Loud and Proud, Rock & Roll in Erie

By Jenna Croyle

Every weekend the Erie music scene is booming with a cornucopia of talented musicians filling the stages of our local taverns and clubs. Much like other cities, Erie has a sweet musical diversity that would rival that of New York, Memphis, San Francisco and Chicago.

than sixty hard-hitting songs in their repertoire, allowing them to keep the party pumping, limiting the number of breaks they need to take over the course of an average four-hour show.

Chrome brings their powerful note for note perfect renditions of songs from some of the greatest bands of all times to bare with every show.

The classic Rock & Roll harmonies of Chrome mix a sensory punch of AC/DC, Alice in Chains, 3 Days Grace, God Smack, Def Leppard, Kiss, Sammy Hagar and Judas Priest along with many more that vibrate the walls of any venue they play, while giving their audiences a show to remember.

Further enhancing the illusion of a big band concert is their impressive lighting, which elevate their stage presentation far above the typical local tribute bands. Chrome perfectly recreates the dynamic and charismatic energy of the original bands, which they cover.

Chrome is made-up of George Merced as the singer and occasional bass player, Rikc Stritzinger on drums, Myron Swanson on guitars and Chris Falk on, as the band puts it, low-end groove, and high-end vocals.

For the better part of a decade, Chrome has been entertaining Erie with their high-energy music that features howling vocals that resonate song lyrics, making everyone shake and quiver, while the musical accompaniment pulsates through your body with every beat for a total heart thumping, pulse pounding show experience.

With a guitar player constantly slamming into the riffs, a bass player who pushes the boundaries on every song in terms of tone and technique along with a front man inciting the crowd to have a good time with every note they play, Chrome creates more than just another show. It is a knockdown, drag out blast of good times and great tunes experience.

Every Chrome show is the equivalent of a jukebox loaded with every great hit you could ever want to hear, only better, it’s live, it’s intense and it is the best time you could have out at a show.

Kettle Black
“Don’t Expect The Dirty Pickles”
By Drew Chiodo

It seems every year there is a band that sticks out of the crowd and really makes a lasting impression on Erie with their music. This band also strays from the pack and creates something not only intriguing, but also something unique all at the same time.

Matthew Boland or better known as Matty B. “Finally after eight years I was just getting stale of The Dirty Pickles.”

Kettle Black consists of Matthew Boland on guitar, bass drum, tambourine and lead vocals, along with Digg !t Dave on upright bass, foot snare and backup vocals, topped off with Mike Edgerly on banjo and backup vocals.

In this new band, a whole new vibe and a whole new feel will take center stage for the Erie area to witness.

The goal for Kettle Black is to exhibit a style of music that closely mirrors a mix of The Avett Brothers, Tom Waits and Hank Williams all rolled into one.

“We’ve been veering in this direction with a couple of the songs on the newest Dirty Pickles album,” said Matty B.

As of recently, Kettle Black has posted a video on YouTube of one of their songs entitled “Hangover For the Heart.” This video delivers a good look into the upcoming future of the band.

The song has a chorus comprised of the lyric “We are only in love when we are drunk,” which is just a catchy teaser into what this band has in store for their audience and fan base.

The music is fun and catchy, but also far from anything that is currently being done in the area. It brings an original spin on folk and rock to Erie that only these three musicians could put on music.

Kettle Black is giving Erie that stepping-stone it needs to come face to face with something truly original and fresh in terms of music around the area.

As of yesterday, the band has been planning on heading into the studio to record a three song EP with Chris Workman, who was responsible for Matty B’s latest release with the Unpickled project.

Though Erie will definitely miss Matty B and The Dirty Pickles, a new era of music has risen in the form of Kettle Black. Along with this new music comes new excitement not only from their fans, but also from the band itself.

“Don’t expect The Dirty Pickles,” said Matty B. “This band says everything I couldn’t say with The Dirty Pickles.”

The Gem City Concert Band
Sharing Their Love of Music With Erie
By Drew Chiodo

It’s no surprise that Erie is full of talented acts and bands that can be seen every week showcasing their abilities to an eager audience of concertgoers.

Exclusively here in the Gem City there is a group of individuals with a deep seeded history of pleasing musical audiences of all generations and genres. These individuals are a part of The Gem City Concert Band.

The Gem City Concert Band, local to Erie is also paired alongside the newest additions, The Gem City Jazz Ensemble and also the Brass Quintet.

The Gem City Bands are non-profit community bands, consisting of 50 plus dedicated and talented amateur and semi-pro musicians.

The start of the Gem City Bands dates back as far as the 1930s and 1940s.

The story is it all started when a concert band playing at the Siebenbueger Singing Society while simultaneously there was a concert and marching band at the 313th Machine Gun Battalion Club (present-day site of the Kings Rook).

In the 1950s, the 313th Band joined their expertise with the Siebenbuerger Band and moved their operation to the Siebenbuerger Singing Society.

The new conglomerate of skilled musicians remained at the Siebenbuerger Club for over 20 years.

After the parting of ways between the band and Siebenbuerger, a search began to look elsewhere to display their abilities. Then in 1970, under their sponsorship, the East Erie Turners Club reached an agreement for the band to move there.

After more than 30 years, the band and the East Erie Turners parted ways in September 2003. Now equipped with its new swing-jazz band, the group began to practice at Wilson Middle School.

Only a short couple of months later, the band came to an agreement with St. John's Lutheran Church, where they practiced and the band resided until December 2010.

Now, both the Concert and Jazz Band’s present shows are at St. Mark's Episcopal Church and many of Erie’s nursing homes. The bands also perform many community events.

The Concert Band plays music such as old, classic overtures, show tunes, movie scores and much more. Their versatile blend of music and classic pieces makes them a must see for any person. Young or old, there is something that the Gem City Concert Band will have to please any ear.

Check out their schedule on our Weekend Notes Page for their next shows.

Blues Legend Bessie Smith in 'The Devil's Music'

"There's some that calls the blues the devil's music. Well, honey, I done danced to the devil's music. So, I gotta give the devil his due."

So says blues icon Bessie Smith, to whom the devil is a frequent companion in "The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith." This spirited, biographical music revue opened Wednesday night off-Broadway at St. Luke's Theatre.

Miche Braden delivers a powerhouse performance, doing a brassy, melodic turn as a lusty, hard-drinking, irrepressible Bessie Smith, who was known as the "Empress of the Blues."

Smith, a still-popular pioneer for black performers in segregated America, achieved hard-won success from the 1920s though the Great Depression, until her death at age 43 in a car crash.

This production of the show, which has been evolving for a decade, was conceived, directed and musically staged by Joe Brancato, with a book by Angelo Parra. Braden, who has performed in all iterations of the show, is also credited with musical direction and arrangement.

Parra's script includes some important highs and lows of Smith's life, shared as she reminisces with her band at a "buffet flat," a private, blacks-only club, in Memphis, Tenn., in October 1937. The intimate set by Michael Schweikardt and Braden's frequent, casual interactions with the audience enhance the concept that Smith is performing for fellow guests at an after-hours club.

Braden fully commands the stage, sassing the audience and sashaying around like the hard-living prima donna Smith was. Fully inhabiting her character, Braden alternates reminiscence with emotional renditions of potent blues classics such as "Baby Doll," ''St. Louis Blues" and "T'aint Nobody's Bizness If I Do."

The dialogue, which segues naturally into the songs, ranges frankly over Smith's complex life, including her orphaned childhood, her persistence and triumph within the music industry, money troubles, racism, bisexuality and Prohibition. Tales of Smith's loyalty to a no-good husband, which resulted in domestic abuse and a shocking betrayal, lead to a heart-wrenching performance of "I Ain't Got Nobody."

The talented trio of musicians performing onstage as Smith's band include Jim Hankins (with the show for 10 years) as bass-player Pickle, Keith Loftis on saxophone, and Aaron Graves on piano. Warm interactions between the diva and Pickle add a human touch to Smith's outsize, dramatic outpourings.

At times collapsing in weariness or heartache, always searching for more booze, Braden's Smith rallies like a true performer, giving her all to each number, including Braden's red-hot original, "Devil Dance Blues (Sho Nuff Daddy)." She joyously and suggestively interacts with Loftis on the double-entendre song, "I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl."

Melodramatic "premonitions" pause the pace, but Brancato's artful direction and Braden's charisma and honesty of emotion keep the energy flowing. The 80-minute show ends with a poignant "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" and leaves the audience wanting more — more of the energetic music, and more information about Smith's indomitable spirit.

Brewerie at Union Station

A Voice for Youth's Exuberant Optimism
By Jim Fusilli

'Rave On" (Fantasy), a new multiartist, multigeneration celebration of the music of Buddy Holly, raises the question of why Holly's music endures. One answer may boil down to this: When he died in a plane crash in Grant Township, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959—"the day the music died," according to Don McLean's "American Pie"—Holly was just 22 years old. His songs still reflect the runaway emotions of youth in bloom; his lyrics glow with pure innocence. Holly expresses this perspective directly: "Words of love whisper soft and true. Darling, I love you"; "Well, you are the one that makes me glad and you are the one that makes me sad"; "Where you're concerned my heart has learned it's so easy to fall in love."

On the new collection, those songs are sung by Patti Smith, Justin Townes Earle and Paul McCartney, respectively. Ms. Smith presents "Words of Love" as a solemn folk ballad with strings. Mr. Earle's "Maybe Baby" updates Holly's Texas rockabilly sound and Mr. McCartney's raw, crazy "It's So Easy" shows how Holly provided a springboard for Mr. McCartney's remarkable career.

Holly's songs have the kind of simple structural integrity that allows them to be reinterpreted in countless ways. Florence and the Machine visited New Orleans to record "Not Fade Away" and the two-chord tune sits nicely on second-line drumming. Kid Rock's "Well All Right" adapts the original arrangement worked out by Holly and the Crickets to a forceful soul treatment with a full horn section, hand percussion and not much else. Lou Reed delivers "Peggy Sue" with his guitar squalling throughout the performance, while John Doe's "Peggy Sue Got Married" is a dirge that grows increasingly fitful. My Morning Jacket's Jim James strips down "True Love Ways" to voice and acoustic guitar backed by a string quartet. Not all covers work to perfection—in its reading of "That'll Be the Day," Modest Mouse can't seem to make up its mind how to address the song's sentiment—but none of the reinventions reveal flaws in the compositions. And Karen Elson's version of "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" jumps with an energy that Holly's reading lacked.

Several artists pay tribute to Holly by adhering to his sound. Fiona Apple and Jon Brion retain the chiming bells of Holly's "Everyday" arrangement and add an Everly Brothers-style vocal harmony. Nick Lowe's "Changing All Those Changes" is pure 1950s rockabilly. While they veer off course, She & Him—Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward's project—do so lovingly, the two voices on "Oh Boy!" retaining the joy of Holly's original, as their talented percussionist Scott McPherson channels Holly's drummer, Jerry Allison.

Holly didn't write all of his best-known recordings. He reworked a Bo Diddley tune to come up with "Dearest," and here the Black Keys strips down Holly's take for a stark version that opens the 19-track disc. Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller wrote "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care" and Holly's rendition, much like Elvis Presley's, rides on its R&B groove; Cee-Lo Green hastens the pace for an up-tempo rockabilly reading with extra drive provided by Graham Marsh's guitars. Graham Nash, whose '60s breakout band, the Hollies, took its name in tribute to Holly, delivers Felice and Boudleaux Bryant's lovely "Raining in My Heart" as a gentle piano ballad.

"The thing about Holly," said Mr. Earle by phone recently, "is the same thing Woody Guthrie has, Tom Petty has, Bruce Springsteen has—simple songs that people can relate to. There's something about him that just clutches the heart. A lot of music is fixed in the distance, but Buddy's is right there."

Had he lived, Holly would have turned 75 this September. It's useless to project what he might have become had he lived: Would he have undermined his own legacy as Presley did? Or continued to do good work as Roy Orbison did, and to enjoy an audience spanning generations? By age 22, Holly had already created an enduring body of work—enough to have filled a much longer life. With "Rave On," we're reminded that quality tops longevity in the arts and that extraordinary and earnest songs, no matter how simple, have an extended life of their own.

Controversial Chuck Berry Statue Approved in St Louis

An eight-foot statue of rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry was approved on Monday over the opposition of some local residents including one who said the Hall of Fame singer/songwriter should not be honored because he is a "felon and not a friend of women."

The University City council, which has jurisdiction over the spot where the statue is to be installed, rejected a last-minute petition drive by opponents, who gathered 100 signatures in a bid to block or delay the statue.

The leader of the opposition, Elsie Glickert, an 86-year-old former city council member, said the city had ignored procedure in allowing the statue to be built on a new public bikeway that intersects the Delmar Loop, a strip of restaurants, shops and clubs that includes Blueberry Hill, where Berry has played over 160 shows in past 15 years.

The owner of the club, Joe Edwards, helped raise over $100,000 in private funding for the statue, which depicts a young Berry wailing away on his guitar. The plaza where the statue is going be installed will also feature illuminated walls with laser-engraved musical notes of "Johnny B. Goode," Berry's signature 1957 hit. Concrete strips in the sidewalk will be etched with the lyrics of Berry songs.

Edwards said the statue would be installed later this week and dedicated at a July 29 ceremony that will feature an appearance by the 84-year-old Berry.

Glickert said at a well-attended council meeting that the statue should not be placed on public property because of Berry's past convictions. She said the statue was the result of "our previous dysfunction city management" and should be delayed for a full legal review.

Others in the audience supported the statue, including Edwards, who praised Berry as St. Louis's "most famous musical native son, who through his music changed race relations and culture around the world."

Berry's early career has been credited with shaping the music of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. He was recognized by the U.S. government with the Kennedy Center Award in 2000 and is a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

No formal vote was taken, but a majority of the members spoke in favor of the installation. Mayor Shelley Welsch said it would be an "appropriate, positive" addition to the strip.

Glickert and her supporters opposed the statue because of Berry's 1962 conviction for violating the Mann Act, accused of transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes.

"This man is a felon and not a friend of women. It is a misuse of tax dollars to honor him on public property," Glickert said.

At a show in Texas in 1959, Berry met a young Native American woman who came to work at his St. Louis club, was fired and then arrested on a prostitution charge.

That led to the conviction and he spent three years in prison, where he penned several hits while incarcerated including "No Particular Place to Go."

Berry had more trouble in 1979 when he was convicted of tax evasion. He had been convicted of armed robbery as a teenager.

Berry performs to sold out shows at Blueberry Hill every month. He collapsed during a show in Chicago on New Year's Day but recovered in time to play his next show in St. Louis.

Facebook Music is Coming!

Facebook is gearing up to launch a music area with Spotify, a European digital music service, and perhaps other music-streaming programs, according to technology blog GigaOM.

Does this mean we can put mood music on our profiles (like we used to do on Myspace)? Can we, once again, have the bragging rights for being the first fans of that once unknown artist that has since hit it big?

If the streaming service is integrated on Facebook, music will be shared and discovered, growing our music repertoires, not to mention our cool factor. So our fingers are crossed!

GigaOm reported, this means users can click on a music dashboard where they'll see music notifications. The dashboard will have information, such as what your friends have listened to, the songs and bands they recommend, and the top songs and albums among your friends - all with cover art.

There's also supposed to be a playback/pause button that will be added to your Facebook screen (like Facebook Connect, which users currently use to chat with friends). This button will allow you to play a track after discovery right on Facebook.

Sounds like a pretty neat feature to us - but then again, if you're embarrassed by some of your music choices (like if you're listening to Hall & Oates in secret - no judgment here), be careful what you play.

Fans Keep Alive Sacred Harp Choral Music

The sound defies mere singing, pulsing though the church sanctuary with sufficient force to put hell on alert.

For three days this month singers from the United States, Canada and Britain gathered to celebrate an Elizabethan-era form of sacred choral music that took root and is preserved in the American south.

Nearly 700 registered for the 32nd annual National Sacred Harp Convention, which maintains the tradition of the a cappella singing style in four-part harmony.

In the rural U.S. South Sacred Harp singing is a weekly occurrence in a string of family churches.

"We went to a small wooden church with people who had been singing together their whole lives and the sound was just wonderful," said Briton Judy Whiting, of her visit to Gum Pond, Alabama.

Whiting, who had traveled from her home in West Yorkshire, England for the event, was one of many international visitors.

Sacred Harp began in the singing schools in England in Elizabethan times. Participants sit in a square with a hollow center, facing each other, in groups separated by voice range.

In the 1800s, a written form of the choral style emerged in a "shape note" style of musical signature. The notes are shaped according to sound to help people who cannot read music to be able to quickly learn how to sing in key.

John Merritt, a sixth generation singer who claims to have been involved in the singing for 70 of his 69 years said William Shakespeare made the first reference to it when he mentioned church music in four notes.

Merritt led his first song at age five in 1947, and despite his oxygen tank, he took part in this year's convention.

Inclusive and Egalitarian

Anyone can step to the center and call a song number. The first tenor will chime in with the first note, followed by the bass, alto and treble, which is a mix of men and women hitting the higher notes, without accompaniment.

The songs are slower and more somber than the rousing gospel so often heard in modern Southern churches. Sin, redemption, death and resurrection dominate the lyrics with an oddly joyful delivery.

"The first time I heard it, it grabbed me. I knew right then one day I would be singing in the South," said Rebecca Over from Yorkshire, England.

The singing style, which migrated from England, flourished in the American South until the eve of the Civil War, with President Abraham Lincoln participating, according to historian Steven Sabot.

In the grim years after the war, followers of the music faded until only about 1,000 people were still singing it in the 1970s, when the folksong movement emerged.

"The folkies found this strange stuff with weird shapes and fortunately respected the tradition," said Ginny Ely of Colorado.

Word spread and today Sacred Harp singing groups gather around the world, with the newest group in Poland. A stronghold formed in Chicago, where a group found this strange music and attempted to figure out how to voice the old songs.

"We didn't know what we were doing and we were told 'ya'll need to come south,'" said Kathryn Bearer, of Chicago. "That's how we found out how to get from Chicago to nowhere," she adds.

In recent years, interest in the music has been renewed, partly in movies such as "Cold Mountain," and "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?"

The first night of the convention was dedicated to new songs by composers such as Randy Webber of Kentucky.

"We preserve it by singing the old songs and by creating new songs," Webber said.

The seats fill again. Books open, voices pour out.

"It gives me goose bumps just hearing that sound," said Ely, who headed to the center to lead the group in her favorite song.

Texas Museum Fights to Preserve Tejano Music

Whether the term is Chicano, Mexican-American, conjunto or ranchero, the musical roots are all the same.

Tejano music in South Texas is a cultural experience, and while some believe it is dying, others are working to preserve it.

The Tejano Roots Hall of Fame Museum in Alice is doing just that.

"We've done a lot as an organization to keep the music alive and relevant," Tejano Roots President Dominic Martinez said. "But we also need to fulfill the obligation to educate the public not only through performances, but also the museum."

The nonprofit organization started in 1999 to preserve Tejano music and culture. The hall of fame recognizes artists, musicians and composers who contribute to the Tejano culture, while the museum preserves artifacts and documents of the music industry.

But the museum is fighting to stay alive.

The organization hosts frequent fundraisers, including concerts, to help pay for monthly needs like utilities, building maintenance and events for the public, Martinez said.

Its eight members want to re-establish the museum by improving layout and design, educational information, multimedia displays and providing music classes and traveling displays. But it all takes money.

"The plans are big, but without the funding we can't do that stuff," Martinez said. "There is a lot of potential here."

Tejano music has been around for generations, but some of the first recordings of it outside of Mexico started in a small living room in Alice.

World War II created a lack of locally and regionally made records, so Armando Marroquín of Alice jumped on the opportunity because it was the American dream, his son Armando Marroquín Jr. said. His goal was to record the music and supply it for jukeboxes around South Texas. He died in 1990.

In 1943, Marroquín started Four Star Records. His first recordings were of his wife, Carmen, and her sister Laura. He would convert the living room of his home into a studio by pinning blankets on the walls for insulation and set up recording equipment in the kitchen.

"Sometimes we would be playing and disrupt the recording," his son said. "It would drive him wild."

In 1946, Marroquín and Paco Bentancourt of San Benito started Ideal Records. Bentancourt arranged the manufacture of the records and distribution of them in the U.S. and Mexico.

Beto Villa, a saxophonist from Falfurrias, teamed up with accordionist Narcisco Martínez, who is known as the pioneer of Texas-Mexican conjunto, to create the familiar sound of South Texas Tejano music, a blend of polka, traditional Mexican folk and big-band swing with ranchera lyrics.

"The Mexican music is cut into so many pieces," local conjunto artist Linda Escobar said. "But it's just as beautiful and authentic as Beethoven."

Escobar, who was inducted in Tejano Roots Hall of Fame in 2007, recorded her first album as a teenager at the Ideal Record studio.

"Across my backyard was the studio," she said. "We used to sit in the tree and listen to Tony de la Rosa recording in the studio and when it was my turn, the kids would sit outside and listen to my music."

Recently, Tejano music lost a beloved performer and one of its most recognized advocates.

Abelardo "Chacha" Jimenez Sr., a noted local Tejano and conjunto vocalist died recently after battling liver cancer.

And Javier Villanueva, former president and a founder of Tejano Roots, died June 10. He had given Escobar the title, first lady of conjunto music.

"He recognized these people that put their blood, sweat and tears in the music," Escobar said. "Let's preserve what we have, and what we have is this little museum that doesn't have the funds."

"There is a saying in Spanish," Escobar said, "Nadie sabe el bien que tiene hasta que lo pierde: Nobody knows what they have until they lose it. We can't let it get to that."

In the 1950s and `60s, Tejano music incorporated rock `n' roll and country sounds by adding the electric guitar and drums.

In 1978, Corpus Christi had its first Chicano festival on April 30 to celebrate the eighth anniversary of Freddie Records.

The eight-hour concert at Cole Park attracted about 10,000 people who wanted to listen to the music of artists such as Alejo Salinas and Los Torbeinos, MAYO `78 with Al "Chato" Chavarria, Chacha Jimenez and Los Chachos, and Los Playboys de Eddie Olivares.

But the loud music and large crowd prompted many Ocean Drive residents to call city officials and complain about the sound level and trash.

Three days later, the City Council banned commercially sponsored events at Cole Park and added that organizations who use the amphitheater must use a sound system provided by the city or none at all.

The city's regulations created an uproar with local attorneys William, Ruben and Tony Bonilla and former Corpus Christi Mayor Gabe Lozano Sr.

According to a May 9, 1978, Corpus Christi Caller article, the Bonillas said "the city was depriving the Mexican-American people of the enjoyment of Chicano music by banning such concerts."

Lozano fired back in a May 9 article by calling the Bonillas racist for dividing the city's people.

"What I was doing was right," William Bonilla said. "It was right then, and it's right now. Some people cannot appreciate the Mexican culture, and that includes the music."

By May 14, the dispute over the festival died down and city officials were willing to compromise future event regulations.

"We were being criticized because we wanted Chicano music," Bonilla said.
The Tejano Roots organization still is trying to fight for the music 33 years later.

Rita Valdez from Los Angeles made the trip to Alice just to visit the museum.

"The music is declining because there aren't musicians that are playing that type of music anymore," she said. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep it alive and have a tribute to the musicians that made it great."

Martinez is asking for the community's ideas on how to improve the museum and what they would like to see.

"We have and will continue to honor individuals because of their music and other contributions as long as we can," Martinez said.

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NEW FAN CONTEST!!

Shotgun Jubilee is in the market for a new logo! We'd like you the fans to show us what you've got! Draw something up, either by hand or with a graphic arts program and send us a .jpeg of your work. We'll choose the design we like the best. The winner will receive a free copy of our album! Please email all entries to ryan_bartosek@yahoo.com

Local Jazz Event

ROMOLO CHOCOLATES
1525 W 8th Street Erie PA

JDJazz w/ TONY MONACO
Tony Monaco, organ / Joe Dorris, drums/ Frank Singer, guitar
Saturday July 2nd 6 til 9

The Great Blue Heron Music Festival 2011 Volunteers

The Heron still needs LOTS of volunteers for the festival. They have 318 people so far and need 382!

Please read about it on-line and sign up there, too. ASAP. Pre-fest slots are mostly full, so the greatest need is for people to help during the festival. 9 hours equals a $80 ticket. Can't beat that!

www.greatblueheron.com

Phantasm: Releasing A New Demo Every Week in July

July is demo month for Phantasm. We are recording our new album right now and we want you to be involved in the process. Every week in July we will be posting a NEW DEMO for songs that will appear on our upcoming album (starting today).

The songs will be posted in all your favorite places to hear Phantasm.

GET INVOLVED. Invite your friends to this event. Post links spread the word. Share. Share. Share.

We want your feedback.

Demo #1 "Think Twice"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqL2guzBh5Y