Ari Vais and his Campbell Apartment have a song called "Addicted To Myspace."
And according to their Myspace (.com/thecampbellapartment), the profoundly prolific power pop trio calls The Big Apple home these days.
But around these parts, Vais is still widely known—and highly regarded—for his amazing work fronting seminal Noho band Humbert.
So one would think that, given the built-in audience—coupled with the advent of GPS— he and his bandmates could make it home more frequently than once a year.
"I know—it's amazing how the time goes, and we play so much," Vais says with regard to his upcoming Feb. 28 engagement at Easthamp's Brass Cat, "but we just can't seem to get here. Of course, we're banned from Northampton, too, which doesn't help. But, hey, I'm Russian… and I fight, especially when I'm right!"
To mark the end of the prolonged Apartment absence in the area, Vais adds that he and his bandmates have crafted a couple of notable surprises that may include—but are not certainly not limited to—a Men At Work cover.
*
In other news, celebrated bluesman Joe Bonamassa returns to the Valley with a Feb. 26 Calvin engagement that comes just two days after the official release of his new disc, The Ballad of John Henry.
Although the man Guitar Magazine has hailed as "The New King Of Blues" prefers to let the music do the talking—and the listener the interpreting—of this his seventh solo effort, he says that it is a "personal album that means a lot" to him.
And he goes on to reveal strikingly similar sentiments when asked about performing in our little neck of the woods.
"I have played the area for the past 20 years, and I just love the Western Mass. audience," Bonamassa says. "It's always rowdy, but they have such a great sense of just when to really listen, too."
*
Speaking of the blues, veteran Valley crooner James Mazzaferro—better known as Jimmy Mazz (jmazzsings.com)—invites you to beat the winter ones and/or cabin fever with his Summertime Beach Party this Sunday, March 1 at the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee.
"It's a dance party," Mazz adds. "We have the big room and will be pushing the tables aside."
Some of the other boys of summer who will help Mazz round out the dinner dance evening include host Rob Anthony of 94.7 FM and sets of music by Buffett tribute act Changes In Latitudes and SPF-4, the last of which bills itself as the "ultimate surf rock show." Proceeds from the show go to the Children's Miracle Network.
*
In other altruistic audio news, Belchertown's Disgrace To Humanity leads the pack this Friday, Feb. 27 for a Rock The Cure benefit that also features Mourning Euphoria, Human, Circle Around The Sun and The Heart Found Fiction.
The show will take place at Belchertown High School at 6:30 p.m. and the $5 admission charge is earmarked for The American Cancer Society.
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email Garycarra@aol.com.
