Local Music – Page 4

Friday night videos episode 80

As another summer – or at least what’s considered summer by modern culture – comes to an end over this Labor Day weekend, this episode will highlight some of the places we may be able to go see live music until the summer of 2013 begins.

I’m going to start with an event coming up in just a couple weeks, the Save the BreastFest on September 13 at Pickles Pub in Ocean City. This was something I recorded at the very first rendition in 2009 with Witches Brew – a band which is participating again this year.

Coming up in October are two events on consecutive weekends, the Good Beer Festival (13th and 14th) and the Autumn Wine Festival (20th and 21st). Once again, these events will be held outside Salisbury at Pemberton Park.

To represent the Good Beer Festival I’m going to use Naylor Mill, who played at the first one in 2010, and Everett Spells’ 2009 AWF performance gives you an idea of the mood of the AWF (hopefully without the rain this year.)

Once we get by Halloween, there has to be a use for those expired pumpkins. Punkin Chunkin has grown from being a gathering of a few hundred to a nationally recognized early November party. Representing this show are my friends from Semiblind who played there last November. This year the event will be held November 2-4 outside Bridgeville, Delaware.

Yes, it always seems to be windy during those October and November days. And once the “shoulder season” has passed around these parts, we take things indoors with a holiday musical tradition called 12 Bands of Christmas. Last year I recorded Slackjaw doing the Pantera classic ‘Walk.’ No, it’s not exactly a holiday song but I like it, warts and all.

Normally the 12 Bands of Christmas falls on a Saturday in December, but in my experience it’s been held anywhere from the first Saturday to the last, depending on venue and band availability. So we’ll call this one TBA.

The same principle – get a lot of bands together and have a go at it – reigns at the Spring Luau, generally (but not always) held around the middle of March. From 2011, here’s a Gravitate original called ’40 Hours.’

And last but not least, as the weather begins to warm and spring is in the air, we crank up the grills and the decibels with Pork in the Park – the 2013 edition will be held April 19-21 at WinterPlace Park outside Salisbury. This, by the way, is the most popular music video on my monoblogue channel, with over 500 views.

So there you have it, the calendar tour until next summer. And now a few words about this Friday Night Video series.

After a nice round 80 episodes, this will be the last one. I think three years of doing these is plenty and to be quite honest it’s getting to be more of a chore to put these together than it’s worth. In my mind I basically have a choice: stop doing them or invest in the video equipment to do them right because I’m sort of embarrassed by how some of these videos I’ve shot and featured turned out. But I don’t have that sort of money laying around.

Moreover, these posts don’t really lend themselves to website viewership at a time when I have many more important things to discuss – that discussion is broadened considerably if I have people come and read the site! There’s no question I enjoy (and support) local, original music and I’m still going to do the occasional Weekend of Local Rock post because I still like doing them. In fact, I’m considering something for my next WLR which may be an opportunity to liven up and improve those posts. But I think the second concept of Friday Night Videos – originally, it was mainly political – has run its course.

And because I am a political animal at heart, I will leave this series with something in that vein; a TEA Party anthem if you will. I have featured this video a number of times before but it’s one that I still enjoy watching. I think this singer would be a splendid person to play at the new Heron Ponds amphitheater next summer, even if she’s just opening up for someone else.

For one last time, here’s Ava Aston with ‘We The People.’

With that, I leave Friday Night Videos behind. Thanks for watching.

Weekend of local rock volume 48

Yes, it’s been awhile since I’ve done a WLR post – almost four months to be exact. But there was a reason I put this together so quickly, for it is also somewhat newsworthy. (After all, Channel 16 was there too.)

But if it’s a rock show you wanted, it’s a rock show you got.

I’ll get back to headliner Riot Act later, but first a few words about the facility itself. For some, this may have been a buzzkill:

Now I understand there was security there and, as you’ll see in a moment, food and beverage vendors. But what’s going to happen with this policy are parking lot parties – I saw one group with adult beverages significantly stronger than the $5 beer they were selling.

Still, there were a couple beer tents and one food tent set off to the side.

While it was a little pricey (on par with the food prices at a fair or festival) I will say they picked fairly well, as Adam’s Ribs has pretty choice chow.

There was also what I presume is a VIP reserved seating area for tonight’s Kellie Pickler/Chase Rice show already set up. It was all but empty last night, though.

Obviously the facility is still in the process of being completed, but it will be interesting to see how they run the shows once they have things in place next year.

Anyway, this was how the place looked as I walked in. Front Page News was playing.

I would say perhaps 300-500 people were there at that point. As you can tell, it was cloudy out and the forecast called for a chance of showers; luckily the rain held off.

That allowed me to get relatively close up to get this shot of the opening band Front Page News, which was honored to be the first band to play the facility and did a nice job with their classic rockers. I only heard about half their brief show, though.

Shortly after Front Page News left and while Blue Junction set up the crowd was treated to a natural light show thanks to a gorgeous sunset.

I didn’t get as good of pictures as I would have liked of Blue Junction, but I thought their set was the highlight of the evening. They were the one band which mixed in some of their originals with covers of legends like Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention they had DJ Flea between sets and the youth dance troupe Feet of Fire also provided entertainment. The lead singer of Anything Goes liked having the dance floor – such as it was – filled by these young people, although she joked that they would have feet of filth afterward.

Anything Goes sort of lived up to its name as they did a number of song mashups, like the ‘Heartbreaker’-‘Heartbreaker’ duo where Pat Benatar morphed into Led Zeppelin and back again. I guess it’s a unique way of entertaining when you have a 45-minute set and want to do about 15-20 songs.

I’m sure it kept this guy busy.

You may notice in some of these shots the backdrop says “Riot Act.” Well, they were the headliners and no one else had a curtain to cover theirs. Both they and Anything Goes made liberal use of the dry ice fog, though.

Now I’ve seen Riot Act a couple times before so I know they play a variety of rock classics from the Eighties era. But I have two minor criticisms of their show.

One is that Riot Act seemed a little bit uneven and out of sync, particularly in the middle of the show. The other is that they played a couple of the same songs that Anything Goes did – in the vast territory of 1980s pop-rock, there was much more than ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and ‘Separate Ways’, but they were played twice, and by consecutive bands, no less.

I know many bands at multi-act shows change their set list on the fly, so why couldn’t Riot Act?

Obviously this free show was used as a shakedown cruise for tonight’s main event, where I would guess there will be as many or more than the perhaps 1,000 people who were there for at least part of last night. I would say this turned out to be a success for the new facility, which will hopefully be made even better once they make it more of a true amphitheater with berms and a dedicated seating area.

But I think they need to relax the no-cooler rule because, if they want to promote a family-friendly facility they can’t price the family out of going due to the cost of food and drink. Maybe they need to start a Sunday afternoon local free concert series where they ditch the no-cooler rules – they can even pass the hat for a free-will donation to keep the facility going and/or local charity.

Despite those flaws, we will see if Doug Marshall has a hit on his hands with the Amphitheater at Heron Ponds or if it will be another idea which doesn’t fly on Delmarva. Tonight’s show will be a test since the forecast is less than optimistic.

Update 7:30 p.m. Saturday: “Less than optimistic” was an understatement as 2″ of rain has fallen on Salisbury today – unfortunately the Kellie Pickler show had to be scrubbed. Maybe next year.

Friday night videos episode 79

I’m returning to my grooveyard of forgotten favorites for this episode, beginning with Not My Own.

Checking in is Semiblind, with their version of an Eagles classic recorded by Kim.

I recorded this one myself, as the band We Might Collide made its debut with me in the house.

On the other hand, I have no idea what happened to Saints of Chaos. But I liked this song.

Okay, I’m going back to Semiblind but there’s a method to my madness. I have a theme for next week’s episode, I wanted to play these two videos, and they don’t fit the theme.

This is one of my favorite originals I’ve heard from them, although being there was better because the solo was cookin’.

So was this one, which was a unique video I did because it featured just the guitar.

It was recorded in the early spring rather than summer, but as I recall that was a helluva show.

That’s it for this week, so keep on rockin’ the summer!

Friday night videos episode 78

I decided to dig into my personal archives for this episode, hopefully uncovering some hidden gems.

Since my daughter Dani came from there last week I thought ‘Ohio’ (as done by the band Gravy) was a good start. I recorded this 2 1/2 years ago at Seacrets.

Closer to home, one of my good neighbors occasionally plays in Cherrybud. I recorded this at a windy Punkin Chunkin a couple years ago.

I’m just adding this one because I was digging the old bluesy classic.

At the same show was Jason Lee, performing as a solo act.

This one I’m including because I always liked the song, and Semiblind does a good job with it. Love the wah-wah pedal effect with the guitar.

My enjoyment of the original song also goes for this Cult classic, redone by Skip Dixxon and Livin’ the Dream.

I’ll wrap up with this one, which is actually a song I featured a couple weeks back but done in a live setting by Naylor Mill.

Until next week, keep rockin’ the summer!

Friday night videos – episode 77

This is sort of a tribute to a staple of summer: the TV rerun. The videos I’m featuring this week are the same as I used in an episode from July 8, 2011.

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Let’s begin with this up-and-coming group of young whippersnappers caught on Live Lixx the other day. They’re known as Hot Sauce Sandwich.

They’ve been playing around the area and seem to be embarking on a familiar route as they work hard to get their name out. Consider this a little more help.

I really like these guys, and Not My Own is beginning to become a little more of a regional band. This was recorded in New Jersey a few weeks back – it’s a song I’ve featured before but in a new venue.

I don’t doubt they’re working on new material, too. It will be interesting to see when they have a full-length formal release.

The other day I was listening to this CD and wondered if the Baltimore-based Se7enth Seal had any videos on YouTube. Well, here’s one of their song ‘Isomorph.’

Haven’t heard much from them of late, but they just may run in different circles.

This is something else I happened to toss into my CD player this week. Hey, I’m on the road quite a bit. It comes from Woodstok Nation.

I recorded that way back at the tail end of 2009 and I think I’ve used it before somewhere down the line. But it’s still pretty good.

Another underrated local band which does originals and that I like to feature on occasion is Lime Green. This one is ‘Psychadelic Dream.’

I recorded this last month at Third Friday. And Kim just wanted me to record a couple songs because she had to leave early – little did she know.

By the way, this month’s Third Friday is next week. Not sure who’s playing, though.

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It was fun and easy to put that together! Next week I’ll return with some newer stuff. Until then, keep rockin’ the summer!

Friday night videos – episode 76

Tonight I bring you more clips and interesting stuff from a variety of local musicians. I’ll start with what looks to be a fairly young band call We Are The Weapons.

I won’t give them props for running a video camera but the song is okay as a beginning. I know bands just starting out need a place to play and The Refuge has served that purpose. It’s the next step beyond the basement or garage, and there’s probably a thousand bands out there just like We Are The Weapons.

A few steps beyond them is a band called Naylor Mill – I’ve featured them a time or two before. I think this song was part of an acoustic set as part (or maybe as a supplement to) the Local Produce program back when Bob Daigle (who uploaded the video) was involved with it.

A radio station with a more formal studio and better equipment is Ocean 98, where this Aaron Howell original was recorded way back in 2007. I always liked the song and it really deserves more than 11(!) views.

Speaking of Ocean 98, Marla Robertson (who does a weekend show there called the Sand Jam) also had a side job playing with the cover band Agent 99. Here they did an old Grand Funk Railroad classic at the late Steer Inn Tavern.

Another venue for live music bites the dust. *sigh*

Third Friday doesn’t seem to be on its last legs quite yet, though. I remember covering this band as part of my Weekend of Local Rock series, but don’t recall this song from Skyway Nine. It has more of a sense of humor than most.

I’m going to return to Bob Daigle to wrap this up, just because I like their version of this song. It’s been on here before, but it’s been awhile. Why? Well, there’s some things in the world you just can’t explain.

With that another edition of FNV moves into the internet ether. Until next week, keep rockin’ the summer!

Friday night videos – episode 75

There’s no real theme to this week’s episode, so let’s get down to it.

I believe I featured another song from the now-defunct group Deep Sea Research awhile back, but here they jam to the Beatles classic ‘Come Together.’

This bluesy number is an original from the band 7 Days Wasted, recorded a couple years ago. It’s a little dark but the music is still good.

This video has an interesting story attached. I found it on the Order 6D-6 page, but it’s actually an older song done by a band in which two of their members formerly played called Multiple Personalities. They recruited a drummer from another band they used to play in and remade the song. I thought it was a good song to include, and it’s too bad the original band was derailed by one’s struggle with “seriously abusing his favorite drugs.”

I featured this up-and-coming band a couple weeks past, but this is a different song from Red Angel.

Red Angel opened last night for the Charm City Devils, a Baltimore-based band which has received attention and airplay for a remake of ‘Man Of Constant Sorrow’ so perhaps this band is going places.

Finally, I know it’s been hot outside but this event is right around the corner. I recorded a few videos last fall at Punkin Chunkin and so did whoever recorded this from the Mari Hill Band.

But autumn isn’t here yet, so keep rockin’ the summer!

Friday night videos – episode 74

Last week I warned you that this week’s episode comes from the grooveyard of forgotten favorites – bands I enjoy which have gone by the wayside or at least aren’t active right now.

As an example of the latter, one could go with local favorites Hard$ell. They have pummeled many an ear around these parts with their extremely heavy sound and perhaps as they express in this song, “we’re not dead yet.”

But I don’t think “It Has Begun” for this group, as Se7enth Seal seems to have come undone. Fun while it lasted?

Yet another speaker killer. I remember Property coming up from Virginia to do their first show in the area, and this was their opening song.

If you survived that onslaught, congratulations. I’ll take it easier on you since it’s not just metal bands which have gone into hibernation. This quirky but talented quintet has sort of disappeared from view after a couple years under different names – at this point they were known as Boats to Tangier and I was at this show. Even the venue has disappeared into the mists of time since there no longer is a RiverFest in Salisbury.

I have featured this song before, but it was a different configuration of musicians. Matthew King seems to have folded his solo act in favor for backing Paul Lewis, but this version of ‘So Strange’ was under his nameplate.

The last two are an interesting case, because members of the two joined forces to form We Might Collide, a band I featured in FNV 71. Some of the group comes from the Baltimore-based band Fourth Element, which is featured in this well-crafted video.

The other part of WMC comes from remnants of Lennex, who was huge around these parts a half-decade or so ago. This is one of my favorites from them.

The good news is that my writing off of Lennex may be premature, as there’s a reunion concert billed for August 11 in Towson featuring We Might Collide and veteran (but still active) Baltimore rockers Skitzo Calypso.

But it’s a sad commentary on our area that some of these talented bands couldn’t get the push to go national. And it’s also worthy of note that I compiled most of these bands out of my personal CD collection – although I don’t have every track I featured, six of the seven bands are sitting on my CD rack. I probably have a half-dozen more where I couldn’t find a video.

Of course, in this era of free downloads it’s easy to find new music. So why not try and keep the ones we have out there alive by seeing a show or buying a track or EP? Support local music, people – and…

Until next Friday night, have a great week and rock the summer!

Friday night videos – episode 73

I understand tonight is Friday the 13th, but I’m not going to bust out a hockey mask and go all Jason on you. (That is the correct pop culture reference, isn’t it? I’m no slasher film buff.)

Instead, I’m going to toss out some stuff you may not have seen, and, as I alluded to last week, feature my three most watched music videos on my YouTube channel. They’re some of the many I’ve recorded and uploaded since 2009.

But first I wanted to feature a good new band, with a song that put them on the map with me. This is Red Angel.

Another band I heard first through the Local Produce show was bigtimeshipwreck. I chose this song because to me it represents the hard work that goes into making a live show so special. Maybe they weren’t looking for it to be seen but I saw it anyway.

I’m not a huge fan of covers, but sometimes there’s one which catches my ear. So it was with this version of ‘Addicted’ by local favorites Vivid Season.

Another, less conventional cover was done by a band which is no longer among us, as Order 6D-6 apparently went their separate ways. I think I have this song as one of my videos as well, but this version of ‘London Dungeon’ is probably better quality.

Another band I miss, one that was active in the area around the middle of the last decade, is Philadelphia-based Not Alone. This is an acoustic version of one of their more popular songs, ‘In Angel’s Arms’.

As I promised last week, there are some quite popular and well-watched videos from my YouTube page. Because I featured #4 last Friday, I’m going to do the top three in reverse order here, beginning with number 3 from Petting Hendrix. It was recorded at the same 2009 Save the BreastFest show I recorded Chrome Donut at.

In at number 2 are local favorites Lower Class Citizens, which I recorded as they wrapped up the inaugural Good Beer Festival in Salisbury back in October, 2010.

And now my most popular music video, also recorded outdoors but at a different venue. From the 2010 Pork in the Park festivities, Smokin’ Gunnz reprises the Lynard Skynard classic ‘I Ain’t The One.’ But it is the one with the most views.

Next week I think I’m going to meander along the path I established with Not Alone and see what else I can dig up from bands which are no longer with us but in video form. Hey, it’s my series.

Until next Friday night, have a great week and rock the summer!

Friday night videos – episode 72

There was a little more of a break than I envisioned when I did my last episode at the tail end of last year, but the good news is that FNV is back for the summer!

Since summer is the silly season of politics and I like my bands when I can get them, I’m bringing back this series each Friday night through August. So for the next nine weeks rock out the summer with some new stuff and old classics I’m bringing back.

The first song is a tribute of sorts to a supporter of local music – the ‘Live Lixx at Six’ series on Ocean 98 (WOCM-FM). The background song comes from The Permilla Project, who’s featured at the end of this video.

Another Live Lixx video goes back to the early days when DJ BK and Leslie did the show as a tandem, and features The Aaron Howell Band.

Moving out of the Irie Radio studio, I included this song because the singer’s husband never sees Too Much Fun. It’s an old classic rock chestnut from a group which used to be known as 8 Track Flashback, but it’s good anyway.

Keeping with the female vocal theme – but switching back to original music – this is a band called 14-5 out of Pocomoke. You know, I’m not digging the unkind comments on the video (if you look at the YouTube page) unless they’re willing to go out and try it themselves. I know I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.

Another female vocal, from a group I’ve probably featured more than any other, Semiblind.

To close out, I wanted to give you a brief history of this series. It originally started out as a weekly review of some of the many political videos I was receiving back in 2009, with my first episode put up July 24 of that year. It wasn’t until episode 8 in October that I did music videos, and this was the very first one I selected.

For a long time, the Chrome Donut video was the most-watched video on my channel and it’s still #4 among music videos. This leads me to a good idea – next week I’ll feature the top three as I look back, while adding some new stuff as well.

Until next Friday night, have a great week and rock the summer!

Weekend of local rock volume 47

It’s not meant to be exhaustive, but I decided the couple bands I shot at Pork in the Park were worth a post. Can’t do politics every day.

First up was a band called Anything Goes, which was playing when we arrived. To be honest, we did quite a bit of our walking around and photography while these guys were playing, so I wasn’t hanging on every song they played.

Having said that there were a couple songs which perked my interest, including some old Pat Benatar and their versions of current hits.

But once I recalled these guys were coming next, I knew it was time to go get my dinner and find a place close by where we could listen.

Smokin’ Gunnz is a veteran of several local festivals, and the reason they keep being invited back is that there’s a wide audience here for what they like to play: Southern rock.

And they put on a good show, with the unusual lead singing drummer Bob Morris.

These guitarists made for a hammering combination, Mike Brady and Terry Sherry, respectively. I always liked how Sherry plays.

Kim was more partial to this guy, guitarist Chris Della Porta.

Here’s a rock n’ roll veteran. According to the band’s bio, Brady has been playing in bands for nearly forty years.

Once the Gunnz wrapped up the show with some Lynard Skynard, those listening went nuts.

Smokin’ Gunnz hails from Pennsylvania, so they’re not necessarily considered local rock. But they play down this way several times a year – not just at Wicomico County shows, but in other venues as well. Most of their upcoming shows are in their home area but they will be following the bikers in for Delmarva Bike Week later this summer as they have done for the last couple years.

It’s worth mentioning as well that we didn’t stick around for the two headlining acts, although I’m not sure if the show went on anyway because the heavy rain which ruined Sunday at the event started later that evening. One was a Blues Brothers tribute called Briefcase Blues, while the other, Tuesday’s Gone, devoted their show to the aforementioned Lynard Skynard.

Unfortunately, those who run Pork in the Park haven’t returned to an event I liked because there’s no rock station sponsoring it anymore. Instead, they did it as a country show for Friday night and sorry, I don’t do weekend of local country.

But maybe if they can find a bigger locale they can go to a two-stage setup like the Good Beer Festival had last year. It’s another idea for that hopper.

Weekend of local rock volume 46

All seasons must come to an end, and so it is with the Ocean City off-season. While tourism is the lifeblood of the area economy, it’s not as good for local, original music. Those who come “downy ocean” from origins like the Baltimore area, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey seem to want the tried, true, and familiar so club owners hire DJs and cover bands for the summer and some bands have a harder time being seen.

On the other hand, a group of local multi-band shows punctuate the fall and winter months, with many of them occurring at the behest of promoter and local musician and radio program director Skip Dixxon. The 10th Annual Spring Luau is one.

It was a gloomy evening that didn’t remind me of spring when they got together.

A murky early spring night in Ocean City.

Nevertheless, I arrived a little after what I thought was the 4 p.m. start time and found out it began at 3, so I missed The Hooplas and barely caught the last two songs of Dust n’ Bones.

Dust n' Bones was second up.

Neither of them were their namesake Guns n’ Roses tune, which is disappointing. I think it would be a great closing song for them.

But the winner for best-named band, hands down, had to be Drink Drank Drunk.

Band number 3 - Drink Drank Drunk.

Their playlist was more reminiscent of an early ’70s band than most – when was the last time you heard ‘I’m Your Captain’ by Grand Funk Railroad on the radio, let alone by a cover band? Growing up in the Midwest it was more of a staple song, but I wasn’t sure GFR made inroads to the East Coast.

Another Midwest favorite, Rush, made it onto the bill of Witches Brew.

If you don’t believe me, here’s their (somewhat altered) playlist.

‘In The Mood’ is a forgotten gem from the Canadian trio, obviously done with a twist with the female vocal. And Susan was springlike in her non-black attire.

EZ Action also featured a lady, and also reached back into the early days of what’s considered classic rock (as opposed to oldies) by reviving bands like Spirit and Badfinger.

I also liked the appropriate Spring Luau attire.

Anchoring the middle of the 12-band lineup was Petting Hendrix.

They were rocking enough to cover a somewhat more modern playlist but fun enough to do their own version of The Jeffersons theme (‘Movin’ On Up.’) Definitely different.

This photo wasn’t taken during that song, but I liked it enough for inclusion.

Returning from the D.C. area to do another of Skip’s shows was Hightest.

Their set was more in the hard rock vein as they jammed out with some Van Halen and Alice in Chains, among others.

Interestingly enough, we were a little ahead of schedule at the time so the sound guy got to play a couple as part of the Bob Brown Project.

Literally they did two songs before clearing the way for Vivid Season.

If you can read upside down, here’s what they played. They managed to get all these songs into their timeslot.

And I like how this picture came out as well. If there were a picture of rock n’ roll I think it would qualify.

I’m going to add another solo picture here. This lady did not sing or perform, but she had a difficult task.

She was holding up the camera to record Bride Dressed in Black’s performance.

The very active, very intense Christian-themed band blends hard rock and hip-hop with mostly original songs. They also had a little bit of swag (which the young lady pictured above was in charge of) and they certainly made more fans at the event. In fact, they jumped around so much that the guitarist in the center with the red guitar must have landed wrong and twisted an ankle or knee – by the end of the performance he was on a stool. Hate it when that happens.

The lead singer here may look familiar.

Loud Love and Drink Drank Drunk share the same lead singer but Loud Love plays a more hard rock set featuring a batch of Van Halen.

Believe it or not, they were almost through. The last band standing was The Phantom Limbs.

I like The Phantom Limbs and I’ll tell you why. Not many bands take all the influences they seem to have and make them sound this fun. They can play a seven- or eight-minute original jam and it’s all good.

So we can all thank the guy in the middle of this for putting the Spring Luau and other shows together. By the way, I have no idea who the lady was who asked me to take the picture or who the other two guys were, but here you go. Use it for what it’s worth, whoever you are.

It’s just another weekend of local rock around Delmarva.