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Axeman Wanted
Deciding that one guitar just isn’t enough to carry out their mission of mayhem, Tri-Cities metal-core band SikSouls is seeking a second axeman to contribute to lead and rhythm duties.
“The ability to write and perform solos is preferred but not required as long as you can throw down a tight rhythm,” says vocalist Tom Cole a.k.a. Sik Tom. The band, whose sound and leave-no-prisoners stage show reflects the influences of Pantera and early Metallica, recently began receiving sponsorship from JÄgermeister, the adult beverage that sponsors about 150 bands across the country. Part of that deal requires the band to play a minimum of six shows per month, which means a lot of weekend travel and practice at least three times a week. No rest for the wicked, indeed. To prepare for the interview, wanna-be guitarists should check out siksouls.com, which features a taste of the band’s personality as well as some tracks from the band’s early days (although Cole swears their sound has become tighter and more aggressive since then). The lucky musician might also accompany SikSouls into the studio later this month. To pursue your metal destiny, email Cole at [email protected].
More Good News
Even though popular country music doesn’t flip our switch, we can’t help but be impressed when one of Nashville’s most stellar performers commits an act of charity in our neck of the woods.
Last week, Mark Chesnutt performed a benefit show for about 200 fans at South Knoxville Big Mama’s Karaoke CafÉ. The venue is the occasional location of special events hosted by WIVK 107.7. Past shows, by Pam Tillis, Mickey Gilley, Trick Pony and the like have been open to listeners who win tickets given away on-air. This time, however, the station solicited applications from local charitable organizations that could use the event to raise money for their cause.
The winning proposal came from Kodak Montessori Academy in the form of a fairy tale about a school that can’t afford its inflating rent, so it holds multiple fundraisers to buy its own place—a nearby church building. Once the remodeling is complete and everyone is ready to heave a sigh of relief, the fire marshal reports they can’t use the nine-room, 3,000-square-foot basement without a sprinkler system.
Diane Fox, secretary of the school’s board of trustees, wrote the tale, submitted it on Friday and got a call from WIVK on Monday. The school won out of 100 applications.
“It did not occur to me how huge a gift this was until the minute the concert started,” says Fox. “It was our own private concert with a country superstar. It was great!”
Through ticket sales, the school raised $5,000, which doesn’t completely cover the sprinkler system, but it’s the beginning of a happy ending.
Speak Out
With several Supreme Court justices on their way out, the possibility looms large that this country will witness challenges to the Roe vs. Wade decision, once again infringing upon women’s right to choose whether or not to bear a child.
American women can help raise awareness of women’s sexual freedom in other parts of the world thanks to Amnesty International and a few local musicians. For centuries, some African cultures have practiced ritualistic female circumcision. While some forms of the practice are cosmetic, the more extreme forms are tantamount to mutilation, resulting in the loss of the ability to have an orgasm, have sex, or even to urinate properly.
Amnesty International is holding a fund-raiser concert at Barley’s on Nov. 18 to benefit the Fistula Women’s Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which deals solely with the problem of female mutilation.
Much of the music will have a worldly feel, beginning with the much-loved masters of reggae, the Natti Love Joys. Jodie Manross and the Matt Morelock Trio will be performing Middle Eastern-spiced tunes. The highlight of the evening is sure to be the nine-piece interplanetary groove band, Band of Humans. Matt Morelock (of Matt Morelock Trio and Band of Humans) says of the latter band, “We have been called a cross between Frank Zappa, Phillip Glass, Captain Beefheart, and Captain Kangaroo...it’s a great classically influenced, yet experimental ensemble.”
The best thing about the evening is that 100 percent of the show’s proceeds go directly to the hospital. Says Morelock: “It’s a rare opportunity to be able to contribute so directly to a cause and a rare meeting of some great area musicians.”
—Paige M. Travis, Molly Kincaid
November 18, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 47
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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