St. Louis-based blues rock artist Anthony Gomes played the Winter Blues Fest in Des Moines on February 9, 2018. The Toronto native and 2017 European Blues Awards winner for Best Musician, rocked the crowd with his ripping guitar solos and soulful lyrics.
Keep up with Anthony Gomes here.
Oak House played Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines on Friday, March 9. The indie-grunge 3-piece from Georgia put on a powerful and energizing set.
Moon Taxi rocked The Truman in Kansas City on February 17. It was the band’s final performance before a well-needed break after touring for several months. The resume their tour later in March.
Instant Karma put on a great show on February 15th at The Rino in North Kansas City. The guys had a great time and made the show a lot of fun to watch.
Matisyahu played to a full house on Wednesday, February 28 at Wooly’s in Des Moines. The genre-bending musician and his band thrilled the crowd of over 600 as part of the Forest of Faith tour.
Keep up with Matisyahu here.
On Friday, February 23, electric bass virtuoso and vocalist Shaun Munday brought his Conklin Classic 424 to Peace Tree Brewing in Des Moines. The crowd reveled in his soulful vocal delivery and amazing bass skills.
Thirteen years ago, Gibby Paul and Kix Mead, as University of Kansas students in Lawrence, formed the dream pop group Mammoth Life. They eventually relocated to San Francisco where they continued to play and record for several years. Now Gibby Paul has his own gig, expanding his vocal chops while still shredding on the guitar. The four-piece is already playing sets in the Bay area, shaking shit off the walls to warm folks up to their debut album, So Savage, set to drop this spring, with a big grin, on 4/20.
Two singles, with videos, from the LP have already dropped. The fun and raucous “Rock N Roll” was shot on location in the Pill Hill area of Oakland with a good dose of world-class air guitar. “Not the Only One” is a wonderfully trippy take on heartbreak, complete with vintage pop imagery.
Ideally, what would be the role of social media for Gibby Paul?
Social media for GP is to be a glimpse into my rock n’ roll reality. You know, like me getting loaded on speed, or pissing off the porch, or like ripping a Telecaster guitar and making it scream. Bong rips, chef boyar-D, passed out in a pile of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans…Taco Bell, cigarettes, LP records and teenage rebellion.
What elements of instrumentation have been essential to you throughout your career?
I love rock n’ roll. At this point in my career, I let the venues we play dictate the instrumentation that is essential to me with as few people as possible on stage playing. I like guitars, bass and drums. I like tube watts, and sub tones. Fuzz rock and dark rooms. I wanna bring it back to its roots.
Your video for “Rock N Roll” was filmed in the heart of Oakland, California. What do you like about the music culture there?
Oakland is the last of the old wild west. Grime and stickiness and sex and drugs all are prevalent and easily accessible here and are granted free flow. I call West Oakland and Pill Hill our rock n’ roll playground. ‘Cause you can have an awful lot of fun and a gorgeous stage to let the rock n’ roll commence and unfold upon. It is a beautiful and inspiring backdrop to score music to.
When will you be going on the road with your music? Any plans for a return to Lawrence, Kansas?
We will be touring on and off throughout all of 2018. I wanna say we will be back in LFK and KC, MO this summer.
What would you pay $1,000 to see?
If I had a thousand bones floating around, I’d buy another guitar.
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Learn more about Gibby Paul here.
On February 4th, The Dan Ryan made an incredible appearance at Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines, Iowa. Photographer Chad Bennett was there to clue us in on all the fun.
MO Fest gets better every year and this time around marked the fourth year of the Columbia, Missouri music showcase. Now with ten genres of music at two venues over two weekends, there’s something for everyone’s ears. On January 19 at Rose Music Hall, four bands, including Tidal Volume of St. Louis and Conman Economy of Kirksville, marked the addition of Missouri Alt Fest as the newest genre in the MO Fest family.
