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Issue:November 2020 Year: 2020

this one

News From the Pit

By Eddy Metal

Hey everybody! Be calm, 2020 is almost over! This has been one horrible year for everyone, including me. But I'm trying to stay positive and move on as best I can. It's been one shit-show after another. My best friend suddenly died in May, my beloved little dog died a month or so ago, the music scene all but shut down, I have had no national shows to review (and I absolutely love that shit!), my band Krosjoint broke up for some bullshit reason, then but mid-summer came and I finally found some happiness. I had finally found a decent woman, and since then I have been pretty happy, traveling, doing fun activities, and spending quality time together. I'm not used to dating someone who I actually like and want to be with 100%. A few times in the past I was pressured into relationships, and that's never something that turns out good. So yeah, things have been much better recently. My GF even recently got a Yorkie pup, so that has helped me tremendously to get over losing my Yorkie Roo a little over a month ago. Of course, no relationship is perfect. There will always be difficult times, there will always be arguments, and there will always be times when the relationship is tested, but the most important thing is, staying true, remaining calm, and working things out like adults. I have grown up so much when it comes to relationships, it's like I'm not even the same person anymore. I used to be one brutal, unfeeling bastard who knew no remorse when I was younger. I was very mean in the sense that I could hurt someones feelings so easily with no guilt! But as you get older, you learn from your mistakes. I changed, big-time. And I'm so glad that happened. It's made me a much better human being and I sleep much better knowing this.

One of the things I love about my GF is that she isn't on Facebook 24/7 and posting stupid shit. I see so many folks using Facebook these days as a tool to hurt people and it truly makes me ill. If it wasn't for my music, my music column, you kickass bands out there that I want to help, and you awesome people out there that are actually good folks, I would surely deactivate my Facebook account. I have never in my life seen so much hate and negativity on social media as I have these last several months. The arguing about politics and COVID 19 stuff is at an all-time high. Friends have been lost, and people who have gotten along perfectly are now enemies. It's ridiculous, arguing over something you have zero control over. I will be so glad when this election is over! I am soooo tired of hearing about this shit that I could puke!

As you can imagine, there isn't much to talk about this month, as there hasn't been much going on other than reviewing SWP, Fair Warning, and All Or Nothing on Halloween. I'm sorry, but things have been at a standstill, musically. I hope to god things will change here soon, for the better. I have noticed things are opening up a little bit more recently. The Enchanted Forest has had shows, the 21rst Amendment Tavern is now booking, Diamonds is booking again, Street Grubs 'N' Hops is booking steady now (I even saw an original band on the calendar too), and, of course, Louisville Billiards is the frontrunner in keeping things alive. I went to another show at Street Grubs 'N' Hop's on Halloween to see All Or Nothing, and had a good time. See these three reviews below!

Well, that's it for me.

I hope to see all of you at my band's show at Louisville Billiards on Friday, November 13! We will be kicking some ass and taking names. It's been a while since Year Of The Gun played due to our singer's throat issues and COVID, so I hope to see you all there to welcome us back. Please look us up on Facebook and 'Like"; our page for set time and band order!

God bless you all.

The Metal Grapevine

R.I.P Eddie Van Halen:

On October 6, the world lost a great talent. I grew up in the era of EVH, and it was a fun, fun time! His riffs were embedded in my brain. I wore out the 1984 album and a few other VH albums as well. We would sit in my friend’s garage and crank that shit whilst drinking peppermint schnapps. Gross! What was I thinking!? I remember finally getting to go see the 1984 tour at Freedom Hall with two female friends of mine, and, boy, did we have fun! It was like the "second or ^third concert I ever saw and it was one helluva show. Maybe one of the loudest ever, too! It was Van Halen in their prime, and what a great show it was. All the band’s best hits were played, David Lee Roth sounded good as he did his karate and swordplay, and EVH was a guitar monster for sure! EVH's pictures were on my wall as a teenager. And I've been a fan ever since. He died too young. At least he isn't suffering from the cancer any more, and he has left a legacy that will be damn hard to ever beat. R.I.P, dude. Thanks for all the great music, and good times! You will be missed.

All Or Nothing on Halloween:

We dressed up as Zombies and headed out to Street Grubs 'N’ Hops out in Saint Matthews for some 80's rock done by Alabama's All Or Nothing. You guys know I'm not much of a cover band guy, but I love this band. These young cats from 'Bama can really wail. I expected the place to be packed, so I reserved a table, but I was wrong, there wasn't near as many there compared to when Thunderstruck played not long ago. Not like I expected anyways. But I still had a good time listening to songs from bands like Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Poison, Metallica, Motley Crue, Van Halen, Tesla, AC/DC, Ratt, Pantera, Guns N' Roses, Warrant, etc etc. My era of arena jams! The songs were performed with energy, tightness, and a level of enthusiasm that you rarely see in cover bands. Guitarist Jacob Mann handles all the guitar chores well, and is a youth who has obviously spent many an hour studying his craft to be able to recreate leads of guys twice his age. He sure loves that yellow Ibanez guitar of his. Vocalist Brett Carlisle is a vocal paradox, whose talent is showmanship, working the crowd well by being a nice guy, and for hitting high notes that not many singers even want to try hitting. He sang hard songs like ";I Remember You,"; by Skid Row, and ";Livewire,"; by Motley Crue and those songs are not easy to sing by any stretch of the imagination. Well done! My GF even said 'that guy is very good, but he is going to wear his vocal cords out' by the time he is 40 if he keeps singing that way. That's a long way from now though, so he should just keep plugging away at doing these fantastic song choices that this band does. It is very refreshing and rare seeing such young skinny guys with long hair (as op"posed to seeing old chubby country-looking, short-haired dudes doing the 80's schtick) doing old 80's era songs like these. I love it. These songs were created in times that will never be forgotten "for a lot of people, and I am one of them. Some friends met us out at the club and we had fun, watched the band and ate some killer food. I ordered Pretzel Bites with Beer Cheese and a Street Burger that was at least 6 inches high! I had to dissect my burger to be able to eat the mofo. Good stuff though. The owner Jared Fox is a total foodie and makes sure that his venues have a good selection of stuff to eat. That was another reason I wanted to go there this night. I like Street Grubs 'N' Hops as a venue, but whoever had that big sliding door open right by the stage for half the night is an idiot, because it was 50 degree's in that place and people were freaking cold. That probably ran some people off for real. We had to move our reserved table back from the stage for that reason. But all in all, we had fun and I'd go back again for sure. More people need to know about this cool newer venue though, so tell your friends and get together with friends for some good food and rock 'n'roll. They have a steady calendar of rock coming in there and even an original band coming soon, I hear. I hope they start having more original shows there soon, because I would like to play there. The PA is decent and the soundguys seem to be knowledgeable and do well at giving the bands a good equal sound! I could hear everything good. Well done, Mark and Coy. We headed home, but decided to stop by Billiards for a few minutes to see Two Pump Chump and show off our zombie costumes, but ran into some asshole doorguy who tried to charge us and wouldn't let me in, even when I explained that the owner/main soundguy/head security had always let me in, and that I had never paid to get in even once, and that I am the guy who advertises/reviews their shows. The owner and other folks I know that work there weren't there, so no one was there who knew me, and rather than argue with this new hard-headed person, we headed home. We were tired anyways and weren't going to stay long, so no big deal. But what a lot of people don't realize is, I DO PAY to get into these local places, and all these thousands of national shows that I have reviewed in my day, I just pay in a different way! I pay by spending time writing reviews, taking pics, and studying the music and giving my opinions on the subject at hand! This stuff takes time, patience and sometime you gotta go through some bullshit, and occasionally deal with haters who are jealous of what you do. My final words are - grow up, move on! I have paid my dues 100 fold, and have earned every accolade I have ever received. So yes, I do pay, and have paid from the beginning of time! Ah, the things you have to deal with being a rocker in this day, and age, it's exhausting! But I wouldn't take it away for nothing. The times I've had, the memories I have, the thing's I've done. Truly EPIC. Thanks to Jared Fox for the Media Love! Keep up the great work.

SxWxP at Billiards review:

It's been a few since I saw this band that I used to be a part of for a short time. They are still a tight band, although they have went through a few member changes with drummers and guitarists. Now they have drummer Jason Proctor and man, does that dude kill on the skins. Dude is one of the best metal drummers in town for sure. Real nice down to earth guy, too. No ego or attitude ever in all these years I've known him. With the addition of Jason, they are tighter than ever as a band I think. The formula is still the same as when I was with the band, swampy groove laden original material that seeps whiskey-fueled, southernish metal tones. Bassist Freddy Griesbaum grew his hair out and has some dreads now, and sports a Richenbacher bass, which is cool. I'd like to have one of those basses myself! Freddy was always a nice guy. Guitarist Scott Smith was cranking out the jams on lead guitar as usual. You couldn't hear him very good this night, though, he needed to be turned up in the mix. With scorching leads like that, that shit needs to be heard! I wasn't a fan of the amp he was using, though. It didn't quite have the bite that that SxWxP sound required. An Engl or Bogner or Mesa woulda probably better a better choice for those molten lava tones, but that's just the guitarist in me. His playing was fine and dandy though. I just hated not being able to hear the lead riffs! Singer/rhythm guitarist David 'Sailori Bryant was rockin' as usual, and has gotten much better at playing metal guitar riffs (he was mostly used to acoustic) and singing at the same time. The riffs may not be the most complicated, but that shit don't matter, my riffs were never that difficult to play either, it's not about all that. It's about feeling and groove, and Sailor has that, for sure. His choice of guitar amps this night was not a good one though, and the two amp tones conflicted as the band tore through the energetic set of rockin' tunes. Sailor's amp sounded thin, tinny, and fuzzy, and did not do the SxWxP sound any justice whatsoever. I told him after the show, and I think he learned that there is no replacing a good old fashioned high gain tube amp head, and he won't be making that mistake again. That being said, the band was super tight, and they seemed to have a real good time rocking out to the crowd on this Friday, night! Sailor's vocals were pretty good. He was always a good singer, even way back in the day, in My Own Victim. Those guys in SxWxP sure know how to market and get word out about their band, thats for sure. That is one thing I was never really good at. So total props to those guys for making it happen! I had a stomach ache and wasn't feeling so great this night (I'm surprised I even went out), and it made me even more ill seeing someone I freaking hate at the show, so I didn't stay long at all. But I stayed long enough to hear some good music! SxWxP is a damn good band and I hope they get to finally go on the European tour that was canceled this fall because of COVID. Opportunites like that are rare, and I hate that it got ruined for them. Maybe 2021 though! If you like bands like Down, Crowbar, Corrosion Of Conformity, chances are you will dig some SxWxP. Check them out. I liked the newer song ";Cup Of Sorrow"; probably the best.

Fair Warning Review:

This Van Halen cover band band from Lexington is pretty good. It was pointed out to me by the club before the show even started that this was not a tribute band by any means, and that they did not have the look or stage show of a true tribute band. They were simply a local cover band that played Van Helen songs. I admit, this was a bit of a disappointment to me, as I am used to seeing/reviewing Tribute bands put on the whole shabang, music/looks/similar stageshow. But I imagine it would be pretty hard finding a frontman that looks/sounds like a prime David Lee Roth, or a beast of a guitarist that looks/sounds like the dutch guitar Virtuoso Eddie Van Halen. So the folks in attendance didn't get anything like that. Honestly, they looked like country dudes from Lexington. The crowd did however get a decent cover band with good chops, a good singer named Shawn Hatchell who can hit some pretty badass high notes, a guitarist named Steve Barron who did pretty good recreating the late guitar master’s style, and he even played a slightly watered down version of ";Eruption"; (I couldn't have done it! Ha! So props to Mr Barron.), and a rhythm section, drummer Matt Kash and Bassist Brandon Bobbitt, that more than held their own. So no, you ladies didn't get a sexy, long-haired, blonde fucker with his peter outlined in his skin-tight pants, and his pubes hanging out of his low cut bloomers, or a Jack Daniels bass guitar, or a massive drumset that takes up half the stage. But it was still a good time, and I was cheering them on regardless. They played all kinds of Van Halen tunes like ";Panama','Running With The Devil','Hot For Teacher','Jamie's Cryin',"; "You Really Got Me,' "Everybody Wants Some' and my favorites 'Take Your Whiskey Home,' 'Unchained' and Aint Talkin' Bout Love." They even played some Hammy Sagar era stuff like “Poundcake,” which is the only Sammy led VH song that I ever liked. The funny part is, I always liked Sammy Hagar on his own! Just NOT with Van Halen. Two totally different entities that should have never come together, in my opinion! Guitarist Steve Barron had a Charvel EVH guitar complete with signature taping and all, and his playing was fine, but his guitar amp left a little to be desired. The bite just wasn't there. It was more of an AC/DC tone. He should get one of the EVH Stealth amp heads, and that problem would be eliminated immediately. A few times, the vocals were a little off, but David Lee Roth isn't that easy to recreate for real, but it was clear this guy could sing very good! Props to Mr Hatchell. I'm just not sure singing VH is his strong point vocally. But other than these few things, these guys jammed! I enjoyed it. Playing/singing Van Halen is no easy chore, and I would be loathe to even try it! No way would I even try! Ha. So I give these guys a thumbs up for having the balls to do so, and doing a pretty good job of it in the process. Rock on!

Musician Of The Month is drummer Scott Ballenger of Two Pump Chump:

Be sure to check out his feature in this month's edition!

Zeroking's New Single "American Savior":

Check out the new stuff from West Virginia's Zeroking! They will be here in Louisville at 21rst Amendment on November 21. I love how dedicated these guys are! One of the most dedicated unsigned bands I have ever seen! Well done guys!!