It's
"Lucky 7" For Local Blues Band. 3RD
DEGREE TAKES HOME THE TOP
PRIZE IN AREA BLUES COMPETITION!
Press Release May 2005: Winner
of this year's Capitol Area Blues Competition to represent Lansing in the finals
of the W. C. Handy International Blues Competition in Memphis, 3rd Degree
has been rocking clubs in downtown Lansing for seven years, drawing crowds of
students, sports fans, down-home partiers, and hard-core blues fanatics with their
trademark take-no-prisoners groove and smoking solos. But national exposure has
been elusive ...until now. "This
is Lucky Seven for us," stated bandleader and guitar whiz Stan Budzynski
firmly, when contacted by phone at his country home and studio. "We're honored
to win the 2005 CABS event because the competition in Mid-Michigan is so stiff,
but this is our year. There's a saying that you have to pay your dues to play
the blues, and I think we've done that, so this year we chose an all-original
set to show the crowd who we really are. It's exciting that tunes we created together
were recognized tonight. Ironically, one of the is called "Seven-Year Itch!"
"The core of 3rd Degree is
guys who have been playing blues-based rock since we were kids," comments bassist
and attorney Ron Bretz. His wide ranging musical taste has edged the band's
repertoire to include everything from covers of the Neville Brothers to Johnny
Cash, with some soul, heavy-metal, and garage music thrown in to pay homage to
his Detroit roots. Drummer Dan Mead, who also sits in with Squids, brings
a cutting-edge new rock sensibility to the mix.We
can -and we have-- done anything to survive in this business," says Budzynski,
"but now we're ready to shift into top gear and cruise with our own identity a
little more. Our sound is like our Michigan roots - ready for anything, steady,
but it doesn't scream out for attention, so it's hard to get noticed sometimes.
But once people hear us, they feel the strength of our groove that goes back to
the blues roots. We're like all regular, hardworking Americans who do a hell of
a job and don't get the payoff often enough, so when we let it roll, people are
carried along and the crowd becomes part of the fun. Because of that natural intensity,
we don't have to take a backseat to anybody who plays blues on the national scene."
The story of Stan's bottleneck slide incident illustrates the band's hardworking
ethic. While hurrying to play a benefit for a local charity before the CABS competition,
his professional guitar slide was forgotten. Because slide guitar is a highlight
of the band's show, it was an emergency to find a slide as they mounted the stage
to compete. With down-to-earth aplomb, Stan took a Corona beer bottle and proceeded
to tear the place up. It's all in a day's work for 3rd Degree.For
information and bookings, contact Stan Budzynski at (517) 645-9773 or email.
3rd Degree
invites everyone to hear us every Wednesday night (9:00 pm - 1:00 am) at Brannigan
Brothers 220 S.Washington Ave.in Lansing. If you'd like to be on our mailing list
for band news and show dates, email
us.
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