| Loren Dircks Singing, Songwriting, Tele-Slinger from Tucson, Arizona  IPSUM HEROIS TELECASTRUS Influences: Merle Haggard, Van Halen, Burt Bacharach, Jerry Reed, Iron Maiden, The Replacements, Roger Miller, Johnny Horton……just to name a few, the list goes on…. Check out Loren and Gila Bend on these other sites:
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Still playing with first official bandmate, and cofounder of Gila Bend, James Blackhall(bass). Gila Bend was born in on or around 1987. After a number of different attempts to find willing and able singers and drummers, Loren decided to fill the vacant vocal shoes and still hold down lead guitar duties. High school friend Bart Blue took over on drums and the forging of the country metal sound began immediately. One of the band’s first songs, Cantankerous, became the first single and appeared on the debut CD Kim Chee Cowboy(Still Sane). Cantankerous became a defining song for the Gila Bend sound. The drum throne was occupied by a number of musicians including Marx Loeb, Ralph Gilmore, until Tommy Larkins was added to complete the Gila Bend sound. Al Perry joined after the recording of Kim Chee Cowboy bringing the band up to a four piece. The band’s second CD, Natureburger (San Jacinto) was released in 1997. Gila Bend gained in popularity and notoriety over the years, including the honor of being the first recipient of the Tucson Music Awards(TAMMIES) for Best Alternative Band. The band’s music was featured in Robert Loomis’ film Dog Years along with some original film score music from Dircks and a bizarre banjo-heavy version of Ode to Joy. Gila Bend still plays periodically and are rumored to have a future project in the works. Loren also is a member of Al Perry’s band, filling in on lead guitar duties for some performances and has played on a number of Al’s records, including 2009’s Three Track Sessions. The new band is back to the three piece roots of vintage Gila Bend, with James Blackhall on bass and Nick Augustine (former bass player for Rainer and Das Combo) on drums. New CD-Killing the Magic is coming out on 11/26/2009 and a new video for Guitar Hero Gone, directed by Jonathan Fedkiw, is due to be released the first week of December 2009. Loren stepped back into songwriting in 2006 and has written about a hundred tunes since. The next CD project is already underway, with a host of guest stars lined up and a new focus on taking the country metal sound to a new, more musical level while preserving the hard rocking integrity and catchy hooks. Loren is also working on some film music projects in the near future and, having launched the Oranguitwang Record Label last November, is preparing to produce some projects for other artists in 2010. Discography Gila Bend- Cantankerous/In With the New 45 (San Jacinto) |
