Jam4Dan V
Saturday + Sunday| Jan 14 + 15
The Celtic Fox

Click here for a poster with the full line-up!

Jam4Dan V will be held Saturday and Sunday January 14 and 15, 2012, at The Celtic Fox. What started as a benefit for Dan Falley’s daughter led to almost $6,000 being donated to young local musicians over the last three years. Both youth and adult bands will take the stage at The Celtic Fox, with music playing all day Saturday and Sunday. Tickets and shirts will be sold at the door, and a raffle drawing will be held for a guitar.

All proceeds raised at Jam4Dan are put into a scholarship fund for youth guitar and bass players, and the funds are then used to provide the musicians with lessons from a local instructor. Students are chosen for the scholarship based on three criteria: the student’s need for the scholarship, the impact of music on the student’s life, and an assessment of the student’s commitment by their instructor. After Jam4Dan V, the trustees will sort through applications and award the scholarships in the spring.

The event is led by trustees Tom Krebs, Mike Fox, Danl Blackwood, Joel Edison, and Ren Richardson, who work together to make Jam4Dan a successful event. Danl Blackwood and Tom Krebs agree that the event thrives thanks to help from countless members of the community.

“Chip Janda is our rock star. He has clearly been the leader in trying real hard to work with us for his students,” states Danl Blackwood.

Sonny Heller runs sound both days of the event, and J.D. Bloomar has been added to the staff as a volunteer coordinator. Countless others donate their time, talents, and resources to keep the local music scene thriving for the next generation.

In Danl Blackwood’s words, “when it boils down to it we really just want to try to remember Danny, what he was about, which was teaching the kids how to play guitar.”

Lance Stafford of Cloverton plays piano and sings lead vocals during the band's Aug. 6 performance at the In Session Music Festival in Topeka, Kan. Cloverton was the headliner of the inaugural festival, which took place outside of the Sunrise Optimist Building in North Topeka.

Rouse’s Reviews | A regular web column by Josh Rouse, who keeps his ear to the ground and his lens steady through life in T-Town

Manhattan has Country Stampede, Kansas City has Kanrocksas and now North Topeka has its own music festival: In Session.

The inaugural Christian music festival took place Saturday, Aug. 6, outside the Sunrise Optimist Building at 720 NW 50th Street, right across the street from Seaman High School. The one-day festival featured Manhattan-based Christian rock band Cloverton, whose single “Take Me Into the Beautiful” has received airtime on multiple Christian radio stations, including K-LOVE 88.9 FM in the Topeka and Manhattan area.

Other bands involved with the event included The Reach, from Topeka; Artfully Folded Paper, from Wichita; and the Plugged-In Band, from Lawrence. The event was unique in that the stage was constructed using two large hauling trailers and a large canopy. The crowd wasn’t huge, maybe about 200 people, but with planners hoping to continue this event annually, it has plenty of room to grow into a much bigger event.

Proceeds from the event went to Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, which is raising funds to relocate to a more accessible area on 46th Street.

Want to see more? Check out this photo gallery and videos by Josh Rouse below.

Formed in 2001 in Olathe, Kansas; CRISIS 3.0, are a power trio that loves it loud and loves to rock. Original and cover rock – hard!

Chris Myers on CRISIS 3.0′s Topeka Roots:

“Steve Kuker and I first met at KU Karate club. He had heard of me as the bass player for Alchemy. He was just starting his band Patriarch when I broke his foot sparing. After Alchemy lost our record deal with Geffen, and Patriarch folded, we started playing in So What back in the . . . College Hill days. After that band folded, we both left Topeka for professional reasons. We both got out of music for a few years, until the curse to play hit again. That was the birth of CRISIS.”

“You know we all came from the big hair 80s, so the original CRISIS sound has some of that influence obviously, but now we’re a lot more contemporary; kind of a cross between Disturbed and Stone Sour, with a little bit of Queensryche thrown in.”

When asked about what the Celtic Fox crowd should expect the night of the 18^th, when they see CRISIS 3.0, Myers responds,

“They will just be surprised at how big we sound. It doesn’t really matter what size of venue we’re in, and it’s not just volume. We just seem to have the right personnel that even though we’re a three piece band, it’s big and it’s full. So I’ll think they’ll be impressed.”

With an as yet untitled CD scheduled for release for the end of July that’s being produced by the illustrious Paul Schneider of Rundown Studios, you won’t want to miss this rare T-town appearance by CRISIS 3.0.

CRISIS 3.0 is:

Chris Myers – Bass, Vocals
Lonnie West – Guitars, Vocals
Steve Kuker – Drums, Vocals

Brought to you by Bloodline Productions.

[June 2011 | Robin Cremer & Les Roediger | photo courtesy of Crisis 3.0]

At the intersection of 6th and MacVicar, Rundown Studios resides covertly under the marquee of its previous occupant, rarely meriting a second glance from passing motorists. The public in general is oblivious to the fact that if his Toyota is parked out front, Rundown’s proprietor Paul Schneider is probably inside creating aural masterpieces.

Although employed as a Lawrence firefighter, Schneider, also a singer/songwriter, has been composing, recording and performing since 2000, with several releases available, most notably on iTunes. He profits modestly from his efforts.

“About every two or three months I’ll get a twenty-five dollar check from iTunes sales,” Paul says, smiling.

Writing heartfelt lyrics based on personal experiences, Paul’s songs have often found a place in the hearts of others.

“The song ‘Movin On,’ from my first CD, was actually written about my grandfather dying and kind of dealing with that. A 17-year-old girl who came and saw me at a coffee shop got a hold of my CD, and then emailed me.”

She told Paul that she’d been taking care of her terminally ill father for several years and his song was a particular source of comfort to her.

“Wow, that’s pretty incredible that something I wrote for me actually helped somebody else.”

Historically, certain recording studios have unquestionably shaped the sound of modern music. During the fifties, Sam Philips essentially wrote the blueprint on Rock and Roll at Sun Studios in Memphis. Further north in Detroit, Hitsville U.S.A and Barry Gordy’s artists, were calling out for a brand new beat with the Motown sound.  And of course, modern music was forever turned on its ear, when a scruffy group of Liverpudlians walked into London’s Abbey Road Studios and, with the aid of the legendary Sir George Martin, set out on that long and winding road. These three studios and their respective producers are just a few of the standouts who have given us some of the most diverse, memorable music of our time.

Carrying on with this time honored tradition, albeit on a much smaller scale, Paul Schneider and Rundown Studios here in Topeka are gaining a reputation among the musical cognoscenti, as the place to go for a professionally done mix, recorded and produced by a capable and knowledgeable producer.

With affordable and easy to use computer software available enabling the budding Bob Ezrin, or novice Rick Rubin, to produce decent sounding demos at home, one wonders if there is still a need for an established recording studio. Paul readily acknowledges the importance of home studios, but points out that certain limitations may hinder the amateur producer’s final outcome. Experience and hindsight is the key to successful and pro-sounding results in the studio, and this is where the professional producer, such as Paul, still holds sway.

“What I have spent time at, thousands of hours, is music production and engineering. I have practiced a hundred different ways to record a kick drum . . . this is something a lot of guys don’t have the time to do when they’re in a band and they have a home studio. What ends up happening is a lot of guys will record their music and it sounds okay . . . but where it never reaches, is the level you hear on the radio, because what you do in the studio, you sculpt every single piece of sound in the mix through a lot of different techniques that takes years to learn.”

The recording process for a Rundown session begins quietly enough.

“With each band I go through a pre-production, sitting down with the band, and developing a strategy of how we’re going to record.”

The tracking session comes next, with Paul setting up several mikes, so that all vocals, instruments and every separate part of the drum kit has its own track that will be individually recorded.

“Each song will have anywhere from twenty to a hundred tracks on it . . . there might

be a guitar track that we might overdub or replay and duplicate it onto another track.”

Next is the mixing process, when Paul brings it altogether. “You take all the tracks and try to mix them. That sounds like the band playing together. The majority of the time they do play together, but we do a lot of overdubbing, so a lot of tracks are played independently. We’ll record the band as a whole but then come back in and overdub.”

Paul will then go in to edit the track. A familiar word for many, it essentially has the same meaning in the audio realm.

“Editing is much like a person would do in Word. Maybe you have a piece of an article at one place you really like and you want to copy and paste and put it in different places. Audio’s the same way, when I go in to edit, there will be portions of tracks, where say a vocalist, for instance, won’t sing from the beginning until the verse starts. Well the majority of the time that empty space on the track is miscellaneous noise that doesn’t need to be there. So what I’ll do is edit out the non-crucial areas that I don’t need.”

Paul will perform this painstaking, time-consuming process until he feels it’s ready for the band to take possession of the final mix.

Traditionally a producer’s job is to oversee the band, offering suggestions to improve a track, or giving guidance on the arrangement of a song, while the recording engineer is the guy who figures out how to achieve that auditory concept envisioned by the producer.  Paul fills both roles at Rundown, and does so with creative flair. An occurrence when he felt that the song “Carry Me” by Kansas City band Awaken Us, was lacking a certain je ne sais quoi, illustrates this perfectly.

“They had this part where they went from this bridge back into the big chorus, but it wasn’t impactful enough for me.”

So, working his studio magic Paul constructed a two second segue using pieces of the band’s recorded output.

“Some people will use samples of things. I have a lot of fun creating things, so I’ll take a cymbal roll and reverse that cymbal and put all kinds of crazy effects on it, take a guitar chord that they played, reverse it, do some synth stuff and lay it real tastefully back in there and make this sweeping two beat sound back into this chorus . . . so I spent probably five hours on this one little segment.”

This attention to detail is the norm for a Rundown Studios session, setting a Rundown mix apart from your average home studio recording.

Conveniently located, ironically named, Rundown Studios is in the business of producing high class, low cost, superior sounding mixes for the band or artist willing to take it to the next level.

A few of the artists who have spent time at Rundown Studios are: Monk’s Wine, Head Change, Paradize, Order Number 11, Rehtaeh, Jeremy Swedlund, Mirror Image, Changing Effect, 7 Minute Goodbye, NeoCircus, DKB, Killing Eve, David Luther, Mavens, Brass Knuckle Betty and Awaken Us. Check out the “Rundown Sound” at rundownstudios.com

[ republished from March 1 - April 15 seveneightfive | text by Robin Cremer | photos by EJ Drake ]

KRASHKARMA plays songs with riffs, not riffs trying to be songs

 
Los Angeles based KrashKarma burned it up at the Boobie Trap Friday night, April 8, with a performance that still has my ears ringing and emotions elevated.

At the show to bare witness to my brothers in rock, My Father’s Gun, and their amazing, energetic guitar driven hardcore assault, I had no knowledge of KrashKarma music or what I was getting into. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this group of road-tested professional musicians performing a seamless, well thought out rock show on par with any major league players out there today. In other words . . . I was f#*k!ng blown away!

KrashKarma’s performance began interestingly enough with drummer/vocalist/songwriter Niki Skistimas marching in from the rear of the venue playing a snare drum slung over her shoulders, while her bandmates onstage played a personalized rendition of Mars from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. From there on out it was a full on, beer soaked, no holds barred Rock Show, as the band performed a spectacular set of alternative/metal/hardcore noise, that kept the crowd on its feet throughout the night.

Drawing primarily from their new CD, Straight to the Blood, with an outstanding cover of Pink Floyds Wish You Were Here thrown in for good measure, KrashKarma left the Boobie Trap stage with the crowd wanting more.

Since changing their name from Suicide Holiday in 2008, KrashKarma “have independently booked 12 national tours, played over 300 shows, including Germany and Africa, have produced 3 EPs, 2 full lengths and sold over 8000 units out of the back of their ’78 Dodge Van.” Their songs have been used by Fox Sports and they were voted “Most Outstanding Hard Rock Band” and “Best Independent Touring Band” by Rock City News. About the name change, guitarist/vocalist/texter und komponist, Ralf Dietel has stated,

“It is reflection of the duality that the band represents: heavy male vocals mixed with melodic female vocals. While everything coexists in a strange harmony and is ready to explode at anytime!”

The band has undergone some personnel changes since their inception four years ago with the sole original member of the band, being German born Ralf, a man with an imposing stage presence.

“On stage I always play like it is my last show. I give everything and sometimes that means I get hurt.”

As if to illustrate this bold statement, at one point during the evening, Dietel jumped up on the bar and leapt over to the stage, much to the enjoyment of the Trap crowd. Whipping his 3 foot long dreadlocks through the air, Ralf and company pushed the limits of the Boobie Trap’s postage stamp sized stage Friday night, as it tried desperately to contain the band’s energy, forcing them to go up, via an industrial strength step platform.

Later on that evening (2 a.m.), with the last refrains of Tears of Gasoline resounding in my head (burn it up! burn it up!),  I hastily removed the shrink-wrap from my newly acquired KrashKarma CD (thanks Bud). All at once, I had a terrifying thought: what if the studio version of KrashKarma fails to measure up to the wildly unbridled live version I’d just witnessed?

Well, I can assure you, my friends, after repeated listening, my initial fears were groundless. Straight to the Blood, the new CD release by KrashKarma is full of all the badass qualities I loved about their stage show, and so much more. Loud, distorted guitars, with monster riffs that compel you to stomp around your living room, and throw your fist in the air; poignant, provocative lyrics which are surprisingly easy to understand. (don’t get me wrong, but with these 50-something ears, its getting harder and harder to decipher some of the newer bands, a lyric sheet would help). Add to that some frighteningly beautiful instrumental interludes and you have a hard rock/metal record that will make any devotee of heavy music giddy with hardcore glee.

KrashKarma is scheduled to make another appearance at the Boobie Trap in October. Please take my advice: Grab their latest, Straight to the Blood. Listen to it repeatedly. Memorize it thoroughly. Absorb it into your psyche at all costs. Then in October, when all the leaves are brown and the sky is gray, head over to The Boobie Trap for an evening with KrashKarma and experience one of the hardest working, hardest rocking bands playing the national club circuit this year. Oh Yeah!

Kudos to Brian Chambers and the Boobie Trap for bringing some of the best rock shows to Topeka. Always love getting a chance to visit T-town’s version of CBGBs!

Special thanks to my good friends My Fathers Gun, for bringing me out to hear a band I probably would have passed over otherwise. You guys ROCK!

[April 2011 | Robin Cremer | photos courtesy of Rebecca Stubbs and Ben Appelhanz | Ralf Dietel's quotes from KrashKarma.com and Wikipedia]

That’s what our drive is; we never forget our job is to entertain people- Robin Williams

Robin and Linda Williams and their Fine Group are coming to Uncle Bo’s Saturday, April 2 for a wonderful night of CBGB’s! (Country, Bluegrass, Gospel, Blues)

Influenced by a wide variety of musical styles such as old school Country, Gospel, Folk, Old Time and the Appalachian tunes where they live, Robin and Linda have been delighting and mesmerizing music lovers for almost 40 years.

It was the late 80′s when I became obsessed with a radio program that was based in Minnesota and broadcast over the airwaves of Lawrence public radio station KANU, now known as KPR. Combining a broad variety of music and comedy, The Prairie Home Companion hosted by the one and only Garrison Keillor, was a Saturday evening mainstay in my house for several years. Robin and Linda Williams were regular musical guests and would also take part in Keillor’s sometimes subtle, other times side-splittingly funny comedy sketches.  Robin and Linda was also half of the Hopeful Gospel Quartet; with Keillor and Kate McKenzie, another show regular being the other half, that performed frequently on the broadcast.

It was Halloween night of ’92 when I had a chance to see Robin and Linda perform live, at Liberty Hall in Lawrence as part of the KANU Goodtime Radio Revue. They came on and performed their wonderful music and it was at this time I heard what would become my favorite R&L tune; their rendition of the Louvin Brothers classic, My Baby’s Gone, written by Hazel Houser. And even though Robin and Linda didn’t write the song, that didn’t stop them from singing it like they wrote it that very morning at their kitchen table.

“Hold back the rushing minutes; make the wind lie still,

Don’t let the moonlight shine, across the lonely hill

Dry all the raindrops, hold back the sun

My world has ended, My Baby’s Gone.”

It’s a heartbreakingly beautiful song that I place right up there with World Without Love by Peter and Gordon, and Skeeter Davis’ The End Of The World as three of my all time favorite ‘feels like my still beating heart has been ripped from my lonely chest’ songs.

This time through they’ll be playing songs from their recent album, Buena Vista, produced by the legendary Bluegrass mandolin player, Tim O’Brien, as well as songs from an upcoming CD entitled, Stonewall Country.

Robin Williams recently granted me a phone interview and so it was on a Wednesday morning, the man from Virginia and I talked about music, R & L’s early days, Broadway Bluegrass, Elvis and guitars . . . but not so much about Cadillac’s or hillbilly music . . . maybe next time.

When did you start performing together?

We started actually, I guess, in 1973. We’d known each other for a couple years. We were in Nashville, and we were doing a lot of open stages, the two of us. I was working as a full time musician, and Linda had a job, and was playing part time. We started playing open stages, and started getting things together. And more or less decided at the same time; one, we would get married; and two, we would do music as a duo for a living. It’s been a good career, all these years later and it’s been fun. It’s fun to lead the creative life, once you can make a living at it. And there were a good many years when we were just making a living at it. But what kept us going was the life itself. The creative life. The joy of being able to make something happen, and even though there wasn’t a lot of money coming in there was faith and the hope that it would work out, and it has.

You’ve been a part of the Prairie Home Companion show for years. Not only did you perform your music, but you also were in the comedy skits, as well. How did you feel about doing that?

Well, it’s been a long working relationship with Garrison Keillor, and the Prairie Home Companion. We did our first show with him in 1975, and we were just musical guests. We would see Garrison and these other guests doing these scripts and bits, and Linda and I would actually talk to each other, maybe, one day you know he’ll look at us and have enough faith in us, to let us do something like that. We did a couple of shows a year whenever we were in the Twin Cities; this was before he went national. Then after he went national he asked us to come on board and do more and more shows. So basically what Linda and I have done for Garrison is to answer the call, whenever we can. We understood right away, that our being on the show was not about us; it was about making the show good. That’s what our role has always been, to just work for the show, and because in itself it’s a hard thing to do. He can use as much help as he can and if you can bring something that’s good for show, that’ll take up some time, and make his job easier, then he’s really appreciative. That’s what we’ve always done. And the phone keeps ringing, all these years later. We’re going to do another show the [March] 26 and already, we’re thinking, what can we bring that he might like? Sometimes we bring stuff that he doesn’t like and that’s fine too. But sometimes he likes what we bring.

Are there any standout sketches that you’ve done?

Well, you know, several. I think the most memorable, was one time he came up to us, and he just had a rough idea, of doing Broadway songs in a Bluegrass format. So we put that together and ended up with this group Marvin and Mavis Smiley and the Manhattan Valley Boys. We’re still doing Marvin and Mavis skits. Every now and then, he’ll say Marvin and Mavis need to do Easter songs, or something of that order, and so we’ll real quickly get together and put these songs together, that shouldn’t be done Bluegrass style. And we put ‘em in a Mountain twang and everything’s played real fast. It’s usually stupidly funny and that works for us.   

On your newest album, Buena Vista, Bluegrass Unlimited singled out two songs, I’m Invisible Man and When a Thread Gets Caught as standouts.

I remember that and I was kind of surprised, because those are topical songs. When a Thread Gets Caught is about shysters who’ve taken people’s money and they make off with it and leave a lot of rack and ruin behind. And I’m Invisible Man is about homeless people. So I was thinking that was really interesting when that reviewer pulled those two tunes out because they’re not the typical Bluegrass fodder, and I was really pleased. Because you know Linda and I do a lot of writing, and we just write about what we see and what we think is interesting.

Your music is like a combination of Country, blues, bluegrass, folk and Gospel; it’s almost like you’ve created your own genre.

About ten years ago there was a term “Americana,” and now there’s a term “Acousti-cana.” They’re just trying to create new genres. I like the fact that they’re getting away from the normal niches like Bluegrass and Country, because what I think they were trying to do with these new terms, especially like with “Americana” is describe an individualistic style. When Linda and I started out all those years ago we were conscious on some level of trying to have a sound that was unlike anybody else. We thought at the time that this is what we should do as artists, and this is what everybody should do. Now, we found out later on that people wanted to have niches to put you in. And we’ve been for the most part niche-less all of our career, but that having been said, you know we have developed an individual style that shows our influences. You listen to our music and you can hear the Bluegrass influence, you can hear the Old Time music influences, you can even hear the commercial country; especially the commercial country of the ‘50s and ‘60s. You can hear the folk music influences in there. So it’s just a style of ours that we’ve developed, and we don’t even think about it anymore, we just do it. And it’s served us well; the proof’s in the pudding in that we’re still making a living out of it, traveling up and down the road, having a good time. No one’s caught on to the joke, so what can we complain about?

My favorite Robin and Linda CD is Live in Holland, which has been reissued as just Live. Which one of your many releases would you suggest someone getting if they want to hear the quintessential R & L sound?

Just because of the fact that it’s the closest one to us, I would recommend, Buena Vista, because that’s essentially what we’re doing now. That having been said, Buena Vista has been out for a year and a half and we’re kind of moving on. We’re working new material into our repertoire. At the present, what we’re doing is finishing up a CD of songs that we wrote many years ago for a musical, called Stonewall Country. It’s on the life and times of the legendary Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Jackson is from Lexington, Virginia, at least is buried there, and he spent his last years there before he was killed in the Civil War. Many years ago a friend of ours approached us to write and help develop this musical on Stonewall Jackson.  We wrote songs for it and we were really closely identified with it for a few years. And then you know fifteen, twenty years passed, it was not part of our life and it was just something we had done. We didn’t think much about it until the artistic director down there approached us again a few years ago. So we’ve gotten back involved in it and we decided if we do these runs, and be part of the musical, we should record the songs for the first time. So we have and we’re finding out some of these songs stand on their own. They are starting to make it into our repertoire. So that’s kind of what’s going on with Robin and Linda now. It’s these new songs from Stonewall Country.

This is one just for fun. At last count I have about a dozen instruments in my house and I’m not even a professional musician. How many instruments do you think you’ve accumulated over the years?

Oh, gosh, (laughing) you know without having to count while I’m on the phone, I would say, 30, 35 maybe. We collect these instruments, and once we get them we don’t sell, we just collect them. A lot of them are not really expensive, kind of a one of a kind instrument. Some of them are by the popular instrument makers: mandolins by Gibson, guitars by Martin, and several guitars by a local guitar maker here in Staunton Virginia, Huss and Dalton. They just accumulate over the years and they’re like your children; each one’s different and each one has its place and its own personality, and we like ‘em all.

Yeah, that’s what I tell my wife, but she doesn’t understand that.

(laughing) I’m right there with you, Linda keeps saying, you need to sell some of these instruments. But I say, why?

You’ve been performing since 1973. Are there any particular shows that stand out in your memory?

Well, we’ve played a lot of good venues over the years. Some of the shows have been at small places, some of the most memorable shows in large places. We’ve played Radio City Music Hall; we played Carnegie Hall; we played the Universal Amphitheatre, in LA; we played the Greek theater in LA. These are places where you just dream of playing. Maybe one day I’ll be on that stage, and all of sudden you look around and there you are. That having been said, we just played at this little place in Maine, where you had to go off the paved road onto a dirt road, just to get there. This wonderful little restaurant and music stage and it was one of the best nights, most memorable nights we ever had. That was just recently, so they all are important. You know, we might leave Uncle Bo’s in Topeka next month and say, that was really a great venue for us we’ll have to go back there, so you never know. You approach each night with a positive attitude, and make sure you’re sharp and rested and that you’re giving your best, and you see what happens.

What should the good patrons of Uncle Bo’s expect when they come and see Robin & Linda Williams Saturday April 2?

They’re going to see a group of musicians who love what they do. Of all the aspects of what there is to make a living in the music business; the recording and the writing and the business end, the most fun, and the thing we enjoy most and what I think really the thing we do best, is do live shows. That’s one of the reasons we’re still making a living. It’s the most important reason, why we’re making a living is that over the years we’ve always given a hundred percent. Whether there were six people there, or six hundred people there, we give the same energy every night. We have the same concern for our audience; we have the same concern for our craft. We’ll be singing songs we’ve written; we’ll be singing some songs from the Appalachian area; we’ll be singing some Country material that people will recognize. And it all melds into a really entertaining show. That’s what our drive is; we never forget our job is to entertain people.

So are you still performing My Baby’s Gone?

You know, we have not done that for awhile, but we might try and get that back up for you. If we have enough time. The problem is we try to get so much new material up; but if we can get five minutes, here or there, maybe we could get My Baby’s Gone up for you. That’s a great song and I really had a pang of sadness, when Charlie Louvin died recently and I think of all the great Louvin Brothers songs that are part of the lexicon of Country music. He and his brother Ira, certainly contributed to that. They were great performers and great writers.

Did you know that Elvis Costello performed a version of that recently with Emmylou Harris?

No, I didn’t know. Elvis is a great performer and man, he is one of a kind, I mean who can go from Burt Bacharach to the Louvin brothers and pull it off and make it convincing, other then Elvis? He’s one of a kind, he really is; a great guy too.

You’ve met him?

Yeah, we did a show, a Prairie Home Companion, a live broadcast in movie theatres. People would pay and sit in movie theatres and watch Prairie Home Companion and Elvis was on that show.

Did you perform on the 3^rd Annual Prairie Home Companion farewell tour back in 1989?

I think we were on that show. Do you remember where it was?

My ticket stub says the Midland Theatre.

Oh yeah, we were on that show, absolutely, I remember that vividly.

And I also have Garrison Keillor’s The Family Radio record album with you and Linda listed on it.

There you go (laughing), all the way back to the vinyl days, that’s how long we’ve been doing it.

Come on out to Uncle Bo’s Saturday April 2 for some good old-fashioned Country and Bluegrass music done R & L style. Backed by Chris Brashear on fiddle and mandolin, and veteran FG bassist Jim Watson, Robin and Linda and their Fine Group deliver the goods every time. It doesn’t get much better than this.

[March 2011 | Robin Cremer | photos courtesy of Music Tree Artist Management and the Robin Cremer Collection]

via YouTube: a video tribute to Robin and Linda Williams, My Baby’s Gone

The benefit will include performances by seven musical acts donating their time to help raise money. Chris Aytes, frontman for Chris Aytes and the Good Ambition, who will be performing, has worked with Sara as part of the PT’s Coffee family. “Sara babysat for me and Renelle (band’s drummer) when we had our first gig. We’re more than happy to help her out anyway we can.”

The musical line-up includes: Cowboy Indian Bear, Chris Aytes & The Good Ambition, The Kinetiks, Tao Jones, Crimson Kids, Aymen Ghali, and Odell Giner.

Blue Planet Cafe is located at 110 SE Eighth Street in downtown Topeka. All ages are welcome. Cover charge is $5.

For more information about Sara and her progress in fighting lymphoma, please read her blog.

A half dozen of the area’s finest original music bands are set to battle it out as the Topeka and Midwest Music scene presents the $1000 Final Original Band Battle, March 12th at the Kansan Grill downtown!

Hot on the heels of the successful Cover Bands Gone Wild! in January, the Original Band Battle is shaping up to be the premiere music event in Topeka giving a great opportunity for local music artists who like to do it their way a chance to showcase the music they create for themselves and their audience.

Once again the Kansan Grill will host the proceedings. Formerly the site of Pore Richards for all of us old enough to remember and the Rendezvous Grill for those of us who can’t, the Kansan is just a great place to see a rock and roll band. With its large stage, roomy dance floor, and great food, served till nine by a wonderful wait staff, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Up for grabs this time through, $500 cash, $200 scholarship to Vernon Whites Live Sound School and $300 worth of recording time at Paul Schneider’s Rundown Studios. That’s a $1000 prize for the winner! So it comes as no surprise these bands are going to be giving you the best show they know how!

About Vernon White’s Live Sound School:

Learn the basics on how to mix a band, choral group, or just about anything that involves sound. This is open to all ages and levels of experience.

You will leave having learned:

· How to find your way around a mixer.
· Explore and experiment with different delays, effects and processing.
· Compression and EQ’s are our friends!
· At LEAST ½ of each class period is hands on.

Paul Schneider is offering a $300 recording package at Rundown Studios. With over two dozen artists happily singing the praises of a Rundown experience, you can rest assured this is a prize that will be greatly appreciated.

Halfway There

6:30-7:15

Describing their music as Pop Punk Piano Core, this group of predominately Washburn Rural, and Seaman high school students, led by TJ Silverman, weaves great harmonies, heavy guitar riffs and pounding piano together into some the catchiest tunes you’ll ever hear. It’s as if Billie Joe Armstrong and Ben Folds formed a band, dropped a few years off their life, and moved to Kansas! Great stuff!

Black Tuxedos Band

7:45-8:30

What we said in the web article Downtown Showdown:

Precision. Breakneck. Jaw-dropping. Wow. These are just a few words people use after witnessing an appearance by this group of Emporia teenagers. Ranging in age from 17 to 19, Black Tuxedos Band “incorporates styles like Rock, Metal, Classical, Blues, Symphonic, and even some with an Arabian groove.” Black Tuxedos Band’s style of instrumental prog-metalcore have been impressing area musicians and non-musicians alike since their appearance at Truckhenge a couple of years ago . . . make sure you get a seat up close, because this will definitely be a shred-fest of the highest caliber.

Vagus

9:00-9:45

Quite possibly the heaviest band to play in the competition, Vagus wowed the crowd at last September’s Supersonic sponsored band battle held at the Kansan Grill, which they won. Vocalist Ricky Prato describes Vagus’ music as “progressive heavy rock,“ and states the band has played venues in Kansas City, Lawrence and Denver and in “2012, we are thinking about booking shows in and around Tokyo Japan along with another well known local Uroboros.” With songs as intriguing as ”the Baptism of Jeffrey Dahmer,’ and the six string pyrotechnics of guitar wizard Chaes Gray, Vagus will no doubt leave the stage a pile of smoldering rubble.

Sixteen Penny

10:15-11:00

What we said in Volume 5 Issue 3 of seveneightfive magazine.

Their D.I.Y. attitude and tough-as-nails approach to rock and roll is a refreshing change of pace. Standing out in a city dominated by an army of cover bands, they are one of the few hard rock bands willing to go out on a limb and perform music of their own creation. Arming themselves with a set list of powerful hard rocking original songs covering a range of subject matter from child abuse, phoniness, to just plain “getting nailed,” the members of Sixteen Penny collectively bring an expertise gained from over 20 years of professional performances. Their commitment to “kick ass” musicianship and an exciting stage presence are bringing them to the top of a short list of local original music acts.

Invictus

11:30-12:15

What we said in the web article hard rock intellectuals:

The majority of Invictus songs are composed with inspiration from sources as diverse as the Bible, literature, to Crossfit (a workout program), with both Soldani and Green’s lyrics dealing with serious subject matters that aren’t frivolous in any way. If you like your lyrics light and fluffy, you probably won’t care for Invictus lyrics, as they do require some contemplation, and aren’t that easy to comprehend the first time through. Or the second time for that matter. Just try to imagine Bob Dylan’s more serious compositions filtered through a Corrosion of Conformity like guitar riff, and you should get the picture.

Invictus music isn’t something you’d pop into the car stereo on a Friday afternoon when you’re looking for nothin’ but a good time, but for those other times when you like your music to rock hard, with intelligent lyrics that stretch the gray matter, it don’t get better then this.

The motivations for writing and performing your own music are as varied as the musical styles presented at the Original Band Battle, although there are key elements agreed upon. For instance, Sixteen Penny lead guitarist Chris Locke feels,

“It’s the entertainment factor. We strive to give our audience what they came for . . . A Rock Show. It’s all about the performance and connecting with our audience.”

Jayme Green of Invictus agrees, adding that energy is fundamental in getting the audience involved stating,

“Whether it’s a fast, in your face tune; a heavy, on your feet anthem; a dark, slower song; or a ballad like These Walls, it’s all about the energy that goes into writing it. Trying to make each song a vehicle for that energy; letting people feel the song instead of just hearing it.“

Ricky Prato of Vagus agrees with both Green and Locke, especially Chris’ need for connection with the crowd.

“It’s all about the audience and performing for them. They came for a show, so we give them a show. With the right energy or emotion it gives the audience the opportunity to connect with the band.”

Although not officially sponsoring the Original Band Battle, seveneightfive gives it’s full backing, knowing that it’s original music that gives the city its character. In the five years since its inception, seveneightfive has brought to the public eye a variety of local talent. Heavy metal band Sedlec Ossuary, old time music from the band High Falutin’ String Band, and the cool blues of Josh Vowell and the Rumble, and the Blue Devils, just to name a few, have been featured on the pages of seveneightfive magazine.

Publisher Kerrice Mapes believes that Topeka is beginning to see more bands performing original or unique covers, and less clichés, and with the advent of websites like Facebook, bands now have the opportunity to promote themselves in a way that wasn’t possible five years ago.

Come out Saturday March 12, and support your local music scene. See some great bands you might not have heard before, and vote for your favorites. This is going to be a great night for the rockin’ D.I.Y. bands of T-town!

[March 2011 | Robin Cremer | all photos courtesy of event and bands Facebook pages]

Invictus – 2009 Clint Eastwood movie, starring Morgan Freeman, and Matt Damon, that spotlighted the 1995 post-apartheid Rugby World Cup.

Invictus – 2011 Topeka KS hard rock band i.e. “a real, good, old fashioned, fist pumping, hard rock band.”

After establishing the band, and performing a half dozen shows to critical acclaim, Jayme Green and RJ Soldani, of the band, Invictus, suddenly found themselves on their own, after half the band split, citing musical differences on their way out. Sojourning on, Jayme and RJ performed as a duo, until Pittsburgh PA native, drummer Michael Walnoha, and bassist Manuel Tabora, from Honduras and here in the states on a music scholarship, joined the band, rounding out the group’s edgy hard rock compositions.

With this year’s Jam4Dan being their first public performance, the newly reformed Invictus is taking up where they left off, and it doesn’t seem they’ll be looking back anytime soon.

Friday, January 28 found them opening for Sixteen Penny at Joletta’s, in historic North Topeka. An exciting original musical matchup of two excellent Topeka bands will be duplicated February 11 at downtown’s Kansan Grill.

The band opened with the rockin’ “Unbowed,” which seems to be their signature song. It’s a great example of guitarist RJ Soldani’s wicked guitar riffing and Jayme Green’s emotional lyrics. Inspired by the book, Lone Survivor, written by Marcus Luttrell, it’s the story of his “team of Navy SEALs in Afghanistan in 2005,” says Green.

 One man left, in solitude I stand

 The blood of my brothers stains my hands

I have to get off this mountain; I have to make it alive

To carry their memory, I have to survive

 

All my Life, I’ll hold this pain

Those that fell, will not fall in vain

And if I cry, I won’t cry aloud

I’ll hold my head high, bloodied, but Unbowed.

“We’re pretty pro military and Law Enforcement; I guess we’re more or less a right wing rock band.”

At times, appearing to have taken a page from the Henry Rollins Book of Rock posturing, Jayme takes command of the stage and dares you to ignore him. Sometimes playing rhythm guitar, to me, Jayme is at his best when he just grabs the microphone and wails.

The ballad, ‘These Walls” slows the band down a little and allows guitarist RJ Soldani a chance to show off some Eric Johnson inspired soloing on the intro. It’s a poignant song, with lyrics written by Soldani about “the ignorant bliss we all have as wee young lads.”

Those years and games we played

Tell me it wasn’t all a waste

Summers passed without thoughts of winter

Let me forget the pain

If nothin’ happened here

Why’s there blood on these walls

I’m chained in here

A schoolboy lost in hell’s halls

The majority of Invictus songs are composed with inspiration from sources as diverse as the Bible, literature, to Crossfit (a workout program), with both Soldani and Green’s lyrics dealing with serious subject matters that aren’t frivolous in any way. If you like your lyrics light and fluffy, you probably won’t care for Invictus lyrics, as they do require some contemplation, and aren’t that easy to comprehend the first time through. Or the second time for that matter. Just try to imagine Bob Dylan’s more serious compositions filtered through a Corrosion of Conformity like guitar riff, and you should get the picture.

Invictus, by the way, covers a Corrosion of Conformity tune, and lately they’ve been bringing Sixteen Penny’s drummer Jeff Dechand up to the stage for backup vocals.

Invictus are set to take the region by storm, with several more dates in the city and some in the works for Lawrence and beyond.

Invictus music isn’t something you’d pop into the car stereo on a Friday afternoon when you’re looking for nothin’ but a good time, but for those other times when you like your music to rock hard, with intelligent lyrics that stretch the gray matter, it don’t get better then this.

[February 2011 | Robin Cremer | band photo courtesy of Danl Blackwood]

Well that, and $1,100.00 in cash and prizes as the Topeka and Midwest Music Scene  sponsored Cover Bands Gone Wild concludes its 2010 season with a six band showdown at the Kansan Grill in downtown Topeka January 15, and I can’t think of a better way to begin the new year, then getting out, rocking out, and supporting live local music!

Les Roediger, lead singer with the band Warlok, and creator of the Topeka and Midwest Music Scene group on Facebook, has been the mastermind behind this exciting series that began with a two day Hot Pockets show in June, with battle # 2 blazing into July at the Kansan Grill. With the fall came a great show at Johnny Poblanos as part of the America’s Heart Vet Aide event, and another impressive show to end the year in Dennison, Kansas in November.

The Kansan Grill will be the setting for this rock and roll extravanganza. Gaining a reputation of being a great place to view live entertainment, Sheila Akin Gutierrez, General Manager of the Kansan couldn’t be happier.

“It’s always a great opportunity to get people to downtown Topeka to see how much it has changed. The chance for people to come and see the Kansan Grill and what we have to offer downstairs is also amazing. A lot of our regular customers didn’t realize we have a whole different section where people can enjoy great music that isn’t a bar setting, but with full bar access.”

Formerly known as the Rendezvous Grille, The Kansan Grill has been in business for two years now. Located in lovely downtown Topeka, at 7th and Kansas, the Kansan, offers some great menu items.

“Hamburgers, salads, steaks, pasta, just a lot of different options, we are also looking at having appetizers available until 10:30 that night.”

Conveniently located, Rundown Studios have been making regional artists happy for a long time now. Having produced over 26 artists in his state of the art studio, owner/producer Paul Schneider will do everything he can to record and produce a CD for the winner of Cover Bands Gone Wild that they’ll be proud of presenting to club owners for consideration of future bookings or other promotional purposes. As their website proclaims:

“We don’t do demo’s and we don’t produce anything less than radio ready, mastered mixes.”

Ironic as it may seem, being a cover band does require some originality as Les explains,

“This is a cover band battle, as I have said before there is a difference between “cover” and “copy” bands. We are looking for originality in presentation, not just some guys with instruments doing a glorified DJ show. Entertainment is all about being different, and entertainment is a cover bands job.”

As in the past audience members will be allowed to vote for their faves with a slight adjustment in the game plan.

“We are having a panel of judges to provide bonus points and hopefully avoid any tie vote situations. I expect this one to have some very close competition, so I hope the bands are doing their homework,” says Roedigir.

When asked if the judges will reside under a cloak of anonymity, abiding by an undisclosed list of criteria, he responds,

“The judges will have various criteria to go on, such as stage presence, crowd appeal, timeliness, presentation and so forth. They will be known, not some secret coven as in some competitions, but will not be announced until show time.”

4:00 – 5:00 Bloodshed

No strangers to the Kansan Grill stage , Topeka band Bloodshed was the winner of the second Band Battle that took place in July. Returning in September, they tore the roof off performing at the Kansan Grill Battle of the Bands. A five piece hard rock band, whose blistering rendition of the Cranberries classic, “Zombie” is an abolute must hear. Don’t let an early appearance prevent you from seeing this exciting hard rock band.

5:30 – 6:30 Black Tuxedos Band

Precision. Breakneck. Jaw-dropping. Wow. These are just a few words people use after witnessing an appearance by this group of Emporia teenagers. Ranging in age from 17 to 19, Black Tuxedos Band “incorporates styles like Rock, Metal, Classical, Blues, Symphonic, and even some with an Arabian groove.” Black Tuxedos Band’s style of instrumental prog-metalcore have been impressing area musicians and non-musicians alike since their appearance at Truckhenge a couple of years ago. The only original music band performing, make sure you get a seat up close, because this will definitely be a shred-fest of the highest caliber.

7:00 – 8:00 Meltdown

Although relatively new to the scene, Meltdown isn’t going to let that intimidate them when they go onstage Saturday the 15th. Playing a brand of infectious punk rock that is amazingly fun to listen to, Patrick Lytle explains, “We take these pure, bubblegum hits that everybody knows and then beat them over the head with a lead pipe,” and they come out sounding effing incredible! I did a double take the night I walked into the Celtic Fox and heard them playing Journey’s “Faithfully” complete with the crowd sing-a-long on the “whoahs.”

 8:30 – 9:30 Swift Kick

Your mom busted in and said WHAT’S THAT NOISE!?
Aww, mom you’re just jealous, it’s the Swift Kick Boys!

“Danceable Rock-n-Blues,” band  Swift Kick have been together in it’s current formation for about four months, but these guys are rock and roll veterans, having blown the doors off every establishment they’ve played in with, Warlok, Hellbent, In/Out, No Sympathy, Crosswind, and . . . Garth Brooks. Not content with taking the easy way out by playing another version of, “Mustang Sally just to get people to dance, it’s gotta be something we enjoy ourselves, because that comes across to the audience,” declares Mike Powell, lead singer of the band. Take it from me, these guys are a well-oiled music machine.

10:00 – 11:00 Zero Discipline

Due to a last minute cancellation by Simply Driven, Topeka/Holton based Zero Discipline was asked to fill the spot. “Its kinda cool to be called upon, when others are in a pinch and to know we can do the job,” Larry Hundley proclaims.

11:30 -12:30 Revolver

Closing out the evening, Revolver takes the stage. Self described as a guitar rock oriented band, Revolver is in a tough position following Dave and the boys, but singer Matt Dittmore is undaunted by the popular Topeka band, explaining, “[they’re] a good band who have been around for awhile . . . but I definitely think we are going to turn some heads.” Playing everything from A to Z, Matt promises a smokin’ medley of Honey Hush/Train Kept A’rolling, “so come ready to rock out and prepare for Revolver to blow the roof off the place!”

That’s over six hours of rock and roll for a mere five buck admission fee.  A half dozen bands representing just about every genre, hand picked by you over the last year, all battling for the honor of being crowned the best band in the region.

Cover bands in our culture are like Rock and Roll Appreciation Societies, perpetuating the classics, both past and current, and honoring the great bands and artists, living or dead that have inspired us to pick up our respective instrument, take the stage, crank it to 11, and blow the doors off the place! Let’s join together Saturday the 15th at the Kansan Grill for Cover Bands Gone Wild, and celebrate the great music of our era and the great bands in our area.

Prizes sponsored by the Kansan Grill, Rundown Studios and Bloodline Productions.

No stranger to the cover band scene, Robin Cremer, used to make some noise when he rocked out with the Hammerjunk boys.

[January 2011 | Robin Cremer | band photos and event poster photo provided by facebook | other photos by Robin Cremer ]