Blacken'd Red

Iggy Pasalic loves Caledonia and can't wait to move back. In fact, he says his creative juices seem to flow best the closer he is to the Grand River.
Currently living on the edge of Glanbrook to be nearer to his bandmates, the lead singer of what he hopes becomes Hamilton and area's premier rock band, "Blacken'd Red", invited The Sachem along on October 11 as they shared the billing with John Corabi, the legendary former lead singer of Motley Crue, at This Ain't Hollywood in Hamilton.
Corabi, in the middle of an "un-plugged" acoustic guitar tour with dates throughout Southern Ontario, the U.S and Europe, had some kind words about Pasilic and his band. Well after the show, sitting on the quiet patio on James Street North until the wee hours of the morning under a warm, harvest moon, he used terms as "just great" and "a lot of fun" as he described each member of Blacken'd Red (hereinafter referred to as B&R) and his experience with them. Earlier, Corabi shared the stage as they all performed a grinding rendition of the Rolling Stones classic, Dead Flowers. He then went on to deliver a spectacular, captivating solo show of his own.
This isn't the first time B&R has had the pleasure of playing with legends. This past August, they had the honour of being the opening act for "Blue Coupe", a band comprised of the founding members of Blue Oyster Cult (Albert and Joe Bouchard) as well as the founder of The Alice Cooper Group (Dennis Dunaway).
Playing the tailgate party outside of Copps Coliseum for the late summer concert by Godsmack is another moment Iggy and B&R are proud of as the band blossoms.
Incredibly, even though B&R is just going into Grant Avenue studios in Hamilton this week to finish their first CD entitled "Drive", they have quickly attracted a growing number of classic rock lovers far and wide. In spite of the image of hard southern rockers such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and a sound that is similar at times to Aerosmith, Black Crowes, Guns 'N Roses and a little vintage Deep Purple, they really are "such gentlemen" says B&R "superfan" Ruth Mitchell, 85 years young. Ruth, who attended the show on the 11th, vows to "follow them as long as I'm alive," she said.
A former singer and tap dancer in her youth, the native of Port Colborne and now a Hamilton resident for the past 16 years, like her music "fast and loud" she added.
Seeing the band "live" for just the second time, Ruth made sure she was near to the action at a table closes to the stage.
"I just love them," she said as she swayed to the music and energetically pumped her fists in the air in perfect sync with the rest of the enthusiastic crowd.
"The boys of B&R love her back just as much," says Valerie Savoy, the band's manager and photographer (www.killerimage.ca) who tries to keep up with the requests for bookings.
Before Corabi was due up, the band opened with their current signature song "Drive", getting the adrenaline going as Iggy, backed up by Brian Pincombe on lead guitar, Dave Green on bass guitar and Jack Rogers on drums, bounced around the stage. Entering the audience and even going atop the bar, the singer with a classic voice for rock, displayed energy that Mick Jagger himself would have enjoyed.
Another song, "Dime Store" is a rock ballad near and dear to Pasalic's heart. He wrote it in a sports bar on Caithness Street in Caledonia near his home. A bit down on his luck at the time and feeling lonely after just coming off the road, he was down to one cigarette and had enough in his pocket for just one beer. The chorus: "Memories are here to stay, just for one day," came to him just then and the rest of the lyrics flowed from there. Both songs, as well as three others, will be in this CD- actually an EP by industry definition- and a precursor of what’s to come.
For more information visit www.blackendred.com - By Mike Burgess, The Sachem