Heidi Raye - Two EP's, One Review

When you think about country music what do you think of?  Is it "old" country music with personalities like Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Patsy Cline?  Or do you think of the "new" stars of the genre like Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton and Tim McGraw?  Do you think that the only people in country music are from Nashville or the "Deep South" and are only Americans?  Do you just assume that the music is without depth or substance?  There is an artist out there today that might just change any negative thoughts you have about an entire genre that hearkens back to the days of old, with the edge of today's artists and so much more.  Who is it you ask? Well...

Devil City Angels - Debut Album

For some time now I have been talking to people about a band that I saw for the first time in 2014 at a place called "Catfish Bend."  I began talking about the skill of this band and the pedigree that follows it and while I would mention that I promised them that when the band released its first album they would understand.  Would I be right?  To paraphrase the old adage "the Devil is in the details."

Vice Squad - Punk Rock Radio

Generally when one talks about the "vice squad" one expects undercover police officers posing as prostitutes or police officers that investigate illegal gambling and while both endeavors are quite honorable, well I'm not talking about them.  The Vice Squad I am talking about is a British punk band.  Yes I said punk, what else would you expect so read on...

Bret Michaels Band - Mississippi Moon Bar

When we all look back at our birthday parties of years gone-by many mixed memories can rush toward us with the speed of a rescue panther.  Many of us remember birthdays with large animatronic mice schlepping nasty cardboard pizza, or having some sort of obnoxious hat thrust upon our heads whilst strangers sing sweet, out of tune birthday lyrics in a plethora of different languages.  Occasionally our birthdays are marked with the simple passing of the day into night but for Bret Michaels his birthday was incredibly different.

Kip Winger - Mississippi Moon Bar

As the lights went down in the city (okay, a cheap Journey reference sorry) and the lights began to raise on the stage of the Mississippi Moon Bar in Dubuque, IA a lone man with an aqua guitar took the stage.  Kip Winger was his name and he was there it make his presence known, but did he?

RapeDoor

As I sat reading a message I received on Facebook a great friend mentioned that there was a band I should look up from Minneapolis, its name... RapeDoor.  The name has connotations that could be quite the catalyst in the smoldering craws of those that are easily offended.  The good news is, I am not easily offended.  What did I learn as I listened, keep reading.

Cornfed Bruiser - National Cattle Congress

The National Cattle Congress doesn't sound like a place where one might think good music would ever come from, not to mention a place where one probably wouldn't go to hear good music.  Had I not known of the caliber of band that Cornfed Bruiser was I probably would have never given the location a chance.  Despite that I had only heard Cornfed Bruiser through studio recordings so how would the band be live?

Royal Bliss - National Cattle Congress

The name "Royal Bliss" has some interesting connotations and potential descriptions that could be misconstrued if one doesn't understand what is attached to it.  Certainly one could make the "dreaded" assumption that the name is some type of tribute to the nuptials of whatever the names of the latest Prince meets non-Royal are but alas me thinks it not to be true (so I tried "olde English, sue me).  What could such a name mean and why is it inside a music blog?  Well...

Cornfed Bruiser - Sneak Peek

The magic world in which we live has forever changed with Al Gore's "baby", the internet (that still makes me laugh).  Previously I had written about a band that I found in the world of Twitter, Cornfed Bruiser and with that connection I was blown away by the music that I was hearing.  With that connection I was given a great honor by the vocal machine of Cornfed Bruiser, Robert Powers as he gave me a sneak peek with a couple new songs.  Are these songs just as good as the stuff I reviewed before?  Well...

Loveblast

While it is true that I think music today has been scarred by the likes of people with fashionable haircuts and those wearing meat products as clothing, there is something else in today's music that is redeemable.  The impact of the current "stars" of music pale in comparison to those undiscovered bands that are waiting in the wings to be discovered.  Every town, city or municipality has a band that one would swear should be just as popular as the current "stars" of the genre of pop music.  Given the fact that many rarely achieve such success, it shouldn't be surprising when a diamond is found in the gravel pounded down by the force of this industry.  Recently I found a band that is that diamond and SHOULD BE just as popular (if not more) as today's pop "stars".

2011 - My Year in Rock

What an interesting year it has been for me in the wild world of music which I try to find my way through.  Music is a subjective medium and despite any stereotype of what a "music fan" should look like is about as accurate as assuming all blonde men make great lawyers.  It was a year marked with live music, recorded music, this blog (and all of the social media I use) and venues I really never knew existed.  It sounds like a fun year, but was it really all that fun?

Bret Michaels Band - Prairie Capitol Convention Center

Springfield, Illinois is know for many, many things (its the capitol, politics, Abe Lincoln, prison bound former governors, etc.) and while these are all true, there is oh so much more to the city.  Sure its been the home to Abe Lincoln and his tomb, sure its the place where politicians have destroyed the entire state with mis-managment but clearly its known as the real hub of music in the entire Midwest isn't it?  What do Springfield and Bret Michaels have to do with one another, and am I really serious about it being the "real hub of music'?  Stick around and find out...

Prairie Capitol Convention Center

New Years Eve has a mystique about it like few other "holiday" events can claim (Christmas would trump all others I would guess).  The fact that those two days have a global acceptance help reinforce that mystique and often those days involve travel and occasionally those travels take us to exciting and exotic locations.  When I learned of my upcoming travel to a New Years Eve party, the potential for traveling to one of those exciting and exotic places may have presented itself.

Hairball - Mississippi Moon Bar

Feline issues are not the kind of things one might expect from a music blog and yet I have decided to write about hairballs.  It is surprising that such an issue would be talked about by a man that doesn't own a cat and the thought of me trying to ascertain how such a condition occurs is mind numbing.  So imagine being presented with the chance to see "Hairball"...  Live at the Mississippi Moon Bar.  I was scared.

The Devil's Heir

In my "journey" through the music I dial up every so often I find myself gravitating toward bands of a certain type.  Its not because I am a music snob, it has to do with the list I have created based on suggestions people give me or contacts I have made.  What I find is so interesting is the quality of music I have been hearing and more importantly I find that its music that YOU listen to.  When I found the band "The Devil's Heir", I was really happy that they were on that list.

Lita Ford - Tailgaters

Lita Ford.  That name is synonymous “Hair Metal” from that classic era buried within the ‘80’s, and I think more importantly she did so much more.  Consider that in a time when the males in the same category were wearing heels, spandex and more makeup than Tammy Faye, Ford was different.  What she did, what she accomplished was phenomenal and still she is “pigeonholed” with bands like “Vixen”, “Femme Fatale” and with the likes of Doro Pesch.  In an era where bands came and went so fast that you would swear they were taken away by UFO's, Ford was different but could she still be that good?

Heart Impaled

Music has an amazing effect on those that listen to it.  With the exception of some really disturbed people (and NO I am not talking about me) music can evoke emotions that we really never knew we had.  At times said music can run the gamete of emotions to such an extent we really don't understand what we just heard and why we might actually feel the way we do.  As I listened to Heart Impaled for the first time some of those thoughts came to fruition, but were the feelings good or really bad?  Well, keep reading then.

Tridon

While digging through my Twitter account recently I came across a band that I knew absolutely nothing about (shocker isn't it).  The band in question is named "Tridon" and after I listened to their music, I came away with a strange tic that I couldn't really explain.

Congress Theater

Having been at many interesting and really cool places to see concerts, it almost seems like when I hear of a concert being held at a venue I have never been too before, I jump on the opportunity.  With a concert of the magnitude of Anthrax, Testament and Death Angel in addition to the chance at a new venue well, I just had to go.

Congress Theater - Anthrax

Anthrax: "an infectious disease of warm-blooded animals (as cattle and sheep) caused by a spore-forming bacterium (Bacillus anthracis), transmissible to humans especially by the handling of infected products (as wool), and characterized by cutaneous ulcerating nodules or by often fatal lesions in the lungs." (courtesy of Merriam - Webster dictionary).  Nothing about that vile disease sounds cool nor does it sound the least bit entertaining.  Why would I want to discuss a transmissible disease on a music blog you may ask, keep reading.