This is one of the best lineups I’ve seen for a US-based heavy fest in the 15-plus years I’ve been running this site. I don’t know what else to say about it, honestly. For the fact that Ripplefest Texas is bringing Dozer over alone, let alone any of the other Euro acts involved who have, say, been to North America in the last 20-plus years, it’s astonishing. And not just bigger bands like Dozer and Truckfighters or Mars Red Sky and Belzebong, but Domkraft and Kal-El, bands you know if you’re into this thing but that haven’t been around as long and aren’t as ‘huge’ in the whatever sense that applies in underground music.

And it’s not like they’re skimping on within-US geography either. Of course the desert is well represented, and Texas has a significant presence as it invariably would, but with Gozu and Leather Lung headed out from Boston, Borracho traveling from D.C., Temple of the Fuzz Witch from Michigan, Robots of the Ancient World from Portland, Oregon, and so on, they’ve got all the corners and between pretty well covered. La Chinga coming from Canada. Demons My Friends giving Mexico a nod. It is extensive.

And quality. I don’t know that I’ll be there to see it, but I’d imagine that for most who get to be, it’ll be the stuff of legend. Congrats to Ryan Garney and Lick of My Spoon for bringing it into the world, and safe travels to all involved:

Here it is! The lineup for RippleFest Texas and the amazing art by Simon Berndt @1horsetown 🤘🔥❤️

We still have a few surprises left but this roster is stacked! Don’t miss your chance to see the world’s best heavy music at the largest family reunion of the year. Plus this is the ONLY premier festival that has absolutely ZERO OVERLAPPING so you can see every second of every band! Get your tickets now and we will see you in September!

Tier 2 tickets are almost sold out and the price increases on Monday so get your tickets now:

www.lickofmyspoon.com

DOZER
TRUCKFIGHTERS
BONGZILLA
MARS RED SKY
BELZEBONG
DOMKRAFT
LEGIONS OF DOOM
FATSO JETSON
GOZU
HOWLING GIANT
THE HEAVY EYES
HIGH DESERT QUEEN
KAL-EL
20 WATT TOMBSTONE
THE OTOLITH
TEMPLE OF THE FUZZ WITCH
LEATHER LUNG
THUNDER HORSE
HASHTRONAUT
BONE CHURCH
BORRACHO
SUN CROW
CRYSTAL SPIDERS
TIA CARRERA
ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
MR. PLOW
LA CHINGA
FOSTERMOTHER
BLUE HERON
TEMPTRESS
FORMULA 400
DEMONS MY FRIENDS
VERMILION WHISKEY
VIOLET RISING
HUDU AKIL
BUZZ ELECTRO
SHADOW OF JUPITER

GRAND FINALE w/ MARIO LALLI & THE RUBBER SNAKE CHARMERS “Desert Jam Session”

Plus the best light show in the business by @themadalchemistliquidliteshow

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LOMSProductions
https://www.instagram.com/LOMSProductions/
http://www.lickofmyspoon.com/
https://linktr.ee/Lickofmyspoon

Mars Red Sky, Live at Rock in Bourlon 2023

I don’t know what day it is so don’t ask me, but on Jan. 22, Wisconsin burl-rocking duo 20 Watt Tombstone — not to be confused with 40 Watt Sun, Sixty Watt Shaman and/or whoever might dare to shine so brightly as 80 or 100 watts — will release their new two-songer covers EP, Year of the Jackalope. Is a jackalope a totally ridiculous made-up hybrid rabbit/antelope creature the mere mention of which might cause one to roll eyes or think of Bob Saget on old episodes of America’s Funniest Home Videos in the early ’90s? Yes. But one might easily say the same of the beast that was 2020, when these tracks were recorded, so fair’s fair. “Such is life,” as someone once told me.

Now then. The two-piece’s two-songer finds guitarist/vocalist Tom Jordan and drummer Mitch Ostrowski aligning themselves swiftly with that which is whiskey-soaked and riff-driven, a Southern heavy touch typifying the seven-minute stretch of the outing’s two covers, one of ZZ Top‘s “Just Got Paid” and one of country artist Chris Stapleton‘s “Midnight Train to Memphis.” Not quite new ground for the pair, who offered heavy blues stylings on their 2016 split with Left Lane Cruiser and debuted in 2014 with Wisco Disco, which boasted no shortage of slide-fueled weighted twang in “Pa Shot Ma” and the toying-with-country-convention “Shitty Girlfriend.” But while they’re in familiar-enough-for-them stylistic territory, they nonetheless accomplish the task before them with a satisfying heft and a rawer vibe that makes “Just Got Paid” and “Midnight Train to Memphis” sound all the more like songs 20 Watt Tombstone enjoy jamming on together and decided to put to tape and roll out to let people already following them know they still exist in a world without shows and maybe win a few new ears in the process. Pretense need not apply.

Such intention brooks little argument and neither does Ostrowski and Jordan‘s delivery of the songs, which despite their Upper Midwest origins in Wausau, sells the roll well in the song by Stapleton, who apparently one time dared to say that Black lives matter — a seemingly bold move for a country artist. Admittedly, I don’t know how ZZ Top feel on the subject. I’d almost be afraid to ask. So it goes.

Whatever 20 Watt Tombstone‘s plans were for last year and whatever they might be going into this year, let’s assume they’ve been fairly well jackaloped, but the EP is seven minutes of listening to a band play songs they dig and whatever the circumstances that made it happen, that’s never something to complain about. You can hear “Midnight Train to Mmphis” from Year of the Jackalope below, followed by copious PR wire info on the band.

Please enjoy:

On the A-side of this record comes a feel-good rocker – the working man’s rock of ZZ Top with their underrated “Just Got Paid”. The effortless slide guitar licks carry the perfect level of twang – while everything has undoubtedly been recorded live as 20 Watt Tombstone’s previous releases, they’ve cleaned up their act and it all sounds much crisper. Mitch Ostrowski’s drumming is no slack either, as he bangs down hard on his kit in perfect synchronicity.

The flipside of the record, however, takes a darker turn; here has a thundering version of “Midnight Train to Memphis” by Chris Stapleton. The name may not mean much outside of Southern rock and Americana circles, but his influence as a songwriter reaches widely into pop, country, and rock n’ roll. As such it’s only fitting to pay tribute to a man who has done so much for music. And tribute is paid – there is a wonderful gritty tone from the voice of the tower that is Tom Jordan, as he stretches out the chorus lines detailing a prisoner’s life.

And that’s all, folks. A small teaser of 20 Watt Tombstone’s heaviness, more focused on the blues side than the death side this time. If it is indeed the Year of the Jackalope and its scary face, then it is with a mixture of trepidation and excitement that we await for further material to emerge. Long live Wisco Disco!

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20 Watt Tombstone website