Kick Ass Show Alert—Winterland with The Muckrockers on NYE at The Vaudeville Mews

“Please don’t dominate the rap, jack, if you got nothing new to say…”

When it comes to Grateful Dead tribute bands, this classic line from New Speedway Boogie is relevant as fuck. It seems everyone these days is a fan, even the aging punk rocker you know who always claimed to hate hippies will quietly confide after a couple of beers that he’s always been a closet fan -- just don’t tell anyone.

Winterland 

And, according to science, every one of these people who can play an instrument, or thinks they can, will at some point, start or join a Grateful Dead cover band.

And for good reason.

The music of the Grateful Dead is much more complex and diverse and rich with influences than most casual fans would ever know. It’s fun and exciting to channel, and way more difficult to do so than most would imagine.

Unfortunately, most Dead-related cover projects (and most jam bands in general) just don’t have the combination of technical chops, deep musical knowledge, and improvisational skills to do the songs justice. It’s not enough to play them note for note; these songs need room to breathe and grow and change and adapt to the player and the audience and a million other things happening simultaneously.

A lot of bands don't get that, or can't do it. Winterland does.

The Iowa-City based band specializes in the music The Grateful Dead played during the 60s and 70s, a time when the Dead’s rhythm and blues, folk, and country roots were still deeply embedded in their music even as they explored the wild and experimental outer reaches of psychedelic rock.

They recreate the music of the Dead with technical proficiency and contagious, unbridled joy that allows and encourages all in attendance to influence the music as it plays the band… It’s not the Grateful Dead, but it is, as they describe it, “a thing of subtle and wily magic, not to be missed.”

They are one of the very rare bands out there that truly “get it” and do justice to the Grateful Dead catalog without abandoning their own style and influences.

Check out Winterland playing Tennesse Jed at the 2017 NYE show with special guest James Biehn here.

Winterland is returning again to the Vaudeville Mews for another New Year’s Eve show, and you really shouldn’t miss it. The Mews is the perfect place for this party – intimate, with plenty of dancing room and cheap drinks.

And to make the show even better this year, front man Stacy Webster and bass player extraordinaire Byron Stevens are bringing their original band The Muckrockers to the stage as well in the opening slot.

Besides Webster and Stevens, The Muckrockers consist of Matt Kearney, Jamie Kearney and Scott Cochran, the singer-songwriter who created the band.

“I’m just a sideman in this band,” says Webster. “Byron and I wanted to show it off to our Des Moines fans. Its original music, kind of punk/country/folk/rock with great songs by Matt Kearney and Scott Cochran (not the Scott C. from Des Moines who plays blues). It’s loose and garage-like, but the writing is top notch – and Matt Kearney blows a bad-ass harp."

Doors open at 8 pm and The Muckrockers take the stage at 9. Winterland will play a couple of sets immediately following and will take us into the New Year with the hope, optimism, and psychedelic fervor that we’re all going to need to get through another trip around the sun.

Who: Winterland with The Muckrockers

Where: The Vaudville Mews

When: New Years Eve, Doors at 8, Show at 9

Cost: $10

Event info at: www.facebook.com/events/261409304561254/

Merry Xmas! Here's something horrible for you!

If you've been offended by "Baby It's Cold Outside," hold the fuck on. 

Tiny Tim, dead, in his casket with his beloved ukulele

Happy Xmas from your friends at the Bigfoot Diaries! We thought about either posting a typical rock n roll Christmas song to mark the day and make you feel good, or sharing something so horrible, offensive and bad that you would wonder what the fuck is wrong with us. If you know us at all you’ve probably guessed which way we decided to go...

Why anyone would think this song was a good ideas beyond us. Tiny Tim was a weirdo (and a resident of Des Moines), which we appreciate for sure, but this goes beyond weird straight into bad taste. It surely exists for no other reason than to make anyone who hears it proclaim “What the Fuck?” If you can listen to it without asking that question, well, there’s something wrong with you.

That said, merry Christmas! Share your favorite Xmas song with us to get the taste of this out of our ears!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XU8IQqcq270

Mix Tape Winners!

Thanks for humoring us and checking out the blog and the silly contest. If we had time to make you all mixtapes to show our appreciation we'd probably get drunk and not do it anyway, but we'd wish we had. Regardless, thanks for reading -- we really do appreciate it!

Someone told me every blog post should have an image so
here's a Bigfoot drawing I did during a meeting at work...

Congrats to our grand prize winner, Jamie Grimm -- who shared a Bigfoot story that began with "Back in '90, I ate eight hits of acid ..."

 

Our other winers chosen randomly from those who liked the Facebook page are: Michael Hulsebus, Rod Kabel, and Kelsey Magnolia. We'll get your packages in the mail today so you can force your family to listen to the mixtapes at Christmas.

Everyone else - stay tuned. We're probably gonna give away some more crap. We're nice like that. We may not even announce it, but just send out gifts in the mail as we see fit.

Also - if you really do want copies of any of the tapes (and they are pretty cool) reach out and let us know and we can make it happen.

Happy  holidays.

Seven Rock and Roll Photos you didn't take

Rock and Roll is colorful and dramatic and dangerous and fun and sexy and dirty — all the things that make for a good photo. 

It’s hard to believe now, but it used to be the only way for a normal fan to take photos at a concert was to shove a shitty 35 mm camera into your pants and hope it didn’t fall out or soak up too much crotch sweat to render it useless before you got inside. Even then, the photos you took from the 29^th row made it look like you were a football field away. It was a pointless endeavor.

Now, literally every single person at every single concert has a shitty photo machine in their pocket and feels it’s their duty to take 600 crappy photos and 45 videos over the course of a two-hour show. Despite this, very few photos qualify as good, much less as classic or timeless.

So, I decided to make a list of my favorite Rock and Roll photos of all time – as pondered for 3-4 minutes this morning. The classics. The photos you think you’re going to get every time you pull out your phone but never will. Here they are. 

Paul Simonon of The Clash smashing his bass at a show in New York in 1979, by Penny Smith. This photo exemplifies the rage and frustration The Clash was bringing to light in their music and live performances. The photo eventually became the cover image for "Londing Calling."

Johnny Cash at San Quentin, 1969, by Jim Marshall. Jim reportedly asked Johnny to "take one for the Warden" which led to this pose. Jim also said this was perhaps the most stolen photo in history. We're proud to carry on that tradition.

Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar and the music world on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967.

The Grateful Dead at their home at 710 Ashbury, by Baron Wolman, 1967. The photo was taken for Rolling Stone following the infamous marijuana bust at the house, which served as Grateful Dead HQ and the epicenter of the Summer of Love.

Jimmy Page chugging Jack Daniels straight from the bottle backstage in Indiana by Neal Preston, 1975. Robert Plant enjoying a pre-show smoke in the background. 

Lynyrd Skynyrd Street Survivors original album cover. Released on Oct. 17, 1977 just three days before the plane crash that killed Steve Gaines and Ronnie Van Zant. Gaines (center) appears to be engulfed in flames. The cover was withdrawn and replaced with a similar photo of the band, sans flames, out of respect for the dead and at the request of Gaines' widow.

Cliff Burton of Metallica, 1986, by my high school buddy Sean. We went to an Armored Saint show at a small club in St. Louis and the guys told us to come down and see them when they played with Metallica a week or so later in Southern Missouri. For some fucking reason I chose not to go, and I still kick myself for it (I did meet Cliff briefly in 1985 on the Ride the Lightning tour). Sean went and got some great shots before the show including this one that captures Cliff Burton in all his glory. He was dead just a couple months later. 

Show us your favorites — and prove me wrong about your own shitty concert pics and share a good one or two.

Just look at these fucking playlists - they could be yours!

44 Punk as Fuck Songs

These playlists are from a couple of the tapes you could win from your friends here at The Bigfoot Diaries just by liking us on Facebook and checking out the blog (If you send us a short story or comment you'll get bonus consideration points).

Sure, you could go online and listen to probably all of this stuff on your phone, but that's bullshit. There's nothing like having music you love in physical form and queuing it up on your own device. There's no fucking fees or monthly subscriptions. Its just yours. Period. 

90 Minutes of Pure Classic Metal

You can leave a tape for a day or a week or a year and the fucking thing knows right where you left off. You don't have to wait for the thing to load, or suffer through commercials for toilet cleaner or ads for politicians (the same thing, really) -- it's just there, waiting for you to press play.

And, as a reminder, we'll even give you a brand new walkman to play these tapes and two others along with a bunch of other swag. Just cause we like you. Or because we chose your name. We don't really have to like you to make you a winner.

Prize pack includes 4 kick ass mixtapes, brand new walkman and headphones,
lots of Bigfoot art and pens to color them, and some extra surprises we'll throw in.

Five Questions with... Sara from Sapphic Musk

Well I guess I can cash in all of my chips, cancel Christmas and sell the farm.

In 2010 when BFD was just still in it's infantile stages, I swore that I would keep this blogmathing going until it wasn't fun anymore. I told anybody who would listen that once I hit the pinnacle - and things started to recede a bit - that it would soon be curtains for BFD. Of course I knew it would take an insurmountable achievement, like say.... I don't know...  interviewing the lead singer of a lesbian warrior Viking power Pop band for this to happen... and what are the odds of that happening?

Well Odin be damned, my ship has sailed.

The other day, in the midst of yet another strange and endearing rabbit hole excursion on the Youtubes, I stumbled across this:




In 2014 on the ice-capped, rocky beaches of Lezstonia where the Baltic meets the North Sea, Sapphic Musk boarded a worn but durable dragon-shaped vessel and started a long voyage across the Arctic, eventually landing on the shores of southern California.

Or something like that.

In reality, there's so much mystery about this band, that it seems permissible to assume this scenario is true. After all, lore is lore, and it's entirely plausible that on their way to Valhalla, Sapphic Musk decided to stop off in LA and record an album, right?

There's no doubt that they are talented enough. LA Weekly has called them "the best metal band in Los Angeles," which may or may not be true (whether or not they are actually "metal" seems to be up in the air) but there is absolutely no argument that they are the greatest power lesbian warrior Viking band to take the stage period. In any city, at any time.

Christina, Sara, Mia and Freddie (Photo by Jayme Watts)

Sapphic Musk is made up of Sara Russell, Mia Ferraro, Freddie McCullough and Christina “Ylva” Ownby. Sara, the lead singer told me that, in regards to forming this band the "Viking thing was and is something that just was." But then she added that she's always appreciated Viking symbolism - Strength, tenacity... eccentric behavior. "And let's face it," she said, "Vikings are sexy."

Indeed they are, Sara .

Of all the roadside attractions that you’ve come across in your travels, which sticks out in your mind as being your favorite?

One of the best things about being on tour is all the different topographies, cultures and sights you get to see. This is a tough one but I know what sticks out in my mind and it is not a roadside attraction in the amusement park kind of way but sacred none the less - every summer we drive to Carson City Nevada to play at our friend’s venue, to get there we drive through Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is breathtaking and we always stop at this one river that has wild rapids and sits under the mountains. It has become somewhat of a tradition for Sapphic Musk. So that one river in the Sierra Nevadas is my answer.

How much deliberation was there among band members when it came to deciding on the name Sapphic Musk? How did that whole conversation go down?

Pretty much no deliberation at all.

I had to put a band together really quick because a friend asked me to open for them, Sapphic Musk is the name of one of the scents of perfume I make. So it’s named after a perfume.  But it sounded so funny I thought it should be used more. I asked Mia “hey do you want to start a band called Sapphic Musk with me?” And she was like “sure” - the rest is history.

As you've toured around the world, what is the strangest thing a fan has said to you?

After playing a show in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic, a fan taught us how to say the F word in Czech.

Do you have a great groupie story?

I don’t consider this a groupie necessarily but-one time we stopped at a diner in this very very small town and as we were leaving, from across the parking lot a woman walking on the sidewalk carrying a lot of backpacks and stuff, honed in on Christina and frantically yelled “get away from me whore!!!!” Then just kept walking.

What's the biggest challenge of being a lesbian warrior viking metal band on tour?

Well I don’t think we are necessarily metal. I’d say more like Viking Pop or Viking rock maybe even Viking hard rock but anyways, the biggest challenge as Viking warriors on tour is finding a decent blacksmith in every city for armor maintenance.

Sapphic Musk at El Cid in LA. (Photo by Ethan Shvartzman)

Any plans in the works on doing a tour across North America?

Yes absolutely! We are starting to plan it and will be hitting some parts of the continent in 2019.

Can we be honest... The song "Kittenz" isn't really about cats, right?

It is only about kittens the feline species. No hidden meaning. Kittens are as provocative and jaw-dropping as it is. It wouldn’t be funny if we were trying to code something.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can catch Sapphic Musk with Kill 'Em With Kerosene and Motorbabe at Sandrini's Public House on December 29th in Bakersfield.

Win cool free stuff from the Bigfoot Diaries

In the spirt of the holidays and because we got day drunk yesterday and decided to do this, the crew at Bigfoot Diaries headquarters (Troy's basement) is giving away a prize pack to a few lucky readers as thanks for letting us invade your Facebook feeds.

Here's what you could win:

* A brand-new Walkman-type 
   cassette player 

* Batteries to operate the darn thing

* Headphones

* Four mixtapes compiled  
   from records in the Bigfoot vaults

* Original Bigfoot artwork mini- 
   coloring book with each tape

* Set of colored pens to     
   make them pretty

* Some other cool stuff 
   we need to get rid of

How to win:

* Like the BFD Facebook page if you haven't already so you can get updates and we can feel important

* Tell us briefly about either 
     A.) Your bigfoot or alien encounter 
     B.) The time you were the highest 
            you've ever been
              -OR-
     C.) Your greatest garage sale/ thrift store/ dumpster diving find

Bonus points if your story covers all three options!

LEAVE YOUR STORIES in the comment section of the blog. 

Be warned, we might share your stories, but we can do so anonymously if you've got one of those grown up jobs or reputations you need to protect. We'll either pick from our favorite stories or just pick a few names at random - we really don't know what we're doing here...

We'll wrap this up on Dec. 19 so we can get prizes out before celebrations commence for Yule, Xmas, Winter Solstice, Kwanza, an extra day off work or whatever you celebrate (sorry for missing Hanukkah). 

Oh, the tapes are 90 minutes each. One each of classic metal, old-school punk, rock 'n' roll you prolly won't hear on the radio, and one full of weird "music" you'll appreciate only if you're tripping balls. 

What are you waiting for?

Also - - Thanks to Tyler Walpole and Petra Lange for creating Bigfoot drawings that are actually good and letting us add them to the mix. 

What The Hell Are We Up To Now?

Lets see...

Brand new Walkman with headphones and batteries, 4 mixtapes (punk, metal, rock n roll, and weird shit) from The Bigfoot Vaults, mini coloring books with original artwork, pens for coloring them in.... Very limited! Perfect for the music lover in your life. Stay tuned to see how to get your set for free...!

Pass the Salt and Butter Dept.

You ever have somebody ask you what record you'd pick if you could only have one? You know, if you were stranded on an island, what record would you want with you? ( Of course all of these hypothetical islands have record players and power sources.) I can not ever come up with one. I can't even do it if you gave me ten to pick from. The list would change on a daily basis. I will say though, that if I was to find myself in such a dire predicament, and  if I had a copy of Follow Me To The Pop Corn (from Jazzman Records) I would at least be able to feel like things are pretty all right. Swell even. This collection of smoldering old and obscure Soul and R'n'B tunes flows across your brain like a molten lava cocktail. Cuts from Litttle Jimmy Ray, Plas Johnson, Dinah Shore (Yep, that's right.), Shorty Long, and plenty of others sure set the mood for drinking some stiff Bourbon drinks  in some weird club like you might catch on the late, late, late show back in the good old days of the TV wasteland. Belly up to the bar of the El Tangier Club and start knockin' back the cocktails as the smooth, and smokey sounds slide you down the chute, for one pleasant, long, dark, night of the soul.

How this stuff, or maybe rather, how this scene got the moniker of popcorn I really don't know. In the late 60s and early 70s some of the DJ's at clubs in Belgium started playing these records. It caught on, people started turning up, dancing their asses off, it became a rage, and thus a scene was born. But still, why Popcorn? Why not Liquor infused Honoluchee Bundt Cake? Or Brandi drizzled Pineapple Flips?  Those may or may not really be great, but they seem to get a little closer to the overall ambiance of the place in my mind this music takes me, but it really doesn't matter. That's the name it's got and why should I complain? It's enough that this style, or genre, or whatever, exists and has it's adherents. Thus allowing me  to stumble on to this, (Thanks WFMU) and now you can too. This would be great for your next gathering of friends, or even when your about to sleep off that whiskey drunk. Slap this on while you start sinking into your alcoholic dream world and turn the trip into some kind of cryptic, subconscious joy ride filled with all sorts of deep and profound symbolic messages containing concepts of life altering importance; and then forget it all but a few disconnected images and scenes by the time you wake up and wrestle with that obscene, Bukowskiesque hangover. At least you can play the record again, so it's all good.

Five Questions... with Marc Storace of Krokus

Marc Storace isn't a household name, though had things gone a bit differently in the early '80s, it's highly possible that his name would be. After Bon Scott's passing, AC/DC was looking for a new singer, and the band had sent an invitation to Storace to audition for the new gig. Ultimately Storace declined, citing loyalty to his own band, Krokus. At the time who could blame him? Krokus was gaining serious momentum, and it wouldn't be long before they were getting tremendous airplay on both FM radio and on MTV, which at the time was still in it's heyday and playing music videos. Things were cruising nicely for Storace and his band, so why jump ship?

Interestingly enough in 2016, Storace admitted that if AC/DC were to call again, he'd definitely accept the chance to audition. Brian Johnson had left the band, citing issues with his hearing. Doctors had told Johnson that he risked complete hearing loss if continued on, and apparently it was enough for him to consider retirement. (In August of this year, rumors began flying that Johnson rejoined the band.)

So Marc Storace, at least for the moment is still with Krokus. Out of the goodness of his rock and roll heart, he agreed to answer a few questions about his extensive life of fronting a band, touring the world and not having any regrets.

Tell me a crazy but true rock and roll story.

Well, almost like an exert out of Spinal Tap it was! We were playing our last gig as Special-Guests on the huge Def Leppard -Pyromania- Tour in 1983. Krokus`s Headhunter album was sitting proudly at Number 24 in the Billboard Charts at the time...we were having the time of our lives.

After the end of every show we always came out to give one or two encores, the first of which was the title song of our current new album Headhunter. This song pleaded for theatrics so, LD, our tour-manager, not of small physique, would don this Henchman costume and "Bigfoot" his way onto our stage holding a huge Swiss ax high above his masked head. The band would be half way through the song and the henchman would walk out towards our lead guitar player, Fernando and hand him the heavy ax. It was always after Fern had just finished playing this long great guitar-solo and after he had teased and thrashed his guitar across the stage long enough!

He then would take the deadly ax from LD and get to work aggressively on his whining-guitar, which would eventually meet it`s ill fate ending up totally demolished high above his own head, it`s body pierced by the ax`s spike, with the neck still hanging from the strings accompanied by screeching guitar sounds coming from the speakers!

You can`t imagine how the crowds went berserk each and every time...it was scary, hilarious and much fun for all.

Part of an old tradition sees bands and crew members playing pranks on the last day of each tour...and this was no exception.

So, on our last night, still guesting with Def Leppard on our Headhunter tour, LD, our enormous tour manager, goes into the dressing room to change into his Henchman Costume, but, while he was doing so, one of the crew locked him in as was planned!

No problem, LD was armed with a huge ax which he immediately put to good use and made it onto that stage just in time...after first demolishing the dressing room door of course...ha ha ha ha ha! That`s one of the stories that easily sticks out in my head.

Krokus in 1983

You've clearly toured all around the world. What was touring like during the '80s and how is it different compared to how bands tour today?

We always preferred a night-liner to planes where possible because of the socializing and comfort factors involved. Of course we spent much time in cool hotels and enjoyed spending our days off at these huge Malls or Theme-Parks. We were into roller-coasters, good movies and good restaurants a lot. Nowadays we tend to fly much more but still enjoy some good old night-liner rides. I guess that`s how it is for a lot of bands today.

Tell me about the current state of Krokus.

Krokus is basically composed out of a bunch of old school rock`n`roll buddies who saw it fit to reunite after being apart far too long.

Each musician today totally respects the other, first for the music, then for the rekindled old camaraderie created over thousands of road miles, as much as the realization that the band will be celebrating 40 years since coming into being! Together we fought many fads and trends trying to stay true to the core, to keep our own identity ! Of course there were slight deviations...but these were mere intrusions of the times!

Today we are living what destiny has confirmed to us. That it was worth getting back together to reform the class of 1982. We`re are more or less the same hard working team that put so much energy..blood, sweat and tears into the band`s music and playing it around the world.

Today we sound close to where we left off in 1988 with the HEART ATTACK album...but with an additional and fitting touch of blues. Both our albums HOODOO and DIRTY DYNAMITE, released after the big reunion concert of 2008 here in Switzerland, helped us regain immense worldwide recognition...and the respect from our old hard core fans simply grew.

Our latest 2014 release, the "live" album LONGSTICK GOES BOOM! proves once and for all that we are a live-force to be reckoned with, so we`re back to where we started really, or maybe even further...truly amazing, but we are at the ready!

You almost became the singer for ACDC after Bon Scott died. Please tell me about that process, and do you have any regrets for not taking that job?

Had I accepted to turn up for an audition, I honestly doubt whether the lads would have been looking for someone who sounded so close to their dear Bon really. My loyalty to Krokus was too big then already anyway, so, absolutely no regrets.

Fill in the blank: If I could go back in time, I would ______________.

Never not follow my instincts again.

What is the most surprising thing you ever received in the mail from a fan?

I once received this beautiful velvet pouch containing this shining polished-crystal necklace. There was a parchment saying the crystals had been exposed to many full moons. I lost it somewhere along my travelling way.

If you actually did "Eat the Rich," what would it taste like? 

Well, I hate to go out of context and hope this does not shock you BUT according to the diaries of marooned survivors who forcibly resorted to cannibalism (they ate some muscle of their dead colleagues) for survival reasons, human flesh tastes like chicken!