A Couple of My Favorite Things....

Hey everyone... I've been so fucking busy lately but I've come up with a new time management plan and I should be posting regularly again!  It requires getting up at 4:30 am, but at least this way I'll have time to write.  Good thing I'm a morning person!  Anyway, I've been itching to talk about two of my very favorite Indie music artists.  I've written blogs/reviews for both these groups in the past but this summer and fall I was fucking lucky enough to see them both perform live!

I'll start with C-Leb and The Kettle Black because I caught them live first in August at the Summer Meltdown festival in Darrington Washington.  Yeah...that's how much I love these guys - took the ferry over to the mainland, crossed the border, drove 3 hours there and back in one day to catch these rockers blow up the fucking stage!  And of course they didn't disappoint!

Let me refresh your memory, C-Leb and The Kettle Black are an urban blues band from Seattle Washington.  The first time I heard one of their songs, I fucking couldn't run fast enough to buy their album.  Between C-Leb and Jesse's writing talents, C-Leb's strong vocals, Jesse's slide guitar, Sandy's bass lines and Jazz keeping the beat on his skins, these guys have got it fucking goin on!!  Not to mention they are all fucking sexy as hell!  

The boys weren't headlining the festival and being Indie artists they are still making a name for themselves.  I watched them start out performing to a fairly small crowd, but as their set progressed I wasn't surprised to turn and see the crowd had substantially grown and were calling out for more!  And more is what C-Leb and the Kettle Black gave to us!  They surprised us by performing a new song for their encore - Flat Black will be on their next album....(rumor has it, they're working on it now!  I can't fucking wait!!)  Holy fucking shit!  I thought I couldn't love these boys more but this song blew me the fuck away!  Needless to say, I was very happy I made the trip!

The boys were great too!  Though they were busy with putting away their equipment, and they had their families there, they were still kind enough to take a few minutes to talk to me... and oh yeah, I got hugs too - score!  Every one of their songs is a favorite of mine, so it's hard to pick and choose one to share... I'm gonna share Guilty with you, but be sure to head over to their website at c-lebsounds.com to check out more!  You won't be fucking disappointed!

The second band that I had the opportunity to check out was Cupla!  I couldn't wait to ferry over to catch their show in September in Vancouver at the Princeton Pub.  And again, I was not disappointed!  Like C-Leb and The Kettle Black, I've been a fan of Cupla from the first time I heard them.  Everybody who knows me, knows I love all music but my heart lives in hard rock and blues.  Another thing that attracts me is originality... well, Cupla has originality all wrapped up with a fucking bow and their blues riffs drive me wild!

I was curious to see how Cupla would sound live.... Tricia McAloney has that sultry low voice and I wondered if the music would overpower her in a live show.  Turns out that I had nothing to be fucking concerned about.  They sounded even better live than on their CD (which I love, by the way).  And this was in a small pub with not so great acoustics.  What I wouldn't fucking give to hear them perform in a Theater Arts center, such as the Esplanade in Medicine Hat.  I bet they would blow that fucking place up!

Not only do I love Cupla's music... I love Cupla.  Bobby and Billy McAloney could possibly be two of my favorite people alive.  These are a couple of the sweetest guys I've ever met and considering the life these two young men have lived so far, it is surprising.  Just another argument for how expressing yourself through music is healing and therapeutic.  Tricia is beautiful and cool, Brando is a sweetheart and Andrew is sexy time!

Another thing to love about Cupla is how they are willing to stand up to bullies!  My Stand, the song they wrote and performed to shine a light an age old problem that has been tormenting our children for as long as I can remember is touching, beautiful and relevant.  It means more to me than they can possibly know.  I moved around a lot as a kid and almost every year I was the new kid.  The new kid gets bullied a lot, believe me!  If you haven't heard it, please check it out now...

To get more information and links to all their music, please visit Cupla at www.supernova.com/cupla1.  Not only are they my heroes, they are a hell of a lot of fun to do Tequila shots with too!  I can't wait for the next time.........; )

Callin The Kettle Black

Don't you just fucking love it when you hear a song for the first time and you connect with it immediately?  You can't help but move something, whether you gotta tap your foot, your hand, bob your head or do what I do ...all of the above, plus shake my ass and clap my hands.  That's the reaction I had when I heard C-Leb and The Kettle Black for the first time!  The song was Can't Get That Low and it fucking rocks.  You gotta take a listen....

I tend to get a little excited when I hear new music that I like.  I buy at least one album a month, sometimes more.  I have to limit myself though...a limited income plus the fact that like everybody else I have other shit to buy too... you know, like concert tickets and tee shirts and such.  But when I come across a band like C-Leb and The Kettle Black it doesn't matter how many albums, tickets or tee shirts I've purchased that month...I will buy their album immediately after hearing that one song.

And holy fuck baby, I am so glad I did.  The Kettle Black only took one listen to become one of my all time favorite albums.  It definitely ranks up there with The Black Crows ~ Shake your Money Maker, Dire Straits ~ Brothers In Arms, Lynyrd Skynyrd ~ Pronounced 'Leh-'nerd 'Skin-'nerd...these were also albums I only had to listen to once to fucking love them.  To be ranked as one of my favorite albums means that I will listen to this album over and over again until it is emblazoned in my mind.  I'm well on my way to having The Kettle Black synced onto my brain's internal mp3 player.  That way if my plane ever goes down and I end up stranded on that deserted island, with no power to plug in my devices, I will be able to listen to their album in it's entirety in my head.  In my opinion it never hurts to be prepared.  Take a listen to some more tracks below, you'll see what I mean...this whole album is fucking awesome!

C-Leb and The Kettle Black consist of C-Leb - amazing vocals and mouth harp, he's so fucking cool; Jazz Turnbow - keeper of the beat and very fucking sexy, I'm gonna ask Santa to bring me Jazz this year for Christmas; and Jesse Strasbaugh - killer slide guitarist, I love Jesse, Jesse has serious playing and writing skills!

C-Leb and The Kettle Black hail from Seattle and like so many Seattle bands and musicians before them (Jimi Hendrix, Heart, Nirvana, Pearl Jam just to name a few) they have reinvented music to make it their own, only this time in the form of Urban Blues.  Their soulful sound gets into your bloodstream pumping adrenaline throughout your entire body, taking you over and filling you with energy and excitement.  The lyrics are smart and honest and speak of the everyday difficulties of trying to get fucking by or in the case of Hott Mess of just trying to get fucked (sorry, couldn't help myself *giggles*).

I am so glad I got to hear these guys early... and the chance to connect with a couple of the members personally.  These guys are currently unsigned and taking the Indie route.  I don't think that's gonna be the case for long.  Somebody has got to recognize the huge talent these guys present and offer them major dollars to make their music.  I am going to name drop like crazy when these guys are huge... and oh yes, they will be huge.......... ; )

Visit C-Leb and The Kettle Black on their official website and catch all their links here ----> http://c-lebsounds.com/