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News From the Pit
ROCK FOR KOSAIR VIII RESULTS!!!!
This last month has been a total madhouse, but it's all over now and I am happy to report that the Rock For Kosair VIII benefit concert was a success. We didn't break the record this year like I had hoped, but it was still one heck of a show. The total take was $5830, and, after expenses (radio ads, venue, show costs),+ we netted about $4158 to buy toys for the kids at Kosair Charities. I want to thank all of you for making RFK one of the top local music shows of the year. It really means a lot to me and the people at Kosair. It's great to see the bands of this region come together for one good cause. It really has become one legendary party as well. Everyone had a blast. One concertgoer said to me that it was almost like a trip back in time, to when the scene was totally kickin'. I have a list of people to thank who made this show possible, as there was no way I could do this myself. Please take the time to read this list, for these people are good souls who should be commended.
A Special RFK Thanks to; All the bands who played and gave their time to help the cause. The cover bands especially, who actually lost money to be able to play this show, when they could have been playing out at a paying gig that night. You guys rock, thanks for the great time and effort! Much props to Grindstone, Scary Uncle, Jefferson TARC bus, Signal The Revolution, Unleashed, Thunder Tribe, Po Brothers, Jet Black Orchid, 449, BoneJinn, Krosjoint, Rock Brigade, Talk Of Spring and Luie Brangers. And special thanks to Graphic Designer Victoria George for making the cool RFKVIII flyer for the event. Great Job!
The Phoenix Hill Tavern for letting us use their venue year after year to put on this show. Mudd, Dwight and Charlie at Clear Channel Radio for giving us a deal on radio ads and plugging the heck out of the show for us on WTFX and WQMF leading up to the gig. Mudd comes out every year and helps host the event. This year he brought Hostess Cupcakes (R.I.P) to throw out into the crowd, who literally ate it up! The RFK Helpers who helped keep the show on track and helped with advertizing and other stuff as well – James Boaz, Bobby Moser, Allen Ashbaugh, Brad Akridge, Jeanette Lively, Jacob Edwards. The RFK Sponsors who so graciously donated so much for the cause – J&J Old Louisville Music Shop (who saved the day by donating a sweet Peavey hollow-body guitar when another sponsor backed out of donating a guitar at the last minute); Rick Borowick at B-Mart for donating a wicked (and expensive) Schecter Synyster Gates guitar; Uncle Sams Jamms and to the tattoo shops – Jeremy at TatuJeffersonMall, All the artists at Skincandy Tattoo (who donated over $1500 worth of ink! Thank you!), Snooky at Louisville's Finest Tattoos and Kevin Hicks at Gunslinger Ink. Detoxify Brand also donated three expensive and fancy iPods to giveaway! And photographer Damon Atherton donated a professional photo session to one lucky winner, plus he photographed the event and got some great pictures! The crowd got a lot of prizes this night, thanks to these awesome businesses/people. Karen Ernspiker at Kosair provided us with awesome RFK tee shirts and some really nice banners for the event, and she got us some TV exposure on the local news stations. Thanks to my boss at work, Brian Rickert, for letting me off the day of show to get stuff ready! And we cannot forget our lovely RFK donations girls who did excellently this year – The Deadhorse Cowgirls (what a great bunch of young ladies! Thanks to Bobby Moser for introducing us!), as well as Shelly Griffith, Deena McCullum and Jenny Hill. The donations received by these ladies really added to the cause and made a big difference! The way that people gave to this cause was awesome. Heck, one band who was not even on the bill, Reign Of Revelation, came to the show just to donate $50 to the cause. What an unselfish move! Pure class. Thanks guys.
Now For The BAD; The show went smooth except for a few hitches, one in particular I would like to address. I have chosen a winner for the "Douchebag Of The Year" award, and it wasn't even close. This guy takes the cake. Months ago when I was putting this event together I was looking for a sound man to bring in a PA and run the Tap Room. A Mr Challon Holt (aka Magoo) agreed to be that guy, and to bring a PA system and run sound all night. I asked Mr Holt repeatedly "Are you 100% sure you will be able to to do this? This is important, it's for the kids for Christmas and I cannot have any issues the night of show." I asked him this at least two or three times to make sure he could do this. He said don't worry I will be there 100%. The night of the show Mr Holt never showed up, or even called to let us know he would not be there. So the Tap Room bands suffered that night with a sub-par PA, and the whole Tap Room show was stressed out because of his actions. I sincerely apologize to those bands in the Tap Room for this stressful BS. Thanks to Jet Black Orchid for providing the mic stands in a time of need. The POS even deleted his Facebook account to evade the repercussions of his actions. This guy screwed me out of money several years ago and avoided me like the plague for years. He finally paid up and I figured I would be cool and give the guy a second chance by appointing him as soundman on this night. I made a mistake. Some people never change. I will not let this go. The guy can hide for ten years but I will remember this extremely selfish move until hell freezes over. Karma is a beeyatch, and we had a band, The Whiskey Riders, who canceled at the last minute because apparently they didn't like their time slot. That was very disappointing. I could have had my choice of bands for this night, but I chose them, only to be given a lame excuse days before the show, that wasn't even an excuse. Not cool at all. I had one person ask me not to print these negative remarks, but I'm sorry, I'm all about the truth being known. Bad actions should not go unaccounted for, and while I do loathe having to spill the beans on such people, sometimes the truth should be told just to prevent future acts of selfishness. There is no light without the dark, or good without the bad. I think that is one thing that sets my column/our newspaper apart from others in the region. We write about all aspects of our music scene, both good and bad.
Other than these two things we had a great night raising toys for the kids at Kosair. We are going to wait till the first or second week in December to go get the toys. There was no way I was going to brave Black Friday weekend or the one after. Ha.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I can honestly say that I am a happy guy mostly. I have both my bands back in action so I'm thankful for that. Money has really never been something that makes me happy (it's good to have though!). As long as I have my friends, family, music, wicked guitars, a cute female beside me, and you awesome people around to support the local music scene – I'm good to go. Just one thing would have completed my happiness – my father, but I cannot get into that topic just yet, for innocents will surely suffer, but one day, people! One day I will tell of the horrible injustice which has hurt my family so deeply.
Christmas is on its way. On Christmas Day, I will be 43 years old. Omg. Time flies! Before you know it, you are middle aged. I would not take any of it back, I have had an amazing life and the memories I have are ones you cannot buy! So be good to each other for the holidays and I wish all of you to have an excellent Christmas and new year. Peace.
P.S. this months column will be short because there isn't much going on, and I have had a hideous cold/flu for over a week now, and feel like I'm dying. Sooooo not cool.
The Metal Grapevine
Jefferson TARC Bus Has A New Guitarist:
JTB guitarist Wyndell Williams has decided it is time for a change, so he has parted ways with the band. They have been together in JTB for 10 years. The guys still love each other like brothers and there is not one bit of drama or ill will towards each other. JTB wishes Wyndell the best of luck and urges everyone to go check out Wyndell's new projects in whatever he decides to do. However, JTB must continue on and so the new guitarist of JTB is Junie Richey, former guitarist of Rathbone and White Noise. I used to see Rathbone all the time at the Toy Tiger and I always liked Junie's guitar playing! He is badass, and I think he will do a great job in JTB. You can see Junie let loose with the guys on December 1 at Phoenix Hill Tavern. Be there!
Flaw Is Back And Heading Out On Tour!!!
The new, revised Flaw is back and is immediately heading out on tour with new singer Andy Paul. I don't know about you folks but I'm curious to hear the Flaw classics being sung by Andy Paul. Should be a very interesting show to check out. Hopefully they will have a show in Louisville soon.
New Band Alert, Jackson Kings:
There is a new band in town, consisting of former members of the band Centerfold, a band that had a short but successful life in Louisville. These guys drew in a big crowd every time they played out and had people talking about them. That success was shattered in the breakup, hence the birth of Jackson Kings, a four-piece featuring three former members of Centerfold: vocalist/guitarist John Hager, bassist Jack Morley and drummer Corey Sturgill. The guys completed the lineup by adding guitarist Marcus Walter. The music has changed to a more Southern Rock/modern country sound, and the band has gotten the attention of Nashville recording engineer Kevin Edlin. who has worked with such artists as Keith Urban and others. I'm hearing some very good things about this new project formed not even a year ago. Jackson Kings have a three-song demo that is about to come out this month, so be on the lookout for a preview of what's to come. In the meantime, you can see these guys on Friday, January 4 at Phoenix Hill Tavern. Don't miss the debut of a new Louisville music entity.
The Lane Goodwin Childhood Cancer Awareness Benefit Show:
Lane Goodwin was thirteen-year-old resident of Kentucky who had battled a rare childhood cancer for two-and-a-half years. He may not be here today, but his inspirational story will live on forever. He never complained once throughout the course of his treatment and stayed strong until his last breath. He has earned his wings and made his way back to his permanent home. May he rest in peace! Although Lane has left us, we can honor and celebrate his life and bravery by attending the Lane Goodwin Benefit Concert at Diamond Pub and Billiards on January 12. There will be plenty of bands who are so graciously donating a performance for this childhood cancer awareness benefit. Bands playing are Zoo Kings, Signal The Revolution, Cameron Jayne, Two Pump Chump, Chase Allan, Manfred and more! It starts at 6 p.m.
Zoo Kings Back In Business:
After a several month hiatus, the Zoo Kings are back in full swing and are ready to rock out with their socks out. Guitarist /singer Bobby O has been in this scene a long, long time, even longer than me! It's good to see that he is back on track with dedicated new members, including bassist Billy Tilford and drummer Garret Harper. The Zoo Kings will be releasing new music, photos and video soon.
You can see the new lineup on January 12 at Diamond Pub and Billiards at the Lane Goodwin Benefit.
Rockaway Drive CD Review/News:
Well, I finally got the new Rockaway Drive CD in and I'm about to throw that bad boy in my CD player! These guys have had a rough time of it lately, and I am happy to report that the guys are back and stronger than ever! The guys have a new bassist and drummer and they sound great. The new bassist is Josh Carpenter, an outstanding bassist whose playing reminded me of Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. I could have done without his silk-screened basketball Jersey prominently featuring WWE wrestling superstar "The Rock." That shirt gave me nightmares. Just messing with you, Josh. Great job on the four-string, bro! The new drummer Joe Barnes was on top of his game as well. I've always been into European power metal and that is what these guys are all about.
There aren't too many bands around with this style and I commend them for sticking to their guns, despite the odds. The CD sounds good. Decent sound quality! Not too much production, which is refreshing.
Bosnian transplant vocalist Ado Kalajdzic has a very good, old-school, power metal voice. I used see him play bass in another band, but this is much more to his liking. He is very comfortable with a mic in his hand. I like the artwork and CD cover, it's some cool work. This music is very mid-Eighties sounding, and reminds me of early Judas Priest a lot. So far, I like "We Live" quite a bit. The chorus is catchy as hell. Reminds me of Judas Priest's song "Nightcrawler." "The Night Can Never Die" has an AC/DC type feel a little bit. Nice guitar in the chorus. "Dark Forces" is a rocking tune, maybe one the best I've heard so far. It's so much like Priest it's scary. I love Priest though, so go figure. Not sure I like the lead tone in this song, though. Too much reverb. The rhythm tones are okay, but the lead tones are a bit thin. I like Rockaway Drive but one thing I've noticed is that they need to upgrade their amp heads badly. Both guitarists jam on guitar but those amps do not do them justice at all. If these guys had something better it, would make so much of a difference (in my opinion.) They will almost have to, to keep up the new bassist's blistering tone! "Burning Metal" is one of their favorites. I hear some Iron Maiden influence in this one. These guys keep it pretty simple, no dreamy guitar effects, no intricate breakdowns, no gimmicks, just some good old-fashioned metal in your face. Very cool. Some nice emotional soloing in "All I See Is You." I like the ending of "Future Victim" when they change things up a bit and throw in a little effect on the guitars. The drum breakdown is cool. Sounds good! Nice vocals by Ado, too. This is a good band. People who love modern metal, the brutal stuff, probably wouldn't like this, but if you are old-school and love the classic stuff like Maiden, Priest, Helloween, AC/DC, then you should find something in Rockaway Drive that you like. It's good stuff.
Year Of The Gun back In Action:
I am happy to report that Louisville rock veterans YOTG are back with original members. Back in July, we lost our original bassist Lee Lanham and lead guitarist Matt Roeder, but all has been worked out and we are back together as a band. Things are sounding great and we look forward to our first show back on Friday January 4th at Phoenix Hill Tavern with Jackson Kings (former Centerfold members.) We even have a new song called "Lost." See you soon!
New Band Alert, Southern Born Rebellion:
There is a new sheriff in town, a new band called Southern Born Rebellion that is described as "boot stomping, backer spitting, beer drinking, bourbon gosling, head knocking, tire smoking, pantie dropping Southern Metal." The band is comprised of very experienced and talented individuals who have been in this scene for a good while. SBR is Jeff Toy/guitar; Jason Procter/drums; Todd Procter/vocals; Derek Hibben/guitars and Mike "Frenchy" French/bass. It's quite a lineup and a bunch of dudes that I like as human beings. These guys have been busy getting ready to invade the 'Ville with some high powered music and the time is almost upon us.
You can expect a show in a month or so, I am guessing. Get ready Louisville!
Upcoming Shows
3rd Street Dive
Saturday, December 15 – Overload and Rifle. 9 p.m.
Beechwood Park in Scottsburg Indiana
Saturday, December 15 – Rust N Bones, Tomorrow Never Ends, 18Xray, Pale sky and day, Of Ruin. 6 p.m. $7
Diamond Pub and Billiards
Saturday, January 12 – The Lane Goodwin Childhood Cancer Awareness Benefit Concert w/ Zoo Kings, Signal The Revolution, Cameron Jayne, Two Pump Chump, Chase Allan, Manfred and more! 6 p.m.
Hard Rock Cafe
Friday, December 21 – End Of The World Bash w/ Signal The Revolution. 8 p.m.
Haymarket Whiskey Bar
Friday, December 28 – Granshaw and TBA.
Headliners
Saturday, December 1 – Twizted w/ HedPE, Lil Wyte, Bukshot and Potluck. 7 p.m. $20
Monday, December 3 – Cannibal Corpse w/ Misery Index, Hour Of Penance, Created To Kill and End It With A Shotgun. 7 p.m. $20
Phoenix Hill Tavern
Friday, December 7 – (Evansville's) Deliver Us From Evil, Krosjoint, Devil And The Darkness, Popkiss Chainsaw and 18Xray. Free before 9pm. Only $5 after 9. Starts at 9.
Friday, December 14 – Two Pump Chump, Snow Black Sunday, Out Of The Ashes, Black Heart, Maddie Won't Smoke, My Two Cents and Trust Divided (Unplugged). 9 p.m.
Wednesday, December 26 – Korupter (Illinois), Day Of Ruin, Ballistix and Overload. 9 p.m.
Friday, January 4 – Jackson Kings (featuring ex-Centerfold members); the return of Year Of The Gun; BoneJinn; Talk Of Spring; The Tri Tones. Free before 9.
Union Station
Friday, December 7 – Granshaw.
Vernon Club
Sunday, December 9 – Like Moths To Flames w/ The Plot In You; Ice Nine Kills; Horizons; Assassins. 6:30 p.m. $12
Saturday, December 22 – Movement w/ Word BMX. 7 p.m. One cent Admission!
Wick's Hurstbourne
Friday, December 21 – Unleashed. 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.
