By Tracy Dietlin
Many of our readers and several of my columnists and feature writers have pushed me to be more vocal in 2014. So as Owner/Publisher/Editor of CV Weekly I will be bringing back my “Publisher’s Pick” column as often as possible. On occasion, I run across people, places or things that really impress me, but I don’t have time to write a full restaurant review, profile or article about them but the topic is worth me putting my two cents in. I have an amazing team of writers who do a great job handling the in-depth stuff, but this column will allow me to briefly comment on things in the CV that are important to me.
So to kick 2014 off I’m going to talk about what’s on every local musicians mind right now: trying to get a spot on the Tachevah bill before Coachella. Here a few of my favorites that I would like to see Goldenvoice choose.
Se7en4…..Last Friday night at the Red Barn was explosive when Se7en4 took the small stage over and the audience hostage with their balls to the wall punk rock performance.
Front man Nick Flores was in top form belting out his in your face lyrics that are riddled with anger, cockiness and downright debauchery. The rest of the band was tight and cohesive with Trevino Martin slapping the bass, Pete Burquez’s electrifying guitar licks and Steve Hall tearing up the skins and giving one of his best performances ever. These guys tore it up!
They will be going in the recording studio in March with producer Mikey Doling (Snot) to record a full length album and the sky is the limit after that. They handed out their demo to an eager crowd with songs produced by Steve Feldman and a few by Doling that include older tracks like” Lovin’” from 2003 and newer material like “Do You Bruise Eazy” which they recently released a video for. Our household currently has 3 copies of this demo in the bedroom, living room and car CD player. If that doesn’t make a statement I don’t know what does. Look for my full interview with Se7en4 in an upcoming February issue to promote their CV Weekly sponsored show on February 22 at Schmidy’s in Palm Desert. Raunch n roll and shock and awe at its best!
Bridger….This band offered up a phenomenal debut performance last month at the CV Weekly sponsored debut show at The Hood. Originally the band started out in the early 2000’s as Jekkel while they were still in high school. Vocalist and guitarist Jim Cathcart, along with his younger sister Katie Cathcart on drums, have stuck together over the years. A couple band changes along the way including the addition of Dan Wheat (also of Remnants of Man) on bass, and Jacob Miller (also of Klonus) on guitar, have given the band a whole new feel. Hence the decision for a whole new band name. They’re not kids anymore!!
Jim Cathcart has grown as a front man and vocalist exuding much confidence in his delivery. Katie Cathcart is a force to be reckoned with on the drums and more than entertaining to watch. She’s not good for a ‘chick drummer’ she’s just an amazing drummer that you really need to experience watching live.
Add Wheat and Miller to the mix working off of each other and you have four band members that work together seamlessly while having a blast. This band is commercially record label ready. You can watch them live when they open for Se7en4 on February 22 at Schmidy’s in Palm Desert.
Parosella… I saw them perform a couple weeks ago for the first time at Schmidy’s and was impressed. I enjoyed that their sound was different than other bands and took me on a musical journey through familiar nuances of many different decades and types of music. I will let music writer Robin Linn tell you more about Parosella in her Desert Rhythms column this week on page 13.
Jesse Hughes…It doesn’t matter if he’s performing as Boots Electric, Jesse the Devil, Reverend Jesse, Eagles of Death Metal (EODM) or Pigeons of Shit Metal, Jesse Hughes is a charismatic performer who engages you from the moment he walks on stage. His performance last Saturday at Schmidy’s was top-notch and made me feel like I had been baptized in the church of rock, funk, and groove. Check out Robin Linn’s Desert Rhythms column next week for full interview and article about Jesse Hughes. Saturdays show was one of those gem moments where you get to experience a larger act in an intimate setting and I’m glad I didn’t miss it. But I think it’s time for this hometown boy to headline Tachevah since he didn’t get on the Coachella bill.
Stay tuned next week for a couple more bands I would like to suggest.
https://www.facebook.com/Tachevah
