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After many band lineups and CDs, they’re now Rough Housing it:
— They bill themselves as “playing everything from AC/DC to the Foo Fighters to Zeppelin” across a five-state area, but they will be at the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Friday evening. That band, Rough House, has had many different lineups and played and put out CDs under various names since the ’80s. The group Tongue in Cheek started things off, as vocalist and guitarist Bryan Erickson was joined by Mike Torok playing lead guitar on songs that were half originals and half covers. After some personnel changes, the band Torok was formed, releasing three CDs through Nightmare Records, at least one quite “metallic.” In 2006, the disc Addiction of Fools sold out and drew excellent reviews the world over. Then, Torok went back to playing with the much heavier sounding Impaler, while Erickson released Epiphany with the group Son of Eric. It got great reviews from webzines and music magazines from around the globe.
Around 2009, their new band Strutting Hacks became The Party Army, which was renamed Rough House with the addition of Tom Croxton on drums and Shawn Penny on bass and vocals.
— Another opportunity to go totally Old School, with another band that travels all over to gigs, is when The Dweebs play their old-time nerd rock at the Smilin’ Moose, also on Friday.
— You can’t cook at this late juncture, but you can still eat. And isn’t that the advantage that brings people out anyway? Spots for the annual chili cooking contest at Dick’s Bar and Grill are full, but people can still come sample and help determine the winner. A flyer on the wall says it starts at 1 p.m. Sunday and in addition to all the details, shows a shadowy character with hat in the background that looks like the main villian from The Blacklist (that being “Red” who is maybe making red chili?) Not to digress further, there will be prizes that include most unique chili and best presentation. When my friend Tom and I viewed the flyer last weekend, he noted that he’d just finished watching an episode of The Simpsons featuring a chili cookoff. It’s certain that the chili at the Dick’s contest will look and taste better than if Homer was making it.
— Kudos for these recent vocal stylings: A rock band that’s a frequent guest at the Smilin’ Moose had a male member gender bend and sing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga; soloist Jason Jerry, getting back into the local music scene, at Stone Tap in conjunction with the Hudson Hot Air Affair, displayed a rich and soulful tone; and a cameo musician for Jeff Loven at Dick’s Bar and Grill was dead-on with another gender bend, this time Four Non-Blondes.
— A longtime Hudson area bartender also has the day job of being a school principal in St. Paul. As the result of a contest with his students, he agreed to dye his hair for several days — and they get to pick the color. He and his co-workers agreed the choice by the students would be a no-brainer, hot pink. See him in all his new-found glory when he works a couple of different shifts, fittingly on the late side, at the Village Inn in North Hudson this weekend.

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