The Witzard

Bowling for Soup "Hey Mario" music video still (SOURCE: YouTube) "We are so sad to announce that Chris Burney, founding member of Bowling for Soup, will be leaving the band and will be joining long-time friends Simple Plan as touring bass player. "I really like Canadians, I always have, and bass has less strings... I'm not getting any younger, so I am excited to have an easier job," Chris Burney. "We will miss him so much. We almost made it to 30 years. I certainly wish he and the Simple Plan guys well," Jaret Reddick. It is unclear whether we will replace Chris or carry on as a three-piece. Thank for you understanding," Bowling for Soup (B.F.S.) posted across their social media pages over the weekend. Thankfully, it ended up being... an April Fools' Day prank! B.F.S.' next major band update was a bit more optimistic and plentiful, reading: Surprise! Releases TOMORROW! We put a bunch of the covers we've done in the last few year...

Fire Sale was formed during The Pandemic and their first songs were made entirely from their home studios during isolation. The band includes Matt Riddle, as well as members who have spent time playing with Ann Beretta, Fun Size, Making Enemies, Protest The Hero, Pulley, and ShotClock. "I like to take inspiration from stories from a historical point of view and use them as a theme," says guitarist and founder of Fire Sale, Christopher "Chris" (Swiss) Swinney, who previously played with The Ataris. "Then our singer, Pedro, takes it all and formulates a great lyric!" The Mercy Brown Vampire Incident, a well-known story here in The US: a whole family was killed by tuberculosis around The 19th Century, but one of the daughters, Mercy Brown, still had blood in her heart, which was enough for the medical examiner to eviscerate the body and label Mercy Brown as a "vampire" responsible for the disease that took out her entire family. "I like to...

The Witzard and Don't Panic have a long strange relationship together. Well, maybe, not exactly "strange," but it's definitely one of my personal favorites I've forged over these past 10 years running this very site. It was quite a few years ago, maybe, about 2009 or so, on a complete whim, I saw Don't Panic at local now-defunct Vineland, New Jersey venue Hangar 84. I believe, Don't Panic were opening up for The Ataris and I vaguely recall talking to one of the members' (maybe, drummer Anthony Paesano) parents about it being his first show with the band. Their set was phenomenal and I ended up buying a CD copy of Don't Panic's then-new EP, My Fairweather Friend . One track in particular, "Caroline," quickly became a staple on CD-R mixtapes I was actively making for my then-girlfriend/now-wife. However, it appears as though by 2011-12, Don't Panic had broken up or, at least, gone on an indefinite hiatus. So, you could imagine...

"Ever since our fortiutious connecting at Comic-Con in 2008, we have been teaming up to drop fresh rhymes and play concerts for our fans and friends. It's been a wild ride and it feels like we are just getting started. For the last three years, we have been working on an album and are glad to say that it is 90% finished! In other words, this will be in your hands this year! We know some Kickstarters have taken longer than expected, but this project is super-close to being complete... Simply put, this album will contain Rap songs about some of our favorite literary works (works of Fiction, short stories, poems, and even graphic novels) transforming them into bangin' and joyful Hip-Hop jams with help from some of the hottest beat-makers and guest rappers in the game. We rap about Shelley's Ozymandias, Moore's Watchmen, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Poe's Masque of The Red Death, and so much more. This album features guest appearances by MC Frontalot,...