Spotlight - Gunner
I was on my way to Fiddlestyx to experience Gunner for the very first time.
I've heard a lot of good things about this band and I was really looking forward
to seeing what they have to offer. Oh, and was it a fun evening and it started right
before we got into Milton. Two different cop cars were behind us and, wouldn't you know it,
the lights went on and both of them pulled us over. Supposedly, we were speeding and we were
"all over the road," as the officer pointed out. But, wait, here's the real kicker...my wife
is driving drunk. They asked her numerous times if she had been drinking and they make her get out
of the car to take a breath test. As I'm sitting there in the car, one of these assholes,
uh, I mean officers, keeps shining a flashlight in my face and he's trying to get a good
look at the bottle in my hand. So, I hold it up to show him that it's a Mountain Dew.
Needless to say, I declined to tell him that there was Jack Daniels in my Mountain Dew because,
honestly, it was none of his business. Satisfied with my answer, he goes back to the other
officer who is giving my wife the breath test. They're so sure that they just caught a drunk
driver, they call it in, "We're taking care of a D.U.I. here," they said into their radio.
Well, imagine their suprise when their little test came up negative. My wife doesn't drink
alcohol...in the eight years that we've been married, she drank maybe two times and tonight
wasn't one of those times. As expected, they let us go...obviously, they had no choice.
They would've looked like a bunch of idiots...wait, let me rephrase that...they did look
like a bunch of idiots. Trying to bust a totally sober driver with drunk driving. To top it
off, they told us where they were gonna be and that we should be careful coming home. I'm
going to a bar where people will be drinking and the cops tell me where they're gonna be...does
the word DUH come to mind? Needless to say, I'm sure there were quite a few people who took a
different route home that evening. Anyway, as we drove off, wouldn't you know it,
they continued to follow us into Milton. They turned off at the Costal Mart...probably
going to get their coffee and doughnuts after a night of hard work keeping the sober
drivers off the street. Better luck next time assholes!
We finally got to Fiddlestyx and I introduced myself to Gunner drummer Lisa Kossuth.
This was my first time meeting her in person. But, a week before this show, I spoke to
her on the phone in order to do an article on the band for The Daily Item and since the
band doesn't get the paper, I came with copies in hand. I'm such a thoughtful journalist, huh?
Anyway, a few pitchers of beer into the night and Gunner took the stage. Everything I heard about t
his band was true. Oh wait, you don't know what I heard, do you? Well, let's see...they're a kick ass band,
they put on a killer show, explosive, energetic, they rock and blah, blah, blah. Bottom line is that
what I heard was all good stuff and, let me tell you, Gunner didn't disappoint. Their entire set
list is a rock 'n' roll fans wildest dream come true. They did songs Ratt, Skid Row, Metallica,
AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Kix, Accept, Twisted Sister, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper and
the list goes on. The only song they did that I didn't like was "Fire Woman" by The Cult,
only because I can't stand that band. But, they did perform it rather well...I still can't get
into The Cult though. Hey, I can't like everybody you know.
There's a lot of cover bands out there. Some people can get into them, some people
can't stand them. My personal opinion...from a fan/journalistic point of view...I can
live without them. I would much rather go to a club and see a band doing all original
music with a few covers thrown into the mix, it's as simple as that. I don't speak
highly of too many cover bands. In fact, I can only name two that I really enjoy seeing
and that I would go out to see...and Gunner is at the top of that list. What makes them
even more special is the fact that, yes, they're working on original material and eventually,
they'll do an album. From what I saw on stage tonight, their original music is gonna be some
totally awesome stuff and I can't wait to hear it. But, regardless of what this band does
on stage...covers or originals...I will continue to go out and see them whenever I can
because, well, Gunner fuckin' rocks! If you haven't seen them before, you have no idea
what you're missing. Catch a show as soon as you can and I guarantee you...you won't be disappointed!
http://www.gunnerrocks.com
And for those of you who are interested enough, here's the article that was done for
The Daily Item in order to promote the show. There was a good crowd that night and
I'd like to think that at least some of those people showed up because of this article.
A few people did mention it to me. At least I know some people are out there reading
my work. Now if I can only get them to buy me free beer.
When drummer Lisa Rav Kossuth wanted to put a band together, direction wasn't something that she had a
problem with. She knew what she wanted to do and there was only one thing that she needed to do to make
her vision a reality and that was finding the right people. That would be accomplished during the course
of a year. Kossuth went the basic route of holding auditions and the right people eventually fell into place.
"I found my guitar player, S., in a Meatloaf tribute band." Kossuth stated. "I happened to see him play and
he was fantastic. He looked like he would fit in with what I wanted to do, which was heavy, early 80's music.
He had the look, he could play and when we eventually got together, it was a perfect fit.
Bass player Randy Bowers was the next piece of the puzzle. His introduction to the soon to be band is one
of those humorous little rock 'n' roll stories. "I had an ad hanging up in a music store with a
description of what I was looking for. Randy took the ad down and called me. Needless to say,
there wasn't any other calls for auditions and Randy joined the line up." Kossuth said.
The line up was finally completed on familiar ground when Kossuth recruited vocalist Tom Thornton,
who she recorded and performed with in a previous band, Orphan Annie. With the line up complete
and all the players in place, Gunner was born.
While most cover bands tend to perform the style of music that's currently popular, Kossuth and
the rest of Gunner wanted to break out of the normal routine and go with a style of music they
enjoyed listening to and performing. As Kossuth was quick to point out, "You know, almost 95%
of the bands out there are playing all the same material and I wanted to do something that
hardly anybody does and I wanted to do something really powerful and massive and I just wanted
to get out there and rock. That heavy, eighties style of music, nobody's doing it and I feel
there's a void there, that's what's missing from the scene. With Gunner, we want to fill that
void and give the people some good, strong music...and it's music that they want to hear."
In the year and a half that they've been together, Gunner has built an exceptionally large following based
on the strength of their live performance. In the two to three hours that they're on stage, they cover
a wide range of material from artists such as Led Zepplin, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Judas Priest,
AC/DC, Kiss, Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Ratt, Wasp, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Kix and Dirty Looks to name a few.
Looking to take their career to the next level, the members of Gunner have started working on original material.
"Yeah, we started writing some original tunes. We actually did a song at rehearsal last night and it
sounded great." Kossuth stated. "We'll do a record when the time is right, we're in no hurry. We wanna make
sure that we love what we put out there."
As they continue to move forward, there's one thing that remains a constant source of
motivation for the band. As Kossuth explains, "Our fans are awesome. They're crazy,
fun and good hearted. I met a lot of nice people out there in the audience who've become
great friends and if it were to all end tomorrow, I can say that alone made it all worth while."