A Publication of Local Umbrella Media
VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 5 |
29
Get Well Soon Joel Kmak! There’s bad news for fans of legendary rockers, The Farmers. Drummer Joel Kmak will be out of commission through most of the summer. “I broke my leg in three places,” Kmak explained. “I broke my pedal leg. Luckily the surgeon said drumming will be good therapy. I just had surgery, so I’m out of a busy Farmers schedule for three months. Ouchhhhh!” Kmak is perhaps best known for his work with The Farmers, but he’s played with a string of bands going back to the late 1970’s, with The Hitmakers, Powerthud and most recently, The Secret Squares, amongst his resume highlights. “The thing about The Farmers is that we’re all great friends and love hanging out with each other,” said Farmers guitarist Jerry Raney. “We’re not quite Bongolia without him. He needs to come and hang out as soon as he can. He doesn’t have to be able to play, we just want him there with us. We’re saving his spot.” While Kmak is recovering, the show must go on, so Farmers guitarist Nathan Raney will shift to drums for the foreseeable future. “Nate is a very good drummer. He has been playing since he was five years old and knows what he’s doing,” Raney said. “He watched Country Dick and picked up on the dang merciless snare hammer. He’s doing a fantastic job filling in for Bongo, they’re both powerful guys!”
Joel Kmak Beat Farmers
While he’s recovering, with no gigs and unable to work his day job, Kmak could use our help. “I am self-employed, with literally no income for however long this takes,” he said. “I had to call my scheduled jobs and refer them to my competition. Then there’s the many gigs I’m missing, such as Gator by the Bay.” A Go Fund me page has been set up to help with Kmak’s expenses. “A lot of family and friends have helped. It’s still scary and overwhelming at times thinking about the recovery timeline,” he said. https://www.gofundme.com/f/tywbyc-bongo
Cult Muzic / Hip-Hop All-Stars
Specializing in hip-hop, rap and adventurous sounds, The Cult Muzic Media family of artists has a slew of new releases currently hitting the airwaves. Notable albums include: The San Diablo All-Stars 11-track, A Field Guide to Modern Trauma, which includes “Boom Stick” featuring vocals from John Risdon (Spice Pistols) and “Nothing Song” featuring Blush. A lyric video for the track, “Mud” has just been posted online. Meanwhile, the late Cult Muzic founder Black Hesher (aka Van Bates) has a posthumous 13-track album, Say Ahhh! just out and Blush’s (aka
Sally Werner) debut EP, Wicked, is also out now. There is a connection beyond the label itself. “It’s produced by and dedicated to Van Bates,” she said. “He gave me about ten beats to start writing to once we were all trapped in quarantine 2020. Only four songs made it onto Wicked and the rest will be released as singles in the next few months. Every single song is titled by Van and he even picked out the picture (on the cover) shortly after we met and said it had to be an album cover for something one day.” Additionally Golden Hills based quartet The Yucks have dropped a new album for the label, World Gone Blind, while Illtemper has a a new collection dubbed Vomitnos. Finally for now, Katie Ladubz has a new release, “Old Days,” out on Cult Muzic. “I dropped this single on my two years clean anniversary, with the video talking about addiction and recovery, produced by Omar Berrios,” Ladubz said. Her next project is a team up with Sloat Dixon for a new video / new song, “Funk Soul,” due later this summer. Cult Muzic Media has released more than 50 titles to date, look for more new music later this year. www.cultmuzic.bandcamp.com
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Joel Kmak
Top 5 / Recommended Shows!
1) May 27 – Jeff Berkley & The Banned / The Grand Rooftop, Escondido: 5 & 7 p.m. Top notch guitarist / singer / songwriter Berkley is backed by an amazing all-star band that includes Josh Weinstein (keys) and Ted Stern (pedal steel) 2) June 3 – The Spice Pistols / The Casbah, Little Italy: 9 p.m. Spice Girls done Sex Pistols style in drag. Equal parts spectacle and musical on a bill that includes Mittens, Geezer and Taryn Donath 3) June 4 – East Village Blues Festival / The Quartyard, Downtown San Diego: 4-9 p.m. @LocalUmbrellaMedia
An amazing lineup including Robin Henkel, The Tighten Ups with Joey Harris, The Bill Magee Blues Band, Sue Palmer & Her Motel Swing Orchestra and Casey Hensley. 4) June 18 – Modern English / The Casbah, Little Italy: 9 p.m. 1980’s British post punk band best known for their classic song “I Melt With You.” 5) June 18 – Switchfoot / Bro-Am, Moonlight Beach: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Funds raised at this band sponsored annual beach event go to help throughout the community
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