Silver Xtreme - Buffalo, NY

Update 5/27/12: Patsy Silver and Dottie Kenney: Variety Show
A show devoted to the universal language (music), controversial issues, community activists, and entertainers of all kinds... because we can.

Silver Xtreme With A Twist
What a crazy fun show with our very special guests Homer Frump, Guido, Officer Finn Flannigan, and one of Buffalo's top bands Silver Xtreme....Joe Cristofanilli, Johnny D., Tommy DiVito, Andrew Kuhn, and of course Patsy Silver! Thank you to all of our guests for making us laugh and keeping us insane!
Click here to listen to Silver Xtreme on the Patsy Silver and Dottie Kenney Variety Show http://www.thinktwiceradio.com/patsy-dottie/audio/120527a.mp3

http://www.silverxtreme.com/

Bass Player Magazine

6/12 issue featuring Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, great mag for anyone whos into any facet of bass playing, reading this mag will make any bassist a better player. Great pics, gear reviews and CD reviews as well.
www.bassplayer.com

Embalmed "Rebirth"

New Embalmed "Rebirth" CD art.
Jimi Nichols mastered this CD.
Dennis Glinski sings backing vocals on "Beginning Of The End - Vigil Anti"
"Angst" wrote the lyrics for and sings vocals on "Pray For The Dead".
Jim Osieja wrote the lyrics for and sings on "Dumb Love Limp"

Click on these links to find out more about Embalmed and how to get your copy of "Rebirth"
www.enbalmed.info
www.reverbnation.com/embalmedband

Thank You Ed!

Rachel Stephanie

Hello my name is Rachel Stephanie.
- Please Check Out My Facebook For More Images!! - 
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001259134436
I am a 21 year old aspiring model trying to gain as much knowledge and skill as possible about the fashion / modeling industry. I am currently attending the University at Buffalo with a focus on art as my major. I also plan on transferring to a school for fashion design and business to further myself in this career and industry. I am a 5’ 3” ball of explosive energy when it comes to doing a shoot I put all effort into creating great shots and expect the same from the photographer this is a dream of mine since I can remember. The passion I have for this will show for itself when you work with me. After all I am a small town girl trying my hardest to make it in this big industry.. I do enjoy having all eyes on me and being the center of attention but, I don’t let an ego get the better of me and I take criticism to heart I find it extremely helpful in my growth and appreciate all feedback
A few other notes I would like to make are that I do have a personal hair stylist/ MUA that will attend shoots with me at times, but not always available.
*Also, please know that I do not do nude shoots of any kind. Do not pry at this; it’s out of the question.
*Other than that I’m up for the challenge to do anything else.
*I will also do reference checks on all photographers and models that I will be working with only to see work ethic and how well interaction with others is.
*I do this as a source of income also so I do expect compensation of some sort. I do TFCD at times, but that depends on duration of the shoot and the demanding aspect of it. I will seek paid assignments.
*before the shoots please have the information ready to 
-MUA
-Hair Stylist
-Where
-When
-Theme of Shoot
*This is so everything will run smoothly as possible and there will not be any unexpected problems from the start.
*One last thing please know that when you work with me we BOTH have copyrights to the images.
Thank you for viewing my page and my portfolio and hope to work with you in the near future!
-R.S.

Fashion Shows

• Designs and Dreams 3 Fashion Show

• Heat 6 Fashion Show
• Designs and Dreams 2 Fashion Show
• Heat 5 Fashion Show
• A Taste Of Fashion Presented By Bales Clothing 
• Fantasy In Fashion Presented By West Coast Club Life 
Contests

• Winner Of NCBB's 2010 Contest On 97 Rock

All promo copy taken directly from Rachel's http://www.modelmayhem.com/1378848 profile page.
Click on the model mayhem link to find out more about Rachel.

Thank You Rachel! 

Jim Crean "Velvet Crush" CD review

Jim Crean "Velvet Crush" CD review

For those of you out there not familiar with Jim Crean he is an award-winning, Buffalo-based hard rock/metal Lead Vocalist who recently released a full-length original music CD called "Velvet Crush" on the Melodic Revolution Records label. Jim was gracious enough and I was thankful to receive a promo copy of the Velvet Crush CD to feature on my blog. Thank You Jim!
Jim also plays music in the greater Buffalo area with Hair Nation, an 80's hair metal tribute band.
Click on www.jimcrean.net to find where The Jim Crean Band and Hair Nation will be performing next and how to get your copy of "Velvet Crush".

"Velvet Crush" is Jim's third solo CD release, he has also appeared on 12 other critically acclaimed CD releases, most notably on KISS, Cheap Trick, Ace Frehley and Enuff Znuff tribute CD releases.
Jim's music can best be described as melodic hard rock with a strong 80's influence. Strong, catchy hooks, layered vocal harmonies and sharp, crisp, melodic guitar solos.
If your into 80's hard rock music like Poison, Great White, Aerosmith and local favorites Talas than you'll love Jim Crean's "Velvet Crush".
"Velvet Crush" is a CD that highlights Jim Crean's clean and melodic vocal stylings. Jim was influenced by Phil Naro, Robin Zander and Steven Tyler. Jim pulls all these great influences together and sings in a unique style of his very own.
Jim's vocals dominate these hard rock tracks and they are out front in the musical mix. Jim and Emmy award winning vocalist Phil Naro collaborated on 10 of the 12 tracks on "Velvet Crush". Phil Naro is a former member of the Buffalo based band Talas and he is a current member of the hard rock band D Drive. All of the musical performances are strong on "Velvet Crush" and the bass guitar has a distorted sound, similar to Billy Sheehan's signature bass guitar sound.
"Velvet Crush" is a unabashed, AOR, commercial rock and roll record.

The opening track "Taste Of Reality" starts off with a groovy, hard rock rhythm track. The lead guitar jumps out of the sonic mix with a cool Hendrix inspired backwards tracked lead guitar solo. The bass has a fuzzy sound which is mixed perfectly as not to over enhance the distorted sound. The vocals, vocal harmonies and guitar solos are sharp, crisp and mixed expertly by Steve Major, who by the way performs most of the guitar, bass and all of the keyboards on "Velvet Crush". Like all the songs on "Velvet Crush" the chorus is catchy and if you listen to the song more than once like I did, you'll probably get this song stuck in your head for awhile.

The 2nd track is a cover of the Mitch Perry penned, early 80's, Talas classic "Crystal Clear". I applaud Jim's choice on covering this song. "Crystal Clear" is a great rockin' song that never hit the mainstream when it was first released way back in '83 on the Talas live concert record "High Speed On Ice". Billy Sheehan, Phil Naro, Mitch Perry and Mark Miller performed on the original version. Jim does an excellent job on the vocals and Steve Major also does a great job on lead bass on Jim's version of "Crystal Clear". But, you must understand that I cut my rock and roll teeth on Talas, I saw and heard Talas perform this song live, dozens of times in Buffalo. Again, I applaud and appreciate Jim's version very much, but I prefer the live Talas version. Hopefully "Crystal Clear" will get the mainstream attention it deserves when the hard rock audience hears it on Jim Crean's "Velvet Crush" CD. (How about a version of "Lone Rock" on the next CD Jim.)  

"Make It (A Fine Line Between Love & Hate)" sounds like a song you could've heard on FM mainstream radio anytime between, hmm, let's say 1978 to around '91. The song has a very top 40ish sound to it, almost like...dare I say...a Richard Marx song. Very polished and well produced. Of course Jim Crean has alot more of a rock edge to his music than Richard Marx ever did, I'm just using that particular name as a reference point to describe the sound and feel of this song. This particular song has the potential for mainstream mass appeal if it's promoted correctly.

The next song on the CD is one of my favorites on this CD. "My Heart Breaks Down" was written by local legend Billy Sheehan. I'm glad Jim included this song on "Velvet Crush" because I've never heard it before. The song has a great, heavy, rock edge to it. Jim's vocal performance on this track is excellent, one of the best on this CD. By covering this song Jim is once again acknowledging his strong Buffalo roots.

"It Couldn't Get Any Better" has a hard driving, rockin' groove. The lyrical content is all about sex. I'm certain the fairer sex will absolutely love this song...in other words, the chicks will dig it.

The 6th track, "Daytime Friends (Nightime Lovers)" is another song about, you guessed it, sex. This song is similar in sound and feel to the 3rd song on this CD. I could be wrong, but the lyrical content and the commercial sound and feel of Jim's music seems to be geared toward the female rock audience.

"She Goes Down" (She Go Down) is a great rockin' track. This is my style of hard rock, of course Jim kicks ass on this song. Once again it's a song about S E X. This song is similar in sound and style to AC/DC and Aerosmith, one of the better songs on "Velvet Crush".

The 8th song "Never Made It Through" has a loose and sleazy rock groove and feel. The verses sound loose and sloppy like a classic Aerosmith song. Almost like it could fall apart at any second but the song never does. This song is my favorite on the CD. The loosely tight verses lead into a great hook. The chorus is very strong and melodic, a perfect counterpart to the laid back rockin' groove during the verses. The bass figure is sweet to listen to. Some of the sounds on this track reminded of the Black Crowes/Stones and Whitesnake. Great Song! I'd love to see this song performed live.

The 10th track, "Redlight", is another hard driving rocker, one of my faves on "Velvet Crush". The drums on this track are very solid and they carry this song along perfectly. I expected to hear a ripping guitar solo but instead a cool, trippy keyboard part goes down instead. The absence of a guitar solo places more emphasis on the keys and the strong vocals Jim belts out on "Redlight". Of course, Jim, once again, sings great on "Redlight". The vocals are aggressive and strong.

The next song, "Colleen" is similar to the 9th track "Melissa", it's another love ballad that is dedicated to Jim's biggest supporter Colleen Mastrocovo. I believe Colleen also plays drums for Hair Nation.

The last song, "Past Tense" is a rockin' acoustic guitar based song. The acoustic guitar track is great. This is another song that could be a hit if it's promoted correctly.

CD Credits:
Produced by Phil Naro and Steve Major.
Jim Crean - Lead Vocals
Phil Naro - All Background Vocals/Guitar
Steve Major - Guitar/Lead Guitar/Piano/Percussion/Keyboards/Bass
Glenn Nash - Drums
Stan Miczek - Bass
Don Mancuso - Lead Guitar
Recorded at Moonraker Studios - Toronto, Backroom Recording Studio - Toronto, Glass Mountain Studio - Toronto, Lady Starlight Studio - Buffalo, DWM Productions - Buffalo and The Porta Plant Studio - Rochester.
Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Steve Major.
Vocal Engineered by Dan Monroe.
CD Art by Ed Unitsky www.edunitsky.com
Management Backstage Productions
Goto www.jimcrean.net to find out more about Jim Crean.

Thank You Jim and Melodic Revolution Records!

Doug Yeomans "Down To The Roots"

The Doug Yeomans Band consists of

Doug Yeomans: Guitars and Vocals

Jim Ehinger: Piano

Harry Stinson: Drums

Alison Prestwood: Bass

This CD was produced by Phil Dillon and Doug Yeomans

Recorded and Mixed by Phil Dillon at Nickel City Music in Nashville, TN

Special Guest include Ronnie McCoury, Mike Henderson and Pete Huttlinger.

CD photos by Deborah Yeomans

All music copyrighted by Doug Yeomans 2005

Thank You Doug!
Click on www.dougyeomans.com to find out more about Buffalo guitar legend Doug Yeomans.

Highwire - Buffalo NY

Highwire is a Hard Rockin' Metal band from Buffalo, NY that have recently reunited and are once again entertaining audiences on the club circuit. Highwire features the 6-time award-winning guitarist Kevin Blakita. Highwire recently played The Tralf in Buffalo with 2 other all-original bands. I'd like to say Thank You! to Kevin for the tickets. I was glad to attend and take pictures of all the bands that played that night. Highwire can be found on the Facebook. I'm still waiting to get my hands on a Highwire CD, anybody know where I can get one?...

Highwire promo flyer courtesy of Highwire's FB page.

Rick and Kevin rocking out!

Rick Reczek Lead Vocals.

Kevin Blakita on Electric Guitar.

Kenny Brown plays Bass.

                                                       

 

Dan Metz on Drums.

                                    All live shots are from The Tralf original
                                          music showcase show, taken by JTell fotos.

Brian Mancuso "I Remember Marcy Hill" CD Review

First I'd like to Thank Brian for submitting his CD for review for my music blog. Thank You Brian!
After listening to Brian's 1st CD release it's obvious that Brian is a talented individual who can write songs about and draw inspiration from life experiences that he's had. Any serious musician/songwriter will tell you that any life changing event or important happening, be it good or bad, in one's life is great to use for song writing ideas. That is if you can use that raw emotion and create songs from it, not alot of musicians can do this, Brian obviously can.
Brians music is piano driven and mellow, not exactly what I'm into but still good none the less.
Not alot of guitars or solo playing here, just straightforward songs with emotion filled lyrics.
The first song "A Brand New Day" is about a reconnection with an old friend. I liked the guitar playing on this song.
"Marcy Hill" reminds me of Bruce Hornsby at times, this song is my 2nd fave on this CD.
"Heartbreaker" is written for a friend and missed opportunities at a coffee shop.
The 4th song "New York Blues" is written about dealing with depression.
"Ghosts And Demons" is my fave song on this CD, but it's not because of the title. I like the piano figure that brings this song in and the keyboard break, this song breathes more than the rest. There's more musical space in between the lyrics.

Brian Mancuso is a multi-talented musician and songwriter. This CD sounds like a great beginning to a long and very promising musical career. With a little more experience and musical seasoning Brian should be a great singer/songwriter in no time.
Being a guitarist and bassist I would love to hear more guitar and more musical spaces between Brian's lyrics on his next CD. A couple of piano and guitar solos here and there would add a whole new element to Brian's passion filled music.
After hearing Brian's 1st CD I'm excited to hear Brian's next musical project, I'm sure it will be great!

CD credits:
 Brian Mancuso, Piano, Vocals and Guitar. All Music Copyrights.
 Gaia Miranda, Guitar, Bass, Cello, Production, Recording, Mixing and Mastering. Great Job Gaia!
 Alison Voight, Drums on Tracks 4 & 5.
 Chris Fecio CD Art.
 CD manufacturing by www.cheapcdduplications.com
 Check out Brian Mancuso on the web www.reverbnation.com/brianmancuso