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Congratulations (I think) go out to Hell's Belles guitarist Amy Stolzenbach for qualifying as a finalist in Limp Bizkit's national search to replace departed guitarist Wes Borland. (Auditions were held locally at Guitar Center on January 14. The 32-year-old Stolzenbach plays a mean Angus Young in her popular all-girl AC/DC tribute band, but recently commented to VH1 correspondent John Wiederhorn that she tried out for Limp Bizkit because "as a musician you always want to challenge yourself and make yourself do something you haven't done before." That she did. Stolzenbach went on to mention that Limp Bizkit's rhythm section is really tight, "so it was nice to play with good musicians." Coincidentally (or not), a memo went out to the music industry on January 16 saying that Hell's Belles is "seeking a touring replacement for their lead guitar player, a.k.a. 'Angus'." The memo insists that all is friendly, but there have been persistent whisperings that Hell's Belles has a Diva Problem, and that Stolzenbach's departure is in direct reaction to Angus being forced to play second fiddle to Bon/Brian. As a fan of AC/DC, I have to say that ain't right; but as far as the hierarchy within cover bands goes, I just don't know what to say....
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The Briefs are currently in Jupiter Studios recording their debut for Interscope, with Marc Waterman in the producer's chair. Waterman produced several notable albums in the '90s, including Elastica's Elastica and Menace, Dishwalla's And You Think You Know What Life's About, Frosted's Cold, Ride's Nowhere, Tuscadero's Pink Album, and Ash's Trailer. Waterman also produced Departure Lounge's 2001 sophomore release Out of There (Departure Lounge features Tim Keegan and an ever-changing list of musicians, including Robyn Hitchcock).
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Dead Low Tide is the name of the band featuring former Murder City Devils members Nate Manny, Coady Willis, and Spencer Moody, and enemymine's Mike Kunka. While a three-word name guarantees the band a date at the Paradox, no local shows are scheduled as yet, although there are rumors circulating that DLT will play South by Southwest in March.
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Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic has formed a new band with Meat Puppet Curt Kirkwood and Bud Gaugh of Sublime and Long Beach Dub Allstars.
Eyes Adrift is the name of this project, and you can catch the guys' first local show this Friday, January 25, at I-Spy. Novoselic told me he loves playing with "Bud and Curt," and thinks the fact that each band member came from a trio is a good sign. "Our pasts speak for themselves and do perk curiosity," he admitted philosophically, "but in the ever-important here and now, our pasts only go so far, as is the nature of the past." For the record, Eyes Adrift embodies a harder alt-country sound and features Kirkwood on vocals. The trio began recording an album in Austin last December, and hope to finish it in the spring.
