Peeps, check THIS out.... Scroll down the page for a cool Jeff Beck interpretation playing the Adagietto from Mahlers 5th Symphony arranged and produced by Andy Hill.

Girl group Lez Zeppelin rocks, with a twist

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four women rockers who took on the music of Led Zeppelin are driving club audiences to a frenzy and, offstage, whipping up speculation over their sexual tastes with the name of the band: Lez Zeppelin.

"We have sort of a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," says Steph Paynes, lead guitar player and the " Jimmy Page" of the group. "It's better to keep it all a mystery, and in the end it really doesn't matter. What matters is the music."

The New York-based quartet came together almost three years ago with the express purpose of covering songs by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Led Zeppelin.

They're among a small but growing number of all-female tribute bands Spin Magazine recently referred to as "Chicks with Picks," and include the playfully dubbed AC/DShe, Cheap Chick and The Ramonas.

"It wasn't like we decided just to do an all-girl cover band for the sake of it," Paynes said in an interview. "It was strictly me lounging on the couch, listening to a Led Zep album and being in absolute ecstasy over the music. I can't think of anything I'd rather be playing than this."

Zeppelin's brash amalgam of hard-driving rock, traditional blues and guitar-tinged ballads propelled the sale of millions of albums and made them one of the top bands of the 1970s. It disbanded in 1980 after the death of drummer John Bonham.

Paynes said the tribute group had been mulling a name for a week or two and when Lez Zeppelin was suggested, there was no question of them not using it.

ARE THEY OR AREN'T THEY?

With veteran New York-area musicians Helen Destroy on drums, Lisa Brigantino on bass, mandolin and keyboards and Sarah McLellan on vocals, the group is electrifying. But the question that consistently follows the band around is whether any or all of its members are, in fact, lesbians.

"Oh, definitely maybe," Payne said. "There's no question about maybes."

"I was aware of what the name might suggest, but that to me was not a problem at all," she added.

Paynes said despite the nudge and wink the band's name conveys, their audience is not dominated by lesbians.

"There is some gay and lesbian following, but it's mostly just a Led Zeppelin following. Male, female, in every age group," she said before getting ready for a sold-out gig that night at New York's Bowery Ballroom.

Her take on the group's demographic was borne out at the show that night. As the band opened with a thundering version of "The Immigrant Song," vocalist McLellan delivered the number's trademark opening wail faithfully and sent the predominantly male crowd into a frenzy.

The audience, including a few amorous Sapphic couples near the front of the stage, did not differ noticeably from that in any other East Village club on a Friday night.

Paynes said she thinks many come to see if a group of women can recreate music with such a testosterone-driven sound.

"It was pretty daunting to perform this stuff live, even for Led Zeppelin," she said. "Even they didn't keep it going once John Bonham died."

njbeast: Thats the spirit bro we are supporting you, and know that Jon has got to reply soon!!.... I smell a webmaster around these parts, lol, and he usually answers tons of questions at once when he does chime in....

Do The Stu: Thanks for the link to Shinedown, they remind me a lot of Default from those samples, but maybe more straight forward rock!.... They sound great, I like the vox, and will add them to my list....

While we are at it, let me introduce you to Forty Deuce.... A group I think you'll like in that veign.... Richie Kotzen vox/git (of course).... Their site is still under construction, thus the cheesy myspace link, lol, but there are four samples there you can listen to.... Enjoy.... (btw, you've got to stop one of the guest blog players in the comments section as it sounds off at the same time)....

Clarky: Thanks for the heads up on the David Cross Band itinerary.... The fall is better weather around here, not so sticky, and the beer is on me :-)

Good Morning Satchland....What Up?

SteveeT......I'm honored your honored....lol.....I just need the clients...lol.... Pro Tools..... I agree and disagree with OPCS470. No you don't need Pro Tools....but that depends on where you want to go. There's Pro Tools systems to fit any budget from $300 M-Audio systems to the $10,000 TDM system. Pro Tools is the industry standard and LE systems are compatable with any HD system. You can take your sessions backed up on DVD and go anywhere in the world to have them mixed. Those two points were a big selling point for me. I know how serious you are about your music and I'm sure for mixing your CD and to get it right you'd consider taking your music to a pro engineer for mixing and mastering. That's what I was saying in the other post about my room and my mixing experience. Plus it's so easy to work with audio it's not even funny. Pro Tools 7 made a huge advance in there midi application but still not as powerful as other midi apps. They're catching up with midi but I don't think for the money you'll find anything close to the power and ease of Pro Tools for audio. Plus, there's a lot of reference books by 3rd party co.'s that deal with Pro Tools to get you up and running. I bet within 1/2 hr. from your house there's a couple of professional Pro Tools studios. I would recommend the Digi 002. It comes with $2000 worth of plugins and sells for about $2400 and it's PC/ Mac compatable. Check this link for any Pro Tools questions: http://www.digidesign.com/ Check out the DUC forum if the link don't take you there. Peace. Edit...You'll find the DUC Forum under the support tab.

Suzie2000.....I'm a Mac guy. I use Avery for my cd labeling. I don't know anything about the software your using. What's the problem you're having? I'll help ....if I can.

Satriella.....I would go to windows help and do a search for port 7327. Than open the port. Download the link for Flash 6 and you should be able to get in. I use the old Java to get in. I never tried the Beta. Old Java always works for me. I hope this helps. Edit.... The old Java page wont link. I got in on the Beta side. First time using the Beta link.

mthead....Thanks. I appreciate it.

Hey all, what's hap'nin?

Do The Stu - Yeah man, I really can't choose favorites, but like I said, ITLIS? just flows... great feel throughout the whole album. Definitely some of Joe's best on there, IMO.

Satriella - No problem!

Keniko, Stevee T - just a little side note on my personal experience with the Digidesign 002r. There is/was a very common defect in the power supply/power harness cables of the 002r units. I had purchased one off eBay and after about 2 months, it just wouldn't power up anymore. I freaked and called the guy that sold it to me, and he told me all about the problem (wish he had told me before I bought it, but...).

So anyway, I called DigiDesign and they sent me a repair kit for free within a couple of days. It's really easy to fix, but I decided to sell it and get something more reliable because I just couldn't afford downtime like that again. (And apparently, this happened at least twice before to the previous owner).

That said, I'm not sure if the newer units have been fixed. I'm assuming they have been, but a word of caution would be not to buy a used unit, if you're looking into the 002r.

It's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd drop in to say hi. :o) 11 pages to go & I'll be all caught up !!

R.I.P. Coretta Scott King

mikesb...very pretty stuff...thanks!

Keniko...( I'm Honored that you're Honered, that I'm Honored)lol....thanks for the in depth info...it's either ProTools, or a friend of mine has a recording studio that I was considering for final mixes...money, money, money, money....money...!

DCSlater...thank you for the warning on the power supply....

Danny...Good to see ya!

Joe: OMG... im freaking out here. Sorry... but you have to come to Spokane. lol. I love you/your music so much, I cant even explain how beautiful and powerful your music is to me. Every time i listen to Rubina and Always With Me Always With You, i cry man. But you know, Im greatful for that. Im greatful to have that kinda emotions while listening to your music. Its such a great gift. Thanks man. Love ya lots. Have a great day.

How Do All........

Satriella ....... Sure can and one I am proud of, The night went well I think there where about 25-30ish in there for a smallish pub thats not bad, I have got a cool pair of Neon sunglasses that my Woman pick up for me from the state's while she was over there on holiday, They went down well. Not gigging now for a while, nearley completed my studio so I will be starting recording hopefully next week.

Ovation1 .......... I hope so.....again its driving me mad................Come on sing with me...........................................WEBMASTER, WEBMASTER, WEBMASTER, WEBMASTER

Webmaster ........ Come on dude lets see some green, Please help me out......

Stay Safe Dave

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the news updates and info! You guys and girls are awesome :)

"Super Colossal", Joe's new album title is surprising and different, Joe is so unpredictable. How will it sound? The song titles sound very promising! Hmmm can't wait to hear the sound clips!

fridgewheel, there isn't an official section on the site to put your music for Joe to listen, people usually use sites like www.soundclick.com to upload their music and them post the link here so everybody can listen to it. I hope it helps :-)

bahduh, two VCDs are ready to send :-) you have mail!

marimariSRV, you have mail with all the details about our Satch trading :-)

Satriella, happy belated 200 posts! I'm on it ;-)

mikesb, Jeff Beck's Mahler's 5th Symphony Adagietto performing is exquisite, thank you for the link!

WEBMASTER, njbeast, one of the winners of the contest, hasn't got his Satch goodies, please your help is needed, thanks.

njbeast, I hope it helps...

Well! how many t2jers share their birthdays in January...so Delfino Pie & Naty, happy birthday to you!

A quote for today: "Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly" Anonymous ;-)