ok, I looked it up:
The rock band local legend Clyde Holly fronted for years, Biloxi, is making big waves these days. Holly died in 2006, during recording of the band's third album, "Biloxi III: In The Wake Of The Storm." The remaining members (Mark Allen Lanoue: vocals/guitar, Rob Gronkowski: drums, Dave Melton: guitar) came together last year and completed the rest of the tracks. Things haven't slowed down since.
The band signed a distribution deal with Retrospect Records shortly after the album's release and recently landed an amazing gig at the 2nd annual Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Okla. The week-long, '80s-rock theme festival takes place July 9-13. It's difficult to sell out a festival of this magnitude but more than half a million are expected to attend. Biloxi performs July 11, sandwiched between Night Ranger and Lita Ford. Awesome.
"It's just going to be an amazing thing," Lanoue said in a recent interview. "It's almost going to feel like Clyde's going to be there with us. Plus, we're representing Mississippi. It will be great to say that in front of everybody in the world."
Lanoue said he's been getting e-mails from longtime Biloxi fans around the world, excited about the band's resurgence following Holly's death.
"We're doing all this stuff really for the fans," Lanoue said. "They really pulled Biloxi up out of the ashes. Rob and I are working on new material with a new band, and the fans and the label said they really wanted to see Biloxi. I've got people contacting me from Japan already!"
"Biloxi III: In The Wake Of The Storm" is available pretty much everywhere these days. In a nod to local fans, the band made copies available at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Gulfport. It's also on Amazon.com and Wal-Mart.com, and will soon be up on Rhapsody and iTunes. It's also up on Retrospect Records' web site, retrospectrecords.com. The tracks Holly recorded before his death are also on the album.
It's a pretty solid record throughout. The songs are punchy and aggressive in an AOR radio sense and represent the band well. Their performance at Rocklahoma should stir more interest in the band and its story.
To play that gig, the band had to re-arrange a few members and bring in new ones. They brought in Ocean Springs bassist Lee Cooley and well-seasoned local guitarist James Gillies just over a month ago. Everything just clicked.
"James has been friends with Rob for a number of years," Lanoue said. "But he also had something to do with Clyde in some way. Plus, he's a great guy, a solid player and he comes to practice knowing his parts. That's a good thing. It just felt right. He's now taking over some leads and it's coming along well. I knew in the first practice that he was a good fit."
"It's a lot of pressure but a huge privilege," Gillies said in a recent interview. "It's big shoes to fill but, you know, you just go do it. You know Clyde could do it. He had it all. It's definitely going to be the experience and honor of a lifetime to be able to do this, pretty much, in honor of him."
Whatever the outcome of the Rocklahoma gig or album sales, Biloxi has represented our local scene well for years. I hope they continue to do so. Long live rock 'n' roll.
Justin Hooks covers bars and bands along the Coast for the Sun Herald. He can be reached at
jhooks@sunherald.com.