Call it self-empowered punk. In an industry rife with pity, apathy and odes to slackerdom, L.A.'s Dollyrots and singer Kelly Ogden crashed the national punk party last year with a bold three-word response to any who dared to scratch the spiked hair on their heads and wondered why they were there.
"Because I'm Awesome," Ogden asserts in an anthemic romp, the title track to the band's debut album on Blackheart Records. Ever since the daring declaration, entities from television and radio execs to colleges and department stores seem to agree. The "Awesome" tune has already graced small-screen hits Ugly Betty, The Simple Life and CSI: NY and was included in Kohl's national back-to-school campaign. And a recent honor bestowed by Sirius Satellite Radio and the Little Steven Underground Garage Show really appears to have wound up the Dollys of late.
"They named [the track] 'The Coolest Song In The World in 2007,' so I don't know where you go from there," says guitarist Luis Cabezas.
This Sunday, Feb. 17, The Dollyrots head to the Pushkin in Greenfield, headlining a show that includes Exit Reason, Us Against The Archers, Parking Lot Antics and The Fruit Bats. For more info, visit www.pdpproductions.com.
Also gracing Greenfield this weekend are contemporary country/bluegrass artists Katie Clarke and the Green River Band, who have chosen the city's Winterland Country Club venue on Hope Street to host their official CD release party this Saturday, Feb. 16.
The disc is titled Wrap Me In Green and was smartly recorded at Signature Sounds in Whately with Mark Thayer—the engineer for artists like Rani Arbo, whom Clarke's vocal style is often likened to.
Despite a noticeable green theme in both the band name and new studio product, Clarke recently revealed that the decision to celebrate the auspicious occasion at Greenfield's newest nightclub was more based on personal nostalgia.
"It's such a wonderful place that reminds me of many I used to go to in San Francisco," she says. "[We] really did spend a lot of time and effort looking for the perfect spot for this, and with Winterland, I think we have."
The other act warbling through Clarke's wondrous Winterland bill is opener Spancil Hill, which features Sean Burke and a man both Clarke and Green River's Charlie Conant cite as "the Valley songwriter [they] admire most," Desmond Burke.
Meanwhile, as a versatile employee of The Iron Horse Entertainment Group, with jobs from Mullins Center stagehand to Pearl Street barback to Calvin doorman, Dona Mazur was admired and well-liked by co-workers, patrons and performers alike. Mazur passed away suddenly at Cooley Dickinson Hospital on Dec. 22, 2007. This Monday, Feb. 18, local faves Spouse, Apocalipstick and Ella Longpre will express their appreciation for his services and raise funds for his funeral costs at a special Iron Horse benefit show.
In a similarly somber postscript to the Nightcrawler's previous report on The Webster Theater's Ben Wu, Wu's former roommate, Jeff Franklin, recently checked in to confirm the worst: "After an extensive search by the local police, U.S. Coast Guard, friends and family, it has been concluded that Ben accidentally fell into the water, and is presumed dead," states Franklin. Wu had been vacationing in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and was reported missing on Jan. 12. A website where friends can share memories and donate to an account that will dispense funds to charitable organizations in Wu's name has been created at www.benwufund.com.?
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