We finished some new songs in the studio! Check em out. “Hair Burst Blooms Red”, “Serial Killer” and “Story Over” all have me on them, rocking the guitars.
My band RIKSHA is opening the show.
That’s right, our friends over at Jagermeister have delivered for us big time. They got us an opening slot at the ROCKSTAR UPROAR festival in Salt Lake City- This show is going to be huge. Definitely the biggest show I’ll have played to date.
The line up is pretty epic. Headlining the show we have DISTURBED, STONE SOUR, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and HELL YEAH, as well as Hail The Villain, New Medicine, Airbourne and Halestorm. These are all huge bands! Everybody I know better show up, this may be the biggest show of my life!
We’ll be throwing out tons of merchandise, Riksha stuff, Jager stuff, free cd’s, demos, singles, everything. For more information, go to our official website: www.RikshaBand.com
You can also check RIKSHA out on Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and more. All the links are there on the official site.
For tickets to the show, go here: http://www.rockstaruproar.com/saltlakecity
For other information about the show and the bands performing, see the profiles here: http://www.last.fm/festival/1564546+Uproar
I know, I’ve been falling behind on the updates. Give me a break. I’ve been building an empire, which is quite time consuming. Anyways, a lot has happened with my band. We’ve officially been endorsed by Jagermeister, and cut our name down from Jezus Rides a Riksha to just RIKSHA. The reason for the name change is simple, just for easier promotion through our new endorsement.
The TOUR. I posted about our July tour a couple months ago.. All of that has changed. RIKSHA and A Balance of Power are no longer going to New York for the TMT Metalfest. Instead, we’re going to the metal CAPITAL– Texas. It’s actually a pretty scattered route we’re taking. Here are the tour dates that are set so far- we’re likely to add a few as well before we leave:
JOIN THE REBELLION TOUR 2010
Jul 7 2010 The Abyss Salt Lake City, Utah
Jul 8 2010 The Icon Pocatello, ID
Jul 9 2010 Jesters Helena, MT
Jul 10 2010 The F.O.E Billings, Montana
Jul 11 2010 The Palace Missoula, MT
Jul 15 2010 Kamikaze’s Ogden, UT
Jul 16 2010 The Mesa Theater Grand Junction, Co
Jul 17 2010 Pt’s Inferno Lakewood, CO
Jul 22 2010 The Curtain Club Dallas, Tx
Jul 23 2010 Trophy’s Austin, TX
Jul 24 2010 Midnight Rodeo 3 Abilene, Texas
Jul 25 2010 Dos Amigos Odessa, TX
We’ve also got a couple dates we might be lining up in Vegas and Cedar City shortly after we get back from this tour too. Busy Busy!
Lastly, aside from there being these major changes in the band, the most major of all is that RIKSHA is now a 4 piece. Our friend and rhythm guitarist Kidd has left the band on mutual good terms, and will be pursuing other opportunities. Kidd is a great musician, and the best of people. Go check out his band Life Has a Way (LHAW). They put on a killer show.
One more thing. RIKSHA has some big news to announce.. But I can’t mention it here until it’s completely set in stone. Stay tuned.
My buddy Kidd (the other guitarist for Riksha) has a band called Life Has a Way (LHAW). They’re totally bad, I recommend checking them out sometime. I’ve made a flyer for their upcoming show at Bar Deluxe in SLC.. it’ll probably be a good one. Kidd has great on stage antics, and really knows how to get the crowd going. Not to mention they’ve got great tunes, my favorite being the punk metal masterpiece “Trifling Girl”. I think the also have their new album in duplication as we speak. Pick it up!
Anyways, at Bar Deluxe they’ll be playing with the Derby Misfits- a bunch of chicks on roller skates who play misfits songs, in which the words are changed to a roller skating theme (haha), Heart Shaped Box- a great cover band that plays all Nirvana favorites as well as other great grunge rock songs from the time. I saw them once at South Shore Bar, and was actually quite impressed. The songs they played reminded me of how music used to be GOOD. Lastly, Autumn Eclipse- this is a trio of siblings with a couple other guys who know how to bring the crowds and keep people involved with their engaging stage presence, and a lot of people dig a chick singing for a ballad rock band, to boot.
Life Has a Way (LHAW) at Bar Deluxe 5-21-10
I went to the Public Image Ltd concert at The Depot in SLC last night, and must say, wow. Johnny Rotten (54), who was pioneering modern music before I was born, brought the thunder. From what I could tell, the lineup consisted of former and original members including former Sex Pistols front man John Lydon (Johnny Rotten, vocals), Lu Edmonds (bass, keyboard, various instruments), Scott Firth (guitar, keyboard, banjo w/violin bow and a little key-tar thing that you blow into haha he tore it up) and Bruce Smith (drums)- bringing all the attitude, political ranting, Christianity bashing, 11 minute epic song of noise grooving- delivering all I expected and more.
The highlight of the show for me, was when they tore into Albatross from their Metal Box album (also older than me) without warning at the end of the previous song. “GETTING RID OF THE ALBATROSS.. SOWING THE SEEDS OF DISCONTENT” he pointedly speaks. Awesome.
Johnny Rotten of Public Image Ltd at The Depot SLC
By the end of the set, myself and my woman friend had migrated up to front and almost center- close enough to be spat upon. His rantings between songs were great, asking if “8 years of Bush in office had made us all marsh mellow heads” and commanding that “tonight we should burn that tabernacle to the ground”. I could tell that his uncensored disdain of religion right here in the heart of Mormon-ville wasn’t going over too well with some of the audience members- which is fine, because he also mentioned that “if you don’t like what you’re hearing, the exit is that way”. I’d think that anybody who knew anything about Johnny Rotten would know that he’s quite outspoken about governments and catholics alike, and they probably wouldn’t be at his show in the first place if they found this offensive. I’m sure his pokes at Mormons were quite amusing to him, but he also mocked the Pope directly and Christianity in general- “Religion in Jesus Christ, Religion is cheaply priced” he rhymes going into the next song.
In the last song of the night, he commanded the sound tech to turn up the bass. He told the bouncers to leave, and asked the crowd if they were ready to DANCE. The song pumped loud. Louder, and louder. He made the crowd demand more bass as well, throughout, and a few minutes in the building was absolutely SHAKING. Bassist Lu Edmonds was rocking so hard I thought my head would explode.
In closing, Public Image Ltd. still rocks properly. It was amazing to see these relics of musical history, having never sold out, having never quit, playing for a crowd of 4 or 500, and executing it flawlessly. I wish mainstream music could witness REAL art like this, and take notes.
So South Shore Bar and Grill in SLC is closing down. I’ll have the honor of playing at the last live music event they put on there, which will be the Worlds Collide show. And this is where I show you all the sexy flyer I made for it..
Not too shabby, eh? Anyways, it’s gonna be a big show. 6 acts, show starts early at 8pm, and Kidd promises some live effects that are above and beyond what these bands usually put on. I know Jezus Rides a Riksha for one will be busting out some secret awesomeness..
Check out this powerfully sexy love machine. It’s made from Koa wood that was treated in the 70′s and has been drying ever since, only to yield enough for 5 guitars. That’s right. 30+ years in the making. This is one of the 5, each totally unique in design. The tag on this one? 10 grand. It’s already been sold, of course. Go to the James Trussart website and take a look around their awesome custom shop. Bring a change of underwear, too.
I was totally psyched out to go on after these guys played the other night. Werewolf Afro isn’t even the same genre as Jezus Rides a Riksha, but they were an amazingly professional band. Here’ s a video of them playing a Deep Purple cover at Club Vegas. Check out the guitarist Jeff Alleman (who is a totally cool guy in person, by the way) shred it up at 3:30-ish. They gave me a fat dose of classic blues rock with great energy and great tone. The song below isn’t really indicative of their original sound, which I would compare to the Black Crowes + more badass guitar licks.
Cheers to local bad asses Werewolf Afro.
