But you still need to activate your account.
If Roses are merely red, this one must be on fire.
Her name is Stacie Rose and she’s one person you have see to believe.
Rose, a Bangor area native, heads up the classic-rock-tinged Pretty Poison, the newest addition to Bangor’s club scene, with Mile Webber on guitar, Alan Andersen on bass and vocals, and Jim Murphy on drums. Together, they make up the new house band at Jimmy V’s Bar and Grill in Bangor, and if you haven’t heard of them before now, no doubt you’ll be hearing a lot from them in the future.
Leave it to Rose, who has a certain way of making herself known.
“How could you not recognize me?” she says as she walks through the door of Jimmy V’s and greets me with a handshake and a wide-eyed smile. She knows I had already seen some of her photos — professional pictures taken during a modeling stint while she was making a name for herself on the West Coast.
Almost immediately the long blonde hair and black leather jacket give her away. This is our first meeting, and initial impressions tell me I’m in for something unique. I was right. Beaming with confidence and self-assurance, Rose is equally personable. In talking with her for only a few minutes, I was already feeling like I was playing catch-up with the girls from high school.
Seeing her lead the band was another story. On stage, this nice girl turns wild child. Part Lita Ford, part Janis Joplin and part something a little unexpected, Rose has a way of captivating her audience with a style atypical of this area, or this region, for that matter.
“She is dynamite,” says Jimmy Vardamis, the club owner.
Could it be her black velvet pantsuit with her leopard print coat and white boa feathers? Her California sun-kissed hair swaying from side to side as she croons out the Melissa Ethridge hit “Come to My Window” with raw, raspy perfection? How about Webber’s improvisational guitar solos or Andersen’s impressive ability to harmonize flawlessly with Rose’s complicated vocal stylings? Whatever it is, they’ve got it and people like it.
Vardamis knew he had found something special in this Rose among the weeds when she sang for another local band a few months back at the club. He needed a regular house gig; she needed a band. It just seemed too perfect. He decided to take it upon himself to create the act he needed and the outlet she was looking for. After calls to his cousin, Danny Monaghan, the band’s first drummer, and the others, Pretty Poison was born.
“They rehearsed, put a good act together, and there they are!” Vardamis says.
Rose could now chalk up another one to her list of various musical projects and accomplishments.
“I’ve always loved to perform,” she says.
Yeah, no kidding. This Hampden Academy graduate has an impressive performing history that’s anything but small-town. If session recording with some of the biggest names in rock and roll (like Tom Gimball of Aerosmith and Foreigner, and Danny Chauncey of .38 Special, just to name a few) doesn’t convince you, how about singing backup for Lynyrd Skynyrd during their 1996 tour?
It definitely wasn’t just a lucky strike that landed her in the fast lane. Rose moved to Florida from Maine in 1994, and used all avenues to climb her way to the top. She got into a local band and even took a job as a music journalist in an effort to “get in” with the best in music. She started to gather phone numbers, and it wasn’t too long before California came a-callin’. The hard work was paying off.
“I made so many great connections in California, that I had no choice but to move out there,” she says unabashedly. “I pulled every string I could just so I could meet people and get my tapes out.”
While seeking virtual fame and fortune, she continued in various bands on the West Coast, playing local gigs and establishing the self-proclaimed nickname, “Queen of the Beaches.”
Although she knows her chances of breaking off into her own music deal are better if she stays out West, home is where her heart is. Right now, she’s content to play in front of the familiar crowd of weekend regulars at Jimmy V’s and other local establishments, while traveling to California during her weeks off.
“I feel lost in California,” she says. “I like being the big fish in the little pond.”
She’s definitely not lost here. Perhaps it’s all that hangin’ with the bigwigs that makes her a seasoned pro in front of her Bangor audience. This particular Saturday, the two-way energy flow between crowd and performers becomes more apparent, and intense, as the night goes on and onlookers pay more attention.
The more the crowd gives, the crazier Rose gets, and the band explodes.
Next thing I know, Rose is on the speaker, tantalizing viewers with her renditions of Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in my Pocket” and Alannah Myles’ “Black Velvet.” The crowd is now on the dance floor.
I’m shocked, at first, to hear the quartet blend so tightly, knowing Murphy just had his first gig with the band the night before, and the other three had met a few short months ago. All are veteran musicians and well-known on the local scene, but they could fool even the most mindful critic into thinking they had been a solid entity for years. Each adds his own flavor to the group, easily switching from alternative, to disco, and then back to classic rock, maybe even throwing in an ’80s pop classic like Power Station’s “Some Like it Hot,” with Andersen taking the lead vocals.
The crowd is responding well to the mix, and the attitude. Some are dancing. Some are sitting. But most are tuned in no matter what.
“The response is fantastic,” Vardamis says. “Most bands play for themselves, but when plays, they play for the audience.”
Apparently, Bangor could get used to a dose of this deviant diva and the boys every once in a while, and if that’s not enough, every weekend for at least the next four months at Jimmy V’s.
And don’t be surprised if you see Rose elsewhere as well. She’ll stop at nothing to get everything, and will turn your head along the way.
Pretty Poison and Dakota will be performing at the first of three seasonal street dances Sunday, May 28, in the parking lot of Jimmy V’s Bar and Grill on Washington Street in Bangor. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. and the cover charge is $5. Bars will be set up in the parking lot, and Stevie’s Stagecoach will provide grilled hamburgers and dogs. The band is next scheduled to perform at Jimmy V’s June 16. For more information on the band or booking information you may contact Stacie Rose by e-mail at prettypoison01@aol.com.
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