issue 1 july 2010

Live Reviews: The Mason Rack Band

Ash Grunwald

Marshall and The Fro

Local Bands Mojo Bluesmen

Glenn Heath and

the Deep Blue Sea

Over 30 bands inside

July Gig

Guide

Inside

2

2 From James: Thank you all for picking up a copy of The Mid-North Coast Jam, This is a magazine for the local music scene in Port Mac-quarie, but I will be branching out to cover Forster to Coffs Harbour once the mag is really going. This magazine will cover the live music scene by providing live reviews on gigs, CD Reviews, features on local bands and the most thorough gig guide I can muster up. The purpose of this magazine is to make people aware of the immense talent out there, right outside our door, and we don’t need to turn on the radio or TV to find them. I personally come across the music of so many bands, that are just trudging through the live scene, getting their music out there. This magazine is also a great tool for local bands to expose their music at no cost to themselves, and can just be a great tool for everyone involved. Anyway, I hope you like my magazine it’s only gonna get bigger and better, so keep an eye out for it, and get in contact with me if you have any ideas or would like to publish your band, or gigs at your venue. Keep on Truckin’, James (Mister Morales) Schaefer

Track 09:; Mister Morales—Ugly

Contents:

Live Reviews pg 03—10 Local Bands pg 11 Gig Guide July pg 12

If you are a band we

want to hear from you!!

If you are a venue we

want to know what live

gigs you have booked

for August !

Contact James [email protected]

0435746087

Track

Listings:

1. The Mason

Rack Band—

Seen her 84 pg 09 2. The Ninth

Chapter—Fantasy pg 07 3. Benjalu— The Lie pg 03 4. Mojo Bluesmen— Dirty Love pg 11 5. Glenn Heath and the Deep Blue

Sea— I know your not talking ‘bout me pg 11

6. Sunset Riot— Rattlesnake pg12 7. Eli Wolfe—My place in this world 8. Matty Effin Morison—Ya Dickhead

Mate pg 12 9. Mister Morales—Ugly pg 02 10. Matheson Trio—Higher Place pg 13 11. The Jaywalkers— Your Finest Hour

pg 13 12. Sam Buckingham –Gravity pg 15 13. The April Maze— Where do they go?

Pg 16 14. Simon Leigh– Stick to my guns pg 16

3

3 Marshall and the Fro

Put their thongs on Laurieton Hotel 29/05/10

Byron Bay's dirty blues and roots rock band Marshall and the Fro treated audiences to their loud and dirty rock 'n' roll show at Laurieton

hotel on 29/05/10 with support from Newcastle's Benjalu to

help promote Marshall's new album "Friends for Life

Benjalu opened the show with their acoustic reggae infused folk rock, which was just infectious and hard not to get involved with their clever grooves and

good feel. Benjalu sport unique vocals, a contrast between Ben (Gumby) Gumbleton's reggae - folk style acoustic guitar and Luke

Elsley's Jimi Hendrix/ Santana influenced electric lead guitar, topped with a solid beat and great song writing & structure. These guys

were an impressive warm up to the loud and electric show to follow.

Marshall and the Fro entered the stage and took no prisoners. Inspiring the audience straight to the dance floor with their thick, loud and catchy take on blues driven rock. Marshall and his band punched through songs with the crowd loving each one more than the last. Their clever hooks (whether it be in in their vocals or song

structure) would catch you off guard and ignite a compulsion to "Get Up And Do Your Thing"!

After an all in jam with Benjalu, a suggestion that everyone should either down a shot of tequila or join the band afterward for a birthday celebration, and not to forget a rip roaring show, Marshall and the Fro finished with their

hit song "Get Up (Raise Your Head)".

Marshall and the Fro are a sharp, red hot live band, that will entice you out of your seat and into a rocking good time. There's a reason why these guys are a household name along the east coast, and trust me........ they'll be

back.

James Schaefer (Music Journalist, The Jam Magazine)

Marshall and the Fro (above) are touring the coun-try to promote of their new album "Friends for Life" with support from Newcastle band Benjalu (below)

Rattlin' Bones with

Kasey Chambers

Kasey Chambers gave a warm performance at Laurie-ton United Servicemans Club on 27/05/10 with husband Shane Nicholson and support from Harmony James to kick off their "Acoustic and Inti-mate" Tour

It was such a pleasure to watch three internationally recognised artists in such an intimate environment. The setting was much like that of a private function, with the audience being seated at tables to watch the show. Harmony James kicked off the show with Kasey and Shane following. The two took turns at performing as a duet, whilst also exhibiting their solo material. Kasey sung hit songs such as “The Captain” and “Not Pretty Enough”, but the highlight of the night was Kasey getting her four year old son Arlo on stage to sing a song written by her other son Talon entitled (I have) Two Houses. In short this was a show you could sit back and enjoy with a loved one, or even to bring the kids along to. When she’s back get yourself along to have a look.

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4

A word with Marshall

O’Kell

How long have you been

playing for and doing your

thing?

Grew up around music, my par-ents are right into it. Dad’s quite a good muso so. Started playing guitar about four or five years old. And been do-ing shows in venues since I was about 15.

Tell us about your new CD

We've just spent three or four months recording at 301 studios, in Byron Bay, with a really good producer called Anthony Lycenko (Pete Murray, Beautiful Girls, Xavier Rudd, U2). He was pretty good, we spent a lot of time on it and we’re pretty stoked about it. We’re on the road touring at the moment, we’ve got 30 shows in 8 weeks so... So far so good, it’s been epic yeah.

So did you start off doing solo stuff?

Yeah I did I started off doing my own thing, had like a resonator slide guitar and a stomp box and then did that for about 12 months, and thought gotta make this more of a rock show, and went through a few different muso’s and at the moment I got Luke Ferguson playing bass, just joined the band 6 months ago he’s fantastic. The drummer’s been with us about four years now, his name’s Jacob, everyone calls him “Poodle” though.

Is he the guy who is ‘The Fro’?

Both of them sort of are but yeah when I first got him in the band he had this massive fro and it sort of deteriorated and turned into a big mop of dread locks. So I don’t know we’re sort of stuck with the name really.

Can’t change it to ‘Marshall and the

Locks?’

Well we ran a competition to change it and the two names we wanted to change it to were al-ready registered business’.

Any advice to aspiring musicians want-

ing to enter the live scene?

Spend a lot of time writing your songs. And put all your heart into it.

CD Review

Benjalu Reflecting On/ Waterwalls

EP’s

Benjalu’s music style is very difficult to put your finger on. It could be best described as a mixture of funk/ folk & rock with kind of mystical overtone. Lead singer Gumby was quite modest when he said that their not anything different because although I cannot pin point their style, I can’t stop listening to these CDs. The songs are well writ-ten in a singer/ song writer style and have an interesting theme to them, sometimes as if telling a story/ or reflect-ing on something deep and meaningful. The second EP (Waterwalls 2009) I think is the better of the two, with the band sporting a more mature and grown sound. Gumby’s vocals are leading toward a more soul-ful sound, and the music is more creative. Both of these EP’s are fantastic and I highly recommend to check out their songs at www.myspace.com/benjalu.

James Schaefer

A word with ‘Gumby” (Benjalu)

How do you describe your music?

Sort of can’t put to a genre yet ourselves, not saying that we’re anything different, but just ‘cause we listen to so many different styles, I think we try to incorporate so many, I can’t say we’re a reggae band or a roots band or what-ever, We just say we’re a roots/ rock band at the moment, I think that sums it up the best I can.

How long you guys been together?

Kind of got together, we’re all school mates, we got to-gether around June 2006, and it kind of got a lot more serious for us around kind of the around last two years. Touring around Australia and trying to promote the name, kind of been together for about three or four years now,

What’s the meaning behind the band name

Benjalu?

Bit of a motto me and the boys came up with, it’s a word squashed in together... The benefits of living comes just as life unfolds.

Any advice to aspiring musicians wanting to

enter the live scene?

Do it for love of music and not for the money, cause it’s definitely not gonna be there but don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it, cause it’s a great feeling.

Track 03—The Lie

If you are a band. We want to know what your doing!!


0435746087

5

5 ASH GRUNWALD

TEARS THE ROOF OFF



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Laurieton Hotel 24/06/10

Ash Grunwald gave a ground rattling show at the Laurieton Hotel on 24/06/10 with the support of improvisation trio “The Low Pres-

sure Three” to promote his new album “Hot Mama Vibes”.

The Low Pressure Three opened the show with the statement: “OK we’re just gonna make this up as we go along.... But that’s not gonna be a bad

thing”, and it wasn’t. Their totally improvised set consisted of Jazz, Blues, Funk and Rock influences, with pockets of Guitar solo’s and mys-tical vocal techniques. The set would weave in and out to give a feel of being on a journey (if you will) and then bring you back using snippets

from previous riffs and beats. The set was very mellow and very slick, a nice contrast to what Ash Grunwald was going to bring to the stage.

Armed with three percussionist’s (one with a car door and kitchen sink attached to his drums!), two DJ’s and The Low Pressure Three back

stage, Ash Grunwald announced his presence with the rocking track (of his new album ) Walking. It was clear that this set was not going to be a slow burn, and the crowd knew it, with the dance floor packed, every-

body let loose immediately.

Ash’s music had a mixed feel to it, his electric guitar would blast a dirty backyard, Jimi Hendrix style sound out of the speakers, while his slide guitar would give out his signature blues and roots sound. Ash has ex-panded his creativity by employing an electrica sound with the help of two DJ’s doubling up from percussion, but what really topped the line up was percussionist “Benny”, bashing away on a car door and kitchen

sink with a hammer as part of the beat for their songs.

Ash Grunwald displays an exclusive “Junk Yard” style sound , expanded from his blues and roots beginnings, that is raw, rocking and very clever,

and will tear the roof off every place he plays. Ash Grunwald, if your reading this, we would love to have you back!!

James Schaefer

6

6 A Word With Shannon Sol Carroll (The Low

Pressure Three)

Tell us about yourself and the guys you played with tonight We are a band that is collective, that’s called The Low Pressure Three, we’re representing The Low Pressure Productions, that’s our record label, it’s an improvised group pulled together to open for Ash this weekend. We’re all mates, we all wanna hangout in the surf and hangout on the coast, and we pulled this project to-gether, especially for these four dates, and we’re all in other bands. OJ and myself are in Afrodizziact, and Band of Frequen-cies is our other band, so we basically pulled leverage through together for these four shows basically to hangout together, play sick sets and have a good time. What inspires you to do a totally improvised set? We surfed at Sawtell today, that was pretty inspiring.. We surfed at Coffs Harbour, we’ve all been playing music since we’ve been in high school or before so... I think improvising is the most natural thing you can do, it’s the most least contrived musical expression, not actually thinking about lyrics, thinking about melodies, your not thinking about a style you wanna be like... You are what you are playing.... You can only express pretty much how your feeling only by improvis-ing. What styles often come about from improvising? It’s pretty momentary, we dig into everything we listen to, for me I’ve got every style I’m interested in I’ve practised and learnt sort of comes out in little windows and pockets, it’s pretty natural, I don’t know how it happens. It’s like cooking a meal and you’ve got all the ingredients in the cupboard and you don’t know if it’s going to be Thai or Italian or Indonesian or Aussie, but somehow you just make something that tastes good at the time. What advice do you have for aspiring musicians wanting to enter the live scene? Trust yourself... Trust what you hear... Trust what you want to express... And yeah just trust!

A word with Ash Grunwald

Tell us about your new CD It’s called Hot Mama Vibes, and it’s all a bit new, sort of different kind of stuff I guess from my older stuff and bit more of the hip hop influences in there, I used a lot of different producers on it... And yeah it’s going alright, it’s going better than my other albums so I’m pretty happy. How do you describe you music? It’s sort of like a bluesy kind of music, with a little bit of some modern sound in there that a bit different to the old blues I guess, lots of beats on there, there’s percussion, bits of metal being bashed, different things you know.. What inspires you to make music? Well I’m just trying to forge my own path at the moment, musically a little bit so, that’s my inspiration really, you know I think of guys like Tom Waits and Beck, and stuff that’s different you know from everything that’s around, that's my main thing I wanna do so, yeah just trying to do something new I guess. What’s the highlight of your career so far? Probably supporting James Brown, that was in the Derwent Entertain-ment Centre in Tassie. What are your favourite songs to perform? It varies really night from night, I just like doing different stuff you know, I mean cause I’ve been touring for ten years or so, you know some-times you can do the same old, same old. Having said that you know if people are into it, if you say for example The Dolphin Song is like over a decade old now, but if people really want to hear it, it’s still fun to me. But I like jamming and doing different stuff every night, every set that I do is different, and that keeps me interested too. What are your songs about? Completely varied you know, my old stuff was a lot more real, like a lot more about the here and now, like my actual life, songs about travelling you know. These days, the last couple of albums, I just wrote songs to be good songs so it’s just pretty varied really. How has your music evolved? It started off as pretty much just straight down the line blues and now just blending a lot of different things, like about four or five different genres mashed together, I guess but you know there’s a lot of elec-tronic influences in there, and as time’s gone on I’ve gone full circle too, like I used to be into Hendrix and that as a teenager, and now that's coming back again, with the long solo and stuff which I wasn’t into for a long time, and you just keep changing you know because it’s just inter-esting. Tell us about the tough day you had today Well I played at the Hoey Moey last night, had a fair few beers to wake up a bit hung over. Went out the front their, cause that’s on the beach, got some really good waves, got a really lucky, great barrel. Went to Sawtell, and we got heaps of really good waves. Rocked up here, did a little bit of a sound check, had some dinner, had a couple of beers, went for a sleep, turned up here to the gig and here I am now. It’s a tough life isn’t it? It is, but someone has to do it!! What advice do you have for aspiring musicians wanting to enter the live scene? There’s a process that you have to undergo to be a muso that is the same I think similar for The Rolling Stones, Madonna or Metallica, or somebody that is starting out, and that is: Record an album, then promote it, try and sell copies of it, get gigs. And so I think they should just launch into and start that, however modest that is you know, record an album in your bedroom, it costs about $5 a copy to make them, sell ‘em for $20 to your relatives, and busk, and try and get a gig at the local pool hall or whatever the hell it is. And just try and build it up from that, and I think you know like the quicker you can make money from it and make it your living, the better off you’ll be ‘cause you’ll find yourself doing it more. If you want to do it for a job, start doing it as a job, like when I started I was a professional musician before I was well known, I wasn’t known at all actually, I was just doing little restaurant gigs and you know just doing a gig just around the cor-ner, and another one down in the next suburb, and after a while I had four or five gigs a week, and I was making a living from it. You can do that kind of thing then your making a living off it, and then if you write original songs, your giving yourself your best chance of becoming a professional musician.

7

7

The Ninth Chapter rock’s Finnians

Finnians 12/12/09

The Ninth Chapter describe their music as funk and groove, and they are right on the money, they infuse their music with Jazz, Blues and Folk to create an upbeat recipe for fun and good times. And good times was had by everyone. Most of them sporting a pair of thongs on stage, these cool guys opened up the show with a couple of chilled and funky numbers, they were laid back and I lik-ened them to a combination of The Cat Empire and The John Butler Trio,

but at the end of the night it was clear that they were .own band, with their own sound, an electric force that inspired fun within eve-ryone inside the venue, Comprised of six members from up and down the Mid-North Coast, The Ninth Chap-ter originally formed as a three piece in 2007, and since have expanded to a six piece in 2009 “through friends of friends”, and the latest addition has certainly breathed whole new life into the outfit, which is reflected in their electric live show.

Jaz’s guitar and vocals seem to provide the band with underlying Jazz and funk feel, and com-bined with Tim's trumpet (and added cowbell) adds a full and sometimes (dirty Jazz) raunchy edge to the band’s sound. Joe’s lead guitar style seems to be more blues driven, and his harmonica topped of their bluesy feel for their unique cover of Cat Empire song “Sly” . Glenn on percussion like Tim’s trumpet adds a lively dynamic to the band, but the real treat is his Funk/ Hip Hop style backing vo-cals that brings added energy to an already upbeat energetic band, and the crowd loved it! Finally Matt’s funky bass and Zac’s drums provide a solid foun-dation that gives these guys a tight, high quality professional live sound.

(Above) Lead Singer Jaz Munro, (Top Right) Tom Hilliar is an exhilarating addi-tion to the band, (Below) The Crowd at the end of the night.

The Ninth Chapter once again brought their energetic, expressive style of smouldered groove and roots music to Finnians on 25/06/10.

The Ninth Chapter are proving to be one of the most exciting acts right along the NSW North Coast through to Brisbane, earning this title by regularly per-forming at venues such as; The Joynt (Brisbane), The Rails (Byron Bay), The Pacific Hotel (Yamba) and The Federal Hotel (Bellingen). This has also been

their 2nd visit to Finnians as a six piece band (lets hope there’s no to come, put some pressure on them to come back at www.myspace.com/theninthchapter).

The Ninth Chapter have headlined the 2010 Fame Tree Festival (Grafton), as well as support acts such as Dallas Frasca, Blue King Brown, Grinspoon and Gyroscope. They have had three of their tracks receiving national airplay on Triple J’s “Roots ‘n’ All” (Fantasy, The Way I Feel, Easy my Mind) as well as

being featured on endless compilations.

Here is a review I wrote on the guys from their gig at Finnians on the 12/12/09.

Track 02: Fantasy

8

8

The first two songs were cool and chilled with killer vocal work with a rusky feel at times, the 3rd song kicking back car-ried a more upbeat, jazz feel and was giving a hint of the lively band that we would see be the end of the night. As they continued on with the 4th and 5th song an infectious and well struc-tured band with an interesting array of sounds was emerging. The second set took on a more electric feel with funky beats, long funky inter-ludes (everything very funky), flowing chorus’ and lot’s of sharp stops and starts. The band per-formed a small selection of covers; an upbeat funky Crosstown Traffic and a laid back version of Voodoo Child, both by Jimi Hendrix and a slowed up sleazy blues version of Cat Empire’s Sly. By the third set people had started packing in, and with the opportunity at hand the band kicked into gear with a second take of “Kicking Back”, and it was on! The last set had the crowd moving with the vibe given from the band and the dance floor was packed with people feeding off the fun. The band ended up getting called back for two encores, and with the band out seemingly out of material after the first, the second encore was totally improvised with Glenn free styling about the lack of funk music in Australia.

Songs to watch out for are “Kicking Back, The Way I Feel, This Old Town, and their slowed up bluesy rendition of Sly. They have EP out and with a 11 song album out now, these guys are must see band....

A word with......

(Jaz, Glenn and Matt)

Band members: (at time of interview December 2009)

Jaz Munro: Lead Vocals & Guitar Glen McClymont: Percussion & Backing Vocals Zac Page: Drums Tom Hilliar: Trumpet Joe Wurf: Lead Guitar & Harmonica Matt Henry: Funky Bass

Where are you from?

All over the North Coast, some from Brisbane, Grafton & Coffs Harbour

How long have you guys been together?

Originally a three piece for 2 1/2 years, as a six piece for 3 months (at the time of interview, December 2009)

How did you guys get together?

As a three piece we grew up together..... As a six piece just through friends of friends

How do you describe your music?

Funk and Groove!!

What are your influences?

Skunk Hour!!

Any previous bands?

Zac with the Airbourne Blues Virus Matt with Mason Rack

How many gigs have you done?

Over 100

Are on tour?

Always, you have to on the Mid North Coast

What do you love about music and performing?

All the cliché stuff......... The energy, an outlet, self expression, escape........ an alter ego

Have you guys gigged in Port Macquarie before?

As a three piece yes........ six piece no

How did you come up with the band name?

Everyone goes through chapters in there life, we are at The Ninth Chapter, where you find your meant to be and what bought us here

Do you have any releases?

Two: An EP “The Ashby Sessions” 11 song debut album. Zanthipipe ......... Both available at gigs and on the website www.myspace.com/theninthchapter



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9

9

Blues and Roots

Animal The Mason Rack Band

Finnians 26/06/10

The Mason Rack band took their signature sound of rusty, raw, swampy blues rock to Finnians on 26/06/10, with support from Port Macquarie’s Franklin Montague & Dr Sweet Trouble, this was one of Mason’s last gigs

before hitting the road for another tour of Canada.

The mysterious Franklin Montague & Dr Sweet Trouble started the night with their own brand of blues/ folk music. With Franklin on Banjo & Vocals, and Dr Sweet

Trouble on acoustic Guitar, the pair presented an interesting twist on what is com-mon for their style of music. Franklin seems to carry a real Rock ‘n’ Roll persona that is transferred over into their music, giving their interpretation of folk music, a

subtle edge.

Mason and his motley crew took to the stage and pounded music through the room. They opened the set with their wildly infectious “Deep Wholly Woman”. Ma-son’s howling screams & rusty vocals motivated the crowd out of their horse shoe

shaped herd and on the dance floor, into a ravenous good time.

Joel “Thunderfoot” Perkess’ thundering drum rolls were just in human, and Ma-son’s mystical technique of combining finger tapping (on side of guitar) with his

complex, intriguing slide technique had the audience captivated.

The true highlight of the show was Mason dismantling the drum kit mid-song (with Joel still playing) and moving it onto the dance floor. The band bought over two

kegs without missing a beat and engaged in an all in drum solo.

I can sit here all day & tell you about these guys but you really need to get out and see them for yourself. The Mason Rack Band put on a truly revolutionary show and

is not something you forget.

James Schaefer

A word with Franklin Montague &

Dr Sweet Trouble How do you describe your music? So many different influences, basically makeshift banjo playing ‘ cause I’ve never learnt to play the banjo, be-cause he’s (Dr Sweet Trouble) is such a good guitar player, he makes what I play sound good. Are your songs original? Yeah we played 11 songs and one was a cover tonight. What inspires your music? Everyday life man, I mean music is just my life, what I live for man. So many different types of music, styles of music, can’t go a day without picking up a guitar or banjo or anything. How long has Franklin Montague been doing their thing? (Dr Sweet Trouble) Franklin picked up a banjo about 12/ 18 months ago. (Franklin Montague) been trying lay songs down 3 or 4 months now. What’s behind the name “Franklin Montague”? It’s a secret mate!! What are your influences? For tonight, basically Paul Kelly and the Storm Water Boys hold a pretty large influence, Paul Simon. It’s really hard to say a lot of the time, I listen to so much different music so, it’s hard to pick what’s influencing each song. There are one or two songs which have a very very dedicated inspiration. (Dr Sweet Trouble) I don’t think we wear anything par-ticularly on our sleeves sort of thing. (Franklin) Basically I haven’t heard anyone else playing the same style as us, which is good, but maybe bad, I don’t know I’m not entirely sure. Do you think your music resembles Mumford and Sons? I did a trip to Bali last year in September, I came back and that album had just hit the air, I was kind of like, oh yeah, that’s kind of like what we’re playing. But they kind of got in first and made the name for the ‘new folk’, it’s a positive thing but we’re definitely not taking influ-ence from them. I love the album, it’s a good album... Man they had some really good songs on there..... I love what they’re doing, using the banjo influence in there. If you can see something between us and them, it’s pretty much just a fluke. What advice do you have for aspiring musicians wanting to enter the live scene? Pick up a guitar whenever you can basically yeah, it’s a really really hard industry. Just do it for the right rea-sons basically, have fun, your not gonna play to a packed room all the time, (sometimes) your gonna be playing to 10 people and even if you are, give it your best (Those 10 people you play to might tell 10 people, and then 100 people know you). Don’t do it to hang with famous people!!

10

10

A word with Mason Rack

What have you been doing since you were here last in January? All we’ve been doing is been on the road, all the time, just gigging, right up to Cairns, Cairns Blues fest, all the major blues fests, Byron, Broad-beach. All of them, we’ve just been playing How’s your CD “Live in Canada” Going? Yeah it’s getting airplay in Russia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden. It’s just got 2nd in the blues charts in Australia and got 17th in the blues charts in America so, we’re pretty stoked and fully surprised about that, it’s been going great. What’s life like on the road? I used to be a brick layer so you know it’s better than layin’ bricks, but chalkin’ up so many kilometres in car, that’s not the best fun. You know sitting in the car for 10 hours at a time you know, you end up getting cabin fever. It’s interesting. What inspires you to make music? The people, all the fans, they keep us going. You know so many times in this industry you get to crossroads, whether it be monthly or whatever, you kind of question whether you want to go on or not. But then you do a gig and a bunch of people come up and say “man that was awesome, don’t ever stop what your doing, we believe in you, we love you”. I feel like once your in this industry for a while, it’s hard to get back outta there. It’s almost like your trapped, but in a good way. It’s almost like it gets a hold of ya and you can’t get out of it, it’s good. How has your music evolved? When I first started I was a drummer with my dad, and then later on I started doing this heavy metal thing with a bunch of crazies, it was good but didn’t go anywhere. Then I started playing blues and that sorta stuff and that was good, but over the last 7 years it started to change a little more rough, a little more up-tempo and a little more harder edge. It’s just a natural thing that happens with us, it’s not something we mean to do, just something natural. Is Joel “Thunderfoot” Perkess human or a machine? He’s definitely a machine, now we’re not sure if he came in a crystallised capsule, crashed into a farm and some old farmer raised him. He’s from a town Edmonton in Canada, I got him straight outta college, and took him on the road, we did six months of intensive touring, so basically he’s payed his dues. He’s done about 2 years of worth of touring jammed into 6 months and he’s still going so good, he still rehearses and practises by himself like 6 hours a day. (He’s) just a machine.... And even more so the only guy I’ve seen girls actually fight over and got to be the only guy I’ve seen eat a whole huge meal and sit down and cook a whole massive bowl of rice and eat that as well. Just like a freak. What advice do you have for aspiring musicians wanting to enter the live scene? A lot of trial and error on my part. The 5 main things I can think of my dad said:

• Dress nice

• Be on time

• Don’t get drunk

• Be very serious about your craft, but don’t forget to have fun

• Be very courteous to all the people your working with, places you are working with.

Be ready to regulate your fee, you can’t just set a fee and stick to that. Different places have different budgets to work with. AND NEVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER GIVE UP.

Track 01—Seen her B4

Live in Canada

available at

www.masonrack.com or

www.guvera.com

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11

The Mojo Bluesmen Track 04—Dirty Love

I first saw these guys in TG’s one night on my

way home from work.

The noise from inside literally dragged me in from the street. Inside was a guy (Tim Everett) on slide guitar and stomp box, and Kiam Adcock on Harmonica and Vocals. Playing to about 10 people, but it was like Kiam was pos-

sessed , and they were both just going off.

The Mojo Bluesmen are a dirty, street style blues band that focus’ heavily on Kiam’s freakish harmonica skills.

The Duo have toured the country a number of times, and have released a full length album—”Dirty Love”. The album is very raw, but documents their energetic and compulsive live sound. The guys explore some unsavoury theme’s in their songs, but it wouldn’t be Rock ‘n’ Roll if they tried to please everybody and held themselves back. In short The Mojo Bluesmen are a wild and raw blues duo, that should be played full blast and with a bottle of whiskey! Check out The Mojo Bluesmen at: Www.myspace.com/mojobluesmen James Schaefer

Glenn Heath and the

Deep Blue Sea I saw these guys a couple of weeks ago at the Bonny Hills Tavern and was just inspired by their slick sound and cool rhythms. Glenn Heath and the Deep Blue Sea are a blues rock trio with members hailing from South West Rocks to Bellingen . This album was recorded live in Bellingen Records and contains 7 tracks. Their style reminds me of early ZZ top, but in a more clean cut fashion. The album contains 2 original tracks and 5 covers from the likes of Robert Johnson, Kenny Burrel, Jimi Hendrix and Steve Ray Vaughan. These guys are smooth operators that know how to rock. Their live show is very cool and I think we’ll be seeing more of them, with any luck for a visit in Port Macquarie.

James Schaefer Recommended if you like: ZZ Top Steve Ray Vaughn Glenn Heath and the Deep Blue Sea are currently working a website, but can be found on You Tube and CD’s are available from Glenn - [email protected]

Track 05—I know your not talking bout me



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12

Thursday 08/07/10

Sunset Riot Macquarie Hotel

Port Macquarie Thu 8/6

Hard rocking band from Hawkesbury with a slick and polished stadium sound, likened to the era of Guns ‘n’ Roses. This guys say they will bring you back to the time that Rock ‘n’ Roll was brash, hard, captivating, gutsy, and of course entertaining. Judging from their track “Rattle Snake” these guys will be a loud and high quality hard rock show set to shake your foun-dations.

Check out their music: www.myspace.com/sunsetriotmusic

Track 06—Rattle Snake

Marisa Mars Macquarie Hotel


This singer/ song writer from Syd-ney has an angelic voice, that slots

nicely into a folk/ pop genre. Her song “Sun So Long” is heartfelt and seems to be a good reflection of her music.

Listen to Marisa Mars at www.myspace.com/marisamars

Eli Wolfe Macquarie Hotel


Eli Wolfe sports deep, poetic and intriguing vocals with folk style guitar. He is in the middle of a national tour and has his debut

album on the way. March Media Release:

Live, Eli becomes one with his 6 and 12-string guitars, creating a dramatic wall of sound upon

which his poetic lyrics soar. His powerful voice is at times intensely raw, and at others achingly tender. It’s an engaging solo performance that

has oft been taken for a three-piece band.

the room was his…Eli Wolfe

is a name people are going to

associate with great acoustic

blues music’.

Gareth Beal, Arts Hub

a cruisey north coast sound

that comes from surfing and

playing guitar.. wax up, lay

back and strip down. great if

you like cruel sea, Paul Kelly

and right hand points.'

�ational surf mag tracks

'A classic music and art

combination. His music

and songs offer great

instrumentation, swampy,

blues psychedelia with hints

of jazz colourings.’

Reg Mombassa

I am personally intrigued by this artist and am very much looking forward to seeing his exclusive

style of folk music up front. James Schaefer

Listen to Eli Wolfe at: www.myspace.com/eliwolfemusic

Track 07—My Place in This World

Also at Town Green Inn Friday

09/07/10

Matty Effin

Morison Coffs Hotel

Coffs Harbour Thu 8/6

Kick arse punk rock band that embodies everything about the genre. Packed full of punk attitude, loud guitars, and fast

drums, these guys also show some creative song writing, by drawing from a range of different genres.

Listen to Matty Effin Morrison at: www.myspace.com/mattyeffinmorison

Track 08—Ya Dickhead Mate

Also at The Macquarie Hotel Thu 29/06/10

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13

Friday 09/07/10

Eli Wolfe Town Green Inn

Port Macquarie Fri 9/7

Poetic folk singer backing up from gig at The Mac-quarie Hotel on Thursday 8/7. See pg 12

Matheson

Trio Finnians


Formerly known as simply Joshua Matheson, The Mathe-son Trio have a feel good style

of roots, blues and reggae. The band sport a “dangerously tight groove, powerful vocals

and an energetic stage sound”, The Matheson Trio have

booked a small east coast tour and well be appearing regularly from Tweed Heads to Laurieton.

Listen to The Matheson Trio at: Www.myspace.com/themathesontrio

Track 10—Higher Place

Psycho

Magnet Bonny Hills

Tavern

Bonny Hills Fri 9/7

Psycho Magnet is a cover band that covers an array of songs from both within the last 5 years

and also old classics. Covers include songs from artists such as:

• Red Hot Chili Peppers • Kings of Leon

• U2 • Deep Purple

• And many more

Psycho Magnet have been touring the coast from Taree to Coffs harbour for the last two years and

are building a solid reputation Listen to their covers at Www.myspace.com/psychomagnetnc

If you are a band we want to hear

from you!!

If you are a venue we want to know

what live gigs you have booked for

August !


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Saturday 10/07/10

Jaywalker Laurieton Hotel

Laurieton Sat 10/7

Polished Pop Rock / Acous-tic band from the central

coast. These guys have a style that is worthy of commercial radio. Jaywalker were recently nominated in four categories

at The Newcastle Music Awards, with Jason Hicks taking the award for best male vocals.

Listen to Jaywalker at: Www.myspace.com/jawalkerband Www.jaywalker.com.au

Track 11—Your Finest Hour

Zebyah Coffs Coast Hotel

Coffs Harbour Sat 10/7

A family cover band that have been together since the early

90’s. Zebyah have been a regular name on chalk boards up and down the east coast.

Www.myspace.com/zebyah

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14

Sunday Sessions—Open Mic Blue Water Port Macquarie

Coast Hotel Coffs Harbour

Get your start in the live music scene, or just promote your band at these venues every Sunday. All muso’s welcome.

Wednesday 14/07/10

Thirsty Merc Hoey Moey

Coffs Harbour Wed 14/7

Thirsty Merc is touring the country in support of their new album “Mouse Trap Heart”, and are stop-

ping by the Hoey Moey. Thirsty Merc are a quirky Pop/ Rock band that put on a tight, loud and rockingly entertaining show.

I saw these guys at Port Panthers a couple of years ago and was converted into a fan. Their songs are clever, unusual and most

importantly they rock.

Hope you can make the trip to go see them, because it’s some-thing you won’t forget in a hurry.

James Schaefer Listen to Thirsty Merc at: Www.myspace.com/thirstymerc Www.thirstymerc.com

Thursday 15/07/10






for August !


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Simon

Phillips

Band Macquarie Hotel


From Melbourne, Australia’s cultural hub, Simon Phillips brings a funky, edgy style of blues/ reggae rock.—combined with a John Mayer style feel, Simon Phillips contrasts this with rocking chorus’ and wailing vocals. "Quite literally amazing...should be listened to obsessively'' - THE FRE-

MA�TLE HERALD, Fremantle "Phenomenal! I can't recommend this enough. But I can try. Five Stars!" - TWE�TY600 MAGAZI�E, Canberra “Phillips’ technical ability both as a singer and a guitarist, is perfectly matched by a remarkable breadth of intelligence as a songwriter and lyri-

cist." - DRUM MEDIA, Sydney "Exhibiting the vocal acrobatics of Jeff Buckley and a song-writing style comparable to John Mayer." - SOULSHI�E.COM.AU

Listen to Simon Phillips at Www.myspace.com/simonphillipsband

Also at Town Green Inn sat 16/07/10

Mark Wells Macquarie Hotel


Newcastle’s Mark Wells is fluent in country, rock and pop, has

won the Songwriters prize at the Telstra’s Road to Tamworth.

He’s played at bars at Tennes-see, Sydney Entertainment Cen-tre and shared the bill with Ever-

more, Troy Cassar-Daley, The Whitlams and Adam Harvey. Marks music is varied with his music going

from a Country/ Rock feel to a Singer Songwriter/ Folk feel. Whilst still maintaining a live energy.

Listen to Mark Wells at Www.myspace.com/markwells1 Www.markwells.com.au

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15

Friday 16/07/10

Simon

Phillips

Band Town Green Inn


Melbourne Blues/ Roots/ Indie band backing up from gig at Macquarie Hotel Thu 15/7 Pg 14

Thursday 22/07/10






for August !


Ungus Ungus

Ungus Macquarie Hotel


Ungus Ungus Ungus are a lively funk rock band from Sydney. Their music most definitely weird and pushes

boundaries for experimental music, whilst still maintaining a progressive rocking sound. Ungus Ungus Ungus have recently played at the Peats Ridge Festival and have toured Melbourne and Adelaide via the Fringe Festival. The band are now embarking on a national tour in support of

their full length album released last month. These guys well be a very cool band to see and will no doubt get some

people up on the dance floor. Listen to these guys at Www.myspace.com/ungusungusungus

Bianca Fenn

and the

September Knights Macquarie Hotel

Port Macquarie 22/7

Melbourne’s Bianca Fenn blends soul, pop and reggae into a rock for-mat. She has a voice that will fill the room and have you captivated. She will be stopping by Port Macquarie for two nights as part of a tour that takes her from Seymour in Victoria to West End in Queensland. Listen to Bianca Fenn and the September Knights at: Www.myspace.com/biancafenn

Sam

Buckingham Macquarie Hotel

Port Macquarie 22/7

I like to describe the music of Sam

Buckingham as pretty folk music. She sings seemingly innocent songs with a

voice that is adorable and sweet. "Stunning" dB Magazine "Stylish" Drum Media "An impressive emerging folk star" Rip It Up

Sam Buckingham will be a pleasant addition to the array of artists playing on Thursday night at The Macquarie

Hotel. Listen to Sam Buckingham at: Www.myspace.com/

sambuckinghammusic Track 12– Gravity

16

16

Friday 23/07/10

Bianca Fenn and

the September

Knights Town Green Inn


Bianca Fenn backing up from her gig at The Macquarie Hotel Thu 22//7.

Pg 15

The Beautiful

Girls Port Panthers


The Beautiful Girls are touring the country in support of their new album

“Spooks”. The new single 10:10 sports a reggae infused feel that will translate well live. The Beautiful Girls well be at Sawtell RSL Saturday Night 24/07/10. Seeing these guys should be

a very interesting gig. Listen to the Beautiful Girls at: Www.myspace.com/thebeautifulgirls

Thursday 29/07/10

Matty Effin Morison Macquarie Hotel


Punk Band from Coffs Harbour see

page 12 for more info.

The April

Maze Macquarie Hotel

Port Macquarie Thu

29/07

An Acoustic Folk/ Alter-native band from Mel-

bourne, The April maze create a n angelic sound of sorrow with the combination of an

amazing soulful voice, with a cello and great song writing. The April Maze will be releasing their new album, Recycled

Souls, this month. So get along to the gig listen t some crea-tive music and grab a CD.

Listen to the April Maze at: Www.myspace.com/theaprilmaze

Track 13—Where do they go?

Simon

Leigh Town Green

Inn

Port Macquarie

Fri 30/07

Port Macquarie’s own, Simon Leigh is a folk/ roots singer that seems to carry influences from Stevie Wonder and other Mo-Town greats. Simon is a regu-lar on the Port Macquarie circuit, and his songs are easy to listen to, and I bet you’ll even find yourself tapping your feet to it. But what I really need to say is.......... GET OUT THERE AND SUPPORT OUR LOCAL MUSICIANS! Listen to Simon Leigh at: Www.myspace.com/simonleighband

Track 14—Stick to my guns

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17






for August !


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Help The Jam magazine get off the ground:

I am currently selling my own belongings on eBay to fund this publication, and I am running out of stuff to sell quickly! We would greatly ap-preciate any business advertising with us, to get this great tool for local artists off the ground.


0435746087

Honeymoon Special! If you advertise with us for the August magazine, we will give you a 20% dis-count on all future advertising rates

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issue 1 july 2010

Documents

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