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November 25 marked the worldwide debut of Rough Cutt's first single, "I Believe", from their upcoming cd "Sneak Preview". The beautiful, textured and powerful strains of I Believe were heard worldwide thanks to a live stream of the show via the website, www.thetourbus.com
I Believe is set to be a fantastic reintroduction of Rough Cutt to the public, and will be buoyed by the release of the accompanying video clip which apparently has 27 "very hot" dancers in it. Can't wait! Along with the premiere of the song, Paul and Sean did a phone in from the road, talking about the new band and also passing on some of their favourite "tour bus" stories. Between toilets and groupies on leashes, a few laughs were shared!
It has also been confirmed Jimmy will be playing charity shows together with the rest of the band on Sat. Dec 2 in San Diego at Etta's Place.
Well folks, it sure has been a few years since I’ve done any kind of writing, so here I go!
I will tell you that I am a “new” fan of Rough Cutt’s, so I am going to be telling you this from a “virgin’s” standpoint so to speak! My friend Jennifer and I got Pink E’s at around 10pm. We grabbed a table close to the stage and watched the opening band perform. Not too bad.
Then at around 12pm Rough Cutt hit the stage! Now I am hoping that I am giving you the right song/set list. They started with ‘Take Her' and followed with a new one called ‘This Must Be Love.’ The new song rocked. This makes me look forward to the new album/cd!
After that, Paul introduced Sean and let the audience know that they had played together years ago with Quiet Riot and Badd Boyz. This led them into ‘Stay With Me Tonight.’ Great song! They followed with ‘Hot and Heavy’ then another new one that Paul wrote for his beautiful wife Carmen ‘I Believe.’ Then they went in to ‘Lightning Strikes’ and yet another new one called ‘I Can Feel The Rain.’ I really like their new material a lot! So hopefully their new cd comes out soon.
They started ‘Dress To Kill’ and Paul’s son Paul (Jr.) came up on stage to belt out some vocals too. Like father like son they say. He has got an excellent voice. It would be foolish for Paul Jr. not follow a singing career. Just a fantastic voice!After the great vocal duet/debut, they played ‘Speak Your Mind.’ This will also be on their new release too. Last but not least, they almost ended with ‘Bad Reputation’ then decided to do a cover from Aerosmith, whom Jimmy Crespo played with, ‘Rock In A Hard Place.’
For being a newcomer to Rough Cutt, I was very impressed. The vocals and the band as a whole were awesome. After the show, the guys all hung around to sign whatever and talk. Also I would like to say Thank You to Carmen, it was great to meet you also! I did manage to pick up Paul’s solo cd, ‘Stand or Fall.’ It rocks as well! Looking forward to a show closer to home now! C’mon Phoenix!
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Walking into the club while the support band was on I kinda knew it was going to be a pretty cool night when we ran straight into Carmine Appice, Bobby Blotzer and Joe Leste. Pretty decent batch of followers there! Along with the other 14,000,000,000 people that were there (well, okay, not THAT many but the place was pretty damn packed).
As soon as Rough Cutt hit the stage there seriously was a sort of magic that just rolled out at you, dragging you into a place you knew you had to be for the rest of the evening. "Take Her" was just so powerful and it was obvious the guys were having a great time on stage from that very first song. "This Must Be Love" was the first "new" song they played of the night and the updated version has just as much emotion and punch as the very first one did. The :::ahem!::: "cover songs" ("Lightning Strikes", "Stay With Me Tonight" and "Rock In A Hard Place" just kicked ass! Watching Jimmy Crespo play could REALLY frustrate an upcoming guitarist because the guy makes it look SO DAMN EASY to play. You watch him and say to yourself, "Hey, I can do that!!" but no, sorry, YOU CAN'T, just resign yourself to years and years worth of working on it right here and now. I have the demos of "I Believe", "Speak Your Mind" and "I Can Feel The Rain" and while they're all good songs in their original forms the new gloss the guys have given them just make them 10,000 times stronger. "I Believe" is the song that Paul Rodgers and Mick Ralphs wish they had written and "Speak Your Mind" just has a groove to it, that's kind of funky and "flower child-ish" at the same time. Strange description but if you strip away the crunchy guitars and play open chords that's probably what comes across (or I'm just weird ,who knows?!?!? LOL)
Drummer John Homan has built up a reputation over the past few years as an upcoming hotshot drummer (isn't he like 23 or something???) and I got to witness why first hand. The guy must have a metronome inside of him, he's so "on" that it's scary. Practically bouncing his sticks off the ceiling and not missing a beat is also pretty impressive.
Bassist Sean NcNabb, after such a rough couple of weeks / months dealing with the Great White situation, was obviously very much thrilled to be in a fun atmosphere and great working situation once again.
Then there's the guy that sounds like a female black soul singer holding it all together, keyboardist, JT Garrett. Listen closely to JT sing live whenever you get a chance. I swear, he sounds like he could have been one of the Supremes or something! Anyway, a fantastic show all around. the only disappointment (for me anyway) is that they didn't play "Piece Of My Heart". C'mon Paul,
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!?!?!!?!?!??!!
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from left:Paul Shortino(lead vocals), Jimmy Crespo(guitar), JT Garrett(keyboard), Sean McNabb(bass), John Homan(drums)
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The Shack is a small club on the south side of Orange County. It's about 15 minutes from my house, so I'm able to frequent this venue. I've seen many established acts there, but never before have I seen what the new Rough Cutt did to this place.
After the preliminary bands had gone off stage. RC's road crew unloaded a truck full of extra lighting and sound equipment. What seemed like a small army of men put together a stage that was suited for a WWF main event. In addition, They inlisted the help of two extra men, A profesional sound man (Great White's) and a lighting coordinator. Rough Cutt was in town, and they meant business.(Although, someone who will remain nameless forgot the custom Rough Cutt banner.) :~)
The band sounded great. Even though they haven't played together that long, all of the extra rehearsal time they put in sure showed. It was great to hear some of the old songs again, but an unexpected surprise was Paul's solo/acoustic version of Dreamin Again. His voice still sends chills down my spine.
Another suprise was a song that Jimmy wrote with Aerosmith called Rock in a Hard Place. Sometime a group musician get together and there is one song that everyone fall into a zone with. This was it! It was as if these 5 men were meant to play this song.
Paul and Jimmy are the next Page and Plant...Simmons and Stanley... Chips and Guacamole. You've heard it before, so I'll talk more about the new guys. Sean rocks!!!!!! He was having a good time and it showed. From the old stuff to the new stuff Sean was right there. His stage presence is incredible. I'm not sure how long he'll be around, but he fits in perfect.My hat's off to the new drummer John Homan. This guy is Metal to the bone!!!!!!!!! It's been while since I've seen a drummer with such a massive kit; It took four guys to put this thing together.
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We were saddened and shocked to hear of the loss of Cynthia's son Jason, who was tragically killed in an accident this past Saturday, and we send the Crespo family our love, prayers and thoughts at this time of grief. All who knew Jason spoke nothing but positively of his friendly and charming character and demeanour, and he will be sadly missed by all. You can view the Crespo's statement and some pictures of Jason on the Tribute to Jason page*********************************************************************
All musical engagements for the Rhythm Junkies have been temporarily cancelled due to the tragic circumstances, a statement will be made at a later time.
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Special guests will be Krunk, who feature Rick Springfield's touring guitarist Dave Whiston.
The Rhythm Junkies have been hard at work in the studio working on the upcoming release "Sneak Preview". We'll keep you updated as to release dates as soon as we get them here! Stay tuned!
It has been announced Jimmy will be headlining with Paul Shortino and the Rhythm Junkies at the Ultrasound Concert/Trade Show/Conference on Friday and Saturday, May 27 and 28 at the Alexis Park Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Also playing in the melodic hard rock showcase will be acts such as Ken Tamplin, Michael Morales,Velocity, Cage, Guild Of Ages, Enertia and Towne Cryer XXI. This is especially a great opportunity for any of you who are players or in the music industry to see Jimmy, Paul and the Junkies play, as well as catch up on all the latest happenings in the biz at the show....
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Hey Everyone,
I got to spend the day with Paul in the studio on Tuesday. His new stuff Kicks Ass!!!!! This material sounds totally different then anything on Stand or Fall; It's rock with a capital R. I loved the blues CD, but it's great to hear Paul's voice Screamin again!!
He wrote and plays acoustic guitar this song called "I believe." It starts out as a ballad, then just rips into this really heavy riff that just grabs you by the... (Well, you know were i'm going with this) :~)
Oh, there is also this song (Carmen... help me with the name) that is based on the teachings of the Kama Sutra. It has almost a Alice in Chains-ie kind of hook to it; It's my favorite!!!!!
I saved the best for last; I got to see Jimmy lay down his lead tracks. OOOOOOhhhhhwww MMMMMyyyyyyyy GGGGGAAAAWWWWDDD!! Watching Jimmy was an experience for me. His playing blew me away. It rocks harder then anything he did with Aerosmith!! You could feel what he was doing. Once again, the word is flawless. Thanks again, Carmen & Paul. You guys rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EAGLE ROCKED!!!! Last night's Shortino/Crespo & and the Rhythm Junkies show was at an intimate club called Topper's in Eagle Rock, California. It was the perfect place for the musical experience I had last night. It was more then a show; the band is preparing to enter the studio, and used this as a warm-up gig. The atmosphere was very relaxed, and celebratory.
As soon as the they hit their first note, you can tell this was going to be a special night. The band was out to have a good time and it showed. Besides doing some material from Paul's "Stand or Fall" disc, and some new stuff from the up-coming CD, they also did many cover tunes. From Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" to Free's "All Right Now." I know this sounds very normal, however I'm not a big fan of classic rock. Nor, do I like hearing bar bands cover them. Last night was different though. Here was a group of accomplished musicians playing the songs they love; every song came from the heart.
There were people dancing by their tables, playing air guitar, and signing along with the band. As I walked around the club during the bands breaks, I could here everyone raving about the band. Something I found humorous was that some people were coming up to me and asking "Who are those guys." They were just there to party and the entertainment was the band of the future.
Just to give you a idea of how much fun the band was having. during one of the songs, each member did a solo. (You know, just to show off a little.) Well, when it came time for Paul to do his solo, He blew into the mic and imatated playing the trombone. The crowd was loving it and Paul had them eating out of the palms of his hands.
When you listen to Paul on CD you hear one of the greatist singers ever. What you don't get is getting to watch one of the greatest front-men work the crowd. I can go on and on, but this is getting way to long. the facts about last night are simple. Paul rocks... Jimmy is flawless...and the junkies jam! It's a team effort that makes this band Kick ass!!!!!**************************************************************************************************************
First of all a gig date:
Jimmy played a killer set with Paul Shortino at the NAMM convention in LA, an acoustic set at the Taylor guitars booth which brought in many new fans as well as giving an opportunity for old fans to catch up with Jimmy. He was rapt to meet a lot of you out there, some who had travelled from around the world for the convention and who had even brought their copy of "Rock In A Hard Place" with them! Amongst others that Jimmy caught up with at the show was friend Jack Douglas, producer of RIAHP. Jimmy's parntership with Paul has been going fantastically (is that a word!) well, and footage from the NAMM show could be seen sometime soon in an upcoming video clip...
Also in contact with Jimmy lately has been Marge Raymond. Marge was the singer in Flame and has since cut out an established singing career for herself, and still has a few tricks up her sleeve to reveal yet! Could we see something new from the old Raymond/Crespo writing partnership? What ever happened to that Renegade stuff? Hmmm...maybe sometime we'll see! We'll keep you up to date with any the news.
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Jimmy has finished up work in the studio on an album with Mary Dolan, also working with Josquin des Pres and John Mattux. The as yet untitled album is set for an American Spring/early Summer release....if you want to catch Mary and Jimmy playing tracks off the new album you can see them play at:
Friday, January 28th, 6-8pm
3175 India Street
(619)296-6789
21 and up
Jimmy is currently enjoying his new position in Paul Shortino's Rhythm Junkies, the band soon to play at NAMM at the Taylor Booth. The nasty bout of flu travelling across the U.S. right now has lead to a cancellation of a recent photo shoot, apparently some members being mistaken for red nosed reindeers left over from Christmas photo sessions....
The good news though is that the band is looking at shooting some videos, one video being a song off of Pauls Stand or Fall cd and the other will be a new song called "Speak your Mind". (This is news to at least one band member!) Stay tuned for a possible upcoming interview with Jimmy and Paul at www.melodicrock.com !
Further news on Jimmy's arrival with Paul Shortino was heralded in Beat Magazine in Melbourne Australia. News travels great distances! If you see more news,let us know!
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Possible International tour with Paul Shortino!
Jimmy has recently been playing gigs with some of the top musicians on the West Coast at L.A's Zodiac Club.Amongst those who have joined in on jam session which have lasted for over 4 hours were Mike the bass player for Pat Benatar, keyboardist Ed Roth, drummer Joey Covington (formerly with Jefferson Airplane and founding member Hot Tuna), Paul Shortino(Vocalist formerly of Quiet Riot), Bill Steinway (formerly keys with Chaka Khan ) and Vince Bilbo (formerly bass with Coco Montoya, now with Eric Burden and the New Animals). The events staged by Lawrence Freiberg and Don Grenough have been highly successful, and have prompted Paul Shortino to call on Jimmy for touring as part of Paul's Rhythm Junkies, which may yet include a tour taking in America and Japan!
Jimmy is currently entering into pre production work with Mary Dolan in San Diego on an album which is set to sound "really rock".....stay tuned for more news soon!
Jimmy also appears playing guitar on the new Lisa
Sanders release "Life Takes You Flying", a fantastic
album with some beautiful songs. Highlights include Lisa's
beautiful vocal harmonies combining with Jimmy's own magic of a
six string variety on "This House" amongst many other
rich and soulful numbers which blend Jimmy's electric playing
with the acoustic melodies of Lisa's unbounded talent. Check it
out at www.lisasanders.com
.