Peedeez Throb Again With Fair Show

“We work with liars, cheats, wife beaters and drunks on a daily basis. And those are just the judges … If we didn’t come here to play for you, we’d probably be copy machine repairmen, city councilmen or serial murderers.”

— Jim Kane, Throbbing PeeDeez singer and Spokane County public defender, Oct. 8, 1989, The Spokesman-Review

Nowadays you’re more likely to see defense attorney Jim Kane’s name on the front page of this newspaper than in the entertainment section.

But a decade ago, Kane and a passel of his public defender cronies played in a popular Spokane band, The Throbbing PeeDeez.

After performing together for three years, often at the Big Dipper and Henry’s, the six PDs ditched the roadhouses for the pressures of the courthouse.

“We all got distracted and decided to take a little break,” Kane said recently. “It just extended out about nine years.”

But the PeeDeez are throbbing again.

They’ll play Sunday at the Spokane County Interstate Fair, one of four local groups competing in a battle of the bands.

The show marks a comeback of sorts for the PeeDeez. Kane says the group probably won’t return to the club scene again, but will play events like fairs and festivals.

Besides Kane on vocals, the PeeDeez include singer Louise Sheard, drummer Michael Kenny, bassist Steve Hormel, and guitarists Brian O’Brien and Steve Heintz. (O’Brien is the only band member who isn’t currently a defender. He has since moved to the prosecuting side.)

The laid-back group is welcome stress relief for the musicians. Kane’s name has been in the news recently as defense attorney for high-profile murder suspect Brad Jackson.

But when the group gets together to rehearse or play a gig, all shop talk is verboten.

“The whole idea is not to bring it into the band room,” Kane says.

The PeeDeez play an eclectic mix of covers and original tunes. “It goes from country to punk,” Kane says. “If you get sick of it, stick around a while and it’ll change.”

Check out the PeeDeez Sunday on the east stage at the fairgrounds. The Battle of the Bands starts at 1 p.m. with the Aaron Richner Blues Band. Black-Eyed Andy plays at 2:30 p.m., followed by the PeeDeez at 4 p.m. Jack Skwat wraps things up at 5:30 p.m. A winner will be announced at 7:30 p.m.

A final Grobal Production

Terry Grob, one of Spokane’s most influential music promoters, died over the Labor Day weekend following a seizure. He was 42.

Although Grob lived in Portland for the last year or so, he spent most of the past decade trying to invigorate Spokane’s music scene with original shows.

“There were countless times on slow nights when sound costs were not met and Terry forfeited his percentage plus cost of flyers,” Grob’s friend and Motherload band member Geof Templeton wrote in a memorial. “Then only to pull money from his own pocket so some traveling band would not walk away empty.”

Grob’s friends will gather Saturday at the Big Dipper, 171 S. Washington, for a memorial. The event begins at 6 p.m. Chocolate milk, a Grob staple, will be served.

No divorce for Delbert

Nightwatch has heard that there are rumors of Delbert’s demise.

The Spokane quirk-rockers, though, say those are untrue.

Yes, guitarist Tom Solinsky has left the group for life in San Francisco. But the rest of the band is staying put, drummer Rick McQuesten said.

The group is laying low for a little while until they find a new guitar player.

Call McQuesten at (509) 358-0110 if you think you’re right for the job.

Club-hopping

* Metalheads Quiet Riot play at 9 p.m. Thursday at Boomerangs, 109 W. Pacific. Advance tickets are $15 for adults, $13.50 with military or college ID, or $20 at the door. Tickets are available through G&B (325-SEAT or 1-800-325-SEAT).

* Celtic musicians Tarras play at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Fort Spokane Brewery, 401 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Cover is $5. This acoustic group is the real deal, hailing from the Border country between England and Scotland.

* Celebrate the first anniversary of Laughs Comedy Club, 1221 N. Howard, tonight and Saturday. Funny man Keith Stubbs will headline shows at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.

* The Big Dipper will host an all-ages Christian punk-ska show Thursday, featuring the bands Slick Shoes, Cooter, Jersey and Spokane group 10 Minutes Down.

Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show runs from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $8, available at the door. Check back next week for information on an all-ages Christian show at the Big Dipper on Sept. 22.

* The Acoustic Jazz Quartet plays from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at The Shop, 924 S. Perry.

* It’s customer appreciation day at Fast Eddie’s, 1 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. A free barbecue begins at 6 p.m. with music by the Laffin’ Bones Blues Band starting at 9 p.m.

* Thudpuckers’ house band Kidd Sister is celebrating 10 years together. Starting Wednesday and running through Sept. 23, Thudpuckers, 43 W. Riverside, will hand out buckets full of Kidd Sister prizes and other goodies. The band will play from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Cover ranges from $2-$3 during the week.

* Bucket Riders, Ball of Destruction and Back to Three play at 9:30 p.m. tonight at Ichabod’s North, 1827 N. Division. Cover is $5.

* Girl-rockers Bottom play the Fort Spokane Brewery at 10 p.m. Thursday. Cover is $5.