News From the Pit

By Eddy Metal

Yes! 2016 is finally here. Thank god. Last year sucked balls. It's time to move on to better things! Better health, more positive happy people, and great new friends. I'll be honest, I lost people I cared about a lot in 2015 and it sucked for me. This last month especially sucked! It was probably one of the worst Decembers I can remember. Losing someone at the holidays can do that to a man. Thankfully, I'm about over all that negative crap, and over people who don't care about anything but themselves. I see light at the end of a dark tunnel and I plan to run to that MF as fast as I can! There's no sense in being bummed about something or someone you cannot change. People and friends come and go in and out of life like pairs of shoes. Some you keep around for sentimental value, and some you get rid of because they don't fit anymore. I have underestimated my character, integrity and worth, but now I have seen the light (that I am a good man with a good heart) and I am feeling much better about things and I want to return to kick some major butt in 2016.

I want to rock out, write some more good music, play wicked shows, form another metal band, go out West again (I'm planning it now! Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Nevada maybe.), get my Rock For Kosair benefit going again, possibly acquire a new music showcase somewhere good, and I wanna have a lot of fun now that I am once again single after many years. These last few weeks were pretty dark. But now, being single doesn't seem nearly as bad. I haven't been single in so long I have most likely lost my touch on how to approach women and converse in a cool manner. I used to be pretty good at it when I was a young 'un. But now that I am 46, I find it awkward and stressful.

So much depends on those first few minutes anymore. It's hilarious, I am on a dating site, and I've been contacted by some freakin' C.H.U.D's! That is my new saying I've been using for ugly people like myself. Actually it is from an old super cheesy Eighties' horror movie called C.H.U.D (Cannibalistic Humaniod Underground Dweller) . Apparently there are many more males looking than women looking. A few women friends that I know on there said that they had hundreds of dudes contacting them daily, many of them even sending penis pics! I've been talking to one tattooed cutie nurse, but we've never gone out yet, but she wants to.

Anyways. Online Dating. It's scary. And now that meet markets like PHT and Jim Porter's, are closed down, where does one lonely old long-haired rocker go to congregate with potentially cute single womenfolk? Sheesh, I dunno. But I hope to find out soon!

I did go out with a few that weren't C.H.U.D's. One smoked me out with cigarettes so bad I thought she breathed only cigarettes. She made my cigarette loving ex look like a beginner. You almost could'a cut holes in her neck and she could'a smoked a pack at a time! Same difference! And I went out with another that I used to date 900 years ago that still likes me. And another who invited me to a concert and was guzzling two beers at a time till she got sick and had to leave! I almost got yakked upon like dude did in The 40 Year Old Virgin! Yay. Fun fun. All that was missing was her slurring "I want some fuuuuckin' freeeench toast!" Is this the types of women I should expect from now on? Lol.

Nah. Not for me. I like quiet laid-back good girls who appreciate a good man. I'll just wait till I find what I'm looking for. I always manage to meet someone I like, even if takes a bit of time. I can wait.

In the meantime, it's on baby!! Let the dating madness begin once again!

Wish me luck, I'll need it!

P.S .It's a short column this month. This time of year is usually pretty slow scenewise.

The Metal Grapevine

R.I.P. Lemmy Kilmister:

On Monday December 28 the rock world lost a legend. Lemmy Kilmister, of the metal band Motorhead, was a unconforming beast of a musician and a role model to many, including myself. I had the pleasure of meeting him back in '97 or '98 and he was one of the coolest rock stars I've ever met. So down to earth, so laid-back, so smart, so friendly. I was in awe, kinda like Cousin Eddie when he met Wayne Newton in the movie Vegas Vacation! He was never an egotistical douche, and always did things his way, and people loved him for it. Lemmy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, and within a few days of being diagnosed, he was gone. The rock world has been shaken to the core by this news. I'm sad to see Lemmy go. R.I.P. Lemmy.

Breaking Benjamin @ Mercury Ballroom in February:

An acoustic performance by Breaking Benjamin will be happening at The Merc on February 10. This should be a hot ticket. And will probably sell out, so get your tickets now. I saw them at louder than life and was very impressed. I'm looking forward to this show, and all the ladies they will bring! It will no doubt be babefest 2016!

Get your tickets NOW! You have been officially warned! Here is a lil' preview of some acoustic BB.

Rock The Holidays Benefit @ Hard Rock Review and An Apology to Chadillac Dundee for some BS that occurred:

Most people cannot be trusted these days. You think you know someone well, and then, wham! You get a big big shitty surprise! Betrayal. That goes for quite a few people in my life lately. I have a huge apology to make to a band that my band played with very recently. This is so wrong it literally makes me sick thinking about it. It seems a brand new member of my band, a guy who has been in my band for barely two months (if that), stole gear from another band at one of our shows. At first I thought maybe it was a mistake or he accidentally did it, but that wasn't the case. He purposely did it. It was caught on camera. It was him acting alone, stealing from fellow musicians. I'm frikkin' horrified.

The band whose gear was stolen was very upset, rightly so. Who wouldn't be!? The band got their stuff back after much bullshit. He was Fired from our band immediately when we found out he was guilty. We don't tolerate people of that nature. You have to be able to trust your bandmates.

The thing is, my band Year Of The Gun, a band that has been playing Louisville nonstop for seven years, is a great bunch of older experienced positive musicians with homes, families, jobs, good credit, and top-notch gear already. The original members of YOTG would never steal, period!

So we, the original members of YOTG, would like to apologize to the band Chadillac Dundee, some super cool guys we were hangin' with at the show (the drummer even helped me load gear in!), for the actions of our former guitarist. Had we saw him doing that crap we would have stopped him immediately! We didn't know he was like that at all, and we are shocked, and mad as hell that he would do that. Especially after we had bonded so well with the guys at the show!

I felt like shit, and I didn't even do anything wrong.

But thank god, all was recovered. And the situation resolved. My band was left without a 2^nd guitarist once again though, and now those two months of hard work teaching dude the parts is gone out the window, and we now have to go back to the drawing board to find a replacement.

People suck! One person's mistake is sometimes all it takes to wreak havoc on many good people/band/project. I would also apologize to the venue for that mess, and for understanding that we had no control over what our new band member did. I liked playing there and would love to do so once again.

As for the show? Wow. It was fun and for a great cause. Promoter Kristi Stewart raised a huge pile of toys for the kids, and a decent amount of money for Chase, the little boy with cancer. Way to go Kristi!!

You rock chick. To me, this is what playing music is all about! To help folks with your music. It's not about "How much money do I get?" like a lot of douchebag rockers are these days. I could never be like that. I don't do it for money. Never have! The bands that participated were Wildwood, Klinch, Despite The Fallen, Chadillac Dundee and Year Of The Gun. I didn't get there in time to see Wildwood.

Highlights of the show for me were, Klinch doing Crue's "Home Sweet Home" and it sounded great! The singer of Klinch has gotten much better on vocals. He sang it much better than Vince Neil does nowadays Despite The Fallen's (Bowling Green) whole set. Those guys are the real deal, and Trevor Smith's voice is phenomenal. One of my favorite singers active in the scene now. I could hear those guys jam all day.

Chadillac Dundee put on a great high energy and funky set of good catchy, soulful rock/rap/funk beats!

I think that was one of the first times I met and saw those guys live, if I recall correctly. I'm old and my mind don't work so good anymore! I was impressed! The riffs aren't the most complex, but who said they have to be? It's the soul and rhythm that counts and these guys got that down to the tee. I thoroughly enjoyed their set and I don't even like rap rock that much. Vocalist Chad Dunkel is one fast rapper. He is really good and articulate. I'd be a bumbling fool if I tried to rap anywhere near that fast. He works a crowd well too. And I though my band Year Of The Gun sounded pretty good as well. I was on fire on guitar! I'm such a ham. That's what sobriety and dedication will do for ya! I never get hammered before playing! I'd worry too much about sucking or falling or forgetting shit. Nah, it's best to go into a show straight and ready! I might drink a beverage or two once I get onstage though! Then it's on!

Anyways, Thanks to the Hard Rock Cafe (Jacob, Stephanie and Kristi) for being so cool to us bands, for the free food, good sound, and for allowing local unsigned music there! And most of all for helping the poor kids and that sweet little boy Chase! What a classy move!

And total props to the bands who played.

NYE w/ Flaw and Friends:

Wow, what a fun night! Good friends, a fat crowd, and rockin' bands. Couldn't have been a better NYE. I had several options for NYE, but I wanted to support our local artists so I went up to Trixie's and I'm glad I did. Flaw killed as usual. And so did all the other bands. I love all those bands on the bill that night. Such cool, laid-back, friendly MF'ers. Guerrilla Red sounded the best I've heard them. Aaron Fogle was on fire vocally and guitarist Matt O'Riordan was a fireball of energy and stage presense. Their drummer I may have overlooked, too, dude was absolutely murdering those drums. Great set guys! Despite The Fallen was great as usual. I love those guys too. Such nice people. All of them. I heard that the singer may be leaving the band. I hope that isn't the truth, because those guys are special together. They truly have something. It's like a well made cake with all the best ingredients. BUT... you forget one vital ingredient, like flour, and it just wont be the same. I hope he sticks around.

Their song "Sinking" is my favorite tune in the scene right now! Those vocals are powerful! Chadillac Dundee came on and had the crowd from the get go. Vocalist Chad Dunkel tried for the first time live (I think) to play guitar and sing that super fast rap at the same time (that would be a bitch to do!) He said before the show that he was nervous about it. But no worries bro, you nailed that MF. And all with a pretty stout cheesy buzz too! Signal The Revolution was good as always too. Those guys never put on a bad performance. I think if they did, they would melt like the wicked witch of the west. I can see it now, "I'm melllllting, I was out of keeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!" Nah, not those guys. Marple was killing those guitar solos, and has become somewhat of a guitar hero in recent years. Bob "The Beast" Lewellen was as solid as ever on drums. I'd love to throw some of my riffs at the Bobster and see what he could come up with on drums! It would be beastly!

Signal played a new song that sounded good! My dumbass kept losing the cap to my new camera's lens (that kept falling off), so a few times I was wandering around the venue with a flashlight looking on the floor like a jonesing cokehead looking for nuggets in the carpet! At one point I found the lenscap on the stripper stage! I was never on the damn stripper stage! Where I found it indicated that I was onstage doing pole tricks! I'm sorry to report that my fat ass was NOT doing pole tricks on NYE! I did, however, tip a dancer once during the evening. Just once! She had a lovely tater too.

Some photographer came up to me and basically said I wasn't allowed to shoot pics. That he was the house photographer. I laughed. I was thinking "MF, I've been covering local music, taking pics, and playing music since you were in yer dad's nutsack. Back off before I get mad." He musta seen my expression, so he backed off. Smart move homeslice. Me? Not allowed to take pics at a local show?

PSSSHHHH! F**k off!

Flaw came on right after the NYE countdown and kicked some ass. I checked out a few songs, and they sounded killer. Those guys are super tight nowadays. The skill level is through the roof. Ryan's killer backups, Volz' voice sounded smooth and relaxed, and Jay's guitar was thick and crunchy w/ cool effects when needed. I liked how they had the effects sounds in between songs to kill time to tune or whatever. Very cool sounding and smart. I was tired, my foot was starting to hurt, and I was half buzzed by then (I don't drink much) and had to go home for some extracurricular activities. The night ended up well. A perfect ending to a shitty year. I didn't get to play that night as planned (because of some BS I had no control over), so that sucked. But I still got to go up, hang out with killer musicians and cool peeps, at a cool frikkin' venue that I love to go to. I got to relax and drink and have a good time. No gear loading/unloading or hauling. So that was kinda nice.

I'm lying, I would have rather played and hauled two tons of gear up five flights of stairs!

What can I say, I'm a total ham, I love to be onstage with my guitar playing my cheeseball music!

Oh well, you can't win them all. I'm gonna try my best to find Year Of The Gun a new 2^nd guitarist ASAP so we can kick some booty in 2016. If you mofo's know anyone, please send them our way!

Thanks to Flaw, the supporting bands, Trey Landrum, Alex Fairfax, Kristi Stewart and husband, Mike Taylor for the awesome sound ( and for letting me borrow your flashlight, you need batteries now tho!) ,and to my bro's Kris and Daymon for chillin' with an old metalhead. You guys made for a fun night!

Thunderstruck@ Mercury Ballroom Review:

I was bummed out and needed to get the f**k out of the house, so I went to the Thunderstruck tribute show at the Mercury Ballroom and had a good time! I've never been a huge AC/DC fan, but I thought I would go and support our cities fellow musicians. This show was special because it was also a tribute for the recently passed Allan "Angus" Wheatley, the guitarist for Thunderstruck. It was a celebration of Allan's life, and one heck of a rock show. I had never seen these guys before and it was pretty awesome. Lead singer Dave Moody does a great job impersonating a young Brian Johnson. Note for note. That would absolutely kill my voice to try to sound like Brian Johnson for just a few songs, let alone a whole set of throat-busters! I wonder if he can even talk after a Thunderstruck show? Props to Dave though, as he is the perfect man for the job. He sounds just like Brian in his heyday! The band brought in Caleb White, a guitarist from Indianapolis, to fill in on guitar, and the guy was real good and had that pure no-nonsense AC/DC jean wearing hippie vibe! Another perfect member! All the members did great. Drums and bass were spot on! The band even brought in extra musicians to fill out the card of rockin' local musicians!

They brought in local guitar heroes guitarists Jon Huffman (of The Big Rock Show, who dressed up as Angus!), Hunter Borowick (Unleashed) and Doug Florio (Kimmet and Doug) to kick some ass, as well as vocalist Bobby Stamper, who does an amazing job singing some Bon Scot. Bobby did really well! The band waded through classic AC/DC songs with ease and had the decent crowd going pretty good! It was an emotional affair, as predicted. Everyone seemed to have a great time. These guys are on to something big here. They've had some pretty big shows out of town, and things are looking good for the Thunderstruck family! The best of luck to those guys and I hope they continue to shine on the road to success.

I give Louisville's AC/DC tribute band Thunderstruck two thumbs up!

It's looking like guitarist Caleb White will most likely be joining the band full time. Smart move.

Guerrilla Red Demo Review:

Alright, here is the brand new Guerrilla Red. If you are not familiar with these guys, they are from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. I've got two tunes in front of me. The first is called "Whore." It starts out with an Incubus type musical vibe that quickly moves to more of a Tool-like sound. The vocals of Aaron Fogle sound great. He has come a good ways in the last few years, for sure.

I'm digging the riffs, all the way around. Cool, driving, muted picking, groove-laden chunkage. With a thick catchy bassline over it. Bassist Erik Marchand is a beast on the bass. The drums sound real good, too. I don't hear too much of a hip-hop influence in this new stuff. But that's okay by me. It's more like a progressive modern rock tune. It's a well-written song with different types of vocals to experience, from a soft whisper to an all-out scream. Things get really cool vocally at the end because of layering and backs working in unison. The end result is badass. I like it. The music is subtle enough so anyone can get into it, but also heavy when needed. The best thing is the groove. It's there and it is strong. The force is strong in these E-town rockers. Plus, they seem like good dudes, too, especially Aaron. He had my old band Krosjoint play a show in E-town a few years back and it was fun.

The sound quality of this recording isn't bad. I'd like to hear what these guys can do in a bigtime studio! The next song is called "Get Up." The song starts out with beeping, which had me thinking my computer was acting a fool. I was like "WTF is that? Great, now what is wrong with my shit!?" This one is meant to get the crowd to go nuts. It reminds me of late Nineties Korn-era metal. Harcore-ish metal. When the vocals kick in it sounds cool. Nice vocalizations. It definitely has attitude. It's kind of an anthem song! The guitars are chunky and groovin' and get to an almost thrashy state. Once again, I don't hear that much of a hip-hop influence. Maybe they are moving away from that genre with their new music? If anything, it's like Anthrax meets Bizkit meets old Korn! I never was a big nu-metal fan, so I like the first song better than this one. That first song is the mac daddy. I would have liked to have heard more soloing, though. Over the groovin' riffs. Just a lil' bit. It's still some good tunes, though. They always seem to get the crowd going well at shows, thats for sure. And they are ranked #1 on Reverbnation, which is pretty frikkin' cool. I like it when all kinds of people can see your stuff online, and it just isn't locally. In my day it was Garageband.com. I wish they would have kept that site around. I liked the "have to review to submit music" clause they had! That way someone new was always being turned on to your music. Overall, this is a good demo with decent quality by these talented E-town rockers. Good job, Guerrilla guys! Keep up the good work and I hope you fella's have a wicked 2016.

Guerrilla Update; It's a few days after I wrote this review. I saw them play last night, the best I've heard them, and I just gotta say that GR is a band you gotta see live. It's just one of those things. A band's essence can be hard to capture on a recording. I couldn't tell you how many times I've gone into a studio thinking "this is gonna be the shit!" but coming out not very pleased with the results. I'm not saying their demo sucks by any means, because it doesn't. I'm saying these guys thrive live! The energy, and way they work a crowd, they shine, live! And sometimes that is hard to put down on a recording.

Dave Moody's Lawless Radio:

Louisville rock veteran Dave Moody now has a radio show on Cinci's 88.9 Classxradio.com from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday! Dave will be showcasing new and classic rock and he will be throwing some local unsigned music in there as well, so be sure to tune in to possibly hear your band! Support Lawless Radio now! Go to the website and download the app.

40 Below Summer coming to Trixie's:

New Jersy nu-metal rockers 40 Below Summer are coming to Trixie's Entertainment Complex on January 15. Opening the show is Incursion, the Surviving Thalia (reunion) and the all new Intak. Here is one of their newest singles.

Nile @ Diamonds on January 12:

I'm not too much into death metal anymore, but I do like me some Nile, so I think I might head out to this one and see some badass riffage. It's at Diamond Pub on January 12 and it should be a beast of a show. Other bands are Abominanat, Dysphorium, Left to the Wolves and Into The Devine. 7:30! Be there, bitches!

Sonata Arctica coming in March:

Finnish power metal masters Sonata Arctica are coming to Diamonds on March 25. I've never seen them live and maybe it's about time I remedied that! They are pretty awesome.

Overload Seeking Metal Drummer:

The Louisville metal band Overload is looking for a drummer. They have some talented guys in the band, so if any of you bored metal drummers out there wanna be playing ASAP, with some good players, this could be your deal. Don't hesitate. Call 812-557-2577 or email cheyenne.powell@yahoo.com