Though they carry the name “Scorned” the hot quintet was anything but as they plied their sizzling sound Saturday at the Battle of the Bands at Big Mama’s Karaoke Café. Photo by David Grimes
Football occupied the minds of many on Friday night, but on Saturday the kickoff of note was at Big Mama’s Karaoke Café,
where four new bands marked the halfway point in the summer-long Battle
of the Bands series, hosted by Tennessee Production, Inc.’s family of
businesses and co-sponsored by the South Knox · Seymour Times.
Leading off a scintillating series of performances was Onyx Stone,
an alt-rock/metal quintet out of Middleboro, KY. Featuring a set
of all-original tunes, the five members dusted the crowd off with
a power-packed cudgel of rock.
Driven by the active fretwork of Jow Beanz and Jason Carey on guitars,
the outfit pushed a thump-and-chime sound through the audience with a
healthy serving of hearty gristle. Supported by the solid floor of
Dylan Frost on picked bass and Joshua Washington’s crisp percussion,
Dusty Owen’s Tool-like droning vocal complemented their fist-pumping
ballads with a blast-shelter bombast on spine-tingling refrains.
‘We’d like to thank all the great folks and fans who came out to
support us tonight,” Beanz told the Times. “It’s good to be playing
with other bands that have similar sounds.”
The band has just completed recording sessions for a new CD, “Beneath
the Willow’s Arms”, due out around the beginning of October, and are
now in the early stages of mixing and mastering the ten tunes included.
Next on stage, the hard rock four-piece In Erupt
spewed power chords like hot lava into the crowd. Featuring the
pyroclastic flows of Chris Hughes on vocals and guitar, the quartet
oozed molten metal over the state-of-the-art stage aided by the
full-throated roar of Joseph “Bob Nasty” Finley’s blistering lead
guitar and the cliff-diving swoop of Ernie France’s bass stylings,
while drummer Justin Cupp thundered down the mountainside with muscular
thump.
“Most of the time it’s a pretty accident,” Chris Hughes said when asked
about their creative process. They’ll start with a riff, then put
together a composition and add the lyrics from multiple members of the
band. “Most of it is very personal,” Beanz told the Times. Their new
CD, “Numb to Nothing” is in production now, and the Manchester, KY
outfit hopes to have it available by next month.
The creative process for Bone Prophet,
the Walland, TN Christian rock trio that followed, is often also a
matter of serendipity. “We might wake up at 3 a.m. and in about five
minutes, the song is finished,” Eddie Moles, guitarist and vocalist
said.
Joined by Randy Timko on bass and vocals and Eulice Adkins on drums and
vocals, the three-piece carved up sevenths and fifths under the waxing
moon Saturday night in Seymour, as their southern-tinged style of
swooping solos and syncopated rhythms pleased the “Boneheads” (as their
fans call themselves) whooped it up in the cooling air.
Shifting effortlessly between towering tight metal with rapid faithful
fretwork to major chord ballads with undulating phrasing, Bone Prophet
showed a serious approach to full sound and sincere optimism in their
rock-solid faith in God to the contest.
“We’re not really a band,” Scorned’s lead vocalist Will Greyson joked
to the crowd as they closed out the evening’s talent, “but we did stay
in a Holiday Inn Express last night.” But the performance the hard-rock quintet turned in Saturday showed the remark was a jape indeed.
With an outstanding dynamic range, Grayson and his bandmates displayed
a set of gut-wrenching rock in a short but wicked set, featuring
amphetamine fretwork and doubled-down distortion courtesy of guitarists
Danny Combs and Trevor Tucker. Holding down the beat, Jeff Burton
brought an intricate and flashy take to the bass guitar while Chris
Viles helped ignite the audience into a blistering blaze during the
slate of all-original tunes.
“This is a working man’s band,” Tucker told the Times as they related
their philosophy after the show. “We’re more than bandmates and
friends, we’re brothers and family.” That hard-working, tight-knit take
has stood the outfit through thick and thin. “We appreciate everybody
who came out tonight,” Tucker said. “If it weren’t for them, we
couldn’t do what we do. It’s sacred to us.”
Next week, yet another set of talented hopefuls will take the stage at
Big Mama’s Karaoke Café, to cast their hat into the ring and compete
for the awesome slate of incredible prizes that will be awarded to the
ultimate winners in two different categories. Join the growing crowd of
music lovers for another electrifying live set of performances at
Seymour’s premier entertainment venue, right on Chapman Highway.
You can check out performances from all the competitors, and download
audio and video from each of the fabulous bands to your computer or
favorite handheld device at www.karaokecafe.com. Voting is going on now, so don’t miss this chance to support your favorites.
