King Bee
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King Bee

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Band Rock Blues

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Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"On Tour: Up and Coming Bands of 2007"

By Derek Tam, 3/31/07

There are countless unsigned bands out there, but sometimes it can be hard to find those actually worth hearing. But through various people in our very own school community, I’ve found two bands that have the potential to become local legends.

The first such band is King Bee, a six-man outfit from the Detroit area, including yellow jackets Will Lassman (saxophone), Drew Machak (vocals) and Brian Burgoyne (Keyboard), as well as guitarist John Rake, bassist Steven Stuwart and drummer Elliott Rovinsky. Their self-titled demo was recorded just this year and is on sale from the band’s members. They are also auditioning to play in this year’s annual Variety Show.

The opening song, “Every Day,” introduces their unique style in full force, with great guitar licks reminiscent of Van Halen and even Hendrix. “The Things We Do” also illustrates their classic influences with a mellower jazz motif evoking jazz legend B.B. King. “Maybe You Do” closes the album on a sadder note with mournful vocals and uncharacteristically mellow drums accentuated by a balladic piano solo. All three of these songs show that the band know and respect their rock history, demonstrating a level of maturity and intelligence not normally visible in high school bands.

King Bee’s collective talent is at once both helpful and distracting. On one hand, each player shines in his respective field: particular highlights include Machak’s soulful vocals, Rake’s whining guitar solos and Rovinsky’s powerful fills. All of this talent being played at once can be a little distracting, but overall, King Bee’s album will impress the true classic rock fan.

The next band I’ve discovered comes to us from an entirely different city: Boston. Boston Lonely are a more traditional rock band whose five-song debut EP, entitled “OK…Panic,” was released last year and is available from services like MySpace and iTunes.

The band’s album opens with a short introduction track followed by the heartfelt ballad “She Sits At Home.” A piano is just barely audible in the first few measures of the track, but soon disappears beneath the thrashing guitars and wailing vocals. “City of Angels” takes a more upbeat approach to the alternative genre, taking cues from SR-71 and Yellowcard. The tracks “Red Rain Girl,” and “Graduation Day,” seem to pay homage to alternative/pop legends Third Eye Blind. The bookends of the album, “She Sits At Home” and “Be Your Man” are the most unique songs of the EP and show the band’s great creative abilities.

You may have already noticed what I love about these two albums: both are excellent modern tributes to prolific groups of the past. While King Bee pay their respects to the late greats of classic rock, Boston Lonely honor more modern popular rock bands. With so much of music taking a turn for the worst these days, it’s nice to see that some bands can still remember the greats while paving a path of their own. King Bee and Boston Lonely do just that with a method that has left me, and will have you, wanting more. - Country Day School Paper/Markfive Blog


Discography

We have a three song Demo CD and a handful of original songs that have yet to be recorded, as well as a number of songs we like to cover on a regular basis. The best song from our demo, Every Day, has been played over the radio at the Wayne State Welcome Center in Detroit and Street Corner Music in Southfield, where people have enjoyed it and asked about the band.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

King Bee was formed from some of the best musicians at Groves High School and Detroit Country Day. Elliott, our drummer pulled everyone together to try to cover Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne" for a contest. Though we never recorded that single, we clicked well and formed the band. We have a wide variety of influences, most of which were big in the 60's and 70's. We're set apart from other bands (especially the same age as we are) because of our vintage sound, often described by listeners as "old school." We describe our sound as a mix of Traffic, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Jeff Beck Group, and early King Crimson.