"Chicago's Loudmouth Screams For Attention"

This Chicago-based band formed back in 1993. The group released a debut CD, 1/2, in 1996. One year later, a self titled demo album followed and a copy got to Metallica; they asked the band to do a show for them when they were Chicago for a concert. With Metallica talking highly of them, they were noticed and signed by Hollywood Records and released the self-titled album Loudmouth.

Loudmouth's song "Fly" has been getting a lot of airplay. They just came off of the Risk tour with Megadeth. The tour was very well received and a lot of fun for them. On January 7, 2000 after a show in Minneapolis, I had a chance to sit down with Bob Fedderson, lead singer, and talk to him about the band. We talked about the music scene from the '80s and the early '90s and where we see it going today. As we talked, Bob described Loudmouth's style as a combination of an R&B base, with technical guitar solos and vocals that you can understand and sing along with, but with the more up-tempo of today's music. With the album Loudmouth, every song on the album is a little different, from the rocking "Fly" and "Rats in the Maze," to the melodic "Turn It Off" and my favorite "Maybe" -- I love the howling, deep vocals that add so much feeling to this song; it just grabs you. You can tell a lot of hard work and perfection went into this album.

Bob also describes the band as being a very Midwest band. Loudmouth has a huge following in the Chicago area and are always welcome in that city. They also have a big following in Minneapolis, too. They have played a few sold out shows at some local clubs, like Ryan's and the Quest. The night I met up with them, they had a great audience -- everyone was rocking out and asking for more. The greatest thing about Loudmouth is they like to help out the local Midwest bands by having them as opening acts. Here that night, two local bands played with them -- 2 Ton Crutch, and With. Both bands are the top bands here in Minneapolis, and they did an awesome job warming up Loudmouth. It's great to have a band like Loudmouth around. They never forget where they started out -- they are always willing to help out other local bands just starting out. So the next time they are in your town, make sure you check them out. You wont be disappointed, I promise.