YouTube Channel Profile Series: Stonesmyth's Channel

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!

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Stonesmyth's Channel (http://youtube.com/stonesmyth)

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!

 

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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!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Fuller - Topic & xCrimsonCrusade's Channel

It is now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles after a few days' delay, and as usual, we're taking a look at YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk musicians/concerts! This month's randomly selected channels both take us to local bands who originated local content over a decade ago, with one completing said music last year and the other emerging improved after this, so here's what you should know on both fronts! We're doubling up because the first channel only has uploads from one album and I only felt comfortable spotlighting two songs without getting too repetitive, so a single-video channel was sourced.

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Fuller - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UC_vmb5Gu_u_dKwscM4LOI8Q)

Owner: If anyone, Fuller frontman Jamie Vincent, but this channel is auto-generated to facilitate Fuller's newest studio album being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 27th, 2025; All videos uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: This channel solely features all ten songs from the local midwest emo/post-hardcore band's second album "II", which was released to major streaming platforms as part of their mid-2020s revival, with the release sandwiched between Fuller's two reunion concerts in December 2023 and July 2025

Why You Should Watch: If you were a fan of Fuller's dating back to their early-mid 2000s heyday, and/or are a fan of this era of emo and alt-rock, you'll definitely enjoy hearing "II", which finally saw Mark/Nathan-era originals of theirs recorded in studio as originally intended! However, the band has not made their 2002 self-titled EP (the one where no song was titled) available to match.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

And I End: The most popular song on YouTube Music from this album is its second track and first advance single "And I End", a slower but melodic number that will appeal to emo fans of the era while also still harbouring a raw DIY indie rock edge! Fuller are represented here by singer/guitarist Jamie Vincent (ex-AlgomA) and bassist Mark Rand (Cross Dog), with David Peredun (Convergence) taking over drums for Nathan Sauve, who retained writing credits. Producer Dustin Goodall (who guested with Fuller at Rotaryfest Stage 2 last year) provided "additional instrumentation" on the album, but they didn't specify his exact roles and on what songs.

 

Six: Fuller ended this album with a re-recording of the untitled sixth song from their self-titled 2002 EP, even bringing back original drummer James Kersley to record backing vocals for it. While it is currently the least streamed song from "II" on YouTube Music, it's actually one of my favourite cuts on the album, so I wanted to highlight it anew. Technically beginning with a two minute intro at the end of the preceding song "Kerosene", the 2025 revision is louder, has a more satisfying ending, and is a better produced, in-your-face midwest emo song that builds and gets the point across with an interesting trancey vibe. I'll likely be moving Fuller to our inactive band links next month, but it would be neat to see Jamie and crew make new versions of the rest of their first EP at some point down the road!

 

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xCrimsonCrusade's Channel (http://youtube.com/xcrimsoncrusade)

Owner: A member of 2010-2013 local/Central Algoma death metal band Crimson Crusade, exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 13th, 2010; Only video uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: The original YouTube channel for "The Crimson Crusade" saw just one upload, featuring an audio recording of their original song "Left For Dead" from an empty theater, credited as "thy shitty demo". They apologized for the recording quality, blaming the sound tech, but I'll let you determine if the only comment is from the same sound tech. As best as I can gather, this features original singer Curtis Moir, guitarists Devon Lucier (Pillory) and Brent Beaulieu, bassist Riley Marshall, and Curtis' ex-Inhuman Methods bandmate Robert Crossley. Despite the audio quality, there is promise here for death metal fans, especially given that members were still CASS students at the time, but the vocals do sound somewhat forced, and they would develop a Death-influenced technicality by the time their 2013 album "Upon The Eve Of War" came out, so give that a listen afterwards!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around July 26th when we look at another randomly selected channel, this time Stonesmyth, featuring many original songs and videos from the defunct local hard rock project Stone Smyth (R.I.P. Troy), so look for that then, and for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Woodward Avenue Studios

After a road trip-accelerated delay, here is this month's YouTube Channel Profile in our second post today! This monthly feature looks at a randomly selected YouTube channel whose uploads are at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk musicians/concerts, and this month's selection gives us a prominent and extremely talented local metal band, albeit an earlier glimpse as their studio work before their current lineup fell into place. Here's what you should know on this sunny Thursday!

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Woodward Avenue Studios (http://youtube.com/woodwardavestudios)

Owner: Convergence guitarist and Woodward Avenue Studios owner Brendan Christie, also known from prior work in local bands like Late & Loud, Stillbroke, and The Hydra's Teeth, and as co-host of the Late & Legends podcast

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 12th, 2009; Current videos uploaded from November 2023 until October 2024

Channel Summary: Originally a personal use channel that predated his best known local band work, Brendan converted the channel into focusing on his current progressive metal band Convergence in 2023, with the channel branded after Woodward Avenue Studios since 2024. All videos prior to late 2023 have long since been taken down from the channel, and Brendan exclusively uploads "Shorts" videos here now rather than standard videos, so all are vertical and typically under a minute each. The vast majority of the twenty-four "Shorts" are focused around Convergence teasers, but their most recent video hypes up Woodward Avenue (formerly Yellow Room) Studios for other musicians' professional recording needs.

Why You Should Watch: The limitations of "Shorts" acknowledged, this channel is still worth watching for fans of Convergence for some of their most frequently updated video content! While the channel likely still serves a purpose given that it is branded after the studio, Brendan has since focused on uploading videos (both regular longform/horizontal ones and "Shorts") on the band's own YouTube channel, suggesting that Convergence are prioritizing the newer channel for official content. Note that "Shorts" on the new channel are often jokier for social media promotion than the Woodward channel got. Still, the older channel does have some of the last extant public content from their second EP, so fans won't want to overlook it!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Chimera Teaser: Possibly because it was forgotten in the culling of prior instrumental-era Convergence social media accounts, teasers for the band's early studio material make up most of the content on the Woodward Avenue channel. I wanted to highlight their very first "Short" here because it features an audio sample of "Chimera", an original song planned for their 2023 debut EP "One" that did not make the final cut for one reason or another. Convergence were represented here by Brendan and his brother-in-law Jake Valois, both on lead guitar. Visualized here via the song being tracked on Mixcraft 9 Pro Studio, this minute-long teaser is effective to sample what was a promising prog metal track, even if unreleased!

 

 

Glass Statues Short https://convergencessm.bandcamp.com/album/dead-and-dreaming #metal #metalcore: Ten of the "Shorts" on this channel are sub-minute long clips of songs from Convergence's first two EPs "One" and "Dead & Dreaming", and the latter is particularly notable because the band delisted it from streaming after relaunching as a full band with singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio and drummer David Peredun. The band has signalled plans to re-record songs from "Dead & Dreaming" for their forthcoming album, but this channel wasn't wiped, so if you want to hear that EP's initial instrumental versions, you have a partial way. I preferred "Glass Statues" out of the five songs on "Dead & Dreaming" thanks to its melodic structure and variance, even if the EP had heavier songs than this, and while a potential full-band version could still be ahead, it is nice to hear this again!

 

 

You are not flesh playthrough #metal #djent #guitar #metalcore #guitarist: Eight videos on the Woodward Avenue channel are of Brendan and/or Jake playing along to their studio material, including two Kraken Mara-era clips of them playing "Stratus" at the Bushplane Museum in 2021 (mainly to hype their endorsement of Halo Guitars). The most popular video on this channel is a playthrough video featuring Brendan playing "You Are Not Flesh" (the first unveiled song from their unfinished third instrumental EP "Gemini") in September 2024. Will this be reworked with vocals and live drums? Time will tell, but Brendan lays down the gauntlet here with professionalism and technicality in a promisingly heavy sample, and there's more to look at from Convergence's instrumental beginnings on this channel!

 

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I hope that you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Then next installment (hopefully moreso on time) is scheduled for around June 26th, so look for that then, plus more news and notes soon, as well as this month's CD review! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Bone Yard 225

After a slight delay, 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 musicians/concerts! This month, we drew a channel from a prominent veteran local band who have been hard at work in the 2020s, so here's what you should know!

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Bone Yard 225 (http://youtube.com/boneyard225)

Owner: Likely Bone Yard 225 singer/drummer and local graphic designer/event organizer Greg Simpson

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 5th, 2024; Videos posted from the following month through January 2025

Channel Summary: Though active locally since their 2009 beginnings as a country cover band, Bone Yard only launched their own YouTube channel in 2024, coinciding with their expansion into original songwriting as a southern/hard rock trio. Their channel includes three lyric videos for their three released studio tracks so far, a brief clip from the 2024 Dragonfly Run featuring their music, and a teaser for a radio interview.

Why You Should Watch: "Boneheads" will likely be mostly interested in this channel for the YouTube copies (with lyrics!) of their original songs, as the Dragonfly Run video features one of those songs again and the interview teaser obviously doesn't have the full recording. While the guys haven't visibly updated this channel in over a year, your local 225 are far more active for posting and sharing videos on their Facebook page, and (recent break acknowledged) are still active, so hopefully we see some more YouTube activity and original music when the time is right!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Dragonfly Run: Bone Yard 225 are well known for their charitable involvement in Sault Ste. Marie, including performing at and promoting the annual Dragonfly Run (née Ride For ARCH), which made its debut at its current Grand Gardens homebase in August 2024. In their second upload to YouTube, the band shared this video of motorcycle riders hitting the road from the Grand Gardens to kick off that year's proper rally, with their debut original song "F.A.F.O." as backing music. complete with on-screen text to thank all involved. Kudos to Greg, Kerry, the rest of the band, and all staff and volunteers for supporting the hospice for so long!

 

 

Gypsy Spell Lyric Video: The three studio original songs posted here include the aforementioned "F.A.F.O." and "The F Word" (originally named "Fuck!"), but the most popular and longest of the three is "Gypsy Spell" from January 2025. Another lyric video, this features a slideshow of live photos, fans, logos, and promotional images, with the song being about being seduced by a woman under the titular spell. As on the other songs here, Greg is joined by guitarist Alex D'Ettore and bassist Warren Reville. I'll hold comment on this song proper pending our review of Bone Yard's album-in-progress, but fans of "the dirty three" will enjoy the danceable hard rock on offer!

 

 

Bone Yard 225 on the "Smart as Trees" Podcast on theborderline.ca radio!!! Wed Jan 29th @ 12 noon!: The title of this video does a lot of the explaining on its own, but this 67 seconds-long teaser (their last YouTube upload to date) features a slideshow of photos relating to Bone Yard's appearance on local internet radio station The Borderline, where they were interviewed by Adrian Vilaca for an episode of Smart As Trees. The band used "F.A.F.O." as backing music again, but spoken word studio bumpers that Greg, Alex, and Warren recorded at the time are also layered in. This was an informative 40-minute interview that outlines their then-current status and future aims well, if with some adult language, so give it a listen on demand above!

 

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our latest randomly selected channel is that of Woodward Avenue Studios, the locally based recording studio owned and utilized by members of Convergence, so look for that on or around May 26th, and stay tuned for more news and this month's CD review soon! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Craig Harrison

It's finally time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as again shine a light on a YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk concerts/artists, as randomly chosen from our YouTube subscriptions! This month's selection takes us to Sault Michigan (well, by way of the Lower Peninsula) for a look at a prominent local musician's YouTube output from the late 2000s through the ensuing decade, so here's what you should know!

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Craig Harrison (http://youtube.com/craigharrisonshortdog24)

Owner: Theatre Of Night keyboardist Craig Harrison, also known from past local/Grand Rapids bands like Integrated System Of Machines, End Of Existence, and Dust N' Bones

Channel Timeline: Launched on February 11th, 2008; Videos uploaded from April 2010 through September 2020

Channel Summary: A personal use channel, Craig noted in the description that, as he is "a composer, singer, songwriter, adventurer, etc..., my channel has a bit of weird variety". Most of his 34 videos include in-studio performances, either jams/rehearsals with bandmates or solo performances on keyboard and sometimes vocals. Craig's channel also includes two live concert videos (one of him on stage, one of the mosh pit at a 3 Inches Of Blood show in Detroit), some studio samplers and introductions for Theatre Of Night, and non-musical videos ranging from a comedic rap song to outdoor sports-centric to a timelapse drawing of a zombie to one featuring corrections officers from over 25 years ago.

Why You Should Watch: This channel will primarily be of interest to fans of Craig's 2010s work in Theatre Of Night, giving a bit of a behind the scenes look that is especially notable, as not all of their official content and pages from this era is still online in 2026. The existence of an even rarer I.S.O.M. live video shouldn't be overlooked either! The rest of the videos will have a mixed appeal for most, but Craig wasn't lying about this channel having "a weird variety"! For more recent official Theatre of Night videos, visit that band's active YouTube channel and their social media accounts.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Integrated System Of Machines- I.S.O.M. live: While outviewed by the aforementioned rap song and corrections video, Craig's most popular video otherwise is also his first, which sees his old local epic metal band Integrated System Of Machines playing their self-titled song on the Ozzfest Stage at the annual Carnival Of Chaos Festival in Stanton (four hours south of the Soo) on June 27th, 2009. Joining many other bands as openers for Taproot that day, their exact lineup here isn't 100% obvious, but it is good seeing Craig and singer Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten on stage again, and while the video is shaky, you can't be too harsh for an almost 17 year old concert video, and it sounds good for its age. Strong charging song with a catchy chorus and good aggression without getting too extreme! Yes, that does appear to be Craig's future Theatre of Night bandmate Rachel Mender on backing vocals.

 

 

Darkness Falls Within: A good array of solo performance videos by Craig made their way to his channel, mostly of him on the keys (though Dust N' Bones fans won't want to bypass his singing on some clips), while some of these have extraneous video filters added in post-production. Despite being the primary leader of Theatre Of Night, you don't often see videos that really show off his keyboard skills, and this April 2014 performance of their original "Darkness Falls Within" is as good as any for that. The filter is completely unnecessary, but this is a fine showcase of their epic symphonic qualities with a dark ambiance, so if you're not familiar with their non-Christmas material, this is a good introduction! Hear the full version at this link.

 

 

Late night jam session with Theatre of Night and Flesh for the Beast members: In his final channel uploads aside from a shred video in 2020, Craig Harrison posted videos from an April 2018 jam session featuring Theatre Of Night bandmates Steve Giles (guitar) and Erik Sales (drums) plus guest musicians from their friends in Grand Rapids death metal band Flesh For The Beast, who Steve was an alum of. Both videos (including this 13 seconds-long one) feature different F.F.T.B. members on bass, one presumably being Craig Riley, but Craig H. didn't specify names in the descriptions. There are some odd reflections, as if Craig H. was filming behind glass or plastic, but the performances here are sound, and it'd be neat to see Theatre of Night do more with Flesh Of The Beast, live or in studio! Just a shame that Erik was largely obscured behind that pole from this vantage point.

 

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will be back on or around April 26th, while our next monthly feature post will be our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post tentatively scheduled for Thursday, pending how weekend concert previews are blocked. That's all for now, but look for more on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!