Scene It In Detroit

Imagine Hunter S. Thompson and The Beastie Boys sitting at the bar - they’d be sipping Jamie McCarthy’s funky rock brew blended in the inspiration of G. Love and Special Sauce, Jack Johnson and Citizen Cope.  Jamie McCarthy is back for round two with "Salvation", the follow up album to 2007’s "Strange Town".  And he’s celebrating with a release party in Ferndale as SPIN magazine and WDET FM 101.9 present Brian Vander Ark, Jamie McCarthy and Crashing Cairo at The Magic Bag on Friday, September 26.

Jamie McCarthy was only 20 when his alt-rock band Modern Cocktail Party scored a deal with Warner Brothers.  After a year of touring and a fallen deal with the label, Jamie was swept into the world of commercial and voice over work.

Years later, Jamie was about to embrace the music industry again when his father, legendary Hall of Fame radio host J.P. McCarthy, passed away.  Jamie spent years recovering from the setback and finally returned to music after a long hiatus.  He began writing music again after a trip to Santa Monica, California, where he saw a homeless man hang himself from a tree on Ocean Avenue.  Jamie was deeply moved by the tragedy and the experience inspired him to begin writing a new album.  He swore that he’d finish the album and the result was the 2007 release "Strange Town".

At that point, Jamie vowed never to take life too seriously.  His lyrics took a more confessional tone with an introspective reflection that led to the path of "Salvation", the new album.

Jamie recorded "Salvation" earlier this year at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor, MI, with Steve Tocco (Drums, vocals), Patrick Davy (Guitar, vocals) and Geoff Michael (Guitar, bass).  Patrick and Geoff also co-produced the album with Jamie.

During the recording of "Salvation", the band played an ongoing game of Pass the Bass.  All of the players took a stab at playing the bass.  Pat and Geoff are much better bass players and they usually won, but Jamie managed to play the bass on Girlfriend and a Check.  Jamie also played drums on a few of the tracks – he secretly wants to be a drummer.

After the band finished the recording, they took "Salvation" on the road for a test drive.  They played to about 2,000 people on the Best Buy stage at the Taste of Chicago festival in June and CIMX FM 89.9 radio recently invited him to play an event in Detroit.

In addition, Jamie’s song "Meant 4 Me" also joins the music of two-time Grammy-winner Ozomatli, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Modest Mouse and other bands in "Sometimes in Life", the new independent film directed by Anthony Vallone for ValloNicka Films.

Jamie brings the party to The Magic Bag on Friday, September 26, with Patrick Davy (Guitar, vocals), Sean Harris (Bass) and Steve Tocco (Drums, vocals).  Doors open at 8 pm.  Tickets are $12.  18+ are welcome.

For more information, or to listen to "Salvation" in its entirety, visit www.jamiemccarthymusic.com or www.myspace.com/jamiemccarthy.

ValloNicka Films (Sometimes in Life, The Mongol King) was one of six Detroit-area finalists for the Mobiflicks competition as part of the Motown PAH-FEST 2008 at Madonna University in Livonia on July 14-20.  PAH-FEST (Project Accessible Hollywood) is a traveling film festival and the brainchild of Christopher Coppola who is the brother of Nicolas Cage and nephew of legendary film director Francis Ford Coppola.

PAH-FEST is a digital media festival that travels to cities throughout the US and abroad.   PAH-FEST encourages visual storytelling, fosters community engagement and promotes the production of fictional and documentary videos that will be shared globally.

For the Mobiflicks competition, director Anthony Vallone had three days to shoot, edit and complete a six-minute short film with coaching and equipment from the PAH-FEST team.  The ValloNicka team shot Granny Panties, based on the original short story Why the Granny Panty Told the G-String to Stick It written by Lee Runchey.

Granny Panties is a unique narrative written from the point-of-view of a wise, elderly Granny Panty who is hanging on the wall of a laundromat while a young woman is washing her g-string underwear.

The story was originally published in The Connecticut Review, a prestigious literary journal whose pages have featured authors including Pulitzer-prize winner John Updike.

Vallone is also the director of Sometimes in Life, the Michigan-made, independent feature that premiered on June 27 at the Detroit Windsor International Film Festival.  Sometimes in Life is a story of life, love, loss and an unlikely friendship between two lost people whose lives are stuck in a rut. Jill is a young fashion designer who suspects that her lesbian girlfriend is cheating on her while Rob mourns the loss of his father.

The film stars Sara Stepnicka, Eric Morrison, Gunhild Giil and Jon E. Livernois.  Wayne David-Parker, Angela Roberts, Emily Rose, Ethan Helmann-Scherrer, Carol Pierangelino and Sharon Emigh complete the cast.

Sometimes in Life explores the dynamics of gay/lesbian and straight relationships in a new way. In the film, Director/Producer Anthony Vallone and Producer/Leading Lady Sara Stepnicka present the lesbian relationship between the women with the dynamic of a straight couple while simultaneously presenting the dynamic of the straight couple (Eric and his straight, platonic roommate) in a gay direction.

Sometimes in Life also features music from two-time Grammy winner Ozomatli, Modest Mouse, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Presley and Anilore. In addition, listen for made-in-Detroit artists Amp Fiddler, Jamie McCarthy, Cetan Clawson, Bedford Drive, The Bloids and Mindizade. 

ValloNicka Films originally signed a deal with CreateSpace as part of the 1,000 HD DVD Indies Project to present Sometimes in Life to the Sundance Channel for possible broadcast on their network. Although the deal had to be canceled after the announcement earlier this year that HD films would no longer be a standard, industry format, ValloNicka Films is currently discussing the film with other distributors.

For more information about Sometimes in Life, and to see the trailer, visit www.sometimesinlifethemovie.com or www.myspace.com/sometimesinlifethemovie.

Sometimes in Life is also an official selection of the 2008 Trinity Film Festival with a free screening on Saturday, August 2 at 1:45 pm at Studio 601 in Detroit.  For more information, visit www.trinityfilmcoalition.com.

Sometimes in Life is the second feature from ValloNicka Films. Their first movie, The Mongol King, joins Robert Rodriguez’s groundbreaking film El Mariachi as one of the five lowest-budget films ever to receive a distribution deal.

Get ready Detroit ... casting directors for "The Amazing Race" are coming to Detroit for an open casting call at Spring Arbor University in Dearborn on Tuesday, May 27 from 4 pm to 7 pm.  Pairs must be 21+.  For more information, visit http://wwjtv.com/events/casting.8.724150.html.

Location details:
Spring Arbor University
23400 Michigan Ave., Suite P20
Dearborn, MI 48124

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Time: 4-7pm

Auralgasms radio is teaming up with Filter magazine to present the CD listening party for Velocifero, the new album from new wave/electro rockers Ladytron, at their next Atmosphere party at Proof in Detroit on Thursday, June 5.  Watch for plenty of Ladytron giveaways from Filter and Nettwerk records while Zumby, Mikeylove and teletran.one spin ethereal dreampop, Britpop, triphop, shoegaze and electronica.  Doors open at 9 pm.  21+ are welcome.  This is a free event.

Ladytron is currently on tour and will be stopping at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit for an all-ages show on Wednesday, June 18.  In the meantime, listen to new Ladytron tracks online at Auralgasms radio (www.auralgams/radio.com).  Auralgasms specializes in non-stop, commercial-free Brit pop, ethereal dream pop, trip hop, shoegaze and alternative classics.

For more information, visit www.auralgasms.com/radio or www.myspace.com/auralgasmscom.

Dendura, the Egyptian-inspired, female-fronted progressive band with belly dancers, will join co-headliners Unexpect (Canada) and Shadowside (Brazil) for the second-annual Flight of the Valkyries festival at Station 4 in St. Paul, MN, on Saturday, June 28.  Flight of the Valkyries is the only festival in the USA to feature a complete lineup of female-fronted metal bands. 

Belly dancer Abida Blaze, who is known for her exotic, mysterious moves, will join Dendura onstage at the festival.

This year, the festival headliners bring a big dose of metal from Canada and Brazil.  Unexpect recently toured with Epica, Echoes of Eternity and Trail of Tears.  Shadowside is a rising star in the Brazilian metal scene.

Minnesota-based artists Something to Fear and Aria Sharp have also been announced and additional bands will be confirmed in the coming months.

Flight of the Valkyries is the only music festival of its kind in the USA that is devoted to metal bands with female lead vocalists. The festival showcases all metal sub-genres.  The festival debuted in 2007 and showcased a variety of female-fronted metal bands including Doro, Vainglory, Earthen, The Ottoman Empire, Visideon, Spiritual Decay and Sirens of Titan.

Meanwhile, 2008 is already turning into a big year for Dendura.  The band recently signed with KillZone Records, scored distribution with Nightmare Records and they’re discussing their next album with a Grammy-winning producer.  In addition, they played high-profile concerts including a show with Edguy (who did some 2007 dates in Germany with Aerosmith) and they have a track on the US ProgPower 2007 compilation given to everyone who attended the sold-out, national festival in Atlanta starring After Forever and Sonata Arctica.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/denduraband or www.femalemetalfest.com.

Members of Crashing Cairo have played with some big names including Kid Rock and The Verve Pipe, but now the band takes center stage to celebrate the release of their new Monday Changed Everything album on Friday, February 8 at The Magic Bag in Ferndale.  Crashing Cairo friends Ether Aura, who have just released their Semblence EP, bring their new, stripped-down Americana sound to the party while Island recording artist The Satin Peaches and Us vs. Her round out the bill.

With their rich keyboards, thick, reverbed guitars and melodic vocals, Crashing Cairo has often been compared to bands such as Coldplay.  But on Monday Changed Everything, their new sound takes a raw, dirty approach.  Imagine Radiohead, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, R.E.M. and Nirvana in a blender.

The band had already been going down that musical path when keyboardist Dan Denton died tragically last October.  Dan had already recorded the keyboard parts, but was also playing guitar.

Meanwhile Ether Aura is back with both a new EP and a new lineup.  Guitarists Tony Hamera (Ex-Caelum Bliss, Deathgirl.com) and Alex Bongiorno and vocalist Kate Hinote welcome new members Ericka Stephens (of Ducksicle) on bass and Marvin Shaouni (Ex-Caelum Bliss) on drums.

With their new lineup and shifting influences, Ether Aura is moving away from their signature shoegaze, Britpop sound.  Semblence, the new EP, is a gateway release and a departure from Ether Aura’s lush, ethereal soundscapes.  The new songs are rooted with a deep sense of Americana as they migrate into a crisp, stripped-down, folk/alt-country direction closer to Mazzy Star.  Look for angelic vocals, gentle guitar lines and even some traditional instrumentation with violin, organ and acoustic guitar.

The party starts at The Magic Bag on Friday, February 8.  Doors open at 8 pm.  Cover is $7.  18+.  The Magic Bag is located at 22920 Woodward in Ferndale.  Check out tracks from all of the artists at www.myspace.com/crashingcairo, www.myspace.com/etheraura, www.myspace.com/thesatinpeaches and www.myspace.com/usvsher.

Detroit is rolling out the red carpet for some of its own at the Detroit Oscar Film Festival on January 12 and 13.

The Music Hall and Prince Igor Productions presents a night of Oscar-nominated films made by Michigan filmmakers who will be in the house for Q&A sessions.  Featured filmmakers include Pamela Conn (Oscar winner), Heidi Ewing (Oscar nominee), Sue Marx (Oscar winner) and Jeannine Claudia Oppewall (Oscar nominee).

The festival starts on Saturday, January 12 at 7 pm at the Garden Lofts in Brush Park in downtown Detroit for a special launch party with food and drinks from local restaurants, wines from Barefoot Wines and a fashion show featuring designs from G by GUESS, En V Us Couture and the Intrinsic Collection.  21+ are welcome.

The festival continues on Sunday, January 13 at the Music Hall with the film screenings.  For more information, visit www.igorfilms.com.

MTV Real World is now accepting videotaped auditions for season 21. Send a 5-minute casting tape to:

Bunim-Murray Productions
6007 Sepulveda Blvd.
Van Nuys, CA 91411
Attn: Real World Casting- Ref Lamont Pete

Include your name, age and all contact information.  Anyone who appears to be between the ages of 18 and 24 can apply. MTV prefers submissions on VHS and VHS C, but they'll will also accept Mini-DV and Hi-8. Absolutely no DVD's or CD ROMS will be accepted.  Check www.bunim-murray.com for casting call locations TBA in early 2008.

Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert passed away yesterday after the band performed at The Majestic Theatre in Detroit on Friday.  This note is from the band's website:

Saturday, November 24, 2007 ... Today is probably the worst day ever. Its with our deepest regrets that we have to write this. Casey Calvert passed away in his sleep last night. We found out this afternoon before sound-check. We've spent the entire day trying to come to grips with this and figure out as much as possible. At this time we're not sure what exactly happened. Just last night he was joking around with everyone before he went to bed. We can say with absolute certainty that he was not doing anything illegal. Please, out of respect to Casey and his family, don't contribute or succumb to any gossip you may hear. We don't want his memory to be tainted in the least. Casey was our best friend. He was quirky and awesome and there will truly be no others like him! His loss is unexplainable. As soon as we know more we will let you know.

Sincerely,

Hawthorne Heights, Eron, JT, Micah and Matt

IFC and Comcast are sponsoring Michigan Festival Shorts, a special screening of six short films from Michigan filmmakers, at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak on Thursday, November 29, at 7:30 pm.

All of the films are official selections and award-winning shorts at various film festivals.  From hometown favorites to a locally-made film that screened at a festival in South Africa, watch for these six films:

Snapshot, Kate Caldwell

John “Skippy” Kolar, Mark Einhaus

RED SEVEN, AE Griffin

Detroit Unleaded, Rola Nashef

Demeter: Surrender, Mike Madigan

Shooters. Get the picture., Maggie Patton

Visit www.myspace.com/michiganindie for details.

On September 29, 2007, 12-year-old Vinnie Ocelnik died in a tragic car accident near his home.  Now, Detroit is coming together for one special night.  WRIF presents Rockin’ for Vinnie, a 12-hour benefit concert and rock auction on Saturday, November 3 starting at 1 pm at The Ritz in Warren.  The proceeds will go to the Vincent Ocelnik Memorial Fund to help his family cover the funeral and medical costs. 

Vinnie Ocelnik was the son of Beth Ocelnik of CB Entertainment in Warren.  Beth is a much-loved and well-respected booking agent in Detroit’s hard rock/metal scene and when her friends at WRIF heard the news, they immediately wanted to help.

Beth hand-picked 20 local bands for the benefit including some of Vinnie’s favorite artists.  Bands, in this order, will be playing from 1 pm:  Detroit Voodoo, I See Stars, Safer Than Sleep, Empty, Rockstar, Soldiers of Scrape, Habitual Coersion, Halloween, Hell Rides North, 2 Days Out, Sex and Patriotism, Drop D, Primortal, Mourning Sun, Chaos Theory, Lupara and Woden.

In addition, new items are added each day for a special rock auction.  Items include autographed copies of The Heroin Diaries, the new best-selling book by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, autographed goodies from Queensryche, Godsmack, Fuel, Shinedown, Sponge, Seether, Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy/Machine Head, Trapt, Kings X, GWAR, Dendura and signed Chillers’ books.

Also watch for gift packs from Dokken, Cyprus Hill, Entombed/Wolverine, Corrosion of Conformity, Godflesh, Mike Watt, Ministry, Abandoned, Alice in Chains/Mad Season, Halloween, Blender magazine, the Red Wings and more.

Rockin’ for Vinnie is an all-ages event.  Doors open at noon.  Cover is $5 for children 17 and under and $10 for adults.  The Ritz is located at 24300 Hoover in Warren, 586. 756. 6140.  Visit www.myspace.com/gluemomma for more information, performance times and a list of auction items that is updated daily.  To donate an item, contact Nicole Bergsma at mcrb2007@yahoo.com. 

Beth and her family extend a special thank you to the sponsors for this event:  WRIF, Epitaph Magazine, Silver Media Group, Plus One, Guitars and Company and EvilFish Records.

"Little Amber Bottles", the new release from Blanche, has finally been released in the US and the band is hosting a CD release party on Friday, October 19, at The Crofoot in Pontiac.   And be sure to come early for the Django Reinhardt-inspired music of the Gypsy Strings of Detroit.

Blanche has been grabbing the ink in several UK mags including Mojo and Uncut who called the album the  'Americana Album of the Month' for June.  Blanche's song 'I'm Sure of It' is also featured on a CD with the music of Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens, Josh Ritter and more.

After the Detroit date, Blanche returns to Europe for more dates in London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Indie rockers Dutch Pink are getting on the bus for a 13-hour CD release party for their new release "Six Little Songs of Ourselves".  They'll play at six bars in Detroit, Hamtramck and Ferndale with a different band at each venue.  The party starts with a barbecue at 11:45 am at The Old Miami.  Schedule:

Old Miami (11:45 am - 2 pm):  with Oscillating Fan Club

Northern Lights (2:30 pm - 4:30 pm) with Jeremiah Bazely

Belmont (5 pm - 7 pm) with Ether Aura

The New Dodge (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm) with The Makebelieves (from Athens, Ohio)

The Painted Lady (9:45 pm - 11:30 pm) with Wingman

Woodward Avenue Brewers (12:15 am - 1:45 am) with Duende!

For details and bus tickets, check out Dutch Pink at myspace

Detour, a new online music and film magazine, is hosting a three-day launch party at The Magic Stick, Garden Bowl and CAID.  Thursday and Friday were big nights and if you're heading out tonight, check out the big lineup at The Magic Stick starting at 10pm:  Hadituptoheres, The Mahonies, Freer, THTX, Ko & the Knockouts, The Frustrations and Bulldog.

Get the details at www.detour-mag.com