Dayton Music

REVIEW: Bogey’s Bar Hosts United We Jam Against Cancer

April 2, 2013 By Mike Ritchie Leave a Comment

Editor’s note: In May of 2013, the Springfield News Sun reported that Michelle Mundy was under investigation for potential fraud as she allegedly had faked a cancer diagnosis. Ms Mundy subsequently surrendered to the police.

Saturday March 9^th Bogey’s Bar and Grill in Springfield held the United We Jam Music Against Cancer Fundraiser for Yellow Springs resident Michelle Mundy. Four acts as different as they were united in the cause played to help raise funds for Mrs. Mundy’s treatment and medical expenses.

Mundy was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) at 37, 8 years after fighting her first bout with the ‘big C’ at 29. Starting chemotherapy in September of 2012, continuing into 2013, she’s gone through 6 rounds every other Monday until Mid-December. Radiation may follow. 11 tumors were found in the soft tissue, bones, organs, abs, and some attached to bones on the ribs. Her medication expenses are around $1500 a month. From September-October 2012 she received R-CHOP therapy (an administration of four chemo-related drugs) every 14 days. NHL is found in cancerous white blood cells and is curable so the fight rages on. For more information, go to www.cancer.org.

The Shope Brothers

The show began with the uniquely rap inclined Dipspit. In the vein of Eminen meets Tenacious D the duo perform emotional, spirited raps of slight adult nature. Spewing out ultra-serious lyrics that’ll make you laugh, roll your eyes or go WTH. The bearded high priest of sweaty movement DJ DumptRuck shouts out his backup sermon through mic and megaphone bringing their own personal mini sound system as front-man DipSpit tells the stories of the Pontoon boat and Dropkicking the Dub Plate. They’re as different in their spectacle as they are entertaining in their effort and presentation. We’re infected with DipSpit Fever forever and the Springfield scene will never be the same.

And now for something completely different…. the Shope brothers, Jason and Jacob scale things down with an acoustic as older Jacob keeps the beat a bit differently playing a hand slapping Cajon Box. They play some sweet country tunes singing about the intoxicating effect that special girl has on you. There’s Hell on Wheels as we get the adrenaline twang going and a bootleg shiner from the law for our trouble. Jason Aldean’s Wheels Rolling could be the cowboy hat tipping version of Turn the Page. We go cruising n sightseeing down that Florida Georgia Line whistling Dixie at all the ladies. From the southern panhandle we take a Canadian detour to heaven with Bryan Adams.

Destracore

Dayton’s four piece angry thrashers Destracore opened their turbo’d up set turning on the metal machine full grind unleashing The Beast upon the unsuspecting onlookers. Singer Don Potter tag teams between yelling and actual singing as some screamers can’t do. Now that Twinkies have been resurrected, those and Cockroaches will still be the only things surviving the apocalypse but we’ll still all Die Out in style. The bearded Potter, technically a harry Potter possesses a unique pallet of the usual growls, screams and screeching but can also carry a tune with a bit of creepy melancholy and tension attached. They play their future single When I Close My Eyes. They’ve found a nice balance of the heavy stuff infusing some well-placed melody. They take a page from priest, and Break the Law. There’s some nice Death inspired bass and drum dancing beginning/during the Final Act slowing down the ends coming. Their core started humbly in a New Carlisle kitchen in 1998; relentless touring made them a staple in the Dayton/Springfield metal scene releasing their debut effort Yield. In 2002 they invaded the Columbus area scene and after an 8 year hiatus have returned with a five song crunching demo displaying a hybrid influenced sound and new musical presence. See them April 6^th at Club Panama.

Gathering Mercury

The sirens roar as Gathering Mercury start a Bitchin good time. They start with the opening tracks from their debut CD Where The Others Go. Ashley Stacey sings with a sweet soft spoken cue with a rasp of attitude proving with each show she’s a forerunner for her generation’s Joan Jett. She’s the cute girl next door with a sweet smile with a ‘hint’ of rebellion you keep your eye on. They Lean Into the Fall playing their Dayton Does Dayton tribute to Mona, try out two new tunes. Stacey has the stage presence for rock n roll and Broadway. Bassist Quique Bucio plays deep notes with a side or two of comical humor and physical comedy. They finish with a little high octane Hoochie Koo then Paint it Black with mercury. See them April 13^th and May 11^th at Canal Street Tavern.

First Friday to Feature Walking Tour, Craft Battle, Beer Tasting, Art Shows, More

April 1, 2013 By Dayton937 Leave a Comment

• The Collaboratory (formerly Blue Sky Gallery), 8 N. Main St.: Featuring “Best Time Ever,” a visual collaboration between photographer Glenna Jennings and mixed-media artist Issa Randall. They use Facebook as a stock image bank to create collages that speak to the transient nature of “good times.” 732-5123.

• CADC, 35 S. St. Clair St.: Presenting “Mexican Reflections;” Sandra Picciano and David Brand will demonstrate their jewelry-making techniques and exhibit their rings inspired by a jewelry workshop in Mexico. 313-9883.

• Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors, 48 High St.: Opening reception for art exhibit “Intuition,” featuring work by Betsy Molinsky, Marvin Olinsky and Beth Duke. The exhibit features mixed-media art, sculpture and painting. 228-4532.

• Dayton Visual Arts Center, 118 N. Jefferson St.: (Open 5 to 8 p.m.) The opening of “Art Auction Preview,” featuring works in all types of media. 224-3822.

• Don Crawford Plaza in front of Fifth Third Field, 220 N. Patterson Blvd.: The monthly Courteous Mass Ride will meet at 5:30 p.m. for a ride through the city.

• Clash Consignments, 521 E. Fifth St.: Hosting “Aries de la femme,” an art show highlighting local women artisans. This girl-themed art show promotes girl art by girl artists. Categories include visual, audio and fine arts. Call 241-9434.

• Fifth Third Center, 1 S. Main St.: Local artisans Gina Duncan and Judy Riesser will host an opening reception for their artwork, displayed in the lobby, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. 228-2224.

• Gallery 510 Fine Art, 510 E. Fifth St.: Presents a new collection of hand-beaded pendants and pins by Gallery 510 artist Cathy Helmers. Mention First Friday and receive $5 off winter scarves. 672-6717.

• Grass Roots Enrichment and Wellness Center, 400 E. Fifth St., Suite C: Art opening with paintings by artist-of-the -month Jed Helmers. 723-6747.

• Great Dayton Flood Walk: View vintage photos of the great flood, visit buildings that made it through the flood, see high-water marks from 1913 and much more. Walk starts at 7 p.m. and is $10 per person. Call 274-4749 or email [email protected] for required reservations and meeting location.

• K12 Gallery for Young People/TEJAS, 510 E. Third St.: The opening reception of the second annual juried exhibit featuring 2D black-and-white art; 16 artists have been selected to participate in the exhibit, which includes photographs, drawings, paintings and collages. 461-5149.

• Olive, an urban dive, 416 E. Third St.: Displaying photographs by Gary Kunze, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2004; 10 percent of all the sales of Gary’s photographs and cards will go toward Parkinson’s disease research. From 6 to 8 p.m., visitors can get a sneak peak at the new The Barrel House, which is being renovated across the street from Olive.

• Requarth Co. Supply One Showroom, 447 E. Monument Ave.: (open 6 to 8:30 p.m.) Join the Fifth Street Brewpub for a beer tasting. Learn about the Fifth Street Brewpub Co-op and enjoy performances by local musicians David Baugham, composer/slap-style guitarist and winner of the Teen Music Slam 2012 (6 to 6:40 p.m.) and Pam Baugham of the folk/Americana group Sweet Betsy (6:40 to 8 p.m.). The tasting will feature six craft beers from a variety of breweries for $2 per taste or six tastes for $10. Proceeds will help the brewpub renovate its historical space and open its doors this spring. Also, Harvest Mobile Cuisine will be on site with local food for sale.

• Sew Dayton, 16 Brown St.: Hosting a “spring cleaning” sale; fill up an entire bag of scraps of fabric for $1. Artwork by featured artist-of-the-month Cherry Fullam will be on display. 234-7398.

• The Yellow Cab Building, 700 E. Fourth St.: Hosting the second “Dayton Crafty-Con,” showcasing local crafters. Starting at 5 p.m., more than 25 vendors will be giving demos on how to create the crafts they are selling. At 7 p.m.,“Battle of the Crafters” will take place on the main stage. Each team will be presented with a box of unknown supplies and will be judged on its ability to make a craft within the parameters of the specified theme. Zombie Dog food truck will be selling gourmet hot dogs. 203-8175.

First Friday is presented by the Downtown Dayton Partnership with support from the Oregon District Business Association, the Ohio Arts Council and WYSO-FM 91.3. The Downtown Dayton Partnership’s website has a complete list of downtown’s arts and cultural amenities, as well as a dining guide, parking map and much more. Download the Find It Downtown mobile search tool for smartphones at http://mobile.downtowndayton.org

Mayliner Looking To Join Area Punk Rock Elite

March 27, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

The elderly hate it. Some groups of people find it repulsive. People question whether or not it’s actually considered music. There are also those that would fight you for daring to speak out of line about what they are passionate about; those same individuals also say they have found something that makes them feel like they are part of a family. What I am talking about is punk rock.

Punk rock music is beloved by many around the world. The Ramones, The Clash, and Sex Pistols brought a brash, rebellious sound that was unapologetic and wild. Full of energy and emotion, catching a punk show is unpredictable. Expect a pit of people to start the intense participation of slamming into each other while forming a circle, a practice commonly known as moshing. There is also a pretty good chance that people will be either crowd surfing or the one of the band members will be stage diving. You never know what to expect, but you know that you are in for one crazy night. In Dayton, we are fortunate that we have a great collection of punk rock bands taking local stages. One band that should you should check out is Mayliner. Mayliner consists of three memembers-guitarist/vocals Josh Caperton, bassist/vocal Chris Barnett, and drummer Paige Beller (Beller is also the lead singer of band Jasper the Colossal).

(Photo Courtesy-Jennifer Taylor Clarke)

Caperton and Barnett have had Mayliner up and running a little over a year now, but the two have been playing and writing music since their high school days. The two took part in numerous battle of the bands around the local area and were even asked to be part of the bands that they were competing against. They have also been there for each other through thick and thin during their previous bands’ journeys. Mayliner alone has had their share of lineup changes, with drummers coming and going up to last year. However, both men agree that it doesn’t affect their progress. “As long as I see Josh next to me, and he sees me next to him-it is all good,” Barnett says.

That chemistry and bond are just part of why they are one of the good up and coming punk bands around town. Caperton and Barnett play with viciousness, with a rapid pace of play on each of their respective instruments. The drum play of each of their songs is fast and heavy. Mayliner wants to do one thing: play as loud as they possibly can, a staple in any punk rock band’s live sets.

“I have been told that we sound like The Who but faster”, Barnett says when asked how he would describe the band’s sound. The songwriting is shared by both Caperton and Barnett. They will go to each other and share what they have, keeping the process open and free. The lyrics songs center on experiences that have come and gone throughout their lives including songs about occurrences and encounters that weren’t delightful. However, those songs do go into how you overcome bad events and become better, and not let the bad define you as a person.

Mayliner and Jasper the Colossal are will be releasing an split EP from the local record company FM Records this Thursday. Each band will have about 4 songs on the release. So how was this idea brought up you wonder…

“The idea of doing the split EP was up and in the air for over a year”, Caperton explains. “We loved the idea of doing something with Jasper, maybe with recording one of their songs and they record one of ours. We heard that Paige (Beller) went in the studio and recorded, so we went and did our thing.”

Be expecting some fantastic punk rock that will downright be a crime if not played at a maximum level. After all, isn’t that what punk music is supposed to be played?!

This Thursday, Mayliner and Jasper the Colossal will be playing a split EP release party at One Eyed Jacks in Fairborn, Ohio. Go out and see why Mayliner is truly one of the up and coming punk bands rocking around the Dayton area.

A Ghastlee Night at Gilly’s….The Sequel

March 23, 2013 By Mike Ritchie 2 Comments

Friday March 8 Gilly’s Jazz club hosted an evening of extreme musical diversity. Hardcore humored adult rated acoustic singing, a human mix master, sound-machine and beat boxer, a screaming electric Ukulele playing misfit, a trippy rock n roll splattering of horror fed haunted charm and the southern Grand Ole Opry, brought to you by Bloodline Video. The show was in honor and celebration of the evening’s host and performer, legendary local TV personality, actor and Horror Host A Ghastlee Ghoul, who toyed with the crowd played naughty games, told jokes, made rude comments and headlines as only he can.

The ever charming, cussing, swearing gentleman Felix Wussington started the evening strapped with acoustic guitar and a wide array of lyrical poetry making beautiful prose out of STD’s, lesbians, killing your significant other, the reaper and amusing domestic violence. This tattooed R-XXX rated country punk talked the sh- about backyard body burial, a romantic interlude in the Y’s swimming pool and a tribute to Herbert West and his love of playing with dead things. It’s a good thing Wussington’s someone everyone wants to hang out with and Lives Across the Street from Heaven. It might save his songwriting soul from the reaper and eternal damnation, good thing All Dudes go to Heaven. Hmmm… he could’ve beat the devil, if only he played the fiddle. Mr. Wussington also has select tunes from his debut My Cthulu’s Showing on Soundcloud.

Splattertude

The power and talent of the human voice and throat is put on display as human beat box master Thomas Gardner hits the mic, spins the turntable, scratches some vinyl, plays with some techno grooves all with his voice. He’s a walking sub wolfer, PA, night club sound-system, in one shades/hoodie wearing bass heavy package.

Next up Dayton’s answer to a loud live horror movie, emanating trippy sounds of the 60’s drug scene Splattertude. Like a bad stain, they don’t come out. Fronted by the howling leather and laced demoness Susperia, MC himself bassist A Ghastlee Ghoul, the ghost faced guitarist Tony Tone and the skins destroying chrome faced Christmas Devil Louu Stahl. The House of 1000 Corpses opened and your Darkest Hour begins. You won’t carry a cross but you’ll have a handful of Black Roses swirling in a pool of dark dreams and persecution. War, murder it’s just a shot away Down the Rabbit Hole. They take us on a train-wreck voyage to the cinema wastelands of Cleveland.

The always handsome Uke playing tallywacker himself Henrique Couto brought his unique brand of showmanship once again to the Gilly’s stage partnered with his friend bass player multi-talent Jay Madewell. Often accused or assumed as being a walking wardrobe malfunction Couto’s flashy appearance may clash with itself but overall adds to his undeniable talent for drawing a reaction whether by song lyrics or personalized humor and mastery of an instrument few have dared to unlock the mysteries of. Miley Cyrus is Pregnant with his two headed love child, and Couto doesn’t even have a love mullet. He plays Better than Nothing of his new CD That’s Loud and UPS’s his heart to a stalking admirer. He believes ‘educational films’ are bullsh- and gives everyone the lyrical finger with a laugh and smile playing his most popular iTunes song. He finishes, with a tribute to the man of his dreams saying he’d do Anything Anything to be The Dream Master.

Queen Victoria and Todd the Fox

The sovereign Queen Victoria and the Reverbnation voted best blues player in Ohio the exalted Todd the Fox take the stage and swing, swagger and silhouette the sounds of the south and old-school/classic rock with a hillbilly twang that was sweet backwater honkey-tonk strong. Welcome to Detroit and the Hotel Yorba, such a lovely place. We party with Mr. John Fogerty and the Old Man Down the Road. Spin the Stealers Wheel and worship Mr. Clapton then jam to some old-time country road blues with The Carters. There’s a Little Ghost under the Blue Moon of Kentucky, so Sleep On a beautiful haunting lullaby from Alison Krauss. Oh Boy, I see a reflection of a Bad Moon Rising in the Clearwater, I see trouble on the way in the form of big bad Imelda May and the devil divine her Handsome Man. Miss Victoria can swing an acoustic just fine and hold her own on a mandolin with the sexy grace of a rockin country queen.

DRI Thrash Out McGuffy’s

March 23, 2013 By Mike Ritchie 1 Comment

Friday February 22^nd six bands threw down their best punk/hardcore /thrash performance bringing back the original spirit of the early 80’s rebellious alternative scene. Spikes, studs, leather, patches, tattooed faces and 12 inch Mohawks were the lay of the land tonight as every Dirty Rotten Imbecile showed up to mosh, thrash out, surf and tumble their way to a good time. Winding Hollow Productions’ second showcase at Dayton’s house of rock proved an initiation of cardio for the more ambitiously exercise minded in the crowd and an all-night free for all for extreme music.

Dayton’s Abortive Issue opened with the pretty, prim and proper Miss Ashley who danced around onstage like she was in her own private padded luxury cell, complete with open sleeved straightjacket and it was playtime. She embodied the spirit of Wendy O Williams fondling the mic like a plasmatic doll. She’s a raging tattooed Pat Benatar screaming in tune with schizophrenic movement, devious eyes and a psycho friendly smile warming up for mosh pit gymnastics. They play with a smack speed and lots of American Pride but those are just their Minor Qualities, and they Trash Talk too, Just for Kicks.

The Hard-Onz

From the snow covered wastelands of Illinois come’s a modern day version of Bad Brains and Fear in hardcover form in the Hard-Onz. Making the treacherous 7 hour trek from the dark, dank back alleyways of Lake County to defeating mother-nature’s fury and passing several overturned semi’s on the way to be here tonight, bringing the smell with them. They earned their way to the McGuffys stage bringing out the old-school noisy but rebellious conglomeration of punk and hardcore that made the sound of the early 80’s the forerunner of the movement. They spent time falling over each other and even turned a few technical mishaps in their favor adlibbing a song or two. Playing a song with a broken string totally fits the hardcore work ethos. With Leo on vocals the band jams on songs ramming us with colorful tunes about weekend beer, bitches, pigs, unidentified white powder and tramps also hitting Rock Bottom waking up to find a meth lab in the garage and a Hard-core twist on a Minor Threat classic. They also made the pit user friendly sending their mascot, Richard Hardon the 1st to stimulate crowd participation in the vintage creepy crawl and classic circle dance moves. What they lack in prettiness and grace they make up for with drive and passion, even if they were influenced by the naked talent of GG Allen and they always towel off after finishing.

The m-m-m-m-m metal shop opened for business with Grim State combining thrash, grindcore and just flat out pounding molten metal. It’s a loud noisy state of the union address and it’s Volatile as hell. All the Deadbeats followed the imbeciles in ready to cause/spread Illness. Turbine engines kicked on in Solitude and the Madness began as people got a little Absent-minded after a few pit hits.

The Legbone’s connected to the knee bone before a slip and slide beer on the floor disconnection. They’re a nice even groove of punk rock and metal with a packed crowd and filled pit showing a more friendly side of hardcore. With the spirits flowing there’s no Pressure. They dedicated an explicative laden crappy tune to the hard work of the Hard Onz. They’ve too happy and fun loving to be pissed off punks, too heavy to be just punk and punk enough to not just be metal. They do Swallow Razors just to prove their baddass’s though. There’s plenty of time for California dreaming after the screaming over. They cover I Drink too Much by The Give Ups who they’ll be sharing an upcoming split release with. Next up, the prettiest girls in the ugliest town get some love. Troy gets a unique tribute on Drunk Favors for Beer. Judging by some of the crowd at this point What You Are is one dumb, drunk belligerent degenerate waking up Saturday morning saying I Got Pains, with a Two Day Hangover, so you’re at the right place and basically had fun. They officially break out the metal, throwing up the beer after beer after beer after beer… and the devil horns. They sing a double bandaged, double dose of skater tunes about skinned knees, scraped elbows, broken bones and cracked craniums after 6 foot ledge jumps onto soft concrete. If there’s nothing else you remembered from tonight’s intoxicating show remember this…. B stands for belligerent, E stands for every time I get drunk, E stands for everyone I’m hanging with, R stands for ruthie and the process.

Architects of Doom

The unholy Dayton Architects of Doom were ready to spread fury and filth with a trigger happy mutiny of loud angry aggression. They open pulling The Trigger on their own loud heavy breed of Iron Maiden meets Arch Enemy with ‘up tempo’ Morbid Angel gathered in the mix. Keith Hamilton’s vocals are a mix of Zakk Wylde and sonic screamers Randy Blythe and the equally bearded Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg. Danny definitely has some of Eddie’s influence in his fingers powered by Dragonforce. They start a fierce Mutiny playing the Martyr’s dishing out the Ritual Punishment Under a Black Flag of Bloodshed. Black Flag was dedicated to anyone in music or in any kind of art. The Architects earned the night’s most vicious pit… so far. They played new tune Awaken for the first time and new tune Bloodshed. Their sound is a delicious mulligan stew stricken with cool melody with munchy pieces of scrap iron riffs floating in the swirling muck.

DRI

The 30th Anniversary of those Houston crossover hardcore punk’s with enough thrash to insight a yard full of angry attack dogs DRI began as the Thrashard opened and In The Pit everyone went. A large perpetually moving group of sweaty, hot, stinky bastards and ladies annihilated the floor and each other spreading bloodless DNA everywhere. Kurt and the boys played all the hits and some crowd surfers barely missed hospital time thanks to the heroic patient efforts and skill of the front stage security team. Classic crossover records Four of a Kind, Thrashzone and Definition were well represented also borrowing from the old school pre-hybrid success and some tunes from the mid-nineties. Brecht and Co played with syringes, discussed the Modern World, As Seen on TV with those annoying Suit and Tie Guys. So get Beneath the Wheel and accept your Manifest Destiny because it’s too late to Do the Dream. Brecht still has that raspy angry spoken word delivery surrounded by the punk-thrash pollutant mixture of the man of a hundred expressions bassist Harald Oimoen, drummer Rob Rampy and original guitarist Spike Cassidy. They’ve brought out the punks, skinheads and metal heads in droves from the early 80’s to present day earning them the status of being the major ‘crossover’ band of the movement. Judging by the crowd of flailing, flying, flowing and falling bodies both standing foot strong and airborne the band can still cause a Molotov Cocktail reaction in people. We’re all family in the pit anyway. Sweat and BO is the indoor version of Acid Rain. Original drummer brother Eric came up and played a few tunes from the very early days. They’ll be touring with fellow hardcore pioneers Suicidal Tendencies in April and Slayer for a few dates in May.

Alrosa Villa Amplifies Awareness for Autism/TS with Jasmine Cain.

February 24, 2013 By Mike Ritchie Leave a Comment

Writer’s note: my personal thanks and gratitude to the Cautela’s and the Make It Fit Foundation for tonight’s event as I was diagnosed with TS in grade school.

Saturday February 9th the Alrosa Villa in cooperation with the Make It Fit Foundation held the Amplified Awareness benefit fundraiser for children with Autism and Tourette Syndrome. The evening’s entertainment all volunteering their time and talent included Loboz, Fat Dog and the hot rod riding Jasmine Cain.

Event sponsors included Beckners Costum Cycles, QFM 96, Iron Brothers of Ohio and Boyd’s Goodyear. QFM’s Sue Leighton was there to help MC the event introducing the evenings host and organizer Make It Fit founder Mike Hoover. Fans from 8 different states made the trip for tonight’s show.

Loboz

Loboz opened cranking out 90 minutes of smooth flowing blues rock paying tribute to the classics and respect to some of music’s most beloved fallen heroes. Beginning with a Chris Duarte female friendly tune and the long bearded boys from Houston say Thank You. They get a little funky with The James Gang and play some sexy Latino attitude for Mamacita. They get original playing a namesake tune from their upcoming CD because somewhere Between Hell and Home you’ve Got to Groove into a swinging night taking the lady out on the town, showing her just how special she really is. If She Came in Through the Bathroom Window around dawn you know it was a good time. They set aside their bikes in favor of a red corvette traveling back to the 80’s with the roof down basking in the Purple Rain. We go to Chi-Town with the fuzzy guitar twirling eliminators hanging out on a bus with Jesus. Then Walk the Dog with the toxic twins of Boston and Scrawl with Mr. Duarte again. Though they’re opening tonight’s show they’re The King Bees playing the blues like they’ve lived the stories of seasoned headliners. But they haven’t ‘weathered’ as many storms as Mr. Vaughan… yet. They might look like the average white blues band but they definitely put some electric gypsy voodoo into their show.

Fat Dog

Fat Dog breaks open the Pearl Jam with an Evenflow of multiple genre gems and classics combined with a Cold Crossfade of collective collectibles that went over cool with the crowd. We get a little dark, deep and introspective with Tool, wait Everlong with Dave Grohl and enlist the crash and burn Bad Company of Johnny. Time for a Journey back in time with some friends from the 80’s Anyway You Want It and a trip to the summer skies of Boston along the way. From Boston to the hair-sprayed dusty old western streets of New Jersey washed in a synthesizer wave of 80’s pop metal where it’s all the same, only the songs change. From the six string streets we go deep in the trenches with The Rooster then Ramble On with Zeppelin. Bassist Nathan Hartley shows off his pipes telling us about love then we get Hot For Teacher and those wonderful grade school memories. They throw out a ‘colourful’ tongue and cheek claim of ownership on the next tune then bust into CM Punk’s favorite theme song. The Good Times, Bad Times keep rolling then everything gets Disturbed by the The Police. The end of the show was a clear Schism of band and crowd. All the pieces fit during the show then they walked off stage.

Straight from the gas guzzling hog wild town of Sturgis comes the raven haired, leather and lace queen of the open road Miss Jasmine Cain. Here to smash your face with a few shots of Jager and a show of originals and covers you’ll want to remember, planting a pretty image in your mind you won’t want to forget. Till the early hours of the morning she weaves her headbanging gothic spell, thrashing out like a mad woman banging out deep soothing, thumping bass lines with attitude and you should hear her scream. Her sound created by red rimmed top hat keyboard playing insanest David Michael Thomas along with her own special traveling band combines the heart of country, the rebel in rock, the dark sinister side of metal with an atmospheric horror movie blend that raises holy Cain.

Jasmine Cain

She blasts into the enchanting nocturnal song of the Nightingale spreading delusional fantasies of hopes and dreams drowned in the wishing well. She breathes out the ice cold embrace of Frostbite then takes us face down in a liquid dream with a Whiskey Kiss. We go back to 1995, a great year to learn to drive and ride officially starting the mileage of life. The engines roar, gasoline and oil burn as we hear the hog-lovers lullaby as she travels down that endless gypsy road the Highway Prophet. She’s a road wise woman with hard living stories spiced with a sweet country slap. An acoustic version was played on QFM’s Arch & Elliot Show the previous morning followed by an appearance at the Columbus Easyrider show. She’s a pretty haunted gothic princess moving under the Evanescence of scattered spotlights, adding her own satin locked touch to Miss Lee’s opus. We get Zombified with a Thunderkiss 30 years before ’95. Whether it’s the whiskey or the past the witching hour, hour talking she’s still got some devil in her lungs proving good loud heavy music is still the ‘international colors’ of the two wheeled roaring beasts. Enter night as the sandman takes over for the Nightingale spreading wicked dreams turning front stage Alrosa into the snakepit. With a cold winter’s moon above Cain is definitely of wolf and woman (and a bit of a Dreamweaver in her own right).

The organ blasted out The Phantoms welcome as the Abbey’s creaky gates opened to a Lady Cain guided tour of Mr. Crowley’s house. Bats on the left, doves on the right, don’t expect to leave tonight. We all yell Hey Man Nice Shot as the drinks pour, she lets out a sensual roar and we keep feeling More Human Than Human. She sings like she’d have your back in a bar fight and flings her bass around playing like she’s its scorned lover. It was time for old Ozzy vs. new Ozzy. It’s just a hand in the bush. Tonight was their first show since November and they’ve had plenty of time to make us their Audioslave. Jasmine reminds us that Life is Beautiful and we’re all the Beautiful People, the beautiful people, in it. She gives us a little bit of a ‘sappy’ Love Song then harnesses the energy to Rage Against the Machine.

As part of the fundraiser, a guitar signed by all performing band members was raffled and won by Derek of Ohio’s Number #1 Biker Magazine Thunder Roads Ohio. After a loudly encouraged encore we got a small slice of Americana from The Boss then saving the enchanting White Winged Dove for the last mesmerizing soulful seduction.

Jasmine Cain has come a long way since being the house band for the Full Throttle Saloon back in 2000. She released her debut album The Inside and title track video in 2004 (wins 2 JPF awards in ’06). Videos for Sweet Euphoria and Help Me are released in ’05. Headlines Easyrider shows three years in a row starting in ’07, releases Locks & Keys in ’08 winning 6 JPF awards for it in ’09 and releases Highway Prophet in 2011 winning Female Rock Vocalist of the year award at the first annual Music City Mayhem Awards. Last year the Highway Prophet video was released and they were nominated for three MCMA awards.

The Make It Fit foundation has spearheaded its push for Autism awareness since November 2011. They’ve worked with professional athletes from MMA, football and baseball also appearing at the Arnold Classic and Mr. Olympia 2011 and 12. They’ve donated to numerous charities including Autism Speaks, The Autism Society of Ohio, Cookies for Ipads, Recreation Unlimited, Oakstone Academy and several more. They’ve also partnered with the owners of White Castle who donated 10 million dollars to further Autism research and also donated to Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in a joint venture called The Ingram Autism Research Center. Make It Fit will also be donating to The Ingram Center this year and to the Tourette Syndrome Society of Ohio, tsaohio.org. An Autism Motorcycle was built by Kip Meeks and Mark Beckner of Beckners Custom Cycles painted by Steve ‘Copperhead’ Stritenberger and taken to conventions/fundraisers/Easyrider shows, viewed by millions and auctioned off last year. The annual Ohio Ride for Autism will roar through Columbus on July 27 and The All About Autism Car Truck and Motorcycle show will be on August 17. The Alrosa Villa hopes to make Amplified Awareness an annual event.

Autism is described as a neural disorder affecting mental, emotional development resulting in impaired social interaction, communication and repetitive behavior. It is one of three disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs) the other’s being Asperger Syndrome which lacks delays in cognitive/linguistic development but greatly affects social behavior. Pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) is diagnosed when the whole set of criteria for the other two aren’t met. Autism has a strong genetic base and signs are noticed within the first two years of life. Movies with autistic characters include The Boy Who Could Fly, Rain Man, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Bless the Child and Mercury Rising and on TV’s Parenthood, Grey’s Anatomy, House, Law &Order Criminal Minds, The Shield and most recently Touch.

Tourette Syndrome is an inherited mental disorder onset in childhood characterized by multiple physical (motor) and vocal (phonic) tics that come and go and can be temporary suppressed occurring from an oncoming pre-urge. TS is defined as a tic disorder which are sudden, repetitive, body movements, sounds and vocalizations which include sniffing, blinking, facial movements, body jerks and spasms. Audio tics include making noises, involuntary cussing, swearing and other derogatory verbiage, though the tics generally subside with age. TV shows featuring TS characters include Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Sopranos and The Tourette Guy with documentaries Twitch and Shout, last year’s Magic Camp and the film short Harvie Krumpet. The 2008 TV movie Front of the Class is based on the real life story of TS diagnosed Brad Cohen who became a gifted teacher. Depending on your sense of humor TS has also been lampooned in Deuce Bigalow and mentioned in The Wedding Singer. Celebrities with TS include Howie Mandel, Howard Hughes and Dan Aykroyd. May 15-June 15 is national TS awareness month.

The Last Waltz: Bringing The Movie To Life

February 13, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

A still image from The Last Waltz

“You never know what to expect when they came on stage. However you know that it was going to be great.” This is what Jeff Opt said to me while the two of us sat around inside the Yellow Cab building. What he was referring to in his statement about of the iconic groups of the 60s, The Band. Jeff Opt is truly special. He is one of the main coordinators of the yearly event Dayton Sideshow, an annual two day event that highlights the unique art that is being done in town. Each year, the Sideshow will have a theme to the exhibition that will include a variety of work, which includes video, sculptures, paintings, photography, and live music from local bands. What the Sideshow aims to do is to help individuals obtain a platform to show off their creations, and also to celebrate the local art scene. If you haven’t been to one of the previous shows, do yourself a favor and check it out this year during the spring Urban Nights event, which will be taking place in May. While sitting at the Yellow Cab building, Opt talked about the joys of helping others achieve their dreams. “It’s a passion of mine. I love being able to help others.”

For a couple of years, Opt had been dreaming of doing a show that recreated The Last Waltz, the final concert that The Band would perform as a group on November 25, 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco (the same venue the group made its debut in 1969). The Band comprised of Rick Danko (vocals, trombone, bass, fiddle), Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, vocals), Garth Hudson (keyboard, trumpet, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, drums, saxophone) and Robbie Robertson (guitar vocals). The Band was a hybrid of many musical influences, with the Americana folk sound blending in with the psychedelic traits that bands from Cream to Led Zeppelin were built on. The statement mentioned earlier by Opt was true. The Band wasn’t the most polished group to come to the stage, but you always were in awe of the way they played music. It was beautiful how they would bring all these different components into their music.

Sadly, with Robertson wanting to have the group become strictly a studio-only band due to the exhaustion of always being on the road, along with Manuel suffering a severe neck injury after a boating accident, the group decided their to disband and have a farewell concert that will have some of the artists and bands that influenced them along the way, with a large horn section backing them. During the concert, artists from Eric Clapton, to Neil Young, to Bob Dylan performed as well. The show was filmed by director Martin Scorsese. In 1978, Scorsese released the documentary of the same name as the show, The Last Waltz. The movie featured concert performances, and interviews with the band. The Last Waltz is hailed as one of the greatest concert films ever made in many circles you talk to. On February 24th, Opt’s vision of bringing the show to town will become reality. “It is one of my favorite movies. I just think that it’s cool watching this great band play one last time. I thought it would be cool to recreate that movie.”

An all-star lineup of Dayton musicians rehearses for Such A Night in the Old Yellow Cab Building

Such A Night: A Celebration of The Band’s Last Waltz will be taking place at the legendary jazz club Gilly’s Niteclub, located on 132 S. Jefferson Street, in Dayton, Ohio. Close to thirty local musicians along with an eight piece horn section will bring the awe-inspiring film to life. “All these musicians are excited about being part of this project”, explained Opt. “Most of these guys have never played together. So, to see this coming together is really cool.” Opt has been working on this project since last October/November, calling up people that he knew would be great for the show. Each member will tell you one thing when it comes to the show, including Opt, “This show is going to blow some minds.”

The evening will not only be producing excellent live music, but it’s also going to be helping a cause that is going to help a great deal of people. All the proceeds from people walking in will go to one of the Miami Valley’s great nonprofit organizations, The Foodbank. Since 1976, The Foodbank has been helping a network of food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, and backpack programs among others. Being the largest hunger relief agency in the Dayton area, a single dollar will be able to provide eight meals to the hungry. Nearly 5,000,000 meals a year are provided to children, adults, and the elderly. It’s just another gesture of gratitude that Opt gives of himself. “I am firm believer in helping others. I want to be a good role model for my kids.”

The buzz of Such A Night: A Celebration of The Band’s Last Waltz has been astonishing. The show was kept under wraps until the past couple of weeks. It’s now gotten to the point where a small amount of advanced tickets are able to be purchased. “I didn’t want to have a lot of people not be able to get to see the show. So by doing just a limited number of advanced tickets, it just gives people a chance to come and watch, and not be turned down”, Opt said. Opt believes strongly that the show will be something that people will be talking about for days after. He hopes that maybe if all goes well, maybe we will do something like this again next year and beyond. “I was asked about doing The Who’s Tommy. I think that would be cool, but let’s get Such A Night out of the way first (laughs)”, Opt mentioned. Something tells me that Such A Night is truly just the beginning.

Such A Night: A Celebration of The Band’s Last Waltz once again is on February 24^th. Show time is 7:30pm, and admission is $5. Donations will be accepted at the door.

Video from the original “The Waltz”

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_csn7KtVeOU’]

The Attic Celebrates Its Final Night

February 13, 2013 By Mike Ritchie Leave a Comment

Saturday January 26th over 700 kids jammed the Attic’s positive space to be part of the venues final loud shout out of all day music marathon. 15 bands played the Hot Head Burrito and main stage in door festival starting at 2:30 with States Away and finishing 8 hours later with Beneath the Sky. Bands sandwiched in between included Ignite the Empires, Strangers to Wolves, Witness, The Holy Guile and Hail to the King amongst others.

Event vendors No Where To Go Clothing also donated half the evenings proceeds to The Attic. A raffle was held for a signed Miss May I framed poster by Rockstar Energy, a Woe Is Me signed poster, CD and drumsticks and a Texas in July CD.

States Away

The day started with the high energy of States Away playing human bumper car on stage as they cranked out their pop punk set including I Tried so hard and Mean What You Say. Corey Davis’ Gerard Way influenced vocals carried the band’s sound. Formed in early 2012 they released their self-titled EP in June and plan on recording, playing shows and depending on the kindness of strangers for sleeping quarters on the road.

In Current Standing opened up the first set of heavy agonized screams, growls and a little calm singing mixed in, including some atmospheric laptop tech effects. Guitarist Trevor Strahans skull guitar breathed out some death heavy tunes including Virtues that prompted the day’s first ‘dance’ moves.

Ignite the Empires crash the stage banging heads with some Cheap Wine. The Attic Alumni return from previous shows including opening for A Plea For Purging to play and Piss Off the crowd with their own brand of loud, aggressive in your face noise. They played the guitar intricacies of Miles of Expectations like a thief in the night then told the tale of Xanie Annie before finishing off in a cartoonish manner playing a select tune for all the Family Guy fans.

We take a short acoustic break with the pierced soothing songs sung by rebellious Kevin Brewer including the Foo Fighters’ Hero.

Strangers to Wolves

Strangers to Wolves brought their snarling pop metal predatory music next. Silver bullets and fang prosthetics aside their sound echo’s the cold dark woods where the howls come from after midnight. They play an 80’s tribute to their namesake historical rival Lost Boys while sporting some hairy wolfish mullets. The night was guitarist Marcus Springer’s second show with the pack. A new EP will be coming out in March with the single Second Star on the Right.

It could be said that Permission to Live are just a bunch of good hearted, fun loving hard edged, hard wood surfer punks riding the wave to future success. A few new tunes in, they pay homage to Taylor Swift, say Final Goodbyes half way through and get a little Smashmouth bringing some VIP’s on stage to celebrate.

Can we get a Witness please? What we get are a bunch of loud, scream/singing loud blokes blending a computer enhanced sound with a warped mixture of pop sound and legit heavy metal cannon fire. Their opener off the Of Great Importance EP spreads F.E.A.R. throughout the building as they played crowd control during The Ledger, a cheery song dealing with the grief and sadness of loss; check out the video on YouTube.

Lammes Lane performed half their set under the man-made flashing light nightshade and stage mist resembling pillaging and plundering shadowed Viking warriors. They play their music like primal animals no matter Who’s at the Zoo. Their hard thrashing sound accompanied by Obituary meets Death vocals brought the crowd up and over the stage for Showtime. Though their music is Yet to be Scene, their debut CD will be available this spring.

Witness

We Are Forever from Indianapolis brought out the special lighting for their 2nd visit. All the girls screamed as they played tunes from their first record Seasons featuring Lights including Make It Through. Their sound is pretty upbeat pop with a high energy presentation.

Grim State play their music down in the heavy drudges and cold earthen woods where they bring us Creeps, Sheep and Deadbeats. Only songs like Solitude and Valor are slow and trudgy enough to come from the darkest forgotten holler. Also songs like Madness, Illness and Torn show just how Volatile and Unstable these Dayton boys are.

Remember When is a five-some power pop band riding high on the momentum of their Save Your Wishes EP, touring with bands such as Miss May I and their new EP He Said, She Said played with high pop precession.

The next act starts with a pretty Cool Story about a band from around these here parts somewhere. They spread their Holy Guile all over the damn place with wicked spewing venom vocals on full rotation, blasting drums, a unique unsuspected cathedral, turntable effects conglomerate with inserted black metal and techno elements to trans-mutate into a chaotic gelatinous mass of metal love and torture. Imagine a holy conversion by Dani Filth backed by Crowbar cranked to hyperdrive. The next songs called Hey Zeus, Yeah, Zeus! As in, father of Apollo? Mt. Olympus? Don’t mess with them or they’ll shove a lightning bolt somewhere special, Zeus! And you better not have a problem with that. All’s good but noisy tonight in Idahoe.

When imagining Hail to the King, think of Fear Factory with an even more pissed off sounding Burton C. Bell in the form of Kody Hale meets Meshuggah, intensity like a thousand screaming armies and aggressive insanity like the screaming mind of a raging psychotic. Hell explodes raining hails of inner earth onto the ground, through the acrid smoke and debris Hail to the King emerge. They clamp on an iron clad Contagion Clasp and Go for the Throat with a malevolent decimation of sound and some nice melancholy guitar notes. They bring everyone together, pit by pit. They play the lovely sounding Starletta then Saud Ahmed of The Holy Guile came out to help harmonize on one of their louder tunes. They thank the crowd with a final pummeling Gutshot shaking the ribs and rumbling organs.

Cincy’s bloody birds pecking at the body of Christ celebrate their second record A Feast for Crows on Victory records with a pretty Portrait of American Greed. There’s Blood in the Water as the ship goes down and those self-made glorious pompous pulpit Monuments crumble to oblivion. A Glorious new song is heralded before we finish with bitterness and hope of Marilyn courtesy of Corpus Christi.

Pastor Kilby address the crowd

A reunion show for the Cincinnati metal growlers as they celebrate everything Beneath the Sky with a packed house of tired but hungry for more metal heads is The Reason they’ll are still here. It’d be a Grave Mistake to leave now being it’s the first time the original lineup played since 2007 and not celebrate to the end. The uncomfortably themed and videoed Terror Starts at Home is followed by a Gunsmoke Kiss for the Goodfellas. We spend ten minutes at the users ball before we find an evening partner before Last Call. They talk about Miss Misery and a tale of near death from the Northside. They mourn a friend at 7861 Blackthorne Drive and finish taking us on Our Last Road as sadly The Attic finishes its decade plus road of the area’s best talent.

Though there’s no set timeframe Pastor Kilby has promised that the Attic concept, theme and everything that made it a great hang out for kids will return in the form of another building or venue depending on when some new positive space becomes available.

Special thanks for on the spot event info, go-to guy the prosperous ‘Mr. Tree’.

Team Void: Dayton’s Own Lucha Libre

February 8, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

Before you start to dive into the article, please start the music…

The Mexican culture has various lures to it. From the Meso-American ruins that cover all around the land, the fantastic climate that awaits you at any time, to the rich beauty of the country’s art. Mexico is a true gem to the world that we live in. One of the country’s most unique, interesting, and pleasurable attributes that it brings is the history of the lucha libre.

The lucha libre (aka luchador) is Spanish term for “free fighting” in the wrestling community. The luchador travels all around the countryside getting rid of the crime and corruption that plagued the townspeople. The masked hero would showcase an aerial display of high-flying maneuvers, along with a dazzling display of moves learned from the Greco-Roman wrestling world. In 1942, El Santo (“The Saint”) came to the ring and changed the complexion of the masked fighters. During his career, which spanned over 50 years, El Santo became a huge star in and out of the ring, becoming the symbol of the lucha libres all around Mexico, with several movies and comic books with him as the subject. That appreciation has landed here in Dayton, Ohio with the lucha libre’s of rock and roll Team Void.

Team Void comprises of lead guitarist Louie Bean Lerma (“El Muerto”), bassist El Bean Lerma (“Infinity”), rhythm guitarist Nate Beam (“Cruzado”), Jon Mercier on drums (“Johnny X”), Gregory Hall (“Blaster”) on trumpet and keyboard. Team Void also has a couple of musicians as part of the ‘Lucha Superstars’-Gary King (“Slide”) on trombone, Derek Strouse (“Sandman”) on drums, and on congos Greg Schultz (“La Marmota”). The band’s trademark is the lucha libre masks that they wear while they are playing live. “It’s something that you have to get used to”, Beam mentions. “It takes some time, without question.” El sums it up nicely. “We become part of a role when we wear the mask. It’s fun and exciting.” The masks, along with the meaning behind the band’s name are simple: “We won’t to make sure that we void the problems that cause bands to not last. We want to have a corrupt free style with us”, Louie stated. Seeing the band will throw you off at first, seeing everyone in their character modes, but you quickly adjust. It’s seeing them without the masks that will catch you off guard. “We have had people at our shows not realize that we just played on stage”, Gregory says. “One guy saw me at the bar, and started talking about how the band on stage sounded good. He totally didn’t realize that I was part of the band. So, I just agreed. We find it funny.” No lie-it took me to have a second look also when I first saw the band live.

To understand how the band got together, we have to go back years ago. In the 90s, Louie was heavy involved with the music scene in the Dayton area, being in two bands that are forever engraved in the town’s history. He played in one group The Tasties, and he was in The Amps. The Amps was fronted by The Breeders lead singer, and local native Kim Deal. The band saw some success nationally, opening for Foo Fighters and playing on ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ show. However, it was directing, and editing that sparked Louie’s interest more. As time went on, Louie met his wife El at Canal Street Tavern. Then, Louie and El met the band throughout the next couple of years. The group of friends started playing music together, and realized that they had something special. When you spend 10 minutes with them its crystal clear of the chemistry. They spoke of the time the band went overseas and played (they have a pretty nice size following over the pond). They joked around about setting up an organ in the headquarters. They spoke highly of the love of Dayton, and how it’s exciting to be seeing the music scene going through rejuvenation.

There is one unique aspect of the band that you don’t see much anywhere is that they don’t have a lead singer on the band. In fact there isn’t any singing on their songs. “We didn’t want to have any singing in our music because we want to have people just enjoy what they are listening to”, explained Louie to me during my meeting with the band. “We felt with the music we were creating, we didn’t want to have one lead person in the band. We want people to just take in the music. By having someone singing, it just distracts you from that.” The band’s first EP, Gone With The Werewolves is a perfect example of how this concept works. Each member brings their own specialty into the mix, presenting a surf rock opus with layers of Mexican influence that simply will stop you at your tracks. The EP also offers the listener sound bites of what appears like they are taken from classic horror films from the 70s. Gone With The Werewolves is utterly mind blowing with the level of detail. The lucha libre vibe appears on each song, especially when you hear the playing of the trumpet and trombone. Listening to the EP, you also feel grateful that there isn’t any singing. It would simply take away from the dance that the band is executing. The EP is a shy under 20 minutes, which only leaves you wanting more.

Currently, Team Void is working on their new album, Robot Killer. The album was intended to be an EP, but the band feels that all the music they are laying down is too good to leave out. “Get ready for this album. It’s going to blow some minds”, Beam glowingly stated to me. After listening to Gone With The Werewolves, I can’t help but agree. To see the band live, you have a couple of times here soon. This Saturday at Omega Music at 6, the band will be performing with Five Year Mission, and Sport Fishing USA. On February 16th at South Park Tavern, Team Void will be hitting the same on the same night with The Madeira. These are two shows that you simply can not miss.

Music Fans, Check Out: Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet

February 8, 2013 By Mike Ritchie 1 Comment

Editor’s Note: Although we tend to focus on musical happening in and around the Miami Valley, we also occasionally like to share something music-related that inspires our writers as music fans. Here’s one such inspiration. (JF)

Not Dead Yet is an incredible odds defying inspiring story of one man’s true dedication, passion and drive to create incredible music despite insurmountable life obstacles, and dire circumstances. Jason Becker personifies the sheer driving force and spirit of the human artistic will to enjoy life, persevere and make music.

Becker a future guitar prodigy was born in 1969 in Richmond California and exposed to music early by his family becoming proficient on acoustic guitar, harmonica and xylophone at age five. By his early teens he was playing Bob Dylan, Clapton and Van Halen note for note, blowing away local talent contests and variety shows. Becker was very inspired by classical music which influenced his style cranking Bach while friends cranked Slayer. He also had a comical side doing yoyo tricks with one hand while playing with the other.

In his teens Becker replied to an ad, submitting a tape to Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney who was looking for the ten best guitar players at the time. Subsequently future Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman had come to LA to work on his solo record. Varney suggested a duet to Friedman who after initial reluctance was won over by Becker’s playing and personality becoming fast friends. Their playing so complemented and inspired each other Friedman often said Becker could play his material better than he could. They formed the band Cacophony. His father concerned about his education told the principal Jason had a record deal and was going on tour and asked if he could finish high-school early. He finished six months early with straight A’s

After touring with Cacophony he returned to Japan supporting his first solo CD Perpetual Burn, doing guitar clinics between gigs. One particular clinic drew 800-1000 people validating his rising momentum.

In 1989 at age 20 he auditioned for David Lee Roth, the most sought after high profile gig at the time, earned his spot and recorded A Little Ain’t Enough, released in 1991. During recording he started feeling a ‘lazy limp’ in his left leg and was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) aka Lou Gehrig’s disease, a debilitating condition that rapidly weakens muscle mobility and use of tongue and speech causing permanent paralysis. Becker was given 3-5 years to live. Undergoing uncomfortable and painful therapy while recording and rehearsing his condition progressed to where he could barely play notes or hold the guitar. He told Roth who reluctantly got a replacement.

They tried alternate forms of therapy but nothing worked. Becker went from using canes to a wheelchair in months. In 1992 he met his former fiancé and main caregiver Serrana Pilar. Though he had moments of hopelessness and darkness they believe he never hit the point of giving up. He still had music and ideas in his head he needed to get out somehow.

To accomplish this a computer program was invented using a visor equipped with sensors that would move the cursor on the screen according to his head movements. He slowed down music in his head hitting the mouse with his chin entering intricate and complex melodies note by note adjusting the phrasing and velocity of each one until everything played the way he internally heard it at speed.

>After a near death experience his speech failed and his father invented an eye movement sign language/geometry system so Becker could communicate based on angles. A clear six squared grid with four letters in each square allows him to spell out words and have conversations. First movement is the square, second is the letter in the square. His father’s learned to guess the word after the first couple letters and Becker doesn’t ‘dull’ conversations with filler words, everything he says is important.

“I couldn’t quit on my music, it never even entered my mind. I just love making music and no matter how hard it is, it’s like my drug.”

Becker’s longevity is attributed by his family and friends 20 year care and commitment to keeping his drive, passion and love for music and life alive with a custom made healthy diet and dark rooted sense of humor.

To make music his father plays guitar notes into a computer then Becker organizes them giving instructions on any needed changes. Though they’re no longer together Serrana is his inspiration and taught him what true love is and makes him want to be a better person.

Becker is a global inspiration encompassing the true, unflinching spirit of the human will to never give up.

“I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind.”

Becker’s discography includes Perpetual Burn 1988, Perspective 1995, The Raspberry Jams 1999, The Blackberry Jams 2003, Collection 2008 and Boy Meets Guitar Volume 1 of Youngster Tapes 2012. He also performed on Cacophony’s Speed Metal 1987, Go Off 1988 and David Lee Roth’s A Little Ain’t Enough 1991. Along with two tribute CD’s Warmth in the Wilderness I and IIfeaturing guitarist’s Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Joe Becker, Rusty Cooley, and Mattias Eklundh. The album profits were sent to Becker to help with medical expenses. In 2008 Paradise Guitars worked with Becker to design a Jason Becker signature guitar. In 2012 Carvin worked with Becker to design a Jason Becker Tribute guitar that is modeled after the original DC-series guitar he used toward the latter part of his career. In 2011 the inaugural Jason Becker Not Dead Yet Festival was held in San Francisco promoting ALS awareness and the love of the guitar featuring Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, Richie Kotzen and many others.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a relentlessly progressive degenerative disease targeting the motor nerves and muscles, effecting how the bodies lower and upper neurons communicate and function. When the neurons connected to the muscles from the spinal cord die, the brain loses ability to communicate thus the muscles become inactive. ALS is described as the ‘worst’ disease due to its relatively short window of mortality. Long term symptoms include the break down and eventual loss of mobility, ability to speak and swallow leading to permanent paralysis and death. Scientist Stephen Hawking has had ALS for over 50 years. The ALS Association has committed more than $67 million to find effective treatments and a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease, including the discovery of two ALS genes (SOD1 and ALS 6) responsible for 25% of all inherited cases and the trial of a new drug that targets SOD1.

Learning How To Play Vol. 1

February 6, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro 4 Comments

It all began with a thought…

I grew up in the small town of Jamestown, Ohio. Jamestown is your typical small town-just about 2000 citizens. A McDonalds sits right between a Dollar General and the local pizza establishment, Bentinos Pizza. You have the two traffic lights that await you when you come to town. On Friday nights in the fall season, the Greeneview Rams take to the field that is located in the same parking lot of the old high school. On weekends, you grab a couple of cases of cold, cheap beer and drive out to the outskirts of the town, and into the never-ending acres of country land. If you have some buddies have trucks that have more rust on it than the paint on truck, strap the rope on the machine, and have a tug and pull shake down.

My family and I lived out in those fields that the hijinks and absurd behavior would take place. When the threat of tornados circled us, we would drive down the road to our friends of the family’s home. Mike and Liz Bentley would be ever so gracious and open their doors to us, and let us stay in their basement if the time came to take shelter. Of course, when you live in the country-tornados don’t scare you till they are knocking on your door. We would sit on the porch, and watch the movement of the storm in the dark skies. When the threat would move on towards another town, my folks would want to stick around and talk with the Bentleys. That meant that Mike would go to a small room which was connected to the living room, and put on some music on his record. The music room was incredible. On the wall, each shelving unit would stack across left to right, up and down, with records from all decades. It was a true sight to see. Any type of classic rock you could think of, Mike had it. The collection was impressive-still is in my opinion.

For hours, I would sit down at the kitchen table with my folks, and the Bentleys. They had daughters, so my sister would go and play with girl toys. Now, being young as I was-I didn’t feel like playing with Barbie’s, playing with dolls. I was a boy. I don’t play with those things. Who would do such a thing, I thought. I told myself that I would just sit in the kitchen with the adults, and watch whatever was on the small screen television that hung in the corner of the room. I would never

watch the shows that were being screened with the volume turned up. The music would be turned up to the farthest that the level that the volume could go. The walls shook with the sound coming blaring through the speakers. It was those nights that I would start the relationship that I have with music. It’s a small part of why I became a music writer.

As I mentioned in my article about open mics in town, I got to college and wondered what it would be like to pick up an acoustic guitar, and learn how to play. So, I knew that this wasn’t going to be easy. I received a guitar for my birthday, and soon enough from there I would start to learn. Well-that didn’t happen. I had a friend that would try to show me some chords to play, and my fingers would start to bleed. I was told that this normal, which never made any sense to me. Why the hell would you want to do something that was going to make you bleed, and you weren’t really do anything that you think would make you do such?

So there I was, trying to push through some of the pain that the fingers would feel, and play some. I learned how to play ‘Smoke On The Water’ from Deep Purple. Alright-I learned just to play the chorus. I would go to college parties, and try to impress girls with my pathetic guitar play. It didn’t work. Apparently, you needed to learn how to play songs about love, and also be a little better looking. I didn’t possess any of those traits, so I gave up playing. However, for some reason, I would never give away the guitar. Is it the best guitar to have?! Probably not, but I wouldn’t give it up. I have had it for over 10 plus years now. It’s always been in the black, nylon travel bag that came with it. It’s always sitting next to the dresser. I don’t know why I haven’t just hang it up or do anything with it-I just never wanted to give it up. That is till now.

Starting this past year, I have been going around the Dayton area and watching some of the best music that is played anywhere in the United States. I will go to show to show, meet up with the artists and bands that would be playing, and write about them and their performances. I have been going to open mic nights as well. Being able to live in Dayton, I notice thThe passion and dedication that these people have is incredible. It’s something that I want to be part of-this special group of individuals around the world that has taken to playing music.

I decided that this year I would dust off the guitar that have had sitting around for so long, and learn how to play. I would then sign up and play a set at an open mic night around town. I want to see how it feels to be able to perfect a craft that makes people come together. I wanted to learn how to play in order to show my appreciation to the people who go out there each and every night and show their talent off. I want people to read this and see that it’s in fact not the easiest thing to do. However at the end of the day, the experience will ultimately show that if you follow a dream, it will come true. I will be doing a monthly update here. I will discuss the highest of the highs, and the lowest of the lows. I won’t be holding anything back. If you have any comments or suggestions, please share them.

Here we go…

2013 Dayton Does Dayton: 5 Bands To Watch For

February 1, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro 1 Comment

Of all the concerts and shows that people have attended at time or another, there has usually been a cover a song that the act performs. The artist or band will put their spin on it, either by playing a different riff on the guitar, or by singing it a different way. A lot of artists will even go as far as recording the cover and releasing their version. It’s the sincerest form of flattery to be able to have people care that much about the original artist/band’s song to go on stage and perform it live to an audience.

One of Dayton’s rising events focuses primary on this concept, and presents bands from all over town and come play live. The event is called Dayton Does Dayton, and the two day event will be going on this weekend, Friday and Saturday at the legendary Canal Street Tavern. The event will be entering its third year by local promoter Louie Wood Jr. Each band will perform songs from Dayton bands past and present, along with their own material. With over 25 local bands scheduled to take the stage over 2 days, it would be difficult for most to see all every single one. Here are 5 bands that you should at least get a chance to check out.

City of Kings

City of Kings is an up and coming band that you should be keeping your eyes on. The 5 piece group got their start in the small town of Marion, Ohio. Dalton Sipes, Matt Woodrum, Drew Mosley, and Kevin Hardy all played in different groups in town, playing in battle of the bands shows. Eventually the guys are synched up and soon realized that their small town wasn’t going to be able to give them the chance to showcase their talent. So, the guys all packed up and moved to Dayton. They met lead singer Jake Rose at a wedding of one of the band member’s family. The group’s unreal psychedelic sound mixed with garage rock flair is unreal, and the lyrics to the songs are simply mystifying. City of Kings is a tour de force that is only slated to become stronger over time. Be prepared to fall into a trance when listening to these guys. Their debut album, The Foundation is simply a music lover’s delight.

Jah Soul

Reggae is extremely popular throughout the world, with the great Bob Marley giving us music that has become a staple of our lives. The up-tempo, funky beats along with the loose play of the guitar makes anyone and everyone stand up and just to become unrestricting and free from all the problems that they have. It’s all about having fun with reggae music, we have a band that offers it-Jah Soul. With their combination of not only reggae, but soul, funk and disco, Jah Soul will be supplying the good times with their music. The eight member band gets the party going and has the positivity flood the club in the only way the can. Jah Soul will be bringing a different flair to the weekend that will be anything but boring.

The New Old-Fashioned

The Midwest is considered to many to be viewed as a hardworking, blue collar area of the United States. The New Old-Fashioned conveys that feeling in their music. With the influences of Tom Petty and The Old 97s, The New Old-Fashioned is slowly building a rapport with their fans with incorporating rock and roll with country music. The lyrics of the band represent the life of living in the lush, beautiful Americana land. When listening to the band, you instantly notice the band’s outstanding harmonies. The New-Old Fashioned recently released their self-titled debut in 2012. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing The New Old-Fashioned, do yourself a favor and go see them live this weekend.

Cinder Home

If you have ever listened to Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford and Sons, and Fleet Foxes know that each of these bands have a folk sound that stands about apart from most. These bands have seen their popularity rise as of yet because of the low-key vibe and beautiful instrumental play. Cinder Home belongs with these bands in the picture as well. The band began with two of the band members hanging around playing music. They both realized that they had something amazing, and decided to add a couple of members. Cinder Home not only brings a new age folk sound, but also add elements of bluegrass roots. The passion of the band playing live is nothing but astonishing. The crowds that will fill Canal Street are going to be treated to a band that will bring they got, and will without question give everyone something to talk about for days to come after their set.

William The Accountant

William The Accountant’s sound is anything but ordinary, and that is why they are a band that can’t be missed. The band brings all types of instruments into their music, including a didgeridoo. Don’t be surprised if William The Accountant brings a saxophone and some ukulele to their shows. As far as their sound?! Try one moment hearing alternative rock to jazz to Caribbean music. Each of their songs brings an emotional aspect to the front. Don’t be shocked if the band’s performance stretches beyond the five members.

Dayton Does Dayton will be celebrating its third this year with no plans of stopping. It has become yet another reason to celebrate the amazing music that continues to be played each and every night. To check out these bands, and to see the others lined up, Dayton Does Dayton will taking place tonight and tomorrow night, starting at 7pm at the hollow grounds of the great Canal Street Tavern.

A Musical Journey ‘Unbroken’ With Tim Gebard

January 31, 2013 By Dayton Most Metro 4 Comments

The Dayton music scene has people from all walks of life immersed into it. Go to a show, and you will notice the differences of each and every single person performing. You have your punk rock bands that wail around the stage, and occasionally throw themselves onto the crowd. There are the artists and bands that just take the room over, and will not let go till they say that they are done. You have your dreamers-the people that will not allow anyone to get in the way. There is also the performer that simply enjoy going on stage and play live, simply just for the thrill on being on stage. Old and young, no matter the case, there is one thing that each and every artist or band has in common. That is they have love and appreciation for music.

Photo by Jennifer Taylor Clarke

One great example of someone that truly has a love for music is local musician Tim Gebard. Gebard is currently in the process of working on his newest EP, which is due by April. His first album, Unbroken Hearts, is available at Omega Music, The Record Gallery, and on his website (www.timgebard.com).

Gebard grew up in Springfield, Ohio and started playing music in his teens. He grew up listening to the classics – Van Morrison, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd. He worked at a local record store in Dayton in the early 70’s, where he was able to spin some of his favorite music. It was great experience for him, getting the chance to branch out and find music that would inspire and influence his music playing. While sitting down at Ghostlight Coffee recently, Gebard told me a story about an experience he had at the record shop. He went into detail of when Pink Floyd’s groundbreaking tour de force, The Wall, was released. “We had to play that record from the minute we opened to the minute we closed”, explained Gebard. “We all got sick of hearing it. So, one day we got our shipment and I noticed that we got a record of a woman whose vocals were simply amazing. We put it on, and immediately sold every single copy within an hour. It was the latest album from Aretha Franklin.” That speaks to broad musical influences.

While he was always around the music scene, and many friends went on to careers in the music field, Tim’s playing was limited to his solo acoustic efforts. Gebard would continue to write music throughout the years, always continuing to keep the passion for music running around his body and mind. About five years ago, he joined with some friends in a cover band called Pocket Change, playing for private parties and events. Internal conflicts proved to be a struggle. At one point, Gebard would use his work that he had written and fill in the lead role in the singing department. Ultimately, the band broke up. But the experience of singing and writing helped propel him to go into the studio.

In October, 2010, Gebard started recording with Dean Vincent at Studio D in New Carlisle. He would use all the music that he wrote, and have people come in and help with the process. He had legendary guitarist Junior Smith come in and play on many of the songs. Violin accompaniment from the ever-talented Sara Kasten and Susan Heeg would bring orchestral influence to some of the songs. Contributions from the Toles family, local Gospel music legends (especially nephew Doug Toles Jr.), added another influence to his music. Ron Hartwell, a noted Dayton-area band leader, added dynamic sax and flute tracks. And the pedal steel guitar playing of virtuoso Wayne Hobbs brought an incredible country influence on several cuts. And local singer-songwriter Jayne Sachs sang on several songs. When Gebard spoke of the people that came in to help lay down the tracks, his eyes lightened up, and the humbleness came and stood squarely right in front of him. “I still can’t believe that I was able to have all this talent come in and play”, Gebard said. “I loved how the album turned out. Ultimately, each artist brought a desire to serve the song.”

Unbroken Hearts is an album that simply will not let you define it as one genre, something that Gebard purposely did. With each song, there are different influences that sprinkle throughout the album. From country to rock, from soft to fast, Unbroken Hearts guides you all around the dial of music in its purest forms. ‘Someone To Believe’ presents a lounge room vibe to the song that gives it a jazz feel. For the Jimmy Buffet fans, ‘Let’s Find Out’ will fulfill those dreams of lying around on the beach, having a drink with an umbrella in the clear glass. ‘Crazy ‘Bout That Woman’ is a twang upbeat that would give classic country fans a reason to smile. Hearts is a warm, inviting collection of songs that dives into the joys of being in relationships, and the beauty of being in love.

The album Unbroken Hearts has seen some remarkable things tied to the album. ‘Life Time Love’ was the winner of the 8^thAnnual International Acoustic Music Awards in the Country/Bluegrass category. ‘Smiles Without Words’ was Honorable Mention in the Instrumental category in the 2011 International Songwriting Competition. Several songs are under non-exclusive contracts with A&R companies. (Note: A song from his upcoming EP – “To Licata”, an instrumental inspired by a recent trip to Italy – was recently named an Honorable Mention in the Songdoor 2012 International Songwriting Competition.)

Another great storyline with the album – Gebard’s son, Aaron, plays bass on most of the songs. “It was really fun being able to have my son play on this album. He is extremely talented, and it just added to the joy of making this album”, Gebard said. Aaron has his own band as well: The Mergs, who have been playing locally for the past several years.

When you listen to Gebard talk, you hear the joys of being able to do something that he loves. While we sat at Ghostlight Coffee, he spoke of the joys of being able to play with all the great musicians around town. He spoke about wanting to travel to Nashville and getting the chance to show his talent at the famous Bluebird Cafe. He talked about recent trips he has taken, and becoming influenced by the local music. It’s always refreshing and a thrill to speak with people like Tim Gebard. His love for music is all the reason to support the great music that is being performed live in town.

To see for yourself, Gebard will be performing at O’Riley’s Tavern in Brookville, Ohio on February 23^rd. Gebard will have a band performing with him (Jay Madewell on drums, Todd The Fox on guitar and dobro, Steve Makofka on accordion/etc.). Aaron Gebard will also be playing in his dad’s band and also be playing with his own band. The Tim Gebard Band/The Mergs show will start around 8pm.

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BoJangles Host Somebody’s Angel Benefit Show

January 29, 2013 By Mike Ritchie Leave a Comment

Saturday January 12th Dayton’s Clockwork Soul in cooperation with DaytonRocks.com and BoJangles Nightclub in West Carrollton hosted a benefit/fundraiser for the families affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy. Five bands volunteered their energy, talent and time to help raise money for the charity. Event Organizer’s Michael Anspach and Eric Liddic booked an impressive lineup of local talent each band different to each other both in sound, performance and appearance but committed and united for the cause. Tish & Carrie, 8 Kount, SuperKreep, Induced and Clockwork Soul brought the goods to the packed house whether it was the opening acoustic flavor, Rock n Roll, hard rock or southern fried Middletown metal. Clockwork Soul also took over the Fox 45 News Morning Show with Meghan Mongillo promoting the event and performing ‘Out There’ live in studio on January 9th.

Tish & Carrie

Event sponsors included Babblefish Recording Studios, Side Tat Mafia, Greenleaf Printing, On The Go Printing, Annaleahs hair designs, Pure Romance, and DaytonRocks.com. Local businesses donating raffle prizes included Dayton Dragons, The Funny Bone, Grease Monkey, Pure Romance, The Trolley Stop, Life-Source Massage Therapy and Second Shelf Thrift Store. Co-headliner Induced also donated a blue Schecter Diamond Series Omen 6 Guitar for one lucky winner. Rockstarsglued.com’s Hellbilly was the evening’s MC introducing bands and calling out ticket numbers for lucky winners of some sweet swagOpening the show was the feminine unplugged charm of Dayton’s musical answer to the Wilson sister’s Tish & Carrie. They sang with plenty of heart and soul bringing a coffee house flavor into the rock club, prepping ears for the upcoming noise opening with some acoustic attitude rolling on the river with Proud Mary and Miss Turner then broke out the Black Horse and a Cherry Tree with KT Tunstall. We visited The Angel from Montgomery then they put the crowd in their songstress spell Rolling In the Deep with Adele. Tish went solo with Miss Etheridge on Bring Me Some Water. They hit Zombies with some Cranberries finishing with a tribute to one of the great lost voices of a generation Janis Joplin and Bobby McGee.

8 Kount

Up next is the big rock sound of Dayton’s standing 8 Kount. They brought out their special brand of infection with the Real Disease putting the pedal through the pavement on Getaway Car. They break it all down with the rockstar swagger on Ashes to Ashes. Singer Sugar opens the rockstar handbook to page 56 which tells aspiring RockGods what to say when you’ve said/done something wrong and you’re not sure what it was. He also tours the club personally serenading all the smitten vixens with the Insanity Defense. There’s a Fire in the Hole for anyone that says you’re not good enough, doesn’t love you anymore or doesn’t care what you think because we all have lives to live and we’re gonna live them, because we’re all… More Human Than Human. They finish with their greatest beastly creation Straw Monster. They introduced/broke in new guitarist Stephen Lowe for the nights show. They are definitely a do it yourself, driven, self-financed, self-made working man’s rock n roll band. Website info can be found at www.facebook.com/8KOunt along with their Getaway Car EP/Merch and official video for Ashes to Ashes. SuperKreep busted open the skin with a brutally bloody offering of holy southern forged metal from the mid-west. Performing a few new tunes and select favorites from their second record 2010’s Wizer than the Wicked. They opened up the mind possessing liquid demons with Whisky Devil. This is pure country truckin metal with southern pride and the semi-automatic Dean Guitar riffage of We Are The Truth proves it. Singer Greg Banks born of Chuck Billy spawn brings the Holy Testament from the Bible belt to BoJangles. They put us down for a creeping death Dirt Nap then leave us Dead and Somewhere in Pantera country with some Dimebag chug and concrete sledge with a pounding three guitar fisted hammer. They play a new tune with Pride then Bring on the Pain for the front row diehards. They’re a head bangers delight of mid-south dirty slither and slang with a Wylde side, Hellyeah. They finish living the Fine Life and get a little Psycho-Friendly with the crowd. They’ve been making noise in the underground since 2004 and have shared the stage with Skid Row, Quiet Riot and The Misfits. Their music goes down smooth with a strong after-kick but has enough thrashy dirt and grit to keep the good ole boys happy. Expect a new CD mid-year. Banks has good vocal range doing some solid singing on most tunes adding in gravel in a tree chipper growls occasionally and even sounded a bit like Manson on a few CD tracks.

Induced

Performing their first show at BoJangles the multidimensional, hard hitting melodic foursome Induced the crowd into their musical mesh of originals and favorites. When your singer looks like a cross between Freddy Mercury and Kit from The Forsaken, you’re guaranteed attention. Speaking of blood suckers they started with the Afterlife, Feeling good. They pull open the covers with Say You’ll Haunt Me, the first song they wrote Left Alone and the drum work of Betrayal. It’s the End of Heartache and time for some heavy Bad Company. They finished with one of Drowning Pools big hits. They’ve incorporated/intertwined Godsmack, Disturbed and some Bush into their sound and love taking a walk around. Guitarist Rodney Collins and bassist Matt Hohenbrink both took extended tours of the venue, mingling with the crowd while playing.

Clockwork Soul

As we’re past the midnight hour headliners ClockWork Soul and dirty blonde debutant Mystie Rose took the stage playing to all the late night guests and faithful souls left to hear the screeching roar and growl from the lady in black. She offers the men some special handcuffed Straight Jacket Love and gets red faced ferocious unmasking her wild eyed aggressive Masquerade. They keep it hot with a time machine trip back with The Boys of Summer. Rose’s voice can go from bubblegum pop to pissed off death metal at will. They get grungy with Alice’s Would finishing the night with Out There. Rose resembles a female Bret Michael’s on steroids and a few shots of Jack. For helping make the event happen she’s our rock of love.

“There are no words we can express on how we feel at this time. So we decided to show how much we care and put on a big show and support this great cause. We had an amazing amount of sponsors and very generous people donated their time and businesses to provide support for this cause as well. This show demonstrates a substantial gesture of solidarity and support for the victims of this tragic event.”

A very genuine, heartfelt thank you to Michael Anspach of Clockwork Soul and Eric Liddic of Daytonrocks.com for organizing the event and a special thank you to everyone who contributed, donated, sponsored and showed up for the event, and to BoJangles.Rocks for hosting. All proceeds go to The Sandy Hook Elementary School Victims Relief Fund which will provide counseling to survivors, pay for funeral expenses for victims, create a scholarship fund for the school’s students and fund a memorial. If you’d like to donate please go to newtownmemorialfund.org. Mail donations to Newtown Memorial Fund, Inc. P.O. Box 596 Botsford, CT 06404, checks payable to Newtown Memorial Fund, check donations page for information on sending care packages, letters and other goods.

Help Save The Attic!

January 16, 2013 By Mike Ritchie 2 Comments

For a little over a decade 2852 Wilmington Pike in Kettering has been a club unlike any other. Its 22,000 square foot spacious inner cavernous sanctum can hold 700+ kids, young adults, teenagers, and adults. Whether hitting the dance floor, jumping up and down screaming during a concert or hanging out/relaxing at a bible study the large epicenter of friendly fun and frolic for kids-late teens and on occasion adults has stood proud and unabashed in its mission to give local youth a place to hang, study the word, dance, chill and head-bang while Facebooking, texting or Tweeting when needed and…. it’s in danger of closing its doors after February 7th.This year The Attic finds itself in the worst financial bind in the ten years they’ve been open. A decrease in national tours and less local bands booking shows are contributing factors. Originally they were going to lose their insurance due to a lawsuit filed by parents whose teenage daughter was inadvertently hit in the crowd at a show. Staff and management have always gone out of their way to preach and stress safety and watching out for one another due to the aggressive nature of some shows, going as far as permanently banning the rowdiest of the rowdies and troublemakers. After talking to the parents, the father, a Christian decided to drop the suit as an act of grace, never intending to hurt the venue but was trying to recoup some of his losses. In turn The Attic will hold a huge benefit show on February 1st all proceeds going to the families medical costs.

Finding affordable insurance is still a major issue as they are a non-profit organization and need to at least break even to continue operations. There will be an all-day music festival held on January 26^th featuring over 15 bands performing to help raise funds. The venues last scheduled event will be a pre-closing booked show on February 7^th featuring The Color Morale.

Closing the venue would mean area start up bands and those who have a following would have to find other places and there aren’t many all age options. The staff has kept eyes and ears on the Dayton scene and teens and their families are their heartbeat. Ideally, they would like to continue serving them in whatever way possible. Although they’re optimistic they’re not sure what the immediate future holds. Area kids would lose a place where they’re always welcome and invited to hang out. The staff has seen lots of teens comment and say that they will lose a “home” and those are the hardest comments to read and hear. They strive to provide a place where everyone feels welcome and loved and they’d hate to think that they would no longer have that sanctuary in their lives. Many kids say they have figured out who they were and where they were going because of the Attic. Their goal is to continue finding ways to serve the kids so hopefully this will only be a short blip in that mission and they will be able to continue serving them or find a way to once again give them a place to belong.

There’s been a huge outpouring of support from local teens and their families to help raise awareness since the January closing was announced. Facebook and YouTube videos and testimonies have been posted supporting the positive impact The Attic has had on area teens.

Since 2002 The Attic has served as a club/meeting spot for area youth. Though visitors have flocked from all parts of the state and some have crossed the border to see shows. The double doors have opened to all manner of social groups who come in and come together to enjoy the music of their generation performed loudly on stage, sometimes by friends, sometimes by national bands and they all want this grand tradition to continue.

Founder Pastor Jim Kilby and Co-manager Elizabeth Kilby Johnson have painstakingly worked to build a good reputation over the years with business neighbors and the community. The Attic hosts a staff of 20-25. Pastor Kilby is a retired Air Force officer. One day the simple word ‘go’ from Jesus’ ‘great commission’ moved him so much that he decided to move from ministering to teens within the walls of the local church and try to reach those outside. As a result, he founded Harvest Youth Ministries, the parent organization of The Attic.

Harvest Youth Ministries is a non-profit organization operating a unique ministry for local teens. Their hope and mission is summed up by “Some place to go!” Since Harvest Youth was founded in 1998, they’ve worked hard to provide teens a place to have fun, hang out with friends and just be themselves.

The first Harvest Youth center, The Cellar, opened in Dayton in 1998. Originally located in the back room of a church, The Cellar soon moved to a building of its own in Moraine where it was transformed into a neighborhood skate park. Through God’s grace and provision, their ministry at The Cellar led thousands of teens to accept Jesus Christ as savior and begin an authentic relationship with Him. Due to economy changes and the popularity of free, outdoor skate parks, The Cellar closed in 2009. However, many of the teens that attended The Cellar began to attend The Attic, the second Harvest Youth Ministry location.

Lots of big names have played the hallowed Attic Stage including Hawthorne Heights, Staple, Super Chick, Gwen Stacy, Haste the Day, Red, Skillet, Spoken, Between the Buried and Me, The Devil Wears Prada, Brian ‘Head’ Welch, most of the Scream the Prayer Tours, Becoming the Archetype and A Plea for Purging. There’s also a healthy dose of local acts to help polish the future rock stars of tomorrow. The venue has also catered to positive mainstream acts as well.

The club is alcohol, drug and smoke free. There’s a fully stocked drink/food/snack ‘bar’, a few video games, two stages, a family of pool tables and plenty of lounging spots to prop up or plop down on and a generous amount of space up front reserved for the most devoted fans.

The Attic also has available counseling for any alienation, vulnerability, depression, heartache, confusion or other issues today’s youth deal with. Additionally weekly bible studies have been offered for those interested in hearing/learning more about biblical history and The Almighty. The Harvest Christian Fellowship is a grassroots ministry that meets every Sunday in the building and is designed to help teens and families feel more comfortable communicating and participating in a spiritual/religious setting. Thanks to this movement and its fellowship The Attic has had two confirmed miracles within their walls. Two young lives were saved on two different occasions from near suicide just by being there and the staff/entertainment showing the troubled souls that people did care about them. One of which a former bad boy drinker and drug user had planned on OD’ing after one of the Scream The Prayer Tours but was stopped and saved after the singer from one of the performing bands received a spiritual message and intervened and the young man was baptized at the club and has been a staff member since. His testimonial along with Save The Attic testimonials can be found on The Attic’s sister sites www.harvestdayton.com and www.harvestyouth.org

Other upcoming shows include 1/18-The Rose Hill, IATM and Witness, 1/19- The Paramedic, 1/24-The Almost, All Get Out and Makeshift Prodigy, 1/25-Misery Signals, Corelia. Support for keeping The Attic open can be sent to Mailing Donations: C/o Harvest Youth Ministries 4004 Woodcliffe Ave Dayton, OH 45420.

Mushroomhead Play Doomsday in Dayton

January 8, 2013 By Mike Ritchie 1 Comment

Well, if you’re reading this the ancient Mayans were wrong and life as we know it has continued into 2013. It was reported that a new calendar was discovered in a Mayan Temple in the rain forests at Xultun in Guatemala with a life sized mural of a Mayan King and astronomical/numerology calendar symbols showing moon phases in years preserved on walls proving that the much discussed/feared and apocalyptically claimed Dec 21, end of the world prophecy was indeed not the end of days rather the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. But as many bands had certainly taken advantage of the day with such a built in metal theme, why not play a metal show on the last day on earth. At least we’ll all be banging our heads as the sky falls and hell, fire and brimstone hit the earth.

Though nothing earth shattering actually occurred and no rain of blood or fires from the sky scorched the planet, the weather was cold but normal. Though there were reports of a mushroom shaped cloud hovering over McGuffys before dark. Four bands braved the years prophesized final hours playing their best and most brutal metal for the packed house of ‘mostly’ heaven bound souls if rapture did happen.

Killbox

Then I saw an angel come down from Heaven holding a key to the Killbox and a huge chain in his hand (Revelations Chapter 20 Verse 1)

We begin the beginning of the end opening up the Killbox to play with Armageddon’s favorite tools of mass destruction. Northern Kentucky’s the home to one of the genre’s newest metal making sons. Formed in 2011 and though they’re still in their infernal infancy, had much to offer this year and the ear. Named in part after an Overkill album, the group incorporates a loud, rabid speed infection to their heavy drive and loud intensity. The ferocious angry assault of Coming Back borrows the best iron rimmed canine gnashers snarling in your face ready to shred flesh with a red eyed slobbering hunger. They sound proud to sound so damn pissed off and for good reason. If you knew for sure tomorrow wasn’t coming you’d sound off spitting out some life spanning venom too. Weaponry speaking a Killbox is a three-dimensional target area, designed to facilitate the integration of coordinate joint weapons fire. It’s an open free fire zone and a chance to ‘Fire at will commander’ so to speak. Together we all Embraced the Second Coming and the second Mayan calendar. The Mike Muir headband wearing, David Draiman looking Brad Brochers belts out a screeching Sully Erna tangled in chains range with a little bit of Bobby Blitz and Dez Fafara for the rasp. They dedicate a tune to all the fallen hero’s including Dimebag. They dare standing up against the end and say it’s not over Till I Say It’s Over.

Forces of Nature

The first horror is over, after this there are still two more horrors to come. (Revelation chapter 9 verse 12) Then the main event.

When the first angel blew his trumpet there came hail and then fire mixed with blood which was hurled down to the earth. A third of the land was scorched along with a third of the trees and every green plant. (Revelation chapter 8 verse 7) Hence the forces of nature are seen.

One of Dayton’s major forces to be reckoned with Forces of Nature brought all of nature’s preliminary fury supplying a veracious wall of sound echoing from the stage to the earthbound skies above. Saturday December 22 proved the D-Day calendar was just Deception. Rotten Tooth pounded the brain like a bad incisor dangling from the inner oral cavity. Following was a mob of screaming, frantic populous Throwing Fists on board the off track Midnight Meat Train locomotive trying to outrun fate toward the Holy Lights. It will happen again, Nevermore. If the prophecies had been true, the world would be nothing but a huge Forest of Corpses on a Black Earth. With a steel spiked boot up the ass goodbye.

I Died Trying

Then I looked and I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air say in a loud voice, O horror! Horror! How horrible it will be for all who live on earth when the sound comes from the band that the other three bands and audience must hear. (Revelation chapter 9 verse 13, paraphrased) The sound of Armageddon is upon us.

Dayton’s answer to what a prison riot during a madman’s symphony would sound like took over the stage and sound waves playing an almost indescribable audio-ambivalent two song set of Opeth length tunes strung together by movie samples, screams, growls, instruments played and sounds put together in a cornucopias mismatch of sound that God and nature never intended. But since it was the end, it was time to take a long mental disconnect down the Lost Highway drawing First Blood. Time to bust open the padded cell for a train wreck in the brain. We’re all honored guests at this madman’s tea party of the damned. Sipping the best cup of earl grey with a touch of sugar cubed cyanide. Collective in cohesion done to perfection coming out of a soundbox/turntable possessed by the souls of a hundred departed musicians. Slow, quiet musical whispers in the mind to full blown psycho-pandemonium. Cold sweat down the back as blood stained eyes stare wide eyed into the stretching darkness, crystallized limbs reach out from fragments of memories grabbing, juggling, and spinning your mind into a paranoid schizophrenic war dance. Like Swallowing Swords with a grenade chaser. I tried to make sense of this beautiful insanity, but I Died Trying.

Then I saw a group of beasts coming up, out of the sea. They had many instruments and seven heads each wearing a hideous mask. (Revelation chapter 13 verse 1, paraphrased.)

Mushroomhead

One of Cleveland’s most bizarre and infamous exports, Mushroomhead, the seven man masked men traveling demented carnival nightmare came out dressed in their blood splattered dinner suit best. Comprised of a singing/rapping team of pain and pleasure divine, Waylon’s cast face looked like he’d had a few go arounds with Pinheads toy box while Jeffrey Nothing looks like he took a double sawed off shotgun blast to the face and lived to sing about it. Keyboard striker Shmotz sports another mashed up faceplate of the mushroom horde sporting a spiked army helmet of the marching dead. Bass was played by the human gargoyle Dr. F with guitars strummed by the human Collector known as Church. Backstage gets Skinny on the drums while front stage water drums bashing courtesy of a dread locked skeleton and a robotic HH Giger cyber holiday reindeer, respectively.

Every song sung played like a story from a book of twisted nursery rhymes, like Mother Goose but just the Grimm. Accompanied by a pleasant holiday array of strobe and Christmas stage lights, lasers, hand held spotlights and overall sick merry mayhem. The human horror movie performance artists lived up to their hallucinogenic ingested namesake. It was indeed Jigsaws favorite torture music.

They started 12 Hundred with a Bwomp, Come On, the blood splattered MMA love song, Save Me from the next Brain Hemorrhage before I Kill Tomorrow so the Sun Doesn’t Shine. They play the dead man’s hand on Solitaire Unraveling and were Born of Desire to fill all the Empty Spaces in the wall. The mad masked men have promised a new record this year so 2013 will be the year of the Mushroom.

Dayton Music

50th Annual Troy Strawberry Festival

50th Annual Troy Strawberry Festival

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