Get WEST BY GOD songs for FREE!

Just heard that Morgantown's WestbyGod had made their 2007 demo available over their Myspace as free downloads. If you ever wanted to know what it would sound like if Clutch started running moonshine, this might be it.

Check out their songs and check out WBG @ 123 Pleasant St. on St. Patty's Day. Cool Hillbilly Proud show scheduled up there.

Cool new WVRockscene banner!

Thanks to Brian Pickens of Thred for making this killer new header for our little blog here! We had noticed his artwork for the band, and also the Mounti wear shirts that he designed.


























Anyone interested in getting hooked up with a shirt, just send $15 American dollars plus yer size and return address to:

Brian Pickens
56 Highland Ave.
Morgantown, WV 26505

Doctor Senator, The Apology, and Lost Kause need help

We get hollered at frequently about helping a band in some way. Hardly ever can we do anything at all to help. Sorry.

But sometimes we think that we can help, and so when we heard about St. Albans' Doctor Senator (not Bill Frist) and Charleston's Lost Kause and the Apology needing help -- we got something rolling...

Doctor Senator needs a drummer, and The Apology and Lost Kause each need a bassist. If you meet any of the following criteria email them asap...

The Renfields open for Michale Graves

We just heard that The Renfields will get to open for Michale Graves April 18th @ The Monkeybar! Support Team Transylvania, and contact the band if you're interested in getting tickets for the show. Yes, they're doing the Pay to Play thing.

photo: James Hamrick

The Concept announces CD release dates

The Concept recently announced the release date(s) and details for their new CD "The Empire Penguin Strikes Back" --
5.30 @ The Blue Parrot (Dave's Birthday), 10 p.m.
5.31 @ The LaBelle Theater (All-ages), 7 p.m.

From what we've heard it's gonna rock. It won't be such a horrible idea, like the last CD was.

IN THE STUDIO: The Stonewall Jackson 5ive

To celebrate Presidents Day, we thought we'd clue you into new music from The Stonewall Jackson 5ive. The Morgantown band is set to release a new CD around April from what we read on the latest SJ5 blog. And from what we've surmised, you get five songs from five dudes for just five bucks!

And yes we know Stonewall Jackson was for the confederacy, and was consequently never president. Whatever, check out the band.

SHOWS: Feb. 2/21-3/8

Much like we had done for Graffiti for a while, we want to start posting show schedules for a two week period. Only difference is, we'll have way more info than those goons. And we don't mean to offend any of our goon friends by that remark. And we know that The Glass isn't in Huntington, btw.

THU 2/21: Joey Allcorn @ the Glass; Jeff Ellis Singer/Songwriter night @ the V Club

FRI 2/22: '85 Flood CD release party @ 123 Pleasant St. with special guests The Emergency; Buckstone @ The Empty Glass; Shorthrow @ The Sound Factory; Zeroking w/WCM @ the Parrot; Blue Million @ Taylor Books

SAT 2/23: Rose City w/The Deviltones and Pro-Death Rally @ The Blue Parrot; Jubal Kane w/Diablo Blue @ the Glass; Down In Flames fundraiser @ Garys Good Times, Alum Creek, 8 p.m.; Larry Keel and Natural Bridge @ VCLUB; Luke Jivetalker @ Marley's Doghouse; Zeroking w/WCM @ Paradox Rift; Joe Prichard Band with The Greens and Andy Iafrate @ 123 Pleasant St.

TUE 2/26: Shannon Murray @ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 520 Kanawha Blvd. W. at 7 p.m.

THU 2/28: Red Wanting Blue @ The Empty Glass; Jeff Ellis Singer/Songwriter night @ the V Club

FRI 2/29: The VooDoo Katz @ the Glass; 3FT w/TCL @ the Parrot;Unknown Hinson w.The Bible Beaters @ VCLUB

SAT 3/1: 3FT w/Billy Carri Band @ the Parrot; Me and the Machine @ the Glass; Its Birds @ 123 Pleasant St.; The Lonely H @ VCLUB

TUE 3/4: Hoods, End of Humanity, Jumpin' Baldhead Jesus and Karen Page @ Yesterday's

THU 3/6: Chuck Biel's Punk Jazz @ the Glass

FRI 3/7: Jazzam @ the Glass; Treasure Cat w/The Greens @ 123 Pleasant St.; J Marinelli @ Side Pocket Pub in the Mountainlair, 8pm; The Red Velvet w/fervor @ V Club; Red w/Crimson Rising and Anna's Arson @ Club Echo; Lowborn, Lost Chapter, Stapled Mouth Shut @ Yesterday's; Todd Burge CD release party @ Blennerhassett Hotel Ballroom, 7:30 pm

SAT 3/8: The Greens @ the Glass; Dog Soldier w/One Hundred Hurricanes @ the Parrot; Blue Million @ Capitol Roasters

Check out the links for more info. Always use payday loans responsibly. Don't be like us; use them to go to a show or something.

Bud Carroll & the Southern Souls 2.15 @ the Empty Glass

We finally got to catch Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls at
The Empty Glass this weekend. Check out some footage...

Mark Bates and the Vacancies 2.15 @ the Glass

Mark Bates and the Vacancies opened up for Bud Carroll Friday night at the Empty Glass.

Alan Griffith covers Hasil Adkins

You read that blog title right. Boone County's own Alan Griffith has recorded a version of Boone County legend Hasil Adkins' "No More Hotdogs" on Madisontown, a comp-benefit CD set up by the Jay Hill Foundation. Read more about it at the latest Blue Million blog.

And if you're in Madison -- the town -- tonite you can see Blue Million at Clyde's 19th Hole.

CD REVIEW: "Toolshed Shangri-La"

CD: "Toolshed Shangri-La"
ARTIST: '85 Flood

'85 Flood's new 10-song release features bluesy garage rock with killer solos and thoughtful lyrics sung with a West Virginia accent. Opening with "Ballfields & Cemetaries" and "Times Like These," "Toolshed" sets off rockin', but the best nuggets are found in the middle of the CD.

"Ghosts of Cabell County" is a spooky rockabilly number about haunted West Virginia hills. We're pretty sure lead guitarist Adam Van Scoy lost his mind on the solo. It's hard to pick an actual "best song" off a CD but not in this case...

"Kill Our Idols" is a thoughtful, carousing bar-ballad about historical idolcide. From Brutus and Cesaer to Judas and Jesus, up through Dimebag Darrell on a "bloody Ohio night," clocking in at over six minutes, it's a song that will likely have lighters up in the bars. Singer-guitarist Aaron Hawley sings in his rugged, raspy voice on the chorus "Don't you know we all wanna kill our idols/more than we want to go livin' like disciples."

These two songs make the CD worth checking out by themselves.

The CD was ably recorded and mixed by Mark Poole at Zone 8 Studios in Granville. With over 41 minutes of listening to do, you'll like what you hear on this CD. Too bad you think of a killer flood.

The band is set for a CD release show at 123 Pleasant St. in Morgantown 2.22 with The Emergency. A show not to be missed, and a CD worth checking out.

SHOW FLYERS: 2/16-2/17

Cool show art we come across, we post...

CD Review: "Stone Age Kicks"

CD: "Stone Age Kicks"
ARTIST: J Marinelli

Remember cassette tapes? Depends on how old you are, we guess. But we can, and not getting hooked up with a copy of the limited release Stone Age Kicks by Morgantown's J Marinelli was a mistake on our part. Now there are no more to buy.

But wait, we have good news. Like all smart operators, Marinelli has turned this limited availability into what we think will be increased demand for this 16-song release from 2007. He's made it available for you as an exclusive free download at his latest Myspace blog.

We had procured copies of Pity the Party and Keep It Fake, each more scrumptious than the last, with the latter seeing heavy rotation on our mp3 player, if that means anything. On this most recent release on Little Sailor, Marinelli takes up all the instruments (geetar/drums/harmonica) he uses by himself and belts out covers of some of his favorites.

High points (for us) include the sullen "Winterlong" by Neil Young; the bitter "Dead Flowers" by The Rolling Stones; and each of the songs we'd grown accustomed to hearing from The Pixies, including "Wave of Mutilation" and "Head On," which is a Jesus and Mary Chain cover. You knew that though.

The only cover that misses is Marinelli's version of "Hey Whoopy Cat" by Morgantown's The Emergency; seemingly understated and overdriven simultaneously. We say that just cuz we're big fans of theirs, having snatched up copies of How Can You Move? and the most recent "Doo-Lang Doo-Lang," which features the high energy Cheap Trick-esque "Whoopy Cat"

But don't take our word for any of this. Click on the link to the download, and give it a listen yerself. If it's your first time listening to Marinelli you'll be well served.

And oh yeah, he's definitely way more DIY than you.

Paradox Rift: worse than the Sound Factory?

We got a lot of feedback on our "Pay to Play" post from bands and fans. The goal of it was basically to raise awareness and issues related to how bands are treated -- for better or worse -- at some area venues, or by area promoters.

One of the things we thought it would be nice to offer is a platform for bands to tell us what they honestly thought of a venue, and how they operate, etc. We got our first "band review" sent to us over the Myspace by a band member from a band which had recently went out to Paradox Rift in Huntington.

Here's what we were told, under condition of anonymity:

"Everything good I said: take it away!

It's one of the worst ran bars, man.

From the second I walked in, the lady bugged me about where our sold tickets were. The people who run that place are complete MORONS! The sound guy was terrible; it's worse than The Sound Factory.

They give the headlining band 1/2 of the ticket money and a % of the door, which wasn't shared with any other band and after that the lady said "If you want to get paid I suggest you book a headlining show."

We don't care about getting paid at all, we'd rather gain one new fan at every show, but we hate being treated like that! Plus, the clientele at that bar is HORRIBLE -- they were dicks. So I had to pull a "Fat Mike" if you will, and either people left because of our sarcasm, or they laughed.

Not a good night."

THE RED VELVET news!

You heard it here first!
Actually, you could've read about Huntington-based The Red Velvet's upcoming shows and CD release party on their Myspace page.
That's where we first heard that the four-piece was back with shows, a CD release show and an appearance in Charleston at the WV Music Conference thing in June.
Their self-titled, 6-song debut impressed the people at WVRockscene so much with their piano-tinged, atmospheric indie rock stylings, we thought we'd clue the public into what's going on with these guys.
More to come...