmed all three acts for the local promotion agency's Facebook page, uploading them as a batch post there on April 13th.

This oddly square video (thanks to being cross-posted on Instagram) is filmed a little too low, so Mikhal's head is cropped below his eyes when he's singing, even though the camera isn't stationary. Aside from that, the audio quality holds up well, and fans of Agnosticism will enjoy this raw folk punk performance! It is short though, running for just 39 seconds, but again, this was cross-posted to Instagram, which has video length limits. Very pink lighting in Josh's kitchen too, but folk-inclined fans will have fun with the rest of Nicole's videos, so give them all a look above and below!

Finally for today, here's a surprise new audio cover from defunct local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck! Uploaded to final drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel last week, this is an audio cover of Luke Combs' "Beer Never Broke My Heart" that was recorded in 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns, but never completed or uploaded at the time, so Glen finished it for a YouTube release five years later. Soundcheck were represented at the time by their 2019-2023 lineup, also including singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, guitarist Terry Eaton (now of Separate Wayz), and current Silent 9 bassist Paul Belair, who all recorded their parts remotely. Glen recorded new harmony vocals for the final version of the cover, which has to make use of rough draft vocals due to things not being 100% completed at the time. Note that Glen's explanation of the recording process eats up the first minute.

This will obviously appeal mostly to fans of country music (let alone Cameron's solo concerts) more than rock fans, and while Cameron's vocals do feel somewhat soft and processed given that they're not the intended final recording, this is a solid enough country cover! Of course, it is worth noting that Cameron and Terry have reunited in "The Band" alongside final Soundcheck bassist Jim Michaud and former Bourbon Blue drummer Brent Royer for a handful of concerts in early-mid 2025, with Cameron possibly moving out of town to further his solo career later this year. Keep tabs on his upcoming solo/band shows if you're a country fan, and check out this rare Soundcheck at-home cover below!

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

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Newest Podcast Interview With Brian Tremblay!!

Remember when local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith was interviewed by local folk/country musician Brian Tremblay for an episode of Rock 'N Roll Heaven on The Borderline back in March 2023? Well, the two have united for another podcast interview almost two years later! However, this one isn't affiliated with The Borderline, rather The Lonesome Cowboy Podcast, Brian's own independent series that you can check out episodes of via Substack. This podcast debuted in November of last year, and you read more about its raison d'etre at this link, and while an allusion is made as to why he seemingly left The Borderline, new Rock N' Roll Heaven episodes were still being released this month, so who is to say what's going on. Regardless, this new interview with Mike is exclusive to The Lonesome Cowboy Podcast, and it is much shorter (37 minutes as opposed to the almost 2 hour long interview from 2023).

If you want to hear their Rock N' Roll Heaven interview from 2023, click here, but one plus to the February 2025 interview is that it was uploaded in video format with Mike interviewed via Zoom! To that end, Brian hosts in front of a green screen of a western sunset, but the chroma-keying isn't perfect, and often blends with his shoulders. The interview here differs from 2023 beyond length and visuals by focusing mostly on Mike's work as a do-it-yourself independent musician and owner of MorningStar Records (which was still in the works during his last interview with Brian), with Mike first discussing how MorningStar fully came to be and why he decided to start his own artist-friendly label, with information about the label operations and amenities being given on air. Mike even has copies of Brian's output with MorningStar to show on camera, so there's your proof as to the label's success with releasing physical albums for affiliate artists!

This leads into Brian drawing comparisons between Mike's music career and the discipline of his day job as a pilot, as well as the pilot/flying references made in Mike's Frequent Flyer newsletter program, including a rare public reference to Mike's "Frequent Flyer" studio album that is being released piece by piece to newsletter subscribers (I'll mention it on the SMS when unequivocally completed in its release there). At the midpoint of this interview, Brian asks about Mike's lack of pushiness when promoting his artistic endeavours, before asking about Mike's plans for future concerts, with Mike explaining why most of his modern concerts are in the Soo and not elsewhere, but he does hope to play solo dates in other markets, possibly in conjunction with where he travels as a pilot. Brian then asked how the pandemic affected Mike's live concerts and the audience turnout after things re-opened and shows resumed in earnest.

After talking about Mike's live concert experiences and feedback, Mike spends the last few minutes by promoting his music directly, particularly his post-2011 output and his Din albums, and where you can hear/buy everything. While much shorter than 2023's interview and completely lacking in songs of Mike's, this is an informative watch that covers lots of ground in a nice casual manner, and it's good to see Mike & Brian talking about music again like this! No word on if we'll ever see the teased "Face To Face" live album from the two of them though. Unfortunately, I'm unable to directly embed the video proper on the SMS, just as a shared link from Substack, but click here to watch the 2025 interview, and if Mike does have new content to tease, it doesn't sound like another interview with Brian will be far off! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Vanity First's New Album, Mikey & His Uke's New Cover, And More!!

News hasn't been super fast as of late, but here's a reasonably stuffed post on this Monday evening, leaning more to punk acts, including some new videos and big details on a new album, so here's what you should know!

As promised, local skate punk trio Vanity First released their new studio album "Identity Crisis" at their release party at Soo Blaster on Saturday night, and if you didn't attend to pick up a CD copy, you can also stream it online! No word on videos from the show, but Honest Job alum Drew Armstrong did snap photos at the concert, and a black & white one of drummer Keegan McAllister has already been posted to the band's Facebook page, with more promised to be coming. The band claims that "Identity Crisis" is available on "all streaming platforms", a claim immediately disproven by not being uploaded on Bandcamp yet (despite "Off With Their Heads" being posted there). In actuality, you can stream it on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Deezer, while mp3 copies are on sale on Amazon and iTunes for $8.91 if you'd prefer actually owning the mp3 files. 

As hyped in detail on MorningStar Records' website, the album can be bought via Kunaki's print-on-demand method on CD ($10) or vinyl ($40) at this link, though at press time, I cannot confirm if Vanity are stocking the album at The Rad Zone or another local physical retailer (members do have CDs if you contact them directly). "Identity Crisis" is effectively an expanded re-recording of their 2022 "Vanity" demo, now including the three advance singles posted this year, their late 2022 single "Get Out", and one more new song named "When I Fall". All songs from "Vanity" were redone for "Identity Crisis" except "Breathe", a campfire jam-esque acoustic ballad which ended that demo. Quite frankly, if one song had to be scrapped, they picked the right one, as it doesn't jive with their skate punk base, but it wasn't a bad song, if more suited to guitarist Mikhal Muto's folk punk solo project Agnosticism than a full plugged in band.

At present, I have "Identity Crisis" pencilled in for review on the SMS in June, as this month and next are already committed for the newest albums from Convergence and the aforementioned Agnosticism. Stay tuned for that, but local punk fans will definitely want to give Vanity First's brand new album a listen (or optimally buy it) above & below!

Next up, the long awaited eighth installment of local punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke's series of covers of Green Day's breakthrough album "Dookie" finally dropped on their YouTube channel earlier today! Four weeks removed from song #7 in this 30th anniversary series (the longest wait yet between songs), project leader/Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon and crew are back to tackle the next song on "Dookie", that being the single "She". On this one, vocal duties fall to K.J. Jansen of Calgary punk mainstays Chixdiggit, while Pennywise bassist Randy Bradbury (in his fourth appearance in the last five covers) is back here, as is ex-Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfieffer, who has yet to miss a "Dookie" cover in this series. Once again, Mikey plays guitar after his usual ukelele intro. Everyone delivers as you'd expect on this classic cover, and K.J.'s vocals are a great match for a Green Day rendition!

After last month's "Basket Case" cover had no real visual frills, we do get more variance here, with K.J. notably singing while shaving his beard, which is a new one for me to cover! Granted, Sault Michigan readers will appreciate Darren's choice of hockey jersey more than Sault Ontario ones. Next up in Mikey & His Uke's "Dookie" cover series is the deep cut "Sassafras Roots", which could drop at any point between Sunday and May 20th (the current average would be May 4th), so keep an eye out for that, and check out "She" for yourselves below!

Finally for today, here's a brief new promotional video from local alternative/hard rock band Handsome Sandwich's Facebook page to plug their set opening for The Hazytones at The Distraction on Thursday! The 12 seconds long & vertical clip sees the entire band (all wearing sunglasses) promoting the concert, with each member handling a part of the sentence. No new information, but hopefully it helps get the word out, so give it a watch below, and check above for details on the concert! And of course, our best thoughts go out to drummer Johnny Belanger following the passing of his brother, the obituary is linked here. I went to high school with them, and I can't imagine losing a loved one so young like this.

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

The Latest News & Updates From Mike Haggith & MorningStar Records!!

Single topic second post today, featuring the latest from local/Barrie alt-hard rock solo musician Mike Haggith (last month's live-stream aside, though it is coming), so what's new to report from him? As you may recall, Mike returns to Sault Ste. Marie for the first time this year on Friday, May 26th when he shares the stage with local musician, photographer, and radio host Brian Tremblay for Face To Face, a VH1 Storytellers-esque evening of music and stories about their music at The Art Hub on Spring. Mike's website confirms that not only is this event being recorded for a planned live album (it's not 100% clear if it will feature Brian's songs too or not), but it will be available on vinyl records through Mike's Morningstar Records label! The implication is that you might hear your own voice on vinyl if you attend, though whether this is purely via audience cheering or further crowd involvement (questions for the artists?!) is not yet known.

Mike also confirmed on his Facebook page that video cameras will be rolling throughout the night. The planned complimentary food/beverages are still on the table, along with a "top-secret special prize" for one lucky winner, presumably as a door prize draw. It'll be an interesting & informative evening based on what we've heard so far, so click here to get your tickets! Regarding the aforementioned MorningStar Records, Mike has finally launched the label proper beyond teasers and as a solo imprint, and you can visit its website for complete details. In short, Mike calls this "a different kind of label" and a "label minus the label" where artists produce their own material at their own pace and in their own environment, then "affiliate" (not sign) with MorningStar to host the material and have physical copies printed through Kunaki, while still retaining ownership of your own music.

Affiliated artists are hosted on MorningStar's website for digital sales and artist biographies, and won't go bankrupt for the privilege, just paying some small overhead/labour fees so it is as artist friendly as humanly possible. If this interests you, click here for Mike's lengthy write-up on MorningStar, and e-mail contact@morningstarrecords.com for any extra questions. Though Mike moved from the Soo in 2017, MorningStar Records has absolutely been promoted to local musicians as well as Mike's contacts in Manitoba, Southern Ontario, and afar via connections made from Your Music Live and You Rock!, so ideally it will have a wide reach. Alongside Mike himself & his old local power pop/hard rock trio The Din, industrial metal solo project Molten Imp, jam rock veterans Odd Man Out, and the aforementioned Brian Tremblay have all affiliated with MorningStar so far, among other non-local acts.

If you're curious in an SMS-covered sense, Molten Imp's biography is purely hype and teasers along with relevant links, so there's nothing broken in terms of news yet re: Morningstar output, but I am admittedly behind on recent Molten Imp news from their own social media accounts. Lastly from Mike's recent activity (the live-stream aside) is that he unveiled a lot about his upcoming studio album "All The Best In All You Do" via this lengthy write-up on the MorningStar website, so what do we learn about it there? Within the deep elaboration on the concepts and themes of the album/lyrics, we know that the album's ten songs in order are "All You Do", "Twist Of Fate", "Hot & Cold", "If Only You Could Hear Me", "Carousel", "I've Seen It Before", "Love Will Light The Way", "The Start Of Something Real", "To Be With You", and "All The Best". The first half will be darker and themed around grief, before going optimistic.

While the album will be available on "all streaming platforms", those who buy it on Bandcamp will get bonus songs under the name "All The Rest To Get You Through" which will include originals not yet heard publically as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City".  In terms of guests, the only one listed by name is Hetriani, a Southern Ontario-based metal guitarist who Mike likely discovered via being featured in episodes of Your Music Live With Pete Johns, and who will feature with solos on "Hot & Cold". Also worth noting that there will be a flute solo on "The Start Of Something Real", though if Mike isn't channeling Lizzo there, I don't know who is. Mike gives a lot more details on the songs as compositions and for the themes they embody, but if you want to be more surprised, you may want to hold off on reading all of the write-up. In any event, when is "All The Best In All You Do" coming out?

Mike says that it is "targeted for release this summer", which basically implies any point between June and August, whereupon it'll join our monthly album review backlog (it'd be reviewed in the fall at this rate). There's a lot of excitement ahead for Mike as a musician and now as a record label owner, and fans should be excited at a busy mid-late 2023 to come, so visit the above links for much more on Mike & MorningStar, and weekend concert previews are on the way next! Thanks everyone!

The Newest Mikey & His Uke Cover, Mike Haggith Updates, And More!!

Before we get into today's post, just a heads up that local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard & their sister band The Bearded Lounge have cancelled their Shooters Downstairs Lounge shows last night and tonight due to an illness affecting 2/3rds of the band, as per Bone Yard's Facebook page. It was already known that they'd have had special guest sitting in this weekend, possibly related to The Bearded Lounge subbing in for Bone Yard at The Water Tower Pub last week, but I don't know specifics. Shooters are instead hosting music video dance parties this weekend, and Bone Yard plan to return for their first shows in a month next weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub. I hope everyone gets well soon!

Today's post is otherwise focused on recent videos from some familiar faces on both sides of the border, plus the latest from a prominent local solo musician, and let's lead off with this month's Mikey & His Uke cover video, which was posted to the project's YouTube channel last week! In a partial diversion from Mikey Hawdon's usual punk cover choices, he tackled Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" this time out, with Mikey on guitar (and ukekele at first) as usual. For this cover, the remotely filmed all-star band includes Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick, Steel Panther guitarist Russ "Satchel" Parrish, Buckcherry bassist Kelly Lemieux, his former Goldfinger bandmate Darren Pfieffer on drums, and Arkells keyboardist Anthony Carone. This cover comes through nicely and everyone handles their instruments with zest, and Jaret's singing is a good match! It'd have been amusing if he had did Motley Crue though (when did they become classic rock?)

Visually, the difference in musician placement and camera angles adds variety to the proceedings too, especially Kelly's unique perspective, and while it's a shame that Satchel's video was shot vertically, at least they mirrored it rather than letterboxing it. Yes, Mikey is playing guitar in front of the arcade games at Soo Blaster, which is a nice touch! Solid stuff as usual, so check out the newest Mikey & His Uke cover video below!

Next up, here's the latest from local/Barrie alternative hard rock singer/guitarist Mike Haggith, and while major updates on the public resumption of his original music post-move are still forthcoming, he's hardly been idle! In a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Mike announced the formation of his own indie label MorningStar Records (named after his song "MorningStar", and an imprint he has used for Thompson-era solo releases), which he calls "a record label, minus the label". The idea is that musicians record their music where they want for as long as they need, and then become an "affiliated artist", not a signee to the label, so Mike wouldn't own your music. He'd host the material on the planned website, sell it, list the artist there with a biography and updates and whatnot, with physical albums made to order (presumably via Kunaki, which Mike used for recent solo albums). This way, costs are kept down and the artist retains as much control and independence as possible.

Mike claims to have had a vision of working with a label like this for over a decade, especially given the difficulties he met releasing solo albums in the past, not to mention existing label restrictions and commitments that musicians often run in to under contract. This is definitely an ambitious idea, but hopefully it takes off, as Mike knows what its like in the system and I know him well enough to know that he means 100% well to help other rising independent artists! The label may not be Sault Ste. Marie-based, but Mike is definitely getting the word out about MorningStar Records on local music-related Facebook groups/pages and has attracted positive local notice, with industrial metal solo project Molten Imp already revealing on their Facebook page that they plan to release a "double EP" through MorningStar "this fall". Stay tuned for updates on that front!

Outside of the label plans, Mike announced that his monthly Facebook live-streams will return on Tuesday, March 28th where he will interview Ryan Jensen of the Denver, Colorado alt-rock solo project Surrender The Tides. while Mike teased that he will be interviewed by Brian Tremblay on local internet radio station The Borderline's show Rock & Roll Heaven, airdate yet to be announced. Sounds like things are picking up for Mike in 2023, if not in the new album-centric ways many fans expected, so visit the above links for more on what Mike has going on at the moment!

We'll close today with a new video of local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek's concert at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, March 3rd! We already touched on their "Give Me One Reason" cover shot by frontman Justin Grayson himself, but this one was filmed by attendee Katina King and uploaded to the band's Facebook page on Monday. It features the band covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (two days before guitarist Gary Rossington's death, for the record), and while the 87 second clip is obviously not complete, the landscape orientation and really solid audio quality help a ton to overcome the deep purple stage lighting! Check it out for yourself below, and look for more from Fort Creek soon!

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!