The stylings of the duo Saving Starz, made up of guitarist Geno Zezza and vocalist Anthony Banks, are so diverse and hard to come by that they have taken the St. Croix Valley and beyond by storm in the past few years — really getting going when Zezza played a whole bunch of same-day shows in a row in Stillwater as a last second fill-in.
Banks has a deep, rich haunting voice that works perfectly for even tough-to-do songs such as those by Pearl Jam. Don’t watch him for very long, and it’s hard to miss that he moves his mouth near to the microphone and then away, which gives a rough edge to his vocals that only adds to their appeal.
He provides the only percussion by beating on a large conga-type instrument balanced between his legs, steadily producing sounds of differing pitches by pounding alternately on the middle of the skin, then on the edge, and in-between. (The duo adds a drummer, Cory Wavinak, at some of their shows).
Zezza, who has Hudson roots, is known for his hard-picking on the acoustic guitar, producing a lot of sound and enabling the duo to perform some songs that are more rock than pop. They even take on a more rockish song by Days of the New at many of their performances. “I used to break strings, all the time,” he said, adding that he then learned to tone it down a bit, and that the rate of occurrence differs in acoustic vs. electric guitars. “If it happens when you’re solo, ouch!”
Zezza is perhaps the most energetic and outgoing person you’ll meet, and he invariably greets members of the audience with a tight hug. When he sees me, Zezza comes over quickly and says, with an exaggerated Italian accent, “Mr. Vinta,” then gives me a noogie on the neck.
Zezza also takes a turn at comedy when hitting the right scene. “50 cent isn’t a tip, it’s a band,” he jokes when playing certain bars. He just laughed at a recent show when a drummer in another band kept shouting a request to hear a cover of hard rockers Soundgarden — although Zezza just might try it.
The duo recently was asked to play a prominent benefit concert in the Twin Cities at which Bret Michaels of hair-band Poison fame was the headliner. (The difference was that Saving Starz did the gig for free, and Michaels got $15,000, although to earn the money he did sit through a meet and greet). Another performer with strong local ties, Nikki Peppar, also played.
This isn’t the only high-profile concert Saving Starz has played. Their star really rose, and they took a prominent place on the local nightlife map, a couple of years ago when being handpicked as the musical act for an appearance by several Green Bay Packers. This day-long event in Hudson’s Lakefront Park and its bandshell was arranged by civic and Chamber of Commerce officials.
Most recently, Saving Starz was asked to perform in North Dakota in the area where lots of oil drilling is being done, and construction workers are being called in to work around the clock and make big bucks, Zezza said. Entertainers also are being shipped in from places as far as Vegas, as these mostly single guys have lots of disposable income and not much to do with their free time, in what is becoming essentially a new frontier town, he said.
That kind of lawlessness isn’t a real big draw for Zezza, as he is a traditional Christian who often looks for ways to insert some of that content into his songs.
Zezza says his favorite song to perform, in part for its spiritual value, is Wonderwall by Oasis, and they have a lot of tunes with that kind of tone. In concert, he and Anthony sit quite far apart from each other, although they get on the same page with eye contact. They sit crosslegged on a stool with legs tucked under in an almost yoga-type pose. The duo wears a lot of plaid and slightly torn jeans, especially Zezza, but the Saving Starz play list is much more than revamped grunge. It includes dozens and dozens of diversely styled songs.
Saving Starz plays largely in the Hudson area, but hits venues all around the St. Croix Valley and to the northeast, and also the Twin Cities. Their website is Reverbnation.com/SavingStarz, and they also are on Facebook, Myspace and YouTube.

You can often catch them at Dick’s Bar, Uncle Mike’s and the Willow River Inn.

The New Skinny is a band of Hudson musicians with a broad and eclectic playlist that will present songs you may have heard only a time or two, or not at all, and still have you tapping your toes by the second verse. They also really know how to play to the standing-room-only-crowds they attract.
The members pride themselves on steering away from classic rock standards and having a song list heavy on good tunes that are not overplayed. Even if you don’t recognize them, they are catchy with great grooves and the audience starts liking them right away.
Once into their second or third set, you even get to hear drummer Brandon Clark switch places with main guitarist Josh
Davitch and do some rapping that you might not find on this side on the Minneapolis warehouse district. It’s probably been a long time since you’ve heard a vocalist in the St. Croix Valley rip through “Busta Move.” Lead singer Josh Lassi gets into this part of the act by playing along vocally with Clark, as they face each other and make eye contact across the stage. The foursome’s bassist is Rick Smith.
Among the highlights of their performances are Lassi’s rendition of newly popular Cage the Elephant’s first single, a song where the vocals move along so fast few will attempt it. Lassi also provides the perfect vocal texture, which is supplemented by similarly toned guitar, on Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter,” sounding very much like his rich-voiced and renowned counterpart, Eddie Vedder, from the Seattle grunge scene (who word has it likes to hang out in the east metro and beyond). Typical of New Skinny, they soon segue into “Only God Knows Why” by Kid Rock (who’s ex James King, a woman who is an actress and model, has been spotted in River Falls).
When doing the song about “99 Red Balloons,” the guys from New Skinny rock out much more then done in the atmospheric original, and ratchet up the tempo with their gender-bending and really get animated.
An exception to steering away from often-played songs, at a recent show, was “Summer of ’69″ by Bryan Adams. This was done so people could dance, and many of them did get out on the floor.
Davitch at that gig showed versatility on his craftsmanlike guitar when a string broke and without missing a note during a rhythm part of the song, flicked the dangling end away so it wouldn’t interfere with his upcoming solo.
When Brando and Lassi co-sang “If I had a Million Dollars,” the note was held at length at the end while staring skyward, as Davitch likewise pointed his guitar straight up. The song’s lyrics had been tweaked to become a tribute to Jagermeister, incorporating Border Battle sports references for comedic value. The band was wearing two New Skinny-themed winter hats, and a pair of regular caps, one of which was thrown into the crowd — and then tossed back on stage several songs later. The thrower also tossed a drumstick, just to the right of the guitarist-now-drummer who was barely missed, and just smiled at the incident.
New Skinny has been known for their creative posters, put up around the valley, which incorporate things like “The World’s Most Interesting Man” and liquor company spokesperson, who says in them that he doesn’t listen to rock very often, “but when I do it’s New Skinny.” The posters also poke fun at the band’s name and the fact that some of its members show up on stage being just portly enough to “be real.”
New Skinny also plays shows under different names with slight variations in its lineup, most noteworthy Mount Josh More, the flyers for which display the presidents of the actual Mount Rushmore — plus Lassi’s face superimposed over one of them.
New Skinny plays in many venues around the valley, especially Dick’s Bar and Grill, Dibbo’s and Uncle Mike’s Em Pour E Yum. For their latest gigs, check them out on Facebook.