I am managing East Bay band Drop Dead Sixty!

For those lucky enough to be at my August 21st show, you were in for a treat!  It was the first time Drop Dead Sixty performed on a Barb Rocks show and they were AMAZING!  Imagine Stone Temple Pilots meets Muse with a theatrical front-man with vocal styling similar to Michael Hutchence (INXS) that even Scott Weiland would appreciate!  I was so impressed with this band that I asked to work with them, and they happily accepted my management offer this past weekend.

Drop Dead Sixty is comprised of guitarist/keyboardist Gavin Billy Cougar, vocalist Michael Kerosene, bassist/backup vocalist Joe Dalva, and percussionist Matt Young. After a four-year-long stint in high school with a band called Calibur, life-long friends Mike and Gavin decided to reunite musically and start something new, which was the beginning of Drop Dead Sixty in January of 2009. Having played a couple of shows with (in separate bands), and keeping in touch with Matt Young, he was the first choice and immediately recruited as the drummer for the new project, along with Mike's brother, Matt, who would fulfill the role of bass guitarist.  By the end of 2009, Mike's brother parted ways with the project and soon Joe Dalva answered an ad to try out for the band. With the newly recruited Joe Dalva, Drop Dead Sixty was again ready to move forward, first by re-emerging as a live act in April 2010, then announcing a new full-length album, due out by Winter 2010.

I encourage you all to check out DDS on Fri Sept 24 at Mountain Charley's with Almost Honest (8-10pm) and/or Sat Oct 16 at X Sports Bar + Music Lounge at Homestead Lanes with California Is Burning and Hello Monster (all ages with full bar).  Also, check them out on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter:

http://www.myspace.com/dropdeadsixty
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drop-Dead-Sixty/146874803118
http://twitter.com/dropdeadsixty

Barb Rocks is now working with Cadent!

Barb Rocks is proud to announce that she is now working with Cadent, an up-and-coming female-fronted Bay Area band. Cadent features a wonderful blend of rock, pop, alternative base with a touch of R&B vocals that makes them a force to reckon with! With such few female-fronted bands in Northern California, it's refreshing to hear such a mature sound out of the "younger" band with power-house vocals that touch your soul. Currently recording at Castle Ultimate Studios, the band has already released three of their tracks, with plans to release a full album soon. Plus Cadent just placed 3rd in the San Jose edition of Your Music Olympicks after being selected "Editor's Choice" by Your Music Magazine. It is my pleasure to work with such a diverse band that I feel will take the local scene by storm, with hopes they might just be the next Paramore!

Check out Cadent's websites:
http://www.facebook.com/Cadentband
http://www.myspace.com/cadentmusic
http://twitter.com/CadentMusic

Nemesis Media teams up with local bay area promoter Barb Rocks!

We are pleased to announce that Nemesis Media  will be teaming up with bay area promoter Barb Rocks in an effort to better serve the local music community in and around the bay area. Combined, both companies can offer bands a wide variety of services which include, but are not limited to,

Show Booking
Tour Booking
Professional Recording Services
Short Run CD Manufacturing
Apparel Manufacturing
Music Videos
Artist Management
Event Production

We couldn't be happier to be teaming up with one of the best promoters in the bay area! Bands who are interested in any of the above listed services, please feel free to contact us or Barb Rocks at the appropriate websites listed below. As always, thank you to everyone for their continued support; without you there would be no scene.

Before The Music Dies Documentary

This is a wonderful documentary about the music industry and how it has changed:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/62945/before-the-music-dies

Also check out the website:
http://www.beforethemusicdies.com

Metro's Best Live Music Venues 2009

Congrats to the VooDoo Lounge and Britannia Arms for placing 2nd and 3rd respectively as "Best Live Music Venue" according to Metro readers. I realize it says Britannia Arms - multiple locations - in the issue, but we all know which Brit they are referring to since the Downtown one only does DJ music and the Almaden one only has cover bands, so I'm confident that it's mainly the Cupertino location that is the reason they are being listed in this category considering all the rock, hip hop, open mics, and other live music shows going on there. The Blank got 1st place as they have for many years, but it's an honor to know that my hard work is paying off and people know where to go for the best bands! Who knows, maybe one of my venues will make 1st place next year!! Keep supporting local music and the local music scene and let's grow San Jose!

Important Barb Rocks News

I wanted to thank all of you for your ongoing support of Barb Rocks Presents. These past three years have been very exciting and quite fulfilling for me as a person and as a staple in the local music scene. Barb Rocks Presents has surpassed my expectations long ago and it's nice to be recognized as a leader in the scene, as well as respected for all my hard work and devotion. Being part of the San Jose music scene's revitalization has been very rewarding so far and I look forward to bringing you many more quality shows.

West Fest and Left Coast Live have brought my knowledge and experience to a whole new level and I hope that many more big things will continue to happen. I've recently been contacted about booking another venue in downtown San Jose, with hopes to bring more good live entertainment to the downtown scene, including weekend dates! I will be announcing the venue and shows as soon as more details are finalized, and I'm sure you will be very excited about the news and opportunity!

Upon recommendation from a business colleague, I wanted to inform everyone about one big change in the Barb Rocks enterprise. Denver Nitze, which some of you may know as Naomi Thomas, is no longer an associate of mine. After almost a year of working for me, Denver has decided to start her own booking/promotions business working with some of the same venues and bands as myself. Therefore, I wanted to let everyone know that Denver no longer represents me or Barb Rocks Presents, nor are her shows and bookings related to me or my business. I wish her the best of luck in her endeavors and hopefully there will be no conflicts due to our mutual business connections and associations.

I thought that this would also be a good time to get some feedback from everyone in regards to Barb Rocks Presents and how you would like to see my business expand. I've always enjoyed getting feedback from people I work with in regards to their experience with me so I hope to hear from you.

I'm excited about this upcoming summer of shows, including my birthday bash on Thurs July 2 at the Cupertino Brit, as well as Your Music Olympicks battle of the bands starting on June 20, with the finals on Fri Aug 7 at the VooDoo Lounge. I hope to see all of you out there supporting local music. I truly believe that right now is the time for San Jose to come alive and grow with more live music. Let's make it happen!