The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Area rockers offer cure for cabin fever at the Palace
One of the area’s hometown guitar heroes will take the stage at the Lorain Palace Theater.
Cabin Fever 2020 will feature five musical acts Feb. 1 at the Palace, 617 Broadway, led by Vermilion musician Shawn Perry.
The night will include Billy Morris and the Sunset Strip.
Based in Cleveland, Morris has worked as a touring guitarist with Quiet Riot and has performed with Warrant and Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert.
Ball & Chain will bring the band’s musical tribute to legendary rock singer Janis Joplin.
Cleveland-based Cougar Meat will perform hair metal classics and the Rock City Rebels, Vermilion music students under Perry’s tutelage and who play everything from Metallica to
Miranda Lambert.
Although the winter season has been relatively mild, the concert is meant to be an escape from cabin fever that develops when people stay indoors during the gray cold of northern Ohio.
“Either way, I think February, people start going a little nuts,” Perry said. “That’s kind of why we wanted to do it then.
“Plus, Billy and I play out so much during the summertime that we wanted to do a winter show.”
Perry, 39, was born in Lorain but grew up in Vermilion, where his family moved when he was an infant.
Playing at the Lorain Palace is a lifelong goal, Perry said, dating from the time his late brother, Rick Hall, performed there with his band.
Original songs
Cabin Fever 2020 will include original songs by both Perry and Morris.
Perry said he has known
Morris since 2005 and Morris plays Perry’s custom guitars.
“We both play original music,” which sometimes is more difficult to showcase than popular cover or tribute songs, Perry said.
“We’re doing it just for the sake of being able to showcase what we’re doing,” he said.
Perry made a run for mayor of Vermilion in 2017, largely out of a concern for others.
He said he hoped to give a voice to those under-represented in the city.
“I felt like there was a huge people group that wasn’t being represented and someone needed to speak up, whether it was those who live in the less wealthy parts of town where the streets are neglected and the sewers are neglected,” Perry said.
Social, family, political and religious issues come through in some of his songs, he said.
But there’s a time to consider the lighter side of life
— and Perry writes songs about those times, too.
“There’s a lot of fun in the music, too, there’s a lot of songs that are summertime and party songs and that kind of stuff, too, because you don’t want to be Debbie Downer all day,” he said.
Last year, Perry released “Lawnchair,” a sunny, beachy tune with a video filmed in and around Vermilion.
He is backed by band mates Luz Maria Santiago, Jeff “Jeffrah” Koteles, Corey Linden and Kevin Thiede, who together form the Hazzard County Rebellion.
The songs are country and classic rock oriented, although Perry said there’s enough hip-hop and pop influence that he would feel comfortable touring with NKOTB, Van Halen or Snoop Dog.
Tickets are $10 and available at lorainpalace.org.
“We wanted to keep it cheap,” Perry said. “My students are playing, we don’t want to make it unaffordable for them.”