I’m a smoker... never really knew why... something about looking cool or something. One day, however, sitting on the front porch of our beloved pink residence, smoking, listening to the new Slipknot (I‚m serious!), Marty from Salt the Earth (S.T.E.) walked by and handed me a burnt copy of their self titled demo. I oddly thanked myself for smoking that afternoon because it led to my discovery of our next-door neighbors: Salt The Earth.

Regardless of the awesome recording quality (emanating from a trailer park in Lansing, Kansas), STE delivers 22 minutes of eight uninterrupted, powerful tracks that combine intricate melodies with bang-your-head rhythms and unusual structures. Result: A pure concentration of positive energy that will bring a big ‘Hell yeah’ smile to your face and, eventually, pains in the neck... I’m usually bad at predicting certain events, otherwise I would’ve been a bit better at school, but the moment I absorbed the STE demo, I knew those guys were going to go much further. Because of this, we asked STE to play at our Lawrnecerock.com kick off show at the Pink House. That night of October 12th, surrounded by big, ‘Hell yeah’ smiles, Salt The Earth did something to me: they rocked my Moroccan ass! They moved all around the room, screamed at people’s faces, rocked the house, jumped, kicked, played an amazing set, sweated, and then they rocked the house some more.

“Remember that they played in our living room guys” I kept repeating to my dear roomies from the Pink House, "you have in front of you a band that’s just starting to make it’s way towards something much bigger.” And after that night, It just seemed as if STE was exploding. They were all over the place, on numerous flyers for all kinds of venues (ranging from house shows to the Bottleneck and occasional out of town venues), KJHK played was playing them more often, friends told me they discovered their new favorite local band, and once again, I let out a big ‘Hell yeah’ smile to all of that. A smile that got even greater when I found out that STE was getting ready to conquer not only the whole Mid-West, by going on a big tour in December and January, but eventually the whole country! The band is also going to appear on a compilation put out by Lujo Records and is also currently involved in negotiations with Note To Self Records in Chicago (The Imports, After Project ) about a recording contract and, eventually, another tour in February 2002. To be continued ...

Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I’ve actually witnessed a band going so far so fast. I might be new to the business, but it does feel damn good to not only witness the growth of such a talented band, but to actually take part in its growth. Every time I listen to that demo, whether in my car, or blasting in the Pink House living room, with the everlasting ‘Hell Yeah’ smile, this voice in my head keeps telling me in a tone of pride : ‘These guys played in my house !’ ... The pride is still young and is to grow stronger as my next-door neighbors go farther.