The Skyline Network presents Hootenanny II: Twotenanny

July 26 @ The Mink's Backroom

Words by David A. Cobb

Photo by Rosa Guerrero

(The Ka-nives have since cancelled)

Many people shudder when they hear the term "cover band," but the crew over at The Skyline Network knows a good idea when it strikes: get some of the best local bands together to play as their favorite classic bands. After the inaugural Hootenanny in January--which featured 10 bands and seemed to be way past capacity--it was pretty much a sure thing that there would be a sequel.

This month's show, which is July 26th at The Mink's Backroom, features another excellent, varied line-up: The Ka-Nives as The Lemonheads, Flowers to Hide as The Cure, The Kimonos as Blondie, Buxton as Bjork, Custom Drinker as Rod Stewart, Tody Castillo and Friends as Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and Friends, Sharks and Sailors as The Police, American Sharks as The Cars, Judas Bear as Spoon, and Paris Falls as Rush.

Sharks and Sailors' Mike Rollin says the inspiration for their set came from their admiration of The Police. "We're all big fans, and we wanted to do something fun," he says. "It's also a good chance to rip off...I mean, learn some new chords. Andy Summers is a wizard."

As for which bands he's excited about seeing at the Hootenanny, he says, "The Ka-Nives' set will be insane. I also want to see Paris Falls doing Rush. I want to hear "2112" in its entirety...Marshall covering Rod Stewart will be fun, and Flowers to Hide's three-guitar attack should lend itself well to The Cure."

Tom Petty is an obvious choice for local crooner Tody Castillo, who will play alongside a Who's Who of local musicians, including Ben Murphy, Travis Foster, Kurt Coburn, Arthur Yoria, and Ryan Chavez. It's nice to hear from you. "All of these guys are big Petty fans and we're psyched to be doing it," Castillo says. "We're going full force rock on this one..."

Musician Ray Brown (Paris Falls) says Rush wasn't the band's first choice but that it works perfectly with their current line-up. "We first thought Alice Cooper but we didn't think many people would know the tracks we wanted to do," he says. "Iron Maiden was out of the picture because we needed more guitars. We didn't want to come off doing a band someone would expect us to do like the Beatles. Since we're a three-piece band now, it worked out to do Rush songs. We will be doing a 2112 song but unfortunately not [The Temple of] "Syrinx." We couldn't land the Taurus pedals. Also expect songs from Signals, Moving Pictures, Hemispheres..."

"Plus we all grew like three sets of extra balls each and we needed to use them," he jokes.

Brown also says he's looking forward to seeing The Kimonos and Sharks and Sailors. "And bands with more sweet 'staches, naturally, even if Mikey's isn't."

Cover is a mere $5, so you really have no excuse.

\ American Sharks as The Cars

Buxton as Bjork

Custom Drinker (Marshall Preddy) as Rod Stewart

Flowers to Hide as The Cure

The Kimonos as Blondie

Paris Falls as Rush

Sharks and Sailors as The Police

Tody Castillo and Friends as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Welfare Mothers as Johnny Cash

Wild Moccasins as TBD