Blackdog formed in the fall of 2005.
Heavily influenced by the Delta blues of the 20’s and 30’s, the Chicago Blues of the 50’s, and the Rock n’ Roll heroes of the late 60’s, Blackdog’s youthful energy delivers a strong mix of spirituality and sexuality that electrifies audiences, giving fans the opportunity to sit back awe-struck, or get on the dance floor to completely lose themselves. Their raw talent and explosive stage presence gives them the reputation of creating “mind-blowing adventures of passion and joy”. With exceptional originals and resurrected covers by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, Ray Charles, Fleetwood Mac, Chuck Berry, and many more—Blackdog’s ambitious repertoire is something few can pull off so brilliantly, putting on 4 hour shows that are extraordinary front to back.
There is a difference between emulation and actualization. Blackdog is real, original rock n’ roll.
Visit www.yourblackdog.com for more about the band, and read about the confrontational beginnings of Blackdog. ..
Bill Ura Dik is a tenacious three-piece Chicago punk band, w/ a lust for wine, women, and song. Known far and wide for their original sound, as well as their ability to keep you laughing while they completely offend all your sensibilities w/ their sing along choruses and tongue in butt cheek humor.
“Dangerous bad ass boys have the guts to blend the best of late 70’s glam, 80’s Hollywood sleaze, and the Motor City’s musical early heavy sounds.”
-Michael Rys (punkglobe.com)
Formed in the spring of 2008, Black Actress delivers an authentic, high energy rock ‘n roll insemination: bringing an action packed live show and bombastic recordings to new friends and fans all over the country. Having shared stages with the likes of Electric Frankenstein, The Bronx, DiamondHead, New Bomb Turks, Red Fang, Wednesday 13, The Adicts, Airbourne, Michale Graves, Faster Pussycat, Nashville Pussy, LA Guns, and more.
The Heroes and Pirates of the music history we all know and love shine in this Chicago explosive.
*The Debut Self-Titled Album “BLACK ACTRESS”, Now Available on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, and more!*
The last time we heard from B. Dolan he was writing to us from a bomb shelter as the world ripped apart at the seams. On his newest album “Fallen House, Sunken City” he joins up with legendary indie-rap beatsmith ALIAS to survey the aftermath.
Dolan has already established himself as a master storyteller, but this time through he presents us with a full-throttle, unabashed, boombap hiphop record. You know, the kind of hiphop that was too grimy for mass consumption so it was declared “dead” by the unelected powers that be? With Alias behind the production board, B. Dolan’s aggressive delivery is accentuated by a special brand of bass-heavy breakbeats while the tailor made musical backdrops assist in the mood of impending doom.
As the title of the album may suggest, there is a fair amount of cynical content here, but that doesn’t mean the lyrics are wholly devoid of redemption. That would be too easy. What makes B. Dolan particularly unique as a lyricist is his ability to have philosophical underpinnings to every song without preachiness getting in the way of his art. The opening track, “Leaving NY,” is a great example of this technique. It balances the literal with the metaphorical and never tells the listener what they should or shouldn’t feel. The song has a truth of it’s own. In fact, that truth and message can easily be taken as the mission statement of “Fallen House, Sunken City.”
In 1999 B. Dolan moved from Rhode Island to NYC to pursue his passion. He had been writing and rapping for years, but Brooklyn’s Nuyorican Poets Cafe introduced him to spoken word which is when his career as a stage performer began. Finding himself on hard times he slept on park benches and subway trains before scoring a job as a doorman at a building that happened to be in close proximity to the Twin Towers. Just as he began piecing his life together the 9/11 attacks happened, leaving him in a paranoid mental state which ultimately resulted in his self-imposed exile from the birthplace of hiphop.
“Was I a coward to abandon the broken down mechanics / that crowned Biggie Smalls as the King of Atlantis?”
The move back to RI in 2002 proved to be a wise one for Dolan. Over the next few years hhe tapped into the local arts community, volunteered for at-risk youth programs, created the consumer activist website Knowmore.org, teamed up with Sage Francis, signed to Strange Famous Records and toured relentlessly from 2005 onward (most notably the Paid Dues Tour 2008 and Rock the Bells Tour 2009.)
It was on Sage Francis’ “Death Dance Tour” in 2007 that Alias and Dolan first conceived the idea of working on a full album together. Although Alias’ production is rooted in 90’s era hiphop, he had never produced a full rap album for anyone. In fact his production style had taken a turn toward more down tempo ambient-driven instrumentals by the early 2000’s. When the prospect of doing a full album with B. Dolan was presented, he took it as a challenge and an opportunity to fire up his MPC and return to a more traditional hiphop form.
It took two years of relentless work to mold the kind of album that not only avoids the spectrum of hiphop cliches, but downright destroys them. The true value of this record, however, is not in finger-wagging nostalgia for a lost golden era. At its heart, “Fallen House, Sunken City” is a record full of focused experimentation that would rather lead by example than romance the dead. “Economy of Words” finds Alias executing dubstep rhythms, “Body of Work” has Dolan exploring the mindset of a sex worker, and “Border Crossing” has a Providence marching band playing throughout.
Unlikely as it is, the two New England natives have crafted a sound rooted with authority in the best traditions of hiphop, with enough irreverence, energy, and vision to deface its tombstone and reanimate the corpse. This is post-rap, psychedelic-hop horrorcore politics.
Welcome to B. Dolan.
Welcome to a new breed of emcee.
Hip Hop is Undead.
A Chicago mainstay since the end of 1999, Bible of the Devil played hard and traveled the country trying to get their music heard, often enamoring fans with their hardcore D.I.Y. aesthetic. Their music also transformed from a generic punk metal to a barn burning combination of traditional American rock music and 90’s-era punk. Their booze-soaked first album, Firewater at My Command, appeared in the summer of 2002 on Genuflect Records. ~ Bradley Torreano, Rovi
Big D and the Kids Table front man David McWane has said, “There are people who want to be in a band and then there are musicians.” Once in a while a group comes along that makes music simply because they have no other choice – they are addicted musicians. For the past fifteen years Boston’s Big D And The Kids Table has proven just that, regardless of the band’s poverty. McWane describes the group as – “We’re modern American gypsies,” And you can feel that sense in their wildest record yet – For The Damned The Dumb & The Delirious.
“The person who put it best is [Warped Tour founder] Kevin Lyman”, McWane explains. “A friend once asked him if we were a ‘big band’, and Kevin replied, ‘I’ll tell you this…they’ve been around for 14 years and each year they’re extremely relevant.’
“Our new record is by far our best yet,” says McWane. “It’s a bomb! Our energy writing it was incredible. As friends, we had a blast; as musician’s, we knew exactly what we wanted to craft; and as tour mates, we were all on the same page, writing songs that would make the coming tour a slaughtering battle on stage. We love energy, and that’s what we packed these explosive songs with.”
For The Damned The Dumb & The Delirious is filled with driving ska-punk bangers, leaping off the stage thrash, seedy dub and topped off with a lot of that good ol’ fashion working class, Boston bar room beer toasting anthems. It’s gritty, bratty and raw – confident, witty and fun.
“I personally prefer shows where you have to prove yourself,” McWane adds when asked which of the band’s thousands of live performances stick out in his head. “The Warped Tours, Reading & Leads, and the Dropkick Murphys tours that we did were exciting because you had to prove yourself. The feeling is similar to when your band first starts out; you get that first-show anxiousness,” he continues. “When you play shows where everyone loves you, then it turns more into entertaining—and that can be fun, but that’s not where I personally come from,” he elaborates. “I like the underdog shows more because they add spice and kick.” Armed with a record as youth driven, honest speaking, furious and fun as For The Damned The Dumb & The Delirious, Big D will undoubtedly get the opportunity in sweaty clubs all over the world, to step up to the plate and prove themselves all over again
“We want to wake up the masses with this record, remind them that they’re more than just alive; and make their Mondays into Saturday nights. Lovers of our sound better get ready ‘cause no one’s gonna help them in the front row of this coming tour. If you wanna relax – head to the back.” – says McWane
Best known as the lead singer of the legendary group Anthrax who along with Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer are credited with originating the genre of Thrash metal, has been featured on over 10 albums that have sold over 8 million units worldwide. Belladonna has shared the stage with Iron Maiden, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Alice in Chains, Dio, Public Enemy, Living Color, Primus, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Dio, Whitesnake, Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Helloween, and many others. Joey has also sung the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden and the Metro Dome in Minnesota for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. In 1988 he also starred in the underground cult classic film, “Pledge Night”.
With Joey as the lead singer of Anthrax in the 80’s to early 90’s the band was nominated for three Grammy awards, appeared on the Fox sitcom Married with Children, and Joey was voted the #1 metal singer two years in a row by Metal Forces Magazine.
Since rejoining Anthrax in 2004, Joey has toured with Judas Priest, Rob Zombie and has played in front of millions of fans across the globe. 2010 has found Joey with Anthrax sharing the stage with the pioneers of Thrash Metal Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth, all collectively known as “The Big Four” playing to sold out audiences across Europe for the Sonisphere festivals.
In the mid to late ’90s, Belladonna released his first two solo albums with great press and reviews from around the world. When not on the road with Anthrax, Joey concentrates his spare time writing, recording and touring with his solo band Belladonna and playing local shows in his home town area with his cover band Chief Big Way.
