TONY GAMBLE

www.tonygamble.net

TONY GAMBLE, voted Outstanding Melodic Instrumentalist in the 2005 Rock City News Awards, has got to be a poster boy for the “if you want it bad enough” school of music industry success. Something of a child prodigy, Tony began playing guitar and ukulele and singing at age eight, and 10 years later was touring Europe with a band called Little Dolls, which he describes as “...Motley Crue meets Led Zep…” He was stoked by the playing of Jimmy Page, Randy Rhoads and Steve Vai and determined to become one of them, meaning the elite.

In pursuit of that goal, Tony returned to L.A. from Brighton, England, where he had been making his home, and enrolled in the influential Grove School of Music. He earned a degree in music theory and struck up a close enough relationship with Dick Grove, the school’s founder, that he was selected for a staff position. He began working on several of Grove’s publishing projects, including “School Without Walls” and “Beyond Chops,” a guitar method book that he wrote along with jazz guitarist Dana Rasch.

Even with this foundation and these successes, Tony was struggling to stay afloat. Homeless, he called a North Hollywood Denny’s parking lot his bedroom for six months, but he kept working. Tony writes – “…being homeless sucked, but I was so driven to become something... I ended up writing some more instructional books, ‘Future Alien Guitar Monsters.’ “

Tony recorded Aces High, his first instrumental album, and found additional work with Producer Klay Schrodel, the head of USG Records, who was in a partnership with Bobby Hart from the former Brill Building songwriting team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. (Boyce and Hart wrote a string of hits in the 1960s, including “Come A Little Bit Closer” for Jay and the Americans, “Last Train to Clarksville” for the Monkees, and hits of their own, including “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight.”)

Writes Tony – “I started working for Klay and Bobby as their in-house session guy. I couldn't believe I was working with such a legend, I mean

ABOVE: Tony Gamble at the Read Between the Lines release party

this dude has sold over 50 million records worldwide. I worked with Bobby/Klay for several years doing movie soundtracks to T.V. commercials, as well as some broadway musical soundtrack, as well as the band Survivor Empires album and Mickey Thomas from Jefferson Starship…another legend.” Tony also toured with the bands Passion Street and Caution Men At Work, and he produced his own LPs, including On Coming Train (2002) and Read Between the Lines (2003). He is soon to release Breaking Tradition, his first ukulele LP.

Tony continues to produce video guitar lessons, and he is endorsed by ESP Guitars, Seymour Duncan, D-Tar pre amps, and KoAloha ukulele. He was again nominated for the 2006 Rock City News Awards in the Outstanding Melodic & Instrumental Rock category.

TONY GAMBLE MP3:

Egyptian Nights

Alone Again

Fut Da Wuk

Song for JG

Copyright © 2006-2007 Tony Gamble, all rights reserved 

*

RAR NOTE: I find this uke thing interesting. It never occurred to me that it might be an instrument given to experimentation, and I asked Tony about it. Here is what he wrote back:

"Yeah, the ukulele.  Since I have been playin ukulele for years, I figured that one day I would try to approach the uke as it is, it's a musical instrument that is every bit as viable as a guitar, but I really wanted to see if I could play scales and arpeggios in a melodic sense on the uke and break away from what everybody else was doing with it. It's always had a kind of non serious rap about it, and there are so many great players out there, and I wanted to try something different with it, and it worked. Ukulele is actually a very difficult instrument to master and I give props to those who play it well. I still have a lot to learn, but just like anything, the more you know, you find out how much you don't know. Ukulele is fun, but it's also a real instrument. But like I say to people all the time play because you love it, and if people don't dig it or diss, then change the station, because it comes all too often from people that don't practice, and have nothing better to do with their time, so I'll finish with this, to everyone who is a critic. SHUT UP AND PLAY YOUR UKE!"

RARWRITER announced in the April 1 edition that Uke master and guitar ace TONY GAMBLE has been nominated by the Hawaiian Music Awards for "Best Ukulele Album Of the Year" and also, from The Academy Of Recording Arts For " Best Rock Album Of The Year." Tony also reports that he has re-formed his band "Tony Gamble's Terrifying Blues Revival." The band, which split up 10 years ago, is now in the studio recording a new guitar-driven album. More on this as updates become available.

DAVE WATERBURY / XOTX

www.davewaterbury.com

DAVE WATERBURY’s band X-OT-X (pronounced "Exotics") was nominated in the Outstanding New Band category in the 2006 Rock City News Awards, which has got to be a tribute to Dave, who really is the X-OT-X. In fact, Dave is all that and a bag of chips. He has been around the L.A. scene and doing impressive work through his Valley Village studio for a long time, producing, writing and playing for a range of new and established artists.

Dave got his big break playing bass with Randy California and the re-formed Spirit, in which he replaced another Links member, Mike Nile, who is now with the Colorado Irish folk-rock band The Intruders. Dave and Mike Nile followed in the footsteps of original Spirit bassist Mark Andes, who went on to further success with Firefall and Heart. Dave and Mike are often referenced as players beyond the original lineup who had an actual influence on the sound of the band. Dave's high-profile performance career began with the Chicago-based band Mariah, which led to U.S. and European tours with the classic rock band The Boxtops (“The Letter”). He then toured with Encounter before joining Spirit for four North American tours. Dave has also toured with Michael McDonald and Keith Knudsen of the Doobie Brothers.

Dave has since established himself as a producer and songwriter. Writes Dave - “I write a lot of songs and only sing about 10 percent of them. Other vocalists sing the other 90 percent.  I usually play all the instruments, and write the song chords, lyrics, and melody. Sometimes I'll co-write the lyrics with other writers, but the music is always composed by me.”

He has had a string of successes placing songs in movie soundtracks, including five in 2006. He wrote “Sweat” for the feature film "The Zodiac Killer," produced and directed by Germany's Uli Lommel. His "Stronger Every Minute" was featured in "King Of The Ants," directed by Stuart Gordon of Re-Animator fame. These follow previous successes placing songs in movies starring Former Baywatch babe Nicole Egert and Tony Sirico, of the cast of The Sopranos.

The studio credits are even more impressive. Dave has produced, engineered and/or performed on recordings with an incredible cast of players, including: Wang Chung, Chico Debarge, Peter Gabriel, Guitar Jack, The Storm, Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Squier, Double Trouble, Meatloaf, Tears For Fears, Lou Reed, Berlin, Sugarloaf, Exile, Ambrosia, Michael Jackson, El  Chicano,  John Sebastian, Todd Rundgren, Tower Of Power, Savoy Brown, Iron Butterfly, GuitarJack, Bobby Womack, Edwin Starr, Black Oak Arkansas, The Ink Spots, Suicidal Tendencies, Pointer Sisters, 101 String Orchestra, Teri Nunn, Menudo, Pink, Archie Bell & The Drells, Paul McCartney & Wings, and 1988 Playmate Of The Year- Ginger Miller.  

Dave's work with the band DHL has yielded success, with their tune "Keiko," produced and co-written by Dave, being selected as an iTunes "Single of the Day." Dave also played tracks on that cut. Another tune that he co-wrote, produced, and played on, titled "Adrenaline," was nominated Best Rock Instrumental - 2006 by the Just Plain Folks Music Awards.

Dave on stage with Doors guitarist Robbie Kreiger...

...and with  Uli Jon Roth of The Scorpions

Studio Work:

Dave operates a ProTools HD-based recording system set in a sound environment that is atmospheric, private and relaxed. He offers his own bass, guitar, keyboards and programmed drum services, and works in genres including Rock, Country, Blues, Jazz, Techno, Rap, Folk and more. He recently completed a CD project for former Suicidal Tendencies guitarist Anthony Gallo. One of Dave’s new bands recently made it to #5 on the New Music Weekly chart of radio airplay. He recently recorded singer Marla Gibbs, who played "Florence" on The Jeffersons TV show. He has had Embryo recording artists Sammy Serious And The Zeros in his studio recently, as well as Chelsea from the television show “All That” who is recording dance songs for her album on Nick Records.

DAVE WATERBURY MP3s:  

Dave has a range of Dave Waterbury Productions MP3s available for listening from his site.

Dave Waterbury was one of a string of musicians (including The Intruder's Mike Nile - see the Colorado Links) who toured with Randy California and Spirit after the original lineup disbanded. Dave and Mike Nile are said to have been among the few from the subsequent lineups that actually influenced the band's sound.

THE DIRTY WATER BAND

www.myspace.com/thedirtywaterband  

THE DIRTY WATER BAND is the brainchild of Clint Carroll, the son of world champion surfer Corky Carroll, star of the surf classic Endless Summer. The Orange County band does a pretty straight forward heavy rock that brandishes elements of heavy metal married to some fairly melodic, even thoughtful guitar rock.

The band is environmentally focused, naming their unit after an issue of special importance to the surf community – pollution along our nation’s shores. That all sounds pretty good and maybe Clint and the boys should have left it at that. As if to dispel any grand allusions that they are a political statement, they’ve got a blog on their MySpace site that details their other great fascination, after metal and surfing, i.e., dungeons and dragons, or pursuits of a similar nature. Writes Clint – “Back when I started playing music (at the late age of 22 years old) Black Sabbath was my big influence. My first song was real similar to the 1st Black Sabbath song ‘Black Sabbath.’ I Wrote a lot of fictishes (sic) lyrics sort of like The Lord Of The Rings/Dungeons & Dragons /Star Wars type stuff. And I was always the Luke Skywalker/Han Solo character that would basically mean good against evil. And still today my lyrics are a little more on what's going on around me, which I feel a lot of you people can relate with.” This sounds like it is going to cycle back to concern for the planet, but no. What is going on around Clint is apparently more like fantasy.

“Captain Cryp is the Super Hero that I play in my music. The Sorcerer (guitarist Scott Lane) is like a Gandolf (Lord Of The Rings) type character. I came up with that name for Scott because he is such a great guitar player (up there with guys like Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page, Van Halen, Trower, Jeff Beck, Randy Rhodes…)”

You thought he was going to say Darth Sidious, didn’t you?

“…And he paints a vividly clear picture with his guitar tones - like making magic is a good way to describe it. So that's where “The Sorcerer” came from. Not to be confused with any ‘evil’ messages. We are a positive influence band. Thank God for giving me enough knowledge to know this.”

The Dirty Water Band: Clint Carroll on vocals, Pat on guitar, Paul Janes on bass, Sorcerer on lead guitar, and Nuge Burly on drums

But apparently not the wisdom not to talk about it. Clint goes on to reveal that “The Nuge” looks like Ted Nugent with short hair. (He’s seen Ted Nugent with short hair?) And bassist Paul Janes is “John Paul Janes” as a tribute, of sorts, to Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.

Either all this silliness rings true with readers of the Rock City News, or reading about the bands just didn’t figure into the voting, because The Dirty Water Band won the 2006 Rocky for Outstanding O.C. Band and Clint Carroll topped voting for Outstanding Male Vocals.

DIRTY WATER BAND MP3s:  

Dirty Water

Feeling Good

Nothing On Me

So Many Roads

Copyright © 2006-2007 Dirty Water Band, All Rights Reserved 

*

IT DOESN’T STINK TODAY – LET’S SURF!

The environmental calamity occurring along the nation’s coasts, with partially treated sewage being released into the world’s oceans, has been brought to the attention of environmentally conscious citizens through articles in major publications, like “National Geographic,” and through the efforts of the environmentally responsive surfing community. Unfortunately, the surfers’ system for identifying dirty water isn’t more sophisticated than a smell test. You can read about the pollution problem around San Diego at http://www.wildcoast.net/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=214&MainItemid=132 where there is a posting of an article San Diego Magazine did on the subject.

THE SNAKEHANDLERS

http://snakehandlersmusic.com
In the bio section of THE SNAKEHANDLERS' website, there is an extraordinarily succinct description of how the band achieved its distinctive classic/country/punk/rock sound. After assembling in 2001 as the house band for the monthly Hollywood club “Sweethearts Of The Rodeo,” The Snakehandlers went into Dusty Wakeman’s Mad Dog studios to define their sound.

From their website - "The sound that developed was raw and energetic but still had all the touchstones of classic Country music. If it was too country, they revved the guitars, if it was too rock, they added steel guitar."

The Snakehandlers' website is rich with good story telling, which I think somehow also influences their approach. Ringmaster Bryson Jones seems easy with language and truly persuaded by the soulful serenading of country's rebel rockers, like Gram Parsons and Lucinda Williams. However L.A.-spun their take on the classics might be - and these guys have staked their claim on raucous tributes to real country - 

Bryson and his cohorts, guitarists Joel "Easy Pickens" Sigerson and Brian Forsythe, bassist Reeve Downs, and drummer Dave Raven are doing what they love, a "Cosmic American Music."

Cowboy Jesus

*Copyright © 2006-2007 The Snakehandlers, All Rights Reserved 

The Snakehandlers MP3s can be heard at their MySpace site - http://www.myspace.com/thesnakehandlers

The Snakehandlers' bio on their website includes a revealing account of the band's involvement with the television show "Monster Garage," which is seen on Discovery Channel. “Monster Garage" is all about re-visioning classic designs (of motorcycles, in the show). It is a rebel's take on what's cool and usually features hard rock acts in its soundtrack. The Snakehandlers have incredible "street cred" in L.A. and elsewhere, and shortly after it became known that they were in the studio recording their came an opportunity with "Monster Garage." 

From their website - Shilah Morrow, from Sin City Marketing and the Sweethearts Of The Rodeo club, tells the story. “The producers called me needing a “Country” band that could hang with the Hard Rock and Metal bands that they normally book. I told them to stop looking. I had the perfect band.” She referred The Snakehandlers and the band had a couple of days to transform the old tune “I’ve Been Workin’ On The Railroad” into a something a little more exciting, just as they’d done with “Sin City” and tons of other old country and rock classics. “Covers are a way for us to show where we are from musically. We grew up on rock, punk, blues, country, everything really, so we want our music to reflect that.” Says Pickens. "This ( “I’ve Been Workin’ On The Railroad”) was our own “Monster Garage creation.”

Country rebel Lucinda Williams famously remarked in 2002 - "There's more country music in L.A. right now than there ever was in Nashville, Tennessee." Certainly Country Music went through a revival around 2001, with the popularity of special clubs like the monthly Sweethearts of the Rodeo at Molly Malone's helping to build a community of players who could make a "scene." But L.A.'s twist on Country is a little like Stephen King's take on resurrection as positioned in Pet Cemetery. L.A. Country comes out a little different - make that a lot different. It's eyes glow, and it bites.

There is real passion driving this L.A. Country trend. From the same Billboard article from which the Lucinda Williams quote above comes this from guitarist Keith Gattis - "Everybody would love to have a song on the radio and a record on a big label, but they're not doin' it for that. Everybody's just playin' music that they like. It doesn't seem like anybody's tryin' to play a certain game just to make that happen. I lived in Nashville eight years, and I've seen those games, you know."

At http://brysonjones.com/billboard10.02.shtml there is an article from Billboard that does a good job of summarizing changes in the L.A. country scene over the years.  

LEFT: Bryson Jones and other L.A.-based songwriters listed on this poster traveled to Nashville to perform in September. RIGHT: Lucinda Williams dancing at the mic with Bryson Jones during a Sin City show. 

ABOVE AND RIGHT: Posters for the monthly gathering of the Sin City Social Club, a collection of country rockers who host and musically support guest artists.

SIN CITY SOCIAL CLUB

www.myspace.com/sincitysocialclub  

From their website - The Sin City Social Club usually gathers the 3rd Friday of each month at the historic Mint in Los Angeles to celebrate the best in Roots/Americana and Country Rock! CURRENTLY THINGS ARE IN MOTION HOWEVER SO MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE CALENDAR AT www.themintla.com - It's hosted by Shilah Morrow (Mama Shi) and is the home to an amazing house band featuring Dave Phenicie, Mark Christian (Merle Jagger), Bobby Gonzales (West Coast Grand), and John Ramey. Chris Lawrence & Carl Byron from the Sin City All Stars add pedal steel and keyboards. They play covers throughout the night and lend their instrumental prowess to our guest artists. Each month we ask four artists to join us as our Special Guests.

SANGRE

www.sangremetal.com
These guys rock, not just along the lines of thundering bass and power chord distortion, but in a rangy, melodic way that makes them enjoyable listening - not generally a quality I would attribute to what is primarily a ferocious metal act. 

Sangre has had a little time to find their sound. The Southern California band came together in 1999. Their concept was to do aggressive music with a narrative focus - "Life through the eyes of five young men struggling with, and overcoming life's everyday obstacles, and the world we live in..." (from their website). 

Sangre has gone through personnel changes over the years and they have been a part of a broadening of heavy metal to include a wider range of feels and sounds. In the current lineup, Henry Sanchez is the band's vocalist, and he covers the waterfront from crooner to growls. Mike Reyes and Josh Mendoza are on guitars, Danny Perez plays bass, and Johnny Gonzalez is on drums.

From their website - Sangre Was a featured band in the June 2005 issue of REVOLVER magazine. They were selected amongst thousands of bands around the nation and are featured in the "Revolver Raw Talent" section of the nationally distributed magazine. Sangre also continues to receive airplay on Southern California Rock station's: 96.7 Kcal fm's "MoshPit" radio program, and KCXX X103.9 fm's Xtreme X Metal show, Both out of the San Bernardino/Riverside area. SANGRE also receives airplay on many internet & college stations, and has been on a hand full of compilations over the years. Sangre has played all over California, Mexico and western United States. Sangre is required listening for all Metal Heads!!!

ABOVE LEFT: Henry Sanchez (vocals). ABOVE RIGHT: Mike Reyes (guitars). LEFT: Josh Mendoza (guitars). BELOW LEFT: Danny Perez (bass). BELOW RIGHT: Johnny Gonzalez (drums).

SANGRE MP3s:  

Listen to Sangre MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/sangre  

SANGRE has produced three CDs. From Left: Evolution is Necessary (2005), Carrion (2002), and Internal Bleeding (2001).

CLANDESTINE

www.myspace.com/clandestineband

CLANDESTINE is a new band, formed in 2005, that received two nominations in the 2006 Rock City News Awards – Outstanding Female Fronted Band and Outstanding Hard Rock Band. They may have been a bit too orchestral to woo voters in big numbers as a band, but Korean-born front girl June Park garnered a lot of votes for her work, and rightly so. June has a big idea at work here and it has come together quickly. 

June Park built the band as a vehicle for her original material, which “ingeniously fuses symphonic semblance and progressive rhythms, underlying lush melodic lyrics…” (from their website). It came together with the discovery of guitarist Dan Durakovich, a tasty progressive metal type who seems to get June’s Goth-influenced symphonics. Dan brought the talented drummer Manny Castaneda into the band, after the two had worked together previously in a cover outfit. Bassist Chad Whitaker added the final element with his informed bass work.

Clandestine’s sound is dark with an urgency that is spiked by bursts of metal rhythms and a spacey quality achieved through June Park’s programmed synth parts. June is also able to breakthrough the band’s expansive passages with vocalizations that are punk and even demon-inspired, which seem to come out of left field and are a little unsettling. Then she can fall right back into a smooth purr that completely levels the band’s gruesome dynamics. The formula is odd and rangy and sometimes quite beautiful. It positions the band to crossover between several of rock’s more decorative genres, including Goth, metal, punk and even modern rock.

Clandestine Is: June Park (vocals), Dan Durakovich (guitars), Manny Castaneda (drums), and Chad Whitaker (bass). 

Clandestine is preparing a self-titled EP that should be available soon, and they are worth exploring.  

CLANDESTINE MP3s:  

Listen to Clandestine MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/clandestineband  

TOKYO SHOWDOWN 

www.tokyoshowdown.com

A group of ambitious college student types, TOKYO SHOWDOWN showed well for themselves in the 2006 Rock City News Awards, scoring a nomination for Outstanding Punk Band, with lead singer Rachel landing nominations in the Outstanding Female Vocals and Outstanding Female Frontperson categories.

This band seems to be bonded by shared pretensions toward the literati - well, maybe not the rhythm section - with each member listing intellectuals such as Albert Camus and Aldous Huxley and writers like Jack Kerouac and Neil Gaiman among their primary influences. The references are weighty, but the music is pretty lightweight fare, more pop than punk, with some synthesized nods toward lush influences. Rachel lists Pat Benatar as a musical reference, and you can hear that in her strident approach. They dabble in ticka-ticka guitar, which again sounds 80s more than it does punk, as do the swimming synth beds, though Nicholas sometimes yells their lyrics. 

My daughter just walked in and heard Tokyo Showdown on the sound system and said - "They're great! They are like a girl Panic At the Disco!"*

*RAR cannot be held responsible for the musical perceptions of 11-year old girls.

ABOVE: Tokyo Showdown is Rachel (vocals), Nicholas (vocals, guitar), Hannah (keys), B.J. (drums) and Miles (bass)

TOKYO SHOWDOWN MP3s:  

Hear Tokyo Showdown MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/tokyoshowdownca  

Two possibilities come to mind. First - Armageddon descended upon their dormitory in the form of a food fight, and they were still stunned when a photographer showed up shortly thereafter. Or, second, the tranny in their van broke down on the way to the shoot and they tried to fix it themselves. I suppose there could be a third possibility - that they are involved in some corny theater production, probably about Armageddon and horrible food fights.

The Midnight Deathtrap Quartet

www.midnightdeathtrap.com

The Midnight Deathtrap Quartet is a straight forward rock’n blues club band that lives on Bryan Gage’s crunchy guitar sound and sax player Jack Chandler’s blue note sensibilities. Together with bassist John Palisano and drummer Mike Zimmerman they make an accessible east coast-flavored rock that feels like it might be fueled with something best served in a stall.

MDQ has the feeling of a unit not playing under pressure of any kind, which is probably indicative of it being just one of many side projects enjoyed by this group of players. It didn’t prevent them from being nominated Outstanding New Band for the 2006 Rock City News Awards.

Baritone/tenor sax man Jack Chandler fronts the jazz-metal Future Intelligence Agency (F.I.A.), which blends elements of jazz, punk, metal and funk, and he also leads the Ice Age Jazztet, a post-modern jazz group.

Connecticut transplant Bryan Gage took up photography after moving to L.A. in 1996. He specializes in providing publicity shots for the creative community of musicians and actors. He pays the bills working in multiple bands, currently including Johnny Satanseed Express and the F.I.A. with Chandler. He is also a member of the punk band the Elegant Bastards, awarded Outstanding Valley Band by the Rock City News.

Bassist/vocalist John Palisano is something of a renaissance man. He has directed two films, including Man Made, and writes novels, such as Amanda. He released LP's with his band The Afterlife, toured the East 

Coast with alternative punk band Blanket of Ash, and played guitar for several years in Smoke and Fire. John and Bryan Gage teamed to make the Man Made soundtrack. John has a solo single, “In Vain” on the Beta Monkey Site.

Mike Zimmerman has played drums with Paris Railroad, Albino Buffalo and the Quick and The Dead, which is where he met Bryan. He is also an actor, having performed in several plays and motion pictures, including Spiderman 2 and Man Made.  

Sepiasonic

Copyright © 2006-2007 The Midnight Deathtrap 

Quartet, All Rights Reserved 

*

"The future's uncertain and The End is always near" - from the The Midnight Deathtrap Quartet MySpace site.

Listen to The Midnight Deathtrap Quartet MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/clandestineband  

THE JENNIFER PROJECT

www.thejenniferproject.com

THE JENNIFER PROJECT was selected for the Outstanding Songwriting award for the 2005 Rock City News Awards. Their brand of pop punk, powerpop and Christian rap could best be described as accessible, catchy, hook-filled, and light. They have a likeable sense of humor. Their tune “Stalker” sings the praises of having some creepy guy around to chase other creepy guys away (“…to scare them out of town.”…“Wouldn’t Mom be proud?”).

Amy Talaska does the vocal work with help from Eric Carter, who also handles guitar. Steve Stach plays bass and Mark Adams sits the kit.

The Jennifer Project apparently took its name from the C.I.A.’s “Project Jennifer,” which was a Cold War initiative to recover a Russian nuclear submarine that sunk off the coast of Hawaii. The 1968 incident raised tensions between the superpowers, and the U.S. specially constructed a vessel called the “Glomar Explorer” to recover the wreckage. The secret plan was authorized by Nixon National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. I have no idea if The Jennifer Project was working from this premise when they chose that name, but associating one’s self with a clandestine operation to recover cryptographic secrets from a nuclear contamination area sounds like great punk stuff to me. I sort of like this band, too. They are not exactly a heavyweight musical unit, but they are clever and they’ve got a nice attitude.

THE JENNIFER PROJECT MP3s:  

Stalker

*Copyright © 2006-2007 The Jennifer Project, All Rights Reserved 

Listen to more Jennifer Project MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/jenniferproject  

The Jennifer Project was award Outstanding Songwriting at the 2005 Rock City News Music Awards.

MONOGROOVE

www.monogroove.com

Guitarist Rin Lennon’s band MONOGROOVE has been around in various incarnations, and producing LPs, since the turn of the century (not as long as it sounds). They have been in that penumbra just outside of the bright light of success but judging by their nomination in the Outstanding Psychedelic Band category of the 2006 Rock City News Awards they are still in range. (I am pretty vague on how they got into that category.)

Monogroove released Little America and Live to 12 around 2000, the second release getting some attention on college radio stations. They then released a third LP, the five-track Sexy Never Knows, before going through some major lineup changes. Guitarist Hector Garcia took his flashy leads elsewhere, leaving the bulk of the guitar work to Rin Lennon. Former vocalist/guitarist Lady V. was replaced by Florida transplant Diana Grace, who further reinforced the band’s tendency toward southern-tinged pop.  

Diana brought Dusty Springfield-like vocals to Monogroove, which, for those of you who don’t remember the British bombshell, is a really

good thing. With Rin Lennon adding layers to the vocals and her chorus laden guitar, they have developed a jangly pop sound that could be right on radio. Diana brings the harmonica sound to the act, which I love over Rin’s acoustic strumming thing, the whole mix putting me to mind of folk-rock dating back to the ‘60s (showing my age). Diana and Rin are capably supported by bassist Scott Halper and drummer Rob Courmoyer.  

Monogroove is out with another CD, Real. One dollar from the sale of each copy of Real goes to “Much Love,” an animal rescue organization.

Listen to Monogroove MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/monogroove  

JIMMY STEIGER

www.jimmysteiger.com

JIMMY STEIGER’s BLUES CONNECTION is classic blues-rock all the way and he competed strongly in the Outstanding Blues Band category in the 2006 Rock City News Awards.

Blue’s Connection was formed in 1998 when Jimmy, formerly of Devil’s Dues and Ways and Means, joined forces with bassist Jim Hudgins, formerly of Max Havoc. They have gone through a few drummers since then, but now have John Medina, who previously toured nationally with Brett Michaels. Erik DeLaRosa has also joined the band to add keyboards, sax, backing vocals, and pedal steel guitar. 

JIMMY STEIGER BLUES CONNECTION MP3s:  

Hear Jimmy Steiger's Blues Connection MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/jimmysteiger1

RAWK DAWG

www.rawkdawg.com

RAWK DAWG did well in the 2006 Rock City News Awards, competing strongly in the Outstanding Hollywood Band and Outstanding Blues Band categories.

Singer/guitarist Jo Island fronts this balls-to-the-walls four-piece guitar and drums classic rock unit that will put you to mind of Motley Crew, Robin Trower, Bad Company, Steve Marriot and Grand Funk. Jo is a throwback to an earlier time in rock, the kind of a guy who hosts late night jams in darkly lit Sunset Boulevard clubs.

Rawk Dawg has been entered into the 47th Grammy Awards program again with We Only Came To Rock, with submittals in 13 categories including Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance.

Rawk Dawg released Rock With An Attitude in 2002, then in 2004 released their second LP, We Only Came to Rock, which yielded the college radio hit “In My Mind,” which was one of the top 10 singles on college radio that year. The band received Grammy nominations for Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance. They have been featured on the Lollapalooza Tour, sharing a stage with Jane’s Addiction and The Donnas.

The band also released a well-received studio improve LP, Raw, which included nine “unpolished gems.”

Jo Island has also lent his voice talents to Kong Tones, a mini-soundtrack of the sounds of KING KONG ® that was sponsored by movie director Peter Jackson (King Kong, Lord of the Rings Trilogy). Also lending their talents to that recording were the V-Rex’s, Raptors, Natives, and Jungle Drums. The CD was produced to represent sounds from the film and used in association with the marketing of King Kong-related consumer products.  

RAWK DAWG MP3s:  

Listen to Rawk Dawg MP3s on their site, or go to Jo Island's MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/joisland.

OLD FASHIONED BEATDOWN

http://oldfashionedbeatdown.com/

Hard rocking metal band OLD FASHIONED BEATDOWN was founded in Orlando, Florida in 1999 but has expanded their range by touring Hard Rock Live and House of Blues venues and gigs all around central Florida as well as performing at the New York International Music Festival in Madison Square Garden, the Florida Music Festival in Orlando, the Whiskey A GoGo in Los Angeles, and touring nationally with acts such as Super Joint Ritual 2x's, Otep, Skinlab, Non-Point, High on Fire, Born into Chaos, Slaves on Dope, Sworn Enemy, E-Town Concrete, and December.

Vocalist Joey Naugler fronts this testosterone-laden unit, which features the guitar wizardry of Woodzy, a minimalist who was named Guitarist of the Year at the 2003 Orlando Metal Awards. The rhythm sections consists of bassist Robert Pickerelli, and drummer Russ Rodriguez. Joey Naugler belongs to the Henry Rollins school of in-your-face, heavy on profane lyrics voiced in a low, loud, growl. Old Fashioned Beatdown wants to challenge you to brawl.

Old Fashioned Beatdown was a strong competitor for Outstanding New Band and Outstanding Hard Rock Band in the 2006 L.A. Rock City News Awards. The band’s MySpace site has had nearly 180,000 views, a testimony to the draw of hardcore metal.

OLD FASHIONED BEATDOWN MP3s:  

Listen to Old Fashioned Beatdown MP3s at their MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/
oldfashionedbeatdown.

SUMMER ROSE

www.summerrosemusic.com

SUMMER ROSE has a highly entertaining video streaming from her website. It is in the long line of rock videos about nervous breakdowns, which will probably continue to be a staple of the medium as long as its primary audience remains angst ridden teens. Summer's take on the old theme, however, will put a smile on your face. "Time Bomb" is a rap-rock track that would be utterly commercial were it not for the language, which is used to great comic effect but probably wouldn't pass network censors. It doesn't matter, Summer's marketing focus is on spreading her fame via the Internet, and there she is well within the bounds of acceptability. In fact, she shines! 

Summer, who has been performing in theater and at large public events since she was a kid, is quite an accomplished video performer. Acting crazy, as she must in this video, isn't particularly hard to do. (In fact, I might think it's the default position for a lot of people.) What is impressive is Summer's sense of comic timing, which she has control of both physically and vocally, and remove. Summer owns the joke. She's savvy with the camera lens, clever with her facial and body language. It's like she is having fun with it, and that's appealing.

A Sacramento girl, who at seven years of age was performing the National Anthem at Sacramento Kings and San Francisco Giants games, Summer left school at 15 to join a rock band. She spent two years touring Nevada, playing constantly. From her website - “Performing live six nights a week, four shows a night, really conditioned me for life on the road. Everyone else was at home in high school worrying about homework, I was already a professional musician.”

Summer's ambition was to perform her original music, which she first did in San Francisco before moving on the L.A. Her band Snapdragon landed a recording contract with a subsidiary of Atlantic Records and began working with music producer Wes Arkeen (Guns'n Roses). The band's work ethic outlasted the small label's budget and soon the deal fell apart. 

In a move that will appeal to a lot of people who visit this site, Summer did the thing so many do in the digital recording age: "...she maxed out her credit card, bought some equipment for a home studio and started recording..." (from her website). 

What emerged from her self-guided efforts was a hardcore rap-rock, as evidenced by the aforementioned video. Summer found her sound.

OUTSTANDING NEW BAND OF 2006

Summer Rose was awarded Outstanding New Band at the 2006 Rock City News Awards.

BELOW: Shooting the video for "Time Bomb"

Summer Rose worked with music industry veteran David J. Holman ( No Doubt, Bush, Olivia Newton John) on her first LP, Big Mouth.

Summer Rose has several complete MP3s and clips at her website, and I would strongly encourage you to go there, take a listen, and see her videos.

You can also hear MP3s at Summer Rose's MySpace site at  http://www.myspace.com/summerrosemusic

UNSANCTIFIED

www.unsanctified.com

Death metal band UNSANCTIFIED was created in Southern California by former Desecration members Brian Carreon in1999, with Hans Faber joining as second guitarist that year to provide guitar harmonies and dual guitar leads. The band now includes Frank Herrera (formerly of Mutilacion, Metal Madness TV) on Drums, former Decay of Salvation bassist Robert Marks, and Don Marhefka (formerly of Burial and Evilution) on vocals. The goal of the band, according to their website “was to create ultra-brutal old-school style death metal.”

They were happening out of the box, winning a local death metal "battle of the bands" competition before ever playing their first paying gig.

In 2000, Unsanctified released a four-song CD titled Empty Veins, which furthered their early ascent in the death metal world. The single “Empty Veins” leaped to #40 on MP3.com within days (out of 15,000 listed tracks). 

MP3.com, by the way, is back to life having been bought and reactivated as a CNet site. The site had gone out of business in 2003.

In 2003, Unsanctified signed a recording contract with Quadrivium Music, but the relationship fell apart quickly “as a result of recording issues and philosophies which could not be reconciled.”

Unsanctified released their new EP Titled Demons Of My Own Making in 2005, and they have been touring the United States off and on ever since.

Unsanctified competed strongly in the Outstanding Valley Band category of the 2006 L.A. Rock City News Awards.

ABOVE: Unsanctified at the Key Club in L.A. in early 2006. BELOW: Demons of My Own Making CD (left), 2005; Empty Veins CD, 2000

Torment

Demons of My Own Making

Unsanctified

Copyright © 2006-2007 Unsanctified, All Rights Reserved 

my private hell

www.myspace.com/myprivatehell

MY PRIVATE HELL is an L.A.-based heavy metal band comprised of “four very good friends” who came together to play some kick-ass rock and say something about the pressures of trying to live well in this world.

Gian Erguiza is the singer/guitarist for this outfit and their outspoken front person. Jigger Ferrer is the other guitarist in the band, doubling as back vox, and as the youngest member of the group he is “the young blood/party spirit/crazy man of the band.” Blue Palacol – now there’s a colorful name – is the band’s bassist, “the bigger than life psycho bottom end of the band - Blue is the crazy one that was always fascinated with the whole rock n roll lifestyle and all of its amenities.”

(Gads, we’ve only introduced half the band and the word “crazy” has come up twice!)

Eric “The Machine” Cuarez is the band’s drummer, but he’s not crazy – though as their site indicates he “is definitely the explosive backbone of the band, the music enthusiast, drummer who pounds on the drums like a madman…” Well, okay, he’s crazy, too.

This whole insanity theme riddles the thinking of this band. (My Private Hell? Sounds like some serious inner turbulence.) On their site they say – “My Private Hell is currently seeking label, management, promotion, more publicity/media and distribution to further their pursuit of global acceptance through a beautiful medium of madness.”

Apparently it is just the life that has driven them to distraction, and to music. Again from their site – “My Private Hell is a cultural creation of hardships with a message with everyday life thrown in for a perfect mix. Four Exceptional Musicians (sic) with different views on life, different upbringing, different way of living/thinking. Four friends with fresh music bringing something new to the table.”

You can make your own determination as to whether their music beautifully captures this crazy little thing called existence: they have three MP3s posted for listening on their MySpace site.

MPH is in the studio working on their first full-length album. TOP: Gian Erguia at the board, with an unidentified studio denizen over his shoulder offering insight into the recording arts. ABOVE: The boys in rehearsal.

My Private Hell has MP3s available for listening on their MySpace site.

LEFT: In the "Private Hell" moshpit. Makes you want to take in a show, doesn't it? ABOVE: On the set of The Mora Devora Show

Gian offered an update on MPH's recording progress. "We are currently hard at work on our full-length debut. The drum tracks have been recorded and we are now working on the guitar to get the smooth tones we are craving. There is no specified date yet on when we're going to actually finish the record but let me be the first one to tell ya…..It sounds magnificently awesome so far! It's almost surreal and religious!" My Private Hell, right?

And he ends with - "So my friends, please tell the DEA to leave the medical marijuana clinics alone, inform Van Halen that its not a reunion with Michael
Anthony, Stock up on your earthquake stuff, and when you do see these way too skinny models, please feed them a cheeseburger or two, I'll reimburse your efforts :)"

Now ain't that cool? - RAR

DAVID CLEREST

www.davidclerestproject.com

DAVID CLEREST is not only a songwriter/composer who plays drums, Percussions, bass guitar, vocals, acoustic & electric guitars; but he also builds his own guitars Clerest guitars; has traveled the world and considers himself a world citizen. As a sage and a Yogi he projects his love for humanity with his anti-war massage in songs such as "Resolution Song", "Final mass Destruction" ,and "Get up and Help", which are delivered with raw Rock N Roll Power. David in an interview said: " Just as a bomb has the power to destroy, the message of peace should be delivered with lots of energy behind it so that it may be effective."

DAVID CLEREST MP3:

David Clerest MP3s can be heard from his site. 

CLEREST GUITARS

David Clerest has been building guitars since 1990. He played an important role in the Gibson Corporation's buyout of Huntington Beach-based Original Music Instruments, maker of the popular line of DOBRO Resophonic guitars. After managing a 500 percent post-sale production expansion, David left to start his own company, Clerest Guitars. He set up in Leo Fender's old radio repair shop and started building a line of instruments, starting with hollow body electrics. Over the years he has expanded to offer a range of instruments at various price points. Additional information is available on his website.

Gary Swan

www.garyswan.com/
Gary Swan has been one of my favorite people since the moment I met him. He is a Character with a capital "C"; talented, soft-hearted, serious-minded but always surfacing the underlying  joke in everything. Gary is one of the top B3 players in the business and a natural entertainer. He's even fun to watch TV with. Gary left his native Virginia behind a long time ago to embark on a musical odyssey that has taken him through music meccas throughout the states. In the course of playing great clubs and bad dives and high profile events like the Country Music Awards, shows with some of the top players to ever grace a stage (Billy Preston and the Pointer Sisters, to name only a few), building band after band, performing as music director for a range of musical types, experiencing home invasion robberies and beatings, suffering through relationship meltdowns, becoming a father, a man of faith...Gary Swan has become the consummate music professional. Add to that his formidable skills as a songwriter and singer and you've got one heavy cat.

Gary Swan (seated far right at the B3) on stage at B.B. King's Blues Club in Hollywood with the house band the All Stars

Gary with his son Johnathan, a bassist and keyboard player who sits in with his dad at B.B. King's 

Gary with his son Gabriel

ABOVE: Colorado, and for a time L.A. guitarist Micheal Reese playing in keyboardist Gary Swan's band The Hollywood Heroes. This was a mid-'80s shot. Writes Swan - "The sax player playing with us is my friend Chris Mostert who is been with the Eagles since they got back together."

Writes Swan of this mid-80's shot of Early Man, his LA.-based rock'n funk band  - "The other picture is Arvid Helland (Denver Guy) who I played with in Denver and LA. Cornelius Bumpus on sax." Doesn't Arvid (the guitar player) look a little like that Dick Shawn character in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World?

DON READ

http://pweb.jps.net/~drfunk/

Don has always had a wry sense of humor, as demonstrated on his site and in our emails exchanges. Recently he wrote - "A lot of those old Boulder names are ringing bells, as well as causing the occasional (I believe the word you used is) frisson. One name that I find to be conspicuously absent from what I've read so far is that of consummate bassist and object of my envy Kim Stone. I did see him onstage at a small show here in LA quite a few years ago but did not get a chance to talk to him. Less conspicuous by omission is equally consummate, and nefarious, guitarist Lenny LoBanco, aka Lenny Charles. He jammed with Kim while living with us other shady characters at our benighted North Broadway ranch, also remembered as Pedestrian Rehearsal Studios. Frisson..."

Don left Boulder in 1987 and made the musicians' migration to Southern California, where he took up with such bands as The Felchers, the Spectators, Flavor Razor, and It. 

He plays fretless, five-string, and upright acoustic, and styles ranging from '70s rock ("Jurassic Rock" as he calls it) to Reggae to Latin to Funk to Jazz. 

The Square One lineup, pictured right, is Joel Hipps on guitar, Bill Hartel on drums, Don Read on bass and Aubrey Scarbrough on keyboards.

APEYGA

www.apeyga.com

APEYGA ran away with the Outstanding Melodic and Instrumental Rock category in the 2006 Rock City News Awards.

APEYGA is a three-piece Modern Instrumental Rock band based in Los Angeles and featuring bassist John Peloian, drummer Kyrt Hensch, and guitarist Justin Peloian. The band’s website describes their trippy jazz-rock as “a culmination of scientific research experience, drum-line technique, and visual art theories.” They are something of an intellectual exercise with a dynamic rhythm sense. Peloian and Hensch are a tight lock in holding the center of the sound to well-constructed, shifting grooves and tempos, allowing guitarist Justin to wonder from wailing cries to 32^nd note acid drips to full crunch power chords. The whole thing comes off as extraordinarily restrained and thoughtful, even while being ambitious in range. These aren’t songs so much as jazzed up ambient feels, like snippets of life’s moments – some tense, busy, even frantic, and some tenuous - forced through a polyphonic synthesizer.

Apeyga offers enough diversity in approach to fascinate a range of fans. You might think their future lies with movie soundtracks, where their wildly interpretive sounds could support action and imagery. It is a somewhat cinematic concept they work within, a kind of sonic implication. You can listen to their music and imagine scenes.

A new four song demo has recently been recorded at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, and contains live session tracks of "Galaxy", "The End of Reason", "Traveler", and "151". Apeyga is currently booking dates in Southern California, with plans to expand their territory throughout the Golden State in 2007. It will be interesting to watch this unit to see what types of venues they are able to book. They really would be best served by playing to theatre audiences, who in turn might be best served by enjoying Quaaludes and mushrooms before heading off to this night of music.

MANWHORE

www.manwhoreband.com  

MANWHORE – “the male equivalent of a slut” (from the Urban Dictionary).  

"Tonight we're serving cake and cock - and we're fresh out of cake tonight." That's a line from the Manwhore's signature tune "Cake and Cock," and it pretty much sums up all you need to know about this band. Consisting of Anthony Bamonte on bass, Dan Bamonte on lead vocals, Paul Brown on lead guitar, Aaron Englert on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, and Matt Lehman on drums, the Whores got together in 2004 to create their rather blunt and "priapically" focused party band, and it worked. In 2005 they were award Best Los Angeles Rock Band at the L.A. Music Awards. They are a popular L.A. act, nominated for a Rocky in the 2006 Rock City News competition, they don't seem to be very serious about it.

Maybe it's best to just listen to their live recording, referenced above. To hear a whole club of girls and guys singing the refrain to "Cake and Cock" may well say all that needs to be said: Let's party! Guy style.

MANWHORE MP3s:

You can hear Manwhore from their music page at http://www.manwhoreband.com/music.cfm.