June 13, 2010 Picus Maximus back in studio working on next CD...

Sparhawk and Soldi have been in the studio working on a new album project: Vampyre Nursery Songs. The effort is morphing into a rock-opera style compilation of songs dealing with the story of Dracula. “Some of our best music to date”, exclaims Rick Sparhawk, AKA Maximus. “With all the interest in vampire movies these days, it seemed timing was right to put some of our original vampire-related material to CD.” The CD also spotlights a couple of other songwriters Sparhawk-Soldi has worked with in the past. “Our hope is to build a following of vampire fans who will attend our concerts in costume… sort of a Rocky Horror Picture Show for diehard Gothers”.

June 06, 2010 Picus Maximus announces House Concert Series...

Well… the new concert venue is finished. Picus Maximus recently completed the construction of a stand-alone concert venue on the grounds of one of the member’s residences. A really quite impressive house concert setting! It has room for 40+ music lovers, with a professional lighting and sound system. A high vaulted ceiling and acoustic treatments help keep the sound clean. A live video feed also plays outside for those who want to set by a fireplace, watch the show and sample some of the wine from the cellar beneath the concert hall. “Our hope is to provide our music each week as the warm-up act for other local headline artists or groups we think would be appreciated by our East-county fans. Singer/songwriters are encouraged to contact us if they’d like to be considered for performing at the Picus Maximus concert venue. contact:

Rob Kennard has a new single he’s close to recording. “We’re going to incorporate it into the material we play at our house concerts – trying to keep things fresh for our audiences,” says Kennard.

If you’d like to see Jim Soldi perform with some other bands, follow this link to his website where he keeps a calendar of his other shows. www.back-to-the-garden.net

The Peckerhead Blog: "Maximus" Sparhawk:

Hey there everyone - its true. Jim and I have been working away on a compilation of vampire songs that I, and some fellow musicians, have written over the years. We’ve been recording at Jim’s Outhouse Studios in Ramona. There has been a slight delay, though, as Jim has recently purchased a new home and is moving his studio to a building behind the new house. I’ll ask the webmaster to link some samples of the new vampire material for those of you who want to hear how things are coming along. We’re excited!

We are gearing up for a September 11th concert featuring the Johnny Patriot rock opera. We’ll be performing it at the Sunshine-Brooks Theatre in Oceanside. Anyone wanting to volunteer their time in the production, staging, ground promotions, sound and/or lighting should contact us right away. Oceanside is a military town and we hope to have a houseful of Marines attend the production.

How many of you recall Jim and Rick’s first band, Montezuma’s Revenge? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Montezumas-Revenge-Band/166160372592?v=wall