John Michael Montgomery is a morning person. He called promptly at 8:30 a.m.
“I get up early,” the singer said. “I hate wasting sunshine.”
He’s got a lot to do.
“Today I’m going to be working on my lawnmower, getting the blades sharpened,” he said from his Kentucky home. “I’m one of those kinds of guys; I just like to get out and do things. I can’t sit around the house. I like to be piddlin’, doing something.”
Like putting together a new disc.
“I’ve been working on a documentary-style live album,” he said. “I’ve made live recordings of shows on and off for probably the last decade. And I decided to take some of those songs from those live shows and tell a little story about each song — how I ended up with the song, where it came from and how it ended up getting recorded.”
The man has a lot of songs that topped the country charts: “Be My Baby Tonight,” “If You’ve Got Love,” “I Can Love You Like That,” “The Little Girl.”
Montgomery shared what he called the best story on the disc: “I just came off my first album [‘Life’s a Dance’], which was hugely successful. I didn’t expect it to be that successful, you know, because I’m just an old farm boy from Kentucky. I was just hoping and praying I’d make the Top 40 with something and I’d be tickled to death.
“So ‘I Love the Way You Love Me’ was out, and it was on the first album, and it was going to be No. 1 on the weekend I hooked up with [songwriter] Frank Myers,” Montgomery said.

John Michael Montgomery

“We were sitting around and writing here and there. And Bob Kingsley came on the Top 40 American Country Countdown, and he got all the way to No. 1, and this was what I was waiting for my whole life: Bob Kingsley to say my name on the radio as having the No. 1 record. So after he did, I looked at Frank Myers, and I said, ‘I’m not going to be any good the rest of the night.’ I was like, I can’t believe Bob Kingsley just told the whole world that John Michael Montgomery has the No. 1 song on the American Country Countdown.
“So Frank looked at me and said, ‘I totally understand, but I’ve got this song on me that I wrote several years ago, and I’m not with this publishing company anymore and they don’t ever push it, so I have to pitch it myself. And I just want you to take some time and listen to it, see what you think. I think it’s really a big hit.’ It had been on hold by several artists — Alabama, I think, was one of the groups that had it on hold — but it just never did get cut and it ended up falling through the cracks of Nashville. And he was the only one trying to push this song because he believed in it so much.
“The song was ‘I Swear,’ and I put it in the little cassette player we had there and played the song and looked at him and said, ‘That’s a beautiful song.’ I loved the song and ended up cutting it and the rest is history. I thought ‘I Love the Way You Love Me’ was going to be the biggest song I’d ever have; I thought that was going to be my signature song. And then ‘I Swear’ came out and took it to another level.”
“I Swear” was Billboard’s No. 1 country song for 1994. The baritone also chalked up the top song for 1995 with “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident).”
Montgomery, who has sold 14 million discs according to the Recording Industry Association of America, has a knack for finding great songs.
“I think you have to be able to sing about stuff that people can relate to on an everyday basis,” he said. “ ‘Life’s a Dance’ is obviously a philosophical-type song that talks about things are going to happen in life and you’ve got to be able to turn the page and pick yourself back up off the ground and move on, and time will heal.
“And then you’ve got songs like ‘I Swear.’ People get married every day and it’s a very special time in their life and they don’t always have the right words to say to the one they love, and I think songs like those are so well-written that they say the things they want to say in a very different way and not your everyday generic I love you.”
One of Montgomery’s hits has touched many. “Letters From Home” is about a military man receiving missives from his mom, his girl and his dad.
“I just kept finding myself hitting repeat,” he said of when he first heard the track. “Every time I listened to it, the more it grabbed me and the more I was blown away.
“I really wasn’t planning cutting anything that had to do with the military because there are other artists that do that and they want to jump on that bandwagon. But this song, this story, is so awesome, it’s got to be told. It’s definitely one of my all-time favorite songs that I’ve ever cut.”
Montgomery will serve up a lot of hits at Smoke on the Water—Ribs for the Red Cross on Aug. 7 at
5 p.m. in Promenade Park. Tickets are $5; children 12 and younger and military personnel with ID are free.
When you’re sampling the ribs, look for the headliner.
“I will take me a little walk — nobody notices, they don’t even look for me, because I look just like everybody else, ball cap and T-shirt and shorts — and I’ll be easing around there because I definitely love ribs. And when there’s an abundance of them, you can bet I’m going to be out trying some,” he said.
At home, Montgomery likes to fire up the grill.
“If there’s one thing about grilling that I tell people, if you want a good steak, you’ve got to keep it moist while it’s cooking. And, of course, you know one of the best ways to keep that moist steak, don’t take the good beer, but go and buy some really cheap beer and you’ve just got to pour it over the top while you’re cooking, and it’s amazing. And not only does it help keep it moist while you’re cooking it, but also it adds a little flavor to it.”

Ask any consistently working DJ in Toledo for the past 10 years who influenced or inspired them to be a DJ and 80 percent would name Keith Roberts aka DJ Keith Success.
The Hip-Hop scene in 1984 had exploded and at 14 years old, while attending “Hops” at the girls gym in Scott High School, Keith was mesmerized by the DJs. He decided this was his profession and immediately went to work buying his first turntable from an electronics store in Sylvania.

“I rode my bike all the way there and got a turntable that was used. No weight on the back, no needles. I rode my bike from Sylvania all the way home to Toledo,” he said.
This was only the beginning for Keith, a legend in his own right with a career that would span the next 25 years of musical contribution and influence the sound of the city. There were no FM urban stations at that time and it was up to the DJ’ to inform everyone what was new in music. Keith emerged as the most widely recognized DJ during that time and was called upon to DJ at high-profile concert afterparties. He is one of the founders of the United Soul Brothers (The USBs), a collective group started in the ’90s of friends involved in every element of Hip-Hop from DJ-ing to graffiti artists; they were a heavy influence in Toledo.
Keith continued to trail blaze when he began working at his first radio station WJUC FM 107.3 and soon Toledo’s other urban stations, Detroit and satellite radio. Within the past 10 years he is known mainly for his Old School parties and in 2007 he added mixtapes to his resume when he teamed up with DJ Money Mike. When the buzz on Keith and Money Mike’s mixtapes started to grow beyond Toledo, offers to do mixtapes came from popular early Hip-Hop acts like Big Daddy Kane and Afrika Bambaataa.
He also began working with radio legend DJ Tommy Kaye and his company Ebony World Productions (EWP) where he is able to mentor and aid in preparing and developing upcoming artists. A firm believer that the missing component in most artists is marketing and self-promotion, Keith stresses grassroots tactics like pounding the pavement with fliers, new music or mix tape promotions and visibility. Tools that combined with the luxury of today’s social media can push artists further than they can imagine. With recent changes in sound and style happening in Hip-Hop, I wanted to ask Keith Success his thoughts on new artists and their music.
Martini Rox: From when you began, what can you say the biggest difference is in Hip-Hop music?
DJ Keith Success: You want me to be honest with you? [There’s] no more pure music. Once the corporate side got a hold of it, they got money-driven. They [are] going to make you say you have to rap about anything in order to sell these kinds of records. The artist unknowingly follows that pattern. Therefore you [don’t have] nobody saying nothing real or what they think is real.
Martini Rox: Some would say it’s all about the beats.
DJ Keith Success: It’s all about the beat but that’s [also] the problem. It’s so much about the beat that you really are not paying attention to what’s being said.
I agree and it sounds more like a maturity issue than anything but there’s a lot to be said about Keith’s no nonsense opinion and the fact that he recently celebrated 25 years of DJ-ing along with the Legendary DJ Lyte-N-Rod earlier this month in a celebration for their core fan base. A tremendous turnout in his honor proves respect is well deserved when it comes to DJ Keith Success.
As we continue on …

Even after viewing all the drama involved with family-run restaurants on the show “Kitchen Nightmares,” Mike Howard decided to open Admiral’s American Grill with his brother Habib and their cousin Mike McKarus.
Howard is confident they can revitalize the Docks after purchasing the restaurant formerly known as The Navy Bistro.
“It’s difficult, but I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else,” Howard said. “Obviously there are issues. Sometimes you have to pick your battles wisely. At the end of the day, we’re in it to have the best place possible. I want this to be one of the best places in Northwest Ohio, and it has the potential to be that.”
Howard, who graduated from the University of Toledo with a law degree and a master’s of business administration, has the most restaurant experience of the group. After working at Gatorz Bar & Grill on Monroe Street, he opened a Gatorz on Bancroft Street and ran it for two years. He sold the establishment in 2008 for $1.8 million and spent the next three years living in Columbus.
On March 18, Dashing Pacific Group Ltd. purchased the Docks for $2.15 million. Later that day, Howard and his relatives, operating as The Docks Venture LLC, signed a 25-year lease.
“They want this restaurant district to be their focal point,” Howard said. “We’re part of the centerpiece of a huge investment. That’s why I’m so happy to be here.”

Mike Howard

The new owners are assuming the liability of $750,000 that former owner Tom Cousino owed to Genoa Bank.
“We were friends with Genoa Bank,” Howard said. “They kind of brought the deal to us. They had a bunch of offers. They gave us a better deal than anybody else. Since then, I’ve turned down two offers for it. I believe in it. I plan on being here for a long time.”
The deal also included the restaurant Tango’s, which The Docks Venture LLC is subleasing to El Vaquero. The restaurant plans to open as soon as the owners receive their liquor license.
“I used to go to their place all the time in Columbus,” he said. “I had five different Mexican restaurants interested, but I was waiting for El Vaquero. I’m excited for them to work out.”
The Navy Bistro and Tango’s shared one large kitchen which Howard split into separate kitchens for each new restaurant. Other renovations were made such as removing a staircase, raising awnings and adding televisions, but Howard was mostly content with the overall appeal.
“They definitely didn’t cut any corners when they built this place,” he said. “Anything we would have done would have made it look cheaper.”
Since they kept much of the Navy Bistro’s décor intact, Howard settled on a nautical name.
“I Googled ‘nautical names’, and one of the first things was admiral,” Howard said. “When we got in here, I realized there is a room called Admirals Library. We thought about calling it 26 Main because of the address, but this works better.”
After opening with traditional American cuisine, the menu has been changed to reflect the nautical theme with a selection of seafood along with pastas and steaks. The restaurant emphasizes fresh food, including making its own bread and chips daily.
“It’s unique food that nobody really has,” Howard said. “Where can you go in Toledo to get frog legs and oysters? It just doesn’t exist.”
The change in menu is a result of Howard learning the restaurant business on the fly.
“You’re constantly learning,” he said. “This was our third edition of the menu in about a month. We’ve gone through four different chefs. Finally I think we have a good crew.”
Another thing Howard learned is there’s a high demand for wine.
“I’m learning a lot trying to figure out peoples’ likes and dislikes,” he said. “I never realized how many people drink wine in places like this. I doubled and tripled my wine menu, now I’m going to start adding more to it.”
Along with the wine bar, Admiral’s features banquet rooms, a courtyard and a patio with a grill and live entertainment. Howard wanted to keep his focus on running the restaurant, so he hired a wedding coordinator to exclusively handle booking events for the courtyard and banquet rooms.
Admiral’s is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. weekends. The restaurant holds an all-you-can-eat brunch Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visit the website www.TheDocksToledo.com for more information.

When author Leigh Montville learned he was being interviewed for Toledo Free Press Star, he immediately asked about the Mud Hens and took a moment to remember their old home, Ned Skeldon Stadium.
“It was a weird ballpark, because it used to be a horse-racing track,” he said. “And, like, one of the stands is real long, because it was left over from the horse racing track.”
That’s the kind of recall and detail Montville brings to every facet of his work. For decades, the sports columnist has written for publications such as The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated. In recent years, he has become one of the best sports biographers, bringing his meticulous and fascinating point of view to legendary subjects such as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.
How does his most recent work — “Evel: The High-Flying Life of Evel Knievel: American Showman, Daredevil and Legend” — fit into the canon? Partially as a work of personal nostalgia, Montville said.

“I had been to the canyon jump, a long, long time ago, and it had always stuck in my mind, that whole scene out there,” he said, referencing Knievel’s famous attempt to cross Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered “Skycycle.”
“I was young, I was like 30 years old, and kinda overmatched. I was staying about 50 miles outside of where it all happened, and spent my whole time driving back and forth and missed all kinds of stuff that went on. And so, maybe it was a little bit of trying to fill in the blanks of what I missed.”
The famous stunt driver’s influence on pop culture is immense.
“Knievel is a fascinating guy, in that he was a forerunner of a bunch of stuff. You know, the self-promotion, the use of television — he was probably the first reality show that was ever on American television. It kinda charmed me a little bit. And people don’t remember how big the guy was. He was huge.”
Indeed, throughout the late 1960s and the ’70s, few were as famous as Knievel. The life-risking efforts of the motorcycle jumper from Butte, Mont., captured imaginations, particularly among younger viewers. One of the most fascinating aspects of “Evel” is the way it not only tells the tale of Knievel’s exploits, but evokes the context of the era he rose from.
“He was an interesting guy, in that he was kinda counter to the counter-culture that was going on at the time,” Montville said. “He was interesting in that way, in that he became famous as this red, white and blue hero, in a time where there weren’t a lot of red, white and blue heroes. The guys coming back from Vietnam weren’t being put on a pedestal, it was all against authority and the flag and all that stuff. And he was kind of a Midwest, kind of a right-wing reaction to that.”
Another facet of the writing explores Knievel’s nature. The daredevil does not emerge as a sympathetic figure by any means. His life story is littered with tales of crime, debts left unpaid, accusations of anti-Semitism, tales of abuse toward all around him (including family) and a brutal attack on a former associate who wrote a tell-all book. Knievel comes across as a great self-promoter, a good-to-average performer and a sub-par human being.
“I kept looking for redemptive qualities. And there was some toward the end, but you never know if it was part of the con. He found Jesus, but he found him on network television with Robert Schuller,” Montville said. “It was like he was covering his bets. And he did apologize to a lot of people for screwing them over through his life. But he was a bad guy. He screwed over friends, and family. One guy wrote a thing that said, ‘If he was your friend, he would do anything for you. But if he was your enemy, he’d do anything to you.’ And he had a lot more enemies than friends.”
Plans are already underway to make “Evel” into a feature film, directed (fittingly) by former stuntman Ric Roman Waugh. And warts and all, it’s hard to imagine what today’s society would be like without the influence of the flamboyant daredevil from Butte.
“He was the first kinda guy out there who got people saying, ‘Wow, put yourself in peril for the joy of it.’ Millions of kids did it. There’s millions of kids still walking funny from those broken collarbones and stuff from when they were doing those jumps in the backyard. He’s like a look at the American dream, too. You know, that you really can — if you have enough gumption and big enough balls, you can just go out and sell yourself and be a success. Because he sure did it,” Montville said.

Email Jeff at PopGoesJeff@gmail.com.

It seems funny, maybe even a bit MAD, that a legendary cartoonist like MAD Magazine funnyman Sergio Aragonés is only now getting his own comic. Oh, sure, he’s toiled in the gutters at Mad since the 1960s, created the silliest barbarian ever in “Groo,” massacred and destroyed Marvel and DC Comics, and even killed comedian Marty Feldman (look it up), but this is the first time Aragonés has had his name on a monthly funnybook. About time, we’d say. So does Jim Collins of JC’s Comic Stop.
“Sergio Aragonés Funnies No 1” from Bongo Comics is my pick this week,” he said. “Why? Geez! It’s Sergio Aragonés, one of the funniest men on the planet. His work for MAD Magazine was always worth the price of the mag itself. His ‘Groo’ work is priceless. This first issue of ‘Funnies’ has everything you’ve come to expect from Sergio: One-page gags, thoughtful, funny short stories and very detailed art. Sergio has a knack for telling a story without word balloons. You know what’s happening because this man is a master storyteller.
“If you are in desperate need of a belly laugh and if you do buy this and don’t find it funny, well, you might want to go to the doctor and check yourself out, because you might be a brain-dead zombie. Pick this comic up; in fact, buy two because you’ll need a back-up once you’ve read this one to death!”
Collins’ other pick for the week swings in with a particularly devilish number on its cover. That’s right; “Amazing Spider-Man No. 666” kicks off a little story line called “Spider-Island.” What’s that all about? Oh, just a tiny little pandemic …
“Hey it’s No. 666,” Collins said. “If that’s not reason enough to buy it, well, True Believers … longtime Spidey foe the Jackal has decided the best way to deal with his adversary is to infect the citizens on the island of Manhattan with the wall-crawler’s powers and turn it into ‘Spider-Island.’ Can the combined might of Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and Mayor J. Jonah Jameson control this situation? You’ve got to buy it to find out.”

At Toledo Music Festival on July 9 at Headliners, Tropic Bombs started to bring the roof down when it took the stage. Literally.
Equipped with two tall, inflatable, flailing arm “sky guys” from his workplace, guitarist Jon Hammond had each one set to inflate on either side of the stage when Tropic Bombs started playing.

Tropic Bombs

“After a couple of seconds, I thought it was snowing until we looked at the guys,” Hammond said to Toledo Free Press Star. “One of the guys, particularly, was scraping the ceiling and knocking like the insulation from the ceiling, so needless to say they asked us to turn it off after the first song.”
While both sky guys were shut down after “Even If I Were,” Tropic Bombs’ set that night was one of the highlights of the evening, according to Jeremy Lublin of Verso Group.
“They’ve become one of Toledo’s biggest-drawing bands,” Lublin said. “[It’s been] pretty neat to see their progression over the past few months. They’re kind of like a party onstage.”
That party will continue July 29 when Tropic Bombs headlines the Mid-Summer Meltdown at Frankie’s Inner City, which will be decorated in a tropical theme for the show. Comprised of Hammond (guitar/vocals), Justin Crumley (guitar), Ben Snyder (guitar), Nick Archer (bass/vocals), Jason Goss (drums) and Ryan Wayton (vocals), the band will be in tropical attire and is encouraging the same for showgoers.
“We bought leis to hand out to people,” Wayton said. “The first 100 people in get lei’d. There’s going to be inflatable monkeys and seahorses hanging up, some orca whale mural stuff. It’s not going to look like Frankie’s. It’s going to look like you’re in the Bahamas.”
Originally a studio project formed between close friends Hammond and Wayton in 2009, Tropic Bombs has played four shows since April and enjoyed the ride — except the one it took to Maumee Bay State Park last month for band photos, when the van driven by Archer got pulled over in the park. Archer was issued a ticket for speeding.
“There’s six grown men dressed ridiculously — coconut bras, scuba diving suits and all this,” Wayton said. “Then the photographer is Nick’s wife. She was in there with the camera, a nice camera, and then there was a baby in the backseat because their daughter was with us in the back. [The cop] actually made Nick get out of the [van] and go back to the car with him because he thought we were some, like, tropical baby-nappers or something.”
Though Tropic Bombs may not always dress to impress, the band takes its music seriously and has attracted a strong fan base in a short amount of time. Friend Aaron Taylor is the leader of “The Tropic Bombs Army,” a street team dedicated to promoting the band. Taylor is in charge of Tropic Bombs’ merchandising and has a Facebook page where he posts trivia questions about the band and gives away tickets to the first person who answers correctly via comment. He also is the second known person to get a Tropic Bombs tattoo.
“They’re awesome,” Wayton said of the band. “Obviously, our music in particular does something for them. We’re always going to do it no matter what, but it just eggs us on, man.”
With a solid base in Toledo, Tropic Bombs will start playing Bowling Green venues in September, aiming for a winter release of its debut album. With about a decade’s worth of friendship and playing music together, Wayton and Hammond said this band is the purest music they’ve made. In one of its first jam sessions, the pair came up with a riff they dubbed “Surf.”
“I guess since the very first time that we had met, we had tropical vibes,” Hammond said.
Tropic Bombs will headline the Mid-Summer Meltdown featuring Tropidelic, GOLD and Weep the Beldam on July 29 at Frankie’s, located at 308 Main St. in Toledo. Tickets are $5 for those 21 and older and $7 for those younger than 21. Doors are at 9 p.m. All ages are welcome. For more information, call (419) 693-5300 or visit www.frankiesinnercity.com.

Tonic singer and guitarist Emerson Hart said songwriting has been central to the success and longevity of the band. He had no idea, though, just how big “If You Could Only See” would be.
The follow-up single to “Open Up Your Eyes” off Tonic’s debut album “Lemon Parade” (1996), “If You Could Only See” went on to become the No. 1 most-played rock song of 1998.
“There’s no way you can prepare or anticipate for that,” Hart said to Toledo Free Press Star. “You have to remember that on the first record, ‘Open Up Your Eyes,’ that was a No. 1 rock song. I thought that was, ‘Wow!’ I was like, ‘Man, I guess this is as good as it gets.’ I was totally surprised and excited about it. We were touring and I was like, ‘Man, life is good.’

Tonic will headline Smoke on the Water — Ribs for the Red Cross on Aug. 6.

“And then, ‘If You Could Only See’ hit and then I was like, ‘OK. This is a whole other thing.’ You don’t ever expect to prepare for any of that. It’s lightning in a bottle. You open it, and it strikes you in the face and you just hang on.”
Comprised of Hart (vocals/guitar), Jeff Russo (guitar) and Dan Lavery (bass), Tonic will perform Aug. 6 at the Smoke on the Water — Ribs for the Red Cross event in Promenade Park. Hart said he and his band mates realized just how big “If You Could Only See” had become when the band’s management informed them that Lance Armstrong wanted Tonic to play at his celebration party following his first Tour de France victory. When Hart expressed concern about not being able to make it to Texas in time for the event, the response he got was surprising.
“They were like, ‘Oh, no, no — Gov. Bush is going to send a jet to pick you guys up,’” Hart said. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK. I guess it’s different now.’ So we were flying on airplanes and it just kind of all changed.”
Tonic, however, was not content to rest on the success of “If You Could Only See.” The band released three more studio albums in “Sugar” (1999), “Head On Straight” (2002) and “Tonic” (2010), as well as “Live & Enhanced” (1999) and “A Casual Affair: The Best of Tonic” (2009). Tonic has had two Grammy nominations, six Top 10 singles and sold more than 4 million albums.
“We always really felt as a band as that we were just being true to ourselves and true to the song, then everything else would work out,” Hart said. “There’s a certain amount of our business that is definitely a game-player, as far as I could have rewritten ‘If You Could Only See’ over, and over and over again,
but then where are you? Then you’re just a band that has a ton of songs that sound exactly the same. That was never my bag. I don’t want that.”
In addition to his work with Tonic, Hart released a solo album in 2007, “Cigarettes & Gasoline,” which produced two Top 20 singles. Now 42, Hart said becoming a father made him realize the journey was not about him, a message he passes on to the younger artists he works with. And while Hart has helped them on their journeys, they have helped him remember the excitement of when Tonic got its start.
Fifteen years after the release of “Lemon Parade,” Hart still feels excitement on tour with Tonic when he sees teenage girls in the crowd singing along to the band’s songs with their mothers.
“That’s interesting to me,” Hart said. “That’s a real generational marker and I love that. It’s a real testament to what we did as a band and how songs will live if they’re great.”
Tonic will perform at Smoke on the Water — Ribs for the Red Cross on Aug. 6. The event will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Aug. 5-6, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 7. Admission is $5 for adults, while kids 12 and younger get in free. Call (419) 329-2619 for presale tickets. For more information, visit www.ribs4redcross.com.

Six years ago, nobody wanted anything to do with Buckcherry, according to lead singer and band co-founder Josh Todd. Six years and three albums later, that’s not the case for the California rockers, who will perform at Headliners on July 27.
“It’s the band we always wanted it to be,” Todd said to Toledo Free Press Star. “That’s the thing. When Keith [Nelson] and I decided to do this again, we wanted to make sure that we had the right guys that we could be in a band with for our whole career. That was always the goal: to have one band, a catalog of music and ride into the sunset.

Josh Todd of Buckcherry

“That’s going to happen with this lineup. We get along really well. We all have respect for each other and everybody is down for Buckcherry, and that’s the most important thing.”
Buckcherry found early success with the release of its self-titled debut album in 1999, which hit No. 74 and spent 30 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. After the less successful follow-up “Time Bomb” in 2001, however, band members started leaving and Buckcherry went on hiatus in 2002.
When co-founders Todd (vocals) and Nelson (guitar) rekindled Buckcherry in 2005 with new songs and new members Stevie D. (guitar), Jimmy Ashhurst (bass) and Xavier Muriel (drums), record labels weren’t interested. The only one willing to take a chance was Allen Kovac of Tenth Street Entertainment, who made Buckcherry’s third album “15” the first release on his new label, Eleven Seven Music.
“A lot of it had to do with believing in ourselves,” Todd said. “That was the most important thing because prior to ‘15’ no one would sign us. We had the whole record done. No one cared, and we did it all through faith in ourselves and belief in ourselves. We had a great manager that believed in us as well.
“We kind of did it all backwards. We started in Japan because they gave us a small bit of money to make the record. We made the record in two weeks —15 days. That’s why we called it ‘15’.”
“15” was released on April 11, 2006, yielding the hit “Crazy Bitch” and Buckcherry’s first top 10 hit in “Sorry” as the record went on to achieve platinum status.
“It just happened very organically,” Todd said. “We already had a little bit of a base, but no one really cared about us. Everybody had written us off, so it was all about hard work and perseverance, and of course making that record that was going to change the tides. And we had the songs and it all worked out.”
Buckcherry followed up “15” with “Black Butterfly” in 2008, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. Released in August, the band’s fifth album “All Night Long” debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and was the No. 1 rock debut. Like its rock ‘n’ roll forefathers and influences AC/DC, Aerosmith and KISS, Buckcherry is known for its energetic live shows.
“We just want to go out there and just dominate and crush the audience and give them something that they can really remember, a show they can look back on and say, ‘Yeah, we went to that show,’” Todd said. “That’s really what we focus on every night.”
A father of three who has been sober for 16 years, Todd has experienced personal and professional struggles, making Buckcherry’s success that much more enjoyable.
“We’ve been thrown into a lot of different situations over the years, and we really shine through that,” Todd said. “I’m just really proud of everything we’ve accomplished.”
Buckcherry will be at Headliners, located at 4500 N. Detroit Ave., on July 27 with Taddy Porter and Stars of Boulevard. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door the night of the show. Doors open at 7 p.m. and all ages are welcome. For more information, call (419) 693-5300 or visit www.headlinerstoledo.com.

When looking at the Poison and Warrant bill for July 28 at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre, it’s hard not to see the tale of two hair-metal bands.
In some ways the story started exactly two decades ago when Poison’s “Flesh & Blood” tour — with Warrant as opener — mopped up any remaining Aqua Net interest. However, in early 1991 Poison (“Talk Dirty To Me,” “Fallen Angel,” “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” et. al) was at its height, while Warrant (“Down Boys,” “Heaven,” “Cherry Pie,” “I Saw Red”) looked forward to a bright future after the release of its double-platinum sophomore effort “Cherry Pie.”

“That tour was just a crazy time for both Poison and Warrant,” said Bret Michaels via an email Q&A with Toledo Free Press Star. “1991 was an incredible year for all of us. All of the shows we played on that tour were over the top.”
While the bill packed arenas throughout the winter, eventually Warrant left the tour after a disagreement. The Jani Lane-fronted act returned to the road later in the year with its “Blood, Sweat And Beers” outing, which included openers Firehouse and Trixter.
“Looking back, we were both I think highly competitive of one another and Poison commandeered the majority of the sound and the lights and stage,” said Warrant drummer Steven Sweet, who grew up outside of Cleveland in Wadsworth. “We just got a little too close for comfort after a while and it was definitely time for us to move on when we did leave that tour.”
It turns out the clock was already ticking and later in 1991 Kurt Cobain’s grunge would forever maim the spandex nation and its non-stop party image. Both acts did their best to weather the storm. In 1992, Warrant released the gold-selling “Dog Eat Dog,” while in 1993 a C.C. Deville-less Poison released its gold-selling “Native Tongue.”
Despite such an auspicious beginning, the ’90s proved to be pretty cruel for both acts. Poison finally regrouped at the end of the decade, once again headlining sheds and riding renewed interest in the ’90s as a nostalgia act. As for Warrant, band infighting led to numerous lineups (Sweet left in 1994 only to return in 2004) with the act forever remaining a supporting slot-band on package tours (“Rock Never Stops”) and club gigs. So what’s the difference between the groups?
“We’ve been extremely fortunate, and as a band we have a very close bond,” said Michaels, who in 2010 suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage. He’s since recovered. “I honestly think that chemistry has been the secret to our continued success. I wish Warrant nothing but the best. You know, as a showman, I love the huge arenas, the screaming crowds and crazy energy. That will never, ever get old. But at the end of the day, if the music comes first and performing is really what you’re passionate about, it doesn’t matter where you’re playing.”
Sweet said, “They have their eggs and their followers of their eggs and we have ours. I mean, if you really look at it, we’re two very different bands. Lots of deciding factors, like if you get yourself on a reality TV show the world is your oyster for a time. So who knows?”
Sweet can attribute Poison’s continued success to Michaels’ popular VH-1 reality show “Rock of Love with Bret Michaels,” but the truth is that the difference between the bands appears to be timing. Whereas Poison’s 1986 arrival allowed for five good years of ’80s success — and more than 12 million records sold — Warrant came late to the game making its debut in 1989 and selling fewer than 5 million albums.
If you care about these things, it makes you wonder what could have been if Warrant had another year or two of success in the 1980s.
“I can see how that can be perceived as a factor, and rightly so,” Sweet said. “Many things in life are about timing and unfortunately you can’t change the way things go down. You ride the wave for what it’s worth.”
Michaels concurs, “Life is about loyalty to me; you stick together. I’m still amazed by Poison and by what we’ve done together in our career so far: We turned nothing into something. And we never faked it.”
Poison and Warrant will go their separate ways after playing a few shows together. The former continues its national jaunt opening for Mötley Crüe in arenas and amphitheaters, while the latter has dates booked alongside Skid Row and Firehouse in casinos. Warrant is supporting its latest album “Rockaholic.”
Sweet said, “It’s all about the music being what it is — timeless — and us offering it to new fans and the old fans.”
Poison and Warrant are scheduled to play at 7:30 p.m. July 28, at The Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre, 2700 Broadway St., Toledo. Tickets are $37.50 to $75, and now on sale at all Ticketmaster locations or www.ticketmaster.com.

The classic whodunit game has been updated with a splash of magic. With the final film now out in theaters, it is the perfect timing for “CLUE: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Edition.”
The new edition from Hasbro features the famous trio Harry, Ron and Hermione, along with recognized locations from the wizarding world, such as Hogwarts Castle, The Hog’s Head and the Ministry of Magic.

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This adaptation is a little more innocuous than it original version. No one is killed. “A fellow student has mysteriously vanished,” the directions describe. Suspects include Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Fenrir Greyback and Belatrix Lestrange. Possible spells or items used are Incendio, Stupefy, a jinxed broomstick and poisoned mead.
After spending a slightly daunting half-hour learning the meticulously-crafted rules and punching out cardboard tokens and setting up the board, the attention of the younger players may be gone. (The recommended age is 9 and up.) But the payoff is in the new twist. With each turn, danger lurks, doors close and fireplaces (a take on the old secret passages) extinguish or light up. The danger here is taking away Floo Powder tokens, which gives a player the means to travel between lit fireplaces. While the new additions seem overwhelming at first, those who know and love the classic game and everything “Harry Potter” will quickly adapt.
Figuring out who did it, how and where still takes takes careful examination and that’s what CLUE has always been about. At its core, this adaptation is the same. Just with a little magical Floo Powder.