LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's continue this weekend's concert previews by looking at five more concerts taking place on both sides of the border this weekend, one being a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook page yesterday. While this is historically one of 906's favourite venues, this will surprisingly be their first show in at The Strongs Tavern since February, with no public shows booked there during their #summerof906. It's good to see the guys back in Eckerman TOMORROW, and hopefully there's a solid turnout for their hard rocking selection of covers as usual! If their new promotional image is anything to go by, Mark Bowen Band drummer Brian Duford (who guested with them frequently on hand drums this summer) will not be present for this gig. TOMORROW's concert is a 21+ affair with no cover and an 8:00 PM start time. See above for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will rock Reggie's Place TONIGHT & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the late preview of tonight's show in this post, things slipped me by when plotting this busy weekend out. After dropping out of their planned Shooters gigs this past weekend, tonight & tomorrow's shows will see Greg, Alex, and Warren back downtown for their first plugged-in gigs since last month's Dragonfly Run, and their first normal solo concerts in city limits since they played at Reggie's in late July. A lot of the promotional material for this weekend's concerts has revolved around Bone Yard's infamous "Bone Yard shot" that will net you a free t-shirt if you can down the whole thing successfully, so if you're up for that challenge, keep that in mind this weekend! Otherwise, their hard rocking covers can be enjoyed tomorrow at 9:30 PM (and also today if you have a time machine. You can still go late!)

Both shows are 19+ affairs and there are no announced cover charges. Hopefully this proves to be another strong weekend for your local 225, and if you miss out, they'll be back on stage in two weeks and back at Reggie's in late October! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live at Reggie's earlier this year!

Also, we'll head to Misty's Fifties, where former Caveman Morrison/Nostalgic Band frontman Tym Morrison will continue his weekly summer(?) matinee series TOMORROW! The penultimate advertised stop in his 2024 arrangement at the Second Line West nightclub (though it could always be extended), this will be your only announced chance to see Tym's classic and hard rock covers this weekend, as his Friday run at The Mike Case Memorial Stage ended for the year last week. Of course, if you prefer the matinee timing and indoor locale, you'll prefer this series continuing anyway, so consider a west end jaunt tomorrow to hear Tym's unplugged covers! Note that Tym recently indicated on his personal Facebook page that he had been suffering from pneumonia for much of the summer, but he is feeling better now, so if he didn't sound 100% at some recent gigs, keep that in mind! No word on if he missed any concerts outright though.

Tomorrow's concert has a 4:00 PM start time, presumed 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. In case this is the second-to-last show in this run for Tym, then don't miss out tomorrow at supper time! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here he is live! 

Finally for this preview post, we'll head south to Sault Michigan for this weekend's other major touring headline concert, as original Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy will make his local debut TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammakers Theater at the local Kewadin Casino! While hair metal fans have seen Ratt (then fronted by Jizzy Pearl) in town as the openers for Skid Row back in 2006, this will be the first time that Saultites and Yoopers can bear witness to Stephen on local soil singing classic Ratt songs like "Round & Round", "Way Cool Jr.", and "Shame Shame Shame". I'm not a diehard hair metal fan, but Stephen sang many classic songs back in the day, and this is a good market for 1980s glam rock, so this should do well! Connecticut hair metal band Steelheart (not to be confused with Canada's Streetheart) will open tomorrow in their local debut, so look for their own hits like "I'll Never Let You Go" in their set!

Presented by Allstar Promotions in a rare hair metal booking for them, this concert has no age limit and an 8:00 PM start time. Tickets are still available in rows D-J ($49.50) and K-Q ($39.50) in the left/right sections, with all remaining center section seats (rows K-N) running for $49.50, and $39.50 standing room tickets are also available. You can buy yours at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office. If you love hair metal, you won't want to miss tomorrow's concert, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Stephen live!

That's all for today, but look for our Teenage Head and A&W car show previews and more on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Stephen Pearcy & Exit 808!!)

Before we dive into a stacked slate of weekend concert previews on the Canadian side of the border with the long weekend ahead, let's head south to Sault Michigan for a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this year, including a local band's summer calendar and a big Kewadin headline show for this fall. Here's what you should know!

Newer local hard rock quintet Exit 808 have announced a slate of summer concerts via their Facebook page last week, marking their first shows since adding Infathom's Dillion Semasky as their co-lead singer, so when can you see them live next? The former Double Jack will actually debut him at a non-local event on June 8th, namely Drewpalooza 2, a public birthday concert/mental health fundraiser in Republic (3½ hours west of the Soo), where they will share the stage with frequently seen Marquette hard rock cover band Spun, among other western/central U.P. acts. Looks like a fun event, so keep it in mind if you're out west or are up for a road trip! Exit 808 will finally play their first local concert (ie. within an hour's drive of Sault Ste Marie) since changing their name and lineup on Saturday, June 15th when they debut at The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in nearby Kinross, presumably on their outdoor stage.

Well Diggers is still relatively new for us to cover shows at, so hopefully things go well next month, indoors or out! Expect that show to be an 8:00 PM affair with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. After that, Exit 808 will hit the road again, albeit further into the Upper Peninsula for a set at Rally For The Valley, an annual outdoor concert festival in Ewen (outside of Ontonogan, 4½ hours west of Sault Ste. Marie) that will share multiple acts in common with Drewpalooza, including Spun. More details are forthcoming, so if you're in the Western U.P. or are up for the drive, click here for details! The rest of the shows are in our coverage range, starting with Exit 808's second Soo date of the year, when they rock The Merchant's Bar for the first time in five months on Saturday, June 29th. The Merch likely won't promote this show online, but it's good to see Exit 808 playing there again!

Exit 808's remaining shows in this wave of announcements will see them make their debuts at the two regional Kewadin Casino branches with on-site lounges. They'll rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin branch for full weekends on July 19th & 20th and on August 16th & 17th, sandwiching their first ever St. Ignace shows when they debut at The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino on August 9th and 10th. It's great to see Exit 808 entering the Kewadin rotation, and hopefully all three weekends go well for them! The latter seven local dates all likely have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover. Between Dillion's addition, the name change, and Isaac Royer's departure (the band has not confirmed if they've found a new permanent bassist yet or not), there's been a lot of change in Exit 808's camp lately, but they've got a big summer ahead, so see above for more details!

We'll close today's post with the big announcement from Allstar Promotions, who had been teasing a show at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Saturday, September 21st in recent weeks, and they finally made the reveal on Tuesday, as original Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy will play here for the first time! Best known for hit songs like "Round & Round", "Back For More", and "Lay It Down", hair metal fans may recall seeing Ratt open for Skid Row here in June 2006 (apologies for missing that when covering Skid Row's local date earlier this year), but they were fronted by Jizzy Pearl then. Stephen's voice has held up over the years, and it will be interesting to see how he goes down as a solo headliner this fall on his 1984 Back In The Cellar Tour! Connecticut hair metal veterans Steelheart (not Streetheart) will open with hits like "I'll Never Let You Go" and "We All Die Young" in their back pocket, so don't be late for their apparent local debut this fall!

Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10:00 AM at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office, while Rock 101 has been announcing a pre-sale code on air if you want to be an early bird. Tickets will run for $39.50 USD, and this all ages show begins at 8:00 PM. Hair metal is a proven draw in Sault Michigan, and Ratt still have a lot of fans, so hopefully Stephen's local debut is a huge hit this fall! Visit the above links for more on this concert, and stay tuned for Victoria Day long weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Sandman, Havadder, And Lucky 13), And A Black Metal Musician Search!!

Let's get back to news and updates on this Monday afternoon, so what's in store for this post? A local drummer's musician search, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND and in March, so here's what you need to know!

Local classic hard rock cover quartet Havadder will return to The Rednecks Saloon for solo headlining concerts THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT! Announced yesterday via the official Facebook event page (nice to see some more advance notice!), these will be Jason, Jamie, Travis, and Scott's first shows at the former Nicolet Tavern since their early December weekend there, so if you haven't been at The Rockstar Bar in the past month for their entertaining and often heavy cover attack, you know where to be this weekend! As they like to say, "if you haven't, you should, because if you don't, you didn't!" You can by coming to The Rednecks Saloon Friday or Saturday at 10:00 PM, both shows have no announced cover charge, and both have age limits of 19 or older. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for our preview of these shows later this week!

Also this weekend (and with some advance notice), we'll see local alternative/hard rock cover veterans Lucky 13 rocking The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY! Our source is a post by The Rockstar Bar's Martin Fiser on the venue's Facebook group earlier today. A one night only event due to Friday's Project 421-headlined concert, this will be this popular cover quartet's first show at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs bar in 2015, and will come fresh off of their Rednecks Saloon gigs this past weekend. Ed, Jeremey, Jeff, and Roger have more than proven their talents and chemistry since debuting in 2012, so expect a great night of diverse covers and lots of aggressive material on Saturday night! There is also a 19+ age limit and 10:00 PM start time, and while The Rockstar Bar has had more no cover weekends lately, bring $5 or so just in case. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more in the next few days!

Finally for new concert announcements, here's something for you Metallica fans out there, as Toronto-based Metallica tribute band Sandman will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Friday, March 20th at The Rockstar Bar! Referred to on their pages as "Canada's Tribute To Metallica", this talented group was last seen in the Soo in June 2008 at The Canadian Nightclub, a show that has a personal sentimental attachment as it was the first 19+ concert that I ever attended. I have no idea why it's taken Sandman almost 7 years to return to Sault Ste. Marie, but it's great to see them back! It's also worth noting that frontman Rick Van Dyk and bassist Paul Fonseca were members of Helix in the late 2000s, and played locally at least once with them, so there's another notable connection! This 19+ concert will likely have a 10:00 PM start time, and it's not clear yet whether there will be a door charge or advance ticket sales. For more details, visit The Rockstar Bar's Facebook group linked above, and keep posted for more details!

Finally for today, we have a local musician search that aspiring black metal musicians out there might want to look into. In the past week, I've been contacted by Sevriz (real name not published on request), a young local black metal drummer that would like to jam with other musicians, presumably towards forming a full local black metal band. To facilitate the search, he's even posted a classified ad on Kijiji and a YouTube video to promote it. His criteria is very definite, so to sum it up, he's looking for serious dedicated black metal musicians with time for a band, and that are willing to contribute where needed, but read the Kijiji ad for all of Sevriz's preferred criteria. The preferred age range would be 16-20, roughly. The YouTube video (uploaded to his channel on January 9th) sums up the search, as set to music by the black metal project Xasthur.

Not counting blackened death metal, we haven't seen much from full black metal projects in the Soo in recent memory, and though Woods of Ypres come to mind first, their post-2008 work was mostly doom metal. If Sevriz can get a full black metal band going, that'd be a nice change of pace, and I know fans that would welcome it, so check out his wanted ad at the above links and his YouTube video below, and message him at blackenedlegions@gmail.com if you're serious about trying out!



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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Rick Styles

On this 22nd of the month, here's our newest YouTube Channel Profile, our last before we formally include channels in our random selection that have a high ratio of local punk videos! This month's selection in our monthly look at YouTube channel(s) with a majorty of SMS-relevant clips takes us to a channel that's been a steady source of metal & punk action since the mid-2000s, and is owned by a very familiar face, so read on below for this month's YouTube Channel Profile!
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Rick Styles (http://www.youtube.com/fitswitch)

Owner: Frightlight guitarist Rick "Styles" White, also known as the drummer for Redundant, T-Rex Manning, and The Thrill Junkies, and for past work with bands like Fitswitch, Caveman Morrison, Browbeat, The Pisstanks, Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking, Chronic Demonic, and The Northern Mudsliders, among others

Channel Timeline: Launched on February 16th, 2006; Videos posted from that day through March 2014

Channel Summary: Originally the official YouTube channel for Rick White's popular mid-2000s punk/metal band Fitswitch, Rick began expanding the channel to include other bands & videos in December 2006, later including an early No Arrow performance and two clips referring to his old band The Pisstanks, though neither features the band playing a song. After his last Fitswitch video from one of their reunion concerts went up in the spring of 2009, later uploads would revolve around Rick's newer bands, focusing on Frightlight & Redundant through 2012, and Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking in early 2014, with his most recent video being a solo guitar cover of The Kittens' song "Great Dane".

Why Should You Watch: Rick's channel is worth checking out if you've ever been a fan of any of his more prominent bands, as it's got some solid concert footage spanning over 8 years, and the talent and live energy is present on these whether you're a punk or metal fan! Note that the quality of the videos can be sporadic (especially the older Fitswitch clips), and aside from the Redundant videos, there's no footage relating to bands that he drummed for. For reference, note that while Rick did post videos on his channel earlier this year, it's not uncommon to go months without new postings there.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Suicide Girl - Fitswitch: Though Rick's most viewed video is actually of a pool party, it's not connected musically to any of his bands, so we won't embed it here. Instead, here's his second most viewed video, of Fitswitch playing their song "Suicide Girl" at a basement jam session circa September 2006, late in their original run together. Their lineup at the time featured Rick on lead guitar alongside Frightlight bandmates J.D. Pearce & Chris Thompson on vocals & drums, plus his Redundant bandmate Justin Langlois on rhythm guitar, and ex-Sense of Truth bassist Curtis Beauchamp, though with the band wearing what appear to be Jason masks, it's hard to tell without the end credits. The video is very dark too, and the colour filters don't necessarily help, but it's a strong performance musically, with a neat ambiance, and J.D.'s melodic vocals fit well throughout! Give more of Rick's Fitswitch videos from the late 2000s a look above!



Fright Light - Dead town (live): Rick uploaded two videos of his recent punk/metal band (and Fitswitch successors) Frightlight onto his channel from a concert at the old Coch's Corner on June 16th, 2010, which was the famed "secret show" that still has never been publically detailed in it's entirety as to what happened that night. All I'll say is that the events of their Toronto tour date vlog from 2012 (also from Rick's channel) bear a large common element. As for the videos, an attendee filmed Frightlight's then lineup (Rick, J.D. as "Johnny Pints", bassist Mike "Eddie Fright" Gingras, and drummer Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards) playing their originals "Fright Night" & "Dead Town Anywhere" that night, though the audio can be tinny through this camera, and the absence of a second guitarist is noticeable. Still, this was a solid early performance from the guys on a big night... you had to be there!



Redundant Live Halloween Show 2011 at Feedback: Running for 41 minutes, Rick's longest video comes from his current punk trio Redundant's Halloween night concert in 2011 at the former Foggy Notions (then in it's brief run as Feedback, now the current Coch's Corner.) The video features Redundant (also featuring frontman Justin Langlois & Rick's brother James on bass) in Green Day costumes playing an all-cover set, including covers of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" (with usual Metallica intro), Green Day's "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?", Screeching Weasel's "Cool Kids", Weezer's "El Scorcho" (with usual TLC interlude), Del Shannon's "Runaway", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Blink-182's "Dammit" (with Fitswitch alum Larry Mousseau on guest drums), Green Day's "When I Come Around" (with "Friends" theme intro), part of Tool's "Sober", and NOFX's "Bob", before a noise complaint and a police visit called the show short. Strong energetic set, and well filmed at stationary and moving angles from near the stage, so fans will enjoy the fun yet attitude fueled covers on display!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we'll profile a channel picked from our deepest pool yet of local channels due to the punk expansion (217 and counting!), but what channel got picked this time? Through 100% random selection, we've chosen Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve's old YouTube channel, which features videos of him with Bad Back, Lion Ride, Fuller, and more, so there's a wide array of sounds for fans to enjoy there! Look for that on or around August 22nd, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Meet The Local Punk Bands!! Part 2

Today at the SMS, we have our second of three posts to "introduce" active non-hardcore punk bands to our expanded coverage, and if you missed it, check out our post on The Billy Bastards, The Northern Tragedy, Redundant, and Treble Charger at this link! Today, we have an accomplished recent punk quartet, a newer addition to the local scene, and a talented veteran outfit that debuted last fall (as presented below in alphabetical order), but to round things out, we're also noting a local punk band that's now defunct, but were planned for this post before we heard. Now, here's what you need to know!

Next to be rolled into the SMS is local/Toronto celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, who merge 2 members each of two very different local bands into their own entertaining animal! Active since 2007, they have carved out a very good reputation through numerous concerts in Ontario and beyond on the strength of lots of Canadian tour runs and original material. Led by former Inner City Surfers frontman Dustin Jones, he's joined by Boot Hill Crooners/Wild Turkeys bandmates (and brothers) Sheldon & Marshall Jaaskelainen on string instruments & stand up bass, as well as Dustin's longtime Surfers bandmate Mikey Hawdon (The Fairmounts, Lion Ride, etc.) on drums, while the band previously featured Dan O'Shea (Redefined) and Frank McCormick on drums in the late 2000s. One of the most recently accomplished local punk bands, Dustin and The Tide (who are signed to Dustin's local independent label Tidal Records) have played on two different Vans Warped Tours, received numerous accolades from known musicians, and have shared the stage with bands like The Saigon Hookers, The Salads, and Magenta Lane, among others.

With 3 CDs (a self-titled disc, "Whiskey Will Be Our Sun", and "Dancing Our Demons Away") under their belts, local fans last saw DJRT at The Rockstar Bar in December, but they just wrapped up a lengthy tour with 3 Barrie shows, and more dates are sure to come. Though far from a traditional punk band, Dustin and The Rising Tide have a nice blend of punk themes and Celtic sounds that very much sets them apart, and their sound is definitely great to have drinks to! Hopefully I can get copies of their albums, but stay tuned for more from this band & Tidal Records as 2014 rolls along! Check out more at their website, and on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and MySpace, and here's the music video for their song "Alright"!



Also in new punk band additions, we'll now be covering Gnaeus, a new post-punk/garage rock quartet that just launched in February! One of many local music projects affiliated with the Ears & Eyes collective, their lineup includes former Station frontman Aaron Alessandrini alongside bassist Matt Fronzi, drummer Brendan Garlick, and keyboardist/guitarist Matt Irwin. Named after a Latin given name and term for a birthmark, Gnaeus made their live debut at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on June 13th, and followed that with a set at the Lopstock all ages festival at LopLops Lounge two weeks later. I have yet to find a video of Gnaeus live, but their first studio original "Lovers" can be heard at their Soundcloud page, and while not a fast & furious track, Aaron's vocals have a slight edge to them and are a bit deeper than expected, and the guys have a good melodic sound that definitely borrows from the garage side of their genre descriptions (plus, I like the imagery on their online logos and art!) There's still some unknowns for them, but we'll keep you posted as we hear more! Follow Gnaeus on Facebook & Twitter to stay in the loop! 

Lastly for new active band additions is one that we'll be covering going forward, but I can't add them to our links because I don't think they have an online page yet. They are Northwest (formerly written as two words), an alternative/indie punk quintet that debuted on the local scene last fall, and have made occasional concert appearances in the months since! Debuting with a second place run at last November's Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub, Northwest's lineup features Small Town Rivals bandmates Wayne Watkins on vocals & guitar, Mike Smykacz on bass, and Clint Wilson on drums, alongside guitarists & former Terminal bandmates Greg Callaghan (also a local solo artist) and Mike Yakasovich. Recently working on a debut digital EP, Northwest (who also have Tidal Records affiliations) have been seen in both full band & acoustic settings since their debut, including appearances at Coch's Corner and at Searchmont's Slopefest competition, with more dates likely to follow once their EP's recording sessions wrap up.

Possibly considered all-local successors to The Small Town Rivals, Northwest reminded me of Wayne's old band Nebraska Arms in many ways, their veteran skill and catchy rhythms have served them well since their launch, and though getting at least a Facebook page would help their exposure, they've got a solid thing going for fans of indie punk! We'll let you guys know when big news from Northwest comes out, and here they are at The Canadian last fall playing their original "I Got You"!



Finally for today, I wanted to address the status of a local punk band that you may have heard about in recent months, and were planned for this post, but I don't believe they're currently active. The band in question is Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking, a punk cover quartet that you may remember from The Marquee at Bon Soo and at the last Thursday nighter at The Roosevelt Hotel in February. Their lineup featured Frightlight alumni Jeff De Rose on vocals & Rick White on guitar alongside Northwest's Clint Wilson on bass and ex-As It Stands guitarist Ryan McLaughlin on drums, a lineup that uniquely featured four musicians with drumming backgrounds. Their Facebook page was recently deleted, which likely points to the band's dissolution, and though I believe it followed a member departure, I'm unsure if that was a reason for their ultimate end. Disappointing to hear that, as they had promise from their early 2014 gigs, as you can see in these two videos from Rick's YouTube channel, both courtesy of a filmer at their Heavy Thursday set in February!

One video has covers of Lagwagon's "Mr. Coffee" & The Offspring's "All I Want", while the video below features covers of AFI's "A Single Second" and Guttermouth's "Baker's Dozen", and while the songs can be a bit sloppy at times, this was early in their run (so we thought), and there's a fun punk spirit to this set! Lively and intense, it'd have been interesting to see where Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking would have went locally! Check out the full video below, and best of luck to the guys in the future!



I hope you guys liked this second feature post to formally welcome punk bands to the site! Our third and final one for active bands will come this week as well, and it will feature the aforementioned Small Town Rivals, along with Brad Example & The Role Models, The Fury (yes, they're coming back), and The Wing-Its. Once that's done, we'll begin featuring defunct and inactive punk bands to add them to our links, so look out for all of that soon, plus news and concert previews! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (T-Rex Manning), Jack Spades EP News, And More!!

Congratulations go out to the Canadian men's hockey team on winning gold this morning (and for our Yooper readers, the Americans put up a great game in the semifinals!) Today's second post features a new cover video, the latest from a returned local metal band, and some overdue notes on an upcoming CD release, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this week (and check out this month's YouTube Channel Profile in the post below this one!)

The next Heavy Thursday at The Roosevelt Hotel will indeed have a metal-featured band, as local punk/metal quartet T-Rex Manning have been added to THIS THURSDAY'S lineup! This will be the band's first live appearance of 2014, and it will also mark their first show with drummer Rick White since May of last year (he missed their two late 2013 dates during his injury recovery), so it's awesome to see the full lineup back together finally for the third Heavy Thursday! In fact, Rick will be pulling triple duty on Thursday, as his local punk bands Redundant and Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking will also be playing this show, so fans of Rick and his music will definitely not want to miss this show! This will be Redundant's first Rosie appearance in 6 months, while Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking (featuring Rick on guitar alongside alumni of Frightlight, Northwest, and As It Stands) will be playing their second ever live show following their debut at the Bon Soo Marquee

Admission will be $5 on Thursday night, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is expected. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Very solid lineup, and while Rick will be busy in his Rosie return, I know he'll handle everything nicely despite the workload, so keep the third Heavy Thursday in mind for later this week!

Next up, we have some long overdue updates concerning T-Rex Manning members J.D. Pearce & Tiffany Stocco's other punk/metal band Jack Spades, as they've began work on their debut EP! According to their Facebook page, they've been working on it since at least last Monday (when guitarist Jesse Cook & drummer Johnny Belanger completed tracking), with Tiffany recording guitar parts last Thursday, bassist Justin Lam finishing bass parts today, and J.D. waiting until instrument tracking is finished before recording vocals (Johnny & Tiffany will handle backing vocals then too.) Indications point to the EP having 5 original songs, but details on the name, artwork, formats, release date, and such are not out yet. The EP news seemed to come out of nowhere unless you're close to the band, but I'm very curious to hear what's in store for this one! If The Bear Hunters' album finally comes out this year too, it'll prove to be a huge year for Justin and Johnny musically, so fingers crossed everything works out, and stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

Also today, here's the latest from Sault Ontario "derd rock" project The Issues, who recently came back from a 9 month public hiatus! On the lineup side of things, the band has quietly parted ways with singer Velvit Bretfield and guitarist Robbie Rockit (a.k.a. Pillory's Bret Shuttleworth & Robert Sartini) for unannounced reasons, as per their removal from their Facebook page's lineup. Disappointing news, especially with no media to show from their tenure, but hopefully things were amicable, as drummer Mullet Studborne did a solid job producing Pillory's EP! However, the band's remaining members (including bassist Vinyl Muto) are back working on at least 3 new studio tracks as per their Facebook page on Friday, and to go along with it, the band uploaded four old tracks as Facebook videos there as well! Three ("Dirty Baby", "Lambs to the Slaughter", and "That's When She Calls") are re-posts of songs from their MySpace page, but one named "In The Past" is new to either page.

The songs are all very different, with "Dirty Baby" having a punk feel, "Lambs to the Slaughter" benefiting from then-singer (and Winkstinger frontman) Alan "Power" Wells, and "That's When She Calls" having more of a folksy laid back sound (featuring ex-guitarist "Leather Luc", who I believe is Bankshot alum Lucas Schmiedendorf.) I've always enjoyed The Issues and their sense of humour, and I'd like to see them finally get a full lineup and play some real live dates, so hopefully the recent news helps with that! Check out their old/new hard rocker "In The Past" (featuring late founding guitarist Andres "Denim" Duchesne) below!



Finally for today, we have another solo cover video from Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's YouTube channel, this time a cover of Passenger's "Let Her Go"! Uploaded last Monday, this returns to his recent trend of softer rock covers, but I like his continually improving skills at multiple instruments and at video editing (including a greater use of panning and zooming!) I'm not familiar with Passenger, but he does a good job for this style of song, so give Alex's newest solo cover a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow as we clear out our news cache! Thanks everyone!