The song may be more than three decades old, but even now, when musicians play a local watering hole, they know there’s a good chance someone will yell out “Freebird” at some point. Plucking even the opening arpeggio of 1971’s “Stairway to Heaven” at any given guitar shop will elicit more daggers and eye rolls than a season of Real Housewives. And drummers … forget about it — the threat of spontaneous combustion looms in the air heavier than the Aquanett, thanks to Spinal Tap.
But the latest — albeit lesser known — rock cliche seems reserved for frontmen and has everything to do with the current state of television programming.
“Yeah, all of us singers have people who come up and say we should sing on American Idol,” Orange Crush vocalist Scott Lawson explains. “What few of them realize is that most of us on the club circuit are too old to qualify. But I did some research and found out that The Voice is actually much less restrictive. And that they had auditions coming to New York City earlier this month — an opportunity I promptly registered for.”
In an audition process that lasted a total of two and a half hours, Lawson says, the crowded cattle call was quickly whittled down to a room that contained himself and about 10 other hopefuls at New York’s Javit’s Center Jan. 25.
“We took turns singing solo a capellas,” he says. “Half the time, our judge was looking at his laptop when people sang. I managed to keep his visual attention during my rendition of ‘People Get Ready,’ but I had a sense they were looking for a particular style that hadn’t been discovered yet.”
While neither Lawson — nor anyone in his group, for that matter — received a call back, he considers taking part in the process exciting and enlightening.
“Plus I got to hang out with good friends, eat good pizza, see some live music and make a few business connections,” he says. “Basically, [it was] a great excuse to party in New York.”
Despite hearing similar Idol chatter, local solo acoustic performer Sage King also opted for The Voice — and auditioned in New York that same weekend.
“One of my biggest impressions of it was just the diversity of the performers,” King recalls. “The girl right before me sounded right out of Broadway. I sang Edwin McCain’s ‘I’ll Be,’ and was happy to be asked to sing a second song.”
In the end, King also did not proceed. That said, his fans can catch him live at Chicago Sam’s in Enfield on Feb. 14.
Based largely on a “front-of-the-line” audition offer, veteran bluesman Bill “Wildcat” O’Halloran threw his hat in the America’s Got Talent ring. After navigating his way through a series of queuing areas and waiting rooms, O’Halloran says that he and friend Devin Griffiths decided that most people seemed to have the same pass he did.
“Plus, they specified zero setup times, no plugging anything in, and discouraged original material,” O’Halloran notes. “A lesser musician might have worried, but we pulled out our Pignose [amps], stood on our ‘X’ and did 90 seconds of ‘Wooly Bully.’ ”
Decisions on whether the “Wild” one and Griffiths made the AGT cut are expected to be announced by April, 2015.
Last, but not least, scene staple Keith Hopkinson checked in to report that members of his Thirty Stones and fellow metal-meisters Intolerance have dusted off a few covers for a new project, Blackout.
“It’s a Sevendust tribute band, and we’ll be debuting at the Children of the Korn 20th anniversary show at Maximum Capacity Feb. 6,” he says.
Others on the bill include Springfield rockers Sakara and and Granville’s Vining Hill. Tix are $8 for this 21-plus show and are available at facebook.com/blackout7dust. Doors open at 9 p.m.•
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 394-4262 or email garycarra@aol.com.
