People keep asking, so here is what’s up with me, as of right now.

     God is changing me. My desires are changing. I’m not going into it in depth and I just want my friends to know that as of last year Ockum’s Razor is more than likely done for good. We had a good run. All of the music is set to free download. Since the winter of last year into this year, I have been able to devote more time to STLMU and Rock U Fest since I have more free time. Honestly, I don’t know if I want to continue doing music in the same fashion that I have. I have been making good on the things that I have dedicated time to, but I need help with some stuff in order for it to advance. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that I will continue having the drive to do what it is that I have been trying to accomplish. I’m not giving up or quitting, I just don’t have any more to give and it seems that very few people truly care enough to help. Some of the friends that I thought were good friends didn’t turn out to be as understanding or as real as I thought they were. I don’t owe anyone an explanation, but my personal friends keep asking me what is going on and I figure this post is a good way to explain things, in general.

     My friend Greg and I had been working on some good recordings just for posterity of music that we used to write and perform years ago in our teens into our early to mid twenties w/ LTG. We are at a stopping point now because of an issue with work that has to be done to his home and it will be chaotic. We plan to pick up in the fall again. We hung out with Jason, our original drummer when we started and he has been talking about getting a kit again and him doing some drum tracks down the road. The songs that are up now on my Soundcloud account are the most completed, so far. We have worked on others, they just don’t have drums, etc. Those are not uploaded. Our mutual friend Dennis had been offering to do drum tracks here and there so far, but we want to try and have one of our original drummers on them. Chad has gotten re-married and his new wife has been with child and such. His time just would not allow for it given the responsibilities he already has. 

     I am still a part of STL Music Press and the editor has slowed down the frequency of posts until the fall. I have been spending more time trying to accomplish some personal goals and writing. Ever since I moved over a couple of years ago, I have been so focused on things going on around me that I haven’t ever really gotten things together on my end and it is just time for me to take inventory from my perspective. I love hearing from my friends and always make time for the ones that make time for me. I haven’t always been the best at keeping up with them for various reasons, but I’m working on that too. To my friends that I miss, this is for you. Hope all is well. Take care and God bless… Sincerely, C.M.D.

 

 

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“Dues Paid” Feature From The Kick-Off To Third Annual Rock U Fest

 

On Sunday, April 28th of 2013 Rock University Festival and Number Six Media presented a show at Lemmons which was also a benefit for Play It Forward. The show raised enough money for a school’s instruments to be repaired for use, another example might be for purchasing drum sticks for a large drum line. Either way, Samantha Fisher will put the money to good use where it is needed in St. Louis’ public school’s music programs. This show was designed to kick off awareness for the third annual festival happening later this year and to also help raise money and awareness for this non-for-profit. It featured artists from Rock U Fest 2011 and also 2012. This was also put together in the spirit of unity and celebrated the third anniversary of the Saint Louis Musicians Unite Music Blog.

 

Banks And Cathedrals kicked off this rare all-ages event at Lemmons, don’t let the name fool you. Christian Knobloch is actually the man behind the name and this is his solo act’s name. He performed acoustic and has a soulful, pop-rock , folk style. On his last song, he even played a ukelele.

 

Next up was Gemini Hustler. Originally having played the festival acoustic, it was nice to hear a full-blown electric set from them. This trio has Zach George on lead vocals and also guitar, Justin Level on bass guitar and vocals, plus Thomas Bales on drums. This indie rock artist blends styles of rock, funk, blues and more. They call their sound,”Western Funk-a-delic”. Zach’s vocals and style reminded me a little of the singer for Radiohead. George really brings in some cool, funky bass riffs and even gets as intense as Primus, at times. He was fun to watch. They didn’t disappoint.

 

The third act of the night was Since 1902. These almost twenty-somethings showed they had further tightened their musical skills since I last saw them and I felt more energy portrayed. A couple of years ago, they played the “Area K” stage at LouFest after having won a competition to play it in 2011. They also played the outdoor stage at the first annual Rock U Fest event. Justin Enoch is the lead vocalist and is also a guitarist. He totally “geeks” out and I love it. I mean that in a good way. Him and the drummer Pete Holohan are the best to watch, they even switched roles on a song towards the end of their set. Which I must add, I had almost totally forgot about them doing that. They did the same a couple of years ago at Off Broadway when I last saw them. Of course, the group also consisted of Caleb Hill also on guitar and Nathaniel Endicott on bass.

 

The final band of the night was Unifyah. This reggae-rock act is a blast and are about the only of their kind around town with a full horn section. Fitting all nine of them on Lemmons stage was quite the task, but Brian Fleschute did accommodate them and they sounded good for the space. It was actually the best sound I have heard there that I can recall. These guys played last year’s Rock U Fest inside the “Foxhole” which is now newly transformed and updated to the new monicker, “The Demo“. The group features Kevin Griffin on lead vocals. Colin on guitar and vocals, Greg plays bass, Tommy plays the drums. They have a conga player named Trevor, a trumpet player named Reggie, a saxophonist named Jessie and Bryan plays the trombone and also does vocals. A few of the horn players also are in The Murder City Players. The hits just don’t stop with songs like “Light ‘Em Up“, “Good Lovin” and “Over You“. If you haven’t seen these guys before, then you need too!

 

The second of three events that Rock U Fest is putting on this year will happen on June 9th at Fubar. It’s a Sunday and it will be an all-ages show with two stages of music featuring high school bands battling it out for spots on the third annual festival. Two of them will for sure secure spots on the festival and one will get to play immediately before this year’s head liner. The line up will be announced soon on the Rock U Fest website. Save the date, the festival happens on Saturday, Sept. 28th at Atomic Cowboy!

 

*Watch out for the full show review on STL Music Press this fall.

Rock U Fest 2012

The second annual Rock U Fest, also known as Rock University Festival, took place on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at Atomic Cowboy in St. Louis. The event hosted three stages of rock simultaneously from 2:00 pm to 2:00 am. It was put together by a group of friends to promote unity in the St. Louis rock scene. Some thirty-five plus acts performed that  day. The charity that was chosen to help promote and support was Play It Forward.  P.I.F. fills a gap in the schools of our city by providing teachers with much needed instruments to facilitate their classrooms and programs. Click HERE for my review of it and video slide shows of pictures documenting the event. Below are free downloads by some of the artists that performed.

Alice Sweet Alice

My friends from Kansas City, Alice Sweet Alice were planning on stopping through St. Louis and asked me if Ockum’s Razor wanted to do a show with them. So, we did this past April and it was a good night of music, plus Fer De Lance was there and kicked off the show with style. Our friend Typewriter Tim was in rare form and did some dj sets in between acts and also played some djembe on a couple O.R. songs. We got some great feedback on the new music that night from those who were there before the show began, as we had a intimate listening party for those in attendance that night. If you like, you can download this track from the STLMU Music Blog HERE, it was the 100th post. So, I was kind of proud of that! I’ve been real busy keeping the balance of things and I didn’t forget about the blog here, just been focusing on other things more. Thanks for the interest here, can’t wait to play with ASA in Kansas City down the road!

 

Arythma at Fubar

Ockum’s Razor shared the stage with Arythma again, it had been awhile, this is some audio that I put with a snippet of their track “So Sick” that was also recently on the STLMU Music Blog. This show was a benefit for Stray Rescue. Check it:

The Rat Rod Kings

The St. Louis Music Press site is being revamped and changes are happening there. So, these are just some pictures that I took of The Rat Rod Kings at The Crack Fox from this past fall. I have been making good use of my time off there adding to the STLMU music blog and running the Ockum’s Razor machine. Eat your heart out Tony! These are for you and your band mates. KDHX recorded them doing a live set there this fall too, here is the playlist and below are the pictures.

Rock U Fest 2011 is wrapped up!

My last two articles that I wrote for the STL Music Press in promotion of the first annual Rock U Fest event that took place on Sat., Sept. 24th at Atomic Cowboy are as follows:

Review of Sicfaist‘s latest release “The Road Unknown”

Review of Panic Attack‘s latest release “Deathpop”

*For a complete listing of all the interviews that I did and that Angie did for the event, visit this link HERE.

*For a highlight feature on the Acoustic / Electronic stage, click HERE, for the highlight feature on the Foxhole stage, click HERE & for a highlight feature on the Main / Outdoor Stage, visit HERE. Kudos to Ricky for photographing 30 out of 39 acts in a 12 hr. period. Each feature also includes the playlist from Sound Cloud on each artist that submitted music. You can stream/download tracks there or you can download the compilation HERE .

STLMU *Exclusive* on the group Peach

I was gathering Rock U Fest music together for the 50th post of the STLMU Music Blog & I received an email from Alex of the band Peach, I had been waiting for this moment, for an artist to see the potential of the blog & what it could do for a new release. So, every Monday we have been announcing four new acts to Rock U Fest and I thought it would be cool to give this review to them as a gift, I wish them the best of luck w/ their release this w/e! The review also includes a free, exclusive track, check it all out right HERE.

STL Music Press & Rock U Fest!

Rock U Fest 2011 is approaching, I thought it would be rad to feature the artists on the bill for the online magazine, pitched the idea to the editor and she liked it. So, here are my first two. An interview w/ Corvus, which is below and then a album review of Isaac James new disk, “Shut Up & Listen”.

Corvus Interview w/ St. Louis Music Press

Issac James “Shut Up & Listen” Review

In addition, I have also been blogging the artists every week that four new acts are announced, visit the STLMU Music Blog HERE.

The Passion Of The Chris:

I have had a few friends of mine that have known me for quite a bit and they wanted a copy of this song, or that, I needed to find a way to share them easily. That is what initially spawned this blog. I figured out how Word Press works a little more and I put a Sound Cloud link on the right of this blog for easy reference and also a drop box for you to share songs for me to listen to, if you are also an artist and want to share your music and opinions like I am. It is free to use and very simple! If you happen to be an original music artist from the St. Louis Metro area or close to it, you can send me up to three tracks and I will post them for free download on the STLMU blog.  I just thought that it was time for me to create a place online to share my thoughts, experiences, analogies, music and whatnot. While uploading all of this I got to thinking about all the songs that never made it on an official recording due to various reasons. Lack of money, switching of band members, people living life, etc. There are so many songs unsung! Sort of speak. I did find one other disk that I was given by friend Trey, that he was nice enough to burn for me. It is some rare old stuff that he converted from tape to cd for me. I also have some other projects from the past that I also had to post.  The music posted below has info. about the group and members for each particular artist and song. If you look at the top of each playlist widget, notice the info. tab, click on it and the info.  will be there on the site. I recommend browsing through each playlist to read the info. about each group and the credits, etc. If you click on a particular song there, you will see it’s lyrics posted there too.  So, here it is, you demanded it! All of these downloads are free, enjoy!