As the PR wire notes below, this is by no means the first time Michael Rudolph Cummings, formerly of Backwoods Payback and currently also bashing away in Boozewa, and Royal Thunder bassist/vocalist/pianist Mlny Parsonz are sharing a stage. While their collaboration has yet to produce an album of heavy post-grunge duets alternating between arrangements of acoustic and keys before, somewhere in there for sure, at least one serious riff-out, their joint December run will surely have them on stage together at some point, even as each explores their own solo set, Parsonz for the first time on tour.

The stint kicks off Dec. 5 in Massachusetts with Eryka Fir from Coma Hole also doing a set, and on Dec. 10 in Nashville Parsonz and Cummings will meet up with Coleman Williams, latest of the Williams line (III, Jr., Hank, etc.). That there’s double-duty the day before too, matinee and evening shows, makes it feel like folk troubadours hitting the road together, and I guess that’s kind of the deal, so fair enough.

Here are the particulars:

MICHAEL RUDOLPH CUMMINGS & MLNY PARSONZ To Embark on Limited Winter Tour

Acclaimed singer-songwriter MICHAEL RUDOLPH CUMMINGS, former frontman of underground rock legends BACKWOODS PAYBACK, and MLNY PARSONZ, powerhouse bassist and vocalist of the iconic band ROYAL THUNDER, are joining forces for an intimate, exclusive winter tour. This six-show run marks a landmark moment, as it is PARSONZ’s first-ever solo tour and CUMMINGS’ fifth tour this year, further strengthening their storied, decade-long friendship and creative partnership.

The tour begins on December 5th at Koto in Salem, MA, and will end on December 12th in PARSONZ’s hometown of Atlanta, GA, at The Earl. Each show promises a unique experience featuring solo material from both artists, deep cuts from their rich back catalogs, and some exciting surprises along the way.

This tour celebrates the unique bond between CUMMINGS and PARSONZ, who have collaborated and inspired each other through various musical projects for over ten years. Their shared love for ’90s rock and commitment to “music and art always first” has cemented their bond, one that fans will witness firsthand on this special tour.

MICHAEL RUDOLPH CUMMINGS on the Tour: “MLNY and I met back in the mid 2000s when Backwoods Payback and Royal Thunder would cross paths on the road every now and again. Sharing a mutual love of bands from our youth in the 90s, along with the mindset of “music and art always first” we became the best of friends over the years. This tour is something that we have chatted about for a long time now, I’m happy for it to finally be happening.”

MLNY PARSONZ on Going Solo: “It’s nothing new for me to feel a part of myself longing to be set free. For decades I’ve been feeling “it” nudge and knock around in my heart and now it’s time to set it free.

Mike has been a dear friend and an inspiration to me. I have watched him grow into the solo artist he is and is becoming. I’m inspired by his fear, his fire, his drive, and his ability to own his story. I’m really proud of him and I’m proud of us for making this happen. We hope to see you all, old and new friends!! Mike and Mel is FINALLY happening!”

Tour Dates:
December 5 – Koto, Salem, MA (w/ Eryka Fir of Coma Hole)
December 6 – Recess Coffee, Syracuse, NY
December 7 – Philly On The Rocks, Erie, PA
December 9 (Afternoon) – Better Days Records (In-Store Performance), Louisville, KY
December 9 (Evening) – Wrong Side, Jeffersonville, IN
December 10 – Cobra, Nashville, TN (w/ Coleman Williams, great-grandson of Hank Williams)
December 12 – The Earl, Atlanta, GA

Audiences can expect intimate performances highlighting the range and depth of both artists’ songwriting, with exclusive tour-only merchandise available at each venue. The setlists will span songs from both of their careers, including pieces from BACKWOODS PAYBACK and ROYAL THUNDER, plus surprise additions from their extensive musical journeys.

Tickets will only be available at the door. This is a limited engagement tour with only six shows, so fans are encouraged to get to each show early for an unforgettable night of music, friendship, and raw, unfiltered passion.

https://michaelrudolphcummings.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/backwoodspayback/
https://www.instagram.com/backwoodspayback/

Michael Rudolph Cummings, Money EP (2024)

As a genre, doom is a long way from gender parity. It’s perhaps an optimistic viewpoint to take to say that the current generation of bands is past the point of seeing women artists as a novelty or downplaying their contributions to male bandmates or counterparts, but frankly I’m not even sure that’s true on a universal level. The inherent sexualization of performance — often willfully and hilariously ignored by men watching other men on stage — subjects women artists to a masculine gaze that at times is problematic even as it also serves as an expression of feminine power. As to what it means to be a woman artist in “doom,” or as to what “doom” is — where it starts and ends — I’m no one to speak to either experience, so I look at the Women of Doom compilation, highlighting women artists in and out their respective bands, as kind of a sad celebration. It’s well worth underscoring the stylistic contributions these women are making — and in a society that saw women paid 79 cents per every dollar a man made in 2019, well worth giving women every nod they can get, if not things like universal health coverage and reproductive rights — but a bit of a bummer that we’re not in a place where the norm would make such a compilation superfluous.

Whatever else doom is, it’s not there, but if Blues Funeral Recordings and Desert Records — both labels run by men, speaking of areas where women are underrepresented — wanted to, they could easily turn Women of Doom into a series. While Women of Doom brings together luminaries such as Amy Tung Barrysmith of Year of the Cobra, Doomstress Alexis of Doomstress, Mlny Parsonz of Royal Thunder and introduces two projects of former SubRosa members in The Otolith and Rebecca Vernon‘s The Keening, along with bands like Heavy Temple, Frayle, Sweden’s Besvärjelsen and France/Ireland’s Deathbell, there are a few conspicuous absences. Perhaps most glaringly, Windhand frontwoman, Dorthia Cottrell, is nowhere to be found, likewise an all-women act like Blackwater Holylight. And the same goes for a generational pioneer like Lori S. of Acid King, but it is inevitably a positive to say that it would be nearly impossible for Women of Doom — in a single go — to be so comprehensive. And as it is, the comp does well in setting an atmosphere across its full tracklisting, which reads as follows:

1. Nighthawk and Heavy Temple – Astral Hand 05:12
2. Amy Tung Barrysmith – Broken 06:04
3. Besvärjelsen – A Curse to be Broken 06:47
4. Mlny Parsonz – A Skeleton is Born 04:57
5. Frayle – Marrow 04:53
6. The Otolith – Bone Dust 04:31
7. Doomstress Alexis – Facade 04:47
8. Deathbell – Coldclaw 04:24
9. The Keening – A Shadow Covers Your Face 05:05
10. Mlny Parsonz – Broke An Arrow (Bonus) 03:25

The accomplishment of Women of Doom finding cohesion despite the variety of songwriting and performance modes is not to be understated. Beginning with Heavy Temple — here billed as Nighthawk and Heavy Temple — taking on a purely classic epic doom sound with the willfully Candlemassian “Astral Hand” sets a high bar, as grandiosity suits the Philly unit almost oddly well. They are maybe the odd-band-out in terms of aesthetic on Women of Doom, which is doubly ironic given “Astral Hand” is the most traditionally doomed song on the nine-plus-one-tracker and it’s not a style Heavy Temple generally play, but the darkened atmosphere they build sees immediate flourish in the piano-led composition “Broken” by Amy Tung Barrysmith, who only confirms through her work here that Year of the Cobra have only just begun their greater creative exploration. As one of two non-US acts present, Besvärjelsen are, as ever, a showcase for the vocal presence of Lea Amling Alazam, but their moodier post-doom on “A Curse to Be Broken” picks up well from “Broken” in more than just the similarity of titles.

By the time it’s a third of the way through, Women of Doom has already run a marked gamut in sound and dynamic, and that’s pretty clearly the intent of the thing. As arguably the most known performer featured, Mlny Parsonz, bassist/vocalist of Atlanta’s Royal Thunder brings a boozy classic rock powerhouse delivery to “A Skeleton is Born.” She returns for the bonus track “Broke an Arrow” in more subdued fashion to close out, and if mainstream rock and roll needed a woman figurehead — which it does, badly — she’d be a good candidate for the position in terms of craft; her work is equal parts dangerous and accessible. Frayle‘s “Marrow” carries mystique as a defining element, and The Otolith and Doomstress Alexis make a fitting pair for their use of strings. For The Otolith, that’s a trait inherited fairly enough from SubRosa, but it’s something of a surprise from Doomstress Alexis, who meets it with a likewise unexpected thrashiness in her guitar. Though maybe not as well known as some of the others, Deathbell stand out in such a way as to leave little to wonder why Kozmik Artifactz picked up their 2018 debut, With the Beyond, for a vinyl release. Their “Coldclaw” does not come from that outing, so perhaps portends something new in the works, and if so, is all the more welcome.

As the first offering from The Keening, “A Shadow Covers Your Face” is of particular interest, as was The Otolith‘s “Bone Dust,” but both projects have in common a nascent feel. That’s particularly true of The Keening‘s inclusion, which is a relatively minimal work of solo piano, placed in a way that answers Amy Tung Barrysmith‘s “Broken” earlier but has the distinction of being instrumental. Both works are evocative, but Rebecca Vernon‘s piano in “A Shadow Covers Your Face” seems to use the otherwise unfilled space surrounding it as an instrument unto itself. That shift in presentation at the conclusion is a well placed reminder of the breadth of what greater gender equity in heavy music has to offer, though frankly, if the case needs to be made by then — or at all — you as the listener have probably missed the point. Still, at its most basic level, removed from a context that sees women continually objectified and typecast in artwork, bands, and listener expectations, Women of Doom is a collection of new and encouraging tracks from a diverse array of up and coming artists and acts. Even the most established artist here, which is Parsonz, is reaching beyond what she’s done before, and that too is an important message that shouldn’t be ignored.

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