Long
Island-based indie powerhouse Koch Records recently announced the signing
of Within Chaos, a hardcore metal act based in Ft. Worth, Texas, to a worldwide
four-album deal. The band's first album under this deal is as yet untitled
album and will be released this fall.
Within Chaos has previously released the album What Doesn't Kill You in 2006,
and has toured throughout Texas and the midwest with the likes of Unearth,
Walls Of Jericho, God Forbid, and Trivium
Koch Records president Bob Frank stated, "Koch Records continues to strengthen its base in the metal world with the signing of Within Chaos."
Whether this is good news or bad news depends on your ear, and, of course, your cable bill: Long Island multimillionaire and CEO James Dolan – you know, chairman of Madison Square Garden and president and CEO of Cablevision – is up to his old musical tricks, once again fronting his glorified blues/rock garage band called JD & The Straight Shot.
However, unlike most real blues musicians who struggle to find work in small clubs, Dolan can pretty much buy himself any stage he chooses. Last year, The Straight Shot opened for The James Gang on that legendary band's comeback tour. This year, Dolan and his gang will once again open as Joe Walsh performs at North Shore Theatre at Westbury on August 9. Dolan's band got a nice response at the same theatre last time, but it was clear that many in the audience didn't have any idea the singer was the same guy who, as sports fans put it, "ruined the Knicks."
Well, now you know. Let's hope you respond appropriately at the upcoming
North Fork show.
– Syl Nathan
Long Island-based singer and songwriter Lisa Itts recently released a new
album, Sourcerer, which is available now. Itts has built a strong fan base
with performance with her band, Solstar, as well as solo performances at venues
such as Jessie's Lip Smackin' Roadhouse in Merrick.
Itts is a veteran area musician who has performed and recorded with such luminaries as guitarist and producer Larry Mitchell and members of Ric Ocasek's band. For more information, log on to MySpace.com/lisaitts.
Baldwin's Straylight Run seems primed to make big noise on a national level. The Needles The Space on the Republic label was released June 19, and is scoring solid radio airplay around the country.
The band – vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Michelle DaRosa, drummer Will Noon, guitarist John Nolan, and bassist Shaun Cooper – celebrated the release of the new 13-track disc with an album release appearance at Looney Tunes in West Babylon. The band has set out on a national tour that will bring them to several states, and will see them return to the area for the Nassau Coliseum stop on the Vans Warped Tour on August 4.
Trashed On Fiction a hard-to-describe rock trio from Miller Place, reportedly
has been holed up working on a new full-length album, their first recorded
work since etheir 2005 EP Show Me Show You.
The new album, with the working title of Lawns & Gardens, will no doubt have a release date announced in the coming months. One of the songs tentatively slated for the new effort, "The Passing Perfect," can currently be heard on the band's MySpace area, of course at MySpace.com/trashedonfiction.
