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Urinal Cake Records – “UrinFested” 6/21-6/22
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Following their triumphant appearance at OrionFest, local metal heads Battlecross has announced that drummer Kevin Talley (formerly of Six Feet Under, Chimaira and Dying Fetus) will be staying on with the band for its forthcoming tour. See Battlecross performing Slayer’s “War Ensemble” at OrionFest here. The new album, War of Will, will be released via Metal Blade on July 9, and the first single will be “Force Fed Lies”. Battlecross will be on the Mayhem Festival with Rob Zombie throughout the summer. Follow @City_Slang
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Oh Criminals, Where Art Thou?
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed with my Detroit experience so far. In the past 8 months, I have no gunshot wounds, stabbing scars, or even a stolen vehicle to show for it. I don’t even have a lower credit score! When I told everyone I was moving here, I got a wave of backlash and pleas to reconsider. It reminded me of the time I traveled to the Middle East and, as I was boarding my flight, received a hundred text messages and calls saying, “If you go, you are going to DIE!” Well, my time in the Middle East was just as disappointing and uneventful as my time here in Motown. Where have all the criminals gone? With a nice bout of insomnia, I used to walk to the YMCA at 5 a.m. to work out in total darkness. My Dad freaked out when I told him. What my father can’t understand is that, unless you live right downtown, and once the sun sets, the streets of Detroit are deserted. No cars. No homeless people. Even the pimps seem to take the night off. I could streak down Woodward (my apologies for the [...]
City Slang: Weekly music review roundup
Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes, demos and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, Metro Times, 733 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 46226. Email MP3s and streaming links to bcallwood@metrotimes.com. We had previously received a sampler CD from Funky D Records signees The Royal Blackbirds, and the full album Shot Down landed on our laps this week. Thanks to the presence of singer Rebecca Saad, there’s a cool, kinda Amy Gore-esque feel to the bluesy garage rock, perfectly highlighted by covers like “I Can Only Give You Everything” and the title track. The originals are cool too, and Tino Gross has dragged out the dust and grit from these youngsters. Great piece of work, all told. This week’s City Slang stars the Horse Cave Trio sent in the 2010 single “I Am the Sheik” (Funky D), and it’s worth another mention because it’s so damned gnarly, nasty and heavy. These guys are known for their rockabilly swagger, but they can let out an unholy roar when they want to. Detroit Frank DuMont loves his hometown so much, he put it in his name. His band is called the Drivin’ Wheels, and the logo was designed by Gary Grimshaw. Mind you, his new Let Me Be [...]

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Music Issue 2012

All about the song

Ashaki Zeigler's winning way

Photo: N/A, License: N/A

Zeigler learned from the late jazz masters Teddy Harris Jr. and Harold McKinney.

By Charles L. Latimer

Published: November 7, 2012

Zeigler continued to perform, but the gigs in Detroit were scarce, so she returned to college, and earned a degree in special education. Then she landed a job teaching at an alternative high school. She performed infrequently, but she recorded three self-produced albums Ashaki Live, Every Time and Beautiful.

Asked how she was able to keep her voice up to snuff only performing here and there, Zeigler explains she was a habitual "car singer," singing in her car with the music blaring no matter where she's going.

Right now, Zeigler performs around town, and at a lot of private functions. Over the summer, she won a national singing competition called Rep Your City, which tours city to city searching for the best singers. Her first-place prize is opening for the R&B heartthrob Trey Songz when his national tour hits Detroit next spring.

Zeigler's biggest project is under way, recording a full-length album of originals songs yet untitled, produced by jazz bassist Ralphe Armstrong. Although Zeigler is a bona fide jazz vocalist, the new album will be completely neo-soul recording, although there was some R&B on her previous albums. She plans to push the new album to the max. Not that she's ever done anything concerning her career half-ass. This album is way more personal than her others.

Given her jazz background, is she concerned about being labeled a sellout?

"People keep telling me that I would do well performing mainstream. So I'm going to do that," she says. "Then I'm going to return to my roots, which is jazz. Jazz is a big part of me, and I don't want that die. So, I'm not going to sell out."

Charles L. Latimer writes about jazz for Metro Times. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com.

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