The rhymers, producers and players in Honeypot have a slew of
new projects in the works. The musical rap project Soul Colossal opens for Illogic at Musica (51 E. Market St., Akron) on Thursday, July
2. Soul Colossal features MCs Chaka and Gator rhyming over beats by
Corey Farrow, who created the tracks with his fellow members of Akron’s
Low in the Sky, Joe Minadeo and Pat McNulty. The project’s self-titled
album is available as a free download from Akron microlabel
Patternbased, at Patternbased.com. The Honeypot crew’s
next slated release is Rap Crack, the result of sessions with
Rubber City producer Probeatz. Both Chaka and Gator hope to
finish solo mixtapes this year, and they’re working on a record with
1NTC Productions’ Franchize.
Nationally touring, Chicago-based Metallica tribute band
Battery has a new James Hetfield: singer-songwriter George
Hartwig, who also fronts Cleveland’s Megadeth tribute Degameth. “It
actually means good things for Dega,” says Hartwig. “I can get us on a
lot more tag-team shows with Battery.”
Akron singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur, who was discovered by
Peter Gabriel in the mid-’90s and has released seven albums since
then, is among the musicians featured on Summer’s Kiss, a
new tribute to Cincinnati’s Afghan Whigs. He performs “Step Into the
Light.” The album also features Cincinnati-based Wussy and Seattle
music legend Mark Lanegan, whose latest project, the Gutter Twins, is a
collaboration with Whigs frontman Greg Dulli.
Cleveland’s Uno Lady has been tapped to perform at the First
Annual Denver International One-Man-Band Fest on Saturday, July 11.
Check out the bewitching, raw-nerve one-woman electro artist at
myspace.com/unolady.
Six years since its last record, Cleveland’s 2nd Half is
chipping away at a second album. Ben Schigel (Chimaira, Drowning Pool)
is mixing. On Thursday, July 2, the power pop-rock quartet plays the
Pedal to the Point benefit for the Multiple Sclerosis Society at the
Hi-Fi Club (11802 Detroit Ave.)
Rap talent can compete for a performance slot at September 19’s
Ohio Hip-Hop Awards on Sunday, July 5, at the Phantasy Nite Club
(11729 Detroit Ave., Lakewood). Doors at 9; admission $10. Find more
info at ohiohiphopawards.com.
This article appears in Jul 1-7, 2009.