Hope you American SMS fans are having a great Thanksgiving! If you can spare some time away from your turkey dinners, we have some news to get to today, so here's what's in store! Today, we have the latest news from Half A Man and Winkstinger, and previews of this weekend's known local hard rock/metal concerts, but kicking things off is a newly discovered local band!
So earlier today, I discovered a new local band named
Traces, out of Sault Michigan. Originally named
The Gaia Syndrome, Traces are a progressive metal project masterminded by local musician Tyler Tidwell, who plays guitar and handles the synths, programming, and engineering on their original tracks. He only just launched the band in April, announcing plans to write and record an album in the near future and round out the band's lineup. Since then, he's added Nathan Switzer (son of
Monkey's Uncle frontman Henry Switzer) and his brother Cody Tidwell to the band on guitars. You'll recognize Nathan and Cody from their work in another local metal band,
Analog Deficiency! Traces are currently looking for a drummer, bassist, and singer to round out their lineup, with plans in place to tour and release an EP next summer. So how do they sound? Actually, they sound very promising! The songs have great progressive riffs and good time signatures, and are actually pretty heavy and well written! I'm noticing a heavy Meshuggah influence too, which I welcome! Of course, it's hard to judge 100% without full instruments (especially with the drum programming sounding so unrealistic), but if they keep progressing higher, they'll be a definite band to watch out for locally! Check out the above links for more on Traces (The Gaia Syndrome's link has an interview with Tyler too), and I'll keep you posted with more as I hear it!
Now we'll preview this weekend's slate of local metal and hard rock concerts, of which I only know three. Sault Michigan could have something, but we don't tend to get as much internet notice over there, so if there's a show going on across the river,
let me know! Firstly, local classic hard rock cover band
Turner Up will return to
Foggy Notions tomorrow night and Saturday night for the first time since the addition of new frontwoman Krista Marshall! The criteria at these shows is the same as it ever is, 10:00 PM start times, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. The night's still young when it comes to this new era of Turner Up, so I'm sure many of you haven't seen the new lineup in action. All the more reason to go check them out this weekend, right? The voice up front may be different, but Krista's got some pipes, and their sound will largely be the same otherwise, so make it on out to Foggy Notions this weekend if you can! For more details, visit
the official Facebook event page, and check out the above links for more! Remember, to get a taste of what you mighr expect with the new lineup,
click here for some old
Johnny Lunchbox videos with Krista and Jeff Gray!
The other new show this weekend is the third in
Tym Morrison's weekly arrangement at Foggy Notions, as he returns there for a solo concert on Sunday night! As is usual, this will be an acoustic set from the
Caveman Morrison frontman, who'll break out some of his favourite metal, hard rock, and other hits to play for fans in an intimate setting! Same ground rules as the above Turner Up shows should apply here, especially given that this is also at Foggy Notions. For more details, visit
the official Facebook event page! Note that this is the last announced date of his Sunday agreement with Foggy Notions, but materials relating to it still say he'll be there "every Sunday", so there could very well be more announced in the near future! Either way, it should be a fun night on Sunday, so if you want to hear Tym in action while Caveman Morrison searches for another new bassist, then you'll wanna be at Foggy Notions on Sunday night! Check out the above links for more, and visit
his official website to hear solo original material, including some newer surprises that I'll share in the near future!
Fourthly today, here's the latest from Brimley hard rockers
Half A Man! We haven't talked too much about them since their Halloween party/video shoot, but here's what's been up!
Their Facebook page now features tons of photos from that Halloween party (which featured a concert set) and decent quality live videos as well, including
one video featuring frontman Erik Rintamaki singing "Freedom Ride" with a horse mask on! As well, the band posted
a new promo picture and the video mix of their debut single "Drunk", which is what they recorded a music video for at that Halloween show. Heavy and catchy, it sounds good, and it has some nice aggression while still being accessible! The other new piece of news is that Half A Man are really hoping to play a live concert next month, and will open for anyone and play free! They were looking at
The Satisfied Frog by name, but will play anywhere. Think you can help them out here? I'm not much help to suggest anything, as I know I miss a lot of shows from the lack of internet plugs for many on the Sault Michigan side of things, but if you can suggest something to help them out, send them a message at
their Facebook page! I'll have more from Half A Man as I hear it!
And finally, Sault Ontario extreme metal quintet
WinkStinger have quietly started two new internet pages! Their first new one is on
Reverbnation, and aside from a photo, there's little to say there yet. The other new page is on
MySpace, and it definitely has more going for it, including their lineup, some humorous sound descriptions, and audio postings of some jam session quality originals! I think these are the same ones we saw on
Joey Velcro's YouTube channel, but don't quote me on that. Not bad stuff at all, including their songs "From Bullshit To Buzz (Lies = Weed)", "Cheese Grader Face", and "Chud Nugget", which wasn't on YouTube before, so it's a new one! Sounds good, very heavy and fast, with aggressive and very moshable vocals, and nice guitar work! This'll become a live favourite for sure, hopefully! Check out the latest from WinkStinger at the above links!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more very soon, cause I have some more intriguing news and notes in store! Thanks everyone!
Traces
The Bottom Half
