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George Morris & The Gypsy Chorus
Love your site! Keep up the good work.
Keep us in mind for content in the future!!! Happy Blowout.
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5.01.2014
VOYAG3R, JESSE SHEPHERD-BATES, ALMOST FREE, CARJACK
Voyag3r, Jesse Shepherd-Bates, Almost Free, CARJACK
This is a line-up worth writing about.
This is a line-up worth writing about.
Now how about the acts? Is there a thread that assimilates these acts? If there was it would be one of analog, moog, synth, syncopation; of unhurried rhythms that build and crash and follow no premeditated equation in getting there. In reality the greatest similarity of these four acts is their complete lack of similarity. They are each completely unique in genre and style and represent a cross-cut of the Detroit music scene and that is precisely why I choose this to be one of the best events of the Blowout.
For starters take Jesse Shepherd-Bates. Jessie is part of (or all of) JSB Squad, The Satin Peaches, D’Orchestra and The HandGrenades. Jessie will be playing a solo set on piano.
“All new stuff, can't say much about why I'm doing it but it's a preview of my next big project. My main focus right now is The HandGrenades.” - Jesse Shepherd-Bates
The HandGrenades just released a new video Tuesday, directed by Jesse, and have a new EP coming out May 13th. Check out the video: The HandGrenades are pretty amazing and the video is sweet featuring cinematography and editorial by The Work, Inc. I love Joby Kaslowski’s drum work on this EP.
Next up is CARJACK. What can I say? CARJACK played his first Blowout in 2007 and it landed him on the Detroit underground map. Since then he’s played with Electric Six, Deastro, Troy Gregory, and even been backed by full bands including Wildcatting and the Sights. He was recently nominated for a DMA for Best Video (under $10,000) and is one of the funnest acts in the city; think Buck Rodgers with a drum machine playing Descendents with Dollrods energy.
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| "CARJACK: Sounds like the Stooges played through an Atari. What's not to like?" - MotorCityRocks.com |
Voyag3r is putting the finishing touches on their debut full length LP (the follow up to last year’s Victory In The Battle Chamber 7") to be released on Bellyache Records. The 12" vinyl LP will be packed to the brim over 35 minutes of synth based horror/sci-fi/action adventure score rock. The album was recorded at the Tempermill studios in Ferndale. All vintage analog synthesizers, guitars and acoustic drums were tracked to 2" analog tape for maximum authenticity for vintage sound and spirit and is slated for release in mid to late August. For more information and update on this and other Voyag3r news, visit http://www.voyag3r.com
Thursday:
If you are into Folk/Americana, The Whiskey Charmers will have you staring into your glass of bourbon, thinking about escaping your most recent heartbreak by hittin’ the road. Paychecks - 9:00
Then of course there’s the Ragbirds playing at Rustbelt Market - 11:30. Ragbirds are ALWAYS a good time show!
Johnny Headband is coming out of live-show hibernation and their set at The Loving Touch - 10:15, features Lord Scrummage - 9:00, and will be a showcase for Detroit The Album – 11:30
The Paper Sound just released a new album, Trajectories, and their set at Capo Lounge - 11:30 will be a memorable event, I am sure.
Doop and the Inside Outlaws, Paychecks - 11:30 Don Duprie may very well be the best songwriter in Detroit. This is a must see Detroit act.
Friday:
I already gave you my Friday venue pick but a few other acts worth mentioning:
Woodward Avenue Brewers (WAB) has a great lineup with a Gangplank Records showcase including: Detroit's DUENDE!, The Thornbills, American Mars, Captain Ivory and The Blueflowers.
At 9:00 at Rustbelt Market you can catch Yum featuring someone I consider to be one of the most impressive young women in the scene, Elise Poirier. Hailing from Bay City and Freeland, this act blew me away the first time I caught them. They have a show coming up at New Way Bar with Duende! and The Ghost Wolves on June 27th
Blue Snaggletooth is proving that you can honor hard rock's past while pumping fresh blood into its future. Hop on board their spacecraft while there's still room for new riders. Jumbo’s Bar - 11:30
Of course, I can’t not add The Hentchmen, at Paychecks Lounge.- 12:45
Saturday:
Crooked Little Reasons at New Way Bar – 9:00
Palaces at Old Miami – 10:15 You can also catch Palaces June 17th at PJ's Lagerhouse.
Jumbo’s Bar with Disinformants - 10:15, followed by The Bomb Pops - 11:30
Lee Marvin Computer Arm, a band I have been consistently amazed by, at Magic Stick -10:30
White Shag at Smalls – 10:15 and stick around for Broadzilla – 11:30
Please everyone, be safe bouncing around the city and don’t drink and get behind the wheel!
4.30.2014
SUPERSUCKERS BRING THE HELL WITH NEWEST ALBUM
GET THE HELL
"If you don’t like the Supersuckers, you don’t like Rock-N-Roll."
- Lemmy Kilmister / Motörhead
After a nearly six year hiatus the Supersuckers are back with a
brand new album, "Get The Hell" (from the line in Born with a tail?) that is perhaps their greatest album since their 1992 ‘The
Smoke of Hell’ debut on Sub Pop. They’ve returned to their punk and hard rock
roots to reaffirm their self-proclaimed “Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll band in the
World” status.
‘Get The Hell’ is a fierce, hard-as-nails sonic blast from a band
that has always been a hard act to follow. The Seattle-based band rolled into
Austin, TX last July to record, tracking at Arlyn Studios and overdubbing at
Casa Studio, both with long-time associate Steve Chadie engineering. Mixed by
Dwarves front man/troublemaker Blag Dahlia along with Andy Carpenter, the new album
is hard rock ‘n’ roll straight up and down. This was no accident. They have
long-standing, true Rock ‘n’ Roll standard bearers Acetate Records behind them
and according to Eddie,“We definitely wanted this record to be tougher, and it
sure as hell is. I think it might be our toughest record ever.”
“The material on 'Get The Hell' is the cream of the crop of the songs we’ve written in the past four years. It’s kind of like your first record. You have all those years to make your first record, and then nine months to make the second one.” - Eddie Spaghetti
Dan "Thunder" Bolton: Guitar, Vocals - Captain Von Streicher: Drums, Vocals - Eddie Spaghetti: Vocals, Bass - Metal Marty Chandler: Guitar, Vocals
Shocking to me was the two covers tracks found on this album, (Depeche
Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” and Gary Glitter’s “Rock On”). The
Supersuckers work their mojo on these tracks and make them pure Supersucker’s
Rock ‘n’ Roll. Their addition of two new members, drummer Captain Von Streicher
(Throw Rag) and guitarist Metal Marty Chandler has really tightened the group
and been a catalyst for their latest assault on the Rock ‘n’ Roll universe.
"They played my birthday party. They rock!"
-Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam
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| Nick Marocco & Eddie Spaghetti |
"All I had known about The Supersuckers before seeing them live was their song “Evil Powers Of Rock n Roll” in Shaun Palmer’s Pro Snowboarder (PS2), I love that tune. Then I saw them live for the first time at The Magic Bag in 2009. There was only about 50 people in the place but they played like it was packed! Their shtick of the self proclaimed “Greatest Rock N Roll Band In The World” isn’t far from the truth, they are like Thin Lizzy with a more punk rock side, dueling guitars and a bass wielding front man (Eddie Spaghetti, here to rock your asses steady) , I’ve always loved their tongue and cheek humor in their lyrics and their live performance, they are a killer band that I always tell people to check out, they wont be disappointed." - Nick Marocco (Owner, Bluesairmen Guitars, (Garden City, MI) Drummer for Dark Avenger)
SUPERSUCKERS will be in Toledo, tonight April 30th at Frankie's Inner-City, and at the awesome Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, Friday May 1st!
Get the hell out and see the "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World!'
If you’re new to the world of the Supersuckers, here are the
basics: The band formed in Tucson, AZ in 1988, with Eddie and “Thunder” along with original drummer
Dan Seigal and guitarist “Rontrose” Heathman. Seigal left in 2005 and Heathman was with the
band until their previous album, barring a brief replacement by Didjits/Gaza Strippers
frontman-guitarist Rick Sims.
After relocating to Seattle, the band signed to Sub Pop in 1992,
the height of grunge. With cowboy hats in place and an unshakable rock ‘n’ roll demolition
attitude, the band was out of step with grunge, yet their hard hitting, tongue-in-cheek attack
was the perfect foil for the Sub Pop gang. The classic hard rocker Smoke of Hell set the
pace for their work with the label.
In ’97, they surprised pretty much everyone with Must’ve Been High, a left turn into country that featured Willie Nelson on a cut. They stayed that course with Steve Earle & the Supersuckers, an EP pairing country’s most punk singer with rock’s most country punkers.
In ’97, they surprised pretty much everyone with Must’ve Been High, a left turn into country that featured Willie Nelson on a cut. They stayed that course with Steve Earle & the Supersuckers, an EP pairing country’s most punk singer with rock’s most country punkers.
A leap to Koch International yielded Evil Powers of Rock ‘n’
Roll in ’99, while Sub Pop issued the best-of How the Supersuckers Became the Greatest Rock and
Roll Band in the World. In 2003, the Supersuckers form their own label, Mid-Fi, and release a
series of live and studio albums throughout the remainder of the decade.
4.29.2014
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM - REMEDY
This morning (April 29th, 2014) Old Crow Medicine
Show announced the release of their new album, Remedy. It will be out July
1st, 2014 on ATO records.
Old Crow Medicine Show embodies the true style of an American rambling
string band. They began by busking on street corners of New York state and
through Canada. Their travels led them to Boone, North Carolina where Doc
Watson discovered them playing in front of a pharmacy. Mr. Watson invited them to play
at MerleFest which immediately launched their professional career and
popularity. It wasn’t long after that they relocated to Nashville to take up
residency at the Grand Ole Opry, entertaining the audience between shows.
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| Kevin Hayes - Guitjo and Vocals, Cory Younts - Mandolin, Keyboards, Drums and Vocals, Critter Fuqua - Slide Guitar, Banjo, Guitar and Vocals, Chance McCoy - Guitar, Fiddle, Banjo, Vocals, Ketch Secor - Fiddle, Harmonica, Banjo and Vocals, Gill Landry - Slide Guitar, Banjo and Vocals, Morgan Jahnig - Upright Bass |
The band has since sold over 800,000 albums, toured the
world, been regular guests on A Prarie Home Companion, and played major
festivals such as Coachell, Bonnaroo, Cambridge Folk Festival (UK) and the
Newport Folk Festival. They have four full length albums: Old Crow Medicine
Show and Big Iron World, produced by Dave Rawlings, Tennessee Pusher, produced
by Don Was, and Carry Me back, produced by Ted Hutt. Their upcoming album Remedy is
also produced by Ted Hutt. Ted is the original guitar player and one of the
founding members of Flogging Molly. Ted left Flogging Molly to become a
full time producer and has since produced albums by The Gaslight Anthem, Mighty
Mighty Bosstones, Bouncing Souls, Chuck Ragan, Jesse Malin, and Lucero among
others.
In 2011 Old Crow Medicine Show joined Edward Sharpe and the Magentic
Zeros and Mumford and Sons for the inaugural Railroad Revival Tour. The
musicians traveled between shows across the American Southwest in a dozen or so
vintage train cars from the 1950s and 1960s. Emmett Malloy (The White Stripes
under Great White Northern Lights) directed an excellent road movie/concert
film documentary of this excursion in, Big Easy Express (2012), which won a
Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video in 2013. http://www.bigeasyexpress.com/
In 2013 Old Crow Medicine Show were inducted as members of
the historic Grand Ole Opry and had their iconic single “Wagon Wheel” receive
the RIAA’s Platinum certification for selling over 1,000,000 copies.
Old Crow will also be hitting the road this summer in
support of the new album including a may 30th date at Meadow Brook Music
Festival supporting The Avett Brother. You won’t want to miss those two amazing
acts on stage together.
DETROIT PHOTOGRAPHER TOM WESCHLER RELEASING DETROIT ROCK N ROLL BOOK!
We can't wait to buy a copy of Tom's book! He has the bet shots of anyone in the rock photography business....just the best....Tom is Detroit Rock n Roll
April 29, 2014 – Rochester Hills, MI – Entertainment photographer Tom Weschler has started an IndieGoGo campaign to fund production of a fine-art photo book exhibiting Detroit’s vast rock ‘n’ roll and entertainment history.
Weschler, who has been doing live-music photography since the 1960s for artists such as Bob Seger, has compiled exclusive live photos of Detroit’s entertainment industry dating back to 1964.
THE WHO @Grande Ballroom summer '68
The book, set for a summer release, will include photos of notable artists and bands spanning four decades, including The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Ramones, and many more, performing at local venues around the Metro-Detroit.
The IndieGoGo campaign has a goal of $68,000, and the campaign includes perks for donating to production. Some of these perks include assorted prints from the book, posters, and even a day with Tom Weschler for a tour of Detroit’s landmark concert locations.
Brad Finegan
Marketing Specialist | Primeau Companies
1878 Star Batt Dr. Bldg 2E
Rochester Hills, MI 48309
Phone: (800) 647-4281
Fax: (248) 289-1869
Retro Kimmer is a talented and widely-respected writer, show promoter and multi-media event designer. Kimmer's blog, Retrokimmer.com, is about pop culture and it's evolution into today's hottest trends. She loves blogging about rock music, art, scandals, crime, stars, books and history. Kim's energy is both engaging and entertaining to her readers
4.28.2014
MOTOWN'S HITSVILLE USA: MORE THAN JUST A MUSEUM
"Motown was about music for all people - white and black, blue and green, cops and robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone." - Berry Gordy
Having grown up in the metro Detroit area, I had heard of the Hitsville museum but never visited. Hitsville is the original home of Motown Records and the very famous Studio A. Most of the original Motown artist recorded there. Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, just to name a few.
These and countless other international stars got their start on their road to fame in this small unassuming converted house on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit less than 5 miles from downtown. I like Motown music, but I am a rocker at heart.
However, one of my son's biggest idols is Stevie Wonder, so we decided to take him on a field trip to Hitsville USA. To my surprise the visit turned out to be far beyond my expectations. The feelings that transpired when I walked through the doors are difficult to describe. Reading about it just doesn't do justice to this Detroit gem.
The admission for the one and a half hour tour was only $10.00. The tour sparked the realization of the immense impact that Hitsville and Motown Records had on the world. We are talking about the late 1950's and 60's, during a time of a segregated society when Barry Gordy, an African American man, left his secure job at Ford Motor Company to pursue his dream. He borrowed $800 to start his recording studio / label.
Within six years, his company was generating $20,000,000 per year. That in itself is amazing. What business even today has that kind of growth rate? At that time, Barry Gordy's company became the largest African American company in the country and according to some accounts, the largest in the world. When we toured the house, we stood in the small recording room that produced over 100 top 10 hits within 10 years.
Today, the museum represents so much more then just great music. People come from all over the world to visit including many famous musicians of all genres, such as Paul McCartney, who claimed to be "moved by the energy in the building."
The visit to Hitsville USA was a completely different experience for me than for my son who is an aspiring singer. He was fascinated with everything he learned about Stevie Wonder and the other great musicians. For me, I learned so much about what it means to have the faith, courage and drive to pursue a dream.
The Hitsville USA museum isn't only for Motown lovers. This landmark represents so much more. This is a place for all people who need to be reminded that their daydreams about leaving their jobs during insecure times to pursue a passion can become a reality.
This is a place for musicians of all genres. It is a place of musical inspiration to those who put in endless hours into the labor of love composing the right blend of lyrics and melodies with the goal of having their songs become hits.
This is a place for all those people who have experienced struggles and setbacks and need to be reminded of what faith, courage and drive is all about as they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and continue on.
Because the experience was so inspiring to me and also because I’m sure I missed some things, I plan to revisit Hitsville USA museum in the near future. I also plan to bring some friends along to share the experience. At some point I would love to meet the man who represents so much to all types of people, "white and black, blue and green, cops and robbers”~ Mr. Berry Gordy.
Jackie Wallace
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