Hush Blows Open The Book!

We at DR2 were excited to over to the Clem' for the Hush "Open Book" Story Tellers Show last Saturday night that promised to deliver an insightful look behind the scenes of Hush's rise to a major record deal with Geffen Records.  We knew we were in for a great night of music, but had no idea we were in for much more than we imagined!  The night started with the "P" Team, whose hard-edged lyrics and street-wise attitude got the night started with their four-man rap attack.  This led into a kick-ass, high energy, rock set delivered by Overtow, who despite lead singer Heath being hampered by a bad cold, amped it up and crashed through their set, bringing the crowd toward the stage for an all out in your face assault.  With the night just getting started, Cody Stagefright took over the stage; void of any sign of that feared performance anxiety present in their name, dropping what we believe may have been their best set to date! Possessing what may be the most unique sound in the city, Cody Stagefright kept the crowd moving and a swaying as they prepared themselves for this weeks appearance in The Hayloft's $10,000 "Sign My Band Contest". Next, came one of the things we always are excited about, being able to catch a band we have not seen before.  Abstrakt Intellekt got our interest as they begin to load in, a folding table, two turntables, three mics and four white guys later, they lit the house up!  These Downriver rap veterans blew us away immediately when they launched into there original, Michigan Man and got the crowd jumping as they rambled through a 45 minute set of original rap before relinquishing the stage to tonight's main attraction.

 

 

Finally, what we had been waiting for. We didn't know what to expect with Hush closing the night with his twist on the "Storyteller" show, but we knew it was going to be something special as Hush, a master entertainer, has never disappointed us. Hush's set began with Rudy DeSantis (Wcsx) taking the stage with an introduction paying homage to "The Hangover" with his own twist on the "Lone Wolf" speech, bringing Hush to the stage and relating the intent of the show, namely to allow Dan "Hush" Carlisle a chance to share some of his, and the band's, story.  After a couple brief questions, Hush launched into their set with, one of DR2's favorites, Pull Out A Pistol (click, bang! damn we love that refrain).  The shows pace was sporadic, sing a few songs, take 2 or 3 questions from either Rudy or the audience, then continue with the music.  It was a great idea, well done, as the crowd loved the stories that gave them a peak behind the scenes of Hush's rise and fall and current comeback that gave them a direct connect to the charismatic rapper.  We are not going to share all the tidbits that were brought to light Saturday, but we would not be giving you the full story if we did not share  one particular story from the night that had our chins on the floor.  At the prodding of host Rudy, Hush shared a story of his fall from grace with Eminem.  Early in their careers, the two had been friends and when Eminem got his deal, Hush even worked as a producer for his disc.  Somewhere along the line there was a small beef between the two and they weren't talking.  As the story went, there was a guy who came to Hush about this time and offered to sell him a box of cassette tapes of Eminem from the early days.  Hush agreed to buy them and shelled out $10,000 to get them.  He figured he could give them to his friend as an "olive branch", to bring the peace.  As this deal was being done, the guy told Hush there was one tape in the box he wasn't going to sell with the rest because it was too valuable.  It seems this tape had a rap rant by Eminem that was viciously racist, a full 8 minutes long, it had the potential to end Eminem's growing career.  So, hush ponied up another 10 grand and bought that one too.  Handing them all over to Eminem, he thought it was over.  Eminem agreed that if he was asked, he would tell any one in the industry that Hush was the real deal.  Someone asked, Eminem gave his blessing, and Hush got a deal.  "Bulletproof" came out, and sold out the first shipment and things were going good.  Then, a person came forward with a story about the racist tape, claiming there was a copy.  Stories were written, and somehow Eminem, got the idea that Hush was behind it. That was all it took to end Hush's rise to well-deserved fame.  Wow! Say it isn't so, Em, Say it ain't so! This political, petty, kind of bullshit is the reason the music industry is devouring itself right now with too much ego, not enough music! We at DR2 do not think this is the end to Hush's story.  Stop over to the Dr2 Phot Gallery for all the pics from this event, then head on over to iTunes to buy the new disc "The Open Book", listen to the music and you will know it is only a matter of time until Hush will "Rise Again"! DetroitRockReview.com - The Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!