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Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2008 > August > 08
Friday, August 8, 2008
“The Cringe Can Not Wait To Rock Hotlanta!’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The headline above is a direct quote from John Cusimano, lead vocalist, songwriter and founder of classic rock ensemble The Cringe.
He’s also known to some as one-woman-food industry Rachel Ray’s husband, so he knows from cheesey.
And funny too, as before their performance Saturday at Smith’s Olde Bar he was game for discussing his wife, the Cringe’s last stop in Atlanta and the ends he’s gone to to beef up his burgeoning band’s audience.
“People don’t really yell out crazy things at shows because I’m her husband,” Cusimano told us. “One or twice someone may have said ‘E-V-O-O!’ - that’s Rachel’s olive oil; but that’s if they make the connection. Or they are fans of Rachel and they just come out because of that. But I think most people don’t make the connection.”
And just in case they don’t make any connection, whatsoever, Cusimano isn’t beyond bribing people hanging around into coming to see the Cringe play. “I do recall that the last time we played Smith’s, at one part during the show, I walked off the stage and down the stairs where they were having a pool tournament or something. And I offered to buy a round of drinks for anyone who came up. Literally, in the middle of the song, I’m rounding folks up. The guys in the band were like ‘Did you quit or something?’ I like to have fun, and put on a great show. Do something theatrical.”
Does that include getting his wife on the microphone when she stops in for some of the Cringe’s shows? “You know, we just did two shows that she came to, in Seattle and San Francisco,” continues Cusimano, who’s had the Cringe since he was in high school, when the then-more-punk rockers “used to actually make people cringe,” he concedes.
“But no, she didn’t come up. She’s usually front and center cheering and yelling and hooting and hollering. She’s not really a good singer. She is a great dancer. And obviously a great cook — with great taste in music. But I’m the singer in the family.”
Were you at Smith’s when Cusimano was buying the bar? Planning to see them open for Trances Arc, To Whom and Autovaughn this weekend? Ever heard their two albums — “Tipping Point” and “Scratch The Surface”?
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Lupe Fiasco In Atlanta Today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CREDIT: Ron Allen
Most celeb-associated, back-to school campaigns send the kids off with a new set of pencils and notebooks, not a song.
Not the Coca-Cola Refresh Your Flow Tour.
Again, obviously, the goal is to “Refresh Your Flow”. And how so? The Atlanta-based beverage empire is bringing the rather intelligent, Grammy-nominated hip-hop phenom Lupe Fiasco, and 17-year-old newcomer Karina, to the Tabernacle today for an invite-only show.
(To get tickets you can listen to Hot-107.9, be in the Boys & Girls Clubs or just the right place when Coca-Cola street teams come through).
Before his appearance, Fiasco told us how “really dope it is to rock for a large part of my fan base — which is teenagers and kids — in a club setting. Because usually when people do things for young people, they treat it kind of kiddie. But I’m rocking in the kinds of clubs I usually rock…and what’s really cool is to look out n the audience and see like half the crowd in Boys & Girls Club t-shirts. And it’s like the best and brightest. That’s fresh all around.”
And how does one of hip-hop’s most touted lyricists “refresh his flow”? “I try to do what’s left, all of the time. What the status quo is doing, what everybody’s doing, I go left of…Like recently, I stopped going on the Internet. I’ve limited my Internet interface. I just wanted to slow things down because there is way too much information out there…Doing things like that makes me feel different, and in some way will affect my music. Refresh my flow.”
As for Karina (above), the answer is apparently to come to our fair city. “I recorded most of my album there,” she told us. The first single from “First Love”— due in stores Aug. 19 — was “16 @ War,” produced by local hitmakers Tricky and The Dream.
Carlos McKinney had a hand in her latest single, “Can’t Find The Words.” (Hear it HERE ). And she also worked with Sean Garrett, the Clutch and the Knightwritaz.
“I really fell in the love with that city,” Karina said. “Most of the time I stayed at the InterContinental Hotel, so of course I went to Lenox [Square] often. I love that mall. And the Cheesecake Factory. And Waffle House”.
Despite all of that time here, today will be the first time she performs in Atlanta. But it may not be the last time you see her. She has launched an “Anything Is Possible” essay contest where girls 13 and older can submit an essay HERE explaining what that theme means to them. The winner will get to meet Karina at the 2008 Girl Scout National Convention in Indianapolis. The deadline is Sept. 30.
Have you gotten tickets to this show? Catch Lupe on Kanye West’s “Glow In The Dark” tour? (He’s STILL laughing about falling during the “Touch The Sky” encore). Planning to get “First Love”?
