Scuttlebutt: The Lowdown on Movers & Shakers in the Local Entertainment Community
By Robert E. Martin
Spring is always the season for Awards shows of various types, and two local outfits both hailing from the rural setting of Vassar are making big strides towards broader acclaim.
First, we have the musical phenomenon known as Matt Besey. Matt earned a total of six awards at the 16th Review Music Award Ceremony on May 6th, including Best Rock and Blues guitarist, Best Blues Band, and Best Blues Songwriter.
On Thursday, April 18th, Matt and his expanded band, including Mark Dault, Mike Brush, Bruce Crawley, Caitlin Berry and Noel Howland hit the stage of the Palace of Auburn Hills, opening for Creedence Clearwater Revisited before a near capacity crowd.
Review reporter Jason Marcoux attended the show and commented how Matt's ability has grown through the years. "A few years ago Matt opened for the Southern Rock All Stars, which consisted of members from Molly Hatchet and two or three other Southern Rock Bands from the '70s & '80s. After the show I heard the old guitar player for Molly Hatchet tell Matt, 'I've been there. I've got the platinum albums and seen every kind of guitar player over 30 years of playing and you've got what it takes to make it.' Matt just politely thanked him, which epitomizes his grace and humility."
With a number of Festival and outdoor dates scheduled this summer, hopefully 2002 will bring the national attention that Matt rightfully deserves.
Secondly, we have the significant musical output from those Rasta-rock soldiers, The Process. The group debuted their 12-minute film, Pigman: The Movie at this year's Review Music Awards and also picked up an award for Best Group Video. Co-produced by Steven Gotts, the project features over 10-years of concert footage from the band's performances at such legendary events as Rainbow Farms, and chronicles their 'signature song' through original footage shot at a Vassar pig farm.
David Asher, Garrick Owen, and Bill Heffelfinger of The Process ride in style to the Detroit
Music Awards where the group received four nominations. The band earned 'Best Video' honors
at the 16th Annual Review Music Awards Ceremony
Pigman: The Movie is available on DVD and video through the band's website at www.theprocessonline.com
Additionally, The Process received four nominations at the 2002 Detroit Music Awards, including Outstanding World Recording, Outstanding Reggae Artist/Group, Outstanding World Songwriter, and Outstanding World Vocalist. __________________________
Speaking of large events, awards, and broader acclaim, local magician Mark Bellinger proved how greatly he is loved by the remarkable turnout at the recent Mother's Day Benefit Concert for Mark at Hollywood Nights.
Recently afflicted by a debilitating disease, the highlight of the night was when Mark ambled on-stage to perform Purple Rain with Count'n the Change. As Mark stood proud nailing the solo to this passionate song, head held high as the notes soared into the hearts of the audience, it was easy to realize that not all magic is conducted by sleight of hand.
The Bellinger Benefit was sponsored by Nines Firehouse Pub, JB Meinberg's, Hollywood Nights, The Review, Citadel Broadcasting, and Barckholtz Design, and brought in nearly $8,000 to deliver much-needed assistance to Mark in his time of need, proving that miracles can indeed be achieved when the community bonds together. ____________________________
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It isn't every day that I receive e-mail from rock bands in
the People's Republic of China, but a recent contact by Abei from the
group known as The Cavesluts proved to be most enlightening.
The group is currently touring the United States and is eager to organize a tour bringing together little known American groups to tour Chinese Nightclubs and venues. Interested parties should mail a couple of tracks along with a group
bio to The Review. |
Cavesluts - 'cynthia's libido' www.monkeyclaus.org
This ten-track release by The Cavesluts is both modern and mystical, colored by musical flourishes reminiscent of such seminal 'Modernist' pop/rock outfits as Roxy Music, yet distinctly forward -thinking in terms of blending harmony wwith dissonance.
Apart from their provocative name, the seamless blending of musical and lyrical duality embraced on their debut CD is reinforced by the fact that lead slut, Hu Xiao (pronounced 'who shall') is committed to the wisdom of ancient Daoism and that Cavesluts are a rock band that also embrace such diverse philosophies as devolution into their mix.
Burnished by the remarkably fluid guitarwork of ajun on tracks such as Palace Backyard and Years in a Hole, the intense focus of Hu's vocals are equally counter-balanced by the evocative and pristine tones of female vocalist yan bei, whose synthesizer stylization also feed into the collective vision of the band.
Formed in 1994 by Hu while studying English at Shenzhen University in south China, the group disbanded in 1997 to regroup. One year later Hu took his music to Guangzhou in order to pursue the larger professional music scene there, and by 1999 the current membership formed to record an 8-song demo and started to endlessly tour within China.
They led the bill at the Pepsi Music Festival, 2000, played before 25,000 people that same year, and their video for This Uncertainty was picked up by Macao Satellite TV and aired by 35 national TV stations on the Chinese Cable Network.
Upon arriving in the United States in October 2001, the group produced cynthia's libido and are currently touring the United States, receiving airplay on major university stations suck as UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and State University of New York.
For a remarkable excursion away from the predictable extremes of anger and benign pap that define much of modern popular music, do check out the cavesluts new release on their website.
And watch the Review for upcoming tour dates. _____________________________
The Alden B. Dow Home & Studio is slated to host Midland's first Elderhostel Program.
Elderhostelers, adults 55 years of age and older who enjoy combining their wanderlust with a desire to learn new things, will visit Midland from June 2-7.
This is the first time that the popular Elderhostel program, created twenty-seven years ago in New England to exclusively serve the educational interests of older adults, will visit the Midland area. Since 1975, the program has enrolled people from every corner of the globe and now offers over 10,000 programs annually in 50 states and 80 countries.
The program will introduce participants to Midland and its history, through the influences of Herbert H. Dow, founder of The Dow Chemical Company, and his son, Alden B. Dow, Michigan Architect Laureate, a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright and notable 20th century organic architect. His residences, churches and public buildings are well represented in the Midland community.
"We are more than thrilled at the response to this first-time offering; participants are enrolled from New Jersey, Ohio, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, New York, New Hampshire, Tennessee and California," notes Regina Curtis, Alden B. Dow Home Studio Public Relations Manager and Program Coordinator for the Dow Story Elderhostel.
"It's exciting to see the response that Midland's unique combination of beauty and industry provokes in others."
To learn more about Elderhostel, visit www.elderhostel.org and call their catalog request line at 1-800-895-0727.
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Bay City Author Matthew Waynee will be in town reading excerpts and signing copies of his new historical novel, 'The Table' |
Los Angeles novelist and Bay City native Matthew Waynee will
be returning to his hometown for a series of meet-and-greets in the
upcoming weeks.
After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, Waynee worked as Director of the Drama department in Texas and currently teaches writing at the University of Southern California. In February of this year he published The Table, a historical fiction that is a generational tale of love and deceit, fusing historical realism and structural invention as it reveals in stark, unapologetic language, the price we are willing to pay for heroes. |
Chronicling a family of Polish immigrants in Middle America as the Great War rages in Europe, the family finds itself split by envy and betrayal.
"While the plot and all of the main characters are fictional, I tried to stay true to the backdrop of Bay City as it was in 1918," notes Waynee. "To me how I presented Bay City is very realistic. It was amazing to me all the facts I found out. In its lumber-era heyday, people seriously believed Bay City was going to be bigger than Chicago."
You can meet Matthew Waynee at the following events: Reading at Bay City High School, May 20th, 8 am - 3 pm; The Bay City Art Festival, June 8-9, Downtown Bay City, Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm, Sunday, 11 am - 4 pm; and at St. Stan's Polish Fest, June 27-30 at St. Stand's Field.
