One evening I broke away from my office and studio commitments to attend one of the best live shows I have witnessed in years ! A triple-header back to back with Square & The Jimi’s, The Rain Factory and the incomparable Randy Hansen, who does his most amazing tribute to Jimi Hendrix that he is known for all over the world. This show took place at “ The Castle “ owned by Mike and Lisa Kolemeier, who are not only husband and wife but music partners in their own band The Rain Factory. The price of fifteen dollars per entry would have been a great deal if I’d only been able to see one of my favorite bands that night, Square & The Jimi’s whom I’ve had the honor to see twice already this month and I’m a big fan of theirs. Michael “Smitty“ Smith and his band delivered over an hour of blazing guitar rock-fusion that is so damned good you can’t sit still and you can’t sit down! Then, after they have finished their performance, out came the stage engineers to make way for the second act, The Rain Factory. I First met with Mike and Lisa Kolemeier of the Rain Factory and also the owners of The Castle about six years ago. I have been silently watching their progress from the shadows with great expectations. Then earlier this year I was there to watch them do the warm-up for world renowned guitar hero Pat Travers, also at The Castle . This time around though, Lisa and Mike and their very committed band of four very humbly yet powerfully proceeded the ROCK THE HOUSE! WOW! What a set, what a performance. I knew that there was something very special about the Kolemeiers and their musical mission and vision beyond that of their Tower Keep.


Mike and Lisa have not only taken a unique building and renovated it into the coolest home you could ever live in, they have built a legend and bridged a gap in their community by sharing their home as a concert venue. At first it was likely quite difficult dealing with the permits for the building which was unlike most in that it actually has a body of water known as China Creek running ride underneath it and the adjacent city streets. Also they are completely surrounded by homes including a senior development right next door. Some of these nice older folks go to bed early and hard rock is not their cup of tea. So a lot of public relations work needed to be done in the neighborhood and of course with city hall. In the near future we hope to bring you an interview with Mike and Lisa so they can elaborate on the construction details. There is much to tell that is benevolent and right about what Mike and Lisa have done for the arts and the people in their city and on their block but right now we want to point out that musically the Kolemeiers have honed their skills and practiced their act the way a world-class should. The band was tight and energetic and segued from one song to the next seamlessly. Their professionalism was that of a seasoned international show on a 100 city tour. This band The Rain Factory ( you gotta love that name living in the Pacific Northwest ! ) is as ready as a band can be to become a loved and accepted touring show. They have something to say and a lot of great music to play.

Last but not least we’d like to take a few moments to describe the final act of the other evenings’ performances at The Castle, Randy Hansen. As we mentioned randy is known all over this planet as one of the truest representations and tributes to Jimi Hendrix ever. But this writer is going to approach it from the standpoint that I am also a working and professional guitarist and vocalist. This gives me a little different appreciation than some night observe if they were not a student of the guitar or voice. I say student because we can never know it all and there’s always room to evolve and improve. Randy Hansen is a master, a true master of his instrument(s) and his craft. I say that plural because his voice is phenomenal! You see, Jimi Hendrix never thought much of himself as a singer. Most true Hendrix fans already know that piece of trivia but for the masses who only think of Jimi Hindrix as that “ wild guitar man “ you are absolutely right but he was way more than that. Producer, engineer, writer, musician, Jimi had a lot on the ball. For Randy Hansen to have captured the essence of Jimi’s soul and persona, not only his guitar licks, is an amazing feat.

Randy came out onto the stage at The Castle and went right into the first song as he moved directly to the stages edge and motioned for the crowd to come up close and get into his groove. And groove they did! The place went nuts and for nearly two hours Randy Hansen and his band took us on a musical trip not only through the favorite Hindrix songs but also the lesser known ones without skipping a heartbeat. Sometimes he would fire notes from his Stratocasters like rounds from a melting fifty caliber machine gun, other times he would hold a single note, milking every harmonic and overtone, like hanging you over the edge of the Grand Canyon by your suspenders and then pulling you back up just before the fall to death. Grown women and men in the audience acted with childlike reckless abandon, whooping and hollering and jumping all over the place. Then, all the sudden Randy would bring it down to a whisper and take you with him down another dark musical corridor from the time tunnel of 1968 through 1970. You find yourself suddenly In David Crosby’s masterpiece “ Almost Cut My Hair “ from Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young. Being performed the way Jimi may have interpreted the song himself. And there was that riff from The Beatles’ “ Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds “ which found it’s way in the back door of “ Voodoo Chile “.After the swinging of the guitar, spinning it in the air, throwing it to the ground, standing on it while his Marshal stacks were on eleven…I thought “ there can’t possibly be more”. Wrong.
After what appeared to be the last song Randy and his excellent bass player and drummer left the stage only to be brought back by a deafening roar from the audience at The Castle. I guess you could say it was predictable if not somewhat obligatory that they would throw us an encore short number. What I didn’t expect was “ The Star Spangled Banner “. It gave me goose bumps by the way he faithfully performed the song the way that only Jimi could have done, and it brought tears to my eyes because I love this country and never get tired of hearing that song, especially now that so many have given so much to defend her. I thought it was an awesome tribute both to Jimi Hindrix’s brilliant rendition and also to our nations’ theme. And then, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better Randy breaks into “ Let me Stand Next To Your Fire “ and he brings the house down. I thought the windows would blow out but The Castle is heavily fortified, thank God because that was the most incredible live performance of that song I’d ever heard. Oh and by the way, did I mention that I stood twenty-five feet from the real Jimi Hindrix in 1970 while he played “Fire”? Well I did. Randy Hansen and his band have not only recreated the music of one of the most gifted artists of the last 100 years, but they have done it the way that I believe Jimi in his heart had felt it. The smiles and good energy vibes back to the audience that Jimi just couldn’t bring through the fog, Randy Hansen does. He preserves a style, another whole genre if you will- of the music of an icon whom we shall never know the likes of again. That music though of an era long since passed was a reflection and a gauge of our people and what we were learning and what we held dear as our truths. Jimi Hindrix was part of that renaissance which I thought I would never see again but now I think I may have been wrong. All across America and the greater part of the free world musicians are beginning a new voyage and you can see it in their performances and hear it in their music. Artists are painting new music on their canvas and exploring new ideas of thought. Bands are getting back to the love of the music before the love of the idea of success and fame that the music might bring. It’s getting real again. And, with outstanding places like The Castle for them to display their works in an environment that promotes live music, the kings and queens of karaoke and mobile DJ’s are saddened by this news. There comes a time when things go full circle and the common people awaken from their long sleep. Thanks to people like Mike and Lisa Kolemeier and “ The Castle “ , bands are coming back to life again. This September 5th 2008 concert performance at The Castle was not merely a show to be remembered, it was an historical marker of the renaissance which is now upon us.

For more information about The Castle visit www.myspace.com/thecastlek
Or also visit www.myspace.com/therainfactory1

By Bruce Maier