Any Festival II: Event of Friends For Old Friends June 25-27 in Bristol, Tenn.

Rock rolls in the Mountain Empire.
Think not?
Then head out to Red Barn Campground in Bristol, Tenn., on June 26-27 for the Any Festival II. An abundance of bands will hit the hills with a litany of styles of rock.
There’s the heavy metal of Horns of Moses and Thee Birds ov Paradise. There’s also The Fury…Heat! and a reunion of The GhoulTones, among many other bands.
Like the Dead Sea Surfers. Formed in 1996 by Aleister Tennyson Hobbs of Bristol, Tenn., the goth-rock hybrid band will kick off the festival.
“I was a spectator last year,” Hobbs said late Sunday night less than a mile from the club he once operated on 7th Street, the 7th Street Cafe. “The atmosphere was almost like going home again and going to that club that’s not open anymore, and then all of a sudden it was open again.”
Call it a festival of old friends for old friends.
Dedicated to the memories of local musicians Chad Talbert and Jef Roberts, all proceeds raised from the festival will be donated to help pay Roberts’ medical bills.
Roberts had been the lead singer for Punchin’ Judy, played bass in Wormwood Earth and drummed in The Forgotten. He also played drums on three tracks of the Dead Sea Surfers’ new CD.
“When we went back and listened to the drum tracks, we could hear Jef counting off [the song ‘Tiphereth’],” Hobbs said.
That song will open the Dead Sea Surfers’ festival-opening set.
“So, Jef will start the show,” Hobbs said. “It isn’t very loud, but we’ll know.”
Know this.
Hobbs looks goth. On Sunday, he wore a pinstriped black shirt emblazoned with a large pistol across the front, black pants, black Vans shoes and black sunglasses positioned atop his dyed black hair. He could easily have walked off the set of a horror film.
Ditto the music of the Dead Sea Surfers. Their self-titled album in part sounds as if made for a groovy gore flick.
“I’ve actually thought about submitting it for a zombie movie,” Hobbs said. “It could fit.”
Recorded at Sonic Design Studios in Bristol, Tenn., behind Morrell’s Music, the album features 13 songs, 12 of which are original.
Check the songs. “Be Alone” recalls The Ramones, “Already Home” blisters with punk rock vigor, while “Never Know” opens with what strikes like Rob Zombie-light.
The album’s thick atmospheric tone features a synth-rich, oh-so-melodic feel that’s sometimes heavy metal and sometimes pop, yet thoroughly transporting.
“The songs sort of take you somewhere,” Hobbs said in his thick New York accent. “It’s hard to label them. Some of the songs are goth, some are metal, some are synth pop. I will put the first five songs on that album against anyone’s.”
In lieu of a label for the Dead Sea Surfers, let’s look at Hobbs’ influences for insight. He’s 46 and grew up on a steady diet of punk’s two-minute masters The Ramones, along with such 1980s and ’90s goth rockers as Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division and The Cure.
Yet other than The Cure, those bands appealed mostly to a niche crowd. Goths got them and few others did. Hobbs said the Dead Sea Surfers, while goth-influenced, do not simply aim for one crowd.
“If you aren’t really into goth or punk,” he said, “you can still get into it.”
Whatever, the mail carrier by day Hobbs has goals. And like his music, his goals are stripped to the core.
“I want to be known, I want to be heard and I want to be loved,” Hobbs said. “That sums it up.”

IF YOU GO
What: Any Festival II
Who: Dead Sea Surfers, The Fury … Heat!, Diggity Dave and the Cheap Guitar Band, Thee Birds ov Paradise, The GhoulTones, The Rubouts, Murder in the Mirror, Elijah Strange, Keep the Victim Warm, Kumacell, Silent Stone, Beards and Bats, This Machine, Aggressive Measures, Horns of Moses, The Forgotten, Morpheus, Wormwood: Earth, Punchin’ Judy with guests and Late Night Zero.
When: June 26 at 5 p.m. and June 27 at 1 p.m.
Where: Red Barn Campground, 191 White Top Road, Bristol, Tenn.
Admission: $10 suggested daily donation or $15 daily if you plan to camp
Info: (423) 274-9927
Web: http://www.deadseasurfers.com
And: http://www.myspace.com/deadseasurfers

—SAMPLE AND BUY DEAD SEA SURFERS ALBUM AT: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/deadseasurfers

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .