*The local band Last Tourist is playing its final show tonight at Smalls in Hamtramck, as one of its members is leaving town. That's too bad. Caught their set at this year's Blowout and they were a quality band. Catch them tonight, as tomorrow will be too late.
*Handyside e-mailed a couple of days ago that the lovely Sisters Lucas -- Julie and Loretta -- have teamed up with equally lovely local songstresses (is that even a word?) Aran Ruth and Kelly Jean Caldwell to host a new showcase series that's titled June's Children. The ladies will be hosting the series every Thursday in June at PJ's Lager House. Admission is free. You can find all the lineups and more info by clicking here.
*In case you missed it, D-town sensations the Silent Years were Paste Magazine's "Band of the Week" earlier this month. Paste, btw, is struggling like so many print publications these days and recently launched a campaign, asking its fans to donate money to keep the magazine afloat. Details can also be found on their Website. Whatever the case, nice to see the Silent Years getting the national attention and exposure they deserve.
*Speaking of artists getting the national attention they deserve, old school Detroit sensation Rodriguez has been doing just that. Sixto recently performed at the terrific Amoeba Records store in L.A.. You can see part of the performance, as well as his "Green Room" interview, by clicking here. There's also a recent live-studio session with Rodriguez at Daytrotter.com. The songs were recorded in Rock Island, Iowa, a few months ago, where he was backed by a Detroit supergroup, including Matthew Smth, Jim Diamond, Scott Michalski and Bobby Emmett. It's titled "Rodriguez Offering Prescriptions for the Kids Out There." Click here to see the super-session.
Deastro is also starting to get a fair share of national attention. Rolling Stone even weighed in earlier this month. If you're a hermit with no access to the Internets, you may not know that Deastro's full-band debut, Moondagger, arrives on June 23rd, courtesy of Ghostly International (though the album is already available to download at iTunes. He'll be back in town (following a show at Spaceland in L.A.) to play a record release party, along with the aforementioned Silent Years, Manna & Quail and the Summer Pledge, all of whom are also releasing new discs that week, at the Crofoot on June 5th. He's also scheduled to play City Fest on July 3rd. Finally, if you haven't already, you can download Deastro's free Grower EP here. In a press statement, the artist known as Deastro (aka Randolph Chabot) had this to say of the free EP: “This EP is inspired by Detroit and my friends there who I feel are a light in it. The title of it Grower represents what I feel is growing inside of peoples hearts and minds there. It is about human growth, so sometimes it can be messy or tragic all though I am not going to limit human experience to two adjectives or claim that I know the first thing about it...There is a song called “forest arms” that is about an apartment complex that burned down near where I live. The fire started in the apartment of John Robinson and its cause is unknown. Robinson died and others were injured on top of the loss of this historic building. It really was a tragedy. The song itself I hope captures all aspects of the people of Detroit in its change in dynamics or at least some of them, I could never capture it all. I could never capture how proud I am of everybody there who keeps on loving each other. My only reason for writing music besides really enjoying music myself is that I hope to plant something worthwhile in the place where the people I care for exist. I really hope we can all grow and be growers learning to treasure every second and every feeling this world gives to us.”
*The Forest Arms fire appears to have inspired a few local musical folks, as this is, of course, also the title of the Hard Lessons' new excellent disc. Seems like people are making lemonade out of lemons, as my grandmother used to say...
*Local guitar wunderkind Cetan Clawson and his Cetan Clawson Revolution power trio will see their White Heat album (recorded when Clawson was a mere 17 years old) reissued nationally via Universal Records. The disc will be available on 8th Impression/Universal on June 30th. National tour dates will be announced shortly thereafter.
*Last and maybe even least (I kid, I kid) "Terrible" Ted Nugent's 600th show celebration at a sold-out Pine Knob (er, DTE Music Theater) will be released on DVD and Blue-Ray on June 30th. (When it comes to DVDs and/or Blue-Rays, though, we're afraid our budget for those toys in June will be exhausted by Neil Young's long-awaited -- and we really can hardly wait -- multi-disc Archives set, which finally sees the light of day next week. And it ain't cheap...)
Your June's Children hosts: Yeah, but what happens in July and August?
Photo by Doug Coombe
