Keaton Simons and Damage in SoCal

KEATON SIMONS is performing at the Hotel Cafe this Saturday, October 4 at 9:30pm in support of his CBS Records debut, CAN YOU HEAR ME, which came out June 10.

Thanks to the label’s familial relationship with CBS Television, songs from "Can You Hear Me" (“Mama Song” and “Unstoppable”) have already appeared on various CBS programs, including “NCIS” and “Numb3rs.” "Mama Song" was also featured in a recent episode of A&E's "The Cleaner."

According to the Los Angeles Times, the album is “…a deft effort at capturing Simons' unusual and versatile sound. The songs include delicate, jazzy ballads and powerful blues numbers, peppered with elements of Elvis Costello, Eagle-Eye Cherry and Lenny Kravitz.”

And the Washington Post proclaimed: “His knack for composing tunes with appealing melodic and rhythmic hooks is apparent from the outset, and more than a few lyrics on CAN YOU HEAR ME point to a promising future. His acoustic and electric guitar work, another big plus, helps personalize the album.”

Check him out at www.keatonsimons.com and www.myspace.com/keatonsimons

DAMAGE is performing in Costa Mesa on Sunday, October 5 at the Detroit Bar and in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 8 at The Derby (along with Magnetico, featuring Rafael Moreira (guitarist from "Rockstar: Supernova" TV show).

The Orange County, CA band’s sophomore album, TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCE, was released May 20 via Adrenaline Music Group and is the follow-up to their VELOCITY debut album.

Thanks to their explosive live shows, the group— Michael Neufeld (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Tony Buschauer (guitars), Spencer Wright (bass), GW Pope (drums) and Erin Shawn Hawkins (cello/backing vocals)--were named “Best Hard Rock Band” at the 2006 Southern California Music Awards.

Music Connection magazine recently compared them to Alice in Chains and went on to suggest that Damage is "more commercial.”

"Well that's an incredible compliment to us for sure," says Neufeld before adding, "Alice is one of our favorite bands, to be mentioned in that league is a bit overwhelming.”

TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCE songs like "God,” "Forgive Me" and "My Point Of View,” call on all individuals to look within themselves to advance personal change for the greater good of all humanity; while others like "Another Girl,” "No One" and "You Seeing Me" highlight the difficulties associated with maintaining healthy personal relationships while pursuing our own personal agendas. While "Don't Wait On Me" is written from two vantage points -- from an Iraqi child growing up in war-torn Baghdad, and from an American soldier trying to survive the conflict -- the lyrics have a duality to them as they apply equally to both the child and the soldier.

Check them out at www.myspace.com/damage or www.damagetheband.com.