By Esther Sanchez
Saturday, September 5th, five awesome bands and all of the cool kids will be gathering at Schmidy’s Tavern in Palm Desert to rock out in celebration of the CVMA’s 2015 “Best Female Vocalist” Chelsea Rowe, AKA, Chelsea Sugarbritches. Front-woman for Long Duk Dong, and member of 2015 “CVMA’s Best New Band,” Wayward Sirens, it may seem to some folks that the petite, purple-haired pixie is all over the place. Those folks don’t know the half of it. In addition to her commitments to multiple musical projects, Chelsea is a talented stylist and business woman who runs Alter-Ego Salon in Palm Desert with her partner and bestie, Carly Champagne, and is a mother to 18 and 15 year-old daughters and an 8 year-old son who she is raising along with her husband and support system, local promoter and character extraordinaire, Marcus Smith, AKA Johnny Sugarbritches.
Chelsea: “Marcus put this entire show together by himself before I knew anything about it. That’s just the kind of guy he is. He would do anything for me. The fact is I would not be able to do any of this while balancing work and motherhood without him. He knows that this makes me happy and he makes every sacrifice necessary for the kids and me to be able to do what I do.”
The show that Mr. Sugarbritches put together features many of the Coachella Valley’s most popular bands and CVMA nominees and winners. Included in the lineup is Blasting Echo whose keyboardist, Linda Lemke Heinz is joining Chelsea on a new project called 5th Town. Chelsea: “Unfortunately, there were too many scheduling conflicts to continue on with Wayward Sirens any longer. We had invested a lot into the music we had made so far so Linda, myself and the guys in the band decided to try to keep the momentum going with 5th Town. The name is a rough translation of La Quinta and it’s actually the title of the first song I ever wrote that was about growing up in the La Quinta Cove. It was Linda’s idea to make it the new band name.” 5th Town will be making their debut at the 8th Annual Concert for Autism on Oct 17th at Schmidy’s Tavern.
But, before any of these projects came about, Mrs. Sugarbritches was cutting her performer’s teeth with, “the best 80’s cover-band this side of the dinosaurs,” Long Duk Dong. Co-fronted by Nicco Ysiano, “Donger” found themselves in need of a new female vocalist around 3 ½ years ago and mutual friends suggested Chelsea might be a great match. I asked Nicco what Chelsea has brought to the Donger table……….
Ysiano: “In a couple of words, I’d say she brings unstoppable energy and attitude for days.”
All of that energy, attitude and of course, talent has made Chelsea Sugarbritches a beloved character on the Coachella Valley music scene and if you have yet to see her perform, I suggest you remedy that ASAP. Mrs. Sugarbritches never disappoints.
The Lineup
BLASTING ECHO
Rock band, Blasting Echo is fronted by singer/songwriter and guitarist, Josh Heinz, drummer, Mondo Flores and the lovely Ms. Linda Lemke on keys & vocals. Together, they “encompass a wide spectrum of music from hard to punk rock and everything in between – while lyrically addressing personal, social and political issues with honesty, energy and intensity. Each member approaches music with enjoyment and passion. This is evident in their recordings, but never more so than in the rawness of their live performances.”
Thr3 STRYKES (feat.The Dirty X’s)
Hip-Hop meets rock group, Thr3 Strykes consists of CVMA “Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artists” 2014 & 2015, Joshua Fimbres and Josh Hall who together, “…set off an explosive hip hop fuse with a rock and roll ending.” Joining them on stage will be members of their newer side-project, The Dirty X’s which includes bass player, Eric Vaca and is described as garage/punk-rock and more. Their popularity growing, Fimbres and Hall have taken their musical projects beyond the Banning Pass and into Hollywood with recent gigs in venues such as The Viper Room and Whiskey A Go-Go.
BRIDGER
Bridger is, Jim Cathcart, Vocals and Guitar – Dan Dillinger, Vocals and Bass, Jacob Miller on Backup Vocals and Lead Guitar – KT Cathcart on Backup Vocals and Drums.
The rock/punk/energy quartet hail from Bermuda Dunes and were CVMA recipients in 2014 for “Best New Band” and the 2015 recipients for the “Best Band” “Best Punk Band” “Best Drummer” and “Best Frontman” awards. Obvious favorites amongst many desert rockers, they don’t win awards just for being cute. Bridger kicks ass. But, don’t take my word for it.
PERISHMENT
If you are hankering for a face-melting, look no further than the boys from CVMA’s “Best Metal Band” 2015, Perishment. Consisting of, Ruben Gutierrez – Vocals, Bobby D Taffolla – Guitar, Aaron Ramson – Bass, and Tommy Winters – Drums, Perishment has been blessing us with what I personally consider one of the desert’s best examples of true, heavy-metal since 2005. If you have not yet experienced Perishment and you love to thrash it up, you need to be at this show.
THE SWEAT ACT
These guys are the first artists that I had the privilege of covering for CV Weekly so I am clearly showing some bias here, but that being said, I love this band. Featuring lead vocalist & guitarist, Chris Long, drummer, Troy Whitford and bassist Dan Dillinger (also a member of Bridger), The Sweat Act is a high-energy trio that bring together catchy riffs, top-notch vocals and musicianship, with contagious beats that could bring about a serious dilemma, “Do I want to bang my head or dance?” How about both?
