By: Ryan French – Music Director/Producer: Boise By Bus

Tuesday night, March 27, The Knitting Factory was the place to be for the Boise Music For The Cure Artist Showcase. This event is held to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer. The night was emceed by WILD 101′s Rick Moorten, and featured an appearance by Miss Idaho 2011, Genevieve Nutting. Artists featured included Boise’s James Orr and Marcus Eaton, as well as Soul Serene, rappers Dunson, and Silver Medallion. The headlining act of the night was Shwayze and Cisco—no, not the “Thong Song” Sisqo.

I don’t know if the people of Boise just have a burned image in their head of that silver hair and terribly great music video from Sisqo, but I could not talk about Shwayze and Cisco without getting that response. It seemed to me that everyone knows who Shwayze is, and that made it harder for me to imagine, since I know and follow him and his partner in crime-Cisco, that they couldn’t imagine another person with the same name. And that mentality seemed to also be true for artists like Silver Medallion, Soul Serene and Dunson, who as they performed, people were murmuring, “Who is this?”

Silver Medallion, a Brooklyn native, had an interesting act, where he decided to finish his act with the exact same song he opened with. For his sake, this was probably a smart choice since that was his only popular tune with the crowd, and probably because it was his only song that was purely his own. His DJ mixed the instrumentals from top 40 songs that were clearly not altered much and just let Silver Medallion run with the words to it. He didn’t have the greatest voice, but the guy had great energy and his rave scene vibe and sound helped his act, and that seemed to hold the crowd together until his set was over. All the artists had a great response from the crowd, and all 25 that were standing at the stage.

Dunson was able to pull the crowd away from the bar and onto the dance floor. He was a great crowd pleaser and really got their attention by throwing out CD’s. But who doesn’t like free CD’s? The main stage act was set to be a killer show, the anticipation was built, and the night was ready to end with a bang from Shwayze and Cisco Adler. I personally was getting very anxious to just see Shwayze perform, something I haven’t been able to do since before I moved to Boise from southern California, back in August.

New Pulse Producer Tim Crenshaw and I were lucky enough to get to interview Cisco and his DJ/Intern, DJ GNash, prior to the show at their room in Hotel 43. You can hear the interview below. What night wouldn’t be complete without the drama of rock stars and the showbiz of music though? Halfway through one act, my friend returns from the restroom and tells me some of the toilet talk these guys had in the urinals. So the word is, that Shwayze can’t get a flight into Boise and that he isn’t going to show up. Ok, I thought, this kind of makes sense, but we will have to wait and see if this is a stunt or just things gone wrong. Then five minutes later Cisco’s manager explains the real low down. Indeed Shwayze got stuck at an airport, missed his flight, and couldn’t get in to make the show. To me this seemed to be a sure disaster for the headlining act, right? However, I think there is a larger theme behind what transpired.

Cisco took the stage, after the removal of one of the two mics set up, and gets right into spinning some tunes for the crowd. There is no mention of Shwayze until half way through the act, where his songs, performed awesomely by Cisco, were given due credit and a shout out to San Francisco International Airport for holding him. Cisco held the fort down! He had the crowd amped, pumped and jumping, and he went through all the songs as if they were his own. During one song, a guy in the crowd with a Bruno Mars hat was pulled up on stage to rap the Shwayze part to a song. With all that Cisco has going for him, his launch of a brand, Banana Beat, his own album to debut shortly, and his collaborations with G. Love, I think that having the stage to himself was a great opportunity and will push him to stand on his own two legs.

I know the people of Boise sure seemed to support it, even though they were disappointed in the drop of a star act like Shwayze, but I think we will be enjoying a new headliner that is emerging. You can hear what would have been the Shwayze and Cisco act by listening to their new album on my show, Boise By Bus, Monday 5-7pm MST at BSUpulse.com, where I will also replay the interview with Cisco.

Interview with Cisco Adler

By Denny Spinks – General Manager/Producer: All Things Metal

It amazes me how people who say they love new music and hope their favorite bands step out of the box and do something different. They then turn around and complain that it doesn’t sound like the band they are fans of. My suggestion would be to quit your bitching and Thank “The Metal Council” that there are those out there willing to think out of the box.

Just so we can get the editorial reviews from Amazon out of the way, “Highly anticipated 2011 two CD collaboration between Rock legend Lou Reed and the Heavy Metal monolith that is Metallica. Lulu was inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wedekind’s plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box, which tell a story of a young abused dancer’s life and relationships and are now collectively known as the “Lulu Plays.” Originally the lyrics and musical landscape were sketched out by Lou for a theatrical production in Berlin, but after coming together with the ‘Tallica boys for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts in New York in 2009 all guilty parties knew they wanted to make more music together. Lou was inspired enough by that performance to recently ask the band to join him in taking his theatrical Lulu piece to the next level and so starting in early May of this year they were all camped out recording at HQ studios in Northern California, bringing us to today and 10 complete songs.”

With that being said and hopefully you have paid attention and know that this is NOT a “Metallica” record. This has been expressed in more than one interview I have seen. I would happen to agree. It is a Lou Reed record! Now that we have gotten that out the way, let’s talk about LULU.

Brandenburg Gate is probably one of my favorite tracks on this collaboration. I love how the music compliments the frail voice of Reed. I would agree that at times the vocals of Reed don’t fit with the music but in some ways, that is what I like about it. To be honest the music is as solid as ever. I think Metallica did a really great job in creating some that in time will be called some of their best.

As I listen to LULU, I feel like I am thrown back in time during German Expressionism during the 1920s–1930s. For me, this album has more emotion than I get from the normal albums I listen to. This album grabs you, sucks you in and doesn’t let go. Don’t expect those narrow minded billboard suits fool you. This is a concept album that is more than just a single. If you truly want to listen to something different and off the wall and make you think WTF are these guys doing, then go and get this album. If you are looking for something to bitch about, well, maybe you should buy this also. We don’t care what you think anyway! I recommend getting this album for the sole reason is that when you look back at this album; you will know that this really is a piece of art.

Make sure you check out this semester’s new line up of producers Monday – Friday!

David and Brian from Red Fang stopped by the press tent at the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in Boise, ID. on July 13th. David and Brian share their love for music and beer while giving us a little insight on the Red Fang videos. Listen to the full interview here David and Brian – Red Fang Mayhem

Red Fang Social Media: Facebook, MYSPACE,

Kirk Windstein of Down, Crowbar, and Kingdom of Sorrow, stopped by the press tent at the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in Boise, ID. on July 13th. Kirk talks about touring, his work ethic, and Down’s new album. Listen to the full interview here Kirk Windstein – Down-Crowbar-KOS Mayhem

Kingdom of Sorrow Social Media: Facebook, MYSPACE, Twitter

Shawn Drover from Megadeth stopped by the press tent at the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in Boise, ID. on July 13th. Shawn talks about the New Album, Touring, and Mayhem. Listen to the full interview here. Shawn Drover – Megadeth.

Megadeth Social Media: Facebook, MYSAPCE, Twitter,

Check out this podcast with PRSSA discussing COMM CON 2011. May 3rd, 4:30 to 6:30pm in the Jordan Ballroom. Listen to it here PRSSA on COMMCON

(click the image for a larger version)

On Friday, 3/18/11, Eric Gilbert of the Boise rock band Finn Riggins spoke with us during our weekly live show. Eric discusses Finn Riggins’ forthcoming split 7″ with Hillfolk Noir, recording songs for Daytrotter, extensive touring and their new approach to recording.

Finn Riggins is playing at the Visual Arts Collective on Wednesday, 3/23/11 along with Delicate Steve (NJ), Hosannas (OR), Teens and Owlright.

Check out the interview after the jump!

(Right click and ‘save as’ to download or click the play arrow to listen on this page!)

Interview with Finn Riggins

Click the image for a larger version of the flier.

We’ll see you there!!