YouTube Channel Profile Series: Jason Mapes

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

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

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

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

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

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

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



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



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


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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Ten Kings) & Lots Of Assorted Recent Updates!!

Today's post is mostly devoted to assorted shorter news and notes that have piled up in the last week or so, but we're leading off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for one week from Saturday in Sault Michigan, so here's what you should know on this Sunday evening!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Ten Kings will play a unique concert event on Saturday, June 27th when they head to Lake Superior State University for their first ever Summerfest! Fresh off of this weekend's road trip to Manistique, Ten Kings will reportedly be among a few local artists at this event from the local university, which will be a celebration of music on an outdoor stage on the north side of the Cisler Center (the administrative & social building that hosts, among other things, their radio station WLSO.) LSSU's Summerfest will feature food, refreshments, and music from The Steeltown Silver Band at 3:30 PM, but Ten Kings' set will reportedly be at 12:00 noon that day, as per their own Facebook event page. The rest of the performer lineup has yet to be announced, but LSSU have indicated that a full schedule is forthcoming, so we'll let you know when we hear it! Given the theme and location of the event, is is FREE & ALL AGES, but remember that is is on a university.

As an LSSU graduate, I can attest to how nice and inviting the school is, and it should be a solid backdrop for their first ever Summerfest! They always hosted live bands in some form when I was there, but an outdoor festival like this sounds like a good time, so keep it in mind one week from Saturday, and if you're in the Manistique area, go see Ten Kings this weekend at their Kewadin Casino branch!

Finally for today, here's ten assorted shorter stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, venue, or event name:

• After scattered hints in recent months, local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back have apparently completed recording sessions for a new album! As per their Facebook page yesterday, the band confirmed that it's "done", and to "stay tuned" for updates. This won't be their first CD release, as they released two minimally advertised demos at concerts last fall, but this album appears to be more formal and official. Good to hear, so keep posted when more comes in!
• Local death metal standouts The Bear Hunters confirmed on their Facebook page on Thursday that recording sessions for their second album "The Dead Testament" will begin in September! The album will feature 11 new songs (including 4 that have yet to be played in concert) and a re-recording of "Deception" from their debut as a bonus track. Other details are forthcoming, but fans should definitely stay tuned as we hear more!
• Local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue have replaced the aforementioned Bear Hunters on the lineup for the Out Of The Ruins concert at The Rednecks Saloon on July 11th, as per a recent Facebook event page update. The reason is likely due to Justin Lam and Johnny Belanger being out of town with Jack Spades that weekend, more on that in a second. Beaumont Avenue are arguably a worse genre fit, but the former Suicide Kings' all-original set should find a solid audience in their first opening set at a local show since last year's Rotaryfest!
• Now-defunct all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats posted studio versions of their original songs "On The Prowl", "Sugar Mama", and "Give Me" onto their Reverbnation page earlier this month, as recorded with producer Jamie Vincent at Six Two Oh (presumably where Bad Back's album is being done too.) The songs sound good, and it's a shame the girls wrapped things up before they could get their own EP released! Check them (and the earlier "Wanted Man") out at the above links!
• It no longer bears directly on the Soo, but this year's 17th annual installment of Hempfest (based in Moonbeam, 8 hours north of here, since last summer) will have a tribute band theme like it did in one of the last local installments, with Rush, Rage Against The Machine, and Metallica tributes booked (the latter, Misery, have played here too.) More acts are being finalized, so if you want to take a road trip for this year's Hempfest in August, click here for details!
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will take a road trip to Meyersburg, Ontario (an hour east of Peterborough) over the July 10th weekend to take part in this year's second annual Spiderfest! They also played this event this year, and they'll join such locally notable bands as IDNS, Gatgas, and The Dead Peasants Revolt on the lineup, with the classic comedy metal band Green Jelly headlining. Excellent to see the guys back for Spiderfest 2, and hopefully they jack Meyersburg once again!
• There has apparently been construction going on recently at Mill Square to build an outdoor concert stage outside of The Machine Shop, named "The Yard" at present time. The Machine Shop's Facebook page indicates that several outdoor events are planned, as well as big events for next year, plus the hashtag tease of "Bring Back Castle Farms", referencing the famed Charlevoix, Michigan outdoor concert venue. Very intriguing, so we'll keep an eye on this apparent new venue as more comes out!
• Local musician Peytan Andreola is looking for a metal drummer to jam with, as per his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Tuesday. No word on his music background there, but if you're interested in more details, message him above or at this link!
• Recently reunited doom/punk trio The Revolution have quietly dropped out of the upcoming Eternal Prophecy/Lie Among Us concert at The Rednecks Saloon on August 10th, as per recent updates to the Facebook event page. A reason for their exit wasn't announced, but note that they haven't updated their Facebook page in almost two months. Hopefully all's well in their camp! They were not replaced on the lineup, so bassist Jordan Leach's other band Haggith are now the only local openers, and they now have $5 advance tickets, so contact members A.S.A.P.!
• While we continue to wait for the reveal of this year's Rotaryfest lineups, their website now confirms that the returning Second Stage's new presenting sponsor is local roadside assistance call-centre Agero (replacing Tenaris, who remain as a sponsor of other events.) As well, their site labels it as "Stage 2 Redirected", but whether that's a new moniker or an accident from website coding is to be announced. We'll let you know when we hear more!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tantrym Tyme) & Sault Michigan Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we get into this weekend's previews, I wanted to apologize for a few missed gigs during The Savoy Bar & Nightclub in Sault Michigan's Summerfest concert series, as local hard rock trio Power Slug returned to play there on both July 11th & 12th, as well as last Friday (as Infathom only played on Saturday.) My sources are the band & venue's Facebook pages, though note that Power Slug never plugged the shows in advance on Facebook. Our sincere apologies for missing them, hopefully they were all hits, and best of luck in Grand Haven tomorrow night! Now, today's post is otherwise devoted to this weekend's Sault Michigan-area hard rock concert previews, so read on for them, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme will be playing outdoor sets TOMORROW & SATURDAY as part of this year's Downtown Days in Sault Michigan! Apologies for the short notice, the band only just announced their involvement on their Facebook page on Tuesday. Though not their first live appearances of 2014, these are (surprisingly) the first shows that the band has plugged on Facebook since September, so if you've missed hearing about the former Abstract's local dates online, here's two! Tantrym Tyme's sets this weekend are among the live entertainment at Downtown Days, a yearly weekend featuring sidewalk sales from local merchants, stores, and vendors, alongside kids and family entertainment, food and refreshments, and even car & motorcycle shows, so click here for full details on the non-musical events! Tantrym Tyme's set will very likely be taking place outside or near Harmony Health Foods at 217 Ashmun Street, which is on the corner of Ashmun and East/West Portage Avenue.

As you may know, Harmony Health Foods is owned by (I believe) drummer Ethan Twardy's father, and they've long supported Tantrym Tyme, so the connections are obvious! The guys will be playing at 12:00 and at 3:30 PM tomorrow and Saturday, this is absolutely ALL AGES with no cover, though I'm unsure if there will be other live hard rock bands this weekend. For more details, check the above links! The lack of recent online posts from the band has been strange, especially for helping miss shows like one at the Kinross Speedpark on July 11th (apologies for missing it), but hopefully there's a great turnout for their strongly developing metal renditions this weekend! Keep it in mind, and for a preview, here's Tantrym Tyme live last year!



Moving to previously announced shows, local alternative hard rock trio Plastic are scheduled to make their Savoy Bar & Nightclub debuts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they conclude the venue's outdoor Summerfest series on it's 6th and final weekend! However, two things will be different from their return set at LemmaFest, one of which being an apparent new member, as frontman Zac Crook's former Half Stupid bandmate Matt Williams has apparently signed on as their new bassist, replacing Nick Moreau. The news was quietly announced on their Facebook page at some point this month, and while a reason for Nick's departure hasn't been stated yet, keep in mind that his personal Facebook page currently lists him as living in Traverse City, so that could be related. Hopefully all is amicable, and best of luck to Nick, but it's nice to see Matt & Zac back together, and it will be interesting to see how things shape up live! Also, Plastic's name on their Facebook page was quietly changed to "Currently Nameless" yesterday, which implies the end of the Plastic name, but why?

This could mean anything from a name conflict, the name belonging to Nick, a move in a new direction, or maybe even actually changing their name to "Currently Nameless", but we'll let you know when/if something is clarified regarding their name! (The former) Plastic's new lineup will be playing in the parking lot of The Savoy tomorrow & Saturday at 10:00 PM, with 21+ age limits and no announced cover, though keep in mind that the band has not acknowledged these shows since they were announced last month. If still on, these should be intriguing shows for hard rock and alternative fans, so don't miss it, and here are the guys at LemmaFest last month!



Closing at the Kewadin Casino branches, we'll head down to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where local classic/hard rock notables 415E are scheduled to return to the stage for a weekend full of hard rocking originals and covers TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Featuring Nixxon Dixxon alum Chris Hubbard and former Splitshot frontman Dave Menard, fans are accustomed to both of their talents from recent gigs, and hopefully their Van Halen-influenced sound goes over well again in their first St. Ignace shows in two months! Note that the band has finally confirmed the departure of bassist Jack Slater and drummer Devin Anderson via their removal from their Facebook page's lineup, following their absences from 415E's 2014 gigs, which appear to have been played (at least in part) as a duo. I know their exits partly stemmed from college commitments out of town, but they're still busy with The Highest of Fives, so best of luck to Devin & Jack there and beyond! 415Es's shows this weekend have 21+ age limits, no announced cover, and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and here's 415E's full original lineup last year!



Finally, we head back to Sault Michigan for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Kewadin Casino, as new local modern/hard rock cover quartet Full Throttle will be playing their third and fourth concerts! Remember, this band succeeded members Ryan Kitzmiller, Joe Jenkins, and Will Storey's now defunct band The Bottom Line earlier this month, but are a different band than the original 2012-2013 Full Throttle, whose first lineup also featured Ryan & bassist George Belleau of the current version. Fresh off of a successful debut at The Rapids Lounge last weekend, the guys are hoping for an even bigger turnout and reception tomorrow & Saturday, and just in case they aren't playing elsewhere before September 26th, don't take these shows for granted for a new/old taste of Full Throttle! 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charge, and 21+ age limits are to be expected, so check the above links for more details, and we'll let you know if a public video turns up to preview them with!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a stacked new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

New Videos And Songs From Four Local Bands!!

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates since Sunday. I've been bogged down with a lot of family issues and homework, so things have been regrettably slower than I'd like. That's about to change, as the month will end with a bang! There's today's post, weekend concert previews tomorrow, and a likely review of Saturday's Halloween show at Coch's Corner to come, with more possible as well! But today, we cover some new topics, namely, new songs and videos from four local bands! So let's begin today's post!

We'll start with videos, then transition to new songs, then back to a video at the end. And kicking things off today is brand new videos from Sault Michigan classic hard rockers Bad Side! They've been on what I'd consider a hiatus for some time now, but if you remember correctly, they did reunite for a pair of shows in the Milwaukee area in June, notably at this year's Summerfest in Milwaukee on June 27th! Well, four months later, video footage from their set has finally popped up online, with two brand new videos uploaded onto their ViciousMusic YouTube channel yesterday! One is a music video with effects for their song "I Could Make You Want Me", with video taken from the pro-quality Summerfest footage. It's nicely made, but I was hoping we'd hear the original audio in it! I really like this song though, it's one of my favourites on "...Bad Things Come In Threes"!

The other new video, which you can see below, is a straightforward live video of their song "Dig That Hooch" from Summerfest! It's also a good song, not as heavy though, but it's nice to see that Bad Side still sounded good and tight! Hopefully it's not the last time they play together! Check the above links for more, click here to hear their entire set on SoundCloud, and check out "Dig That Hooch" below!



Next up, local hard rock trio Browbeat have finally begun posting new audio tracks featuring their new lineup onto their Reverbnation page! Unlike the older tracks that just featured frontman Dutch Vanderploeg on all instruments, these new ones feature James and Rick White on bass and drums respectively! These are just live demos, but from what I'm hearing, they don't sound too bad! One's a brand new song named "Sorry", and I like it's pacing and energy! Dutch's singing is melodic and in control, and the guitar work is nice too! James and Rick play as well as I'd expect, and though it can get repetitive, it sounds pretty good! The other new upload is a redone version of their original "Walk Away", and though it's a bit bouncier than "Sorry", it's also well played, and the new lineup shines! I think the bass could stand to be boosted though, it sounds a bit washed out at times. Good start for the new lineup, I can't wait to hear more from Browbeat! Click here for more, and be on the lookout for new versions of their other songs!

Thirdly today, Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie has released two new solo tracks from his Animas solo project onto it's MySpace page, which was also recently updated to match the new MySpace page layout! One is a 2:13 sample entitled "Live For The Sunrise", which gives off the vibe of a progressive metal song mixed with very synth-ish sounds, and it works in a "marching" sort of way! It gets a bit repetitive after a while though, but to be fair, it's a sample and might not even be finished. The other new song is entitled "Squirrel Buddy", and the offbeat sense of the title reflects on the opening about wanting a little squirrel to be his buddy. Then, out of nowhere, the song launches from a low-key folksy vibe to balls out relentless death metal! The song has a lot of sudden changes in tone from lighthearted to brutal, but the vocals are very repetitive throughout. That being said, the song produced some chuckles from the comical non-death metal sections, and the death metal parts are extremely moshable! Good stuff on different ways! Check more from Mitch's Animas project at the above links, and stay tuned for updates on his "Hollow Hope" album that he's been working on as well!

And finally, here's one more video. I've been sitting on this audio track for a while, and figured that it'd be a good time to share it now, cause this band's back in the local news. That, and it'd make a good story to fill a post too! Last year, you may remember that Woods of Ypres released a vinyl single for their 2004 doom ballad "Allure of the Earth", from their second album "Pursuit of the Sun/Allure of the Earth". It featured that song, and a cover of it by Australian cellists Sebastian Simpson & Chris Doig, which I really liked. If you know me well, you'll know that I am a big fan of using orchestral elements and string instruments in metal, as it tends to give it a more epic and grandiose feel. So a few months back, as an experiment, I synced up the original version of "Allure of the Earth" with the cello cover using Audacity. It mostly lined up well, but certain parts needed tempo adjustments or faded audio. I liked the final product, and the cellos do add a certain something to the song, but only now have I posted the results onto The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel for you guys to check out! Remember, I'm not highly skilled with Audacity, so be nice if I messed something up, and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! That being said, check out my "orchestral version" of Woods of Ypres' "Allure of the Earth" below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow night, and more by the weekend! Thanks everyone!