If you grew up during the late '70s and early '80s in the South Sound, you were blasted with Southern rock - such touchstones as The Allman Brothers' 1971 At Fillmore East and Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album were on constant rotation on "Seattle's Best Rock" KISW 99.9 FM, shuffling in a little Molly Hatchet, Creedence, ZZ Top and the Marshall Tucker Band in between hijinks from DJs John Langan and Mike West. Maybe that's why I have such a sweet spot for Puyallup's SweetKiss Momma. The popular country-rock band takes me back to joyous, carefree times hanging out with friends. Or, it could be the fact SweetKiss Momma is a truly awesome band. Often sliding into country, sometimes stretching into blues, usually jamming live, turning some songs into opuses, the band touches on all the conventions of the Southern rock genre without turning them into cliches.
For the third year in a row, SweetKiss Momma will perform live at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink. The band will perform all facets of Southern rock from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29 at the ice rink across from the Tacoma Art Museum. Lead singer Jeff Hamel, his brother Jeremy on bass, Aaron Arnold on lead guitar and Jimmy Hughs on drums bring it every year, giving shout outs to skaters and freakin' rocking' the ice.
In 2013, the Weekly Volcano readers named SweetKiss Momma "best band" in our Best of Tacoma issue.
This year, the band has been on fire, which Ernest Jasmin explains in his piece that posted today. E.J. details the band's success this year, including their upcoming spot on regional rock TV show Band in Seattle, which tapes at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 at Victory Studios in Seattle. Open to the public, tickets for the all-ages show are $5 to $10, and are available online at brownpapertickets.com. Former Weekly Volcano editor and current Seattle Weekly scribe Matt Driscoll will fire questions at SweetKiss during the taping. Australian-born roots rocker Blake Noble are also on the bill. The show will air on a Saturday night in February 2015 on KSTW Channel 11.
SEE ALSO
Franciscan Polar Plaza Ice Rink 2014 live music schedule