SUNSET, SUNRISE More than a year after the band’s breakup in August 2014, local folk sextet Dusty Sunshine is back in commission and gearing up for a show at the Bunkhouse on February 12. What kindled the reunion? “We were at the reopening of the Bunkhouse and [bassist] Aly [Prudence] was just really excited. … She was like, ‘I’m going to talk to [Bunkhouse booker] Ryan Pardey [about playing a show],’” vocalist/guitarist Summer Soll says.
All six musicians are already practicing for February’s gig, which will include support acts Blair and Ian Dewane and Jackson Wilcox. “I just feel like we all love the music so much and we love what we did,” vocalist/guitarist Heidi Guinn says. “It just needed some time and space to heal.”
Sitting inside Atomic Liquors on a Sunday night the members of Dusty Sunshine say they’ve come a long way from the group’s early days—and from the rift that got between them. “At this point, we’re family,” Guinn says. “We’ve bonded, we’ve had so many experiences together—it’s more than the band.”
Whether or not the Bunkhouse set will lead to more shows or another recording Guinn says is “unspecified.” The goal right now is to get everything ready for February 12. “We just started playing the songs and it was so good,” drummer Courtney Carroll says. “I was so surprised. We could play a show tomorrow.”
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PUNK ROCK SANTA Kiel Smith, the frontman for local punk outfit Hard Pipe Hitters, is spreading holiday cheer again this year with his second annual No Gods, Just Santa Claus punk showcase and fundraiser on December 12. “The idea was kind of borrowed from the Pyrate Punx in LA, a network of underground punk rockers … who help out touring bands with shows.” After witnessing an autism research benefit thrown by the San Bernardino chapter, Smith held his first NGJSC last year, raising $900 in cash-donations and around $400 in toys for Safe Nest, he says. This year, Smith will partner with host HellPop! Comics for the holiday bash, with all proceeds and donations going to Big Brothers & Big Sisters. With Delta Bombers, Be Like Max, Firewater Folklore, Then I Fly, Sector 7-G, Anti-Vision, Day Labor, Spud Bugs, 5:30 p.m., $5 or toy donation, 107 E. Charleston Blvd. #105B.
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LOSING GROUND After a short run at the Hard Hat Lounge, First Friday showcase Common Ground—originally launched in 2007 at the Bunkhouse—is calling it quits again. “It’s a hard sell, location-wise,” Hard Hat booker Tamarisk Wood says. “We’re so close to Dino’s and Velveteen [Rabbit] … and we also have to compete with Fremont.” Still, Wood says she’ll continue to stage bands at Hard Hat. She recently launched the Sunday Chill acoustic night, which will feature Without Wolves on December 13.
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ALSO Punksinvegas.com has added Lydia Vance, the defunct local punk band which featured Brendan Scholz and Jared Cooper (now both in Mercy Music), to its online Vegas archive. Included is a never-released album, plus commentary from band members, local musicians and more. Punks in Vegas will also release a free, digital compilation featuring local tracks from 2014 and 2015, in addition to its winter series Holiday Sessions, this month. … ’80s hardcore punk group FSP has rallied its original lineup for a show on December 11 at Dive Bar. According to the band’s Facebook page, the gig is also bassist Johnny Bangs’ first gig post-heart surgery. With Lethal Injection, System Rejex, New Cold War, Bitter Sea, 9 p.m., $5. … New local hip-hop/soul act The Evergreen Collective has released a debut LP: a holiday record titled Love Is the Reason, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. The group features Halsey Harkins, Bronson Garza, Renaldo Elliott, Jay R. Beatbox, Cameron Calloway, Barry Black and others.
