Jeff Reagan of Catalyst wows the crowd at Big Mama’s Karaoke Café Saturday during the ongoing Battle of the Bands competition in Seymour. Photo by David Grimes
Brief showers delayed the action for a few minutes, but it was no deterrent to the competitors who came to rock.
Saturday’s tilt in Battle of the Bands action in Seymour saw four more
talented groups make their bid for the massive store of prizes up for
grabs in the summer-long contest held at Big Mama’s Karaoke Café and
sponsored by Tennessee Productions, Inc. and the South Knox Seymour
Times.
Catalyst, the first of the bands to take the stage, wasted no time by
immediately upshifting the early evening crowd with their mix of
southern-tinged rock.
Hailing from Philadelphia, TN, the four-piece roared into Seymour to
lay claim to the prize, trading on their guitarist/vocalist frontman
Jeff Reagan’s Ben Affleck-like good looks and plaintive growl. Serving
up a slate of original compositions with straightforward changes and
brooding lyrics, the band concocted a chemical brew made up of
influences as widely varied as Metallica and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“We’re trying to stir something up,” said drummer Chris Liddicoat, and
like their name, he and his bandmates hope to “put it together.” “We’ll
add the ‘catalyst’,” broke in guitarist Michael Worley, and, as bassist
Brian Maxie finished, “get a reaction.” The band hopes to release a
recording in the next six months.
Following sharply on their heels came Self Centered, a four-piece
alt-metal/rock outfit from Greeneville. Sporting a compositional style
reminiscent of Primus, songs like “Blood Like Water” cast eerie echoes
over the appreciative audience before raining down fire with joyful
mayhem.
In what was the evening’s most unusual entry, the three members of Malignant Christ brought an edginess rarely seen in Seymour by dealing a dose of death metal to a somewhat stunned crowd.
With roils of smoke curling up behind bassist Zebulon Rouse’s
whip-fest, the dual BC Rich guitar attack of Brandon Von and Lena
Johnson no doubt curled a few hairs in the crowd.
“We take a lot of negative energy from our personal lives and turn it
into positive energy through music,” Von told the Times. “You have to
love it [music] to do it.” The group has a solid slate of bookings
throughout the rest of the year including a date at the Longbranch with
an unholy host of other death metal bands, and credits their followers
with their success so far.
“We’re nothing without our fans,” said Von, who shares songwriting and
composition duties with Rouse and the seventeen-year-old Johnson.
“We’re like the musical incarnation of ‘The Exorcist’”, Von said.
The closing act of the evening, Mercury Moon, brought things back down
to earth with a style that brought to mind an updated take on Elvyn
Bishop. A three-piece rock combo from Knoxville who enjoyed their first
public performance in more than a year Saturday, the group turned in a
warm and engaging set.
With most tunes turning around the trebly riffs from Avery “Atom
Clutch” Beeler’s buff bass work, the clear chiming and laconic solo
style of Eric Reed’s guitar melded seamlessly with the crisp thump of
drummer Brad Wikston. Clearly having fun, the band was not just eager
to break out into the public eye once more after their hiatus, but
veritably champing at the bit.
“It was a blast,” Wikston told the Times after their well-received
performance, and indicated that their breezy style was a result of
their approach to songwriting. “We try to let the music breathe and
leave some space in it,” Wikston said, augmented by Beeler’s
rhythm-guitar sensibilities and pickwork on the bass, and Reed’s
affable onstage demeanor, a clear extension of his offstage personality.
The Battle rages on next Saturday with another sterling lineup of
regional talent at Big Mama’s Karaoke Café in Seymour. As always, music
lovers are encouraged to vote for their favorites online at www.karaokecafe.com,
where you can listen to each group, view videos of their performance,
and download the hot tunes onto your computer or favorite handheld
device.
