Clouds on Strings

Clouds On Strings was formed in December 2008, when a dawn of prog awoke 4 sleeping souls from Chico. In August 2009 the fifth member, of violin flavor, was added and the band made complete. COS aspires to create a unique experience for any listener and to also rock. The debut CD and manchild of COS, "For You, For Me, For the Sake Of A Name", is now available for your enjoyment!

www.myspace.com/cloudsonstrings  

Blessed Deep (seattle)

We are a cool fuzzed out three piece rock band from Seattle. Dirty slow rock meets spacey harmonies. We want to play in your town...

www.myspace.com/blesseddeep  

French Cassettes (san francisco/ripon)

Press on French Cassettes:

Ripon band wins 45th Battle of the Bands
By Alan Fackler , CONTRIBUTOR
Article Launched: 02/10/2008 12:54:29 PM PST


Perched fearlessly on a stage before a crowd of more than a thousand, the French Cassettes are rocking the audience's world. The lead singer, dressed in a rainbow colored sweater paired with a large red bow-tie, is soulfully bellowing lyrics with an anguish and distain that sounds far too real, far too heart-felt to belong to the pipes of a 17-year-old.

"Hallelujah," screamed Scott Huerta, as the guitarist and organ player jam together in dramatic unison. "We scream louder. Hallelujah, we scream louder."

The band beat out 11 others from around the Bay Area Saturday night to take first place at the 45th Annual Battle of the Bands at Hayward's Chabot College.

The bands played a range of music that was as diverse as it was melodic. Billy the Kid, an alternative punk band from San Mateo played a power-chord infused, pre-teen angst punk set that would satisfy any die hard fan of early Green Day or Sum41.

For the hard core metal fans, Edge of Destruction brought exactly what their name entails, with a set complimented by heavy distortion, hard-core bass lines, thunderous guitar solos and fierce vocals.

But it was the French Cassettes, a group from Ripon, just outside of Modesto, that absolutely stole the show. Their music, self proclaimed as "French Pop", was stunningly orchestrated, deeply moving and heartfelt. The audience could not help but rise to its

feet as they humbly walked off the stage to a thunderous eruption of applause that was the loudest ovation of the night.

Think Radiohead, with the dramatic overtones of Queen, and the technicality of bands like Muse and Zepplin. It was almost impossible to believe that these musicians were teens.

The event has long served to give young musicians a chance to show their stuff.

"The purpose of all this is to have a family-oriented event that showcases young, extremely talented musicians who would never have the opportunity to play in such a large venue," said 41-year-old Roxanna Salinas, coordinator for the event, which is put on by the city's Parks and Recreation District.

Bands audition line before a panel of judges for 12 minutes, and the Top 12 are invited to perform at the finale.

Lloyd Stark, one of 12 judges, has judged the Battle of the Bands for years and actually auditioned with his band in 1968.

"This is to encourage young musicians," he said. "To every one of these kids, this is a huge deal. It's so great to know that music is such a huge part of these young people's lives. This is the longest running Battle of the Bands in California, and we're hoping to run it across the country."
The winners of the competition receive a plethora of prizes, including custom made Ovation guitars, free studio sessions, photo sessions with professional photographers, and, most importantly, an appearance at the "Impact Show" in 2008. In other words, the winners get a chance to make it in the industry.

According to Salinas, many earlier participants have done just that. Members of extremely successful bands like Yesterday and Today, Mr. Big and Tesla competed at the Hayward venue. Even the legendary Kirk Hammond, lead guitarist of Metallica, had his roots grounded in this show.

"Being up there man, it's like a natural high," said 23-year-old Sean "Killer Sexy" O'Kelly, bassist for the Santa Cruz band, Villains of Vinyl. "You sit back stage all night, and just wait and wait and wait. All you want to do is perform, and you're plagued by this positive nervousness. Then you finally get up there, and you become a totally different person. I get up there, and I become 'Killer Sexy.'"

As the night began to reach its end, the audience eagerly anticipated the results of the competition.

Taking second place was the charismatic punk band Billy the Kid, which played with confidence and enthusiasm.

In third place was the extremely technical, musically diverse band Suspicious Package, which rocked the stage with music that ranged from spaghetti western rock to surf punk, complimented with beautiful, lightly distorted guitar solos.

It came as no surprise, however, that the French Cassettes were first. They gathered on stage, hugging and laughing hysterically as the crowd went wild. They thanked the audience, they thanked their hometown, and, of course, they thanked "Matt's garage," where they practiced their music.

Good for You, an alternative/emo band out of San Jose, summed the night up quite well in the lyrics to one of their songs.

"This is the color of a brand new night," they bellowed to the screaming audience. "Where we light the fire and pray it will never burn out."

www.myspace.com/frenchcassettes 

Wicked Honey

Wicked Honey started when four students at CSU Chico joined their musical knowledge and experience into one throbbing stoma of sound. The members are as follows:

Will - Guitar - His musical interest started in second grade taking private lessons. Later in 4th and 5th grade he started playing saxophone, and in the summer of 8th grade he started guitar. He took lessons from blues master Ike Cosse who taught him the beauty of blues music and how to play with passion. Ike also introduced him to his biggest musical influence, Jimi Hendrix. Soon he began broadening his taste in music listening to blues, jazz, funk, rock, folk, classical, and anything else he could find at his local library. His passion for music grew exponentially and he soon started a band with Greg called Slaves to the System where they pretended to play Death Metal and bang on trash cans. This soon evolved and they improved their skills by together jamming as much as they could. He also joined the school rock band and as he played more and more, he fell in love with music more than ever. Now, he's studying music at Chico and playing in Wicked Honey.

Greg - Guitar - Greg is a fucking machine on guitar.

Alex - Drums - Alex used to live in a aquarium because of his passion for aquatic themed lavatories; fish and shell-shaped soaps, mermaid/merman plates on the door to distinguish gender, etc. Alex joined the band after meeting them at a birthday party at Q-Zar.

Toby- Bass - Plays bass and drinks.

- - local jazz drummer, music educator, and all around sparerib lover, Casey Schmidt, will be filling in for Alex while he's galavanting around Thailand - -

www.myspace.com/wickedhoneybandpage