After a slight delay complicated by our busy July schedule and internet disruptions, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again take a look at a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musisicans and/or concerts! This month's channel gives us a talented solo project from a veteran local musician that we sadly lost last year, so here's what you should know!
Owner:Stone Smyth singer/guitarist and veteran local hard rock solo musician Troy Isaac
Channel Timeline:Launched on May 1st, 2022; Videos uploaded from that day until June 2025
Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for Stone Smyth, it features over 140 videos split between his original music for this project and his exploits for his outdoors company Maverick Fish Hunter, who factored into 90+ videos from August-December 2024 focusing on fishing, boating, and cooking. While not ostensibly music-linked, many of the Maverick Fish Hunter videos do feature Stone Smyth music in the background and/or credits, plus plugs and hype for future plans in the descriptions and tags. The fully Stone Smyth-centric uploads include music videos, original songs, and compilations of previously released songs, with band content fully resuming on their channel for its last six active months.
Why You Should Watch: This is the ideal place to watch Troy's 2020s music work and video content, and while a lot of his more ambitious goals for Stone Smyth in terms of releasing albums and going on tour went sadly unrealized due to his death in September of last year, he was a talented songwriter and musician! Outdoorsy readers may also like his Maverick Fish Hunter content, which covers a lot of bases, and folks may also be interested in watching his appearances as a chef on local and morning news shows from Southern Ontario in the early-mid 2000s, which made up his first uploads during his Maverick/cooking stretch in 2024. Note that some of his songs and videos have politically charged lyrics and/or imagery, while some Maverick Fish Hunter videos feature Troy catching, preparing, and cooking fish.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:
Stone Smyth Compilation video #14: Six early videos on the Stonesmyth channel are compilations of previews of songs from the project's wider catalogue, though based on the numbering, Troy took at least eight of these down for unannounced reasons. The last and longest of them from Halloween 2022 features clips of over a dozen songs from their back catalogue, including some political ones about US president preferences, so mind that going in. Of note, the song at the 8:00 mark is Troy's re-recording of "Cold Rain" from the "Local Steel" compilation CD, while "Heaven Can Wait" (featuring local guest singer Lorrie Lynn Bolduc) has an eerie title given Troy's passing three years later. Note that there are plugs to visit Reverbnation for Stone Smyth's planned concert tour dates in between previews, which unfortunately never happened. These songs are all available in full on this channel, but it's a good sampler of Troy's work!
Hit Hard - Stonesmyth, love all that action stuff thats Linda opening scene at Trout Lake: By far the most popular video on this channel, Stone Smyth's video for "Hit Hard" has logged over 1,900 views since its July 2024 upload. Rather than record performance video or scripted segments featuring himself, Troy was one to assemble videos from stock footage and (sometimes) CGI. This one is focused around outdoor activities and sports, like swimming, mountain biking, parasailing, and scuba diving, though bookended with a friend in the water at Trout Lake. This song will be reminiscent structurally of many of fellow local hard rock guitarist Tym Morrison's solo originals, and while Troy was somewhat limited vocally, he had a good ear for strong and catchy riffs, and the video is well edited!
Maverick Fish Hunter - fishing Lake Whitney Texas, smokers, camp sites, cactus, rodeo, cattle roping: Of the dozens of Troy's Maverick Fish Hunter videos, there's a lot to see for the outdoorsy type, especially anglers and boaters. Not all feature Stone Smyth music either, and a few do include stock audio that Troy didn't perform on. A good starting point for fans of the travelogue aspect of M.F.H. would be this August 2024 video of Troy visiting Lake Whitney, Texas, where he got some fishing in and saw the sights, both in nature and in the town proper, and even at a rodeo! A Stone Smyth instrumental serves as backing music here, and it's a quality composition, though low in the mix. Troy sure got around over the years, and there's plenty more where this came from on this channel! R.I.P. Troy!
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and this month's CD review next, plus a lot of news catchup! Thanks everyone!
After a slight delay to cover an interview with the artist in question that I really should have noticed last year, let's get this month's Defunct Local Band Profile up before we focus on weekend concert previews! This monthly feature again looks at a defunct or inactive local band (as randomly selected from our band links) in order to spotlight them and their content for current readers, and this month's selection is bittersweet timing given that their founder and only permanent member passed away just two months ago. Here's what you should know on them!
Stone Smyth (previously known as StrykerGC and StonesmithGC)
Hometown:Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Genre: Hard/Classic Rock
Lineup:
Troy Isaac (Angel Dust), all instruments
Audio/Video: A studio only project that had aspirations of playing live concerts and going on tour, Stone Smyth posted over three dozen original songs to major streaming services (one being a re-recording of Troy's "Local Steel" song "Cold Rain"), and while a formal album was never put on sale featuring their material, there's lots to hear, especially on their Reverbnation page and their YouTube channel. Songs on YouTube are generally accompanied by stock footage videos loosely themed around their lyrics (and often featuring attractive women), though later videos did feature some newly shot video. Note that the channel's later focus was shared by Troy's outdoor webseries Maverick Fish Hunter, reflecting his love of fishing and boating in particular. Here's one of their better late-era tracks, "My Blue Jeans"!
Info/Analysis: The final active music project from veteran local rock guitarist Troy Isaac (who passed away from cancer in September at the age of 63), Stone Smyth publically debuted in 2014 and began regularly posting new music to various platforms into the early 2020s. Originally known as StrykerGC, the project was named for his home studio & planned guitar company (hence the "GC"), with the Stone Smyth name inspired by blacksmithing, but with altered spelling and a space to distinguish them from Aerosmith. Aiming for uplifting and relatable lyrical content in their songs, Stone Smyth had planned to evolve into a live band with additional members, a full stage setup, and tour plans, but the pandemic curtailed their 2020 work, and despite teasing a future tour and live setlist as recently as the fall of last year, Troy's death came before things could fall into place as hoped, let alone before they could release an proper album.
Troy was a talented guitarist who made the most of his years of experience from B.C. to Germany with a good ear for catchy classic rock-inspired songwriting, and if you like the style of local musicians like Tym Morrison and SweetKenny, you'll be right at home with Stone Smyth's range of material! Not the rangiest singer, but he made the most of what he had vocally, and songs like "Psychonaut" and "Southern Steel" showed his wide range of influences. Stone Smyth even had tentative setlists for live shows planned out, so it's a shame that things didn't work out as hoped, but check out their music and Troy's Borderline radio interview to learn more! R.I.P. Troy!
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This series will return on or around December 10th for its final installment of the year, but as the first band that I randomly selected has minimal information to utilize to fill out a post, I've added a randomly chosen band in a similar state to round things out. With that in mind, we'll be looking at 2019 Volbeat tribute band The Guitar Gangsters and 2024 hardcore punk solo project Choking On Appendages! Look for these next month and for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Today's post was supposed to be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, with the former local hard rock solo project Stone Smyth randomly selected for the honours last month. However, I am going to slightly delay it so we can belatedly take a look at frontman Troy Isaac's interview with Adrian Vilaca on his series Across The Tracks on local internet radio station The Borderline! This interview premiered on May 29th of last year, fifteen months before Troy lost his battle with cancer, and alas, I didn't knew he did an interview with The Borderline until shortly after his passing. Better late than never, and this will help with additional context and information for when the Defunct Profile on Stone Smyth goes live! Before this interview, Adrian hadn't met Troy before, but he first came to know who he was via his presence on the 1998 compilation CD "Local Steel", where he played "A Long Cold Rain Comin' Down".
Troy starts the discussion by elaborating on how he first got into playing music as a kid in British Columbia, what instruments he played early on, and his early run in the band Angel Dust. In his youth, he lived in West Germany as a time while his stepfather served in the military overseas, and he played in a band named Machine Head (no relation) while living there. He began songwriting at about 15 years old in the late 1970s, and followed a normal career path as opposed to chasing the musician dream, but eventually started recording his own music, and was taking advantage of at-home recording software now that it was much more affordable and accessible than it was. Aside from guest female singers, all of Stone Smyth's music was purely a solo operation. Troy next discusses the recording experience for "A Long Cold Rain Comin' Down", which led to the "Local Steel" release concert at the former Peachy's.
The re-recording of that song by Stone Smyth (now titled simply "Cold Rain") is played in full at the 9:45 mark, with the interview picking back up at around 14:50. After discussing why he re-recorded the track, Troy discusses the sounds and styles he liked incorporating in his music, Troy talks about some of the favourite concerts of his as an attendee, and his far flung times living all over Canada, before setting up the second full song played in the interview, Stone Smyth's "Hanging Onto Fire", which comes on 19:20 into the episode. The second half of the interview begins at 23:20, with Adrian asking about Troy's one-man operation and recording process, with Troy aiming to take Stone Smyth to live concert stages (it is sad that he never got to realize that goal), while addressing how the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns affected his music plans back in 2020.
At this stage of his life, Troy was focusing on doing what he loved artistically rather than money, and this leads into the third song played during the episode, "Last Chance Mountain" (27:15). Adrian picks things back up at 30:40 by talking about how much he likes Troy's new song "Summertime", and asking about what kinds of messages Troy wanted to convey in his original music. He did note that he wanted to have uplifting messages in his music more than political or divisive content. "Summertime" is played on air at 34:15, with the interview resuming at 37:40. When asked about his then-future plans, Troy noted that he had a stage setup built for eventual live gigs, and eight more songs (as of May 2024) ready to release, while also acknowledging the rings that he wore to the interview. After setting up the final song to be played on air ("Hari Cari"), we hear that at the 40:40 mark, and the last segment of the interview beginsat 44:05.
To close, Adrian asks where we can hear Troy online, and he finally addresses where the Stone Smyth name comes from here, specifically a play on "blacksmith" without using the same spelling as Aerosmith, and he used the name for his own studio and planned guitar line as well. Troy was also hoping to begin shooting live videos in the fall of 2024, Nice casual interview that helps explain a bit about who Troy was and what he was aiming for with his music, and it is a shame that he passed at just 63 before some of his bigger future plans could be fully realized. Hearing this finally will be good to fill in some blanks for our Defunct Local Band Profile, but give the full Borderline interview a listen at this link or above, and R.I.P. Troy!
I'd like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Stone Smyth frontman and veteran local hard rock guitarist Troy Isaac, who passed away at Sault Area Hospital on Saturday at the age of 63. Troy is survived by his parents Darlene Nichols and Barry Isaac and his pet Buddy. The obituary notes that he was deeply private, but loved music, the outdoors, independence, and travelling for work and his own thrill of adventure. There will be no public services, but in lieu of flowers, family would appreciate donations to the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society or the Canadian Cancer Society, and arrangements were entrusted to the Northwood Funeral Home. Long-time SMS readers will know Troy from his off-and-on solo project Stone Smyth (f.k.a. StrykerGC and StonesmithGC), who had launched in 2014 but ramped up their activity at points in the early 2020s with original songs & teasers of plans to tour with a full band.
Previously, Troy was the only credited solo performer on 1998's "Local Steel" compilation album via his own original song "A Long Cold Rain Comin' Down", and he performed in multiple bands while not living in the Soo, including in the British Columbia-based Angel Dust. I admittedly slacked too much in covering Stone Smyth on the SMS, bur Troy had posted new music as recently as June (even teasing hopes to tour this summer), and he has 45 songs on most major streaming services, though as of his death, he had not compiled a full album for sale. You can see multiple videos for Stone Smyth songs on their YouTube channel, largely featuring stock and CGI footage, though most recent videos reflected Troy's company Maverick Fish Hunter, where he took part in fishing, boating, and cooking uploads, and there are even television appearances there. While our political opinions differed, Troy was a good and passionate guy, and it's a shame to lose him so suddenly.
Even recently, Troy had big plans musically for Stone Smyth, and he showed a solid multi-instrumental talent range and a good songwriters' ear on their dozens of original songs. There is something ironic in how his last released song is named "Dead And Gone", and how it was written in honour of the passing of his friend Ker. I plan to talk more about Troy and Stone Smyth on the SMS soon (he was interviewed on The Borderline last year!), but give his music a spin, and if you like fellow veteran solo hard rock musicians like Tym Morrison and SweetKenny, Stone Smyth won't be far off in style. R.I.P. Troy!
Here's another new post on this Saturday morning, which is mostly devoted to recent concert videos from a major concert last month, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month!
Winnipeg punk quartet Shit Happens will make their local concert debut on Monday, March 25th when they headline at The Distraction!
While not the first touring act booked at the East Street
barbershop-turned-concert venue, I believe Shit Happens (not to be
confused with the Soo's own Shit Liver) are the first full metal or punk
band from out of town to play there, as opposed to a solo project, so
this will be neat! Shit Happens are touring Eastern Canada and a select
few U.S. cities this month, with the local show being the final date
before they head back to Manitoba. Expect an upbeat and in your face
brand of punk originals from this female fronted group two weeks from
Monday! Local support will come by way of metal trio The BAG
in their Distraction debut and second show of 2024, and while not a
clean genre match to Shit Happens, the energy should be hopping for
their hard hitting originals and covers later this month!
Despite
the touring headline band, this show is standard for protocol with The
Distraction's all-local events, including no age limit, a 7:00 PM start
time, and a "$5 or pay what you can" entry model. While an early night
with no 19+ limit hanging overhead, the Monday scheduling and relative
short notice may give some pause, but if you like explosive modern punk
rock, don't miss out on the action on the 25th! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this concert!
Next up, we finally have some videos to feature from last month's Saint Asonia concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! After a near two week delay, prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci uploaded videos from the show to his excellent YouTube channel, and he spoiled us this time, filming eighteenvideos across the three bands that night! Half of his videos come from the headliners, with Chris filming multiple originals and covers from the Toronto hard rock quartet. In terms of covers, you can see Saint Asonia covering frontman Adam Gontier's old band Three Days Grace's "Never Too Late", "I Hate Everything About You", and "Riot", while they also tackled Apocalyptica's "I Don't Care" (which Adam guested on originally). The rest of the filmed songs began with Saint Asonia, aside from their own recent cover of The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights".
The originals filmed here are "Better Place", "Wolf", "Let Me Live My Life", and as embedded below, their set opener "Above It All". Chris had a nice spot in the center section with good zoom usage and a relatively clear view of the stage (fans' heads in front of him acknowledged), and Saint Asonia sound great, with Adam's vocals crystal clear in the mix! I recall that he was more muffled when Three Days Grace came here last, but of course, arena acoustics could have been a factor. Check out Saint Asonia's local concert videos for yourselves above & below!
Finally, Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin were filmed for three of Chris' videos, specifically their songs "Insidious", "The Way I Say Goodbye", and as embedded below, "House On Fire". Hopefully these guys continue on their upward trajectory, as their melodic and soaring originals seemed to play well with local attendees last month, and they definitely seem like a band we'll hear more from on the radio in the coming months! Check out Any Given Sin's local videos above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!
As promised, let's round out this weekend's hard rock concert previews today via the two Sault Michigan/E.U.P. hard rock concerts that we didn't preview in yesterday's post! To round things out, I do have some new videos of a prominent local band, so here's what you should know!
We'll start with this weekend's main event for hard rock fans, as Toronto hard rock quartet Saint Asonia will make their first ever local concert appearance TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! As well promoted on Rock 101 in recent months, Saint Asonia's debut will mark frontman Adam Gontier's first time on a local stage since he and his old band Three Days Grace last played here in 2009. Along with a few 3DG hits and select covers, look for Saint Asonia's own hard hitting originals like "Better Place", "The Hunted", and "Devastate" during what should be an explosive set! Note that Saint Asonia's usual guitarist (Staind's Mike Mushok) is not part of this tour. Also playing tomorrow is Kentucky southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry, in their first local concert appearance since 2006 (when they opened for Staind, incidentally), so they've been a very long time coming!
With rock radio hits like "In My Blood", "Again", and "White Trash Millionaire" in the eighteen years since , familiarity with B.S.C. will be much greater for this set, so hopefully they get a really strong reaction for their southern tinged rock & roll! Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin will open the proceedings with their high energy, Shinedown-reminiscent brand of original material, so don't be late for their set tomorrow! This is the first major concert of 2024 from Allstar Promotions, and you can see brief promotional videos on their Facebook page featuring both Adam Gontier and Black Stone Cherry guitarist Ben Wells hyping up the show/ticket availability, which are definitely welcomed to get the word out, especially as both pronounced Sault Ste. Marie correctly! Tomorrow's all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and third row tickets are still on sale in the left & right sections!
Center section tickets are all sold out in the first thirteen rows. Tickets run for $39.50 in rows C-J (left and right sections) and row N (center section only), while anything else left costs just $29.50. Buy your tickets at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office. I hope this show does well, as I greatly prefer Saint Asonia to modern Three Days Grace, and Black Stone Cherry have multiple catchy songs of their own, so definitely consider heading to Kewadin Casino for all of tomorrow night's action! Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Saint Asonia live!
Lastly for known hard rock concerts in the Sault area this weekend, we'll take the 20 minute drive south to Kincheloe, where local classic metal/hard rock trio Tarnished will return to The Fraternal Order Of Orioles Nest TOMORROW NIGHT! This atypical venue brought in Tarnished for their New Year's Eve party last year, so clearly that went well for Alex, Parker, and Josh to get a call back for a standard concert less than two months later! Regardless of how normal the venue is for Tarnished fans, you can expect the same hard hitting and fan friendly covers and originals in Kincheloe tomorrow, so consider hitting the road for the Orioles Nest tomorrow for all of the action! This show takes place at Nest 311 (at 4916 West Curtis Street) at 8:00 PM, it has a 21+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!
Finally for today, here's some new videos of local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906, but not how you may expect to see them. Fans may recall that, when drummer Jason VanLuven had to miss a few shows last summer due to conflicts with his other band Fake Chow, they enlisted Paradise Excuse alum Brian Duford to fill in behind the kit. Well, that wasn't it for Brian playing with Project 906, as he has guested with the band since on shows that Jason was there for, albeit with Brian playing hand drums instead! Three videos from recent 906 shows have been uploaded to his YouTube channel, all ostensibly intended to focus on his performances moreso than the whole band. This one (likely from their Brimley VFW concert in November) has Brian and Project 906 playing an extended instrumental for their soundcheck, while this vertical clip is of his drum solo at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman this past Saturday.
The latter clip is shot from the crowd, but the other two are drum-cam videos, including the one embedded below, which is the only one of everyone playing a proper cover song. In this video, also from The Strongs Tavern on Saturday, Project 906 and Brian covered The Who's "Eminence Front", albeit extended with some more jamming in the middle. Rare to see a Kenney Jones-era Who song covered locally, so kudos there! The venue lighting can impair the view sometimes, but this is certainly a unique concert video, and everyone performs well, including Brian, and he does add a looser vibe to Project 906 shows from what I've seen! Give Brian's videos a watch above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new Sault Ontario-centric news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Alright, let's finally start clearing out our backlog of topics and news from the last while (joys of the holidays), and we'll start with some unfinished business from a recent charity concert, some assorted updates, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for early next year!
Here's the big show announced earlier this week, as Toronto hard rock quartet Saint Asonia will make their local debut on Saturday, February 24th when they headline at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Saint Asonia is the current band from former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and (when available) Staind guitarist Mike Mushok, and while they haven't had the continued rock radio success/airplay as modern 3DG have gotten, I personally greatly prefer Saint Asonia's originals like "Better Place" and "The Hunted". Adam does still tackle Three Days Grace songs live, and select other covers, so if you've missed that band since their last Sault Ontario date fourteen years ago, don't miss out! Kentucky-based southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry will make their long awaited return to the Soo as openers, last seen at The Dreammakers Theater opening for Staind way back in 2006!
Since we last saw B.S.C. in town seventeen long years ago, they bettered their early Billboard rock chart success with songs like "White Trash Millionaire" and "In My Blood", and they're a very skilled group in their own right with a fun energy, so don't miss them either! Opening this show and tour are rising Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin, whose technical and heavy brand of melodic hard rock will definitely set a good tone in a couple of months, so don't be late for their set! Promoted by Allstar Promotions in their 2024 debut and presented by Rock 101, tickets run for $29.50 (row 15 and back in the center section, row 11 and back in the left and right sections, and standing room only), $39.50 (closer seating), and $139.50 (first 8 rows in the center plus a full VIP package including priority access, show memorabilia, and a meet & greet with Saint Asonia.)
Tickets are on sale for this all ages & 8:00 PM concert at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. This feels like such a throwback to the 2000s via the returns of Adam, Mike, and Black Stone Cherry a decade+ after last performing in Sault Ste. Marie, and I hope this show does well, especially given that we lucked into this being a Saturday nighter! I do highly recommend Saint Asonia to fans of old school Three Days Grace too, they deserve way more success on the charts. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this big show early next year!
Next up, let's move north to Sault Ontario for some clarification on three bands that played at this year's tenth annual Toystock at The Grand Gardens on November 26th! First off, the debuting online page-less band Headrush was a new classic rock quintet featuring veteran local bassist John Amendola (Cherry Crush, Tripod the Dog, etc.) and singer John Anderson, though I couldn't immediately identify the other band members. A video is floating around on personal Facebook accounts of Headrush covering Foreigner's "Hot Blooded", and it sounds good, but it is incomplete. Give it a look if you're friends with anyone connected to the band! Earlier in the program, new local rock quartet Skinbox played at Toystock, and they have since revealed via promotion for their shows at Jay's this weekend that they play "90s/2000s alt rock",
with The Arctic Monkeys cited as a band that they cover. Not overly heavy on the surface, but their familiar lineup is definitely capable of it!
Lastly from Toystock's mystery/cryptic band array, new local rock band Kickstart is a new trio featuring ex-Suicide Kings guitarist Steven Flint alongside ex-Sneaky Pete bandmates Sean Berlinguette & Mike Oakley (I am unsure who sings here). If any of these three bands lean to what we cover on the SMS, it'd likely be Kickstart, but at press time, they don't have an online page that I am aware of. We'll let you know when/if anything else comes out, but hopefully these bands and the known commodites had a great time for Christmas Cheer on the 26th!
Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
In his newest post on his Facebook page on November 22nd, local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary revealed that he is working on a soundtrack for a novel being written by a local author, which will be instrumental in line with his recent solo output. There's no timeline or details to spill yet, as Mike's keeping things close to his vest until he and the author are happy with the results, but he has wrote at least two songs for it. We'll keep you posted when more details come out, but this is certainly unique locally!
Local indie/punk quintet The Northwest were featured in the November 26th episode of The Music Jerks Radio Show on Canadian internet radio station Alt Rock Radio, where hosts Kristen Goetz & Nolan Jodes played one of their original songs along with ten other tracks. I don't believe that the episode is hearable on demand, but hopefully The Northwest made some new fans two weeks ago, and don't miss them at LopLops in two weeks!
Just to clarify more details on another new online page-less local band's identity, The Psychic Spies (who, as far as I know, share members with Skinbox) are indeed a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band, so inferring that based on "Psychic spies" being the first words sung in "Californication" was prescient. The Chili Peppers' career doesn't lean heavier anymore, but fans should take to The Psychic Spies, who are playing with Skinbox at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend, so visit the Facebook event page for details!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!
The complete entertainment lineup for this weekend's Poutine Feast was finally unveiled via the Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association's Facebook page courtesy of this "Reel" on Tuesday, and as a result, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will headline day #3 of the festival outside of the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the lineup was only announced on Tuesday, and Bone Yard didn't confirm their involvement until posting on their Facebook page about it yesterday. Perhaps they are truly a late addition, I don't know, but this comes within their previously announced Jay's Piston Broke Pub weekend gigs (previews forthcoming), so they'll be headlining downtown at 6:00 PM before heading west in time for their 9:30 PM gig there.
Hopefully this first of two Canada Day gigs goes well for Greg, Alex, and Warren on SATURDAY NIGHT! That day's other entertainment is not entirely musical, with dancers from the Northern Ontario Latin-Hispanic Association performing at 5:00 PM, not unlike what you may have seen at Multiculturalism Day yesterday. Acoustic cross-genre collective Gimiiwan & The Clouds (misspelled as "Gimmewan" in the lineup "Reel") appear to be the middle act at 3:00 PM, fresh off of their Summer Moon Festival set, while magician Ryan McFarling will wow the audience with tricks at 2:00 PM. Local folk solo musician Brian Tremblay (yes, the Face To Face concert video is coming!) will open on Saturday at 11:00 AM, which is also when the Canada Day program at the Poutine Feast begins. SATURDAY'S festivities are FREE & ALL AGES outside of the Old Stone House at 800 Bay Street until 9:00 PM.
Of course, the poutine and other food/drinks will cost (not to mention wares at the on-site vendor market), and with loads of food trucks that day and every day from Thursday-Sunday offering up many kinds of poutine for your delectation, this should be a fun way to spend your Canada Day! VIP tickets to skip the lines are available for $40 at this link if so desired. Be advised that 9&10 News is calling for a 40% chance of rain showers on SATURDAY with a high temperature of 19°. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
The other nights with hard rock bands were already announced by the bands in question, so they're not "new" to us, but the complete lineups are, so who else can you see at this year's Poutine Feast? We already knew that local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns would be headlining TOMORROW'S opening night of the festival at 6:00 PM, a nice promotion following being the Thursday curtain jerkers last year, so keep their fun and fan-friendly covers in mind! The middle act tomorrow will not be a band, rather the belly dancing troupe Jewels Of The Oasis, who take the stage at 5:00 PM. In a partial reprise of the Oktoberfest lineup last year, The Stallyns will be joined on tomorrow's bill by traditional German band Nein German Guys, who are the first scheduled entertainment act at 2:00 PM despite the Thursday program beginning at 11:00 PM. Again, attendance tomorrow is FREE & ALL AGES!
9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy skies with a high of 21° and a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms, so definitely keep that in mind. Clearly, the Poutine Feast organizers are easing into things this year (especially given that there are five entertainment acts on SATURDAY), but the Stallyns, the Jewels of the Oasis, and the German Guys should deliver their own distinct brands of entertainment to go along with your poutine tomorrow, and yes, The Wyld Stallyns should have a few heavier cuts! See above for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!
Friday's bill is the only one without a (known) hard rock band, and will feature new local disco tribute band The Saturday Nights (featuring Wyld Stallyns singer Christina Speers) as the 5:30 PM headliners alongside a mystery act named Aje (A.J.E.?) who I know absolutely nothing about. Their set is at 2:00 PM, implying that they're a musical act given the 3 hour block, but let us know if you can confirm who they are! Classic rock veterans Angry Joe & The Growlers will kick off day #2 at 11:00 PM, which has the same ground rules and timeframes as the day before and after. 9&10 News is calling for similar weather (50% chance of rain/storms), but with a higher peak temperature of 23° Celsius.
Finally for today's all-Poutine Feast preview post, we'll look at the closing day's program on SUNDAY, where the previously announced Handsome Sandwich will continue their upward momentum with a set full of alternative and hard rock originals from their "Deconstructed" album and beyond! I wonder which food truck makes the most handsome sandwich? The band's own promotion erroneously gave a 4:00 PM start time despite the Sunday program ending at 6:00 PM, and the schedule above confirms that they will take the stage at 2:30 PM. The all-musical openers on Sunday include a joint set from recent Northern Echoes openers Juliana Regan & Blair St. John at 1:00 PM and young local pop singer Tianna Legacy at 11:00 AM. Not heavier in style, but there's a lot of talent from both Juliana & Blair and Tianna, so don't bypass them! While things end sooner on Sunday, this is still FREE & ALL AGES (VIP passes aside).
9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy conditions with the lowest chance of rain during the festival (20%), plus high temperatures of 21°. SMS diehards will likely only hear stuff on our radar during Handsome Sandwich's set, but everyone on Sunday has skills in their instruments and genres, so don't miss out on all of the closing day's musical entertainment! See above for more on all four days of this year's Poutine Feast, and here's Handsome Sandwich live in concert last summer!
That's all for now, but look for Canada Day weekend concert previews that don't involve poutine next! Thanks everyone!
I have a new news post for your Sunday morning reading, and while it's mostly devoted to new videos, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT to take note of first, so here's what you should know!
Local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will play his first public concert of 2023 with an acoustic matinee gig TODAY at Reggie's Place! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this event via its Facebook event page yesterday, though the venue's Facebook page mentioned it on Tuesday. Tym has been unusually quiet as far as live gigs go as of late, last hearing of him belatedly playing at a curling bonspiel in November, with his last Reggie's show coming in October. Hopefully all's well with him, and it's good to see him back out there with his deep setlist of rock classics at this familiar downtown venue TODAY! Remember, Tym tends to play Sunday matinees at Reggie's rather than nighttime concerts, he just hasn't done so since the fall. TODAY'S festivities are at 3:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Tym live!
Next up, here's the newest collaborative cover video from local punk project Mikey & His Uke's YouTube channel! Uploaded there on Thursday, this sees Mikey Hawdon back on ukelele (at first) and guitar covering Propagandhi's "Back To The Motor League", alongside Belvedere frontman Steven Rawles, Lagwagon guitarist Chris Rest, Pulley bassist Tyler Rebbe, and Papa Roach drummer/fellow Pulley alum Tony Palermo. For pure musical quality & my preferences, this is my favourite Mikey & His Uke cover since Mikey moved back home last year! Steven nails Chris Hannah's vocal style, and everyone handles this cover very nicely, so fans of early Propagandhi (and their October 2005 show at The Oddfellows Hall) will be in good hands! Without spoiling, extra local points for where Mikey filmed his electric guitar scenes. Very well performed and edited as you'd expect, so definitely check this out below, and stay tuned for more from Mikey!
Also, here's a new cover of Neil Young's "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" courtesy of the ever prolific Chase Wigmore's YouTube channel last month! As close to folk punk as anything he's posted to YouTube as of late, this video is heavily filtered as usual, coming across as very grainy with cryptic pictures of the wilderness and deer rapidly changing overtop. This is an intense performance that suits the original's proto-grunge nature, with Chase even layering in some screams and some of his own trademark rapid guitar mastery, but his normal clean singing is often very quiet and hard to hear on normal volume levels. Give this cover a watch below!
Let's close with the latest from local/Toronto hard rock solo project Stone Smyth, who have been keeping busy in the studio since we last talked about them in the fall! As you may recall, the former StrykerGC posts samples of their songs on their YouTube channel accompanied by music videos made up of stock footage, often with teasers towards these songs being featured on an album/their planned debut concert tour, but despite references to posting tour dates on their Reverbnation page, nothing of the sort is public yet. Project leader Troy Isaac had previously teased that they would have 15 songs for their full live setlist, and all 15 can now be heard in full on Spotify. YouTube has the requisite 30 or 60 second music video samples, and since our last write-up on Stone Smyth, Troy has posted seven compilation videos of those samples ranging from 7-12 minutes in length, which is a handy way to watch most at once!
I'll embed "Compilation #14" here, which leads off with Stone Smyth's then-newest song "Lovin' You", as well as the conservative politically themed "Don & Ron For President", a presumed companion to the earlier "Uncle Ted For President". I try and keep the SMS apolitical, so just a heads up that these are partisan in tone and not written ironically. The music on offer is well written and will appeal to classic-leaning hard rock fans, but as I've said before, the processing on Troy's vocals is not ideal. Check out Stone Smyth's 15 original songs, in full or in part, above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Here's another stacked news post for your Friday evening as we enter the long weekend! Below, you'll find some new updates & material from a local solo project, but let's first lead off with three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for you guys to take note of, one on SHORT NOTICE!
Local alternative/punk quartet Handsome Sandwich will rock The Whisky Barrel for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed this date via their Facebook page on Wednesday. After a quiet August apart from their Northern Vibe Festival set (oddly not promoted by the band themselves on Facebook), this will be Handsome Sandwich's first show in city limits since "members of" the band played at Shooters on July 28th, but there's no such "members of" distinction for this show at the Gore Street pub TOMORROW! Should be a fine opportunity to hear the Sandwich's fun and lively originals and covers, so don't miss out if you're able! Note that the poster shows a fifth person with the band, and based on visuals, that looks like Whisky Barrel manager/co-owner Dunbar Thompson, who I don't believe has joined the band in a musical capacity.
TOMORROW'S concert has an 8:00 PM start time according to the venue (though the band says 9:00 PM), no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. If you're up for some Scottish fare and some solid live music from this talented and varied local band, don't miss out on all of the action TOMORROW, and here's Handsome Sandwich live!
That's not all for hard rock/punk fans at The Whisky Barrel this month, as the venue's Facebook page posted their monthly schedule for September 2022 earlier today, confirming that local funk/hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will return to their favourite stomping grounds on Friday, September 16th! Also last seen at Northern Vibe, The Stallyns belatedly made up for their general disuse of their Facebook page by posting loads of recent concert photos there, but have not yet themselves confirmed this Whisky Barrel show in two weeks. Hopefully Rob, Christina, Jesse, Derek, and Alex(?) deliver a fun night of unplugged hard, funk, and other rock coverts for fans on Gore Street then! Like with Handsome Sandwich TOMORROW, The Wyld Stallyns will be on at 8:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit on the 16th. Visit the above links for more details on this and other Whisky Barrel shows ahead!
In one more new show announcement, Toronto-based Metallica tribute band Sandman will reportedly return to Soo Blaster for a headlining concert on Saturday, October 8th! This show has not been confirmed by the band nor the venue at press time, but the local openers announced it on their Facebook page earlier today, more on them in a second. Fans will have just seen this Helix alumni-laden tribute rock Soo Blaster on July 9th, itself their third local gig following shows here in 2008 & 2015, so they're really breaking their "one Soo date every seven years" pattern by coming here just three months after the last time! Luckily, Metallica fans know what to expect from Sandman's faithful thrash metal intensity and sly humour, and I can confirm that they put on a solid show in July! The local openers will be Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters in their second date of 2022 and with their current lineup, also last seen at The Northern Vibe Festival.
Good to see Jules, Wes, Mitch, and Johnny back in city limits, and while The Foos aren't a pure metal compliment, they have enough hard rock tunes to fill out a recognizable companion tribute set! If the July show is anything to go by, Sandman's 2022 round #2 at Soo Blaster should have $20 advance tickets once again, a 19+ age limit, and a 9:00 PM start time, so stay tuned to venue and Sandman pages for further details on ticket availability. Between this and the Just Leppard/AC/DC Show event in November, Soo Blaster will be quite a destination for hard rock tribute fans this fall, so don't miss out on all of this action then, and stay tuned for updates!
We'll close today with the latest from local/Toronto hard rock project Stone Smyth (a.k.a. StrykerGC or Stonesmith GC and variants therein), so what's new in their camp? On Monday, they posted a new original song named "Last Chance Mountain" onto major streaming services, simultaneously posting this teaser video of 59 seconds of the song alongside wintry stock footage onto their YouTube channel (Troy did tease making a full video of this, for the record). On their Facebook page on Tuesday, Stone Smyth said that "we're going on tour shortly" and that "releases are going to be happening for the next 2 months". This isn't the first time that a Stone Smyth concert tour has been teased, but what form will it and the live band take? As far as I've known them, this has been a solo project, after all. Also, does this just mean more songs are coming this fall, or do they mean another type of release? We'll keep you posted!
Note that prior postings on Stone Smyth pages teased that they are planning to have 15 songs ready for live sets, and only eight are online at the moment. Speaking of which, if you want to sample all eight songs (albeit via 49-ish seconds-long preview videos with stock footage), Stone Smyth have posted all eight to watch in this also-new video embedded below. Promising hard rock music with an old school touch to be sure, even if I'm not sold on the vocal processing, so check everything out, and stay tuned for more from Troy & company in due course!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thank everyone!
