She’s spent many a Saturday night in New York City. Kinda comes with the turf when you sing lead vocals in the Saturday Night Live Band as Christine Ohlman did in the ’90s — an honor that literally gave her a front row seat to Sinead O’Connor’s papal paper rip and Ashley Simpson’s meltdown, not to mention an invite to the recent 40th anniversary party.
This Sunday, Oct. 25, however, the woman affectionately known as the “Beehive Queen” will find herself in Goshen — the home of the Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA) organization she is proud to be an advisory board member of and has visited many times.
“IMA is in my heart all throughout the year, but never more than for the autumn concert, where the beehives come home to roost,” notes Ohlman. “I totally support IMA’s mission as a nonprofit teaching, recording, and performing facility for girls and the great contribution that its founders have made.”
Ohlman will be accompanied by her longtime musical companion Rebel Montez this weekend. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and are earmarked toward supporting IMA’s annual Rock and Roll Camp for Girls. For more information on the cause, camp or concert visit ima.org.
Similarly celebrating female frontwoman, fretboard shredders and the like: New York’s Antigone Rising have tapped Shelburne Falls’ Kalliope Jones to open their Nov. 20 Iron Horse gig. Fresh off a stint in Vietnam where they served as Cultural Ambassadors for the U.S., Antigone is now primed to tackle a disturbing trend occurring domestically amidst their fellow decibel-deliverers in the industry.
“The music industry does not provide enough worthy female role models, especially women in self-contained rock bands,” Julie Rader, of the Rising Shine company that manages Antigone, explained.
Zuess on the loose: Veteran Valley soundsmith Chris “Zuess” Harris — who cut his teeth in the industry knob-jockeying for homegrown acts like Shadows Fall, All That Remains, and Hatebreed — is presently embroiled in no less than three high-profile projects.
Condition Human, the fourteenth studio effort by progressive metal-meisters Queensryche produced by Harris, debuted on Billboard’s Top 30 earlier this month.
The Zuess’ produced Razed To The Ground, a full-length album by New York hardcore heroes Vision of Disorder, won’t be released until Nov. 13, but the first single, “Hours In Chaos,” has critics gushing and fans salivating.
“As a band, we always strive to evolve musically with each album,” VOD bassist Mike Fleischmann told Blabbermouth. “Having Zuess as producer really allowed us to achieve that goal.”
In addition to said studio projects, Harris told the Crawler that he is also busy working on yet another endeavor that is ultimately destined for the silver screen.
“I’m working on the music for Rob Zombie’s new movie, 31,” he reports. Zuess previously worked with Zombie (also a Bay State native, incidentally, born in Haverhill) on Spookshow International Live, released earlier this year.•
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