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Do IT this week: Layering
Area band wins contest to play at First Night. Midnight Starr, Zapp to perform at Lock 3
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
Published on Wednesday, Jun 24, 2009
I'm a week late on this so let's get started with hearty congratulations to the members of Stimulus — lead singer/songwriter/drummer Cam Johnson of Silver Lake, guitarist/vocalist Dan Sutter of Bath Township and guitarist Ryan Husser and bassist Joe Knapp, both of Brimfield Township. They took first place at the Teens Rock Akron 2009 at Akron-Summit County Public Library a few weeks ago.
The band, ages 14-15, rocked the crowd with a set that included Ozzy Osbourne's Over the Mountain, Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze, Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love and Queen's Tie Your Mother Down plus an original song, Illusions.
Band members met at the Jam School in Kent, a 12-week program that aims to give young rock hopefuls the tools to jam righteously in key and in time and in a professional manner.
Stimulus' big win earns the band the right to rock you like a hurricane during First Night Akron on New Year's Eve.
To check some videos of Stimulus in action, point your interGoogle to http://www.myspace.com/stimulusrock. If you want to see the band in person, it has a gig Tuesday at the Water Street Tavern in Kent.
Old School Soul
This Saturday, Lock 3 Park will once again play host to an Old School Soul concert, which is always a hip-shaking good time for us old-school lovers.
This year's edition features Midnight Starr, who will surely regale us with '80s dance hits such as No Parking on the Dance Floor, Freak-a-Zoid and the classic, umm, slow jam, Slow Jam. Also on the bill is Zapp, purveyors of funk hits such as More Bounce to the Ounce, Computer Love and So Ruff, So Tuff.
Honestly, though it's been a decade since band leader/mastermind and Dayton native Roger Troutman's shocking death at the hands of his brother/business partner Larry Troutman who then killed himself, I'm still not sure I can enjoy watching a Roger Troutman-less version of Zapp without thinking about how sadly it all ended.
I guess I'll just have to try and get lost in the grooves and shake my booty in remembrance because, though I'm sure Troutman would rather be alive and working, he did leave a funky musical legacy for us to remember him.
Southern hospitality
One of the questions I often get asked (usually while I'm sipping my beer in whichever bar my heinie is currently parked) is some variation of ''which genre of artists are easiest/hardest to interview.''
Well, obviously, every person is different and when dealing with ''artists,'' you must include factors such as whether or not you are the umpteenth person to ask a standard question. Believe it or not, answering similar questions about yourself for several hours is surprisingly exhausting.
But I think in the dozen or so years I've been doing this, I can say unequivocally that in my experience the easiest artists to interview/talk to are country artists.
Why?
Because they seldom have a chip on their shoulder about their relationship with the press. They understand that the interview/story process is a business transaction and not (or seldom, anyway) a witch hunt and that it is a still necessary ''evil'' in the album promotion/tour cycle.
Also, country artists tend to keep it real. Sure they are answering a lot of the same questions, but it seldom has the ''stump speech'' feel you get from other artists such as Usher whose every answer during an hourlong conference call seemed rehearsed.
The Trace Adkins I talked to a few weeks ago was the same straight shooter I talked to nine years ago in Macon, Ga.
From the pleasant business-like manner of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, to the down-home elegance and grace of the great Loretta Lynn to Brad Paisley, Martina McBride, Wynonna Judd and even local boy Tony Rio, I always hang up the phone satisfied that I got what I needed for the story and had an interesting conversation.
The most difficult is less easily defined and tends to be more about the individual and what's on his or her mind at the moment.
Some older rock legends are still carrying bruises from various real and perceived thrashings they've taken in writing during their careers and start in a defensive mode, while others such as Ace Frehley and any member of the Allman Brothers simply don't give a crap anymore and are friendly and relaxed, and in the case of Greg Allman, whom I've talked to several times, really, really relaxed.
Little Richard is simply awesomely hilarious and filled with great stories.
Rappers and indie rockers are also a mixed bag. Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley fame was thoughtful and friendly as was Boots Riley of the controversial political rap duo the Coup, while Beans of the recently reunited indie-rap group Anti-Pop Consortium was a monosyllabic jerk.
Metal dudes also tend to be pretty straightforward if not always family friendly in their choice of words.
Longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde is one frickin' funny dude, but I can't print half of what he says in the newspaper.
Some indie rockers get really caught up in verbally navel-gazing about their ''art'' while others are just glad to be in working bands.
Jazz artists are always smart and articulate and love to talk about music as an ephemeral entity, but are sometimes aloof. Some of the older cats can be a bit bitter about the latest batch of ''young lions'' and the praise (and pay) they often receive. For example, former Crusader keyboardist Joe Sample is decidedly unimpressed by Wynton Marsalis.
I've had seven tense minutes with an extremely annoyed Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire who talked to me as if I was asking him for money and a tranquil, inspiring half-hour with the late folk legend Odetta who made me want to go out and help make the world a better place.
I didn't.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Details
What: Lock 3 Live! Old School Soul with Meditation, Zapp and Midnight Starr
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Lock 3 Park, 200 S. Main St., Akron
Tickets: $5
Information: 330-375-2877, http://www.lock3live.com
What: Rock Showcase featuring Stimulus
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Water Street Tavern, 132 S. Water St., Kent
Information: 330-677-0700
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Akron, Oh
Posted 08:22 AM, 06/25/2009
Trace Adkins' voice is a Vanilla Barry White...and I'll take two scoops please!
Love Little Richard, hate that he really never got the recognition he deserved as a musician not just a mouth.
Cee-Lo seems to cool to care about being a d*** and the great Loretta Lynn is always a woman and a lady...
