Alone in a Crowd - A Benefit For Howie at the Church

The following is a cut and paste from the "Alone in a Crowd - A Benefit For Howie at the Church" FB page:

Howard (“Howie”) Wallen needs your help.  He would not ask for himself, so we are doing it for him.

Howie played guitar with us in Alone In A Crowd 30 years ago.  He is now a macrobiotic chef, with a wife and a teenage daughter.  In the spring of 2017, Howie was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma: a slow growing tumor originating off of the auditory nerve between his inner ear and his brain.  The tumor affected his balance and ability to walk and caused right side functional deficits.  In May 2017, he underwent a 6.5 hour surgery that was supposed to have him back up and running in a month…

The surgery, which left him deaf in his right ear, did not remove all of the tumor… and it is growing back.  Howie now suffers from chronic debilitating headaches; loss of balance; cognitive, memory and speech deficits; a tremor in his right arm and hand;  vision problems; facial numbness; extreme fatigue, anxiety and, understandably, depression.    With these disabilities he cannot work, and that has hit his family very hard.  And, as the tumor grows, Howie’s symptoms will only get worse.  If left unchecked, Howie’s condition is fatal.  So, Howie must have another surgery, a 10 hour surgery, followed by radiation treatment. We can only hope that after this he will improve… but there is no guarantee.

Let’s let Howie and his family know that they are not alone during this ordeal.  After 30 years, Alone In A Crowd is getting back together again to play a one-time benefit show for him. 

The show lineup:

ALONE IN A CROWD

TERROR

PAGAN BABIES

MAXIMUM PENALTY

BREAK AWAY 

LET DOWN

SEARCH

NOWHERE ROADS

Listen to Alone In A Crowd (band Howie played in) from this YouTube video:

Check this video from Nowhere Roads (opening the show):

And listen / download the Mugface recordings here as LVA 031:  Mugface demo and practice session

Either Howie replaced me on guitar in the Mugface lineup or I replaced Howie. Neither of us can remember that far back (pre - Alone in a Crowd) !

Link to the FB page event page: Alone In A Crowd - A Benefit for Howie at the Church

If you want to help out whether you got a ticket or not visit: Go Fund Me - Benefit for Howie Wallen

Cheers,
FOE

UV Rays "Flowerhead"

UV RAYS

"Flowerhead"

Released: January 25, 2019

My email tends to get flooded with publicity type emails. The ones with downloads usually catch my eye and I give them my time. 

I received an email about UV Rays without a download. So typically, I would probably not even bother as I am already behind on things I want to review and help publicize without having to do additional "work" (hardly, this is one of my creative outlets that gives me great pleasure).

But two things caught my curiosity in those five seconds I give a band a chance in a "non-download" email:

#1 The band's name. UV Rays. Simply because I saw "UV" and my mind went to this other band I like, called UV Race. I thought, wonder if UV Rays know about UV Race?

#2 The charm in the photo of the band sucked me in:

The facial expressions of the band members on each end. The white boots, the tattoo just above the boot, the cropped hair, hoop earrings and just everything about Erica Warner's style. And then there is that spectacular mustache.   

So I clicked on the link for the video. (So yes, in this world of endless sources and options for your music, you just never know what will tickle someone's fancy and grab their attention to make them pause and investigate rather than delete and go on to the next thing). I suggest you click on the video below:

Oh my god. I just love this song. Love this video. Watched it a dozen times instead of going to sleep. Then watched it again.

I am taken back to when I used to see Velocity Girl and Superchunk live every other month. When I listened to the Swirlies "What To Do About Them" endlessly, even though I didn't really listen to that type of music. 

Drummer / vocalist Erica Warner, bassist / vocalist Tim Marchetta-Wood, and I believe guitarist / vocalist Adrien DeFontaine sound so perfect when they sing together.  The music just flows perfectly. It gels (a word which here means a project or idea that takes a definite form and works well)! Adrien, guitarist Danny Sullivan, Tim and Erica have enchanted (a word which here means filled with great delight) me with "Flowerhead". I look forward to hearing much more!

I'm not sure how to state this, but Erica rules. Not only does she have style, rocks the kit, sings in a distinctively appealing manner, but she also drops the f-bomb in the song. Killer.     

The charm, energy and hooks this band delivers makes me want to see them live! 

One of my favorite ways to spend my time is to share music I love with people who might also love the music as I do. Thank you UV Rays for giving me the opportunity to love and share your music. 

The band's debut EP, "Try and Begin", is due out March 1st. 

For now, download the three songs on their bandcamp page and tell them you love them as much as I do.

Cheers,
FOE

UV Rays FB
UV Rays Bandcamp