THE GUFS SIGN WITH ROCKGAMER STUDIOS TO BRING “BEAUTIFUL DISASTER” TO ROCK BAND NETWORK

If you grew up in or around the Milwaukee area, chances are you’ve heard of The Gufs. Right, RockBandAide?

The pop rock band has been building a rabid fan base since 1988, and still features all original members. In that span, they’ve nearly risen to the national spotlight, signed with a major label (Atlantic), produced a hit single with “Smile”, gone indie again, taken a seven-year hiatus, hit the studio again, and released a new album.

Now, a band that formed before the Internet was popular — heck, before the CD was an industry standard — is set to pioneer the Rock Band Network age with its haunting, melodic sounds.

Lead guitarist Morgan Dawley saw a big opportunity to expand The Gufs’ market. In his words, “Making things interactive for our fans is an exciting step into the future for our music, and we are proud to be collaborating with the talented staff at RockGamer Studios on making that future a reality.”

Here at RockGamer we are proud to announce our partnership with The Gufs to author “Beautiful Disaster” from their 2006 album A Different Sea (iTunes).

If you’re a fan of melodic pop-rock to the tune of Coldplay or former tourmates Matchbox Twenty, do yourself a favor and check out their MySpace page to sample their catalogue. You will definitely want to keep an eye out for The Gufs and “Beautiful Disaster”.

BALTIMORE ROCKERS BALLYHOO! TEAM UP WITH ROCKGAMER STUDIOS AND ENTER THE ROCK BAND NETWORK

RockGamer Studios is proud to announce a new partnership with Maryland reggae rockers Ballyhoo! (MySpace) to bring two tracks to the Rock Band Network.

Frontman/guitarist Howi Spangler originally approached us, asking us to help them get their music on Rock Band. We took one listen to their tracks and they reminded us of some favorites like Sublime, 311 and Slightly Stoopid.

Reggae is a genre that, in our opinion, is sorely lacking in Rock Band… there’s only so many times you can play that one Bosstones track before it’s time for something new, you know?

So, needless to say, we said “YES” immediately.

Howi couldn’t be happier to be part of the RBN. “We grew up playing video games and every after show house party we’ve been to on tour has had Rock Band. I think our fans are gonna trip when they find out they can play our songs on their gaming consoles.”

After we got back to Howi, he put us in touch with their manager, Steven Roeser, who helped them take care of all the paperwork. “We are really excited to work with RockGamer Studios to make Ballyhoo!’s music available to the Rock Band gaming world,” says Roeser.

RockGamer Studios is bringing two Ballyhoo! tracks to RBN. The first is “Cali Girl” from their 2006 album Do It For the Money!. The second is “Paper Dolls” from their latest album, Cheers!.

Anyone else excited about finally seeing some reggae make its way to Rock Band?

My name is Miguel from New York, and I fight dragons.

That’s right, the world’s finest (and possibly only) NES-Rock band — I Fight Dragons — is coming soon to Rock Band Network.

Metromix Chicago’s Best New Band of 2009 thrives on the nostalgia of the synthesized beeping and booping so familiar to everyone who ever owned a NES or Game Boy. IFD isn’t your typical chiptunes outfit, though… they are a bona-fide rock band who happen to be as proficient with real instruments as they are with game controllers.

Still, take one look at the band lineup on their MySpace page:

Brian Mazzaferri – Lead Vocals, Guitar, NES
Packy Lundholm – Vocals, Guitar, NES, SNES
Hari Rao – Bass, NES
Chad Van Dahm – Drums, NES
Laura Green – Vocals, NES, SNES, Power Pad, Power Glove
Bill Prokopow – NES, NES Advantage, NES Zapper, Keyboards, Laptop, Vicky the Computer Voice

Power Glove? NES Zapper? Best. Lineup. Ever.

IFD is partnering with RockGamer Studios to bring you a track from their album Cool Is Just a Number.

“No One Likes Superman Anymore” is the tragic tale of how we stop believing in pure, noble, simple heroes, such as The Man of Steel.

“We’re really proud to announce we’ve worked out a deal with RockGamer Studios,” says JJ Italiano, a manager so awesome that he built this NES/SNES cabinet. “They’re providing us with quality content for the Rock Band Network, and administratively have been accommodating and fair.”

Accommodating and fair. I think we have a new slogan.

2 EPs and 3 drummers in, Vancouver rock group Stars Of Boulevard is stronger than ever, with a big year ahead of them.

Walking triumphantly out of the courtroom after winning a legal battle with one of their ex-drummers, the boys look unphased, as if this weren’t their first run-in with the law (we’re sure it wasn’t).

Frontman Joshua Helgason, ex-singer of The Sessions (2006 winners of Emergenza, the world’s largest Battle of the Bands), lights a cigarette as they get into a cab. SOB have now acquired a new drummer in Matty Carolei (Lost Vultures), and after speaking with the 4-piece band at their local hang out spot — Whineo’s on Granville in Vancouver — they seem to mesh musically and emotionally, as if they had been together for years.

SOB just signed on with RockGamer Studios to release several of tracks on the smash hit video game Rock Band, including “Limousine”.

In early November of 2009, they are going into Mushroom Studios to record a single with worldclass production duo Jeff Dawson & Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Metallica).

“We’re excited as hell to work with talented people who know what the end result could possibly be in this business,” says guitarist Ken Abbey, when asked about the Rock Band opportunity, as well as working with Mike Fraser.

SOB is Joshua Helgason (Vocals), Ken Abbey (Guitar), Johnny Kaye (Bass) & Matt Carolei (Drums).

Stay tuned to www.myspace.com/starsofboulevard for SOB’s latest news and updates, including information on their upcoming tour.

A sneak peek for all of you fans of awesome music. Here’s the first preview footage from Amberian Dawn‘s “River of Tuoni” and Fake Shark-Real Zombie!‘s “Sestri Levante”. Expect both of these to be available later this year when the Rock Band Network launches!

Remember way back when we told you we’d give away our Xbox 360 with 60GB hard drive, perfect for all those RBN songs you’re about to buy, once we reached 1,000 followers? Thanks to all of you, we hit our mark, and we’re ready to send her to a good home.

HOWEVER…

We don’t quite feel like giving away our Xbox to Spamanda679vhx (as much as it’s going to break her little spambot heart), so that pretty much rules out a random drawing from our followers.

We also don’t want to do a challenging trivia question, since we want to give everyone an equal chance to win.

So, here’s how we’re going to do it… please follow the rules to make sure you don’t get disqualified:

* Between now and 12PM EST on Friday, October 16, tweet the name of your favorite band that you’d like to see on Rock Band.
* Include a link to the band’s official website or MySpace.
* Hashtag your tweet #RGS360
* Only one entry per user will be considered… so spamming #RGS360 WILL NOT increase your chances of winning
* You must be following @RG_Studios in order to win
* A random winner will be chosen from all qualified entrants at 1PM EST on Friday, October 16.

Example: I would love to see Amberian Dawn on Rock Band http://www.amberiandawn.com/ #RGS360

Simple, huh? OK kids, have at it, and good luck!

Put up your dukes, boys and girls… Celtic punk group The Fisticuffs is making its way to the Rock Band Network via RockGamer Studios.

If you’re a fan of The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly, you’ll want to check out the Irish-folk inspired group from Chicago.

Their music — according to singer Bobby Baldwin’s blurb on their MySpace page — “is similar to an Irish wake mixed with a soccer riot, containing lyrics about hard work, family, heritage at home and abroad, a great many sins, and life on the South Side of Chicago.”

Utilizing a wide array of instruments including drums, electric guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, violin, harmonica, and washboard, has allowed the band to fuse many different musical stylings into a sound unmistakably their own.

The Fisticuffs’ first contribution to RBN will be their rendition of the classic sea shanty “Liverpool Judies” (or “Row, Bullies, Row”), from their 2008 album Neatly Stumblin’.

“All of us are really excited to be part of RBN, and hope our high energy Irish punk is well received,” said “Fat Tony” Dellorto, drummer for The Fisticuffs.

If you like what you hear, be sure to pick up Neatly Stumblin’ today!