Local Heroes

Heres to local heroes...the hard-working bands that are legends in their "neighbourhood" , yet seldom are shared with the rest of the world!  Luckily in our day of electronic media, more musicians can share through youtube and other social networking outlets.  Case in point is Detroit legends The Howling Diablos.  For decades frontman "Tino" Gross has built a name for himself in the greater Michigan/Detroit area with a strong following of loyal fans. The Diablos incorporate a bluesy funk sound that is the real deal.  I first became familiar with the Diablos when my wife's aunt called years ago and said that we should watch PBS' American Masters because her cousin (Tino) was going to be part of a documentary about Sun Records (Good Rockin' Tonight)....To our delight we saw a great performance of  Malcolm Yelvington's rockabilly standard "Drinkin' Wine Spo-dee- o-dee" featuring the Diablos with Kid Rock!  At the time I thought this was pretty cool...but I did little else at the time to seek out their story and their sound.  Recently my wife's aunt passed away and my wife spoke to Tino to offer condolences and I looked into what cousin Tino had been up to! It seems that the band has toured with national acts as diverse as George Clinton to Alice Cooper to Ben Harper! They have released several EPs and live offerings as well as full-length offerings.  Judge for yourself...there are some artists that deserve to be heard by more  and these guys are a prime example.  Look them up on youtube and visit their website www.howlingdiablos.com.