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Catch the rise of ‘Coda Cutlass’ at Rack ‘Em Billiards June 25

4 min read

By BRIAN WIERIMA

news@breezenewspapers.com

Every successful and famous band which is either touring, making platinum records or making a living off of making music, started out much like every start-up band out there now is – with a dream.

Every success story has a journey behind it, and for the up-and-coming Coda Cutlass band, their’s is just beginning.

Cape Coral rock and heavy metal enthusiasts can see for themselves Saturday, June 25, what the up-start Coda Cutlass brings, when they will be one of three bands jamming at Rack ‘Em Billiards, at 1011 S.E. 47th Terrace.

The other two bands are also of the up-and-coming quality rock bands in From Dark Arise and A(k)new.

Music will start at 9 p.m. for 18-and-over customers and admission is free.

“We will be showing off our new remodeled bar and these three bands really are very good, it will be a blast,” said Rack ‘Em Billiards general manager John Sheldon.

For the Tampa Bay heavy metal quintet Coda Cutlass, the final piece of the puzzle was the addition of their new vocalist, Alex Ethos.

“When we heard he left his other band, Black Tie, we snatched him up right away,” said one of Coda Cutlass’ founders and drummer Zakk E. Savage. “When we were known as ‘Hang ‘Em High’, we had two awesome guitarists in Rob Grizzly (bass) and Carbine, but we never had that strong vocalist.”

About a year ago, the band decided to hold tryouts for lead vocals. They had a mixed bag of musicians show up at Savage’s front door, needless to say.

“We had one guy show up and his car literally broke down at the front of my house,” Savage said. “He also smelled really bad and ended up asking us to help him with his broken down car.”

The original members of Hang ‘Em High – Savage, Carbine and Grizzly – eventually added rhythm guitarist Blaze. The four played as Hang ‘Em High for three years, but they still were missing that final piece of a strong lead vocalist.

That’s when they heard Ethos during a gig and knew he would be a perfect match.

“He has such similar interests than us,” Savage said. “I am a huge Alter Bridge fan and Myles Kennedy (lead singer of Alter Bridge) is kick ass. It so happened that Alex is also a huge Alter Bridge fan and we decided, if he can play Myles Kennedy and no one breaks, it’s a perfect match.

“He nailed every song with us.”

They decided to rename the band Coda Cutlass, while making up a new logo, which has become popular among their fans.

“The name Coda Cutlass complements the logo well,” Savage said. “It’s the same snake as from our Hang ‘Em High logo, but with a Cutlass sword in it instead. The name Coda Cutlass is raw and intense, with aggression, which is the same type of music we play.”

The group’s first show was Feb. 26, where they played at the Local 662 in St. Petersburg. Despite it being their first show together with Ethos at lead vocals, they killed the set and instantly their popularity grew.

In fact, the show was such a hit, Coda Cutlass headlined The Blitz 2 at The Local 662 June 11, which drew a full house.

Coda Cutlass has already played Rack ‘Em Billiards last winter, which was only a tiny taste of what will come June 25.

“Cape Coral was literally our second show together, so we had more of a random set,” Savage said. “But this one (June 25), we will have a much better stage show, better lighting and will be ready to put on our best show, yet.”

The band recently released their second single entitled “In Due Time”. It can be found on U-Tube.

“Blaze wrote the song and it had a good driving riff, and a real good amount of groove to it,” Savage said. “The song was one we were going to use for Hang ‘Em High, then Alex came into play and he does the melodies himself and we came out with this.”

Coda Cutlass’ previous single is entitled “New Machine” and the group is amassing a good following on Facebook, as well.

“We’re huge Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Tool, Motley Crue and Led Zeppelin fans, so we are versatile,” Savage included.

Coda Cutlass will be the first band to appear June 25, at Rack ‘Em Billiards in front of A(k)new and From Dark Arise, starting at 9 p.m.