Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Steve 'n' Seagulls fiddle with heavy metal — literally

Finnish folkies play hard-rock covers with old-time gear in four-part harmony

Finnish bluegrass-metal band Steve 'n' Seagulls set up at Soda bar Tuesday night!
Finnish bluegrass-metal band Steve 'n' Seagulls set up at Soda bar Tuesday night!
Video:

"Run to the Hills"

Steve 'n' Seagulls perform the Maiden classic live

Steve 'n' Seagulls perform the Maiden classic live

It seemed at first like another Internet prank: last summer, someone posted a video of a quartet of hillbillies out in the snowy woods, surrounded by farm implements and barn animals, playing on accordion, banjo, upright bass, washboard, guitar, and anvil. They looked to be making ready to launch into yet another version of "Dueling Banjos," but instead the band rocked an Iron Maiden tune. They appeared solemn during the short video; the five men cracked not a smile among them. They likewise sang the words quite earnestly, using those heavenly bluegrass harmonies that were patented (long before any of the five were born) by a bluegrass star named Bill Monroe. But the men are not really hillbillies from Appalachia. And neither are they rednecks nor moonshiners nor dirt farmers.

They are in truth a bluegrass band from Finland, and they call themselves Steve ’n’ Seagulls. The band members are Irwin Remmel, Pukki Kaalinen, Puikkonen, Hermann, and Wild Till Hiltunen, and they know many covers of hard-rock songs. Dio, Pantera, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and AC/DC all get the bluegrass cure.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Steve ‘N’ Seagulls and Great Peacock

  • Tuesday, September 8, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego
  • 21+

"Thunderstruck" went viral — 13 million hits on You Tube, and counting. And now, thanks to social media, Steve ’n’ Seagulls is on a fully merchandised and marketed world tour with a record deal and a full album set for release in the spring of next year; look for Farm Machine in May 2016. Yeah, it’s a novelty gig, and it seems likely they punked us and the whole business was planned, but listen, those slashing power chords on “Paradise City,” when performed on banjo with five-part vocal harmony, work in a whole new and unimagined way. The bluegrass machine likewise sells the story in “Run to the Hills” even better than the original Iron Maiden track ever could, and their “You Shook Me” could now play during a fundamentalist tent revival. Who’d have thought?

Great Peacock also performs.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The vicious cycle of Escondido's abandoned buildings

City staff blames owners for raising rents
Finnish bluegrass-metal band Steve 'n' Seagulls set up at Soda bar Tuesday night!
Finnish bluegrass-metal band Steve 'n' Seagulls set up at Soda bar Tuesday night!
Video:

"Run to the Hills"

Steve 'n' Seagulls perform the Maiden classic live

Steve 'n' Seagulls perform the Maiden classic live

It seemed at first like another Internet prank: last summer, someone posted a video of a quartet of hillbillies out in the snowy woods, surrounded by farm implements and barn animals, playing on accordion, banjo, upright bass, washboard, guitar, and anvil. They looked to be making ready to launch into yet another version of "Dueling Banjos," but instead the band rocked an Iron Maiden tune. They appeared solemn during the short video; the five men cracked not a smile among them. They likewise sang the words quite earnestly, using those heavenly bluegrass harmonies that were patented (long before any of the five were born) by a bluegrass star named Bill Monroe. But the men are not really hillbillies from Appalachia. And neither are they rednecks nor moonshiners nor dirt farmers.

They are in truth a bluegrass band from Finland, and they call themselves Steve ’n’ Seagulls. The band members are Irwin Remmel, Pukki Kaalinen, Puikkonen, Hermann, and Wild Till Hiltunen, and they know many covers of hard-rock songs. Dio, Pantera, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and AC/DC all get the bluegrass cure.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Steve ‘N’ Seagulls and Great Peacock

  • Tuesday, September 8, 2015, 8 p.m.
  • Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego
  • 21+

"Thunderstruck" went viral — 13 million hits on You Tube, and counting. And now, thanks to social media, Steve ’n’ Seagulls is on a fully merchandised and marketed world tour with a record deal and a full album set for release in the spring of next year; look for Farm Machine in May 2016. Yeah, it’s a novelty gig, and it seems likely they punked us and the whole business was planned, but listen, those slashing power chords on “Paradise City,” when performed on banjo with five-part vocal harmony, work in a whole new and unimagined way. The bluegrass machine likewise sells the story in “Run to the Hills” even better than the original Iron Maiden track ever could, and their “You Shook Me” could now play during a fundamentalist tent revival. Who’d have thought?

Great Peacock also performs.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why did Harrah's VP commit suicide last summer?

Did the fight the Rincon casino had with San Diego County over Covid play a part?
Next Article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader