New band alert: Sun Umbra
Also the Fresno Fair lands Smokey Robinson and your weekly events calendar
Sun Umbra is a band with serious lineage.
Singer/guitarist Daniel Story Rice fronts the Visalia rock band Slow Season and has a folk/county outfit, Brim (which I just discovered, and will be diving into hard).
John Michael Tucker played in Beastmaker and was part of Haunt’s original duel-guitar attack. He also has a project called Sans Time with his brother.
Nick Navarro and Tony Montanez play together in the raucous Style Like Revelators, though Montanez seems to be mostly a drummer for hire and known to sit in with whoever needs him, including some jazzier friends.
Mike Adame was a founding member of the popular bands Fierce Creatures and the Light Thieves and currently part of Ultra Diamonds.
Brian Bakalian, moved back from the Bay Area where he plays with the band Brand New Trash and also The Stone Foxes.
“We’re all good pals and most of us have known each other and played shows together with our separate bands for 17+ years now,” Bakalian says.
“We’re all fans of each others music already, so once we started sending songs around to each other, we knew we were gonna have some fun with this stuff.”
So far, the band has only teased a minute of so of music, but they have been working on songs for an upcoming album that will be both a reflection of and a departure from the works its members have done before.
“This band naturally and pretty instantly had it’s own vibe, personality and tonal filter,” Bakalian says.
“We’re pretty excited about how new and different this feels.”
In the meantime you can (and should) see the band live:
Sep. 2 in Visalia, at the Homestead with the OC Hurricanes.
Sep 4 at Shaver Lak, for Rock to Rebuild Festival. The band plays at 5 p.m.
Sep 11 in Visalia, at The Homestead with Here Lies Man.
Big Fresno Fair announces second round of concert headliners
The Big Fresno Fair added another round of headliners to this year’s concert series, filling out what was already a diverse (if not relatively safe) lineup of performers.
If you’re following along, the fair already announced Anthrax (Oct. 6), Young the Giant (Oct. 7), Chris Tomlin (Oct. 12), Midland (Oct. 13) and Nelly and Blanco Brown (Oct. 14).
Now added are: Bell Biv DeVoe with Jon B and Maya (Oct. 8); Grupo Metal with Chris Pérez and Los Kumbia Kings (Oct. 9); Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos del Norte (Oct. 10) and Smokey Robinson (Oct. 15).
It’s not the most exciting lineup, but surely plays to what local audiences have been known to pay to see. I’m personally excited there’s a metal act in the lineup and wouldn’t mind hearing what Smokey does with “Tears of a Clown” these days.
The fairs runs through Oct. 17 and there are a few open dates left, so we should expect a final announcement soon.
Events list Aug. 30-4
Electric Six, 8 p.m. Aug. 31. Fulton 55. $15-$18.
In the End, Linkin Park experience, with Stoneshiver, 8 p.m. Sept. 3. Strummers. $13-$15.
Mac Miller celebration, 10 p.m. Sept. 4. Strummer’s. Free, 21 +
OC Hurricanes with Sun Umbra, 7 p.m. Sept. 2, the Homestead in Visalia. $10, 18 + email fuzzfambooking@gmail.com
Sissyfit and Sad Kwan Do, 6 p.m. Sept. 2 at Sour Milk. Free. All ages.
Rock to Rebuild, with Law, the Play List, Dying Suns, MKC and Sun Umbra, 5 p.m. Sept. 4 at Shaker Lake Community Center. Free. All ages.
That’s it for this week. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com