Jason Kendall, who spent the last eight or so years laying rubber whilst zig-zagging across the country as the frontman for the Amazing (Royal) Crowns, calls his new band the Deterrents. But with his track record, a more appropriate name should be the Resilients, or the Unsinkables, or some such thing. The genial and tattooed musician is an indefatigable rocker, with a lyric-filled heart and heavy backbeats instead of blood running through his veins.

The Deterrents began as a lark, a refresher, after the intense rockabilly throwdown of the Crowns. He took stock for a few weeks following the Crowns' breakup and asked himself, "What would Keith Richards do?" (A typical rocker introspection.) The answer was to recruit longtime friend Dennis Kelly as a creative partner and they hit the ground running. "Dennis and I just went to the practice space and started writing whatever," says Kendall, obviously enjoying his liberation after a long, albeit successful stint in the more restrictive rockabilly framework. "We started doing some country ballads, some Steve Earle-type roots stuff, some Motörhead. There's definitely a lot of punk and some Nick Cave-type dark rock in there as well."

Kelly, a local guitar hero vet currently doing time in the Itchies, the Worried, and various side projects, was also liberated by the writing experience. "It was good for me because I was writing without my own voice in mind. I know Jason's strength as a singer so I focused on writing for that. He's a real force as a frontman."

Joining Kendall and Kelly are bassist Chris Cook (formerly of Thee Hydrogen Terrors), second guitarist Joe Fletcher (ex-Sinners Club), and drummer Mark Evans, whose own band experience includes the Cro-Mags and former Metallica roadmates Warrior Soul. "I'm just really excited to play with these guys," says Kendall. "It's an awesome band, everyone contributes, and everyone can really play with power."

When they hit the stage at the Met Café this Friday (the 19th) for their debut, anything is possible, and you can plan for a few surprises. "It's a real solid set," says Kelly. "We've got almost an hour's worth of tunes, including a few covers," one of which will be an old Beasts of Bourbon song called "Hard for You." The others remain a mystery until the band leans into them Friday night.

"There are really no expectations surrounding this band," admits Kendall. "It feels good to say that. I have no idea if anyone's gonna show up, if anyone's gonna care. But I can see people liking this -- it's not rockabilly and it may put off some fans of the Crowns. But you know how it is. After you eat the same stuff for years, at some point you want to sit down to something different."

The Deterrents (www.thedeterrents.com) will headline the Met on Friday with Sayonara (ex-Money Shots), the Sleazies, and Blackstone Valley Sinners. The show is all-ages and admission is $7.

ERIN MCKEOWN. Next Thursday (the 25th), y'all oughta make it a point to head to the Call to catch a few rising stars. Voices On the Verge, a mix-and-match show featuring Rose Polenzani, Beth Amsel, Jess Klein, and former Providence citizen Erin McKeown, is an absorbing experience in eclectic acoustic and roots music, in which each woman steps out for a time while the others provide backing. Their Rykodisc debut came out last October, and while the tour to support that record began as a token trip, it has become incredibly successful, enabling the girls to stay on the road longer than expected.

"It began as something we did for fun, a casual collaboration, and then Ryko wanted to make a record," says Erin from her new home in Greenfield, Massachusetts. After they made the record, it sat for 18 months. In that time, each Voice made her own record. The label finally released the disc, then booked a tour. "The first half of the tour we had fun but it was low-key. Then the NPR thing happened in December." National Public Radio featured the band and the tour picked up its pace considerably. "NPR reached the perfect audience and every single show sold out after that. Every night there were 200 to 300 amazing enthusiastic people," says Erin. Working five nights a week for a four-month stretch has taken its toll on the group, but those energetic audiences have kept them going. "When these kinds of shows happen every night you don't get tired. Right about now, the audiences are saving us."

The Voices On the Verge tour will wind up this month, after which Erin will retreat to Greenfield and contemplate her next move as well as begin working on demos for a new album. "I'll miss the experience of being with this family," says Erin. "But I've been looking forward to taking the summer off to decide what will happen next."

We all look forward to the same, Erin.

NEW ENGLAND MUSIC INDUSTRY SUMMIT. Late notice on this, but it's good stuff you should know about.

Providence will host the first conference in New England designed to connect aspiring urban musicians with representatives of record labels and others who can help them break into the music industry. The New England Music Industry Summit will be held Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, at the Rhode Island Convention Center and other sites. The cost of the entire conference is $95, but tickets can also be purchased for individual events.

"My dream is to connect anyone who can help local artists," says attorney Daphne Clarke of DC Entertainment Law Firm, who developed the conference. Clarke says she believes there is a need to connect record label representatives with performers in New England and also a need for the performers to know more about how to break into the industry. Performances will focus primarily on rhythm and blues, hip-hop, neo-soul, rap and the spoken word, but the conference is open to all musicians.

The program begins at noon on Friday with a lunch discussion about starting one's own record label. Then there's a celebrity basketball tournament from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday at the South Providence rec center. That night, from 9 to 11:30, a spoken-word performance featuring poets from the HBO special, Def Jam Poetry, will be presented at the Century Lounge. Local artists will also take part in that performance.

During an expo on Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. at the Convention Center, panels will discuss the ins and outs of the music business. Topics will include how to break into the industry and how to get a record played on the radio. A number of exhibitors designed to assist local artists will be on hand. An awards dinner at the Convention Center on Saturday at 6 p.m. concludes the conference. For more information, call (401) 223-7298 and press 0.

WANDERINGEYE. The Haymakers (ahoc.net/thehaymakers/) will see the release of their new CD, O-Kay Plus, on Saturday (the 20th) at Cats in Pawtucket. The band has been making hay around town lately, taking the scene by storm with their bulging-vein, taut-muscled rock. Word has it that Cats is fast-becoming a very cool place to dig live music.

E-mail me with music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.

E-mail me with music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.

Issue Date: April 19 - 25, 2002